JP2022179291A - Fruit/vegetable placing body, fruit/vegetable placing body lifting mechanism and automated fruit/vegetable sorting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a fruit/vegetable placing body which can easily stabilize fruit/vegetable upon travelling or upon lifting movement, has a simple structure and can be easily repaired upon maintenance or repair, to provide a fruit/vegetable placing body lifting mechanism and to provide an automated fruit/vegetable sorting apparatus provided with the fruit/vegetable placing body.SOLUTION: A fruit/vegetable placing body includes a lifting body 16 provided with a shaft 15 to be attached to an endless travelling body 12 and a fruit/vegetable placing part 16a to place fruit and vegetable X thereon. Therein, the lifting body 16 includes a linear motion bearing 17 which performs linear motion along the shaft 15. A fruit/vegetable placing body lifting mechanism includes a fruit/vegetable placing body 13 provided with a lifting wheel 19a and a lifting rail 6 set up on the travelling direction outer side of the endless travelling body 12, and is constituted such that the lifting body 16 elevates or lowers in accordance with the movement of the lifting wheel 19a of the fruit/vegetable placing body 13 along the lifting rail 6. An automated fruit/vegetable sorting apparatus discriminates grades of the fruit and vegetable X, sorts the fruit/vegetable at every grade and includes the fruit/vegetable placing body.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention provides a fruit and vegetable loader for an automatic fruit and vegetable sorting device that distinguishes various fruit and vegetables such as mandarin oranges, dekopon, peaches, and tomatoes by class, an elevating mechanism for the fruit and vegetable loader, and an automatic fruit and vegetable sorter equipped with the fruit and vegetable loader. Regarding the device.

As an automatic fruit and vegetable sorting device that distinguishes fruits and vegetables by class, it raises and lowers the tray on which the agricultural products are placed, and the agricultural products on the tray are taken out by the drawer conveyor located at the elevated position of the tray, and the agricultural products are sorted (patented Reference 1) is known.

JP 2006-136871 A

The device described in Patent Document 1 is configured so that the rollers provided at one end of both link members can move within the elongated holes, so that the fruit vegetables rattle during running or lifting, causing the vegetables to roll or fall. There is a risk of In addition, since the structure of the elevating mechanism is complicated, it takes time and effort to perform maintenance and repair when it breaks down.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and the problem to be solved is to provide a fruit and vegetable loading body that is easy to stabilize fruit vegetables during traveling and lifting, has a simple structure, and is easy to maintain and repair when it breaks down; An object of the present invention is to provide an elevating mechanism for the fruit and vegetable mounting body and an automatic fruit and vegetable sorting apparatus equipped with the fruit and vegetable mounting body.

[Fruit and vegetable loading body]
The fruit and vegetable mounting body of the present invention is attached to the endless traveling body so as to move in the running direction as the endless traveling body travels. The lifting body has a linear motion bearing for performing linear motion along a shaft. The fruit and vegetable mounting body of the present invention includes a linear motion extensible member attached to the endless traveling body and an elevating body having a fruit and vegetable mounting part on which fruit and vegetables are placed, and the elevating body moves up and down in accordance with the expansion and contraction of the linear motion extensible member. can also be configured.

Further, the fruit and vegetable mounting body of the present invention includes a lifting body having a mounting plate attached to the endless traveling body and a fruit and vegetable mounting portion on which fruits and vegetables are placed. A shaft protruding from the shaft is provided, the shaft is inserted through the insertion hole of the linear motion bearing, and the elevating body is moved up and down along the linear motion bearing through which the shaft is inserted.

[Fruit and vegetable loading body lifting mechanism]
The fruit/vegetables mounting body lifting mechanism of the present invention is a fruit/vegetables mounting lifting mechanism attached to the endless traveling body so as to move in the traveling direction as the endless traveling body travels, the mechanism comprising a lifting wheel. It comprises a mounting body and an elevating rail installed outside the running direction of the endless traveling body, and is constructed such that the elevating body moves up and down by moving the lifting wheels of the fruit and vegetable mounting body along the elevating rail. .

[Automatic fruit and vegetable sorting equipment]
The automatic fruit and vegetable sorting apparatus of the present invention places and conveys fruit and vegetables on a fruit and vegetable carrier attached to an endless traveling body, measures the fruit and vegetables during transportation, determines the grades of the fruits and vegetables, and determines the grade of the fruit and vegetables on the fruit and vegetable carrier. It is an automatic fruit and vegetable sorting device that sorts the fruits and vegetables according to the discriminated grade, and is equipped with the fruit and vegetable placing body of the present invention as a fruit and vegetable placing body. The fruit and vegetable automatic sorting apparatus of the present invention can also be provided with the fruit and vegetable mounting body elevating mechanism of the present invention as the fruit and vegetable mounting body elevating mechanism for lifting and lowering the fruit and vegetable mounting body.

Since the present invention is constructed so that the lifting body is lifted and lowered by the shaft and the linear motion bearing or by the linear motion telescopic tool, the fruits and vegetables are stabilized during traveling and lifting compared to the conventional device using the link member. Cheap. In addition, the structure is simple, it is hard to break down, and even if it breaks down, it is easy to repair and maintain.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The outline|summary explanatory drawing which shows an example of the fruit vegetable automatic sorting apparatus of this invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing an example of a fruit and vegetable placing body and a fruit and vegetable placing lifting mechanism in the automatic fruit and vegetable sorting apparatus of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a side view showing an example of a fruit and vegetable placing body and a fruit and vegetable placing lifting mechanism in the automatic fruit and vegetable sorting apparatus of the present invention; (a) is a schematic explanatory drawing showing an example of the fruit and vegetable carrier of the present invention, and (b) is a schematic explanatory drawing showing another example of the fruit and vegetable carrier of the present invention. (a) is an enlarged view of part A in FIG. 3, and (b) is an enlarged view of part B in FIG. The perspective view which shows an example of an enclosure panel. (a) is an explanatory diagram of the lower rail on the main driving gear side, and (b) is an explanatory diagram of the lower rail on the driven gear side. FIG. 10 is a side view showing another example of the fruit and vegetable placing body and the fruit and vegetable placing lifting mechanism in the automatic fruit and vegetable sorting apparatus of the present invention. (a) is a schematic explanatory drawing showing another example of the fruit and vegetable carrier of the present invention, and (b) is a schematic explanatory drawing showing another example of the fruit and vegetable carrier of the present invention. Schematic explanatory drawing which shows the other example of the fruit-and-vegetables-placed body of this invention. (a) to (c) are diagrams for explaining the operation of the fruit and vegetable placing body in FIG.

(Embodiment 1)
An example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As an example, the fruit and vegetable automatic sorting apparatus shown in FIGS. 7, a transfer carrier 8, a fruit vegetable receiving body 9, and a boxing device 10. Although not shown, the elevating rails 6, the takeover transporters 8, and the fruit and vegetable takers 9 are provided for each grade.

The first conveying section 1 is a section through which the harvested fruit vegetables X are discharged. An existing belt conveyor, roller conveyor, or the like can be used for the first transport section 1 .

The second conveying unit 2 is arranged ahead of the first conveying unit 1, and is a part that takes over the fruits and vegetables X conveyed by the first conveying unit 1 and sends them to the ahead. A space for the worker Z to work is provided on the side of the second transport section 2 . The worker Z visually sorts the fruit vegetables X transported by the second transport unit 2, and manually excludes (selects by hand) the fruit vegetables X that are damaged or discolored. An existing belt conveyor, roller conveyor, or the like can be used for the second transport section 2 .

The distributed conveying section 3 is arranged ahead of the second conveying section 2 and supplies the fruit vegetables X conveyed by the second conveying section 2 to the aligning conveying section 4 on the front side. In this embodiment, a vibrating device that disperses the fruit vegetables X by vibration is used as the distributing/conveying unit 3 . A device other than the vibrating device can also be used for the distributed conveying unit 3 .

A plurality of guide plates 11 are provided above the vibrating device that constitutes the distributed conveying section 3 to guide the fruit vegetables X to each conveying line of the aligning conveying section 4 that is composed of a plurality of lines. The fruits and vegetables X on the distributing conveying unit 3 are dispersed to both outer sides in the traveling direction by vibrations of the vibrating device, and are distributed and supplied to each line of the aligning conveying unit 4 while being guided by the guide plate 11 .

The aligning and conveying section 4 is arranged ahead of the distributing and conveying section 3, and is a section that conveys the fruit vegetables X distributed by the distributing and conveying section 3 while aligning them in a line. The aligning and conveying section 4 of this embodiment is composed of a plurality of lines arranged in parallel. Each line consists of multiple belt conveyors arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction. Multiple belt conveyors are placed on the front side so that the width is narrower than that on the front side, and the rows of fruit vegetables X decrease each time they transfer to the front belt conveyor, and they are arranged in a row on the final belt conveyor. It is like this.

The fruit and vegetable transporter 5 is arranged one by one (four in the example of FIG. 1) ahead of each line constituting the aligning and transporting section 4, and transports the fruit and vegetables X supplied from the aligning and transporting section 4. As shown in FIG. 3 , the fruit and vegetable carrier 5 of this embodiment includes an endless traveling body (drive chain) 12 and a plurality of fruit and vegetable placing bodies 13 attached to the drive chain 12 .

The drive chain 12 of this embodiment is an endless chain wound around the outer periphery of a main driving gear 27 (Fig. 7(a)) and a driven gear 28 (Fig. 7(b)) which are spaced apart in the longitudinal direction. be. The drive chain 12 is configured to rotate longitudinally through the upper side of the main driving gear 27 - the upper side of the driven gear 28 - the lower side of the driven gear 28 - the lower side of the main driving gear 27 - the upper side of the main driving gear 27 .

In this embodiment, the drive chain 12, the main driving gear 27 and the driven gear 28 are arranged in parallel in two rows, and the fruit and vegetable carrier 13 is attached to the drive chain 12 so that the drive chain 12 can run while being supported on both sides. , the main drive gear 27 and the driven gear 28 may be arranged in only one row, and the fruit and vegetable loading body 13 may be attached to the drive chain 12 so as to travel in a cantilever manner.

A plurality of attachments 14 are attached to the drive chain 12 along its longitudinal direction, and a fruit and vegetable placing body 13 is attached to each attachment 14 . As an example, the fruit and vegetable carrier 13 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 (a) and (b) includes two shafts 15 attached to the fruit and vegetable carrier 5 (more specifically, the attachment 14 of the drive chain 12) and the shafts An elevator 16 is provided that ascends and descends along 15 .

The shaft 15 of this embodiment is a straight guide (linear guide) that guides the lifting body 16 in the lifting direction. The two shafts 15 are provided in parallel with an interval therebetween. Both shafts 15 are inserted through insertion holes 17a of linear motion bearings 17, which will be described later, and their upper ends are connected by an upper holder 18a. More or less than two shafts 15 may be provided. Although not shown, a lower holder 18b (see FIG. 10) is also provided on the lower end side of both shafts 15 to maintain the gap therebetween.

The lifting body 16 includes a fruit/vegetable placement portion 16a on which the fruit/vegetable X is placed, and an installation portion 16b provided with a linear motion bearing 17, which will be described later. As shown in FIG. 4A, the installation portions 16b protrude from both sides in the width direction of the fruit and vegetable placement portion 16a. The fruit vegetable placing portion 16a is a portion for supporting the fruit vegetable X. As shown in FIG. The fruit and vegetable placement portion 16a of this embodiment is composed of five thin plates erected at intervals. The upper part of each thin plate is recessed so as to have a V shape when viewed from the side, and the fruit vegetable X can be placed in the recessed portion.

A space 16c between the five thin plates (hereinafter referred to as a “passage space”) is a portion where a transfer conveyor 8a (described later) of a transfer conveying body 8 that transfers and transfers the fruit vegetables X on the fruit and vegetable placement section 16a is accommodated. , and each passage space 16c is large enough to accommodate the transfer conveyor 8a.

Two linear bushings are provided as a linear motion bearing 17 in the installation portion 16b with an interval therebetween. One shaft 15 is inserted through each linear bush. The linear bush here is a cylindrical rolling bearing that linearly moves along the shaft 15, and is mainly composed of an outer cylinder, a retainer, and steel balls. A pipe material or a solid material can be used for the shaft 15 .

As shown in FIG. 4(a), one lifting wheel 19a and two running wheels 19b are protruded outward on both outer sides of each fruit and vegetable placing body 13 in the running direction. The elevating wheel 19a projects outward from both traveling wheels 19b projecting in the same direction as the elevating wheel 19a.

The elevating wheels 19a move along the elevating rails 6, which will be described later. As shown in FIG. , and the elevating body 16 descends along the shaft 15 as the elevating wheels 19 a descend the downward inclined portion 6 b of the elevating rail 6 .

The running wheels 19b move along guide rails 5a (FIG. 3) arranged parallel to the drive chain 12. As shown in FIG. Although not shown, in this embodiment, guide rails 5a are provided one by one (two in total) at positions where both traveling wheels 19b are accommodated.

The guide rail 5a can also be provided only on one side of the fruit and vegetable placing body 13 in the width direction. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4(b), the running wheels 19b may be provided only on the side where the guide rails 5a are provided. The guide rail 5a may be provided as required, and can be omitted if not required. If the guide rails 5a are omitted, the traveling wheels 19b can also be omitted.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4(a), installation portions 16b are protruding from both sides in the width direction of the fruit/vegetable placement portion 16a. Although the case where 19b is protruding outward is taken as an example, as shown in FIG. It can also be provided only on the side.

The elevating rail 6 is a guide member for elevating the fruit and vegetable placing body 13 . The elevating rail 6 of this embodiment has an inverted V shape with an upward sloping portion 6a and a downward sloping portion 6b, and protrudes from the surface of the laterally long standing board 20 on which the fruit and vegetable placing body 13 is arranged. ing. The projection length of the lifting rail 6 can be appropriately set within a range on which the lifting wheels 19a can be mounted.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5B, in this embodiment, the lift wheels 19a are arranged above the lift rail 6, more specifically, from the top 6c of the lift rail 6 to the downward slope 6b. A jump-up prevention guide 6d is provided to prevent jump-up.

The starting end side of the jump-up prevention guide 6d (the side of the top portion 6c of the lift rail 6) has a wider gap from the lift-up rail 6 than the other portion of the jump-up prevention guide 6d. By widening the entrance of the lifting wheels 19a in this manner, the lifting wheels 19a can be smoothly guided between the lifting rails 6 and the bounce prevention guides 6d.

In this embodiment, the jump-up prevention guide 6d is provided in the range from the top 6c of the lifting rail 6 to the front of the lowering support piece 6e, which will be described later, as an example. can also The jump-up prevention guide 6d may be provided as required, and may be omitted if unnecessary.

In this embodiment, the ascending slope 6a on which the fruit and vegetable placing body 13 moves with the fruit and vegetable X placed thereon is a gentle slope (hereinafter referred to as a "gentle slope" for convenience of explanation), and the fruit and vegetable X is handed over to the conveying body 8. The descending slope 6b after taking over is a steeper slope than the ascending slope 6a (hereinafter referred to as "steep slope" for convenience of explanation).

The reason why the upward slope 6a is made gentle is to prevent the fruit vegetables X from rolling down on the fruit and vegetable placing body 13, and the reason why the downward slope 6b is made steep is to improve the operation efficiency after the fruit vegetables X are handed over. This is to raise In the lift rail 6 constructed in this manner, the length (movement distance) of the ascending slope portion 6a is longer than the length (movement distance) of the descending slope portion 6b with the top portion 6c as a reference.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5A, a switching bar 21 for switching the moving direction of the lifting body 16 is provided in front of the ascending inclined portion 6a of each lifting rail 6. As shown in FIG. By switching the switching bar 21, the moving direction of the lifting body 16 is divided into the lifting rail 6 side and the straight traveling side. Although the upper surface of the switching bar 21 shown in FIGS. 3 and 5(a) is a flat surface, the upper surface of the switching bar 21 is curved so as to reduce the impact when the lifting wheel 19a moves onto the switching bar 21. You can also

The position of the switching bar 21 of this embodiment is switched by a rotary solenoid 21a. The rotary solenoid 21a is operated upon receiving a measurement result (class discrimination signal) from the measurement/judgment section 7, which will be described later.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5(b), a descending support piece 6e for supporting the ascending/descending wheel 19a of the fruit/vegetables mounting body 13 descending from the descending inclined portion 6b of each ascending/descending rail 6 is provided at the tip of the descending inclined portion 6b. is provided. The lowering support piece 6e of this embodiment is in the form of a thin plate like the switching bar 21 described above. The upper surface of the descent support piece 6e is curved so as to reduce the impact when the lifting wheel 19a moves onto the descent support piece 6e. The shape of the descent support piece 6e may be other than this.

The lowering support piece 6e of this embodiment is urged upward by an urging means (not shown), and is pivotally supported so that the free end side is always oriented sideways. The free end side of the lowering support piece 6e is lowered by the weight of the lifting wheel 19a when the lifting wheel 19a is placed on the upper surface of the lowering support piece 6e. I'm trying to do it.

In this embodiment, the standing board 20, the switching bar 21, the elevating rail 6, the lowering support piece 6e, and the jump-up prevention guide 6d are provided at a plurality of locations at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the fruit and vegetable carrier 5. . Concretely, as many as the number of grades to be sorted are provided, and the fruit vegetables X are sorted according to the measurement result (discrimination signal) of the measurement/judgment unit 7 . The standing board 20, the switching bar 21, the elevating rail 6, the lowering support piece 6e, and the jump-up prevention guide 6d are provided on both sides of the fruit and vegetable carrier 5 in the running direction.

In this embodiment, a case where the flat boards 20 are installed on both sides of the fruit and vegetable carrier 5 in the traveling direction is taken as an example, but as shown in FIG. It is also possible to install a downward U-shaped enclosing panel 25 that encloses the boat and use both side portions of the enclosing panel 25 as the standing boat 20. - 特許庁When the enclosure panel 25 is provided, at least the height of the enclosure panel 25 should be such that the fruit vegetables X on the lifting body 16 raised to the highest position can pass through without colliding with each other. The standing board 20 and the surrounding panel 25 can be made of resin, aluminum, SUS, or transparent acrylic panels.

Each fruit and vegetable placing body 13 turns around the driven gear 28 on the front side, passes under the driven gear 28, and returns to the main gear 27 side. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b), from the turn-around point on the driven gear 28 side (the point at which each fruit and vegetable placement body 13 begins to incline), the turn-around point on the main gear 27 side (each fruit and vegetable placement body 13 begins to stand up) a lower rail 26 is provided. The starting and ending positions of the lower rail 26 can be positioned higher or lower than those shown in FIGS.

The lower rail 26 is a linear member that supports from below the running wheels 19b of the fruit and vegetable placing bodies 13 that go around the driven gear 28 and move toward the main gear 27 side. By supporting the running wheels 19b on the lower rails 26, the lifting bodies 16 of the fruit and vegetable placing bodies 13 running upside down are prevented from falling by their own weight, and the drive chains 12 loosen downward. The fruits and vegetables placing body 13 is prevented from being pulled (pulled) so that it runs smoothly.

The measurement/judgment unit 7 measures the shape, size, sugar content, etc. of the fruit vegetables X conveyed by the fruit vegetable carrier 5, and judges the grade based on the measurement results. The measurement/judgment unit 7 is composed of a camera for photographing fruits and vegetables, a saccharimeter, a processing circuit, and the like.

The take-over carrier 8 takes over the fruit vegetables X on the fruit and vegetable loading body 13 and carries them to the other side. Each takeover carrier 8 is provided horizontally or substantially horizontally at a position higher than the fruit and vegetable carrier 5 positioned on the near side. The front end of the fruit/vegetable carrier 5 is positioned above the top 6c of the elevating rail 6, and the fruit/vegetable X is taken over when the fruit/vegetable carrier 13 reaches and passes the top 6c of the elevating rail 6.例文帳に追加It is like this.

Each takeover transport body 8 of this embodiment includes four takeover conveyors 8a and fall prevention walls 8b erected on both widthwise outer sides of the four takeover conveyors 8a. Each takeover conveyor 8a is designed narrower than the width of the passage space 16c so that it can pass through the passage space 16c.

All or part of the four transfer conveyors 8a can be set to rotate synchronously, or can be set to rotate individually. There may be more or less than four takeover conveyors 8a. In addition, the height at which the transfer transport body 8 is provided can be appropriately set according to the fruit vegetables X to be sorted.

When the fruit and vegetable loading body 13 travels toward the takeover transport body 8 side so that the four takeover conveyors 8a enter the passage space 16c between the thin plates supporting the fruit vegetables X, and passes under the takeover transport body 8. Next, the fruit vegetables X on the fruit and vegetable loading body 13 are transferred onto one or more transfer conveyors 8a.

In this embodiment, the takeover conveyor 8a of the takeover conveying body 8 is designed to rotate all the time, but the takeover conveyor 8a may be rotated only when the fruit and vegetable mounting body 13 reaches the other side of the takeover conveyor 8a. good. In this case, for example, a sensor (not shown) can be used to detect the approach or arrival at a predetermined position of the fruit and vegetable placing body 13, and the transfer conveyor 8a can be set to rotate based on the detection signal.

If the rotational speeds of the four takeover conveyors 8a are different, the fruit vegetables X may bend and fall due to the speed difference.

The fruit/vegetable receiving body 9 receives the fruit/vegetable X handed over by the takeover transporter 8 and transports it to the other side. In this embodiment, as the fruit and vegetable receiving body 9, a belt conveyor arranged in a direction perpendicular to the transfer transport body 8 is used. The fruit and vegetable receiving body 9 does not have to be orthogonal to the takeover carrier 8 . The fruit and vegetable receiving body 9 is arranged so that its upper surface is at the same height as the upper surface of the takeover carrier 8, and the fruit and vegetables X are horizontally handed over.

The fruit and vegetable receiving body 9 of this embodiment includes two belt conveyors having different widths (for convenience of explanation, hereinafter, the wider belt conveyor will be referred to as a "wide conveyor 9a" and a narrower belt than the wide conveyor 9a). The conveyor is called "narrow width conveyor 9b"). The wide conveyor 9a and the narrow conveyor 9b are designed to rotate independently.

By rotating both the wide conveyor 9a and the narrow conveyor 9b at a constant speed, a plurality of fruit vegetables X can be supplied to the boxing device 10 at once, and one of them is stopped and only the other is rotated to pack. The number and weight of the fruit vegetables X supplied to the device 10 can be adjusted.

The fruit and vegetable receiving body 9 may be provided with one belt conveyor or three or more belt conveyors. Also, a roller conveyor or the like can be used instead of the belt conveyor. Drop prevention walls for preventing the fruit vegetables X from falling may be provided on both outer sides of the fruit and vegetable receiving body 9 in the conveying direction.

The boxing device 10 is a device that packs the fruit vegetables X supplied from the fruit and vegetable receiving body 9 into packaging containers Y such as corrugated cardboard. In this embodiment, a belt conveyor 10a is used as the boxing device 10. As shown in FIG. A plurality of fruit vegetable supporting pieces 10b for supporting the fruit vegetable X are provided on the surface of the belt conveyor 10a at intervals in the rotating direction.

The boxing device 10 is provided on the forward side of the fruit and vegetable receiving body 9 in the rotational direction. The fruit vegetables X supplied from the fruit vegetable receiver 9 are automatically accommodated in the packaging container Y through the boxing device 10. - 特許庁In this embodiment, the packaging container Y is automatically sent to the lower side of the boxing device 10 by the container carrier 22 . The boxed fruits and vegetables X are discharged to the outside (for example, a shipping yard, etc.) by the discharge conveyor 23 .

In a device using conventional link members, it is necessary to change the length of each link member in order to change the height in the lifting direction. , there is an advantage that the prior art does not have that adjustment can be made according to the size of the fruit vegetable X only by changing the height in the vertical direction.

If the length of the link material is increased in order to change the height in the vertical direction, as in the conventional apparatus using link members, the size of each lifting tray device increases, causing the entire automatic fruit and vegetable sorting apparatus to increase in size. . If the elevating tray device is enlarged, the number of processes per unit time is reduced, resulting in a decrease in efficiency. When the fruit and vegetable automatic sorting apparatus is enlarged, there are adverse effects such as restrictions on the installation location, but the fruit and vegetable mounting body and the fruit and vegetable automatic sorting apparatus of this embodiment are unlikely to cause such problems.

(Embodiment 2)
Another example of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The basic configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment. What is different is the configuration of the fruit and vegetable placing body 13 . In the following, descriptions of items common to the first embodiment will be omitted, and items different from the first embodiment will be mainly described.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9(a), the fruit/vegetable mounting body 13 of this embodiment includes a lifting body 16 having a fruit/vegetable mounting portion 16a on which the fruit/vegetable X is placed, and two lifters supporting the lifting body 16. A direct-acting extension tool 24 is provided. The lifting body 16 includes a fruit and vegetable placement portion 16a similar to the fruit and vegetable placement portion 16a of the first embodiment, and an installation portion 16b for fixing the upper end side of the linear extension/contraction member 24. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 9A, the installation portions 16b protrude from both sides in the width direction of the fruit and vegetable placement portion 16a.

Each linear extension/contraction device 24 in this embodiment comprises a cylinder portion 24a and a rod portion 24b. The rod portion 24b protrudes and retracts in the longitudinal direction of the cylinder portion 24a so that the linearly moving extensible member 24 expands and contracts. Although not shown, the two linear extension/contraction devices 24 may be provided with a holder for maintaining the distance between the two rod portions 24b. The holder can be provided on the upper end side of both rod portions 24b, the lower end side of both cylinder portions 24a, or the like.

Both the direct-acting extensible members 24 of this embodiment support the lifting body 16 and guide the lifting and lowering of the lifting body 16, and do not serve as a driving source for lifting and lowering the lifting body 16 unlike an air cylinder. The elevating body 16 of the present embodiment is configured to be elevated by moving the elevating wheels 19 a along the elevating rails 6 .

However, when a relatively heavy fruit vegetable X such as melon or watermelon is placed, an actuator such as an air cylinder can be used as the linear extension/contraction tool 24 instead of the linear extension/contraction part 24 of the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 9(a), the installation portion 16b of this embodiment also has lifting wheels 19a and running wheels 19b similar to those of the first embodiment projecting outward. The elevating wheel 19a moves along the elevating rail 6, and when the elevating wheel 19a climbs the ascending inclined portion 6a of the elevating rail 6, the rod portion 24b is drawn upward from the cylinder portion 24a, and the elevating body 16 is lifted. When the elevating wheel 19a is lifted and descends the descending inclined portion 6b of the elevating rail 6, the rod portion 24b is pulled back into the cylinder portion 24a and the elevating body 16 is lowered.

In this embodiment, the installation portions 16b are provided to protrude from both sides in the width direction of the fruit and vegetable placement portion 16a, and the respective installation portions 16b have the lifting wheels 19a and the traveling wheels 19b protruding outward. As an example, as shown in FIG. 9B, the installation portion 16b, the lifting wheels 19a, and the traveling wheels 19b can be provided only on one side in the width direction of the fruit and vegetable placement portion 16a.

(Embodiment 3)
Another example of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The basic configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment. What is different is the configuration of the fruit and vegetable placing body 13 . In the following, descriptions of items common to the first embodiment will be omitted, and items different from the first embodiment will be mainly described.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11(a) to (c), the fruit/vegetable placing body 13 of this embodiment includes a lifting body 16 having a fruit/vegetable placing portion 16a on which the fruit/vegetable X is placed, and a bottom side of the lifting body 16. It has two shafts 15 projecting from each other and mounting plates 29 mounted to the attachments 14 of the two drive chains 12 .

The lifting body 16 of this embodiment includes a fruit/vegetable placement portion 16a on which the fruit/vegetable X is placed and a placement portion 16b. Mounting bodies 16d protruding downward are provided at positions on both sides of the installation portion 16b in the width direction. Each mounting body 16d is provided with two traveling wheels 19b projecting outward and an elevating wheel 19a provided between the two traveling wheels 19b.

The elevating wheels 19a move along the elevating rails 6. When the elevating wheels 19a climb the ascending slopes 6a of the elevating rails 6, the elevating body 16 rises, and the elevating wheels 19a move down the elevating rails 6. When descending the slope 6b, the elevating body 16 descends.

In this embodiment, the installation portion 16b is protruded on both widthwise outer sides of the fruit and vegetable placement portion 16a, and lifting wheels 19a are attached to respective mounting bodies 16d provided at positions on both widthwise outside sides of the installation portion 16b. And the case where the traveling wheels 19b project outward is taken as an example, but the mounting body 16d, the lifting wheels 19a, and the traveling wheels 19b may be provided only on one side in the width direction of the fruit and vegetable placement portion 16a. can.

Two shafts 15 are provided facing downward at intervals in the longitudinal direction on the back side of the installation portion 16b. The two shafts 15 are inserted through the insertion holes 17a of the two linear motion bearings 17 provided at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the mounting plate 29, and the lower ends passing through the insertion holes 17a are connected by the lower holder 18b. It is More or less than two shafts 15 may be provided.

The mounting plate 29 of this embodiment is a rectangular plate material sized to straddle the attachments 14 of the two drive chains 12 , and both ends in the longitudinal direction are fixed to the attachments 14 . The mounting plate 29 is provided with linear motion bearings 17 spaced apart in its longitudinal direction. In this embodiment, a linear bush similar to that of the first embodiment is used as the linear bearing 17, but the linear bearing 17 may be other than the linear bush.

As shown in FIGS. 11(a) to 11(c), the fruit and vegetable carrier 13 of FIG. and run in the same direction as the running direction. When it is guided toward the lifting rail 6 by the switching bar 21 during traveling, the lifting wheel 19a is guided along the upward inclined portion 6a of the lifting rail 6, and accordingly the lifting body 16 moves along the lifting rail 6. Rise.

When the elevated lift body 16 reaches the top 6c of the lift rail 6 and begins to descend along the descending slope 6b, the fruits X are taken over by the takeover conveyor 8a under the takeover carrier 8. As shown in FIG. The elevating body 16 that has taken over the fruit vegetables X to the takeover conveying body 8 descends as it is and returns to the mounting plate 29 side.

The fruit and vegetable mounting body 13 of this embodiment differs from the fruit and vegetable mounting body 13 of Embodiments 1 and 2 in that two shafts 15 are arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction of the mounting plate 29 . For this reason, compared to the fruit and vegetable placing body 13 of Embodiments 1 and 2 in which the shaft 15 and the direct-acting elastic member 24 are arranged in the running direction of the fruit and vegetable placing body 13, when the fruit and vegetable placing body 13 is turned downward at the turn-around point on the driven gear 28 side, the , the shaft 15 is less likely to interfere with the shaft 15 of the adjacent fruit and vegetable placing body 13.

In this embodiment, the case where the lifting body 16 moves up and down between the lowest position (see FIG. 11(a)) and the highest position (see FIG. 11(c)) is taken as an example. 16 is set to the middle stage position (see FIG. 11(b)) of the shaft 15, and is moved up and down between the middle stage position (see FIG. 11(b)) and the highest position (see FIG. 11(c)). You can also make By doing so, the lifting time can be shortened, and the overall processing time can be shortened.

(Other embodiments)
In each of the above-described embodiments, an example is given in which a V-shaped member is protruded from one side of the erected board 20 to form the elevating rail 6. The elevating rail 6 can also be formed by forming a V-shaped groove on the side facing the object. In this case, the depth of the groove can be appropriately set within a range in which the lifting wheels 19a can be accommodated. Also, when the groove is used as the elevating rail 6, it is preferable that the ascending slope portion 6a be a gentle slope and the descending slope portion 6b be a steep slope.

Although not shown, the elevating rails 6 can also be configured by only a V-shaped rail member without being formed on the standing board 20 . In this case, the rail member may be configured to be supported by a support member such as a rod.

The configuration of each of the above-described embodiments is an example, and the configurations of the fruit and vegetable mounting body, the fruit and vegetable mounting lifting mechanism, and the fruit and vegetable automatic sorting apparatus of the present invention may be appropriately omitted, replaced, or changed without changing the gist thereof. can do.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The fruit and vegetable carrier, the lifting mechanism for the fruit and vegetable carrier, and the automatic fruit and vegetable sorting apparatus of the present invention can be used for sorting various fruit vegetables such as oranges, dekopon, peaches, and tomatoes, as well as cucumbers, bitter melons, and mangoes.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 first conveying section 2 second conveying section 3 distributed conveying section 4 alignment conveying section 5 fruit and vegetable conveying body 5a guide rail 6 lifting rail 6a upward slope section 6b downward slope section 6c top section 6d bounce prevention guide 6e lowering support piece 7 measurement and judgment Part 8 Takeover Conveyor 8a Takeover Conveyor 8b Drop Prevention Wall 9 Fruit/Vegetable Acceptor 9a Wide Conveyor 9b Narrow Conveyor 10 Boxing Device 10a Belt Conveyor 10b Fruit/Vegetable Support Piece 11 Guide Plate 12 Endless Traveling Body (Drive Chain)
13 fruit and vegetable mounting body 14 attachment 15 shaft 16 lifting body 16a fruit and vegetable mounting part 16b installation part 16c passage space 16d mounting body 17 linear motion bearing 17a insertion hole 18a upper holder 18b lower holder 19a lifting wheel 19b running wheel 20 stand Installation board 21 Switching bar 21a Rotary solenoid 22 Container transporter 23 Discharge conveyor 24 Linear extension tool 24a Cylinder part 24b Rod part 25 Surrounding panel 26 Lower rail 27 Main gear 28 Driven gear 29 Mounting plate X Fruits and vegetables Y Packaging container Z Work person

Claims (9)

In the fruit and vegetable mounting body attached to the endless traveling body so as to move in the traveling direction as the endless traveling body travels,
An elevating body having a shaft attached to the endless traveling body and a fruit and vegetable placement section for placing fruit and vegetables,
The lifting body includes a linear motion bearing that linearly moves along the shaft,
A fruit and vegetable carrier characterized by: In the fruit and vegetable mounting body attached to the endless traveling body so as to move in the traveling direction as the endless traveling body travels,
An elevating body having a direct-acting expansion tool attached to the endless traveling body and a fruit and vegetable placement section for placing fruit and vegetables,
The elevating body ascends and descends with the expansion and contraction of the linear extension and contraction tool,
A fruit and vegetable carrier characterized by: In the fruit and vegetable mounting body attached to the endless traveling body so as to move in the traveling direction as the endless traveling body travels,
An elevating body having a mounting plate attached to the endless traveling body and a fruit and vegetable placement section for placing fruit and vegetables,
a linear motion bearing is provided on the mounting plate;
A shaft protruding toward the mounting plate is provided on the lifting body,
The shaft is inserted through the insertion hole of the linear motion bearing,
The elevating body ascends and descends along a linear motion bearing through which the shaft is inserted.
A fruit and vegetable carrier characterized by: In the fruit and vegetable mounting body according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The elevating body is provided with elevating wheels that move along an elevating rail installed outside the traveling direction of the elevating body,
A fruit and vegetable carrier characterized by: In a lifting mechanism for a fruit and vegetable mounting body attached to the endless traveling body so as to move in the traveling direction as the endless traveling body travels,
The fruit and vegetable mounting body and an elevating rail installed outside the running direction of the fruit and vegetable mounting body,
The fruit and vegetable mounting body is the fruit and vegetable mounting body according to claim 4,
The lifting body moves up and down by moving the lifting wheels of the fruit and vegetable loading body along the lifting rail.
A fruit and vegetable loading body lifting mechanism characterized by: In the fruit and vegetable loading body lifting mechanism according to claim 5,
The elevating rail is formed on the surface of the standing board installed outside the running direction of the fruit and vegetable mounting body on the side on which the fruit and vegetable mounting body is arranged,
A fruit and vegetable loading body lifting mechanism characterized by: In the fruit and vegetable loading body lifting mechanism according to claim 5 or claim 6,
The elevating rail has an upward slope and a downward slope,
The inclination angle of the upward slope portion is gentler than the inclination angle of the downward slope portion.
A fruit and vegetable loading body lifting mechanism characterized by: Fruits and vegetables are placed on a fruit and vegetable carrier attached to an endless traveling body and conveyed, the fruits and vegetables are measured during transportation to discriminate the grades, and the fruits and vegetables on the fruit and vegetable carrier are sorted by the discriminated grades. In the fruit and vegetable automatic sorting equipment,
The fruit and vegetable mounting body is the fruit and vegetable mounting body according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An automatic fruit and vegetable sorting device characterized by: Fruits and vegetables are placed on a fruit and vegetable carrier attached to an endless traveling body and conveyed, the fruits and vegetables are measured during transportation to discriminate the grades, and the fruits and vegetables on the fruit and vegetable carrier are sorted by the discriminated grades. In the fruit and vegetable automatic sorting equipment,
A fruit and vegetable mounting body lifting mechanism according to any one of claims 5 to 7 for lifting and lowering the fruit and vegetable mounting body,
An automatic fruit and vegetable sorting device characterized by:

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