JP2542354Y2 - Feeding device of sorting device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a supply device for a sorting device. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus for supplying an object to be sorted to a device for sorting relatively small fruits such as cherries, plums, loquats and the like, agricultural crops, etc., in particular, for weight sorting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, relatively small fruits and crops such as cherries, plums, loquats and the like are very difficult to sort, so they are not sorted out at all, or they are visually checked by their shape, especially the size of appearance. We are sorting appropriately. However,
Recently, it has been desired that sorting is performed at a higher price, for example, those having sorted and arranged grains are more expensive than those that are not sorted, and furthermore, it is desired that the sorting is performed without trouble and the sorting accuracy is high. .

Conventionally, shape sorting is mainly performed as a sorting device for agricultural products. However, shape sorting is suitable for sorting relatively large fruits and crops such as onions and apples, but is not very suitable for sorting small fruits and crops from the viewpoint of accuracy. It is unsuitable for sorting items with long slumps such as.

The inventor of the present invention has previously proposed a balance-type weight sorter which is suitable for sorting small-sized fruits and crops or fruits and crops having special shapes (Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. Hei 1-101). 124278). By this weight sorting device, the sorting object can be accurately and irrespective of size and shape.
Weight sorting can be performed efficiently and quickly. In this apparatus, the sorting target is supplied to the pan of the scale manually.

[0005] However, in the case of small fruits such as cherries and agricultural products, the number of objects to be sorted becomes very large, and when the objects are manually supplied to the saucer of the sorting device, the distance between the saucers is reduced. However, there is a problem that the supply speed by the hand is limited due to the opening, the amount of supply to the sorting device is small, and the sorting efficiency is significantly lower than the processing capacity of the sorting device.

As devices for automatically supplying a sorting object to a sorting device, there are devices disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho 63-26220 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 1-118223. Each of these devices supplies agricultural products to a shape sorting type sorting device. A fixed delivery plate is installed at the outlet side of the conveyor of the feeding device, and one by one from the supply conveyor is placed on the delivery plate. The crop is supplied, while the sorting body (holding body) of the sorting device is circulating in a vertical plane, and the receiving rod (scooping material) attached to the sorting body when the sorting body rises.
Is to scoop up the agricultural products supplied on the fixed delivery plate and put them into the sorting body.

In the feeding apparatus disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho 63-26220, a conveyor section has rollers arranged side by side at a constant pitch in an endless belt, and a roller is provided between the rollers. Is a fruit sorting machine characterized by arranging narrow rods, and when the sorting target (agricultural product) is transferred from the feeding device to the sorting device, the sorting target is sandwiched between the rollers of the feeding device. Is preventing that.

The supply device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-12323 is composed of an endless conveyor in which a plurality of agricultural product supports are arranged side by side, and a delivery member with a stopper is fixedly installed in front of the endless conveyor. I have.

[0009]

However, it is difficult to apply the supply device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho 63-26220 or Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-118223 to the weight sorter described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-124278. Can not. That is, the weight selection device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-124278 is not provided with a receiving rod (scooping member). what if,
Even if the receiving rod is attached, if the sorting target is a small-sized agricultural product such as a cherry, it cannot be scooped up satisfactorily. Furthermore, it is completely inapplicable to a sorting device of the type circulating in a horizontal plane.

Further, if it is attempted to drop and supply agricultural products directly from the conveyor of the supply device into the selection body of the weight selection device without passing through the fixed delivery member, the timing between the tray of the weight selection device and the supply device is changed. Very fine adjustment is required, and in practice there is the problem that the agricultural products supplied by the supply device do not fit well on the trays of the sorting device. In particular, in the case where the tray is moved in a horizontal plane in the weight sorting apparatus disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 1-124278, sorting is performed from a supply apparatus that continuously moves toward a horizontally moving tray. Since an object is thrown in, it is extremely difficult to match the timing of the two. Furthermore, the distance between the conveyor of the feeding device and the tray of the sorting device becomes large, and when soft fruits such as loquat are supplied, there is a problem that the surface of the fruits is damaged when dropped.

Further, in the supply device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho 63-26220, when a fruit having a soft surface is treated,
The object to be sorted is damaged by the roller and cannot be put to practical use.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to supply small objects to be supplied to a supply device one by one on a tray of the selection device without manual operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a supply device of a sorting device that can perform the sorting. It is another object of the present invention to provide a supply device capable of supplying a sorting object such as a soft and perishable fruit or a crop to a sorting device without damage. Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a compact feeder which is applicable to a sorter circulating in a horizontal plane and a sorter circulating in a vertical plane.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for supplying an object to be sorted to a sorting apparatus having a large number of trays attached to an endless chain,
The supply device is a conveyor device for sending a sorting object to a tray of the sorting device. The conveyor device includes a toothed belt and a flexible foam sheet attached to a surface of the toothed belt, and the foam sheet Is provided with a concave portion or a hole for receiving an object to be sorted, and the outlet side end of the conveyor device is located right above the sorting device.

[0014]

In the present invention having the above-described structure, the objects to be sorted A are appropriately placed one by one manually in the recesses or holes formed in the foamed sheet on the surface of the conveyor at the entrance side of the conveyor. It is placed, and in this state, it is moved toward the exit side end by the conveyor device. In this case, the distance between the adjacent recesses of the conveyor device is much smaller than the distance between the trays of the sorting device, so that the moving speed of the conveyor device is much slower than the moving speed of the tray of the sorting device. Therefore, the installation positions of the adjacent concave portions of the conveyor device are close to each other, and the moving speed of the conveyor is sufficiently low, so that the operator can easily place the sorting object (cherry, ume, etc.) in the concave portion of the conveyor device.

The toothed belt (the so-called timing belt) of the conveyor device circulates in a vertical plane, and engages with a small-diameter toothed pulley (the so-called timing pulley) at the outlet end thereof to form an endless belt of the sorting device. As it is driven by a large-diameter toothed pulley that rotates in conjunction with the chain, as the toothed belt rotates, the sorting objects placed in the recesses of the conveyor device at the exit end thereof drop one by one. Then, it is securely placed on the tray of the sorting device that comes directly below.

Using a toothed belt and a concave or perforated foam sheet attached to the surface of the belt as a supply device,
Since the sorting object is directly supplied to the sorting device, the feeding device is very compact, and the layout of the sorting device with the feeding device as a whole is not wasteful. Since the toothed belt is used, the diameter of the pulley at the outlet end can be reduced, so that the vertical height between the outlet end of the conveyor device and the tray of the sorting device is very small. Since the object to be sorted is released, the impact at the time of mounting on the tray is small, and the object to be sorted is not damaged.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings illustrating embodiments of the present invention. In the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, the chain 2A of the sorting device drive system moves in a substantially horizontal plane as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the conveyor device 40 according to the present embodiment includes a relatively small fruit such as a cherry in a direction substantially parallel to the moving direction of the chain 2A moving in the horizontal plane of the sorting device. When the tray 9 of the sorting device reaches below the exit side end of the conveyor device 40, the sorting device directly supplies the sorting objects one by one from the conveyor device. It has become.

That is, in FIG. 2, a pair of horizontal sprockets 3 are connected endlessly to a chain 2A with an attachment and rotatably supported at both left and right positions in FIG.
0 to form an elliptical moving means. One of two horizontal linear portions (FIG. 2) located parallel to each other in the moving means constitutes a sorting path L. One of the pair of horizontal sprockets 30 is connected to a drive motor (not shown) to move the moving means in the direction of the arrow in FIG.

A plurality of levers 1 (balances) for an upper balance are attached to a chain 2A with an attachment, and a tray 9 is attached to each lever 1. A plurality of weight sorting locations are provided along one linear portion of the moving means. In addition, at the upstream position of the weight sorting point, the conveyor device 4 of the present invention is used.
By 0, the sorting object is supplied onto the tray 9.

At each of the weight selection points, a transfer guide rail 5 is provided at the entrance side, at each of the weight selection points, a rail 3 is provided, and at the exit side, a transfer guide rail 6 and a braking means 8 are provided. ing. Note that the transfer guide rail 6 provided at the weight sorting portion on the upstream side of the pair of adjacent weight sorting portions may be integrally connected to the transfer guide rail 5 on the downstream side. Further, a weight applying means 4 is provided inside each of the weight selecting portions.

Corresponding to the braking means 8 on the exit side of each weight selection point, a chute 22 is provided at a position outside the moving means for receiving a sorting object from the lever 1 which has swung to the release inclined posture. Since the sorting object is a perishable fruit such as a cherry, a foam sheet, artificial turf, or the like is attached to the surface of the shoot 22 to prevent the surface of the shoot 22 from being damaged as a flexible member. Is preferred.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a large number of brackets 12 are attached to the attachment of the chain 2A with the attachment of the moving means, and the lever 1 swings on the upper part of the bracket 12 as shown in FIG. It is swingably supported around the axis R. A pan support vertical bar 1a is pivotally connected to the tip of the lever 1 by a pin 1c, and a lower end of the pan support vertical bar 1a and the bracket 12 are connected by a lever 1b and pins 1d and 1e to constitute a parallel crank mechanism. The supporting vertical bar 1a always maintains a vertical state. On the saucer support vertical bar 1a,
The sorting object A is pivotally attached to the bottom of the placing tray 9, and when the lever 1 rotates (the chain line in FIG. 5), the sorting tray 9 is inclined greatly and discharges the sorting object A to the chute 22.

Stopper 7 attached to bracket 12
(FIG. 5) holds the lever 1 that has swung to the release inclination position. A roller 13 having a circumferential groove is rotatably supported on the rear side surface of the bracket 12, and a guide rail 2B is provided along the sorting path L. The guide rail 2B is engaged with the groove of the roller 13 (FIG. 5). ). A blade 10 urged by a spring 10b is attached to the other end of the lever 1 with a pin 10
a.

The blade-shaped member 10 is provided on the transfer guide rail 5 on the entrance side of the weight selection part, and the rail 3 is provided on the weight selection part.
On the exit side, it comes into sliding contact with the transfer guide rail 6 or the braking means 8 according to the sorting result. In the state of sliding contact with the rail 3, the weight-applying means 4 causes the blade-shaped member 10 (power point a)
A preset balance weight acts on the.

The rail 3 engages with the power point a (the blade-shaped member 10) of the lever 1 that has moved to the weight selection point in the middle of the selection path L, and matches the weight set in the counterweight applying device 4 with the weight to be selected. The swing of the lever 1 is regulated according to the weight of the object A, and the following two positions are taken.

(1) When the weight of the receiving tray 9 is less than the set value, the lever 1 is in the first position shown in FIG. 6, and the lever 1 is held in a horizontal posture so that the sorting object A is placed and held on the receiving tray 9. .

(2) When the weight of the receiving tray 9 is equal to or greater than the set value, the lever 9 is in the second position shown in FIG.

The weight applying device 4 is fixedly installed inside the moving means as shown in FIG. 2, and as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the lever 15 is fixedly swingable about the axis X1. 23, a vertical frame 18 is pivotally connected to the lever 15 by an axis X2.
9 and a pin 19a, 19b connected to the fixed bracket 23 to form a parallel crank mechanism.
Is always maintained in a vertical position. The vertical frame 18 is provided with a pan 17 of a weight 16 at an upper end portion, and the rail 3 is attached to the intermediate portion at right angles to the vertical frame 18.

When the weight of the sorting object A placed on the pan 9 of the lever 1 that has been transferred to the weight sorting portion is less than the set value of the weight imparting device 4, the rail 3 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
(The first position), and the lever 1 maintains the horizontal posture. On the other hand, when the weight of the sorting object A is equal to or more than the set value of the weight applying device 4, the rail 3 is raised as shown in FIG. 7 (second position), and the lever 1 is set to the inclined posture. Therefore,
The sorting target A can be sorted by weight using the set value of the weight imparting device 4 as a threshold.

A plurality of weight selecting portions including the rail 3 and the weight applying device 4 are formed in the middle of the selecting path L, and the weight is applied from the upstream side to the downstream side as viewed in the moving direction of the chain. The set weight of the device 4 is gradually reduced.

As shown in FIG. 3, the conveyor device 40 of the present embodiment has a toothed belt (so-called timing belt) 4.
1 and a flexible foam sheet 42 adhered to the outer flat surface of the toothed belt 41. The foam sheet 42 is provided with a concave portion or a hole 42a for receiving the sorting object A (for example, a cherry) (see FIGS. 1 and 3). As shown in FIG. 2, the interval d between the holes 42a of the foam sheet 42 can be much smaller than the interval D between the trays 9 adjacent to the sorting device.

As shown in FIG. 3, the conveyor device 40 has a small-diameter toothed pulley (so-called timing pulley) 43 which engages with the toothed belt 41 at the outlet end thereof.
A large-diameter toothed pulley (so-called timing pulley) 44 that rotates in conjunction with the endless chain 2A of the sorting device is provided.

In order to make the conveyor device 40 interlock with the endless chain 2A of the sorting device, the large-diameter toothed pulley 44 is sprocketed by a known method via, for example, a bevel gear, a chain or the like (not shown). 30 may be connected. In the embodiment shown, the drive shaft 30a of the left sprocket 30 in FIG. 2 and the large toothed pulley 44 in FIG.
Are connected at a predetermined reduction ratio by a bevel gear (not shown).

The toothed belt 41 is wrapped around toothed pulleys 43 and 44 provided at the front and rear, is rotated in conjunction with the endless chain 2A of the sorting device, and is rotated by one pitch of the tray 9 and the hole of the conveyor device 40. One pitch 42a moves at the same time. Therefore, the moving speed of the conveyor device 40 is much lower than that of the tray 9.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the conveyor device 40 is parallel to the transport direction of the sorting device and slightly inclined, substantially horizontally or with its exit end approaching the tray of the sorting device. And the outlet end thereof is located directly above the sorting device. In the case of the toothed belt 41, a pulley having a smaller diameter than that of a normal chain can be used, so that the height from the tray 9 on the outlet side of the conveyor device 40 can be sufficiently reduced. Note that the conveyor device 40 may be installed so as to be orthogonal to the transfer direction of the sorting device.

In the above embodiment, the tray 9 of the sorting device moves in the horizontal plane, but the feeding device of the present invention is also applicable to a type in which the tray of the sorting device circulates in a vertical plane. it can.

[0038]

According to the present invention, a sorting device is directly supplied to a sorting device by using a conveyor device including a toothed belt and a foamed sheet with concave portions or holes attached to the surface of the belt as a feeding device. As a result, the supply device becomes very compact, and the layout of the sorting device with the supply device as a whole is not wasteful.

Further, the supply device of the present invention has a simple structure, and the portion for receiving the sorting object need only be provided with holes or recesses in the foam sheet, and there is no need to prepare special parts. It can be manufactured at low cost.

According to the present invention, since the toothed belt is used, the diameter of the pulley at the end on the outlet side can be reduced. Therefore, since the sorting object is released in a state where the vertical height between the exit side end of the conveyor device and the tray of the sorting device is very small, the impact at the time of mounting on the tray is small, and the sorting object is No damage.

According to the present invention, the toothed belt of the conveyor device circulates in a vertical plane, engages with a small-diameter toothed pulley at the outlet end thereof, and interlocks with the endless chain of the sorting device. As the toothed belt rotates, the objects to be sorted placed in the concave portion of the conveyor device at the outlet end thereof are dropped one by one, and are directly below the toothed belt as the toothed belt rotates. Can be reliably placed on the tray of the sorting device that comes to the factory. In addition, since the sheet is directly supplied from the conveyor device to the tray of the sorting device, it can be reliably placed on the tray regardless of the shape of the sorting object.

Further, according to the present invention, since the portion for receiving the sorting object in the supply device is formed by providing a hole or a concave portion in the foamed sheet, even if the sorting object is a small particle, The distance between the holes or recesses can be made sufficiently small in accordance with the size. Therefore, the spacing between adjacent recesses of the conveyor device is much smaller than the spacing of the trays of the sorting device, and the moving speed of the conveyor device is much slower than the moving speed of the trays of the sorting device. Therefore, since the installation locations of the adjacent concave portions of the conveyor device are close to each other and the moving speed of the conveyor is sufficiently low, the operator can easily place the sorting object (cherry, ume, etc.) in the concave portion of the conveyor device.

Further, as shown in the embodiment, by arranging the conveyor device in parallel above the sorting device, the feeding device and the entire sorting ground can be made compact and can be installed in a small space.

Furthermore, since the conveyor device moves in the same direction as the tray, the objects to be sorted are delivered in a state in which the relative speed of the two is low, so that the conveyor device can be reliably placed on the tray.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged plan view of a main part of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional side view of the supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of a portion IV in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view taken in the direction of the arrow V in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view taken in the direction of arrow VI in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a second position corresponding to FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

 2A Endless chain 9 Receiving tray 40 Feeding device 41 Toothed belt 42 Foam sheet 42a Receiving hole for sorting object A Sorting object (cherry)

Claims (3)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] An apparatus for supplying an object to be sorted to a sorting apparatus having a plurality of trays attached to an endless chain, the feeding apparatus being a conveyor apparatus for sending an object to be sorted to a tray of the sorting apparatus. The conveyor device comprises a toothed belt and a flexible foam sheet adhered to the surface of the toothed belt, and the flexible foam sheet is provided with a concave portion or a hole for receiving an object to be sorted, A feeder for a sorting device, wherein an outlet end of the conveyor device is located directly above the sorting device. 2. The conveyor device has a small-diameter toothed pulley engaged with the toothed belt at an outlet end thereof, and a large-diameter toothed pulley that rotates in conjunction with an endless chain of the sorting device. The supply device for a sorting device according to claim 1, wherein the supply device is provided. 3. The supply device for a sorting device according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor device is installed substantially in parallel with a linear sorting path of the sorting device.