JP2611632B2 - Method and apparatus for quantitatively supplying granular material - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for quantitatively supplying granular materials such as tangerine fruits from a conveyor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in the process of manufacturing canned tangerines, the raw tangerines are peeled and divided, then treated with chemicals to remove the endocarp, and then removed with a roll sorter to remove impurities and the like on a net conveyor. After sorting by hand, they are conveyed to the filling line. However, after splitting, the persimmon grains are generally collected on a wide net conveyor and conveyed in bulk, and are conveyed from the net conveyor to the chemical processing apparatus. And the fruits discharged from the chemical treatment device are also conveyed to a roll sorter or the like in the next process by a downstream net conveyor. If there is a variation in the supply amount of the orange fruit only to the chemical processing device, the roll sorter or the filling line, the balance between the amount of the chemical and the orange fruit is lost, and the stable treatment cannot be performed, and the damage of the fruit, impurities, etc. There is a problem that variations in the removal and sorting of the powder and variations in the filling amount occur, resulting in a reduction in quality and a reduction in productivity.

[0003] In order to solve the problem, a net weight conveyor for measuring the weight of the tangerine fruits on the net conveyor, or a tangerine layer height on the net conveyor is conventionally provided on a net conveyor for transporting tangerine fruits. Along with installing a phototube, a divider is installed upstream of the net conveyor to detect the amount of tangerine fruits transported by the net conveyor. By controlling the inflow to the net conveyor by diverting the incoming mandarin fruit,
It has been proposed to supply almost quantitatively only citrus kernels.

[0004]

However, in the conventional quantitative supply of tangerine fruits by the above-mentioned method, the detection of the amount of tangerine fruits is a weight measurement at a certain point on a net conveyor or a detection of a transport layer thickness. For this reason, the divider is operated based on the measurement result at a certain point, so that it is impossible to absorb the transport unevenness, and the operation is unstable. In addition, since the divider is provided only in the upstream part, there is a disadvantage that an excessive amount of only the persimmon grains detected on the net conveyor is transported to the next step as it is. In addition, since the divider operates only in two positions of "fully open" and "fully closed", there is a drawback that a wave of the grain size is generated every time the divider is operated. Therefore, at present, these systems are hardly used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems in a conventional quantitative supply apparatus for mandarin orange fruit and the like, and it is an object of the present invention to detect the amount of particulate matter conveyed by a conveyor in a certain range. In addition to absorbing uneven conveyance, stable control can be performed, excess amount detected on the conveyor can be divided and fed back downstream, and the amount of inflow from upstream can be controlled in multiple stages. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for quantitatively supplying a granular material, which can control the amount of conveyance so that a wave is not generated, and can supply the granular material stably and effectively.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for quantitatively supplying particulate matter according to the present invention. By controlling the positions of the upstream divider and the downstream divider, the amount of inflow from the upstream to the main transport path is controlled, and the excess is discharged from the main transport path downstream and flows to the next process by the combination of It is characterized in that the amount to be adjusted is controlled to a constant flow rate.

In addition, the apparatus for quantitatively supplying granular material according to the present invention for achieving the above method is provided at a main transport path for transporting the granular material, and at a plurality of locations above the main transport path, and the granular material transported by the main transport path is provided. A distance sensor group including a plurality of distance sensors for detecting an object at a plurality of locations, provided upstream of the distance sensor group, and operated in multiple stages according to an output signal of the distance sensor group to convey the main conveyance path. An upstream divider device for controlling the amount of particulate matter to be provided, which is provided on the downstream side of the distance sensor group, is operated in multiple stages according to the output signal of the distance sensor group, and is conveyed from the main conveyance path to the next step. And a downstream divider device for controlling the amount of particulate matter.

[0008] The upstream divider device and the downstream divider device can be composed of a divider that can be opened and closed in a direction that blocks the main transport path, and an actuator that drives the divider to rotate at a predetermined angle.

[0009] When the apparatus for quantitatively supplying particulate matter according to the present invention is applied to the quantitative supply of tangerine fruit grains in a tangerine manufacturing process, the main transport path is provided with a net conveyor arranged in an inclined manner,
A supply gutter provided upstream of the net conveyor for transporting tangerine fruits by a water flow; and a supply gutter provided at the upstream end of the net conveyor for transporting tangerine fruits by a water flow, the supply gutter being provided above the net conveyor. It is advisable to provide a distance sensor group in the area.

[0010]

A plurality of distance sensors detect the granular material at each position when the granular material passes under the detecting device,
By combining the outputs, the positions of the upstream divider and the downstream divider are controlled to discharge the excess amount from the main transport path to the branch path, the inflow from the upstream is controlled to a constant flow rate, and the next process is performed from the downstream side. The amount flowing out is controlled to a constant flow rate. Thereby, the granular material can be stably supplied to the next step.

Since the granular material conveyed in the main conveying path in a loose shape is detected in the area by a plurality of distance sensors and the divider is controlled based on the detected result, even if the flow is uneven, it can be absorbed. Since the divider can be controlled in multiple stages on both the upstream side and the downstream side, the flow can be divided little by little and accurate quantitative supply can be performed. By applying it to the quantitative supply of tangerine fruits in the tangerine manufacturing process, it is possible to reduce the damage of the tangerine fruits in the chemical treatment equipment, to treat it stably and well, and to obtain high-quality tangerine fruits. In addition, it is possible to easily remove and sort impurities and the like, and to stabilize the filling amount, improve the yield, and save labor for the weighing operation.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the quantitative supply device of the present invention is applied to a quantitative orange fruit grain supply device in a canned oranges manufacturing process will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The drawing shows an embodiment in the case of being provided on the upstream side of the chemical treatment apparatus,
1 is a wide net conveyor constituting a main transport path,
As shown in FIG. 2, the downstream side is inclined so as to be higher, and the upstream end faces the end of the supply gutter 2 that supplies the orange conveyor grains to the net conveyor 1. Mandarin orange grains are transported in the gutter by a water flow. At the end of the supply gutter 2, an upstream divider device 3 is provided for controlling the flow rate of the orange fruit only into the net conveyor 1, and the tangerine fruits separated from the supply gutter 2 by the upstream divider are fed back. Feedback conveyor 4
There is provided an upstream branch gutter 5 for transporting the water.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the upstream divider device 3 includes a supply gutter 2 and an upstream branch gutter 5.
The fully open position a-1 at which the flow of the supply gutter is completely opened and the flow to the upstream branch gutter is cut off, and the fully closed position where only the flow of the fruit cane grains is completely blocked at the supply gutter 2 A divider 6 is provided so as to swing between a-5, and the divider 6 is driven by a cylinder 7 which is an actuator whose stroke can be controlled in multiple stages.
The cylinder 7 has its end 8 pivotally supported by the machine frame 10 and its rod 9 is connected to a lever 12 fixed to the shaft 11 of the divider 6. By driving the cylinder, the divider 7 is fully opened. Drive control can be performed so that positioning can be performed in five stages of positions a-2, a-3, and a-4, which are positions obtained by equally dividing the position a-1 from the fully closed position a-5.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a tangerine fruit particle amount detecting device for detecting the amount of tangerine fruit particles conveyed by the net conveyor 1, which is dispersed over an arbitrary predetermined range above the net conveyor and extends over substantially the entire width of the net conveyor. Five distance sensors 16 _{1 to} 16 ₅ arranged to detect berries
It is composed of The distance sensors 16 _{1 to} 16 ₅ are configured by analog distance sensors, and can set an upper limit detection range or a lower limit detection range arbitrarily. By detecting whether or not it is within the range, the transport amount of the tangerine fruit grains is detected, and a height change of about 1 mm can be captured.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a connecting gutter arranged at a right angle to the upstream end of the net conveyor 1 and connected to the next process. A water supply port 21 is provided at the end of the connecting gutter to generate a constant flow of water, and the orange fruit dropped from the net conveyor. The grains are conveyed to the next step by a water flow. When the amount of the tangerine fruit particles discharged from the net conveyor 1 is larger than a prescribed value, a downstream branch gutter 22 for diverting the excess amount and transferring the same to the feedback conveyor section is provided in the connecting gutter.

At the branch between the connecting gutter 20 and the downstream branch gutter 22, a downstream divider device 24 for controlling the flow rate to the downstream branch gutter 22 is provided. The downstream divider device has basically the same configuration as the upstream divider device. However, in this device, as shown in FIG. 5, the divider 25 closes the downstream branch gutter 22 and the communication gutter 20 is closed. The flow of the connecting gutter 20 is positioned at the b-1 position where the gutter is fully opened, the b-2 position where almost half of the gutter width is closed, and the b-3 position where approximately 3/4 of the gutter width is closed. Can be controlled in four stages. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 26 denotes a pit for receiving water flowing out of the supply gutter.

The distance sensors 16 _{1 to} 16 _{5, the} upstream divider device 3 and the exit divider device 24
Is electrically connected to a programmable controller (not shown), and controls the upstream divider device and the downstream divider device by input signals from the respective distance sensors according to a preset program.

The fixed-amount supply device of this embodiment is configured as described above, and operates as follows. The tangerine fruit grains supplied from the supply gutter 2 are conveyed by the net conveyor 1, but when passing through the lower part of the tangerine fruit grain detecting device 15, the height (layer thickness) at each position is determined by five distance sensors. Is detected. The output of the analog distance detection sensor is compared with a preset value set by the programmable controller, and if the comparison result is greater than the preset value, it is determined that orange fruit grains have been detected. The output of the five distance detection sensors is used to determine the amount of orange fruit grains on the net conveyor, and to control the positions of the upstream divider and the downstream divider.

The relationship between the detection results of the five distance sensors and the position control of the upstream divider and the downstream divider is as follows. When all five distance sensors have not been detected, the upstream divider 6 is at the position a-1 (i.e., the fully open position) and the downstream divider 25 is at b-1 (i.e., the fully open position).
All the orange fruit grains flowing from the supply gutter 2 are supplied to the net conveyor, and the whole amount is conveyed from the net conveyor to the next step from the communication gutter 20. When the two distance sensors detect, the upstream divider 6 is positioned at the position a-2, and the downstream divider 25 is positioned at the position b.
2 and a small amount of water is diverted to both the upstream side and the downstream side, sent to the feedback conveyor 4 via the upstream branch gutter 5 and the downstream branch gutter 22, and stored in a recovery tank (not shown). Is collected. When three, four, or five distance detection sensors detect, the divider 6 is located at positions a-3, a-4, and a-5, respectively, the divider 25 is located at position b-3, and the upstream side Also, a large amount of water is diverted to the feedback conveyor both on the downstream side.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the control is performed on both the upstream side and the downstream side, when the amount of the tangerine fruit grains conveyed by the net conveyor is larger than the specified amount, Since the amount of inflow into the net conveyor is controlled and the excess amount is weighed and fed back on the downstream side, it is possible to always supply only a certain amount of the fruit kernels in the next step.
Since the divider can be controlled in multiple stages on both the upstream side and the downstream side, the flow can be divided little by little as compared with the conventional one in which only two positions of fully open and fully closed can be controlled, and accurate quantitative supply can be performed.

Therefore, by applying the present apparatus to a conveyor for supplying tangerine grains to a chemical processing apparatus for mandarin orange grains, it is possible to stably supply a certain amount of orange fruits only to the chemical processing apparatus without unevenness. Therefore, it is possible to stably and optimally set the amount of chemical solution to the amount of tangerine fruit in the chemical treatment device, to reduce the damage of the tangerine fruit, and to treat it stably and well. Obtainable. In addition, by applying before the roll sorter, the sorting net conveyor or the filling process, it is possible to remove or sort out foreign substances without difficulty, and the filling amount is stable, the yield is good, and the weighing in the post-process is performed. Labor saving can be achieved.

The above embodiment is directed to the case where the present invention is applied to the process of manufacturing canned oranges. However, the apparatus for quantitatively supplying granules according to the present invention is not limited to the quantitative supply of mandarin fruits. It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the quantitative supply of granules, for example, shellfish and other raw materials. And
In the above embodiment, since it is directly applied to the conventional canned canned production line, the conveyor that constitutes the main transport path is configured by a combination of a supply gutter, a net conveyor, and a communication gutter. Accordingly, the configuration of the conveyor is different, and the present invention can be applied to a case where the granular material is transported by various conveyors, for example, a normal belt conveyor. Further, the number of positioning steps of the upstream divider and the downstream divider is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be arbitrarily changed according to the use, the transport amount, and the like.

[0023]

The present invention has the following special effects. By detecting the amount of the granular material to be conveyed within a certain range, it is possible to absorb conveyance irregularities and perform stable control. By controlling the positions of the upstream divider and the downstream divider by combining the outputs of the plurality of distance sensors, the excess can be discharged from the main transport path to the branch path, so that the inflow from the upstream and the outflow from the downstream to the next process It is possible to efficiently control the flow rate to a constant flow rate.

Since the granular material conveyed on the main conveyance path is detected in the area by the plurality of distance sensors, even if the flow is uneven, it can be absorbed and the supply amount can be controlled reliably. The divider can be controlled in multiple stages both upstream and downstream,
Compared to the conventional one in which only two positions of fully open and fully closed can be controlled, the flow can be divided by a small amount, and accurate quantitative supply can be performed.

[0025] By applying the apparatus of the present invention to mandarin orange grains in a mandarin orange manufacturing process, it is possible to reduce damage to the mandarin orange grains in a chemical treatment apparatus, to stably and satisfactorily treat the mandarin orange grains. Etc. can be removed and sorted, and high-quality orange fruit grains can be obtained,
In addition, the filling amount is stable, the yield is good, and the labor for weighing can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an apparatus for quantitatively supplying particulate matter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an upstream divider unit.

FIG. 4 is a side view thereof.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a downstream divider device unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Net conveyor (main conveyance path) 2 Supply gutter 3 Upstream-side divider device 4 Feedback conveyor 5 Upstream-side branch gutter 15 Orange fruit particle amount detecting device 16 ₁ -16 ₅ Distance sensor 22 Downstream-side branch gutter 24 Downstream-side divider device

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] A granular material conveyed in a main conveyance path in a rose shape is detected by a plurality of distance sensors in an area, and the positions of an upstream divider and a downstream divider are controlled by a combination of outputs of the granulated materials, so that the upstream Controlling the amount of inflow from the main conveyance path to the main conveyance path, and controlling the flow rate of the excess amount discharged from the main conveyance path on the downstream side to the next step at a constant flow rate. . 2. A main transport path for transporting particulate matter, and a plurality of distance sensors provided at a plurality of locations above the main transport path and detecting the granular material transported on the main transport path at a plurality of locations. An upstream divider device that is provided upstream of the sensor group and the distance sensor group and that operates in multiple stages in accordance with an output signal of the distance sensor group to control the amount of particulate matter conveyed along the main conveyance path; A downstream divider device that is provided downstream of the distance sensor group and that operates in multiple stages in accordance with the output signal of the distance sensor group to control the amount of particulate matter conveyed from the main conveyance path to the next process. An apparatus for quantitatively supplying granular materials, characterized in that: 3. The granular material according to claim 2, wherein each of the upstream divider device and the downstream divider device includes a divider that can be opened and closed in a direction that shuts off the main transport path, and an actuator that drives the divider to rotate at a predetermined angle. Metering device. 4. The granulated material is tangerine fruit grains, the main transport path is a net conveyor arranged in an inclined manner, and a supply gutter provided upstream of the net conveyor for transporting tangerine fruit grains by a water flow. 4. The apparatus for quantitatively supplying particulate matter according to claim 2, further comprising: a supply gutter provided at an upstream end of the net conveyor for conveying tangerine fruits by a water flow.