JP2850213B2 - A device that aligns the posture of the eggs - 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 for aligning the sharp and blunt ends of a chicken egg, which is necessary for automatically or semi-automatically performing continuous steps such as sorting and packaging of the chicken egg, that is, the posture of the chicken egg. It relates to a device for aligning.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a chicken is placed sideways on a flat surface and pressed, the sharp end draws a small circle and the blunt end draws a large circle.
It is well known to make a fan-like movement with the sharp end toward the center. Utilizing this property, when a chicken egg is placed on two rollers and the roller is rotated, the chicken egg moves in the axial direction in which the sharp end faces.

[0003] One of the typical devices for aligning the posture of the egg by applying the property that the egg moves in the axial direction on the acute end side during rotation is a unique guide on a long roller row having a uniform outer diameter. In the process of arranging the plate and in the process of passing the eggs between the guide members, only the eggs in the direction different from the alignment direction hit the guide members and are inverted, so that all the eggs are aligned. As the guide row formed between the guide members, 6 rows, 12 rows, or the like is used depending on the processing capacity.

[0004] The second is a "device for aligning the pointed end of a chicken egg in a predetermined direction" described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 45-35214. In this apparatus, a plurality of stepped rollers (the number of processing rows, for example, six) in which the eggs move in the axial direction on the side of the sharp end due to the rotation are provided. In the course of rotation, each of the chicken eggs approaches the roller end depending on the direction within the range of the stepped roller. Thereafter, the guide is moved to the next roller by the function of the guide lowering device, with the sharp end facing down. In the roller at the next stage, the egg with the sharp end turned over only in a certain direction, and as a result, the posture of the egg is aligned.

[0005] However, in the former device, it is necessary to widen the distance between the guide members on the way in order to invalidate the reversal action of the egg which has already been directed to the target at the entrance of the guide plate. For this reason, the total width of the device is increased, and there is a disadvantage that the device protrudes from other conveyors. In addition, the chicken egg must be largely moved in the width direction along the guide plate, turned over, and then narrowed and moved again to the width of the entrance, which limits the shortening of the apparatus length.

In the latter device, the direction from the first roller to the next roller is changed during the movement by the guide lowering device, but this height difference increases the height of the entrance of the automatic sorting and packaging machine, Alternatively, there is a drawback that the height of the subsequent device is reduced.

Further, since each stepped roller contains the amount of movement of the eggs in the axial direction and the pitch is not reduced from beginning to end, the transfer device (the eggs transported in six rows by the six-row rollers to one row) can be used. Equipment for transferring to row conveyors), 1
There is a disadvantage that the speed of the row conveyor or the like is increased by the amount of the movement.

[0008] Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-64417 discloses an "apparatus for receiving or transferring an article such as an egg, a vertical conveying and supplying apparatus". This device utilizes the fact that the center of gravity of the egg is shifted toward the sharp end, and when the egg is sandwiched between two plate-like guides and slides down, the sharp end points downward in the middle. ing. However, since it is necessary to increase the falling distance of the eggs, the height of the apparatus must be increased, and the eggs are liable to be damaged.

[0009]

The object of the present invention is to make use of the fact that the center of gravity of the egg is shifted toward the sharp end, thereby making the apparatus as compact as possible and damaging the egg. There is not to be.

[0010]

The features of the apparatus for aligning the postures of chicken eggs according to the present invention are as follows. The feeding means comprises a feeding means and a delivery means, and the feeding means includes a forced rotation mechanism for rotating a roller group of a roller conveyor, and a sharp end of a chicken egg conveyed through a passage formed oppositely, either of the passage at the exit of the passage. And a guide member which is brought to one side of and discharged.

[0011] The delivery means feeds the egg egg shaft to the feeding means.
Eggs released perpendicularly and horizontally to the egg transport direction ,
Said transport method, receiving and discharging between both symmetrical sides
Around the same circumference around a drive shaft that is orthogonal to the
The tray includes a rotating tray, and a drive sleeve that is coaxial with the support shaft of the tray and moves up and down in a radial direction of a circle drawn by the tray in conjunction with rotation of the tray.

The drive sleeve is provided with an oblique hole having a common starting point and the radial vertical hole, and a pin protruding from the support shaft is positioned at the common starting point when receiving the eggs.
Allowed, the orientation of the moment relative to the support shaft by bias position of saucer received eggs, relative to the drive sleeve, a vertical hole is to move the pin without rotating the support shaft, inclined hole moves the pin The support shaft is formed to rotate by 180 ° .

That is, the eggs that have moved to the tray in the desired direction are not rotated, but the eggs that have moved to the tray in the direction opposite to the desired direction are rotated by 180 ° to align the posture, and are discharged to the conveyor in the next step.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An apparatus according to the present invention comprises
And sending means B. First, the delivery device A will be described. 1 to 6, reference numeral 1 denotes a saucer, which is formed in a substantially inverted shape and symmetrically so that the egg E can be received therebetween, and has a small impact on the egg, such as plastic. Material. The saucer 1 is provided with an elongated window (or hollow) which is narrowed in the middle so that the egg E can be stabilized when the egg E is transferred. Then, as shown in detail in Figure 4, windows 2 centers, heavy
The chicken eggs E whose hearts are biased toward the sharp end are provided at two positions slightly shifted so as to be surely settled down.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a hill-shaped projection is provided in the middle of both windows 2 so that the eggs E can settle toward the side of the center of gravity, thereby facilitating the approach of the side. Reference numeral 3 denotes a support shaft of the tray 1, and a pin 4 is provided so as to protrude at right angles.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a drive sleeve, which is formed in a semi-elliptical cylindrical shape having a transverse cross section cut along a long axis, and as shown in the developed views of FIGS. A parallel vertical hole 6 and an oblique hole 7 communicating with the upper end of the vertical hole 6, that is, a common starting point, are provided therethrough. The support shaft 3 is accommodated in the drive sleeve 5, and the pin 4 is located at a common starting point when the egg E is transferred to the tray 1.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a rotor frame, 9 denotes a rotor side frame, the support shaft 3 is pivotally attached to the rotor frame 8 in the radial direction, and the drive sleeve 5 is fixed to a sleeve fixing member 10. Also, the sleeve fixing member 10
Are slidably fitted at both ends into slits (not shown) provided in the opposed rotor side frame 9.

A drive shaft 11 has a rotor side frame 9 fixed thereto and a drive sprocket 12 fixed at one end. The drive shaft 11 is rotated by a motor (not shown) via an endless chain, resulting in a support shaft. The shaft 3 and the pan 1 rotate.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a fixed member pivotally mounted on the drive shaft 11.
The disk cam is fixed to a frame (not shown). Reference numeral 14 denotes a cam follower, which is pivotally attached to both ends of the sleeve fixing member 10. A return spring 15 connects the rotor side frame 9 and the cam follower 14.

Receiving tray 1, support shaft 3, drive sleeve 5
Are arranged in the rotor frame 8 at equal intervals, for example, six rows of the eggs E being transported. Further, each row is composed of a plurality of sets, for example, eight sets radially arranged at equal intervals around the drive shaft 11. As a result, six rows of the trays 1 are arranged on the same circumference of the rotor frame 8 at equal intervals.

With this configuration, when the drive shaft 11 is rotated, the pan 1 rotates and the cam follower 14 moves up and down while sliding on the fixed disk cam 13. Sleeve 5
Also move up and down. Instead of the cam mechanisms 13 and 14 of the embodiment,
It is also possible to use a known crank mechanism, link mechanism, or the like.

Next, the feeding means B for feeding the eggs E to the tray 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. Reference numeral 21 denotes a roller conveyor connected to a supply conveyor (not shown), reference numeral 22 denotes a sprocket, and reference numeral 23 denotes a roller conveyor chain, which is wound around a sprocket 22 driven by a motor (not shown). 24 is a roller which is driven by a roller conveyor chain 23. A guide member 25 is provided above the roller conveyor 21 at equal intervals.
Between them, for example, six rows of passages 26 for eggs E are formed.

Numeral 27 denotes a forced rotation mechanism, which uses a plastic chain in the embodiment, and slidably contacts the bottom surface of the group of rollers 24 by a driving device (not shown) to forcibly rotate the group of rollers 24. Therefore, the egg E between the rollers 24 is also rotated, and as shown in FIG. 7, the egg E to be transported is moved in the axial direction on the acute end side as described above, and is opposed to the passage 26. The sharp end contacts one of the guide members 25 to be formed and moves.

In the vicinity of the exit of the passage 26, the egg E between the rollers 24 whose rotation has been stopped also stops rotating, and the sharp end of the egg 26 is kept in contact with or close to the guide member 25. It is conveyed toward the exit. At the exit of the passage 26, the egg E is discharged to the ascending tray 1 in one of the directions shown by the solid line and the imaginary line, as shown in FIG.

Here, the sharp end of the egg E transported in the passage 26 abuts on one of the opposing guide members 25,
Alternatively, since it is only necessary to release the gas in a close state, the passage 26
Width W of, at most 65~70mm der length of Ootama eggs
In consideration of this, 75 mm is usually sufficient.

Since the length of a small egg is about 40 mm or more, the axial movement to the sharp end side is 10 to 3 mm.
Since 0 mm is enough, the length L required for releasing the egg E is
It can be as short as about 30cm.

The egg E released from the roller conveyor 21
Was located at a position biased at the exit of the passage 26,
Is received at the offset position. For example, in FIG. 7, the egg E shown by the solid line moves on the left side of the saucer 1 with the sharp end on the left, and the egg E 'shown by the imaginary line moves on the right side of the saucer 1 with the sharp end on the right.

At the moment when the egg E moves onto the tray 1, a moment is generated with the sharp end side down about the support shaft 3. This is because the direction of the deviation is always on the acute end side, and the center of gravity of the egg E is slightly shifted toward the acute end side. That is, the direction of the moment with respect to the support shaft 3 changes depending on the direction of the deviation of the egg E.

On the other hand, as described above, the drive sleeve 5 is provided coaxially with the support shaft 3, and when the egg E is transferred to the saucer 1, the pin 4 moves to the common starting point of the vertical hole 6 and the oblique hole 7. is there. Therefore, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 7, when the egg E moves to the left side of the saucer 1, the moment a shown by the solid line in FIG. 12 acts on the left side of the saucer 1, and the pin 4 moves through the vertical hole 6. The support shaft 3 does not rotate, and thus the pan 1 does not rotate either. On the contrary, chicken egg E 'shown by imaginary line
When the vehicle moves to the right side of the tray 1, the moment b shown by the imaginary line in FIG.
Moves in the oblique hole 7, the support shaft 3 rotates, and the pan 1 also rotates.

In order to align all the eggs E with the sharp ends to the left as shown in FIG. 7, the axis of the egg E 'transferred on the right side of the saucer 1 is rotated by 180 ° in the horizontal direction. It must be discharged to the next step conveyor 31 as shown. for that reason,
The oblique hole 7 of the drive sleeve 5 sets the length, angle, and the amount of movement of the drive sleeve 5 such that the support shaft 3 rotates by 180 ° during reception and release of the egg E ′ in the saucer 1. .

When the common starting point of the vertical hole 6 and the oblique hole 7 is close to the rotation center of the support shaft 3, the angle difference between the pan 1 and the pan 1 is determined in order to distinguish whether the moment acts on the left or right of the pan 1. There are major disadvantages. In order to solve this, the drive sleeve 5 is made elliptical as shown in FIG. 6 and when the pin 4 comes to the common starting point side, the support shaft 3
The distance from the center of rotation is set.

The group of receiving trays, which have completed the delivery of the eggs E to the conveyor 31 in the next step, are raised by the action of the fixed disk cam 13 and the return spring 15 while returning to the initial position where the eggs E are received. When the tray 1 is rotated by 180 °, the pin 4 reversely moves through the oblique hole 7 and returns to the common starting point, which is the position at the time of receiving the egg E.

In order to stably receive the eggs, the saucer 1
The larger the window 2, the better. On the contrary, the large window 2 becomes an obstacle when the eggs are transferred to the next process. In order to solve this contradiction, as shown in FIGS. 10 to 12, the fixed disk cam 13 is provided with a projection 13 'for raising the drive sleeve 5 immediately before delivery of the eggs to the next step, and as shown in FIG. In the vertical hole 6 and the oblique hole 7, there are provided extension holes 6 'and 7' which are parallel to the support shaft 3 and have a length corresponding to the length of the protrusion 13 '.

Further, a movable bottom 2 which protrudes and disappears from the window 2 of the pan 1
8 is pivotally attached to the bottom surface of the tray 1, and an extension arm 29 that pushes up the movable bottom 28 and protrudes from the window 2 is attached to the traveling side surface of the drive sleeve 5. Reference numeral 30 denotes a return spring.

With this configuration, even if the window 2 is large, the eggs E released from the movable bottom 28 are pushed up immediately before delivery, so that smooth delivery is possible.

[0036]

According to the present invention, regardless of the direction of the sharp end, the eggs are released in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the roller conveyor.
The width of the path of the roller conveyor is about 75 mm, and only the eggs that need to be aligned have their axes rotated 180 ° horizontally, so that only this device does not protrude from other conveyor rows, and the length of the device is also small. Since the configuration can be shortened, the entire automatic processing machine can be made compact.

Since the drop between the roller conveyor and the next conveyor is small, the impact on the eggs is small, and the structural effect on the entire automatic processing machine is also small.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a main part of a delivery mechanism.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a delivery mechanism.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of a rotation mechanism including a tray, a support shaft, and a drive sleeve.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view of the rotation mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a view as viewed from I in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a drive sleeve.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the feeding mechanism, showing a state in which chicken eggs are discharged to a saucer.

FIG. 8 is a schematic side view of a feeding mechanism and a tray when a chicken egg is transferred.

FIG. 9 is a schematic side view of a main part of a delivery mechanism in a state where eggs are discharged to a next process conveyor.

FIG. 10 is a side view of a rotation mechanism provided with a movable bottom.

FIG. 11 is a front view of a saucer provided with a movable bottom.

FIG. 12 is a development view of the drive sleeve when a movable bottom is provided.

FIG. 13 is a side view showing a state in which a rotation mechanism provided with a movable bottom releases chicken eggs.

[Explanation of symbols]

A Delivery means 1 Receiving tray 2 Window 3 Support shaft 4 Pin 5 Drive sleeve 6 Vertical hole 7 Slanted hole 10 Sleeve fixing member 13 Fixing plate circular cam 14 Cam follower B Sending means 21 Roller conveyor 23 Roller conveyor chain 25 Guide member 26 Passage 27 Forced rotation Mechanism 28 movable bottom 29 extended arm

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] Claims: 1. An apparatus comprising: sending means and delivery means;
The feeding means includes a forcible rotation mechanism for rotating a roller group of a roller conveyor, and a guide member for discharging an acute end of a chicken egg conveyed in a path formed opposite to one side of the path at an exit of the path. And the delivery means is a chicken egg
The egg is released between the two symmetrical pieces, with the axis of
Centering on the drive shaft for ejection, perpendicular to the transport direction
The pan that rotates on the same circumference as the circle, and the radius of the circle drawn by the pan in coordination with the rotation of the pan, coaxial with the support shaft of the pan
A drive sleeve that moves up and down in the direction.The drive sleeve is provided with an oblique hole having a common starting point and the radial vertical hole, so that a pin protruding from the support shaft is commonly used when receiving eggs. Positioned at the starting point , depending on the direction of the moment with respect to the support shaft due to the deviation of the position of the egg received by the saucer, relative to the drive sleeve, the vertical hole moves the pin without rotating the support shaft,
The oblique holes move the pins to rotate the support shaft 180 °.
A device that aligns the posture of the eggs that are formed so that they can be moved . 2. The egg delivery system according to claim 1, wherein the delivery means includes a cam mechanism for raising and lowering the drive sleeve, the cam mechanism comprising a fixed disk cam and a cam follower pivotally attached to a sleeve fixing member to which the drive sleeve is fixed. A device that aligns postures. 3. The receiving tray has a window and a movable bottom that projects into and out of the window, the fixed disk cam has a projection that raises the drive sleeve immediately before the egg is released, and the drive sleeve has a projection that moves when raised by the projection. 3. The device for aligning the postures of eggs according to claim 2, wherein extension arms for pushing up the bottom and pushing the eggs out of the window are provided.