JP3254287B2 - Combination weighing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention mainly weighs articles to be weighed (hereinafter referred to as "articles") such as confectionery and vegetables using a large number of weighing instruments, and selects an optimum combination of articles from the weighing results. The present invention relates to a combination weighing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A combination weighing apparatus combines articles having different weights such as confectionery, fruits and vegetables to obtain a target weight. In a combination weighing apparatus of this type, an article is conveyed by a conveyance conveyor, supplied to a plurality of drive feeders radially arranged on the periphery of the conveyer via a conical dispersion feeder, and the corresponding weighing is performed from each drive feeder. Supplied to hopper. The weighing values (article weights) obtained by these weighing hoppers are subjected to combination processing by combination control means, whereby an optimal combination of weighing hoppers (articles) is selected. That is, the combination closest to the target weight is selected based on the weighing values of the plurality of weighing hoppers. The selected articles are collectively discharged through a collective discharge chute.

Conventionally, in this combination weighing apparatus, as a method of smoothly discharging articles without overlapping in the collecting / discharging chute, for example, a plurality of selected weighing hoppers are opened with a certain time interval (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H11-163, 1988). Fairness 1
No. 52406) or a process of sequentially discharging articles by dividing the selected weighing hoppers into a plurality (for example, three) groups and opening the weighing hoppers with a certain time interval between each group. Has been done.

[0004]

However, when the weighing hoppers or the groups of the weighing hoppers are sequentially opened at a fixed time interval as described above, the weight (or volume) of the articles for each weighing hopper or for each group is reduced. Is not constant. Therefore, the time required for the articles to flow down in a vertical line on the collecting and discharging chute varies between weighing hoppers or between groups.

However, since the discharge time interval of each weighing hopper or each group is constant, the articles discharged from the weighing hopper or the group having a large article weight, that is, the articles in a vertically long line, are completely discharged. Until the next weighing hopper or group discharges the goods before they are collected, overlapping occurs.In extreme cases, the flowability of the goods deteriorates, and the lower opening of the collecting / discharging chute becomes clogged, making it impossible to collect the goods. There is. On the other hand, if the time difference between the opening timings of the weighing hoppers is set to be longer than necessary to avoid this, there is a problem that the cycle time of the weighing and discharging process becomes longer and the work efficiency is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a combination weighing device capable of discharging articles smoothly and efficiently without clogging.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a combination weighing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a plurality of weighing devices each for weighing an article and a combination for performing combination based on the weighing values of the weighing devices. In a configuration comprising a calculating means and a chute for collecting the articles according to the combination selected by the combination calculating means, each of the plurality of weighing hoppers accommodating the articles according to the selected combination corresponds to each weighing value. A discharge time calculating means for calculating a discharge allocation time per one weighing hopper, and the combination calculating means.
Each of the selected weighing hoppers is
Discharge control means for sequentially opening and discharging articles onto the chute with a time interval corresponding to the discharge allotment time per piece is provided.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the time interval between the opening of one weighing hopper and the opening of the next weighing hopper is determined by the weighing hopper corresponding to the weighing value of the articles stored in the previous weighing hopper.
Since the discharge time is set according to the discharge allotment time per one hopper, the articles sequentially discharged from the respective weighing hoppers do not overlap on the chute, and the smooth discharge of the articles without clogging becomes possible.

[0009]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, a conveyor 1 is a conveyor for dropping articles M sent from a production line to the center of a flat conical dispersion feeder 2. On the periphery of the dispersion feeder 2, n vibration feeders 3 are provided. Each of the vibration feeders 3 drives the article M on the dispersion feeder 2 to the n pool hoppers 4 by driving according to the set feeding force value, that is, by vibrating the set number of times and the number of times. . Each pool hopper 4 is provided with a gate 5, and n weighing hoppers 6 are provided below the gate 5. Each weighing hopper 6 is provided with a hopper weight weighing device 7 and a gate 8. A collecting and discharging chute 9 is provided below the gate 8, and a packaging machine 14 is provided below the collecting and discharging chute 9.

The hopper weighing device 7 is composed of, for example, a load cell in which a strain detecting element such as a strain gauge is attached to a strain body, weighs the article M in the weighing hopper 6, and outputs the weighed value to a weight signal w. Output as In the control unit U, a combination calculating means 10, a discharge time calculating means 11 and a discharge control means 12 are incorporated, and the weight signal w is inputted to the combination calculating means 10. The combination calculating means 10 combines the weighing values from the hopper weighing device 7, that is, the n weighing hoppers 6.
The optimum combination of the weighing hoppers 6 (the optimum combination of the articles) is selected by combining the weights of the articles M stored in the hoppers. Specifically, among the weighing values from the hopper weight weighing device 7, the combination of m (n> m) weighing values is added, and this is compared with the target weight. Select the combination that gives the value closest to the weight or target weight.

The combination data obtained by the combination calculating means 10 is input to the discharge time calculating means 11. The discharge time calculating means 11 calculates a required discharge time according to the measured value of each of the m weighing hoppers 6 containing the articles M according to the selected combination . The calculation of this, and the combined data, and emissions allocated time T of the data input from the remote control unit 13 to the discharge time computing means 11 by the operator is used. In other words, the required discharge time is equivalent to one weighing hopper.
It corresponds to the emission allotment time.

The emission allocating time T in this case is defined as
Of the processing time Ts for one cycle from completion of weighing to completion of packaging, the time allotted as the time required for the article M to be discharged from the combination-selected weighing hopper 6 via the weight discharge chute 9 in the combination selected. It is. For example, if the processing time Ts for one cycle is 3 seconds, 2 seconds is allocated as the discharge allocation time T.

The discharge time data obtained by the discharge time calculation means 11 is input to the discharge control means 12. The discharge control means 12 discharges the articles M onto the collective discharge chute 9 by sequentially opening each weighing hopper 6 with a time interval corresponding to the required discharge time.

Next, the operation of the combination weighing device will be described. The articles M are sent from the transport conveyor 1 onto the dispersion feeder 2, are further discharged through the drive feeder 3, the pool hopper 4, the weighing hopper 6 and the collecting discharge chute 9 to the packaging machine 14, and are packed in bags. At this time, the combination calculating means 10 selects the optimal combination of m weighing hoppers 6 as described above.

The combination selection data obtained by the combination calculating means 10 is input to the discharge time calculating means 11. The discharge time calculation means 11 performs the following calculation processing. (1) A result is obtained in which the weights of the stored articles M in the selected weighing hoppers 6 are sorted in order of weight (w ₁ , w ₂ ,..., W _m ). (2) The sum W = (w ₁ + w ₂ +... + W _m-1 ) of the weight of the discharged contents M is obtained. In this case, the minimum weight w _m is not added. Note that the total value W in this case may be replaced with a predetermined set value such as the target weight described above, in which case the minimum weight is also added.

(3) Based on these calculated data, it is assumed that the weighing hoppers 6 with the heavier weighing values are sequentially opened, and the opening time difference between the weighing hoppers 6 opened before and after is determined by the required time of the preceding weighing hopper. Discharge time , ie one weighing hopper
It is calculated as follows, assuming that it is equal to the time interval corresponding to the per-discharge allotment time . Weighing value w ₁ of the weighing hoppers 6 ₁ of the open time difference t from the point to the open time of the weighing hoppers 6 ₂ of the measured value _{w 2 1: T × (w} 1 / W) opening of the weighing hoppers 6 ₂ of the weighing value w ₂ time difference from the time to the open time of the weighing hoppers 6 ₃ the weighing _{w 3 t 2: T × (} w 2 / W) · · ·: · · · · · · ·: · · · · metric w _m-1 The time difference t _m-1 from the time when the weighing hopper 6 _m-1 is opened to the time when the weighing hopper 6 _m of the weighing value w is opened: T × (w _m-1 / W) These time differences t _{1 to} tm _-1 FIG. 2 shows the relationship between the emission allocation time T and the one-cycle processing time Ts.

The data of the opening time differences t ₁ , t ₂ ,..., T _m-1 calculated by the discharge time calculating means 11 of FIG. 1 are input to the discharge control means 12, and based on the data, each of the weighing hoppers 6.
_i (i = 1 to m) are sequentially released. In other words, the heaviest at the time when the weight value w ₁ of the weighing hoppers 6 ₁ time since the open _{t 1 = T × (w 1} / W) has elapsed, the weighing hopper 6 ₂ of the next heaviest weight value w ₂ is opened is, then when the time _{t 2 = T × (w 2} / W) has elapsed, the time difference opened to that weighing hopper 6 ₃ of the next heaviest weight value w ₃ is opened is repeated sequentially, the weighing value w _{m -1} weighing hopper 6
_{When the} time t _m-1 = T × (w _m-1 / W) elapses from the time when the _m-1 is released, the weighing hopper 6 _{m having} the lightest weighing value w _m is obtained.
Is released.

The articles M in each weighing hopper 6 _i, at the time of downhill is the upper discharge sheet 9 and the elongated feed member, the length of the aggregate is proportional to the weight. Here, in this invention, the heavy weight value of the weighing hoppers 6 ₁ from each weighing hopper 6 _i and remembering time interval corresponding to the weight value is opened, as shown in FIG. 3, from each weighing hopper 6 _i Each group of articles M that are discharged and slide down on the collective discharge chute 9 is discharged smoothly without their front and rear portions overlapping on the collective discharge chute 9.

The time required for the lightest weighing value w _m to be discharged from the weighing hopper 6 _{m of} FIG. 1 and stored in the packaging bag set in the packaging machine 14 by the collecting and discharging chute 9 is ΔT, Assuming that the required time for the packaging process by the packaging machine 14 is T ₁ , and the total required time for one cycle from weighing the article M to completing the packaging is Ts, the discharge allocating time input and set by the remote operation unit 13. T is
It is set so as to satisfy the following relation _{Ts = T + ΔT + T 1} ( see FIG. 2). The discharge allotment time T is set to a certain value such that the collection of vertically long articles M before and after the discharge does not overlap, and to a value such that the total required time Ts of one cycle does not become unnecessarily long. Adjusted and set.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the weighing hoppers 6 are opened in the order of the weighing values is described. However, the weighing hoppers 6 may be opened in the order of the lightest weighing values. 6 may be released in the order of the identification numbers given in advance, and the release order may be set in any manner.

The present invention can be similarly applied to a case where the combination-selected weighing hoppers 6 are divided into a plurality of groups and the opening timings are made different for each group. In other words, the total weighed values of each group may be sorted, and the weighing hoppers of each group may be opened with a time interval according to the total weighed value in the order of weight or lightness.

[0022]

As described above, according to the combination weighing device of the present invention, the time interval between the opening of one weighing hopper and the opening of the next weighing hopper is the same as that of the previous weighing hopper. Discharge of stored goods per weighing hopper
Since the setting is made in accordance with the assigned time , the articles sequentially discharged from the respective weighing hoppers can be prevented from overlapping on the chute, and the articles can be discharged smoothly and efficiently without clogging.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a combination weighing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a time interval of opening a weighing hopper of the weighing device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an operation of discharging an object to be weighed in the weighing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 dispersion feeder, 3 drive feeder, 6 weighing hopper, 7 hopper weight weigher, 9 collective discharge chute, 1
0 ... combination calculation means, 11 ... discharge time calculation means, 12 ...
Emission control means, M: articles.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of weighing devices each for weighing an article, a combination calculating means for performing a combination based on the weighed value of the weighing device, and an article associated with the combination selected by the combination calculating means. in the combination weighing device and a chute, corresponding to the metric value for each of the plurality of <br/> weighing hoppers accommodating the article according to the combination which is the selected, metered
A discharge time calculating means for calculating a discharge allocating time per one hopper; and a plurality of weighing hoppers selected by the combination calculating means , respectively, when the discharge allocating per one weighing hopper is performed.
The combination weighing apparatus characterized by comprising a discharge control means for discharging onto the chute sequentially open to article remembering time interval corresponding to between.