JP3498178B2 - Long onion peeling machine and continuous cutting and peeling machine - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an onion peeling machine and a continuous cutting / peeling treatment machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, there has been known a long-green onion cutting machine for removing unused parts such as leaves and roots of harvested long green onion. On the other hand, it is a type of washing machine that blows compressed air from the leaf side of the harvested long onion toward the root side to blow off the epidermis of the onion and the soil and sand adhering to the surface to remove it. A peeling machine is also known.

Then, these treatments are continuously carried out, that is, while the harvested long green onions are being conveyed, the leaves and roots thereof are cut, and the long onions after cutting are continuously conveyed to the peeling processing position. A long-green onion cutting and peeling machine for peeling long green onions at this peeling position is also known.

An example of such a long-cut onion cutting / peeling continuous processing machine is shown in FIG. The long green onion cutting / peeling continuous processing machine 50 is equipped with a transporting means for transporting the long green onion N to be processed in a horizontal state. The transporting means includes a plurality of buckets 51 carrying the long green onion N. It is provided. On the outer side of the root side of each bucket 51, the long onion N to be cut corresponding to each bucket.
A plurality of root holding members that hold the roots of the are provided. Further, a root cutting cutter 52 that cuts the root of the long green onion and a leaf cutting cutter 53 that cuts the leaf are provided on the side of the carrying means substantially at the center in the carrying direction. Further, a nozzle 54 for ejecting compressed air is provided at a stripping position on the downstream side of the position where these cutters 52, 53 are provided.

In the cutting / peeling continuous processing machine 50,
A long green onion N mounted in the bucket 51 and conveyed from the upstream side.
First, the roots and leaves are cut by the cutters 52 and 53. Then compressed, the leek N cut the root and the leaves were conveyed to skinning processing position, the skinning process position, the operator (not shown) grip the leaf of the leek N, is ejected from the nozzle 54 Air is used to blow away adhering substances such as epidermis attached to the surface. Then, the skin and the like blown off by the compressed air are collected in a dust collecting hood (not shown) provided on the opposite side of the nozzle 54 with the bucket 51 interposed therebetween. By the way, since the epidermis of the stalk is removed when the peeling treatment of long onion N is performed,
When the compressed air is blown from the nozzle 54 to the long onion N , it is desirable to blow the compressed air from the boundary between the leaf portion and the stem portion toward the stem portion. Therefore, in the past, an operator puts the green onion N at an appropriate position with respect to the nozzle 54 .

[0006]

However, an operator who carries out the peeling treatment with the conventional peeling treatment apparatus as described above is
It is mentally painful because the monotonous work is repeated. Therefore, mechanization has been desired for the peeling process. However, in mechanization, when blowing compressed air from the nozzle to the onion, just ensure sufficient positioning accuracy when blowing compressed air from the boundary between the leaf and the stem toward the stem. Was difficult.
For this reason, mechanization is difficult, and in the end, the operator has to do it. For this problem,
It has been considered to perform image processing to position the leaves of long green onions, but this is not realistic because the device used for image processing is expensive and the entire device becomes expensive.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide compressed air sprayed from a nozzle when performing peeling treatment of long green onions, which can be blown just from the boundary between the leaves and stems of long green onions. It is to provide a peeling machine and a continuous cutting / peeling processing machine .

[0008]

The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention, which has solved the above-mentioned problems, has a long peeling means provided with a nozzle for blowing compressed air onto the epidermis of long onion to remove it. In the onion peeling machine, the peeling means is
Along the longitudinal direction of the onion in the peeling position, is relatively movable with respect to the onion, the onion has a case inserted from the root side to cover the onion, At the tip of this case, long onion width detecting means for detecting the width of the long green onion is arranged, the nozzle is arranged inside the case, and the case is arranged in a direction to cover the long green onion. The onion is relatively moved, and the relative movement between the case and the onion is stopped when the specified value of the width of the leaf portion of the onion is detected by the onion width detection means. , A compression method in which the case and the onion are relatively moved in a direction in which the onion is extracted from the case, and the position at which the onion stem is detected by the onion width detection means is ejected from the nozzle. Positioning control to position to start blowing air A skinning machine leek, characterized in that it comprises a skinning control unit performs.

According to the first aspect of the invention, the width of the detection site in the onion is detected by the onion width detecting means while moving the onion width detecting means relative to the onion. When the width of the detection site in the onion detected by the onion width detecting means reaches a predetermined specified value, control is performed to position the position where the blowing of the compressed air injected from the nozzle is started. . Therefore, when the peeling process of the long green onion is performed, the compressed air sprayed from the nozzle can be blown just from the boundary between the leaf part and the stem part of the long green onion. Moreover, as the long onion width detecting means, for example, a fiber sensor or the like can be used, so that the entire apparatus does not become too expensive.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transporting means for transporting the green onion, and the transporting means has an upstream side from a position where the peeling means is provided.
Thickness detecting means for detecting the thickness of the long green onions as the skinning of the target and is disposed, based on the thickness of the long green onion detected by the thickness detecting means, the leaves in the long green onion
2. The specified value of the width of the part is set.
The onion peeling machine described in 1.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the thickness of the onion is detected, and the specified value of the onion at the time of starting the spraying control is set according to the thickness of the onion. . Therefore, even when there are various thicknesses of the long onion, the compressed air jetted from the nozzle can be blown just from the boundary between the leaf and the stem of the long onion.

The invention according to claim 3 is described in claim 2.
The root side of the conveying means skinning machine leek of strip cutting and skin leek characterized in that root cutting means comprising a cutting blade for cutting handle root of the long green onion are provided It is a continuous processor.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in the continuous cutting and peeling treatment of long green onion, the compressed air jetted from the nozzle when performing the peeling treatment of long green onion is just like long green onion leaves. It can be sprayed from the boundary between the stem and the stem.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the thickness detecting means is arranged upstream of a position in the conveying means where the root cutting means is provided, and the root cutting means is Along with irradiating the cut surface of the root of the long onion with light, a reflection sensor is provided for detecting the amount of light reflected on the cut surface of the long onion, and the cutting blade is moved forward in the direction of the long onion. A forward movement means for causing the reflection amount of light detected by the reflection sensor to cut the stem of the long green onion.
The cutting of the green onion according to claim 3, further comprising control means for controlling to stop the forward movement of the cutting blade by the forward movement means when a predetermined value indicating a surface is reached.・ It is a continuous peeling machine.

According to the invention of claim 4, it is possible to appropriately cut the root portion according to the thickness of the onion. At this time,
A sensor for detecting the thickness of the long onion is used.
In the invention according to (1), since the thickness sensor is used for both cutting and peeling, the device can be simplified accordingly.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the entire cutting / peeling continuous processing machine of long green onion according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view thereof. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a cutting / peeling continuous processing machine (hereinafter referred to as “continuous processing machine”) 1 according to the present invention has a base pedestal 2 having a rectangular planar shape. Support shafts 3A and 3B are rotatably supported by bearings at the upstream end and the downstream end of the base frame 2 in the transport direction (direction of arrow X in the drawing), respectively. These spindles 3A,
Sprockets 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D having the same diameter are fixed to the root-side end and the leaf-side end of 3B, and the chain 5 is attached to these sprockets 4A and 4B.
A is a chain 5B wound around the sprockets 4C and 4D so as to be endless. Further, a motor M is connected via a belt to a sprocket 4E provided at the end of the downstream support shaft 3B,
The support shaft 3B functions as a drive shaft, and the support shaft 3A functions as a driven shaft.

Between the chains 5A and 5B, a plurality of carrying members 6 on which the long green N to be processed are mounted are attached at substantially constant intervals in the carrying direction. All of these conveying members 6 have the same shape, and as shown in FIG. 3, a leaf mounting base 6A on which the leaf of the long onion N is mounted and a stem mounting base on which the stem is mounted. 6B and a root mounting table 6C on which the root is mounted. The leaf placement table 6A has a flat plate surface, and the stem placement table 6B and the root placement table 6C both have V-shaped side surfaces, and the lateral direction of the onion N The movement is suppressed. The chains 5A, 5B and the conveying members 6, 6 ... Constitute the conveying means of the present invention.

A cutting device 7 is provided on the root side of the base pedestal 2 at a substantially central position in the carrying direction, which serves as root cutting means for cutting the root of the long onion N. Cutting device 7
As shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), is equipped with a base 7A, and a rotary blade 7B that cuts the root of the long onion by rotating at high speed is pivotally supported on the base 7A. Has been done. The rotary blade 7B has a symmetrical shape of a corrugated shape in which the central portion is thicker and the width is narrower toward the tip portion when viewed from the front, and the blade is formed on the outer side portion thereof. Further, behind the rotary blade 7B (upper side in FIG. 1), a motor 7C for rotating the rotary blade 7B which is the cutting blade of the present invention is attached to the base 7A.

Further, a reflective sensor 7D is provided below the base 7A. This reflective sensor 7D
Has a light projecting section and a light receiving section, and of the light L emitted from the light projecting section, the light reflected by the object is received by the light receiving section, and the reflection amount of the light received by the light receiving section is measured. Is. The reflection amount of the received light is converted into a voltage and shown. The reflection type sensor 7D is disposed on the opposite side of the long onion N mounted on the conveying member 6 with the rotary blade 7B sandwiched therebetween, and the cutting portion of the long green N mounted on the conveying member 6 via the rotary blade 7B. It can be projected on. In addition, the corrugated rotary blade 7B is rotated so that the reflective sensor 7B is rotated.
C repeats passing and blocking of the light projected on the cut surface of the long green N. A proximity sensor 7E is arranged at a symmetrical position of the reflective sensor 7D with the motor 7C interposed therebetween. Here, since the rotary blade 7B has a symmetrical shape,
When the light projected from the reflective sensor 7D irradiates one blade portion of the rotary blade 7B, the proximity sensor 7E detects the other blade portion of the rotary blade 7B. Therefore, the proximity sensor 7E causes the reflective sensor 7D to move to the rotary blade 7B.
It is possible to detect whether or not irradiation is being performed or the cutting portion of the long onion N is being irradiated.

Further, in the rear of the base 7A, as shown in FIG.
As shown in, a motor cylinder 7F that serves as a forward moving means is provided. The tip of this motor cylinder 7F is
It is connected to the base 7A, and by driving the motor cylinder 7F, the rotary blade 7B can be moved forward in the direction of the onion N (Y direction in FIG. 1) via the base 7A. There is. Of course, the base 7A can be retracted by driving the motor cylinder 7F in the opposite direction. Further, a cleaning nozzle 7G for injecting cleaning air is arranged beside the reflective sensor 7D. When the cutting dust is scattered by cutting the long green onion N, the cutting dust may adhere to the reflection type sensor 7D and the accuracy of the reflection type sensor 7D may be deteriorated. In order to prevent such a situation, when the cutting operation of the long green N is being performed, the cleaning air is appropriately supplied from the cleaning nozzle 7G to the reflective sensor 7.
The reflection type sensor 7D can be washed by injecting toward D.

Further, at the front position of the cutting device 7, there is provided a holding member 8 which holds the root of the long onion N by pressing it against the conveying member 6 when cutting the root of the long onion N. As shown in FIG. 5A, the pressing member 8 has a pressing pad 8A for pressing the long onion N against the conveying member 6, and a support bar 8B is provided on the front side of the pressing pad 8A. There is.
The support bar 8B is biased downward by a spring 8C. Further, the pressing member 8 has a supporting arm 8D for vertically moving the pressing pad 8A and the supporting bar 8B. Then, as shown in FIG. 5B, by lowering the pressing pad 8A and the supporting bar 8B by the supporting arm 8D, the end portion of the long onion N can be pressed by the pressing pad 8A and the conveying member 6.
Further, since the support bar 8B is biased downward by the spring 8C, the long green N can be supported by the support bar 8B. In this state, the rotary blade 7 of the cutting device 7
By rotating B, the root of the long onion N is cut.

An optical sensor 9 serving as a thickness sensor of the present invention is provided on the upstream side of the cutting device 7 in the conveying means, as shown in FIG. This optical sensor 9 detects whether or not the long onion N is present at the lower position, and the presence signal is transmitted to the disconnection control means, for example, the control device 10 including a programmable logic controller. In the present embodiment, this control device 10
Also constitutes the peel control device of the present invention. Control device 1
At 0, the time when the long onion N was present was measured, and the thickness of the long onion N was calculated from the time when the long onion N was present and the moving speed of the transport member 6. In this way, the thickness of the long onion N is detected.

On the other hand, on the downstream side of the position where the cutting device 7 is provided in the conveying means, a peeling device 11 for peeling the epidermis of the long onion N is provided. The peeling device 11
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a hollow guide member 21 extending along the longitudinal direction of the long onion N placed on the conveying member 6 is provided, and the hollow guide member 21 is fitted into the guide member 21. A hollow case 22 is also provided. An inclined plate 22A is provided at the tip of the case 22 so that the long onion N can be easily inserted when the long onion N is inserted into the case 22. Inside the case 22, a long green onion guide member 22B having a V-shaped cross section is arranged. The long green onion N inserted into the case 22 is stored in the V-shaped groove portion of the long green onion guide member 22B, and thus is straightly inserted into the case 22. By being inserted straight into the case 22, the compressed air is evenly blown and the leaves are also straightened, and the accuracy in detecting the width of the onion N described later can be increased. Further, since the volume of the portion of the case 22 through which the compressed air passes is reduced by the guide member 22B, the blowing force of the compressed air can be increased accordingly.

On the side of the case 22, the case 22 is provided.
Member 23 for moving the relative to the onion N
Is provided. The case 22 is the slide member 2
3 allows movement in the direction of the onion N (Z direction in FIG. 1). The slide member 23 has a slide block 23A and a ball screw 23B. Further, the slide block 23A is slidable along a slide guide 23C extending along the longitudinal direction of the onion N,
A motor 23D for rotating the ball screw 23B is disposed behind the ball screw 23B (on the right side in FIG. 7). Then, the motor 23D drives the ball screw 23B.
By rotating, the slide block 23A can be moved in the longitudinal direction of the onion N along the slide guide 23C. Further, the side surface of the tip end portion of the case 22 is fixed to the slide block 23A, and the case 22 can be moved along the longitudinal direction of the onion N along with the movement of the slide block 23A. .

Further, nozzles 24A, 24B, 24C for injecting compressed air are provided inside the tip portion of the case 22.
Is provided. Of these, the nozzle 24A is provided at a position for injecting compressed air from above the case 22, and has two ejection ports. The nozzles 24B and 24C are provided at positions where the compressed air is jetted from the side, and are columnar bodies having a triangular cross section, and the jet ports are formed on the side surfaces of the columnar bodies. These nozzles 24A, 24B, 24
C is connected to an air pump (not shown), and drives this air pump to inject compressed air. This compressed air is blown onto the long onion N, and the epidermis of the long onion N is peeled off, whereby the peeling treatment is performed. Here, long onion N blown with compressed air
Has a tendency to float upward, but suppresses floating upward by the compressed air blown from the nozzle 24A provided above.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the peeling device 11 is provided with a long green onion width sensor 25 serving as a long green onion width detecting means of the present invention. The long onion width sensor 25 is attached to the slide block 23B of the slide member 23, and six fiber sensors 25A and 25B that emit light downward from the front position of the tip of the case 22.
… Equipped with 25F. The long onion width sensor 25 is arranged below the long onion width sensor 25 when the tip of the case 22 advances to cover the tip of the long onion N, and the light emitted from the fiber sensors 25A, 25B ... 25F is emitted. It has a white reflector 25G that reflects light. The fiber sensors 25A, 25B, ..., 25F are respectively provided with a projection unit that emits light and a light receiving unit that receives the light emitted from its own projection unit and reflected from the reflection plate 25G. And the fiber sensors 25A, 25B ... 25F
When the light reflected from the reflection plate 25G is received, it is turned on, and when it is not received, it is turned off.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the peeling device 11 includes a leaf support member 26 for lifting the leaf portion of the long onion N and a stem portion for lifting the stem portion upward. A support member 27 is provided. Leaf support member 2
A holding member 28 that holds the leaf portion of the green onion N together with the leaf portion supporting member 26 that has moved upward is fixed at a position above 6. On the other hand, when the stalk supporting member 27 moves up, the stalk mounting base 6B and the root mounting base 6 of the conveying member 6 are moved.
It is designed to move upward from between C. further,
The stem support member 27 has elasticity so that the stem support member 27 can escape even if it hits the stem support member 27 when the case 22 advances.

The leaf support member 26 and the stem support member 2 are also provided.
A cushioning member such as a sponge is provided at a position where each of the gripping member 7 and the holding member 28 comes into contact with the long onion N, so that the long onion N is not damaged. Further, the skin peeling device 11 includes air cylinders 26A, 27 for vertically moving the leaf support member 26 and the stem support member 27.
A is provided.

On the other hand, a sensor 29 is provided on the upper surface of the case 22.
A is provided, and an intermediate dog 29B and a rear dog 29C detected by the sensor 29A are provided at the intermediate position and the rear position of the slide member 23.
When the case 22 moves forward, when the sensor 29A detects the dog 29B, the detection by the long onion width sensor 25 is started. Also, when the case 22 lowers backward,
When the sensor 29A detects the rear dog 29C, the case 22 is located at a position where the nozzles 24A, 24B, and 24C just inject the compressed air near the root of the long onion N.

Further, a dust collecting hood (not shown) is provided at the rear end of the guide 21, and as shown in FIG.
After the long onion N is lifted by the leaf support member 26 and the stem support member 27, the epidermis of the long green N blown off by blowing compressed air from the nozzles 24A, 24B, 24C, and the deposits attached to the epidermis, etc. Is designed to collect waste.

A motor 7C, a reflection type sensor 7D, a proximity sensor 7E, a motor cylinder 7F, and a cleaning nozzle 7G in the cutting device 7 are electrically connected to the control device 10. Further, the support arm 8D in the pressing member 8
And the optical sensor 9 are electrically connected to each other, and air for vertically moving the motor 23D, the fiber sensors 25A, 25B ... 25F, the leaf support member 26, and the stem support member 27 in the slide member 23 of the peeling device 11. The cylinders 26A and 27A are also electrically connected.

Furthermore, the peeling device 11 in the conveying means
The leaf cutting means 12 for cutting the leaves of the onion N is provided on the downstream side. This leaf cutting means 12 has
A disk-shaped rotary blade 12A and a motor 12B for rotating the rotary blade 12A are provided. Further, on the front side of the rotary blade 12A, a pressing member 12C for pressing the leaf portion of the long onion N when the leaf portion of the long green onion N is cut by the rotary blade 12A is provided. The pressing member 12C has the same structure as the pressing member 8 provided at the front position of the cutting device 7.

[0033] The above configuration of a leek cutting-skinning <br/> continuous processor 1 in leek cutting and skinning continuous processing procedure will be described. FIG. 12 is a flowchart up to the cutting process of the processing procedure in the long green onion cutting / peeling continuous processing machine 1, and FIG. 13 is a flowchart after the peeling process. Long onion N that is cut and peeled is transported as shown in Fig. 1.
It is placed on the member 6, conveyed, and passes under the optical sensor 9. The optical sensor 9 detects the presence of the passed green onion N (S1). The controller 10 measures the passage time required for the onion N to pass under the optical sensor 9, and the controller 10 determines the onion N from the passage time of the onion N and the moving speed of the conveying member 6. The thickness is calculated (S2).

When the thickness of the long onion N is detected, the control device 1
At 0, the specified value R1 of the reflection amount of the light received by the reflective sensor 7D is set, and the specified value R2 of the width of the long green onion N in the long green width sensor 25 is set (S3). This specified value R1 is used when cutting the long green N,
The specified value R2 is used when performing peeling work of long green N.

The conveying member 6 carrying the long green N is conveyed to the position of the cutting device 7 after passing under the optical sensor 9,
When it reaches the position of the cutting device 7, it stops (S4), and the cutting work of the root part of the long onion N is started. When the conveying member 6 stops, the motor 7C in the cutting device 7 at the origin position
While rotating the rotary blade 7B by the motor cylinder 7F, the base 7A and the rotary blade 7B pivotally supported by the base 7A are moved forward in the direction of the onion N (S5). Rotary blade 7B
Cutting off the root side of the onion N while moving forward, first, the onion N
The root part is cut, and the cut part is transferred from the root part to the stem part.

On the other hand, the reflection type sensor 7D projects the light of the cut surface of the long green N and receives the reflected light. The proximity sensor 7E detects the rotary blade 7B. The reflection amount signal of the light received by the reflective sensor 7D and the detection signal indicating whether or not the proximity sensor 7E detects the rotary blade 7B are transmitted to the control device 10. Here, when the proximity sensor 7E detects the rotary blade 7B, the light projected by the reflective sensor 7D is blocked by the rotary blade 7B and does not reach the cut surface of the long onion N. Therefore, in the control device 10, the reflection amount signal from the reflection type sensor 7D when the proximity sensor 7E detects the rotary blade 7B is ignored.

Subsequently, the control device 10 compares the reflection amount of the light emitted from the reflection type sensor 7D with the specified value R1, and determines whether the reflection amount of the light has reached the specified value R1 set in step S3. Yes (S6). Before cutting the long green onion N, the root remains on the cut surface of the long green onion N before the cutting. Then, when the rotary blade 7B advances and cuts the root side of the onion N, the root portion is cut first, and when the root portion is completely cut, the stem portion is cut this time and the cross section of the stem portion is cut. It appears as a cut surface. When light is projected from the reflection type sensor 7D on the cut surface of the long green N, if the root still remains on the cut surface of the long green N, the reflection type sensor 7D.
The amount of reflection of light received by is reduced. On the other hand, when the root is cut and the stem portion appears as a cut surface, the cut surface is almost flat, so that the reflection amount of light becomes large.
The present invention focuses on this point, measures the reflection amount of the projected light, determines whether or not the reflection amount of the light reaches the specified value R1 in the control device 10, and determines whether the rotary blade 7B It controls the amount of forward movement.

If it is determined in step S6 that the light reflection amount has not reached the specified value R1, the motor 7
The rotation and advance of the rotary blade 7B are continued without stopping the drive of C and the motor cylinder 7F. On the other hand, when the amount of light reflection reaches the specified value R1, it means that the root is completely cut, so the motor 7C and the motor cylinder 7F are stopped, and the rotation cutting and advance of the rotary blade 7B are stopped. (S7). Here, since the measurement of the amount of light reflection is performed substantially continuously, the root portion of the long onion N is completely cut and removed, and the stem portion appears immediately so that the rotary blade 7B is rotated and moved forward. It can be stopped. Therefore, the stem of the long onion N is not cut too much, and only the root can be cut reliably.

By the way, in the present embodiment, the long onion N
The prescribed value R1 of the light reflection amount is set based on the thickness of the. This is because when the thickness of the long onion N changes, the amount of light reflected by the stem of the long onion N also changes. Therefore, the larger the thickness of the long onion N, the larger the specified value R1 becomes, and the smaller the thickness of the long green N becomes, the smaller the specified value R1 becomes. Here, when setting the prescribed value R1, for example, the size of the thickness of the onion N is set to L, M, S, etc.
It can be specified in stages.

In this way, when the root of the long onion N is cut and the rotary blade 7B is stopped, the detection by the reflection type sensor 7D is completed and the motor cylinder 7F pivotally supports the base 7A and the base 7A. Rotating blade 7B
Retreat in the direction away from and return to the origin position. After that, the transport of the long onion N by the transport member 6 is restarted, the transport member 6 is transported to the position of the peeling device 11, and the peeling device 1
When the position 1 is reached, the operation is stopped (S8), and the peeling work of the onion N is started.

When the conveying member 6 reaches the position of the peeling device 11 and stops, the leaf supporting member 26 and the stem supporting member 27 are raised by the air cylinders 26A and 27A,
The long green onion N is supported and lifted (S9). Here, the lifted leaf of the long green onion N is clamped by the leaf supporting member 26 and the clamping member 28. Then, the slide member 2
By moving the slide block 23A of No. 3 forward, the case 22 is moved forward, and the onion N starts to be covered from the root side of the onion N. Further, the case 22 is moved forward, and the compressed air is ejected from the nozzles 24A, 24B, 24C toward the long onion N with a weak blowing force. Due to this weak spraying force, the long green onion N is smoothly supported in the case 22 and the adhered substances on the surface are lightly removed. Further, when the root of the long onion N enters the case 22 in the process of advancing the case 22, the stem support member 27 is moved by the air cylinder 27A.
To lower.

Subsequently, when the case 22 is further advanced, the sensor 29A provided on the case 22 moves the intermediate dog 2
When 9B is detected, the long green onion by the long green width sensor 25 is detected.
Width detection is started. As it is, the width of the long onion N is detected by the long onion width sensor 25 while moving the case 22 forward (S10). The width of the long green onion N is detected by the long green onion width sensor 25 by six fiber sensors 25A and 25B.
... 25F is performed by counting the number of those in the OFF state. At this time, the smaller the number of fiber sensors in the OFF state, the narrower (thinner) the width of the part of the long onion N whose width is detected.

Here, the long green onion N has a wide leaf portion and is wider than the stem portion due to its nature, and the width of the stem portion is almost constant. Therefore, by detecting the width of the long onion N by the long onion width sensor 25, it is possible to determine whether the detection site in the long onion N is a leaf portion or a stem portion. The present invention focuses on this point, and detects the width of the detection site in the onion N and positions the boundary between the leaf and the stem in the onion N.

Thus, the width of the long onion N is detected by the long onion width sensor 25 while moving the case 22 forward,
The width of the detected onion N is compared with the specified value R2 of the width of the leaf portion of the onion N set in step S3 (S1).
1). If the width of the onion N detected by the onion width sensor 25 is smaller than the specified value R2 of the width of the leaf portion of the onion N, the process returns to step S11 to detect the width of the onion N. on the other hand,
If the width of the long onion N detected by the long onion width sensor 25 is the specified value R2 of the width of the leaf portion of the long onion N, the nozzle reaches the boundary between the leaf portion and the stem portion of the long onion N. Then, the forward movement of the case 22 is stopped and the positioning is performed (S
12). Thus, compressed air can be blown just from the boundary between the leaf and stem of the long onion N.

When setting the prescribed value R2, for example, the thickness of the leek N is divided into three sizes of L, M, and S. Then, the number of OFF-state fiber sensors is defined according to the size. For example, if the long onion N is L size, three fiber sensors that are in the OFF state while detecting the stem portion and five fiber sensors that are in the OFF state while detecting the leaf portion will be thick. Is set as the prescribed value R2. In addition, if the size is M, the thickness is such that the two fiber sensors that are in the OFF state when detecting the stem portion and the four fiber sensors that are in the OFF state when detecting the leaf portion are specified values. Set as R2. Furthermore, if the long onion N is of S size, one fiber sensor is in the OFF state while detecting the stem portion, and three fiber sensors are in the OFF state when detecting the leaf portion. Is set as the prescribed value R2. Further, in the present embodiment, it is not necessary to set the prescribed value R2 for the stem portion.

After the positioning is performed in this manner, an air pump (not shown) is operated to operate the nozzles 24A, 24B, 24.
By increasing the blowing force of the compressed air injected from C, the skinning process is started in earnest. At the same time, the slide block 23A of the slide member 23 is moved in the opposite direction to move the case 22 in the direction in which the long green N is pulled out (S13).

After that, when strong compressed air begins to be jetted from the nozzles 24A, 24B, 24C, the case 22 is moved backward, and the epidermis N of epidermis N and adhering substances adhering to the surface thereof are blown off. Fig. 11 shows the blown-off epidermis.
As shown in (4), it is sent backward and collected in a dust collecting hood (not shown). In the process of retracting the case 22, the sensor 29A provided on the case 22 will soon be replaced by the rear dog 29.
Detect C. When the sensor 29A detects the rear dog 29C, the nozzles 24A, 42B, and 24C just move to the onion N.
It is located near the root of. The vicinity of the root of this long onion N has good tightness and the epidermis is firmly attached.
In order to blow off such a firmly attached skin, the blowing force of the compressed air jetted from the nozzles 24A, 24B, 24C is further strengthened when the sensor 29A detects the rear dog 29C. Control.

After that, when the long green onion N is completely ejected from the case 22, the retreat of the case 22 is stopped and the air pump (not shown) is stopped to cause the nozzles 24A, 24 to be stopped.
The blowing of compressed air from B and 24C is completed (S1
4).

When the blowing of the compressed air from the nozzles 24A, 24B and 24C is completed, the leaf supporting member 26 is lowered by the air cylinder 26A and the long onion N is placed on the conveying member 6 again. After that, the transport member 6 is moved and carried out to the downstream side (S15). Then, the leaf cutting means 1
When it is conveyed to the position 2, the leaf cutting means 12 cuts the leaf of the long green N (S16), removes unnecessary leaves and trims necessary leaves. in this way,
Since the leaf cutting means 12 is provided on the downstream side of the peeling device 11, unnecessary leaves of the onion N remain uncut at the position of the peeling device 11. become. The peeling device 11 holds the unnecessary leaves during the peeling process, so that the onion N
It is possible to prevent the part having a commercial value from being damaged.

When the conveying member 6 reaches the most downstream portion of the continuous cutting / peeling machine 1, a worker (not shown) takes out the long green N from the conveying member 6 and cuts the long green N.
The peeling process is completed.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the cutting device and the peeling device are combined to form a continuous cutting / peeling device, but it is possible to use only the peeling device. In the case of using only the peeling device, it is not particularly necessary to provide the conveying means, and for example, an operator may set a long onion in the peeling device. Even in this case, when skinning is performed, positioning when starting to blow compressed air is accurately performed by a long onion sensor or the like, so it is possible to start blowing compressed air from an appropriate position. it can.

Further, the long green onion sensor used for positioning does not have to be a fiber sensor,
A known width sensor or the like can be used as appropriate. Further, in the above embodiment, the case is moved when the case and the onion are relatively moved,
It is also possible to adopt a mode in which the onion is moved.

On the other hand, in the above embodiment, the rotary blade rotated by the motor is used as the cutting blade for cutting the root of the long onion, but other cutting blades may be used.
Specifically, it is possible to use a mode in which a blade-like object having a blade for cutting the root of the long onion downward is moved up and down and intermittently advances toward the root of the long onion.

[0054]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1 of the present invention, when the peeling treatment of long green onion is performed, the compressed air jetted from the nozzle is used for the leaves and stems of the long green onion. It is possible to provide a long onion peeling machine that can be sprayed from the boundary of parts.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, even if the thickness of the onion is changed, it can be sprayed just from the boundary between the leaf and the stem of the onion.

Further, according to the invention of claim 3,
In the long-green onion cutting and peeling continuous processing machine , when performing the peeling treatment of long green onion, compressed air sprayed from a nozzle can be blown just from the boundary between the leaf and stem of the long green onion.

According to the invention of claim 4, since the thickness sensor is used for both cutting and peeling, the apparatus can be simplified accordingly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the outline of a cutting / peeling continuous processing machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the outline of a cutting / peeling continuous processing machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conveyance member.

FIG. 4A is a side view of the cutting device, and FIG. 4B is a side view of the cutting device.

FIG. 5A is a front view showing a pressing member, and FIG.
It is a front view which shows the positional relationship of a cutting device and a conveyance member.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing an optical sensor.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an outline of a peeling device.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing an outline of a peeling device.

FIG. 9 (a) is a front sectional view of the peeling device when the fiber sensor is irradiating the leaf part of the long onion, and FIG. 9 (b) is the fiber sensor irradiating the stem part of the onion. It is a front sectional view of the peeling device at this time.

FIG. 10 (a) is a front view of a peeling device showing a state in which a leaf portion of a long onion is sandwiched between a leaf support member and a sandwiching member, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a front cross-sectional view of the peeling device when it is being worn.

[11] The skin when performing the skinning process, which is a side view of the rigging location.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart up to the cutting process of the continuous cutting / peeling continuous treatment method for long green onion according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the processing procedure of the continuous cutting / peeling continuous processing machine 1 for long green onion up to the cutting processing.

FIG. 14 is a plan view of a conventional cutting / peeling continuous processing machine for long green onion.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Cutting and peeling continuous processing machine 6 Transport member 7 cutting device 7A base 7B rotary blade 7C motor 7D reflective sensor 7E proximity sensor 7F motor cylinder 7G cleaning nozzle 9 Optical sensor 10 Control device 11 Peeling device 21 Guide member 22 cases 23 Slide member 24A, 24B, 24C nozzle 25 Long onion width sensor

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-10-295349 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A23N 7/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A long onion peeling machine provided with a peeling means having a nozzle for blowing compressed air onto the long onion epidermis to remove it, wherein the peeling means is a longitudinal direction of the long onion at a peeling position. Along, is relatively movable with respect to the onion,
The onion has a case that is inserted from the root side to cover the onion, and the onion width detection means for detecting the width of the onion is arranged at the tip of the case. The nozzle is disposed inside the case, the case and the onion are relatively moved in a direction covering the onion, and the onion width is detected by the onion width detecting means .
When the specified value of the width of the stalk leaf is detected, the relative movement between the case and the onion is stopped, and the case and the onion are relatively moved in the direction of extracting the onion from the case. The peeling control means for performing the positioning control so that the position at which the stalk of the onion is detected by the onion width detecting means is set to the position at which the blowing of the compressed air jetted from the nozzle is started. An onion peeling machine characterized by being equipped. With wherein having a conveying means for conveying the long green onion, on the upstream side of a position where the skin strip means is provided in the conveying means, detecting the thickness of the long green onions as the skinning of interest thickness detecting means for and is disposed, and characterized in that based on the thickness of the long green onion detected by the thickness detecting means, the specified value of the width of the leaf in the long green onion is set The peeling machine for long green onion according to claim 1. 3. A root cutting means provided with a cutting blade for cutting the root of the long onion is provided on the root side of the conveying means of the long onion peeling machine according to claim 2. and to that length cutting and skinning continuous processing machine of green onions. 4. The thickness detecting means is arranged upstream of a position in the conveying means where the root cutting means is provided, and the root cutting means cuts the root of the long green onion. While irradiating the surface with light, a reflection sensor for detecting the amount of reflection of the light irradiating the cut surface of the long onion is provided, and comprises a forward moving means for moving the cutting blade forward in the direction of the long green. The reflection amount of light detected by the reflection sensor is the stem of the long green onion.
4. The onion according to claim 3, further comprising control means for performing control to stop the forward movement of the cutting blade by the forward movement means when a predetermined value indicating the cutting surface of No. 1 is reached. Continuous cutting and peeling machine.