JP3499296B2 - Supply method and supply device for long root vegetables - 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 supplying long-root vegetables such as sweet potato, more specifically, supply of long-root vegetables that contributes to efficient commercialization while not reducing the commercial value. A method and a supply device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the problems to be solved by the invention
In order to provide the market with long-root vegetables harvested from the field, for example, long potatoes with mud, as a product, first transfer the long potatoes from the field to a commercialization facility, where the mud adhering to the surface is removed in the washing process. It was necessary to wash, cut the neck portion in the cutting step, and further sort by size in the sorting step. However, the cleaning was inefficient because it was done by hand one by one so as not to scratch the surface of long-root vegetables, which are easily scratched. On the other hand, even if automatic cleaning without damage is possible, it is conceivable that it will be damaged before the long-root vegetables are transferred to the cleaning process and the commercial value thereof will be reduced. A long-root vegetable feeding device for solving this problem is, for example, the actual Kaihei 5-20594.
It is disclosed in the publication. Briefly describing this supply device, the opposing arm rods, which are erected between a pair of endless conveyor belts, are horizontally held, and one long root vegetable is supported on the arm rods while the next step is performed. This is a device for moving the conveyor belt to the cleaning step position and rotating the arm rod vertically downward there to automatically drop the long root vegetables and supplying them to the cleaning step.

However, in such a supply device, the surface of the long-root vegetables is less likely to be scratched during the transportation as compared with the simple conveyor transportation, but when the arm rod is rotated vertically downward, that is, the washing step. The surface of the long-root vegetables can be easily scratched by the impact at the time of the transition to, or the elongated long-root vegetables can be broken if the impact is strong. further,
Even if long-rooted vegetables are stored in a container in a field and carried together, they are forced to be carried one by one by a pair of arm rods and supplied to the washing process, etc. Is becoming a hindrance to commercialization. Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, the object of the present invention is to provide long-root vegetables as a product to the market while preventing the product value from decreasing.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for supplying long-root vegetables that contribute to efficient commercialization.

[0004]

In order to achieve the object of the present invention, in the long root vegetable feeding apparatus of the present invention, a tank filled with water to a predetermined depth and a container containing the long root vegetables are provided. Container supporting means for supporting, container fixing means provided on the container supporting means for fixing the container to the container supporting means, and connected to the container supporting means, and submerging the container into the water tank. Container submersion means for, the container support means connected to the container support means, container reversing means for reversing the container over a predetermined angle, long root vegetable receiving means for receiving long root vegetables falling underwater from the container, Long-root vegetable transport means for transporting the received long-root vegetable from water to above water. In order to achieve the object of the present invention, in the method for supplying long-root vegetables of the present invention, a submerged step of submerging the container containing the long-root vegetables and a reversal step of reversing the submerged container over a predetermined angle. And a receiving step of receiving the long-root vegetables falling in water from the container, and a transfer step of transferring the received long-root vegetables from the water to the water.

[0005]

According to the supply method and supply apparatus of the present invention, when a container containing long-root vegetables is submerged in water, water penetrates into the container, is packed in the container, and long-root vegetables contact each other. During movement in the container, the surface of the long-root vegetables is prevented from being damaged or broken due to contact of the long-root vegetables with each other or contact with the container due to water resistance. Next, when the submerged container is inverted over a predetermined angle, the long root vegetables in the container are gradually discharged from the container at the start of the inversion and fall into the water. At this time, the long-root vegetables that fall are slowly dropped due to the resistance of water, and the surface of the long-root vegetables is prevented from being damaged or the long root vegetables being broken due to the contact of adjacent long-root vegetables during the fall. At this time, the surface of the falling long-root vegetables is rubbed with water, so that the surface is preliminarily washed and it becomes possible to remove the mud and the like adhering to the surface. In addition, bad root vegetables smaller than the specific gravity of water do not fall in water and float on the water surface,
It is also possible to pre-sort. Next, the long-root vegetables that fall into the water are accepted, but the shock received by the long-root vegetables that is received at that time is mitigated by the resistance of the water, and the surface is also scratched or the long root vegetables are similarly prevented from breaking. .

Next, the received long root vegetables are transported from water to above water and supplied to the subsequent main washing step, cutting step or main sorting step. In this way, long-root vegetables harvested from the field are put into water in large quantities at once, without the need to refill each container into a separate container, thus reducing the product value due to scratches or breaks on the surface. It is possible to contribute to efficient commercialization by supplying the product to the main cleaning step without causing it.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, the long-rooted vegetables refer to long-sized rooted vegetables such as long potato, radish, and carrot. 1 and 2 respectively,
It is the schematic plan view and schematic side view which show the outline of the washing | cleaning apparatus of the long root vegetables which concerns on the Example of this invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a part of the operation of the supply device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, reference numeral 10 is a long-root vegetable feeding device, and the feeding device 10 is water-filled to a depth of 1.6 m.
1.5m × length 5.4m × maximum height 2.0m boat-shaped aquarium 11, container support means 12 for receiving container A containing long root vegetables, and container A connected to this container support means 12 Container fixing means 14 for fixing to the container supporting means 12
And a container submerging means 16 for submerging the container A containing the long root vegetables in water, and a container reversing means for reversing the submerged container A at a predetermined angle of at least 90 ° or more, in this embodiment 135 °. 18, a long root vegetable receiving means 20 for receiving long root vegetables falling in water from the container A, and a long root vegetable conveying means 22 for transferring the received long root vegetables from water to water. ing.

Incidentally, the container A is a rectangular parallelepiped container and has a volume capable of accommodating a large amount of long root vegetables, for example, 60 cm × 150 cm × 90 cm.
The rectangular opening faces upward, and is installed on the container supporting means 12 described later. Container A
The side surface and the bottom surface of the container are made of a mesh plate so that water does not collect in the container A. Also, for container A, container A
It is preferable to provide a vinyl bag that covers the inside of the container and extends slightly to the outside. The water tank 11 has a container support means 12 described later on its upper opening, and a boat-shaped bottom surface of the water tank 11 is provided with a receiving means 20 and a conveying means 22 described later. Therefore, the water tank 11 has a sufficient depth to submerge the container A in water, invert it in water, and further discharge the long root vegetables from the container A and drop them to the receiving means 20. Has a bottom area sufficient to convey the above from the bottom to the water. On the side surface and the bottom surface of the water tank, a conventionally known water jet jet nozzle 6 is provided.
0 is installed, and the water flow is jetted from the nozzle toward the long root vegetables in the water. A hatch (not shown) for removing the mud and the like removed from the long root vegetables is provided on the bottom surface of the aquarium 11.

The container supporting means 12 has a damper table 24 having a substantially flat upper surface. The damper table 24 is substantially the same as the bottom shape of the container A as shown in FIG. It has a large area and can stably support the container A on the table. As shown in FIG. 1, the container fixing means 14 includes a damper table 24.
It has a side support 26 integrated with the table 24, which is provided at one end, and a hold arm 28 separately provided at the other end. As shown in FIG. 3A, the hold arm 28 is connected to the damper table 24 so as to be rotatable about the rotation axis 62 in the lateral direction of the water tank 11, and elastic means provided between the damper table 24 and the hold arm 28. The holding arm 28 is constantly urged toward the container A side by 64, for example, a spring, so that the container A is pressed toward the side support 26. The heights of the side support 26 and the hold arm 28 are substantially the same as the height of the upper end of the container A, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), and the hooks 29 are provided on the upper ends of the side support 26 and the hold arm 28, respectively. A is firmly fixed to the damper table 24, and the container A is securely fixed to the damper table 24 so as not to drop from the table 24 when the container A is inverted.
A hook 66 is provided substantially in the center in the height direction of the hold arm 28, and engages with the tip of a link 68 which is swivel driven by a known hydraulic cylinder (not shown) with the horizontal direction of the water tank 11 as a rotation axis 67. It has become. Therefore, the release of the container A from the hold arm 28 is performed by engaging the link 68 with the hook 66 and rotating the hold arm 28 to rotate the hold arm 28 to the opposite side of the container A against the spring force. Done.

As shown in FIG. 2, the submersion means 16 has a pair of damper arms 52, one end of which is rotatably connected to the damper table 24, and the tip of a piston rod is connected to each damper arm 52. A pair of submersible hydraulic piston-cylinders 72 supported by the submersible hydraulic cylinder support 70, and a support shaft 3 fixed to the other end of each damper arm 52 and extending in the lateral direction of the water tank 11.
Has 0 and. Therefore, the hydraulic cylinder 72 for submerging the container
Due to the expansion and contraction of the
As a result, the damper table 24 connected to each of the hold arms 28 moves up and down while the upper surface of the damper table 24 is substantially horizontal. The inverting means 18 includes a table inverting shaft 44 fixed to the damper table 24, a sprocket 46A attached to the table inverting shaft 44, a sprocket 46B attached to the support shaft 30, and both sprockets 46A,
It has a chain 48 between B and a drive motor 31 connected to the support shaft 30 via splots 40A, 40B and a chain 42. The damper table 24 is configured to perform a reversing motion over a predetermined angle with the table reversing shaft 44 as a rotation axis by the rotation of the drive motor 31. In addition, the start time of reversal is the damper table 2
It is preferable to control so as to be after submersion in the water tank 11 of No. 4.

The receiving means 20 and the conveying means 22 are shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a conventionally known endless type slat conveyor 5 for transporting is arranged from the bottom of the water tank 11 toward the water.
0 and a conveyor driving device 74, the conveyor 50 that receives the long-root vegetables dropped in water moves to convey the long-root vegetables from the water to the water and supply them to the next step such as the main washing step. There is. Protrusions (not shown) are provided on the surface of the conveyor at predetermined intervals, and the long-root vegetables received on the conveyor are supplied to the next process in an aligned state without slipping on the conveyor. Preferably. The number of slat conveyors 50 to be installed may be appropriately selected depending on the depth of the water tank 11, the bottom area, and the like. The control of the supply device 10 may be performed by a conventionally known control method, for example, sequence control or computer control may be appropriately adopted. The operation of the supply device 10 having the above configuration will be described below with reference to FIG. First, the long-root vegetables harvested from the field are stored in advance in a vinyl bag inside the container A.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b),
The container A is set on the damper table 24, and the container A is fixed to the damper table 24 by the hold arm 28. Next, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), the damper arm 52 is swung around the support shaft 30 as a rotation axis to move the damper table 24 and the container A fixed on the damper table 24 into the container A.
With the opening facing upward, the entire opening is submerged in the water tank 11 until it reaches below the water surface. Then, as shown in FIG. 3 (d), the damper table 24 and the container A fixed on the damper table 24 are turned downward in the water with the table reversing shaft 44 as the center, so that the long root vegetables in the container A While reversing through a sufficient angle, such as 135 °, for the items to be ejected from the container A, and gradually raising the damper arm 24,
It promotes the separation of the container A and the long-root vegetables and prevents the falling long-root vegetables from being re-stored in the container A during the reverse inversion shown in FIG. 3 (e). At this time, since the vinyl bag (not shown) laid in the container A hangs downward from the container A in the water tank 11, the root vegetables are not completely spread in all directions from the container A in the water tank 11. It is discharged and gradually falls into the water.

The surface of the long-root vegetables that fall is rubbed with water to pre-clean the surface to some extent, and mud and the like adhering to the surface are automatically removed. Since root vegetables float on the surface of the water, they are automatically preliminarily sorted to some extent. Furthermore, by the jet flow from the water jet jet nozzle device 60 in the water tank 11,
The mud and other substances adhering to the surface of long-root vegetables can be reliably washed off. Further, the water flow from the spray nozzle prevents the long root vegetables falling from the container A from intertwining with each other in a state of forming a palm. Next, long-root vegetables that fall in water
The slat conveyor 50 for endless transportation arranged on the bottom surface of the water tank 11 receives the slat conveyor 50, and the slat conveyor 50 transports the water from above water to the next step such as a main washing step, a cutting step and a main sorting step. It On the other hand, after releasing the root vegetables in water, as shown in FIG. 3 (e), the damper table 52 is rotated in the opposite direction to that in FIG. 24 table inversion axis 44
Invert in the opposite direction to that of FIG.

After the damper table 24 has risen to reach the original rest position, the hold arm 28 that has fixed the container A is released and the container A is removed from the damper table 24 as in FIG. 3A. This completes the supply of one cycle of long root vegetables. By repeating the above process for another container A containing long root vegetables, long root vegetables can be continuously supplied. Before submerging the container A,
Pre-invert container A by a predetermined angle, eg 30 °,
It is also possible to allow some water to flow into the container and fix the vinyl bag inside the container A. As described above, long-root vegetables have been described in this example, but the supply method and device according to the present invention can also be applied to fruits such as tomatoes having a soft surface and easily scratched.

[0015]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the method and apparatus for supplying long-root vegetables of the present invention, the surface of the long-root vegetables harvested from the field during the supply is scratched, or the long-root vegetables are long-lived. While avoiding breaking the root vegetables and reducing the commercial value, it is not necessary to refill the root vegetables harvested in the field in each container, and in large quantities at one time and continuously in the main cleaning process of the next process etc. By supplying it, it became possible to commercialize it and efficiently provide it to the market. In addition, by moving the long-root vegetables in water, preliminary washing or preliminary selection was possible to some extent, which further contributed to efficient commercialization.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the outline of a long-root vegetable feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing the outline of a long root vegetable feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a part of the operation of the supply device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Supply device 11 aquarium 12 Container support means 14 Container fixing means 16 Container submersion means 18 Container inversion means 20 Long-root vegetables acceptance means 22 Long root vegetables transportation means 24 damper table 26 Side support 28 Hold Arm 30 support shaft 31 Drive motor 50 slat conveyor

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A water tank filled with water to a predetermined depth, container supporting means for supporting a container containing long-root vegetables, and a container provided on the container supporting means for fixing the container to the container supporting means. A container fixing means for connecting to the container supporting means, a container submerging means for submerging the container into the water tank, and a container connected to the container supporting means for inverting the container over a predetermined angle Long-root vegetables having a reversing means, a long-root vegetable receiving means for receiving long-root vegetables falling into the water from the container, and a long-root vegetable transferring means for transferring the received long-root vegetables from water to water. Supply device. 2. A submersion step of submerging a container containing long root vegetables in water, a reversing step of reversing the submerged container at a predetermined angle, and an acceptance step of receiving long root vegetables falling in water from the container. And a transport step of transporting the long-root vegetables from above into the water.