JP3538517B2 - Long-range agricultural product line-up and supply device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for arranging and feeding long agricultural products such as eggplants and carrots, which are randomly transported from a supply conveyor, in a horizontal direction orthogonal to the transport direction. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, devices for aligning and transporting long articles are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-76016, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-41689, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. No. 56252 and the like.

[0003] The horizontal aligning apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-760106 discloses a method in which an object to be conveyed on a rail is turned by a deflecting plate by using a conveying force of a rail with a rail, and the crossing is performed. It is made to fall into between.
In this device, since the long object carried by the crossed belt is turned while being rubbed by the deflection plate, the object to be transferred is a long agricultural product having a soft outer skin such as eggplant. However, there was a problem that the epidermis was easily damaged.

Further, a roller conveyor for aligning long objects disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-41689 has a structure in which a long object is changed in a direction orthogonal to a conveying direction by rotating individual rollers alternately in opposite directions. It is the one that is turned. In this roller conveyor, a long object is placed between the rollers rotating inward and downward, so that when the long object is a long product, the long product is stuck between the rollers and the long product is easily damaged. Was.

[0005] In addition, the method and apparatus for packing tapered vegetables arranged in a container disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-178327 discloses a method of transferring tapered vegetables in a suspended state while controlling the posture thereof, and then transferring a pair of tapered vegetables. The tapered vegetables are in a tandem state with the adjacent neck parts alternately facing the transfer direction side and the opposite transfer direction side,
Alternatively, the vegetables are transported with their necks facing the opposite transport direction. In this device, the vegetables are transported while supporting the shoulders while controlling the posture of the vegetables in a suspended state, so that the vegetables are easily damaged and cannot be used particularly for eggplants having a soft skin. was there.

The method of reversing and transporting a tapered long object such as carrots packed in a box disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-56252 is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-56252. When it is turned over, the long object is hit against the impact sensor of the rotating body for reversing, and the rotating body is rotated. In this method, the reversing operation tends to be intermittent and the processing capacity is inferior, and in order to pass the long object without being inverted or inverted, the rotating body for inversion is slid in contact with the long object. When the long product is a long product such as an eggplant, there is a problem that the long product is easily damaged.

[0007]

Accordingly, the present invention according to claims 1 to 8 of the present invention is intended to damage long products even if the epidermis such as eggplants that are conveyed in a random state are soft products. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for arranging and supplying long agricultural products which can be aligned and transported without fail and supplied to a sorting device, a box packing device, or the like, and can prevent a decrease in processing capacity.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a long agricultural product transported in a random state by a supply conveyor is transported on a transport surface of the transport conveyor. An apparatus for arranging and supplying long produce, the longitudinal direction of which is arranged in a horizontal direction orthogonal to the transport direction and transporting the transportable conveyor, wherein the transporting conveyor has a concave mounting portion for placing one long agricultural product sideways in the transport direction. Formed by a large number of agricultural product support members provided at a predetermined interval, and by relatively moving the agricultural product support members in the front and rear of the transport direction in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction within a predetermined range of the transport direction, The present invention is characterized in that the long agricultural product placed is rotated substantially horizontally and placed on the placing portion.

With this configuration, long agricultural products such as eggplants, which are transported in a random state on the supply conveyor, are placed on the agricultural product support member of the transport conveyor.
When the agricultural product support member moves in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction within a predetermined range of the transport direction, the agricultural product support member is rotated substantially horizontally, and its direction is changed to a horizontal direction.

[0010] The long agricultural product is placed laterally on a concave mounting portion formed between the agricultural product support members, conveyed, and supplied to a sorting device or the like. Long product, the agricultural product support member in the transport direction before and after it is placed in a straddling state, is placed on the concave placing portion is rotated substantially horizontally to the right or left by relative movement in a predetermined direction, There is almost no impact on long agricultural products, and damage to the epidermis is prevented. Further, by continuously moving the agricultural product support member at a predetermined speed, a decrease in the processing capacity is prevented.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, one of the agricultural product support members before and after the transport direction moves a predetermined distance in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction, so that the long agricultural product is rotated in a substantially horizontal direction. It is characterized by the following. In the invention according to claim 3, the agricultural product support member in the front and rear direction of the transport is moved in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction and in a direction opposite to each other by a predetermined distance, whereby the long agricultural product is rotated in a substantially horizontal direction. It is characterized.

[0012] With this configuration, the long agricultural product is placed on the agricultural product support members in the front and rear directions in the transport direction, and is moved by one of the front and rear agricultural product support members or between the front and rear agricultural product support members. By the movement in the opposite direction, it is rotated in a substantially horizontal direction and is placed on the concave placing portion.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, each agricultural product support member is configured to be movable by a predetermined distance in the same direction as each other in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction, and the agricultural product support members before and after the transport direction are separated by a time difference. , And can be moved in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction.
With this configuration, for example, a long agricultural product placed on the agricultural product support member in the front and rear direction of the transport direction is substantially horizontally rotated by moving the agricultural product support member in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction with a time difference.

Further, the invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the transport conveyor is configured to transport the agricultural product support member in a horizontal state at least within a predetermined range in the transport direction. The invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that the transport conveyor is configured to transport the agricultural product support member along the circumference.

[0015] With this configuration, the long agricultural product is placed on the agricultural product support member conveyed in a horizontal state or on the agricultural product support member conveyed along the circumference, and the transport direction of the agricultural product support member. Is rotated in a substantially horizontal direction by the movement in a direction orthogonal to the horizontal direction, and is mounted on the concave mounting portion.

[0016] The invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that the agricultural product support member is a roller, and the invention according to claim 8 is such that the roller moves in the same direction within a predetermined range of its transport direction. It is characterized by rotating. By configuring in this manner, an inexpensive roller conveyor can be used as a transport conveyor, and for long agricultural products that are in a state of being substantially horizontally rotated by lateral movement of the rollers, for example, by rotation of the rollers in the transport direction, The horizontal rotation force is promoted, and the housing can be quickly and reliably accommodated and mounted on the concave mounting portion between the rollers. Thereby, the collision of the long agricultural products whose direction has been changed and stagnation at the mounting portion are eliminated, and damage to the long agricultural products is more reliably prevented.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show a first embodiment of an apparatus for sorting and feeding long agricultural products according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a part of a sorting line using the sorting and feeding apparatus, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the supply device, FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. 2, FIG.
Is an operation explanatory diagram.

In FIG. 1, an alignment supply device 1 is arranged between a supply conveyor 2 composed of a belt conveyor and a roller conveyor 3, and the eggplant W or the like placed and transported in a random state on the supply conveyor 2 and the like. The long produce is turned (orientated) so as to be horizontal and transferred onto the roller conveyor 3. A sorting conveyor 4 is connected to the downstream side of the roller conveyor 3, and a holding roller 5 made of a sponge or the like for holding long agricultural products at the time of transfer is arranged above a connection portion between the roller conveyor 3 and the sorting conveyor 4.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the alignment and supply device 1 has a roller conveyor 6 as a transport conveyor on which a number of rollers 7 as agricultural product support members move in a horizontal state. The roller conveyor 6 has a pair of rotating shafts 9 rotatably provided at both ends of a base frame 8. Sprockets 10 are fixed to both ends of the rotating shaft 9, respectively. Has a chain 11, 1
2 are suspended.

A pulley 1 is provided at one end of the rotating shaft 9.
The pulley 13 is fixed, and the pulley 13 is connected to a motor 15 fixed to the base frame 8 via a belt 14 or the like. Then, the rotation of the motor 15 causes the chains 11 and 12 to rotate in a predetermined direction, and each roller 7 (agricultural product support member) of the roller conveyor 6 moves in the direction of arrow a, that is, the transport direction.

A number of small width connecting plates 17 are arranged between the chain units 11a and 12a constituting the chains 11 and 12 in parallel. The roller 7 is movably provided on every other connection plate 17. Reference numeral 18 denotes a pedestal having a substantially semicircular cross section formed on the connecting plate 17 between the rollers 7, and is formed of a cushioning member such as soft rubber or sponge.

The roller 7 has both ends of its rotating shaft rotatably supported by a roller support plate 20, and the roller support plate 20 is connected to the slide plate 2 having a shorter length than the connecting plate 17.
The connecting plate 17 is slidably engaged with a square-shaped engaging portion 21a of the slide plate 21. Thus, the roller 7 is provided movably in the longitudinal direction, that is, in the longitudinal direction of the connecting plate 17.

The upper surface of the substantially semicircular receiving base 18 formed on the connecting plate 17 and the outer peripheral surface of the pair of front and rear rollers 7 oppose each other to form a concave mounting portion 22 between the adjacent rollers 7.
Is formed. The opening width of the placing portion 22 (the interval between the adjacent rollers 7) is set so that the eggplants W are placed one by one, for example, according to the shape (thickness or the like) of the eggplant W to be sorted. It is set to a predetermined value in advance. A roller 23 is non-rotatably fixed to a rotating shaft of the roller 7 protruding toward the chain 11.

In the drawings of the embodiment, the concave mounting portion 2 is shown.
2 is formed by a pair of front and rear rollers 7 and a cradle 18 provided between the rollers 7, but is not limited to this configuration. The portion 22 may be formed between the pair of rollers 7. Further, the configuration as shown in the drawing has an advantage that even eggplants W having a particularly small outer diameter do not fall out of the conveyor from between the rollers 7.

The back surface of the slide plate 21 (the anti-roller 7)
Guide protrusions 24 and 25 are fixed at predetermined positions on the side surface). The guide projections 24 and 25 are arranged so that their positions are different between adjacent (front and rear) slide plates 21, that is, the guide projections 24 are biased toward the chain 11 with respect to the center position in the length direction of the connecting plate 17, and The protrusion 25 is provided to be biased toward the chain 12. A pair of guide rails 26 and 27 are provided on the base frame 8 corresponding to the guide protrusions 24 and 25.

As shown in FIG. 2, the guide rails 26 and 27 are provided so that a wide portion 28 is formed on the upstream side in the conveying direction A of the roller conveyor 6 and a narrow portion 29 is formed on the downstream side.
A tapered portion 30 having a predetermined width H1 is formed between the wide portion 28 and the narrow portion 29. And guide rail 2
6 is engaged with the guide projection 25 and the guide projection 25 is engaged with the guide rail 27, so that the roller 7 moves in the conveying direction a.
Moves in the longitudinal direction by a predetermined distance (a distance corresponding to the taper angle of the tapered portion 30).

On the other hand, a rotation rail 31 is provided on the base frame 8 on the side of the chain 11 downstream of the roller conveyor 6 in the conveying direction A. The rotation rail 31 has its upper surface provided at a position where it comes into sliding contact with the roller 23 of the roller 7, the roller 7 moves in the transport direction A, and the roller 23
The roller 7 moves while sliding on the upper surface of the roller 7.
Rotates (rotates) with respect to the roller support plate 20 in the direction of arrow B (forward) in FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the eggplant W on the conveying surface is prevented from dropping laterally on both sides in the conveying direction above the conveying surface formed by the outer peripheral surface of each roller 7 of the roller conveyor 6. A pair of guide plates 32 are provided.

Next, an example of the operation of the above-mentioned arrangement and supply device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, the size of the eggplant W shown in FIG.
For convenience of explanation, the distance between adjacent rollers 7 (the opening width of the mounting portion 22) is described as being larger, but the eggplant W smaller than the distance between the rollers 7 is supported on the receiving table 18. First,
As shown in FIG. 1, the eggplants W randomly placed on the supply conveyor 2 are conveyed by the supply conveyor 2 and supplied to the alignment supply device 1. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the height of the alignment supply device 1 is set lower than the supply conveyor 2 by a predetermined dimension, and the eggplant W is supplied to the alignment supply device 1 while rolling down from the supply conveyor 2. And placed on the roller 7.

Most of the eggplants W placed on the rollers 7 of the aligning and feeding device 1 lie like the eggplants W1 and W2 shown in FIG. And the chains 11 and 12 are operated by the operation of the motor 15.
Is transported in the transport direction a by rotating. On the roller 7 on which the eggplant W is straddled, the guide projections 24 and 25 of the slide plate 21 of each roller 7 engage with the wide portions 28 of the guide rails 26 and 27 on the upstream side in the transport direction A. Thus, the connecting plate 17 (the receiving table 18) is located at a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction and moves in the transport direction A.

When the rollers 7 move a predetermined distance in the transport direction A and reach the positions of the tapered portions 30 of the guide rails 26 and 27, the rollers 7 move in the longitudinal direction. That is, for example, the roller 7 in which the guide protrusion 24 is engaged with the guide rail 26 (hereinafter referred to as a front roller 7a for convenience of description) is moved in the direction in which the guide protrusion 24 approaches the guide rail 27 (in the direction indicated by the arrow C in FIG. 5). ), And the roller 7 whose guide protrusion 25 is engaged with the guide rail 27 (referred to as a rear roller 7b) moves in the direction in which the guide protrusion 25 approaches the guide rail 26 (the direction indicated by the arrow D in FIG. 5). I do.

At this time, the front and rear rollers 7a, 7b have their guide projections 24, 25 provided at different positions in the longitudinal direction of the rollers 7a, 7b and engage with the guide rails 26, 27 alternately. At the same time, the movement of the rear roller 7b does not start at the same time, but after a predetermined time has elapsed after the front roller 7a first moved in the direction of arrow C, that is, the rear roller 7b moves in a direction opposite to the front roller 7a with a time difference. Will be.

Thus, the front and rear rollers 7 shown in FIG.
First, the eggplant W1 placed on the transfer surface a, 7b, that is, on the transfer surface is rotated substantially horizontally as indicated by an arrow E in the transfer surface by moving the front roller 7a in the direction of arrow C. Then, the movement of the roller 7b in the direction indicated by the arrow D causes the anti-tip side to be rotated substantially horizontally in the transport plane as indicated by the arrow, thereby turning the roller 7a between the front and rear rollers 7a and 7b in the horizontal direction as indicated by a two-dot chain line. Can be The turning of the eggplant W is performed while the rollers 7a and 7b pass through the tapered portion 30 (during the width H1).

Then, the converted eggplant W1 is
When the rollers 7a and 7b pass through the tapered portion 30 having the predetermined width H1 of the guide rails 26 and 27 and are located in the narrow portion 29, the rollers 7a and 7b rotate forward (in the direction of arrow B) by the rotation rail 31. Due to the rotation of the rollers 7a and 7b, the eggplant W is promoted to turn sideways, and is dropped and housed in the placing portion 22, as shown in FIG. The placement of the diverted eggplant W on the cradle 18 by the rotation of the rollers 7a and 7b prevents the eggplant W from colliding with the eggplant W continuously conveyed from the rear and retaining the eggplant W on the placing portion 22. Is prevented.

When the roller 7 is placed obliquely on the front and rear rollers 7 like the eggplant W2 shown in FIG. Inside, the eggplant W2 is turned sideways by rotating like an arrow E. That is, the eggplant W1 placed on the front and rear rollers 7 in a somewhat oblique state is changed in direction only by the movement of the front roller 7, for example.

In the case where the roller 7 is already in the horizontal position at the time when it is supplied to the aligning and supplying device 1 as in the eggplant W3 shown in FIG. Is not guided by the front and rear rollers 7 to change its direction.

As described above, in the arrangement and supply device 1 of the above-described embodiment, the eggplant W transported in a random state by the supply conveyor 2 and placed on the rollers 7 before and after the alignment and supply device 1 However, at the position of the tapered portion 30 of the guide rails 26 and 27, the roller 7 is rotated substantially horizontally by the movement in the longitudinal direction and is turned laterally, so that the eggplant W collides with another object at the time of turning. The eggplant W is hardly shocked, and the eggplant W is prevented from being damaged on the soft epidermis.

In particular, the eggplant W is placed on the outer peripheral surface as a transport surface of the circular roller 7, and in this state, the front and rear rollers 7 do not move in the longitudinal direction at the same time, but with a time lag. Eggplant W when turning
Can be reduced as much as possible, and damage due to damage to the epidermis of the eggplant W can be more reliably prevented.

Further, since the roller 7 is provided so as to rotate forward on the downstream side in the transport direction A, the eggplant W turned by the movement of the roller 7 in the longitudinal direction is placed in the concave mounting portion. The eggplant W can be quickly and reliably accommodated in the loading portion 22, thereby preventing collision between the diverted eggplant W in the placing portion 22 and the eggplant W conveyed from the rear, and retention of the eggplant W. In particular, since the front and rear rollers 7 rotate in the same direction, the eggplant W does not get stuck or pinched between the rotating rollers 7, and the eggplant W is further prevented from being damaged.

Further, the roller 7 is provided with guide projections 24 and 25.
Move in the longitudinal direction while engaging with the guide rails 26 and 27, even if the conveying speed of the roller conveyor 6 of the aligning and feeding device 1 is increased, the movement of the roller 7 in the longitudinal direction can be prevented. It can be performed smoothly, and the sorting and feeding device 1 can be operated continuously, so that a decrease in the processing capacity of the sorting operation in the sorting line can be prevented.

Further, the roller 7 can engage the guide projections 24 and 25 provided on the slide plate 21 with the guide rails 26 and 27 having the tapered portion 30 provided on the base frame 8 so that the front and rear rollers 7 can be moved. Since it can be moved in the longitudinal direction with a time difference, a complicated mechanism for the movement is not required, and the rotation of the roller 7 can be performed only by bringing the roller 23 into sliding contact with the rotation rail 31. It is possible to simplify the configuration of the alignment supply device 1 by simplifying the mechanism, for example. Further, since the roller 7 is used as the agricultural product support member, the transport conveyor can be constituted by a commercially available roller conveyor 6, and the inexpensive alignment supply device 1 can be obtained.

FIGS. 6 to 11 show a second embodiment of the sorting and feeding apparatus for long agricultural products according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a part of a sorting line using the sorting and feeding apparatus, and FIGS.
8 is a side view of the alignment supply device, FIG. 8 is a plan view of FIG. 7, FIG. 9 is a view taken along the line BB of FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 and FIG. The features of the alignment supply device 41 of this embodiment are as follows.
The point is that the rollers of the alignment supply device 41 are moved (rotated) on the circumference. The same parts as those in the first embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals.

As shown in FIG. 6, the alignment supply device 41
The roller conveyor 43 is disposed between the downstream side of the supply conveyor 42 composed of a pair of belt conveyors 42a and 42b and the roller conveyor 43, and the eggplant W supplied from the supply conveyor 42 is laterally diverted and transferred to the roller conveyor 43. . The roller conveyor 43 transfers the eggplant W placed in the horizontal direction onto a bucket 45 of a transfer device 44 disposed downstream of the roller conveyor 43, and supplies the eggplant W to a sorting device (not shown).

Then, the aligning and feeding device 41 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, a roller conveyor 46 is provided as a transport conveyor provided with a large number of rollers 47 (agricultural product support members) that move on the circumference. This roller conveyor 46
Has a pair of rotating plates 49 provided on both sides of a base frame 48, and at the center of the rotating plate 49, both ends of a rotating shaft 51 rotatably supported by the base frame 48 via bearings 50. Has been fixed. A sprocket 52 is fixed to one end of the rotating shaft 51, and the sprocket 52
The motor 53 is fixed to the motor 53 by a chain 54 or the like. The rotation of the motor 53 causes the rotating plate 49 to rotate in the direction of arrow G in FIG.

Further, between the outer peripheral portions of the pair of rotating plates 49,
A plurality of connecting members 55 are provided at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction. The connecting member 55 is provided with a rail plate 69 along its longitudinal direction, and a pair of slide plates 59 are engaged with both end portions (left and right directions in FIG. 9) of the rail plate 69 so as to be able to move laterally. Have been. The slide plate 59 is provided with a roller support plate 58 that rotatably supports the roller 47. The roller 47 moves in the longitudinal direction by slidably engaging the engagement portion 59a formed on the slide plate 59 with the rail plate 69.

A receiving roller 60 is disposed between the rollers 47, and both ends of the receiving roller 60 are connected to the connecting plate 5.
5 is rotatably supported by a roller support plate 61. The outer peripheral surface of the receiving roller 60 and the opposing outer peripheral surfaces of the front and rear rollers 47 form a concave mounting portion 62 between the adjacent rollers 47.

A guide projection 63 projecting upward is provided on the roller support plate 58 on the left side of the roller 47 in the conveying direction.
And a base frame 48 corresponding to the guide projection 63.
A substantially annular guide rail 64 is disposed on one of the side walls (left side in the transport direction). The guide rail 64 has a substantially triangular tapered portion 65 recessed inward (to the right in the transport direction) as shown in FIG. 8 at the uppermost position U (see FIG. 7) on the circumference. I have.

When the guide projection 63 of each roller 47 moves in the tapered portion 65, the roller 47 moves in the longitudinal direction. The tapered portion 65 of the guide rail 64 has a depth corresponding to the moving distance of the roller 47 set to a predetermined value, and has a width H2 of three continuous rollers 47 as shown in FIG. Guide protrusion 6
3 is set so that it can be located at the inlet and outlet of the tapered portion 65 and the deepest portion 65c. In addition, roller conveyor 4
A stay 71 which can be advanced and retracted to the base frame 48 is provided on both sides in the conveyance direction above the conveyance surface formed by the outer peripheral surface of the roller 47 of the sixth embodiment.
And a guide plate 70 for guiding the eggplant W through the plate.

As shown in FIG. 7, the alignment supply device 41 is installed such that the downstream end of the supply conveyor 42 is located slightly upstream of the uppermost position U. And the supply conveyor 42
For example, when the eggplant W is supplied via the chute 66 in a random state and placed on the roller 47, most of the eggplant W is placed on the front and rear rollers 47, and the eggplant W is Is conveyed along the circumferential direction by the rotation of.

FIG. 10 shows an operation in which the eggplant W4 is laterally aligned by the lateral movement of the front roller 47a of the pair of rollers 47 on which the eggplant W4 is laid. When the pair of rollers 47 on which the eggplant W is straddled moves in the direction indicated by the arrow G, the front roller 47a moves along the tapered surface 65a of the tapered portion 65 to the deepest portion 6a.
By moving to 5c, the front roller 47a moves in the direction indicated by the arrow H. As a result, the eggplant W4 is substantially horizontally rotated on the roller surface in the direction of the arrow (clockwise in FIG. 10), and is housed laterally between the front and rear rollers 47a and 47b.

FIG. 11 shows a horizontal direction (horizontal counterclockwise in FIG. 11) of the eggplant W5 by moving a pair of rollers 47 mounted on the eggplant W5 in the opposite directions.
In this case, the turning force is given and the lateral alignment is performed.
10 and 11 operate continuously while the eggplant W is conveyed along the circumferential direction, and the operation in FIG. 11 is the operation in FIG. 10 (horizontal clockwise in FIG. 10). 11), the eggplants W5, which could not be reliably aligned horizontally, can be accurately aligned horizontally by the horizontal counterclockwise rotation force of FIG. 11 obtained by moving the rollers 47 in opposite directions. It is shown.

When the pair of rollers 47 on which the eggplant W is straddled reaches the uppermost position U, the guide projection 63 of each roller 47 moves along the tapered portion 65 of the guide rail 64, and each of the guide protrusions 63 has its longitudinal direction. In the direction (a depth of the tapered portion 65 of the guide rail 64).

In this movement, first, the front roller 47 on which the eggplant W is placed is moved by one of the tapered surfaces 6 of the tapered portion 65.
The roller 47 moves in the direction of the deepest portion 65c along 5a, and then moves from the deepest portion 65c to the original position (outer peripheral position) along the other tapered surface 65b. When the front roller 47 moves a predetermined distance along the tapered surface 65b, the state shown in FIG.
(Referred to as roller 47a) moves in the direction indicated by the arrow, and the rear roller 47 (referred to as roller 47b) moves in the direction indicated by the arrow.

That is, in the first half position (the position of the tapered surface 65a) of the tapered portion 65, the front roller 47a
Of the taper portion 65 (taper surface 6).
5b), the front and rear rollers 47a, 47b
Move in opposite directions. Due to this movement, for example, the eggplant W4 in the state shown in FIG. 10 has the chin portion rotated substantially horizontally on the roller 47b (on the transfer surface) in the direction of the arrow N, and the anti-chin portion has an arrow on the roller 47a (on the transfer surface). It is turned substantially horizontally by horizontal rotation in the horizontal direction. And
The turned eggplants W are the front and rear rollers 47a, 47b.
It is accommodated in the interposed placing portion 62 and placed on the receiving roller 60.

Then, the eggplant W accommodated in each placing portion 62 in this manner is transported in the transport direction by the rotation of the rotary plate 49, and reaches the supply position T1 in FIG. It is transferred from 41 to a roller 68 adjacent to the roller conveyor 43 via a chute 67. At this time, the eggplant W whose orientation is aligned by the alignment supply device 41
Is rolled as it is from the supply position T1, and is transferred between the rollers 68 of the roller conveyor 43 in a horizontal state.

Even in the arrangement and supply device 41 of this embodiment, the eggplant W placed in a state of straddling between the pair of rollers 47 can be turned sideways with little impact or the like. In addition to obtaining the same operational effects as the alignment supply device 1 of the above embodiment, the width (front-back width) of the alignment supply device 41 in the transport direction can be reduced, and the sorting line can be shortened (downsized). The operation and effect can be obtained.

In the second embodiment, each roller 47 is supported on the roller support plate 58 in a free state. However, by providing a rotation rail as in the first embodiment, the rollers 47 are forcibly forced. You may make it rotate. Further, the rotation direction of the roller 7 in the first embodiment is not limited to the front direction. For example, the roller 23 of the roller 7 may be in sliding contact with the lower surface of the rotation rail 31, and the roller 7 may be rotated rearward.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case of eggplant W has been described as a long product, but it is of course possible to apply to other long products such as carrot and cucumbers.
Further, the outer diameter and the number of the rollers of the aligning and feeding device in the above embodiment, the moving distance in the longitudinal direction of the rollers, the distance between the rollers and the moving mechanism in the longitudinal direction, the shape of the guide rail (the width of the tapered portion, the depth The rotation mechanism of the roller is merely an example, and it goes without saying that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention, such as changing according to the form of the long agricultural product to be aligned.

[0058]

As described in detail above, claims 1 to 6
According to the invention described in the above, the long agricultural product transported in a random state on the supply conveyor and placed on the agricultural product support member, by the movement in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the agricultural product support member, substantially horizontal rotation on the transport surface Because the direction is changed and the direction is changed, there is almost no impact on long agricultural products at the time of direction change, and it is possible to reliably prevent damage such as damage to the epidermis of long agricultural products,
The agricultural product support member can be continuously moved, so that it is possible to prevent a reduction in the processing capacity of the alignment work.

According to the invention described in claim 7 or 8, in addition to the effects of the invention described in claims 1 to 6, the agricultural product support member can be supported by the circular outer peripheral surface of the roller. Since these rollers rotate in the same direction, it is possible to quickly and surely store and place the long agricultural product, which has been changed in direction by substantially horizontal rotation, on the mounting portion of the agricultural product support member, and the long product that is conveyed from behind. Damage to long agricultural products can be further prevented, for example, collision with agricultural products can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a part of a sorting line using an apparatus for arranging and supplying long agricultural products according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the alignment supply device.

FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view taken on line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the operation.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a part of a sorting line using an apparatus for arranging and supplying long produce according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the alignment supply device.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a view taken on line BB of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the operation.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of another operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 41... Alignment supply device 2, 42... Supply conveyor 3, 43... Roller conveyor 6, 46. ······ Roller conveyor (transport conveyor) 7, 47 ······ Roller (produce support member) 18 ··· Cradle 21, 59 ··· ··················································································· Rollers 24, 25, 63 ·······························································································・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Receiving roller U ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Top position W 、 W1 ～ W5 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Eggplant 、 G ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・..Transport direction

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65G 47/22-47/32 B65G 17/00-17/48 B65G 13/00-13/12 B65G 39 / 00-39/20

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. An apparatus for arranging and feeding long agricultural products that are transported in a random state by a supply conveyor, with the longitudinal direction thereof aligned on a transport surface of the transport conveyor in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the transport direction. The transport conveyor has a plurality of agricultural support members provided with a large number of concave mounting portions for mounting the long agricultural products one by one in the transport direction at predetermined intervals in the transport direction, and supports the agricultural products before and after the transport direction. By moving the member relatively in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction within a predetermined range of the transport direction, it is possible to substantially horizontally rotate the long agricultural product placed on the agricultural product support member and place it on the previously described portion. A long-range agricultural product line-up and supply device. 2. The long agricultural product is rotated substantially horizontally by moving one of the agricultural product support members before and after the transport direction by a predetermined distance in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction. Item 1. An apparatus for sorting and supplying long agricultural products. 3. A long agricultural product is rotated in a substantially horizontal direction by moving the agricultural product support members before and after the transport direction by a predetermined distance in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction and in a direction opposite to each other. The apparatus for arranging and supplying long agricultural products according to claim 1. 4. The agricultural product support members are configured to be movable by a predetermined distance in the same direction as each other in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction, and the agricultural product support members before and after the transport direction are separated from the transport direction with a time lag. 2. The apparatus for arranging and supplying long agricultural products according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to be movable in an orthogonal direction. 5. The transport conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the transport conveyor is configured to transport the agricultural product support member in a horizontal state at least within a predetermined range in the transport direction. Long-range produce line-up feeder. 6. The apparatus for arranging and supplying long agricultural products according to claim 1, wherein the transport conveyor is configured to transport the agricultural product support member along a circumference. . 7. The apparatus for arranging and supplying long agricultural products according to claim 1, wherein the agricultural product support member is a roller. 8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said rollers rotate in the same direction within a predetermined range in the transport direction.