JP3827390B2 - Conveyor merging device for trays with agricultural products - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a transport device used for an agricultural product sorting device that sorts and wraps a tray (free tray) carrying agricultural products such as apples, strawberries, pears, tomatoes, eggplant, pepper, watermelons, etc. The present invention relates to a receiving / conveying device for receiving trays that joins the receiving trays conveyed by the conveying means to a single conveying means.
[0002]
[Prior art]
An agricultural product sorting apparatus that sorts and sorts agricultural products used in a fruit sorting plant generally supplies the agricultural products to a sorting conveyor that measures and detects information (such as grades and classes) for sorting agricultural products ( (1)), the process of measuring the sorting information on this sorting conveyor (2), the sorting classification is determined based on the sorting information obtained by the measurement, and the agricultural products are conveyed on the sorting conveyor. Sorting process (▲ 3 ▼) for sending agricultural products of the corresponding sorting category to a number of branch conveyors that are separately connected by branching, and packaging process (▲ 4 ▼) for packaging the agricultural products sent by sorting category at the end of each branching conveyor, It is configured to be sorted and packaged in the flow of steps (1) to (4).
[0003]
In the work of sorting and sorting agricultural products, it is usual to provide the steps (1) to (3) from the supply of agricultural products to the measurement and sorting as a single transfer line. This transfer line is a single conveyor or connecting section. It is formed by a plurality of strip conveyors arranged continuously through the like.
[0004]
By the way, in sorting sorting of agricultural products, class elements such as color and scratches are often used for classification as well as class elements such as weight and size. It is not easy to measure. In view of this, many grade elements have been adopted in which the grade is determined by visual judgment of the worker, and the farmer manually places the agricultural products on the transportation lines provided for each grade (Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-5029). No. publication).
[0005]
However, providing a large number of grade-specific transport lines has the problem of increasing costs due to the duplication of equipment, and the agricultural products brought to the sorting ground are generally not distributed evenly among the sorting divisions and are generally regular. Since it shows a distribution state similar to the distribution, it does not mean that each conveyance line provided for each grade is used efficiently. For this reason, the average efficiency (utilization rate) of each transfer line in the entire facility is low, and the capacity of each device cannot be fully demonstrated compared to the investment cost, resulting in a problem that the system is inefficient. .
[0006]
As a method for solving such a problem, a single-row multi-grade transport system was conceived in which a plurality of grades of agricultural products were transported in a single transport line. Several different types are considered for this single-row multi-grade transport system. The reason why the types are relatively diversified in the single-row multi-grade transport system is as follows.
[0007]
One of the reasons is that the grade is inspected, that is, the worker performs the work of taking out grade information from agricultural products and judging it, or the recently developed optical measurement technology and computer image processing technology, etc. The difference is whether it is mechanized or automated. Another reason is the difference in the format that uses the contents (information) of the grade obtained by inspection (measurement). This latter type of information utilization is different, in order to use the grade information of the inspection result for sorting work, such information is displayed on a switch provided on the tray itself or displayed at a position where the tray is placed on the conveyor. Different from these (usually referred to as “tracking”), which uses this grade display in the sorting process (3), unlike these, individualized signs (barcode etc.) provided on the saucer are linked to the grade information. For example, it can be recorded in the memory of a computer, and in the sorting step (3), the corresponding grade information can be read from the memory using the individualized label of the tray (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-189380). JP-A-3-229676, JP-A-4-322778, etc.).
[0008]
An example of a specific apparatus configuration using the above-described prior art is, for example, as a method in which an operator makes a grade determination by visual judgment, and means for detecting a grade element to be displayed by tracking the tray or switching a switch. Can be listed in the sorting process and used for sorting work. Also, as a method of using the individualized label of the tray and the grade information linked, the individualized label of the tray is used. An apparatus may be mentioned in which means for detecting is provided in the sorting process and used for sorting work.
[0009]
According to these single-row multi-class transport systems, it is not necessary to provide a transport line for each class, so there is no duplication of equipment, and the utilization rate of the transport line is improved.
[0010]
  However, produce sorting equipmentInIn recent years, there has been a demand for rapid processing by improving the processing speed, an improvement in processing efficiency, etc., and a reduction in equipment costs by improving the processing capacity of the equipment. Although the method is an advantageous method for realizing this, further improvement in capability is demanded.
[0011]
Considering agricultural products sorting equipment from such points, generally adopt the above-mentioned single-row multi-class transport system in sorting and packaging of agricultural products composed of the above-mentioned steps (1) to (4). Is excellent in terms of effective use of equipment, and is effective in improving the process of sending out the agricultural products whose sorting information has been measured (including visual observation) to the specified sorting category while being transported on a tray. There is a problem in that it is impossible to improve the overall capability of the sorting apparatus and to increase the processing speed.
[0012]
For example, many of the elements of grade determination have to rely on visual judgment based on the experience of the operator, even though techniques capable of measuring at high speed have advanced, and for this reason, the above-mentioned (1) Part of the agricultural product supply process (2) or the selection (2) selection information measurement (detection) process (2) is difficult to mechanize and automate, and often cannot be processed at high speed. For example, when using agricultural products as scratches, it is not technically easy to measure the entire surface of agricultural products placed on the saucer, so it often relies on visual judgment by the operator. There are limits. Also, depending on the type of agricultural product, it is not easy to mechanize the work of placing each item brought into the fruit selection field on the saucer. For this reason, the supply of agricultural products still depends on the manual work of the workers, so that there are limits to manual processing as described above. The problem that there is a limit to speeding up these manual operations is more remarkable when the tray is tracked and displayed on the transport line.
[0013]
Therefore, even if the single-row multi-class transport method is adopted in the transport line, if it is not easy to realize high-speed processing in the preceding steps (1) and (2), it is impossible to increase the speed of the entire apparatus. As a countermeasure, it is possible to increase the number of workers in the steps (1) and (2). However, even if the work is simply placing agricultural products on the saucer, the moving speed of the transfer line is set at, for example, the level immediately before the worker. In fact, the speed of the tray so that it passes at a speed of 5 or 6 or more actually exceeds the operator's ability, and the experience of the present inventors limits the number to 1 to 3 per second. Work beyond this is difficult.
[0014]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
For these reasons, in order to improve the capacity and processing efficiency of the entire agricultural product sorting apparatus, it is necessary to measure the process (1), which is difficult to increase the speed, and some sorting elements, which are difficult to process at high speed. (2) of (2) is required to correspond to the speeding up of step (3). Among the cases where the measurement apparatus is used, some of the elements that are difficult to perform high-speed processing include, for example, a complicated shape and time-consuming image processing or a time-consuming determination of scratches.
[0015]
The present inventors propose the present invention in order to solve the above-described problems. Specifically, for example, a conveyor constituting the transport line of the step (3) is provided for each sorting section. In contrast, in the partial processing of steps (1) and (2), the moving speed passing through the position where the tray is fed to the branch conveyor can be set to 5, 6 or more per second. It is an object of the present invention to provide a tray conveying and merging device devised so that the moving speed can be set to about 1 to 3 per second at which an operator can work or can measure.
[0016]
In addition, although it is different from the countermeasure against the above-mentioned problem, there has been a proposal to connect a plurality of supply conveyors to a single conveyor (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-83071). This is because if there are multiple workers lined up on one supply conveyor to supply agricultural products, the downstream workers will have to wait until the empty trays flow, so this cannot be solved. It is what.
[0017]
However, in this proposal, although the troubles when a plurality of workers are lined up can be solved, the step (3) is performed while maintaining the work speeds of the steps (1) and (2) at a level that can be handled by an actual worker. Since there is no recognition of the problem of ensuring that the transfer line is moved at a high speed, the supply conveyor side transfers the tray from a plurality of supply conveyors moving at a low speed to a single transfer conveyor moving at a high speed. Only a configuration that requires waiting for timing is disclosed, and a configuration that is suitable for increasing the merging efficiency is not shown.
[0018]
The present invention has been made for the purpose of providing a tray-conveying and merging device capable of increasing the processing speed in the agricultural product sorting apparatus and thus improving the processing capacity.
[0019]
Another object of the present invention is to realize a high-speed processing by improving the ability of the agricultural product sorting apparatus, and a sorting process (for example, the above-mentioned process (3)) in which the speed of moving the line is relatively easy by mechanization and automation. The speed difference of the line movement from the agricultural product supply and measurement process (for example, the process (1) or (2) described above) that is difficult to speed up the movement of the line due to the fact that it depends on the specific work and can cope with the high-speed processing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a tray conveying and merging apparatus that can adapt the above problem with maximum efficiency.
[0020]
Still another object of the present invention is to reduce the installation space of the agricultural product sorting apparatus, and to provide an inexpensive apparatus as a whole together with improvement in the utilization efficiency of facilities.
[0021]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The object is achieved by the invention of the tray conveying and merging device used in the agricultural product sorting apparatus described in each of the claims.
[0022]
  The invention of the tray transfer and merging apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention can arbitrarily place the trays on which the agricultural products are placed at a plurality of different positions in the transport lateral direction, and are arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction of the constant-speed synchronous drive for transporting the trays. And at least two low-speed conveyors, a rail member that temporarily stretches the trays transported on the two low-speed conveyors to the outer side in the lateral direction of the transport, and then stretches the inner side in the transport direction; The two low-speed conveyors that are disposed between the two low-speed conveyors in the conveyance direction of the low-speed conveyor and transport the trays transferred from the two low-speed conveyors via the tray transfer guide means. A high-speed transfer conveyor set at a high speed approximately several times or more than that of the transfer conveyor, and the high-speed transfer by transferring the tray while continuously driving the high-speed transfer conveyor and the low-speed transfer conveyor. A receiving and merging apparatus for receiving trays that are joined and transported on a bearing, wherein the low-speed conveyor conveys the receiving trays in a slidable manner in the lateral direction of conveyance, and is a first for receiving the trays. Are formed at a constant pitch along the conveying direction, and the pitch phase of the first bars between the low-speed conveyors is shifted in the conveying direction by a fraction of the number of the low-speed conveyors, and the tray transfer The guide means are arranged to overlap each other in the transport direction between each of the low-speed transport conveyors and the single high-speed transport conveyor, and are used for receiving the trays so as to slidably engage and transport the trays in the transport lateral direction. Second bars are formed at a constant pitch along the conveying direction, and the tray on the low-speed conveyor conveys at the overlapping portion, relays the transfer to the high-speed conveyor, and the low-speed conveyance And Noriutsuri relay conveyor for continuous operation by setting the conveying speed in speed between the conveyors and the high speed conveyor, the low speed conveyor and theTransferThe upper side of the relay conveyor is crossed obliquely toward the inner front in the transport direction, and the tray that engages on the low-speed transport conveyor is moved to the high-speed transport conveyor, and the width is reduced in the transport lateral direction through the relay conveyor, and the rail. It has a guide rail which formed the path | route which guides this saucer to the said transfer conveyer between members.
  In general, two or three strips are suitable for the number of installed low-speed conveyors, but are not limited. Of course, a combination of a single high-speed conveyor and a plurality of low-speed conveyors may be installed in a plurality of combinations depending on the size of the fruit selection field.
[0026]
  The plurality of low-speed conveyors are driven at the same speed synchronously.1st crosspiece for saucerThe pitch phase of each of the conveyors is set to be shifted in the transport direction by a fraction of the number of the low-speed conveyors linked to the single high-speed conveyor (for example, 1/2 when the number of low-speed conveyors is two). HaveTheBy doing in this way, for example, the front-rear interval of the saucer that has been transferred from each of the two low-speed transfer conveyors to the single high-speed transfer conveyor becomes the shift amount of the pitch phase. It should be noted that the above-mentioned deviation amount “one of the number of stripes” does not mean that it should be exactly the same as the mathematical value, and may be almost the same as the numerical value. Even if the deviation of the pitch phase between the low-speed conveyors deviates from a fraction, it is permissible as long as it does not interfere with merging.
[0027]
Furthermore, in the said structure, it has the characteristic structure that the conveyance speed of the single high-speed conveyance conveyor was set to the several times or more of the several low-speed conveyor driven synchronously. The speed ratio between the high-speed conveyor and the low-speed conveyor is such that the high-speed conveyor is several times the number of the low-speed conveyor (double in the case of two) in order to keep the same distance between the trays on both conveyors. In order to increase the front / rear interval of the tray on the high-speed conveyor, the number of strips is more than a few times, and when reducing the front / rear interval of the tray on the high-speed conveyor, the speed ratio is within the range where merging is possible. It is good also as below. The “roughly multiple times” of the speed ratio includes these cases.
[0028]
According to the invention having the above-described configuration, the low-speed conveyor can be continuously driven and joined to the high-speed conveyor without waiting for timing, and a high-capacity merging conveyance is realized. .
[0029]
This also increases the speed ratio between the high-speed conveyor and the low-speed conveyor, so that the high-speed conveyor can perform high-speed processing with high performance, and the low-speed conveyor can perform processing at a low speed corresponding to the processing operation.
[0030]
  Also squaredSet the transfer speed of the transfer relay conveyor to the speed between the low-speed transfer conveyor and the high-speed transfer conveyor.ing.
[0031]
  thisConstitutionAccording to the above, it is effective to smoothly transfer the tray when the speed difference between the low-speed conveyor and the high-speed conveyor is large.
[0032]
  AndA plurality of the transfer relay conveyorsSecond pierThe pitch phase is shifted by a fraction of the number of these transfer relay conveyors.ing.
[0033]
  thisConstitutionAccordingly, the transfer from each low-speed conveyor to the high-speed conveyor can be performed reliably and more smoothly.
[0036]
  AlsoThe tray transfer guide means is:Each of the low-speed conveyors and the one high-speed conveyor is overlapped in the conveying direction, respectively, and is configured to slidably engage and convey the tray in the conveyance lateral direction. Are formed at a constant pitch along the conveying direction, and the tray on the low-speed conveyor conveys at the overlapping portion, relays the transfer to the high-speed conveyor, and the low-speed conveyor and the high-speed conveyor A transfer relay conveyor that is continuously driven with a transfer speed set to a speed between, and the upper side of the low-speed transfer conveyor and the relay conveyor crossing diagonally toward the front inner side in the transfer direction and engaged on the low-speed transfer conveyor The guide tray is configured to have a guide rail for bringing the tray to the high-speed transfer conveyor and moving it horizontally and laterally through the transfer conveyor..
[0037]
  thisConfiguration of tray transfer guide meansAccording to the guide means for transfer of the saucerThe guide rails that make upIt can be formed by a relatively simple configuration of a fixed rail.
[0046]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the drawings.
[0047]
Embodiment 1
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a part of a fruit selection field equipped with an agricultural product sorting and packaging device according to the present invention (measurement for agricultural product sorting to packaging), and this sorting and packaging device. Are roughly divided into agricultural product supply / equal class selection unit (the processing units of the above-mentioned processes (1) and (2)), and a sorting unit for discharging the agricultural products determined to be classified into the same class to the storage conveyor of each classification category. (Processing section of step (3) described above) and a boxed packaging section for packing a group (number of packaging units) of agricultural products sent from the storage conveyor of each sorted classification to the boxing standby position (described above) The processing section of the process (4)).
[0048]
And in this example, the working efficiency of these three parts ensures a state where work can be performed at a relatively low speed that requires visual judgment of the worker, etc., by providing the agricultural product supply / equal class selection unit as a two-row conveyor In the sorting and sorting section, the trays (hereinafter referred to as “free trays”) transported in the two supply / equal-class sorting section are joined to a single conveyor so that they can work efficiently at high speed by mechanical work. In order to achieve high-speed processing and efficiently operate a large number of boxing devices in the boxing and packaging unit, the free trays 4 can be merged or switched at an appropriate stage.
[0049]
The above-mentioned agricultural product supply / equal class selection unit is shown in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the operator moves the free tray 4 returned by the return conveyor 51 on the transfer conveyor 52, which is a low-speed transfer conveyor. 50 picks up the agricultural products from the incoming conveyor 57 that randomly conveys the agricultural products brought to the selection ground and places them on the free tray 4. In this example, in this example, the grade (excellent, excellent, good) Or three positions (A, B, C, etc.) are visually discriminated, and the position of the free tray 4 is set to the center, right side, and left side of the conveyor 52 (position P indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3)._C , P_R , P_L ) Is moved to a predetermined position to indicate that it is one of the three grades by tracking.
[0050]
  The transport conveyor 52 in this example is a cross-piece at regular intervals in the transport direction.(First pier)The crosspiece 521 is provided with a notch 5211 that can be engaged with the flat circular free tray 4 in a shallow uneven manner, as shown in FIG. The free tray 4 can be stably positioned so that the tracking display can be accurately displayed by engaging the free tray 4 with the crosspiece 521 at each of the left and right positions and the notch 5211 at the central position. In addition, one free tray 4 is inserted for every square divided by the crosspieces 521 by a pitching screw 511 having a spiral groove provided at the end portion of the return conveyor 51.
[0051]
Further, the conveyor 52 forms a substantially continuous conveyor conveyance surface suitable for conveying and supporting the free tray 4 by installing a plate 59 between the opposed links 581 of the pair of parallel running link chains 58 that rotate endlessly. It is supposed to do. A cover 582 covers the link chain 58 and also serves as a side edge frame of the conveyor conveyance surface.
[0052]
53 is a tracking detection device such as a photoelectric sensor provided for detecting the position state (tracking state) of the free tray 4 for detecting the grade of the agricultural product from the tracking position of the free tray 4 on which it is placed. is there.
[0053]
  The free tray 4 after detecting the tracking is a taper rail 522 in this example.As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.The images are aligned in a line and passed through the imaging device 54. This imaging device 54 is for imaging the appearance of agricultural products using a color camera, a sensor camera, or the like, and classifying or classifying each agricultural product by an appropriate calculation method.As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the taper rail 522 has an inclined surface parallel to the inclined rail 562 on the downstream side in the transport direction, and the tray that has been once widened outward in the transport direction is directed inward in the transport direction. To get closer.
[0054]
Reference numeral 55 denotes a bar code reader that reads different identification marks, for example, bar codes, displayed on the free tray 4 one by one.
[0055]
As described above, the identification information (individualized information) of a specific free tray 4 is detected by a bar code, and the sorting information necessary for the grade and class of the agricultural products on the specific free tray 4 such as tracking detection is detected. Information detected by the device 53 and the image pickup device 54 is converted into an electrical signal and sent to a computer (not shown) to determine whether the agricultural product placed on a specific free tray 4 belongs to an equal class. It is recorded or recorded as sorting classification information of the determination result. This recorded information is used as information for discharging the free tray 4 from the sorting conveyor 1 described later to the storage conveyor.
[0056]
Next, a description will be given of a characteristic configuration of the present example in which the joining mechanism 56 is used to transfer and join the free trays 4 on the two transport conveyors 52 on one sorting conveyor (the high-speed transport conveyor) 1 described above. .
[0057]
  That is, on the end side of the conveyor 52 of the agricultural product supply / equal class selector of this example, the two conveyors 52 run in parallel at a predetermined interval, and both the crosspieces 521 move in the conveying direction. It is provided so as to be driven (conveyed) with a 1/2 pitch phase shifted. And, with respect to the sorting conveyor 1 as a high-speed conveyance conveyor that is arranged in the middle of both the conveyance conveyors 52 and is provided so as to be transferred at approximately twice the speed,Configuring the tray transfer guide meansVia the transfer relay conveyors 561 and 561,It is a guide railInclined rails 562 and 562 are configured to join the free tray 4 by shifting the width of the free tray 4 in the lateral direction.At this time, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a taper rail 522 and an inclined rail 562, which are rail members, form a path for transferring the free tray 4 to the relay conveyor 561, and the free tray 4 is connected to the relay conveyor from this path. Transfer to 561.
[0058]
  The transfer relay conveyor 561 is for smoothly performing transfer relay when the speed ratio between the transfer conveyor 52 and the sorting conveyor 1 is large.(Second pier)5611 is provided, and the transfer speed is set to an intermediate speed between the transfer conveyor 52 and the sorting conveyor 1. Further, the transfer relay conveyor 561 provided corresponding to each of the conveyors 52 is provided with crosspieces 5611 provided on these conveyors with a ½ pitch phase shifted from each other in the transport direction. The free tray 4 can be transferred to and from the crosspiece 521.
[0059]
As described above, the free tray 4 on which the agricultural products in which the sorting element for determining the classification classification of the equal class is determined on each of the two conveyors 52 is conveyed to the inclined rail 562 while being conveyed by the conveyor 52. When engaged, they are laterally moved along the inclination and transferred to the sorting conveyor 1. And the phase of the crosspieces 521 of the conveying conveyors 52 on both sides is shifted by ½ pitch in the conveying direction, so that they are efficiently aligned at equal intervals on the sorting conveyor 1 and set in this sorting conveyor 1. Sent at a high speed to the transfer sorting section.
[0060]
Next, the sorting unit of the sorting and packaging apparatus of this example will be described.
[0061]
The agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus of this example is provided with two conveyor conveyors 52 for the above-mentioned agricultural product supply / equal class selection unit, and the free tray 4 fed from these two (two series) supply / isological classification units. Two sets of sorting conveyors 1 to be joined and conveyed are provided in a vertically packed and separated form as a boxed packaging line, and supply of the free tray 4 from the upper and lower boxed packaging lines to one boxing device can be selected. This is an extremely characteristic configuration that has never been achieved before (see FIG. 5). The configuration of the present example is extremely suitable when adopting an efficient work mode corresponding to the work speed that is actually suitable.
[0062]
Hereinafter, an embodiment in which this is actually applied will be described and clarified.
[0063]
As shown in FIG. 5, the free tray 4 on which the agricultural products classified by the supply / equal class sorting unit are transported by the upper and lower two-stage sorting conveyors 1 and 1 and branched in the horizontal direction. Storage conveyor 202 (in this example, the same number of upper and lower 202₁ ~ 202_n N)), the free tray 4 loaded with the agricultural products of the corresponding classification category is discharged for each classification category.
[0064]
The storage conveyor 202 in this example is a branched box in which a total of 8 upper and lower 4 strips form a set (group) and are linked to one boxing standby position of the boxed packaging unit. In the example shown in the figure, eight sets of these branch boxing lines 2 are linked to the boxing standby position of the sorting and packaging apparatus, and other branch boxing lines 2 ( 3 are linked to a boxing standby position for hand-packing work by an operator or a branch boxing line that is not boxed. The branch boxing line having the boxing standby position for hand-packing work can be provided so as to be boxed by an operator in a timely manner, for example, in the case of a sorting section having only a small number of agricultural products. In addition, agricultural products that cannot be shipped as non-standard products do not need to be packaged, so they may be discharged to a line that is not packed (one line located on the uppermost side in FIG. 1).
[0065]
Hereinafter, one set of branch boxing lines 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 5, and 6, but the other sets have the same configuration except that the arrangement pattern of the boxing is different.
[0066]
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the branch boxing line 2 constituting the sorting and sorting unit is generally discharged from upper and lower discharge devices 201 and 201 for discharging the free tray 4 from the upper and lower selection conveyors 1. Upper and lower storage conveyors 202 and 202 for storing the free tray 4 and a tray delivery device 204 for sending the free tray 4 from the upper and lower storage conveyors 202 to a boxing standby position 203 are provided.
[0067]
The discharge device 201 can be configured using, for example, a sorting discharge device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 6-278848, and is provided independently on each of the upper and lower sorting conveyors 1 and 1. Moreover, in this example, it is comprised so that it may have the function which distributes the free tray 4 to the storage conveyor 202 (2021, 2022 of FIG. 6) of two lanes (two strips) with one discharge device. That is, the discharge device 201 has a large number of electromagnetic adsorption portions 2012 at equal intervals along the circumferential direction inside the outer peripheral portion, and a rotary table 2011 that rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. In order to suck and turn the free tray 4 in order to discharge 4, one exciting means 2013 for exciting the electromagnetic attracting portion 2012 of the rotary table 2011 at a predetermined fixed position, and the two-lane storage conveyors 2021 and 2022 as described above. In order to distribute the free trays 4 to each other, excitation release means 2014 and 2015 of the electromagnetic attraction unit 2012 are provided fixed at two predetermined positions.
[0068]
With the above configuration, for example, an agricultural product for which an equal class classification is determined (for example, a magnitude class is L and a grade is A) passes through the position of the discharge device 201 having the storage conveyor 202 set to the classification class. When the excitation means 2013 is excited in response to a command from a control means (not shown) such as a computer, the corresponding free tray 4 is attracted to the rotary table 2011 having the electromagnetic suction portion 2012, and the rotary table According to the rotation of 2011, it is turned from the sorting conveyor 1 in the horizontal direction and discharged. Then, any one of the excitation release means 2014 and 2015 is operated by a command from the control means to release the suction, and the discharged free tray 4 is sent to one of the two lanes 2021 and 2022.
[0069]
In this example, the operation of selecting the agricultural products of a specific sorting category and discharging them to the corresponding storage conveyor 202 by the predetermined discharging device 201 is performed as follows. That is, the bar code reader 5 (see FIG. 1) arranged upstream of the sorting conveyor 1 reads the unique label (bar code) on the free tray, and thereby sorts the agricultural products that are recorded in a one-to-one relationship with the sign. Detecting the transfer distance (or time) from the arrangement position of the barcode reader 5 to the discharge device corresponding to the storage conveyor 202 of the corresponding sorting section, corresponding to the movement amount of the sorting conveyor from the encoder device or the like Based on the number of pulses to be output, the operation is performed when the corresponding free tray 4 passes through the discharge device 201 portion.
[0070]
In this example, for example, the discharge device 201 shown on the right side of FIG. 6 is installed to discharge the free tray 4 on which the agricultural products P of the classification division of size A and grade A are discharged to the two storage conveyors 202. The left-side discharge device 201 can be installed on the two storage conveyors 202 so as to discharge the agricultural products P of the classification division of size A with the size L. These storage conveyors 202 can be classified into the same classification category or all different classification categories, and the selection can be determined as required by the distribution ratio of the classification categories of the agricultural products to be processed.
[0071]
Next, the storage conveyor 202 will be described. The storage conveyor 202 is constituted by a belt conveyor or a roller conveyor, and conveys the discharged free tray 4 to the downstream side. In addition, as described above, two lanes 2021 and 2022 are provided so as to stack the free trays 4 in one row with respect to one discharging device 201, and the free trays 4 are provided at the conveyance end positions of the lanes 2021 and 2022, respectively. A stopper mechanism 2023 for stopping is arranged. This stopper mechanism 2023 normally operates to stop the conveyance of the free tray 4 and, for example, the number of free trays accumulated by a sensor (not shown) accumulates a predetermined number of packaging units (the number packed in one box by the packing operation). When this is detected, the state is switched to a state in which conveyance is permitted based on a command from a control means (not shown) according to the progress of the subsequent boxing operation, and the predetermined number of free trays 4 are placed in the boxing standby position 203. After the predetermined number of feeds, the stopper mechanism 2023 is returned to the transport stop state so that the feed of the subsequent free tray 4 is stopped again. Such a stopper mechanism 2023 can be configured by combining a stopper plate and a cylinder device, for example.
[0072]
The discharging device 201 and the storage conveyor 202 are provided independently for the upper and lower sorting conveyors 1, 1. Therefore, in the configuration of this example, the storage conveyor 202 is moved up and down in one branch boxing line 2. Four strips and two discharge devices 201 are arranged one above the other.
[0073]
Next, the box packaging unit will be described. The boxing and packaging unit of this example includes a boxing standby position 203 for agricultural products, a switchable tray delivery device 204 that sends agricultural products from the storage conveyor 202 to the boxing standby position 203, and a boxing device 205 that performs boxing operations. , And peripheral devices related thereto.
[0074]
The boxing standby position 203 is used for packing a predetermined number of free trays 4 fed from one of the lanes of a plurality (eight in this example) of storage conveyors 202 included in one branch boxing line 2. These are provided as a packaging lane 2031 that is arranged in a row and waits for packaging. Further, the switch-type tray delivery device 204 for delivering agricultural products is a four-way delivery conveyor 2041 (FIG. 5) provided in a vertically swinging manner to send the free tray 4 from any of the storage conveyors 202 to the boxing lane 2031. The air cylinder device 2042 for each lane for swinging the delivery conveyor 2041, and the free tray 4 sent from the four-line storage conveyor 202 via the delivery conveyor 2041 to the packaging lane 2031. In order to do so, it is constituted by a relay conveyor 2043 extending in a direction perpendicular to the direction. Each air cylinder device 2042 is connected to the relay mechanism prior to the stopper mechanism 2023 being switched to a state in which conveyance is permitted in order to send the group of free trays 4 from one of the storage conveyors 202 paired up and down. The delivery conveyor 2041 is vertically swung around the shaft 2044 on the conveyor 2043 side, and the corresponding storage conveyor 202 and the boxing lane 2031 are switched so as to be in a continuous relationship (directly or via the relay conveyor 2043). .
[0075]
FIG. 6 shows a state in which the delivery conveyor 2041 is sent out in a horizontal posture when 24 free trays 4 of the number of boxed packaging units are accumulated on the storage conveyor 2021 on the right side of the figure, FIG. 5 shows a state in which the free tray 4 of the number of packaged packaging units is sent out from the lower storage conveyor 202 in an inclined posture in which the delivery conveyor 2041 of FIG.
[0076]
The free trays 4 sent out from the predetermined storage conveyor 202 by the above-mentioned tray delivery device 204 are sent onto the boxing lane 2031 and stopped by the stopper mechanism 2034 provided at the tip of the boxing lane 2031. It will be in a standby state. The stopper mechanism 2034 can be configured in the same manner as the stopper mechanism 2023. The stopper mechanism 2034 is switched to a state that allows conveyance at the end of picking up agricultural products (or when no trouble occurs after the picking up). Is sent out to the return conveyor 51, and after the predetermined number is sent out, the subsequent free tray 4 is returned to the state where it is stopped again. The end of the return conveyor 51 is connected to the transport conveyor 52 shown in FIGS.
[0077]
Next, a working robot as the boxing device 205 will be described.
[0078]
As shown in FIGS. 5 to 9, the boxing device 205 of this example is configured as a working robot having a vertical articulated arm mechanism (hereinafter referred to as “working robot 205”). Agricultural products P are picked up from a predetermined number of free trays 4 that have been queued in a row in the packing lane 2031 at the standby position 203, and one by one is sequentially placed in the corrugated cardboard boxes 6 that are selected and inserted from the tray packs 801 to 804. It works to stuff. And in the sorting and packaging apparatus of this example, for example, when packing the agricultural products P of size L, they are packed in 5 × 4 rows (20 in total), but when packing the agricultural products P of size M, Since 6 x 4 rows (24 in total) are packed, the suction cups of the work robot 205 that are not involved in picking up are retracted to the retracted position so that the picked-up number can be handled. It is provided so that it can.
[0079]
That is, in the working robot 205 of this example, as shown in FIGS. 5, 7, and 8, a root link mechanism 2052 that performs parallelogram link motion is extended from the main body 2051, and the tip of the root link mechanism 2052 is extended. A tip link mechanism 2053 that performs parallelogram link motion is connected via a hinge that allows rotation around a horizontal axis, and a suction cup holder 2054 is connected to the tip of the tip link mechanism 2053 via a bracket 2055. The bracket 2055 can be moved up and down and back and forth while always maintaining a horizontal posture by the arm mechanism constituted by these link mechanisms.
[0080]
As shown in detail in FIGS. 7 and 9, the bracket 2055 slides so that a pair of guides 20552 provided on the bracket bottom plate 20551 and a rail 20541 provided on the upper surface of the suction cup holder 2054 can move in the horizontal direction. Thus, the suction cup holder 2054 is suspended so as to be movable in the Y-Y direction of FIG. 7, and the piston rod 20543 of the air cylinder device 20542 assembled to the upper surface of the suction cup holder 2054 is attached to the bracket bottom plate 20551. By being connected, the positions of the suction cup holder 2054 and the bracket 2055 in the YY direction can be determined.
[0081]
The suction cup holder 2054 has, in this example, one fixed cup suspension 2056 at one end fixed so as not to move in the YY direction as shown in FIG. A rail 20545 provided on the lower surface of the holder 2054 is provided so as to suspend a combination of six moving cup suspensions 2057 that are slidably movable in the YY direction. Each of the cup suspensions has air cylinder devices 20561 and 20571 having piston rods 20562 and 20572 below which are driven vertically, and has suction cups 20563 and 20573 at the lower ends of the piston rods 20562 and 20572, respectively. In addition, this adsorption cup can use the known thing etc. which have a flexible bellows for improving the adhesiveness with the agricultural product to pick up.
[0082]
Each suction cup 20563, 20573 is connected to a blower (not shown) by a vent pipe 2058.
[0083]
Further, the seven cup suspensions described above are provided with a pantograph mechanism 20547 having a servo motor 20546 as a driving means as a distance changing means, and the moving cup suspensions 2057 that are sequentially adjacent to each other with the fixed cup suspension 2056 as a reference. The interval can be changed. That is, the details of the interval changing means are shown in FIGS. 7, 9 and 10, and the horizontal position of the fixed cup suspension 2056 and the moving cup suspension 2057 located farthest from the fixed cup suspension 2056 is determined by the servo motor 20546. The distance change and equalization are achieved by equalizing the adjacent interval of the remaining cup suspensions between the pair of cup suspensions by the pantograph mechanism 20547.
[0084]
Hereinafter, peripheral devices and the like provided in the sorting and packaging apparatus of this example will be described.
[0085]
Reference numeral 7 denotes a supply / discharge device for the cardboard box 6. The empty box 6 conveyed by the empty box transfer conveyor 701 is pushed into the empty box lowering device 703 by the pusher 702 at a predetermined timing, and the pushed empty box 6 is lowered. After that, it is sent to the packing position 704 along the arrows shown in FIGS. The corrugated cardboard box 6 in which the packaging of the agricultural products P is finished is lowered from the packaging position 704 to the discharge conveyor 705 by an elevator (not shown), and is conveyed to a predetermined product accumulation place by the product conveying conveyor 706.
[0086]
This example of the boxing and packaging operation of the agricultural product P by the sorting and packaging apparatus having the above configuration will be described below.
[0087]
In the agricultural product supply / equal class selection unit, the agricultural product is placed on the free tray 4 and conveyed by the transport conveyor 52, and the above-described tracking classification, classification by the image pickup device 54, and identification mark detection are performed. The two conveyor conveyors 52 arranged side by side are merged by the merging mechanism 56 and transferred to the sorting conveyor 1.
[0088]
In this example, the (feed / equal class sorting unit) → (sorting conveyor 1) configuration of the agricultural products is provided in two lines, and the two sorting conveyors 1, 1 are vertically separated and stacked. It is installed.
[0089]
The free tray 4 on which the agricultural products P whose sorting classification has been determined by the equal class sorting is transferred by the sorting conveyors 1 in the upper and lower two stages is stored in the storage conveyor 202 designated by the discharging device 201 in FIG. Sent to and accumulated. Note that any stopper mechanism 2023 disposed at the end of each of the storage conveyors 202 is in a state of stopping the free tray 4.
[0090]
The number of free trays 4 accumulated in each storage conveyor 202 in this manner is counted by a sensor (not shown), and when one box for packaging into one cardboard box 6 is accumulated, the packaging device (work If the robot) 205 is in an acceptable state (a state in which the boxing operation can be performed), the stopper mechanism 2023 at the end thereof is retracted, and the box lane 2031 is sent to the boxing lane 2031 through the delivery conveyor 2041. Feed the free tray 4. At this time, among the four upper and lower storage conveyors 202 belonging to one branch boxing line 2, which storage conveyor 202 is used for sending out is, for example, a sensor camera provided for each storage conveyor 202. Based on the information detected from (not shown) or the like, it may be controlled so that the boxing process can be performed efficiently by computer analysis such as the free tray accumulation state and the difference in accumulation speed. In the case of delivery from the upper storage conveyor 202, the delivery conveyor 2041 continuous to the corresponding storage conveyor 202 is set in a horizontal posture, and in the case of delivery from the lower storage conveyor 202, the operation of the air cylinder device 2042 is performed. Then, the delivery conveyor 2041 connected to the corresponding storage conveyor 202 is swung downward to be in an inclined posture.
[0091]
In the state shown in FIG. 6, for example, one box (24 pieces) of the free tray 4 is sent to the packing lane 2031 from the storage conveyor 2021 at the right end of the upper stage in which the agricultural products of the sorting category of size M and grade A are accumulated. It shows the state.
[0092]
As described above, the free tray 4 corresponding to one box of the agricultural product P is fed, and the boxing operation is performed by the above-described articulated work robot 205 in the boxing lane 2031 where the boxing operation is sequentially performed in a row. Done.
[0093]
That is, for the empty cardboard box 6 sent to the packing position 704 by the cardboard box supply / discharge device 7, the work robot 205 first sucks the loaded 24 trays (pieces) of tray packs 801. The arm mechanism is operated by driving means (not shown) at the position and posture shown by the solid line in FIG. 5 so that the cup can be picked up. At this time, the rotator 807 of the tray pack supply device 8 operates so that the tray pack 801 for 24 balls (pieces) is positioned in a state (state shown in FIG. 6) close to the packaging lane 2031. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the cup suspensions 2056 and 2057 are narrowed so that the tray pack 801 is picked up by six cup suspensions. This is to ensure that the tray pack is picked up. The picked-up tray pack 801 is inserted into the cardboard box 6 at the packing position 704 by moving the arm mechanism of the work robot 205 to the position / posture indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Reference numeral 805 denotes a turntable on which each tray pack group is stacked, and 806 denotes a support frame.
[0094]
As described above, the cardboard box 6 in which the tray pack (the tray pack 801 for the size M in the above state) is inserted into the packing position 704 is set in a standby state. The agricultural product boxing operation is started by the work robot 205 for transferring the agricultural product P to the box from the stopped free tray 4 containing the agricultural product P. At this time, since the working robot 205 of this example has a total of seven cup suspensions (one fixed cup suspension 2056 and six movable cup suspensions 2057), the agricultural products to be lifted and picked up. Since P is 6, there are extra cup suspensions for one. Therefore, the suction cup 20573 of the air cylinder device 20571 of the moving cup suspension 2057 farthest from the fixed cup suspension 2056 is retreated upward from the position where it operates for normal agricultural product transfer by intake air from the vent pipe 20548. , To prevent participation in operations such as picking up and transferring agricultural products P. This state is shown in FIG. In addition, the positions and intervals at which the cup suspensions 2056 and 2057 are suitable for picking up and lifting the agricultural products P on the six free trays 4 stopped in the boxing lane 2031 are air cylinders. Provided by actuation of device 20542 and actuation of pantograph mechanism 20547.
[0095]
The arm mechanism having six cup suspensions controlled in this manner is moved to the position / posture shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 5 and sucks and picks up six rows of agricultural products P by suction cups 20563 and 20573.
[0096]
Next, the work robot 205 that sucks and suspends the picked agricultural product P moves the cup suspensions 2056 and 2057 to the boxing position by controlling the posture of the arm mechanism, and in the middle of this movement, the pantograph mechanism 20547 is moved. By the operation of the above, the adjacent interval between the row of cup suspensions 2056 and 2057 is changed to a state suitable for boxing. The empty free tray 4 from which the produce P has been picked up is withdrawn from the stopper mechanism 2034 and sent to the return conveyor 51. Then, the free tray 4 on which the subsequent agricultural product P is placed is transferred to the boxing lane 2031 and stopped by the returned stopper mechanism 2034 and waits for the next boxing. And the boxing operation | work of the agricultural products P of the 2nd row is performed by the work robot 205 which extended the adjacent space | interval of the cup suspension in the state of FIG. In the present example, the above operation is continuously performed for four rows as shown in FIG. 12, and thus the boxing operation for one box is completed, and the box 6 after the operation is finished is discharged from the discharge conveyor 705 to the product transfer conveyor. It is conveyed to a predetermined product accumulation place via 706.
[0097]
The boxing operation is performed on the next box 6. That is, supply of the empty box 6 to the boxing position 704, feeding a predetermined number of the free trays 4 on which the agricultural products P are loaded from any one of the storage conveyors 202 to the boxing lane 2031, a predetermined tray pack (801 to 804) A series of operations including inserting into the box 6 and picking up and packing the agricultural products one by one is performed. At this time, when the boxing is performed on the agricultural products of size L, the tray cup 803 is used to perform the boxing in an array pattern of 5 × 4 rows, so the second cup hanging from the left side in FIG. The body 2057 also needs to be retracted to the same retracted state as the leftmost cup suspension 2057, and the agricultural product stuffing state is in a staggered state and the degree of change in the adjacent spacing of the cup suspension is different. Accordingly, these change controls can also retract the second cup suspension 2057 from the left side only by operating the air cylinder device 20571, and the air cylinder device 20542 is also changed for each row in order to change the arrangement pattern. The suction cup holder 2054 is actuated to move in the Y-Y direction of FIG. 7 and the operation of the pantograph mechanism 20547 can be adjusted very simply. Kill.
[0098]
After completion of the M boxing, when the state (the number of boxing units) of L packing can be detected according to the pool status on the storage conveyor, the tray pack supply device 8 is rotated by a switching signal output from a control device (not shown). The container 807 is driven and the tray pack 802 for L is put on standby in the state of being close to the boxing lane 2031, and the boxing of agricultural products is performed in the same manner as described above.
[0099]
In the above example, the case where the arrangement pattern to be packed is 20 balls (pieces) and the case of 24 balls (pieces) has been described, but the packaging pattern is not limited to these. Furthermore, the type of the packing arrangement pattern that one work robot 205 is responsible for may be one or more than the drawing, for example, four types (18 balls, 20 balls, 24 balls, 28 balls). The tray pack supply device 8 can be implemented by stacking four types of tray packs 801 to 804. Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, this arrangement pattern can be various numbers of boxes and arrangement patterns, and any of these arrangement patterns shown in FIG. The work robots 205 having seven cup suspensions in a row can be used in common.
[0100]
In the agricultural product sorting apparatus of this example described above, the worker visually checks the agricultural product grade (three grades in this example) against the free tray 4 that is conveyed at a relatively low speed on the two-line conveyor 52. While judging the above and placing the produce on the free tray 4, the position of the free tray 4 on the transport surface is moved to any of the three positions of right, left and center to display the grade by tracking, and this tracking is displayed. The grade of the agricultural product detected can be detected and sent as an electrical signal to the control device for determining the sorting classification as the sorting information together with the barcode reading information attached to the free tray 4 for example. In the above example, imaging and the like can also be performed during this low-speed conveyance. Therefore, the measurement processing of sorting elements that are difficult to process at high speeds, and the supply of agricultural products that are difficult to perform at high speeds, the visual judgment and tracking of grades, etc. should be performed at a relatively low speed suitable for the work and measurement processing speed. Can do. In addition, although this imaging device 54 is each arrange | positioned on the double conveyance conveyor 52 (low speed conveyance conveyor) in drawing, this arrangement | positioning is not limited and the selection element employ | adopted for selection is an imaging device. In the case where high-speed processing is possible, the imaging device can be arranged on the sorting conveyor 1. In this way, the number of imaging devices is only one per sorting line. Furthermore, although not shown, an internal inspection device that takes a relatively long processing time is arranged on the transfer conveyor 52 that conveys at low speed, and an appearance inspection device such as a camera capable of high-speed processing is arranged on the sorting conveyor 1 that processes at high speed. Therefore, a layout that is effective in terms of both cost and sorting accuracy can be assembled.
[0101]
On the other hand, the free tray 4 on the two-line conveyor 52 can be transferred to the sorting conveyor 1 for high-speed conveyance and aligned and merged at equal intervals via the merging mechanism 56, and a large number of boxing devices (work robots 205) can be provided. A large number of free trays 4 can be sorted at a high speed with respect to the installed packaging section, and the processing capacity of the entire apparatus can be increased.
[0102]
In addition, the transfer / merging device configured by the merging mechanism 56 of the present example does not wait for the timing for transfer from the two-line conveyor to the one-line sorting conveyor, and continuously drives each conveyor. It is excellent in that it can be performed with maximum efficiency.
[0103]
Embodiment 2
The transport and confluence apparatus for the free tray 4 of this example shown in FIG. 14 is different from that of the first embodiment described above in the following points, but the other configurations are the same, so the same reference numerals are used for the same configurations. A description thereof will be omitted.
[0104]
The feature of this example is that the transfer relay conveyors 61 and 61 for relaying the transfer when the free trays 4 transported by the two transport conveyors 52 and 52 are joined to the single selection conveyor 1 are symmetrical curved transport paths 611. , 611, and guide rails 622 are provided along both width sides of the transfer surface of the relay conveyor 61 having the curved transfer path. The two conveyor belts 52 are synchronously driven in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and both bars 621 are installed with a 1/2 pitch phase shifted in the transport direction.
[0105]
That is, the start end portion 612 of the relay conveyor 61 forms a straight path that runs parallel to the end portion of the transfer conveyor 52, and the end portion 613 forms a straight path that runs parallel to the start end portion of the sorting conveyor 1, The curved conveyance path 611 is provided in an intermediate portion between the start end portion 612 and the end end portion 613. The relay conveyor 61 of this example is also provided with crosspieces 621 each having a fixed pitch rising from the conveyor conveyance surface, and the crosspieces 621 are out of phase by 1/2 pitch with respect to the conveyance direction in the right and left (two strips) relay conveyors. Is provided. The relay conveyor 61 is set to an intermediate conveyance speed between the conveyance conveyor 52 and the sorting conveyor 1.
[0106]
The guide rail 622 is transported at the start end portion 612 and the end end portion 613 of the relay conveyor 61 in order to laterally move the free tray 4 in the same manner as in the first embodiment and to transfer between the conveyors. In the middle of the conveyance section, it is provided along the conveyance direction on both sides of the conveyance surface in order to prevent the free tray 4 from falling off the conveyance surface.
[0107]
According to the conveying and merging apparatus of the present example having the above-described configuration, the interval between the two conveying conveyors 52 can be widened because the relay conveyor 61 has the curved conveying path. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Design the layout of the entire equipment, such as installing the receiving conveyor 57 on both sides of the conveyor 52 to secure a working space where workers can work from both sides, or to easily secure the necessary equipment installation space. Becomes easy.
[0108]
Embodiment 3
In this example shown in FIG. 15, a total of three conveyors 63 to 65, that is, conveyor conveyors 63, 65 with two bars on both outer sides and a conveyor conveyor 64 with one rail in the middle, is changed to a single conveyor 1. The conveying and merging devices are shown in which the free trays 4 are transferred and aligned and merged via relay conveyors 632, 642, and 652, respectively. These three-strip conveyor conveyors 63 to 65 are driven synchronously, and are installed so that the phases of the bars 631, 641, 651 are shifted by 1/3 pitch in the transport direction.
[0109]
The configuration for conveying and joining the free trays 4 in the above configuration will be described below together with the transfer operation.
[0110]
First, the intermediate conveyor conveyor 64 is provided so as to transfer the free tray 4 linearly to the terminal end of the sorting conveyor 1 via the first relay conveyor 642, and the conveyor conveyors 63, 65 is provided to transfer the free tray 4 to the sorting conveyor 1 via relay conveyors 632 and 652 each having a curved conveying path and having terminal straight paths that run parallel to the starting end of the sorting conveyor 1. ing. The conveying speeds of these relay conveyors 632 to 652 are set to an intermediate speed between the sorting conveyor 1 and the conveying conveyors 63 to 65, and the free tray tray conveying carriages 633, 643 provided up from the conveyor surface. 653 is provided with a phase shift of 1/3 pitch with respect to the transport direction (the transport direction of the sorting conveyor) between the relay conveyors.
[0111]
Reference numerals 634, 644, and 654 are guide rails that serve as both transfer guides and transport guides, and each rail is configured to transfer the free tray 4 from the transport conveyors 63 to 65 to the relay conveyors 632 to 652 at the start end. The end portions of the guide rails 634 and 654 that extend along the direction of the conveyance in the direction of the conveyor and extend along the relay conveyors 632 and 652 on both sides ride the free tray 4 from the relay conveyors 632 and 652 onto the sorting conveyor 1. Inclined with respect to the conveying direction so as to be moved. Further, the guide rails 634 and 654 are provided along the relay conveyors 632 and 652 so as to prevent the free tray 4 from dropping from the conveying surface between the start and end portions.
[0112]
According to the transport and merging apparatus for the free tray of the present example having the above-described configuration, the free tray is placed on the sorting conveyor 1 while continuously driving (continuously transporting) the three strip conveyors 63 to 65 and the single strip conveyor 1. 4 can be transferred and aligned and merged at equal intervals, and the merge can make the speed ratio of the sorting conveyor and the transfer conveyor larger (3 times / 2 times) than in the first and second embodiments. The low-speed processing in the manual operation process can be realized more effectively than the high-speed processing in the sorting process.
[0113]
【The invention's effect】
According to the invention of the tray conveying and merging device described in each claim of the present application, the conveying speed of about one to three trays per second that can be worked by an operator in a process in which high-speed processing is difficult, for example, a manual work process. On the other hand, it is possible to solve both demands of speeding up the process in a process capable of high-speed processing, for example, a sorting process capable of processing 5, 6 or more per second, and the entire agricultural product sorting apparatus There is an effect that it is possible to provide an agricultural product sorting apparatus with high processing capacity and high processing efficiency.
[0114]
Moreover, according to the present invention, it is possible to join the transfer source conveyor and the transfer destination conveyor with maximum efficiency while continuously driving both the transfer destination conveyor and the transfer destination conveyor without waiting for the transfer timing. A tray conveying and merging device can be provided.
[0115]
Moreover, the installation space of the agricultural product sorting apparatus can be reduced, and the utilization efficiency of equipment can be improved and an inexpensive apparatus can be provided.
[0116]
  In addition, since the transfer speed of the transfer relay conveyor is set to a speed between the low-speed transfer conveyor and the high-speed transfer conveyor, the transfer tray can be smoothly transferred when the speed difference between the low-speed transfer conveyor and the high-speed transfer conveyor is large. be able to.
Since the pitch phase of the second rails of the plurality of transfer relay conveyors is shifted in the transfer direction by a fraction of the number of the transfer relay conveyors, the transfer from each low-speed transfer conveyor to the high-speed transfer conveyor is ensured. And more smoothly.
Moreover, the guide rail which comprises the guide means for transfer of a saucer can be formed by the comparatively simple structure of a fixed rail.
[0117]
  Claim2According to the invention, the speed ratio between the high-speed conveyor and the low-speed conveyor can be increased (approximately three times or more in Sanjo) compared to the case of two, so that the high-speed conveyor can perform high-speed processing with high performance and low speed. The conveyor can process at a lower speed corresponding to the processing operation.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a plan view showing details of an agricultural product supply / equal class sorting unit of the sorting and packaging apparatus of FIG. 1; FIG.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a conveyor that tracks and conveys agricultural products.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a tray conveying and merging device on which agricultural products of Embodiment 1 are placed.
FIG. 5 is a front view showing one of the branch boxing lines of the sorting unit of the sorting and packaging apparatus of FIG. 1;
6 is a plan view of FIG. 5. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a front view showing a state in which a row of agricultural products are sucked and suspended by a pick-up means having a row of suction cups.
8 is a side view of FIG. 7. FIG.
FIG. 9 is a plan view of FIG. 7;
FIG. 10 is a front view showing a state where one tray pack is picked up from the stacked tray pack group by the pick-up means.
FIG. 11 is a front view showing a state in which a row of ball-like fruits and vegetables is adsorbed and suspended by the pick-up means of FIG. 7 and transferred to a box container.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for transferring a ball-shaped agricultural product repeatedly in a row to a four-row arrangement pattern in a box container by the pick-up means.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an arrangement pattern as a result of transferring a column of fruit and vegetables in a box container by suspending them by adsorption.
FIG. 14 is a plan view showing an outline of the configuration of a tray conveying and merging device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
FIG. 15 is a plan view showing an outline of the configuration of a tray conveying and merging device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 ... sorting conveyor, 2 ... branch boxing line, 4 ... free tray, 5 ... bar code reader, 6 ... box (cardboard box),
7 ... Cardboard box supply / discharge device,
701: Empty box conveyor,
702 ... pusher,
703 ... Empty box lowering device,
704 ... Packing position,
705 ... discharge conveyor,
706 ... Product conveyor
8 ... Tray pack supply device,
801-804 ... tray pack,
805 ... Rotation cradle,
806 ... support frame,
807 ... Rotator,
50 ... worker,
51 ... return conveyor,
511 ... Pitching screw,
52 ... Conveyor,
521 ...
5211 ... Notch,
522 ... Tapered rail,
53... Tracking detection device,
54 ... Imaging device,
55 ... Barcode reader,
56 ... Merging mechanism,
561: Transfer relay conveyor,
5611 ... pier,
562 ... inclined rail,
57 ... Arrival conveyor,
58 ... Parallel running link chain,
581 ... opposite link,
582 ... cover,
59 ... Plate,
61 ... Relay conveyor,
611... Curved conveyance path,
612 ... start end,
613 ... Terminal part,
621 ... pier,
622 ... guide rail,
63, 64, 65 ... transport conveyor,
631, 641, 651 ...
632, 642, 652 ... relay conveyor,
633, 643, 653 ...
634, 644, 654 ... guide rails,
201 ... discharge device,
2011 ... rotary table,
2012 ... electromagnetic adsorption part,
2013 ... excitation means,
2014, 2015 ... excitation release means,
202 (2021, 2022) ... storage conveyor,
2023 ... stopper mechanism,
203 ... Packing standby position,
2031 ... Box lane,
20311 ... belt conveyor,
20312 ... Guide wall,
2034 ... Stopper mechanism,
204 ... Tray delivery device,
2041... Delivery conveyor,
2042 ... Air cylinder device,
2043 ... Relay conveyor,
2044 ... axis,
205 ... Boxing device (work robot),
2051 ... main body,
2052 ... Root link mechanism,
2053... End link mechanism,
2054 ... Suction cup holder,
20541 ... Rail,
20542 ... Air cylinder device,
20543 ... Piston rod,
20545 ... Rail,
20546 ... Servo motor,
20547 ... Pantograph mechanism,
20548 ... Vent pipe,
2055 ... Bracket,
20551 ... Bracket bottom plate,
20552 ... guide,
2056 ... Fixed cup suspension,
20561... Air cylinder device,
20562 ... Piston rod,
20563 ... Suction cup,
2057 ... Moving cup suspension,
20571 ... Air cylinder device,
20572 ... Piston rod,
20573 ... Suction cup,
2058: Ventilation pipe.

Claims (3)

A tray on which agricultural products are placed can be arbitrarily placed at a plurality of different positions in the transport lateral direction, and at least two low-speed transport conveyors arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction of the constant speed synchronous drive for transporting the tray,
A rail member that causes the trays transported on the two low-speed transport conveyors to be laterally moved to the outer side in the transporting direction and then moved toward the inner side in the transporting direction;
It is arranged between the two low-speed transfer conveyors in the transfer direction of the two low-speed transfer conveyors, and conveys the trays transferred from the two low-speed transfer conveyors via the tray transfer guide means. A single high-speed transfer conveyor set at a high speed approximately several times or more than the two low-speed transfer conveyors;
A transfer and merging device for a saucer that transfers the saucer while continuously driving the high-speed conveyor and the low-speed conveyor and joins and conveys the saucer on the high-speed conveyor,
In the low-speed conveyor, first trays for receiving trays that slidably engage and transport the tray in the lateral direction of conveyance are formed at a constant pitch along the conveyance direction, and the low-speed conveyors mutually Shift the pitch phase of the first beam in the conveying direction by a fraction of the number of the low-speed conveyor;
The tray transfer guide means is:
Each of the low-speed conveyors and the one high-speed conveyor is overlapped in the conveying direction, respectively, and is configured to slidably engage and convey the tray in the conveyance lateral direction. Are formed at a constant pitch along the conveying direction, and the tray on the low-speed conveyor conveys at the overlapping portion, relays the transfer to the high-speed conveyor, and the low-speed conveyor and the high-speed conveyor A transit relay conveyor that continuously drives by setting the conveyance speed to the speed between
The cross over the low speed conveyor and the Noriutsuri relay conveyor obliquely toward the conveying direction leading inside, conveying transverse a pan which engages on the low speed conveyor through the Noriutsuri relay conveyor to said high-speed conveyor And a guide rail which forms a path for guiding the tray to the transfer conveyor between the rail member and the rail member.   A tray transfer guide means for disposing a single low-speed conveyor between the two low-speed conveyors and transferring a tray on the single low-speed conveyor to the high-speed conveyor. A second tray for receiving trays that slidably engages and transports the tray in the transport lateral direction between the high-speed transport conveyors is formed at a constant pitch along the transport direction, The tray on the one low-speed conveyor conveys at the overlapping portion, and a transfer relay conveyor that relays the transfer to the high-speed conveyor, and the upper portion of the one low-speed conveyor toward the inside in the conveyance direction Characterized by having a guide rail that crosses diagonally and widens a tray that engages on the low-speed transfer conveyor in a horizontal and horizontal direction with respect to the transfer relay conveyor. Conveying merging apparatus of pan according to claim 1 that.   3. The pitch phase of the second rails among the plurality of transfer relay conveyors is provided by shifting in the transport direction by a fraction of the number of the transfer relay conveyors. Conveyor merging device for saucer.

Images