JP4605639B2 - Goods sorting equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an article sorting facility for sorting and packing articles such as fruits and vegetables in the same category (grade and class).

  Conventionally, various devices have been proposed for sorting and packing articles such as fruits and vegetables by the same grade (classification by quality such as sugar content and acidity) and class (classification by size).

  For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 include a transport conveyor line that transports a transport pan on which articles are placed, and a return conveyor line that connects both ends of the transport conveyor line. In order from the upstream side, an article supply unit for supplying articles to empty conveyance pans, a determination unit for determining classification of grades and the like on articles on each conveyance pan, and each conveyance pan after determination A configuration of an article sorting facility in which a sorting unit for sorting the articles for each article of the same category and packing the articles is disclosed.

  In this case, the sorting unit includes a plurality of rows of sorting conveyors that are branched and connected to the transport conveyor line, and a sorter as a sorting unit arranged at each intersection of the sorting conveyors in the transport conveyor line. Yes.

When sorting the articles, first, the transport pan on which the articles are placed is transported from the article supply unit along one transport conveyor line at appropriate intervals. Next, after determining the grade and the like of the articles on each conveyance pan by the determination unit, the sorter sorts the conveyance bread on which the articles of the predetermined classification are placed to a specific sorting conveyor. Then, the goods are manually packed for each sorting conveyor.
JP-A-11-255327 JP-A-11-255328

  By the way, in the article sorting facilities of Patent Documents 1 and 2, the transport pans emptied on each sorting conveyor (the transport pan from which the articles have been removed) are routed around the article supply unit via the return conveyor line. After returning to the empty bread standby part (empty bread processing part) arranged adjacent to the place, the product returns to the article supply part (circulated and conveyed) again.

  Thus, in order to place the empty bread standby part adjacent to the peripheral part of the article supply part, it is necessary to secure an installation space for the empty bread standby part at the installation location of the article sorting equipment, and the installation is wide in plan view. I need a place. If it does so, since installation area efficiency was low and it was difficult to save space, there existed a problem that the installation cost of an article selection equipment increased.

  Therefore, the present invention has a technical problem to provide an article sorting facility that solves the above problems and improves the installation area efficiency.

In order to solve this technical problem, an article sorting facility according to the invention of claim 1 includes a transfer conveyor line for transferring a transfer pan on which a selected article is placed, and between a start end and an end of the transfer conveyor line. A return conveyor line for connecting articles, and in the transfer conveyor line, in order from the transfer upstream side, an article supply unit for supplying articles to empty transfer pans, and the grades of articles on each transfer pan While a determination unit for determining a division and a sorting unit for sorting each determined bread for each article of the same division and packing each article are provided in the return conveyor line The empty bread standby unit for temporarily storing empty transfer bread that has passed through the transfer conveyor line is provided in parallel so as to overlap the transfer conveyor line in plan view. The empty bread standby unit has a structure in which an empty bread cleaning device for cleaning the transporting bread waiting in the empty bread standby unit is branched and connected, and a sorting conveyor provided in the sorting unit is provided. Below, a return conveyor connected to the downstream side via a U-turn path is arranged so as to overlap the sorting conveyor in a plan view, while the return upstream side of the return conveyor line is the sorting conveyor. The downstream side of the return conveyor is joined and connected to the return conveyor line near the downstream side of the transport.

  According to the configuration of claim 1, the empty bread standby part located in the middle of the return conveyor line is provided in parallel below the transfer conveyor line so as to overlap with the transfer conveyor line in plan view. The dead space below the transfer conveyor line can be effectively used as the arrangement space for the empty bread standby unit.

  Accordingly, the space efficiency can be saved by improving the installation area efficiency of the article sorting facility, which can contribute to the reduction of the installation cost of the article sorting facility.

  Further, since the empty bread standby part is arranged to extend along the lower side of the transport line, it is possible to secure a sufficient storage volume while effectively using the dead space. Can be stocked (stored).

  As a result, each conveying pan can be continuously circulated and moved without interruption along the bread circulation route of article supply unit → determination unit → sorting unit → empty bread standby unit → article supply unit. It is also possible to efficiently sort and pack a large number of articles composed of various sections.

  An empty bread cleaning device for cleaning an arbitrarily extracted one of the transport breads waiting in the empty bread standby unit is branched and connected to the empty bread standby unit, so the arbitrarily extracted Dirt adhering to the surface of the conveying pan in the empty bread standby section is automatically cleaned by the empty bread cleaning device.

  And since the bread for conveyance wash | cleaned with the said empty bread cleaning apparatus is conveyed downstream from the location of the said empty bread standby part in the said return conveyor line from this empty bread cleaning apparatus, the bread circulation route mentioned above Each of the transport pans stocked in the empty pan standby section can be periodically cleaned while circulating and transporting the transport pans along the line.

  Therefore, after the operation of the article sorting facility is stopped, the trouble of taking out each of the transport pans from the empty bread standby section and cleaning it is saved, and the article sorting facility is easy to use for the operator. Play.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Embodiments embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings (FIGS. 1 to 4). 1 is a schematic plan view of an article sorting facility to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the arrangement relationship between a sorting conveyor and a return conveyor, and FIG. 3 is an arrangement of a transfer conveyor line, a return conveyor line, and an empty bread waiting section. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the selecting means.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the article sorting facility 1 includes a substantially U-shaped transfer conveyor line 2 for transferring a transfer pan P on which an article A such as a strawberry is placed, and a starting end of the transfer conveyor line 2. And a reverse conveyor line 3 having a reverse S-shape in a plan view that connects between the first and second ends.

  The conveyance conveyor line 2 includes, in order from the upstream side of conveyance, an article supply unit 4 for supplying articles A to empty conveyance pans P, and grades of articles A on the conveyance breads P (depending on quality such as sugar content). Classification) and classifying unit 6 for classifying the respective transport pans P after the determination for each article A in the same section and packing each article A. And are provided.

  First, the configuration of the transport pan P will be described. The conveyance pan P, which is an injection molded product made of a synthetic resin material, has a dish shape with the upper surface recessed downward. A through hole PH (see FIG. 2) having a hole diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the article A is formed at the center of the transport pan P. On the outer surface of the transport pan P, an identification mark (for example, a bar code) for identifying each pan is attached.

  The article supply unit 4 arranged on the upstream side of the transport conveyor line 2 includes a load receiving conveyor 11 arranged in parallel with the transport upstream path 2a of the transport conveyor line 2, and a feeding device connected to the upstream side of the transport upstream path 2a. 12. In the article supply unit 2, the article A to be sorted is sent from the cargo receiving unit (not shown) by the cargo receiving conveyor 11. On the other hand, the empty transport pan P sent back to the feeding device 12 along the return conveyor line 3 from the later-described empty pan standby section 8 is intermittently spaced at a predetermined pitch on the transport upstream path 2a of the transport conveyor line 2. Sent out. The worker M places the articles A one by one on the empty transport pans P transported in a line at a predetermined pitch interval by the transport upstream path 2a.

  The determination unit 5 is more than the two load cell type weighing means 14, 15 disposed on the upstream side and the downstream side across the place where the article A is placed in the transport upstream path 2 a and the second weighing means 15. And an optical quality measuring means 16 disposed on the downstream side.

  The first measuring means 14 on the upstream side is for measuring the weight of the transport pan P itself (empty state). The second measuring means 15 on the downstream side is for measuring the total weight of the transport pan P and the article A placed thereon.

  The quality measuring means 16 is composed of a light projecting part and a light receiving part (both not shown) arranged so as to face each other at the upper and lower parts across the transport upstream path 2a. The light projecting unit is for irradiating the article A with light through the through hole PH of the conveyance pan P. The light receiving unit is for receiving light transmitted or reflected by the article A.

  Each of the weighing means 14 and 15 and the quality measuring means 16 is provided with a code reader (not shown) for reading the identification mark displayed on the outer surface of each conveying pan P.

  Measurement data by both weighing means 14 and 15, optical data received by the light receiving unit of the quality measuring means 16, and ID data of the transport pan P read by the code readers of both the weighing means 14 and 15 and the quality measuring means 16 The (unique data specifying the transport pan P) is transmitted to a control device (not shown). The control device discriminates the class (L size, M size, MS size, etc.) of the article A placed on a specific transport pan P from the difference between the two types of measurement data that match the ID data, The grade (excellent, excellent, good, etc.) of the article A is discriminated from the optical data with the same ID data by a predetermined calculation process.

  The determination results as described above, that is, the ID data for specifying the transport pan P and the determination data regarding the grade and class of the article A placed on the specific transport pan P are mounted on the control device. It is stored in a readable / writable memory (RAM) as needed. Note that the determination unit 5 executes the discrimination of the grade and class of the article A by calculation processing of the imaging data of the article A taken by, for example, a color camera, instead of the measuring means 14 and 15 and the quality measuring means 16 described above. The image processing apparatus may be provided.

  The transporting pan P that has undergone the determination step is U-turned from the transport upstream path 2a of the transport conveyor line 2 and moved to the transport downstream path 2b. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the transport downstream path 2 b of the transport conveyor line 2 has a plurality of pieces that are long in the direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the transport downstream path 2 b in a plan view (the orthogonal direction in the embodiment). The conveyors 17 are branched and connected so as to be arranged in parallel at appropriate intervals.

  In this embodiment, the sorting unit 6 is configured by a total of eight pairs of sorting conveyors 17, with the sorting conveyors 17 arranged in two rows in parallel. The sorting conveyor 17 only needs to include at least the number of combinations of grades and classes. For example, when there are two types of articles A and three types of classes, six rows of sorting conveyors 17 are required.

  In each of the intersections of the conveyor conveyor line 2 with the sorting conveyor 17 pair, sorting means 7 for distributing only the transporting bread P on which the articles A of a predetermined section are placed to the specific sorting conveyor 17 is provided ( In the embodiment, 8 places, see FIG. 1 and FIG. 4).

  Each sorting means 7 includes a pair of pivot diverter type sorters 18 as a sorting mechanism, and a code reader 19 disposed immediately before the pair of sorters 18 (upstream side). Each sorter 18 distributes according to an operation command from the control device when the transporting pan P whose ID data is read by the code reader 19 passes through the intersection with the sorting conveyor 17 pair corresponding to the determination result. It is configured to rotate.

  Note that which of the pair of sorters 18 is distributed and rotated (which of the adjacent sorting conveyors 17 sorts the transporting pans P) is determined by the transporting pans P collected on the adjacent both sorting conveyors 17. It is set so that the control device determines according to the number. Stopper means (not shown) for temporarily blocking the movement of the transfer pan P sorted by the sorter 18 is provided at the most downstream portion of each sorting conveyor 17.

  Accordingly, only the transporting pans P on which the articles A of the same section (same grade and class) are placed are collected on the pair of sorting conveyors 17 in two rows. A group of these transporting pans P is temporarily blocked on each sorting conveyor 17 by stopper means (not shown) located at the most downstream portion of each sorting conveyor 17.

  At each pair of sorting conveyors 17, packing (boxing) of articles A in the same section is manually performed. That is, the worker M picks up the articles A of the same section from the transport pans P on the sorting conveyors 17 and stores them in a packaging container such as a transparent synthetic resin packaging pack or cardboard box.

  In this embodiment, the worker M on both sides of the pair of sorting conveyors 17 can pick up the articles A in the same section from any of the transporting pans P transported to both of the two sorting conveyors 17. Therefore, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the packing work.

  On the other hand, the downstream end of the transport downstream path 2b that is not branched is directly connected to a position of an empty bread standby section 8 to be described later in the return conveyor line 3. The empty conveyance pan P on which the article A is not placed in the article supply unit 4 is directly returned to the empty pan standby unit 8 described later from the conveyance downstream path 2b, and returns to the article supply unit 4 again (circulated and conveyed). It will be.

  In this way, if the downstream end of the transport downstream path 2b that does not pass through the sorting unit 6 is directly connected to the empty pan standby unit 8 to be described later, an empty transport pan on which the article A has not been placed. P can be reused quickly without causing P to be mixed into the sorting unit 6 (each sorting conveyor 17). Moreover, it can also contribute to the efficient operation | movement of the goods selection equipment 1 whole.

  The packing work is not limited to manual work, and can be performed using an automatic boxing device or the like. Alternatively, it may be set so that the transporting pans P on which the articles A of different groups are placed are sorted and collected for each sorting conveyor 17. Of course, it may be set so that the conveying pans P in which the articles A of the same section are placed on a plurality of pairs of sorting conveyors 17 are collected. The sorting mechanism is not limited to the pivot diverter type sorter 18, and a shoe sorter or the like may be employed.

  A return conveyor 21 connected to the downstream side of each sorting conveyor 17 via a U-turn path 20 is arranged so as to overlap with the sorting conveyor 17 positioned above in a plan view. On the other hand, the return upstream path 3a of the return conveyor line 3 is arranged in parallel with the transport downstream path 2b in a plan view at a position near the transport downstream path 2b in the lower part of the sorting conveyor 17 group and is three-dimensionally intersected with the sorting conveyor 17 group. Are arranged to be. The downstream sides of the return conveyors 21 are joined and connected to the return upstream path 3a of the return conveyor line 3.

  In this embodiment, the return upstream paths 3a are arranged in two rows in parallel. One return upstream path 3a is connected to the return conveyor 21 pair corresponding to the sorting conveyor 17 pair, which is located on the right side of FIG. A return conveyor 21 located on the left side of FIG. 1 is connected to the other return upstream path 3a.

  The downstream side of the return upstream path 3 a is connected to an empty bread standby unit 8 disposed below the transport downstream path 2 b of the transport conveyor line 2. The empty bread standby unit 8 is for temporarily storing (storing) a large number of conveying breads P that have passed through the conveying conveyor line 2 and are emptied. As shown in FIG. 1, the empty bread standby unit 8 is arranged in parallel so as to overlap with the transport downstream path 2 b of the transport conveyor line 2 in plan view.

  The empty bread waiting unit 8 of this embodiment includes a group of stock conveyors 22 in which a plurality of (six in the embodiment) conveyors are arranged in parallel. The stock conveyor 22 group constitutes a midway part of the return conveyor line 3. The empty transport pan P sent from the return upstream path 3a to the empty pan standby section 8 is a stock conveyor that is empty by a sorter (not shown) according to the stock status of the transport pan P in each stock conveyor 22. 22 is appropriately distributed.

  It should be noted that the previous determination data relating to the transport pan P transported to the empty pan standby unit 8 (determination data regarding the grade and class of the article A placed on the transport pan P) is that the transport pan P is empty. It is set to be erased when it arrives at the bread waiting unit 8.

  The downstream side of each stock conveyor 22 is connected to a return downstream path 3b that is U-turned and extends parallel to each stock conveyor 22. The downstream side of the return downstream path 3 b is connected to a feeding device 12 positioned on the upstream side of the transport upstream path 2 a in the transport conveyor line 2.

  Accordingly, the transporting pan P that has been emptied by picking up the articles A on the sorting conveyor 17 is transported to the return conveyor 21 via the U-turn path 20 by releasing the blocking state by a stopper means (not shown). The Then, the transfer bread P is temporarily stored in the empty bread standby unit 8 from the return conveyor 21 through the return upstream path 3a of the return conveyor line 3. Then, it is conveyed to the feeding device 13 via the return downstream path 3b, and returns to the article supply unit 2 (circulated and conveyed) again.

  In this embodiment, the placement height positions of the load receiving conveyor 11, the transfer conveyor line 2, and the sorting conveyors 17 are all set to the height position of a person's waist in order to improve the work efficiency of the worker M. (For example, about 1100 mm from the floor surface). And the arrangement | positioning height position of each return conveyor 21, the return conveyor line 3, and the empty bread waiting part 8 is set to about 400 mm from the floor surface.

  If comprised as mentioned above, the empty bread | pan waiting | standby part 8 located in the middle part of the return conveyor line 3 below the conveyance downstream path | route 2b of the conveyance conveyor line 2 is parallel and overlapped with the said conveyance downstream path | route 2b by planar view. Therefore, the empty bread waiting part 8 is located in a place that has conventionally been a dead space.

  That is, since the dead space below the conveyance downstream path 2b can be effectively used as the arrangement space of the empty bread standby unit 8, it is easy to secure the installation space of the empty bread standby unit 8, and the installation space can be reduced. There is no need to spread in a plane. Therefore, the installation area efficiency can be improved to save space, and the installation cost of the article sorting facility 1 can be reduced.

  Moreover, since the empty bread | pan waiting | standby part 8 is arrange | positioned so that it may extend long along the downward direction of the conveyance downstream path | route 2b, it can ensure sufficient accommodation volume, utilizing a dead space effectively, and many Can be stocked (stored).

  As a result, each transfer pan along the bread circulation route of the transfer conveyor line 2 → the specific sorting conveyor 17 → the return conveyor 20 → the return upstream path 3a → the empty bread standby unit 23 → the return downstream path 3b → the transfer conveyor line 2 Since P can be continuously circulated without being interrupted, a large amount of articles A composed of various sections can be efficiently sorted and packed.

  Note that an empty pan cleaning device 25 for cleaning an arbitrarily extracted one of the transport pans P waiting in the empty bread standby unit 8 is provided at a location near the upstream side of the empty bread standby unit 8. Branch connected. As the empty pan cleaning device 25, various types such as a brush type, an air spray type, a liquid spray type, and an immersion type can be adopted.

  The tip end portion (downstream side) of the discharge conveyor 26 protruding from the empty bread cleaning device 25 so as to extend along the return downstream path 3b of the return conveyor line 3 faces the middle part of the return downstream path 3b. The cleaned transport pan P is returned from the tip of the delivery conveyor 26 and sent out to the downstream path 3b.

  According to this configuration, the transporting pan P sent to the empty pan standby unit 8 is arbitrarily extracted according to, for example, the number of circulation transports, etc., and dirt adhered to the surface of the extracted transporting pan P or the like Can be automatically cleaned by the empty bread cleaning device 25, and in other words, as each conveying pan P is circulated and conveyed along the above-described bread circulation route, in other words, the sorting / packing process using the article sorting facility 1. Each of the transport pans P stocked in the empty pan standby unit 8 can be cleaned periodically.

  Accordingly, it is not necessary to stop the operation of the article sorting facility 1 and to take out and clean each transport pan P from the empty bread standby unit 8. It becomes 1.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and can be widely applied to various types of articles other than agricultural products such as strawberries. Various types of conveyors such as a belt type and a roller type can be adopted as various conveyors such as a transfer conveyor line. You may arrange | position an empty bread standby part so that it may extend along the upper direction of a conveyance conveyor line.

It is a schematic plan view of the article selection equipment according to the present invention. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the arrangement | positioning relationship of a sorting conveyor and a return conveyor. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the arrangement | positioning relationship of a conveyance conveyor line, a return conveyor line, and an empty bread standby part. It is a schematic plan view of a selection means.

P Transport pan A Article 1 Article sorting equipment 2 Conveyor line 2a Transport upstream path 2b Transport downstream path 3 Return conveyor line 3a Return upstream path 3b Return downstream path 4 Article supply section 5 Judgment section 6 Sorting section 7 Sorting means 8 Empty bread Waiting section 17 Sorting conveyor 20 U-turn path 21 Return conveyor 25 Empty bread cleaning device

Claims (1)

A transport conveyor line for transporting the transport pan on which the sorted articles are placed, and a return conveyor line connecting between the start and end of the transport conveyor line,
In the conveyance conveyor line, in order from the conveyance upstream side, an article supply unit for supplying articles to empty conveyance pans, and a determination unit for determining classification of articles on each conveyance pan, And a sorting unit for sorting each transporting bread after determination for each article in the same section and packing each article,
In the return conveyor line, an empty bread standby part for temporarily storing empty transfer bread that has passed through the transfer conveyor line is parallel to the transfer conveyor line so as to overlap in plan view. The empty bread standby unit is connected to the empty bread standby unit by branch connection of an empty bread cleaning device for cleaning the waiting transport pan in the empty bread standby unit,
Below the sorting conveyor provided in the sorting section, a return conveyor connected to the downstream side via a U-turn path is arranged so as to overlap the sorting conveyor in plan view, while the return conveyor line The upstream side of the product is arranged near the downstream side of the sorting conveyor so as to intersect with the sorting conveyor, and the downstream side of the return conveyor is joined and connected to the return conveyor line. Facility.

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