JP5020518B2 - Weighing packaging machine, weighing machine, packaging machine, article sorting device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a non-metallic article detector, a weighing and packaging machine, and an article sorting apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a nonmetallic article detector that detects passage of a nonmetallic article in a predetermined area, and a weighing packaging machine and an article sorting apparatus using the detector.

  In the field of automatic weighing and packaging of products, it is detected whether or not an article has passed through a conveyor route such as a belt conveyor or tube in order to synchronize the operation of the device or control the operation speed. That is extremely important.

  As a conventional technique for detecting an article, for example, there is one employed in a vertical bag making and packaging machine disclosed in Patent Document 1. This vertical bag making and packaging machine uses a photoelectric sensor to detect the passage of an article. In article detection using a photoelectric sensor, the apparatus includes a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit, and the light emitted from the light emitting unit is detected by the light receiving unit. When the article passes between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit, the light is blocked and does not reach the light receiving unit, so that the passage of the article can be detected. In such a configuration, since the article is detected based on whether or not light is blocked, the passage of the article is detected regardless of whether the article is a metallic article or a non-metallic article.

On the other hand, as a conventional technique for detecting a metal article, for example, there is a metal detection device disclosed in Patent Document 2. This metal detector detects metal contaminants in commodities made of non-metallic articles, generates an alternating magnetic field from the transmission coil, and based on the difference signal obtained from the two reception coils, the transmission coil and the reception coil Detects metal passing between the two. In a metal detection device, noise is generated when a non-metallic article passes. In order to separate the noise and the metal detection signal, the phase of the signal obtained from the receiving coil is used.
JP 2003-11927 A JP-A-11-118766

  However, the configuration of Patent Document 1 has a problem that if the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are contaminated, the light emission and light reception are hindered and accurate detection cannot be performed. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the light emitting part and the light receiving part clean at all times. In particular, when an article is detected in the article conveyance path, there is a problem in that the conveyance path is easily contaminated by the article, and a large amount of labor and cost are required for maintenance of the apparatus.

  Further, in the configuration of Patent Document 2, only metal is detected, and a non-metallic article cannot be detected. When processing a non-metallic product while detecting the contamination of a metal foreign object, it is necessary to separately prepare an article detector using a photoelectric sensor and a metal detector for detecting a metal contaminant in the product. For this reason, there existed a problem that an apparatus enlarged and cost became high.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a non-metallic article detector that can be easily maintained and can be reduced in size and cost.

  In order to solve the above problems, a non-metallic article detector according to the present invention includes an oscillation coil, an oscillator that excites the oscillation coil to generate a magnetic field, and the oscillation based on a change in the magnetic field by the non-metallic article. A discriminator for determining whether or not a non-metallic article has passed in the vicinity of the coil.

  In such a configuration, since the passage of the article is determined by detecting the change in the magnetic field using the oscillation coil, the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are unnecessary, and the maintenance becomes simple.

  The non-metallic article detector according to the present invention includes an oscillation coil, an oscillator that excites the oscillation coil to generate a magnetic field, a receiving coil that generates a voltage signal by the magnetic field, and the voltage signal from the non-metallic article. And a discriminator that determines whether or not a non-metallic article has passed in the vicinity of the oscillation coil or the reception coil based on the change of the oscillation coil.

  In such a configuration, since the passage of the article is detected based on the voltage signal generated by the receiving coil, the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are not necessary, and the maintenance becomes simple.

  In the non-metallic article detector, the discriminator may determine whether an article has passed in the vicinity of the oscillation coil or the receiving coil, and determine whether the article is a metal or a non-metal. Good.

  In such a configuration, the passage of the non-metallic article and the passage of the metallic article can be detected by the same apparatus, and the apparatus can be reduced in size and cost.

  In the non-metal article detector, the discriminator may alternatively generate a non-metal article passage signal and a metal article passage signal based on the determination result.

  In such a configuration, a non-metallic article passage signal and a metallic article passage signal are generated according to the type of article that passes through, and therefore, it can be connected to various subsequent processes. For example, when packaging a wiener, if a metal article passage signal is generated when a product is passed, processing such as automatic disposal as a defective product becomes possible.

  In the non-metal article detector, the discriminator may determine whether the article is metal or non-metal based on a peak value of the voltage signal.

  In such a configuration, it is possible to determine whether the article passed through the metal is non-metallic by utilizing the fact that the peak value of the voltage signal is generally high when the metal passes through.

  The non-metallic article detector may include a second discriminator that determines whether or not a metallic article has passed in the vicinity of the oscillation coil or the receiving coil based on the voltage signal.

  In such a configuration, by providing a discriminator for a non-metallic article and a metallic article, it is possible to simultaneously detect the passage of the article and determine the non-metal / metal.

  In the non-metal article detector, the transmitter excites the oscillation coil to generate an alternating magnetic field, and the discriminator determines whether the article is a metal or non-metal based on the phase difference of the voltage signal. It may be determined.

  In such a configuration, the type of article that has passed can be determined using the phase difference of the voltage signal.

  In the above non-metallic article detector, the discriminator may be configured by a computer.

  In such a configuration, it is possible to detect the article with more complexity or accuracy by digitizing the voltage signal and performing arithmetic processing.

  The weighing packaging machine of the present invention measures a predetermined amount of articles at a first timing and discharges them as a group, a path for passing articles discharged from the weighing machine, and surrounding the path. Based on the voltage signal, an oscillation coil that excites the oscillation coil to generate a magnetic field, a reception coil that surrounds the path and generates a voltage signal by the magnetic field, and A discriminator for determining whether or not a non-metallic article has passed in the vicinity of the oscillation coil or the receiving coil, and a non-metallic article detector and an article that has passed through the non-metallic article detector. And a control device that individually wraps each group at the timing of 2, the control device based on the determination result of the non-metallic article detector, the first timing and the second timing To adjust the grayed.

  In such a configuration, since the passage of the article is detected based on the voltage signal generated by the receiving coil, the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are unnecessary, and the maintenance becomes simple. In addition, since the timing of discharging from the weighing machine and the timing of packaging by the packaging machine are adjusted based on the judgment result of the article passing, the timing of weighing and packaging can be optimized, and the article to the seal part of the packaging bag can be optimized. It is possible to measure and package at a higher speed while preventing biting.

  The weighing machine with a non-metallic article detector of the present invention is a weighing machine that weighs a predetermined amount of articles at a first timing and discharges them as a group, a path through which the articles discharged from the weighing machine pass, An oscillation coil arranged to surround the path, an oscillator for exciting the oscillation coil to generate a magnetic field, a receiving coil arranged to surround the path and generating a voltage signal by the magnetic field, and A non-metallic article detector comprising: a discriminator for determining whether or not a non-metallic article has passed in the vicinity of the oscillation coil or the receiving coil based on a voltage signal; and the non-metallic article detector. May transmit a synchronization signal to the packaging machine based on the determination result of the non-metallic article detector.

  In such a configuration, since the passage of the article is detected based on the voltage signal generated by the receiving coil, the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are unnecessary, and the maintenance becomes simple. In addition, since a synchronization signal is sent to the packaging machine based on the result of the article passage determination, the timing of packaging by the packaging machine can be optimized, and the article can be prevented from biting into the seal portion of the packaging bag, and at a higher speed. Can be measured and packaged.

  The weighing machine with a non-metallic article detector of the present invention is a weighing machine for weighing a predetermined amount of articles at a first timing and discharging them as a group, and a path for passing the articles discharged from the weighing machine. An oscillation coil disposed so as to surround the path; an oscillator that excites the oscillation coil to generate a magnetic field; and a reception coil that is disposed so as to surround the path and generates a voltage signal by the magnetic field; A discriminator for determining whether or not a nonmetallic article has passed in the vicinity of the oscillation coil or the receiving coil based on the voltage signal, a nonmetallic article detector, and a control device, The control device may transmit a synchronization signal to the packaging machine based on the determination result of the non-metallic article detector.

  In such a configuration, since the passage of the article is detected based on the voltage signal generated by the receiving coil, the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are unnecessary, and the maintenance becomes simple. Since a synchronization signal is sent to the packaging machine based on the judgment result of the article passing, the timing of packaging by the packaging machine can be optimized, and high-speed weighing can be performed while preventing the article from biting into the sealing part of the packaging bag・ Packaging is possible. Furthermore, since the control device transmits a synchronization signal to the packaging machine, more complicated processing is possible.

  In the weighing machine with a non-metallic article detector, the control device may change the first timing based on a determination result of the non-metallic article detector.

  In such a configuration, since the control device adjusts the timing of the weighing machine, for example, the length of the product window can be adjusted according to the target value.

  A packaging machine with a non-metallic article detector according to the present invention generates a magnetic field by exciting a path through which an article discharged from a weighing machine passes, an oscillation coil arranged to surround the path, and the oscillation coil. An oscillator to be operated, a receiving coil arranged to surround the path and generating a voltage signal by the magnetic field, and whether or not a nonmetallic article has passed in the vicinity of the oscillation coil or the receiving coil based on the voltage signal A non-metallic article detector comprising: a non-metallic article detector; and a packaging machine that individually wraps an article that has passed through the non-metallic article detector for each group at a second timing. The machine changes the second timing based on the determination result of the non-metallic article detector.

  In such a configuration, since the passage of the article is detected based on the voltage signal generated by the receiving coil, the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are unnecessary, and the maintenance becomes simple. Furthermore, the packaging machine can be packaged at the timing when the article falls, and the article can be prevented from biting into the seal portion of the packaging bag.

  In the packaging machine with a non-metallic article detector, the packaging machine may transmit a synchronization signal to the weighing machine based on the second timing.

  In such a configuration, by adjusting the discharge timing of the weighing machine from the packaging machine side, the length of the product window can be adjusted according to the target value, and it is possible to measure and package at a higher speed while preventing the biting of articles. It becomes possible.

  The packaging machine with a non-metallic article detector according to the present invention includes a path through which articles discharged from the weighing machine pass, an oscillation coil disposed so as to surround the path, and a magnetic field generated by exciting the oscillation coil. An oscillator that generates a voltage signal, a receiving coil that is arranged to surround the path and generates a voltage signal by the magnetic field, and whether a nonmetallic article has passed in the vicinity of the oscillation coil or the receiving coil based on the voltage signal A non-metallic article detector comprising: a discriminator that determines whether or not; a packaging machine that individually wraps articles that have passed through the non-metallic article detector for each group at a second timing; and a control device The control device may transmit a synchronization signal to the weighing machine based on the determination result of the non-metallic article detector and the second timing.

  In such a configuration, since the passage of the article is detected based on the voltage signal generated by the receiving coil, the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are unnecessary, and the maintenance becomes simple. The control device adjusts the discharge timing of the weighing machine, so that the length of the product window can be adjusted according to the target value, and it becomes possible to measure and package at higher speed while preventing the biting of the article. Further, since the control device transmits a synchronization signal to the weighing machine, more complicated processing is possible.

  An article sorting apparatus according to the present invention surrounds a belt conveyor that conveys articles, an oscillation coil disposed so as to surround the belt conveyor, an oscillator that excites the oscillation coil to generate a magnetic field, and the path. A receiving coil for generating a voltage signal by the magnetic field, and determining whether or not a nonmetallic article has passed in the vicinity of the oscillation coil or the receiving coil based on the voltage signal, and the nonmetallic article has passed A discriminator that outputs a non-metallic article passage signal when it is determined, a non-metallic article detector, a weight sensor that detects the weight of the article on the belt conveyor, and an article on the belt conveyor. A sorting device for sorting, and a control device, wherein the control device is configured to receive a non-metallic article passage signal from the non-metallic article detector. Detecting the weight, to control the sorting device based on the detected weight.

  In such a configuration, it is possible to determine the timing for detecting the weight of the article based on the detection result of the nonmetallic article detector. Since the non-metallic article detector detects the passage of the article based on the voltage signal generated by the receiving coil, the light emitting part and the light receiving part are not required, and the maintenance becomes simple.

  In addition, the article sorting apparatus of the present invention includes a belt conveyor that conveys articles, a non-metallic article detector that can determine whether a passing article is non-metallic or metal as described above, and sorting that sorts articles on the belt conveyor. An apparatus and a control device, and the control device may control the sorting device based on a determination result of the non-metallic article detector.

  In such a configuration, it is possible to select and dispose of a product mixed with a metal foreign object or a product whose weight shows an abnormal value. Since it is possible to detect metallic foreign objects and the passage of articles with the same device, the device can be reduced in size and cost.

  The present invention has the above-described configuration and has the following effects. That is, it is possible to provide a non-metallic article detector, a weighing and packaging machine, and an article sorting device that are easy to maintain and can be reduced in size and cost.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the nonmetallic article detector according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the non-metallic article detector 100 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the apparatus configuration of the nonmetallic article detector 100 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the non-metallic article detector 100 according to the present embodiment includes an oscillation coil 1, receiving coils 2 and 3, an oscillation circuit 4, a variable resistor 5 having an output end 6, and a high-frequency amplifier. 7, a detector 8, a phase circuit 9, a synchronization signal generation circuit 10, a variable gain amplifier 11, a filter 12, a comparator 13, a threshold setting device 14, and an output device 15. The article 16 to be detected is allowed to pass between (near) the oscillation coil 1 and the reception coils 2 and 3.

  One end of the oscillation coil 1 is grounded via the oscillation circuit 4, and the other end is directly grounded. The oscillation coil 1 is excited at 1 MHz by, for example, the oscillation circuit 4 to generate a high-frequency magnetic flux (alternating magnetic field). The receiving coils 2 and 3 are arranged so that a part of the magnetic flux is linked by an equal amount. One ends of the receiving coils 2 and 3 are reversely connected to each other, that is, differentially connected in series, and the connection portion is grounded. The other ends of the receiving coils 2 and 3 are connected to both ends of the variable resistor 5. With this configuration, the receiving coils 2 and 3 are balanced, and a differential voltage signal is obtained from the output end 6 thereof.

  The voltage signal output from the output terminal 6 is amplified by the high frequency amplifier 7 and sent to the detector 8. The phase of the synchronization signal generated from the synchronization signal generation circuit 10 is changed by the phase circuit 9 and input to the detector 8. The detector 8 detects the signal from the high frequency amplifier 7 using the synchronization signal input from the phase circuit 9. The signal demodulated by the detector 8 is sent to the variable gain amplifier 11 to be amplified, shaped by the filter 12, and sent to the comparator 13. The comparator 13 (discriminator) determines whether the voltage signal input from the filter 12 exceeds a predetermined threshold value (whether the threshold value is higher than the threshold value when the threshold value is positive, or higher than the threshold value when the threshold value is negative). Or the like, the same applies hereinafter). The threshold is set by a threshold setter 14 having a variable resistor. For example, an operational amplifier is used as the comparator 13. The determination result is input to the output device 15 and is appropriately output from the output device 15.

  Next, operations that characterize the non-metallic article detector 100 will be described. When the non-metallic article passes between the oscillation coil 1 and the reception coils 2 and 3, a modulation signal obtained by modulating the frequency signal of the alternating magnetic field transmitted from the oscillation coil 1 is output from the reception coils 2 and 3. The This principle is as follows. Even non-metallic articles may have conductivity due to salt content in moisture. When the non-metallic article having conductivity passes between the coils, an eddy current flows according to the law of electromagnetic induction, and a magnetic flux is generated in a direction that cancels the change of the magnetic flux passing through the non-metallic article. When the generated magnetic flux and the magnetic flux generated from the oscillation coil cancel each other, the magnetic flux interlinking in the receiving coil changes, and the frequency signal is modulated. Even when the passing non-metallic article has magnetism (ferromagnetism, diamagnetism, paramagnetism, etc.), the magnetic flux interlinking in the receiving coil changes and the frequency signal is modulated. The modulated signal is amplified and demodulated by passing through the high-frequency amplifier 7, the detector 8, the variable gain amplifier 11, and the filter 12. When the input voltage signal exceeds the threshold value (when the threshold value is positive, it is higher than the threshold value, when the threshold value is negative, it is lower than the threshold value), the comparator 13 indicates that the nonmetallic article has passed. Determine (output non-metallic article passage signal). When the non-metallic article passage signal is input from the comparator 13 to the output device 15, the output device 15 outputs that effect. For example, a buzzer or a liquid crystal display device can be used as the output device 15. In addition, it is good also as a structure which outputs a detection signal to other apparatuses, such as a packaging machine, without providing the output device 15. FIG.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to detect passage of a nonmetallic article without using a photoelectric sensor. In the article detection using the oscillation coil and the reception coil, unlike the detection using light, the passage of the article can be detected without any problem even if the surface of the sensor is dirty. Therefore, the maintenance is greatly simplified. The non-metal article detector 100 of the present embodiment is an application of the principle of a conventional metal detector. However, the principle that has been used only for metal detection in the past is used to detect non-metal articles. There is a breakthrough.
(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the nonmetallic article detector according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The non-metallic article detector 200 of the present embodiment detects a metallic article and a non-metallic article with the same device by switching threshold values. The nonmetallic article detector 200 is obtained by adding a control device 20 and an input device 21 to the nonmetallic article detector 100 of the first embodiment, replacing the threshold setting device 14 with a threshold setting device 17, and others. This part is common to the non-metallic article detector 100. Therefore, common parts are denoted by the same names and reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  The control device 20 is configured by a computer, for example, and outputs a threshold value switching signal based on a command input from an input unit including a keyboard or the like.

  The threshold setting device 17 includes two variable resistors 18 and 19. The threshold setting device 17 alternatively connects the variable resistors 18 and 19 to the comparator 13 based on the threshold switching signal input from the control device 20. With this configuration, the threshold value (voltage) input to the comparator 13 can be switched between the metal article detection and the nonmetal article detection.

  The non-metallic article detector 200 utilizes the fact that the magnitudes of the received signals generated from the receiving coils 2 and 3 differ depending on whether the article passing therethrough is non-metallic or metallic. Generally, a strong signal is generated when metal passes. Therefore, when a relatively small signal is detected, it is determined that a non-metallic article has passed, and when a relatively large signal is detected, it is determined that a metal article has passed. Specifically, the determination is performed by the following method. That is, when the signal input from the filter 12 to the comparator 13 exceeds the threshold value, a detection signal is output. When a threshold value for detecting a metal article is input to the comparator 13, the detection signal is a metal article passage signal, and when a threshold value for detecting a non-metallic object is input to the comparator 13, the detection signal is detected. Becomes a non-metallic article passage signal. Then, by differentiating the threshold value for detecting a metal article and the threshold value for detecting a non-metallic article, it can be determined whether the article passing therethrough is non-metallic or metallic.

  According to such a configuration, it is possible to detect a metal article and a non-metal article with the same device by switching the threshold as necessary. Therefore, the maintenance is simple and the detection of the metallic foreign object and the detection of the passage of the non-metallic article can be performed by the same apparatus, so that the size and the cost can be reduced.

Note that when the non-metallic article detector 200 is used for timing adjustment between a weighing machine and a packaging machine and detection of metallic foreign objects in the article, for example, a threshold for detecting metallic articles is input to the comparator 13 during normal operation. When the timing is adjusted, a threshold value for detecting a non-metallic article may be input to the comparator 13. In such a case, the control device 20 and the input device 21 are not necessarily required, and a threshold value switching signal may be input from the control device of the weighing machine or the packaging machine.
(Third embodiment)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the nonmetallic article detector according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The non-metallic article detector 300 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of comparators, and simultaneously detects a metallic article and a non-metallic article with the same device. The non-metallic article detector 300 is the same as the non-metallic article detector 100 of the first embodiment except that the comparator 13 and the threshold setting device 14 are replaced with the non-metallic article detecting comparator 22, the metallic article detecting comparator 23, and the non-metallic article detecting unit. The threshold value setter 24 and the metal article detection threshold value setter 25 are replaced, and the other parts are common to the non-metal article detector 100. Therefore, common parts are denoted by the same names and reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  A non-metallic article detection threshold is input from the non-metallic article detection threshold setting unit 24 to the non-metallic article detection comparator 22. The non-metallic article detection comparator 22 outputs a non-metallic article passage signal when the signal input from the filter 12 exceeds the threshold value for detecting the non-metallic article. Further, the metal article detection threshold value setter 25 is input to the metal article detection comparator 23 from the metal article detection threshold value setting unit 25. The metal article detection comparator 23 outputs a metal article passage signal when the signal input from the filter 12 exceeds a threshold for metal article detection.

  When the nonmetallic article passage signal is input from the nonmetallic article detection comparator 22, the output device 15 outputs that the nonmetallic article has passed. Further, when the metal article passage signal is input from the metal article detection comparator 23, the output device 15 outputs that the metal article has passed. When the metal article passage signal and the non-metal article passage signal are input, the output device 15 outputs that the metal article has passed.

According to such a configuration, since it is not necessary to switch the threshold value, it is possible to simultaneously detect a metal article and a non-metal article with the same device.
(Fourth embodiment)
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the nonmetallic article detector according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. The non-metallic article detector 400 of the present embodiment includes a computer instead of a comparator, thereby digitizing the received signal generated from the receiving coil and performing arithmetic processing to perform more complicated determination. The nonmetallic article detector 400 is the same as the nonmetallic article detector 100 of the first embodiment except that the comparator 13, the threshold setting device 14, and the output device 15 are replaced with an A / D converter 26 and a computer 27. The other parts are the same as those of the non-metallic article detector 100. Therefore, common parts are denoted by the same names and reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  The A / D converter 26 converts the voltage signal input from the filter 12 into digital data and outputs the digital data. The computer 27 performs waveform processing using the digital data input from the A / D converter 26, performs threshold processing on the processed data in the same manner as described in the first embodiment, and determines whether or not the article 16 has passed. Determine. The determination result may be output from the computer 27 to a weighing machine or a packaging machine (not shown).

According to such a configuration, it is possible to perform a more complicated determination by digitizing the received signal generated from the receiving coil and performing arithmetic processing. For example, the received signal is decomposed for each phase component, and these are compared to identify the type of article that has passed, calculate the amount of article passing, or detect passage for each type of article. Is possible.
(Example)
In this example, it was confirmed by experiment whether the detection of a nonmetallic article and the discrimination of a nonmetallic article and a metallic article were possible using the structure of the conventional metal detector. As the metal detector, a drop type metal detector LRG-190 (inner diameter 190 mm, thickness 120 mm, excitation frequency 1 MHz) manufactured by Nissin Electronics Industry was used. As the articles, wiener (glyco skinless wiener cocktail fresh), cheese (snow stamp daily heavy cheese catch), and a 2 mm diameter SUS stainless steel sphere were used.

  5 to 9 are graphs showing waveforms of voltage signals when an article is passed through the metal detector. The vertical axis of the graph is voltage, and the horizontal axis is time. One scale on the horizontal axis is 250 milliseconds, and one scale is 4 seconds. 5 to 7 are high sensitivity (the voltage per vertical axis is small), and FIGS. 8 and 9 are low sensitivity (the voltage per vertical axis is large). FIG. 5 is a graph showing, with high sensitivity, the waveform of the voltage signal when six cheeses are passed through the metal detector. FIG. 6 is a graph showing, with high sensitivity, the waveform of the voltage signal when nine wieners are passed through the metal detector. FIG. 7 is a graph showing, with high sensitivity, the waveform of the voltage signal when one stainless steel sphere is passed through the metal detector. FIG. 8 is a graph showing, with low sensitivity, the waveform of the voltage signal when nine wieners are passed through the metal detector. FIG. 9 is a graph showing a low-sensitivity waveform of the voltage signal when one stainless steel sphere is passed through the metal detector.

  As can be seen from the figure, the magnitude of the voltage signal is 6 cheeses <9 Wieners <1 stainless steel ball. Since both cheese and wiener are non-metallic articles, the signal is smaller than that of stainless steel balls, but sufficient strength is recognized even in comparison with the noise before and after. Therefore, it can be seen that a non-metallic article can be detected using the configuration of the metal detector. It can also be seen that since the signal strength is greatly different between the non-metallic article and the metallic article, it is possible to determine whether the passed article is a non-metallic article or a metallic article by adjusting the threshold value.

As shown in the figure, the time width (peak width) of the article passage signal is about 250 milliseconds. When it is necessary to make the time width smaller (improve the temporal and spatial resolution of detection), the thickness of the non-metallic article detector (length in the passage direction of the article) can be reduced. preferable.
(Modifications of the first to fourth embodiments)
Since the signal increases as the amount of substances that pass simultaneously increases, the amount of the nonmetallic article that passes through is set to be approximately constant or less when discriminating between the nonmetallic article and the metallic article based only on the intensity of the signal. In this case, since the signal due to the passage of the non-metallic article does not exceed a certain value, it can be determined that the metal contaminant has passed if a signal higher than that is detected.

  The phase of the signal generated by the receiving coil differs depending on the type of article passing through. Therefore, for example, the signal generated by the receiving coil may be separated into a plurality of phase components, and it may be determined whether the article passing through the ratio (angle) is a non-metallic article or a metallic article. If the non-metallic article as a product is uniform, the phases are almost the same. Therefore, when a different phase component is detected, it can be determined that a foreign substance is mixed. In addition, since a well-known method can be utilized for the separation into phase components, etc., detailed description is omitted.

  In non-metallic articles, since the intensity of the received signal is generally smaller than that of metal, it is necessary to increase the sensitivity. In particular, in order to detect dried non-metallic articles such as potato chips, it is important to improve sensitivity and S / N ratio. In order to improve the sensitivity and the S / N ratio, specifically, there are the following methods.

  The first is to increase the strength of the magnetic field generated by the transmission coil. Increasing the drive voltage of the transmission coil, increasing the drive current flowing through the transmission coil, increasing the number of turns of the transmission coil, etc. can increase the strength of the magnetic field generated by the transmission coil.

  The second is to increase the frequency of the voltage signal input to the transmission coil. In the above configuration, a frequency of 1 MHz is used, but sensitivity can be improved by using a higher frequency.

  The third is to increase the number of turns of the receiving coil. However, increasing the number of turns of the receiving coil also increases the noise from the outside. Therefore, in order to improve the S / N ratio, it is more preferable to increase the number of turns of the transmitting coil.

  The fourth is to make the passage opening (coil diameter) as small as possible. As the frontage becomes larger, the external noise that enters the inside of the non-metallic article detector also increases. The S / N ratio can be improved as much as possible by setting the frontage to a size that is necessary and sufficient for the target article to pass therethrough.

  The fifth is shield measures. As the sensitivity is increased, the noise from the outside that goes directly into the inside of the nonmetallic article detector is also increased. If the coil is covered with a long metal hood and used as a shield, noise from the outside becomes difficult to enter, and the S / N ratio can be improved.

  In order to prevent malfunction, improvement of sensitivity and S / N ratio is important, but malfunction can also be prevented by other methods. For example, starting from the discharge of a weighing machine or the like that discharges an article, the maximum and minimum time delays for the article to reach the non-metallic article detector are set, and the article is detected only during that time. Also good. According to such a configuration, since the article detection signal is not output at a timing at which article passage should not occur, malfunctions can be reliably reduced.

  The threshold value varies depending on the amount and type of the article to be detected, but considering the S / N ratio, it is generally preferable to set the threshold to about ½ of the signal of the article to be detected. The detection accuracy can be optimized by appropriately adjusting the threshold value according to the noise of the background signal and the signal of the article passing through.

In the above description, the configuration includes the oscillation coil and the reception coil. However, the configuration may include only the oscillation coil and no reception coil. In such a configuration, the discriminator determines whether or not the nonmetallic article has passed based on the current flowing through the oscillation coil.
(Fifth embodiment)
FIG. 10 is a perspective view schematically showing an example of the configuration of the weighing and packaging machine according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. The weighing and packaging machine 500 according to the present embodiment includes the non-metallic article detector 100 according to the first embodiment between the weighing machine and the packaging machine. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the weighing and packaging machine 500 will be described with reference to FIG. The broken arrow indicates the direction in which the signal is sent.

  First, the apparatus configuration of the weighing and packaging machine 500 will be described. The weighing and packaging machine 500 includes a weighing machine 30, a non-metallic article detector 100, a packaging machine 31, and a control device 50.

  The weighing machine 30 weighs a predetermined amount of articles (wieners, cheese, potato chips and other objects to be weighed) received from the upstream, and discharges them to the tube 32 at predetermined time intervals. As the weighing machine 30, for example, a known combination weigher can be used.

  The nonmetallic article detector 100 is the nonmetallic article detector 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and an oscillation coil and a receiving coil are disposed so as to surround the outside of the tube 32. Since the configuration and operation of the non-metallic article detector 100 itself are as described above, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  The packaging machine 31 is disposed below the weighing machine 30, and a forming tube 33 is provided so as to surround the outside of the tube 32. The forming tube 33 is formed in a cylindrical shape by winding a film 35 (for example, a synthetic resin film such as polyethylene) wound around a drum 34 around an outer peripheral surface and overlapping both end surfaces thereof. The cylindrical part of the film 35 is referred to as a first semi-finished product bag. The film feed belt 36 is provided on both sides of the lower portion of the forming tube 33 so as to be in contact with the film 35, and is formed by binding the peripheral surface and the bottom of the first semi-finished product bag as will be described later (hereinafter, referred to as the film feed belt 36). The second semi-finished product bag) is sent out below the forming tube 33, and the film 35 is newly drawn into the forming tube 33 from the drum 34 by one bag to form a first semi-finished product bag. The air cylinder 38 sandwiches both end surfaces of the first semi-finished product bag, and the vertical heater 37 heat-welds both end surfaces of the first semi-finished product bag to close the peripheral surface. The horizontal heaters 39 are provided below the forming tube 33 on both sides of the cylindrical film 35 so as to be perpendicular to the axis of the forming tube 33, and the bottom of the first semi-finished product bag is formed by the air cylinder 42. And the upper part of the second semi-finished product bag sent out first is sandwiched and heated from both sides to seal the upper part of the second semi-finished product bag sent out first, Seal the bottom of the semi-finished product bag. Articles are put into the first semi-finished product bag with the bottom sealed from the weighing machine 30. The jaw 40 is provided in one of the horizontal heaters 39, and is driven by the air cylinder 41 while the horizontal heater 39 is performing heat welding as described above. The semi-finished product bag and the bottom of the second semi-finished product bag in the forming tube 33 are separated. Heating by the vertical heater 37 and the horizontal heater 39 is performed simultaneously as described later. By such an operation, a bag (package) in which the article is sealed is completed. Each time the article is supplied via the tube 32, the packaging machine 31 performs the packaging operation as described above.

  The control device 50 includes, for example, a computer having a CPU, a memory, and an I / O. The control device 50 receives signals from the weighing machine 30 and the non-metallic article detector 100 and sends signals to the weighing machine 30 as well as the film feed belt 36, the air The packaging machine 31 is operated by controlling the operations of the cylinders 41 and 42.

  Next, operations that characterize the weighing and packaging machine 500 will be described. The non-metallic article detector 100 sends the non-metallic article passage signal to the control device 50 as ON when the article is discharged from the weighing machine 30 and the top of the group of articles starts to pass through the non-metallic article detector 100. To do. Further, when the rear end of the group of falling articles finishes passing through the non-metallic article detector 100, a non-metallic article passing signal is turned off and transmitted to the control device 50. The control device 50 controls the film so that the second semi-finished product bag is cut by the knife 40 when a predetermined time elapses after the nonmetallic article passage detection signal from the nonmetallic article detector 100 is turned off. The rotational speed of the feed belt 36, the opening / closing operation timing of the lateral heater 39 driven by the air cylinder 42, and the cutting operation timing of the knife 40 driven by the air cylinder 41 are adjusted. In the above operation, the control device 50 makes the predetermined time equal to the time required for the article to fall from the lower end of the non-metallic article detector 100 to the position of the second semi-finished product bag whose bottom is sealed. Control it to be a little longer. According to such control, the upper end of the second semi-finished product bag is welded by the horizontal heater 39 and the welded by the knife 40 when the article has completely dropped and is placed in the lower end of the second semi-finished product bag. Therefore, it is possible to prevent biting of the article into the welded portion (hereinafter simply referred to as biting).

  Alternatively, the weighing and packaging machine 500 cooperates the weighing machine 30 and the packaging machine 31 to optimize the weighing and packaging speed. Specifically, the optimization is performed as follows.

  An area in which articles are not present in a continuously supplied series of articles is called a product window. In order to prevent the article from being caught in the welded portion, it is necessary to perform welding and cutting when the horizontal heater 39 and the knife 40 are in the region of the product window. In order to prevent biting, the product window needs to have a certain length (5 to 15 cm). On the other hand, in order to measure and package at higher speed (with a short cycle), it is necessary to make the product window as short as possible. In actual operation, it is desirable to control the product window to be as short as possible within a range where no biting occurs.

  The weighing and packaging machine 500 detects the product window based on the determination result of the nonmetallic article detector 100. When the non-metallic article detector 100 overlaps the product window, no article exists in the non-metallic article detector 100, so the non-metallic article detection signal is turned off. On the contrary, when the non-metallic article detector 100 does not overlap the product window, since the article exists inside the non-metallic article detector 100, the non-metallic article detection signal is turned ON. By monitoring the non-metallic article detection signal, the control device 50 can detect the length of the product window and the timing at which the product window passes through each part of the device.

  The length of the product window is changed by adjusting the discharge period from the weighing machine 30. Shortening the discharge cycle shortens the product window, and lengthening the discharge cycle lengthens the product window. In the weighing and packaging machine 500 of the present embodiment, the control device 50 calculates a product window based on the non-metallic article passage signal from the non-metallic article detector 100, and cooperates with the weighing machine 30 based on the result. The article discharge timing (first timing) and the film welding and cutting timing (second timing) are optimized. By such control, it is possible to realize weighing and packaging at the maximum speed while preventing biting. Note that the timing optimization mentioned here refers to optimizing the time interval of the timing for performing each operation and the shift between the first timing and the second timing.

  According to the weighing packaging machine of the present embodiment, since the non-metallic article detector 100 is used instead of the photoelectric sensor to detect the passage of the article, there is no problem due to contamination of the light emitting part and the light receiving part. Therefore, simple maintenance can realize the fastest weighing and packaging while preventing biting.

  The nonmetallic article detector 100 may be the nonmetallic article detector 200 of the second embodiment. The non-metallic article detector 200 can detect a metallic article and a non-metallic article with the same device by switching between a non-metallic article detection threshold and a metallic article detection threshold. Therefore, if the control device 50 transmits a threshold switching signal to the non-metallic article detector 200, it is possible to detect a metallic foreign object during normal time and to detect the passage of the non-metallic article as a product during timing adjustment. Become. Conventionally, the passage detection of a non-metallic article as a product and the detection of a metallic foreign object have been performed by separate devices (a photoelectric sensor and a metal detector). According to the above-described configuration, it is possible to detect passage of a non-metallic article and a metallic foreign object with the same device, and it is possible to reduce the size and cost in addition to simplifying maintenance. In addition, when performing the passage detection of a metal foreign material, it is preferable to provide an article sorting apparatus downstream and to exclude the product mixed with the metal foreign material from the line.

  The nonmetallic article detector 100 may be the nonmetallic article detector 300 of the third embodiment. Since the non-metallic article detector 300 includes a plurality of comparators, it is possible to simultaneously detect a metallic article and a non-metallic article with the same device. According to such a configuration, in addition to the simplification of maintenance, downsizing, and cost reduction, timing adjustment and metal foreign object detection can be performed in parallel.

  The nonmetallic article detector 100 may be the nonmetallic article detector 400 of the fourth embodiment. By providing a computer instead of the comparator, the non-metallic article detector 400 can digitize the received signal generated from the receiving coil, perform arithmetic processing, and perform more complicated determination. According to such a configuration, in addition to simplification of maintenance, miniaturization, cost reduction, timing adjustment, and detection of metal foreign objects, it is possible to perform more sophisticated control of weighing and packaging operations. For example, it is possible to improve the detection accuracy of the metallic foreign object by decomposing the received signal for each phase component and comparing them.

  It is good also as a measuring machine with a nonmetallic article detector provided with a measuring machine, a tube, and a nonmetallic article detector, without providing a packaging machine. In this case, a nonmetallic article detection signal (synchronization signal) may be transmitted from the nonmetallic article detector to the packaging machine. Alternatively, a control device may be further provided, and a nonmetallic article detection signal (synchronization signal) may be transmitted from the control device to the packaging machine. In such a configuration, the packaging machine can prevent biting by adjusting the timing of film welding and cutting (second timing) based on the synchronization signal. Alternatively, a control device may be further provided, and the control device may adjust the discharge timing (first timing) of the article by the weighing machine. In such a configuration, by controlling the discharge timing based on the length of the product window, it is possible to realize weighing and packaging at the maximum speed while preventing biting.

It is good also as a packaging machine with a nonmetallic article detector provided with a tube, a nonmetallic article detector, and a packaging machine, without providing a measuring machine. In this case, the packaging machine may change the timing (second timing) of film welding and cutting based on the non-metallic article detection signal. In such a configuration, it is possible to reliably prevent biting by performing welding and cutting when the packaging machine is in the product window. Alternatively, the packaging machine may transmit a synchronization signal to the weighing machine based on the second timing. Alternatively, a control device may be further provided, and the control device may transmit a synchronization signal to the weighing machine based on the determination result of the nonmetallic article detector and the second timing. In such a configuration, since the length of the product window can be adjusted using the synchronization signal, it is possible to realize weighing and packaging at the maximum speed while preventing biting.
(Sixth embodiment)
FIG. 11 is a top view showing an example of the configuration of the article sorting apparatus according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. The article sorting apparatus 600 of the present embodiment detects the passage of an article using the non-metallic article detector 100 of the first embodiment, and specifies the timing at which the article passes on the weight sensor based on the detection result. Thus, the product weight is detected, and defective products are discriminated and distributed. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the article sorting apparatus 600 will be described with reference to FIG. The broken arrow indicates the direction in which the signal is sent.

  First, the apparatus configuration of the article sorting apparatus 600 will be described. The article sorting device 600 includes a belt conveyor 60, a nonmetallic article detection device 100, a weight sensor 61, a motor 62, a chute plate 63, and a control device 64.

  The belt conveyor 60 carries goods (for example, wieners, cheese, potato chips, etc. packed in bags) supplied from upstream and conveys them downstream.

  The non-metallic article detector 100 is the non-metallic article detector 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and the oscillation coil and the receiving coil are arranged so as to surround the outside of the belt conveyor 60. Since the configuration and operation of the non-metallic article detector 100 itself are as described above, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  The weight sensor 61 includes, for example, a load cell, and is disposed below the belt conveyor 60 and detects the weight of an article on the belt conveyor thereon.

  The chute plate 63 is attached on the rotating shaft of the motor 62. The chute plate 63 is normally located outside the belt conveyor 60. However, when the motor 62 rotates by a predetermined angle, the chute plate 63 protrudes onto the belt conveyor 60 according to the rotation, and the articles on the belt conveyor. The passage is blocked and guided out of the belt conveyor 60.

  The control device 64 is composed of, for example, a computer including a CPU, a memory, and an I / O. The control device 64 receives signals from the nonmetallic article detector 100 and the weight sensor 61 and sends signals to the motor 62.

  Next, operations that characterize the article sorting apparatus 600 will be described. The nonmetallic article detector 100 transmits a nonmetallic article passage signal (ON) to the control device 64 when the article passes through the inside thereof. The control device 64 predicts the timing at which the article passes over the weight sensor 61 based on the timing at which the non-metallic article passage signal is received and the preset conveying speed of the belt conveyor 60. Furthermore, the control device 64 obtains the weight of the article based on the weight detection signal received from the weight sensor 61 at the predicted timing, and whether or not the obtained weight is within a preset appropriate range. Judgment is made. When it is determined that the obtained weight is outside the appropriate range, the control device 64 controls the motor 62 to rotate it by a predetermined angle. The motor 62 and the chute plate 63 constitute a sorting device. When the motor 62 rotates by a predetermined angle, the chute plate protrudes onto the belt conveyor 60 and moves on the belt conveyor 60 as shown by the broken line in the figure. Is guided out of the belt conveyor 60 as indicated by the dashed arrows. The guided article is thrown into the defective product storage container 65. When it is determined that the obtained weight is within the proper range, the control device 64 controls the motor 62 to move (or maintain) the chute plate 63 to the outside of the belt conveyor 60. . By such control, the articles moving on the belt conveyor 60 are conveyed downstream as they are, as indicated by solid arrows.

  According to the article sorting apparatus 600 of the present embodiment, since the non-metallic article detector 100 is used instead of the photoelectric sensor to detect the passage of the article, there is no problem due to contamination of the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit. Therefore, defective products and non-defective products can be sorted with simple maintenance.

  Note that the position of the weight sensor 61 is not necessarily downstream of the non-metallic article detector 100 and may be disposed at the same position as the non-metallic article detector 100.

  The nonmetallic article detector 100 may be the nonmetallic article detector of the third embodiment or the fourth embodiment. In such a configuration, the non-metallic article detector can simultaneously perform the detection of the passage of the non-metallic article and the detection of the passage of the metallic article, so that a defective product mixed with a metallic foreign object can be sorted. Conventionally, the passage detection of a non-metallic article as a product and the detection of a metallic foreign object have been performed by separate devices (a photoelectric sensor and a metal detector). According to the above-described configuration, it is possible to detect passage of a non-metallic article and a metallic foreign object with the same device, and it is possible to reduce the size and cost in addition to simplifying maintenance.

  Note that, when sorting defective products mixed with metal foreign objects, it is not always necessary to sort the defective products by weight using the weight sensor 61. Even with such a configuration, it is possible to perform the passage of the article and the metal detection with the same device, and in addition to simplifying the maintenance, it is possible to reduce the size and cost.

  The non-metallic article detector according to the present invention is useful as a non-metallic article detector, a weighing and packaging machine, and an article sorting device that are easy to maintain and can be reduced in size and cost.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the nonmetallic article detector of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the nonmetallic article detector of 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the nonmetallic article detector of 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the nonmetallic article detector of 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows the waveform of a voltage signal when passing six cheeses inside a metal detector with high sensitivity. It is a graph which shows with high sensitivity the waveform of the voltage signal when nine wieners are passed through the metal detector. It is a graph which shows with high sensitivity the waveform of the voltage signal when one stainless steel sphere passes through the inside of a metal detector. It is a graph which shows the waveform of a voltage signal when passing nine wieners inside a metal detector with low sensitivity. It is a graph which shows the waveform of the voltage signal when one stainless steel ball is passed through the metal detector with low sensitivity. It is a perspective view which shows roughly an example of a structure of the weighing packaging machine of 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows an example of a structure of the goods selection apparatus of 6th Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Oscillation coil 2 Reception coil 3 Reception coil 4 Oscillation circuit 5 Variable resistor 6 Output terminal 7 High frequency amplifier 8 Detector 9 Phase circuit 10 Synchronous signal generation circuit 11 Variable gain amplifier 12 Filter 13 Comparator 14 Threshold setting device 15 Output device 16 Article DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 17 Threshold setting device 18 Variable resistor 19 Variable resistor 20 Control device 21 Input device 22 Nonmetallic article detection comparator 23 Metal article detection comparator 24 Nonmetallic article detection threshold setting device 25 Metal article detection threshold setting device 26 A / D converter 27 Computer 30 Weighing machine 31 Packaging machine 32 Tube 33 Forming tube 34 Drum 35 Film 36 Film feed belt 37 Vertical heater 38 Air cylinder 39 Horizontal heater 40 Jaw 41 Air cylinder 50 Controller 60 Belt co Bear 61 weight sensor 62 the motor 63 the chute plate 64 controller 65 defective container 100 non article detector 200 non article detector 300 non article detector 400 non article detector 500 weighing and packaging machine 600 article sorting apparatus

Claims (8)

A weighing machine that weighs a predetermined amount of articles at a first timing and discharges them as a group;
A path for passing articles discharged from the weighing machine;
An oscillation coil arranged to surround the path, an oscillator for exciting the oscillation coil to generate a magnetic field, a receiving coil arranged to surround the path and generating a voltage signal by the magnetic field, and A non-metallic article detector comprising: a discriminator that determines whether or not a non-metallic article has passed in the vicinity of the oscillation coil or the receiving coil based on a voltage signal;
A packaging machine that individually wraps the articles that have passed through the non-metallic article detector for each group at a second timing;
A control device,
The control device adjusts the first timing and the second timing based on a determination result of the non-metallic article detector. A weighing machine that weighs a predetermined amount of articles at a first timing and discharges them as a group;
A path for passing articles discharged from the weighing machine;
An oscillation coil arranged to surround the path, an oscillator for exciting the oscillation coil to generate a magnetic field, a receiving coil arranged to surround the path and generating a voltage signal by the magnetic field, and A non-metallic article detector comprising: a discriminator that determines whether or not a non-metallic article has passed in the vicinity of the oscillation coil or the receiving coil based on a voltage signal;
The non-metallic article detector is a weighing machine with a non-metallic article detector that transmits a synchronization signal to a packaging machine based on a determination result of the non-metallic article detector. A weighing machine that weighs a predetermined amount of articles at a first timing and discharges them as a group;
A path for passing articles discharged from the weighing machine;
An oscillation coil arranged to surround the path, an oscillator for exciting the oscillation coil to generate a magnetic field, a receiving coil arranged to surround the path and generating a voltage signal by the magnetic field, and A non-metallic article detector comprising: a discriminator that determines whether or not a non-metallic article has passed in the vicinity of the oscillation coil or the receiving coil based on a voltage signal;
A control device,
The said control apparatus is a measuring machine with a nonmetallic article detector which transmits a synchronizing signal to a packaging machine based on the determination result of the said nonmetallic article detector. Furthermore, the said control apparatus is a measuring machine with a nonmetallic article detector of Claim 3 which changes a said 1st timing based on the determination result of the said nonmetallic article detector. A path for passing articles discharged from the weighing machine;
An oscillation coil arranged to surround the path, an oscillator for exciting the oscillation coil to generate a magnetic field, a receiving coil arranged to surround the path and generating a voltage signal by the magnetic field, and A non-metallic article detector comprising: a discriminator that determines whether or not a non-metallic article has passed in the vicinity of the oscillation coil or the receiving coil based on a voltage signal;
A packaging machine that individually wraps the articles that have passed through the non-metallic article detector for each group at a second timing;
The packaging machine is a packaging machine with a nonmetallic article detector that changes the second timing based on a determination result of the nonmetallic article detector. Furthermore, the packaging machine with a non-metallic article detector according to claim 5 , wherein the packaging machine transmits a synchronization signal to the weighing machine based on the second timing. A path for passing articles discharged from the weighing machine;
An oscillation coil arranged to surround the path, an oscillator for exciting the oscillation coil to generate a magnetic field, a receiving coil arranged to surround the path and generating a voltage signal by the magnetic field, and A non-metallic article detector comprising: a discriminator that determines whether or not a non-metallic article has passed in the vicinity of the oscillation coil or the receiving coil based on a voltage signal;
A packaging machine that individually wraps the articles that have passed through the non-metallic article detector for each group at a second timing;
A control device,
The said control apparatus is a packaging machine with a nonmetallic article detector which transmits a synchronizing signal to the said weighing machine based on the determination result of the said nonmetallic article detector, and said 2nd timing. A belt conveyor for conveying articles;
An oscillation coil arranged to surround the belt conveyor, an oscillator for exciting the oscillation coil to generate a magnetic field, a reception coil arranged to surround the path and generating a voltage signal by the magnetic field, A discriminator for determining whether or not a non-metallic article has passed in the vicinity of the oscillation coil or the receiving coil based on the voltage signal and outputting a non-metallic article passing signal when it is determined that the non-metallic article has passed; A non-metallic article detector comprising:
A weight sensor for detecting the weight of the article on the belt conveyor;
A sorting device for sorting articles on the belt conveyor;
A control device,
The said control apparatus detects the weight of an article | item based on the timing which receives a nonmetallic article passage signal from the said nonmetallic article detector, and controls the said sorting apparatus based on the said detected weight.

Images