JP5171168B2 - Agricultural product cleaning equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an agricultural product cleaning apparatus for removing dirt such as soil adhering to the surface of harvested potato and other agricultural products, and more particularly, an agricultural product cleaning apparatus suitable for use in an agricultural product sorting and packaging facility. About.

  Conventionally, as this type of cleaning device, it is arranged above a conveying device composed of a plurality of conveying brush rollers arranged side by side that rotate endlessly (revolves) and rotates, and above the conveying track in the horizontal direction of the conveying device. Conveying brush roller having a structure comprising a flat brush that swings in the horizontal direction or an upper brush roller that is rotationally driven, and adjoining the produce that is the object to be cleaned conveyed by the conveying device on the conveying path in the horizontal direction There have been proposed devices that are cleaned by rolling between them and are cleaned by the flat brush or the upper brush roller (Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3).

The conveying brush roller is formed in a cylindrical shape, and a plurality of agricultural products such as potatoes are supplied in the axial direction to be simultaneously cleaned.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-18231 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-21981 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 48-100881

  In the conventional agricultural product cleaning apparatus described above, the following problems are pointed out.

  (1) Agricultural products such as potatoes are rotated between the adjacent front and rear transport brush rollers by the transport brush roller to rotate and clean the outer surface of the agricultural products. It may move while rolling in the axial direction. Since a plurality of agricultural products such as potatoes are continuously supplied between the conveying brush roller and, for example, a flat brush, in the axial direction of the conveying brush roller, agricultural products such as potatoes are conveyed by the conveying brush roller during the conveying brush roller. If it moves in the axial direction, it may collide with other agricultural products and damage the agricultural products.

  (2) Agricultural products such as potatoes roll without changing the rolling shaft that is the center of rotation when rolling by the rotation of the conveying brush roller, and clean when receiving the rolling force from the conveying brush roller Therefore, the contact surface where agricultural products such as potatoes come into contact with the conveying brush is not substantially changed. In addition, when agricultural products such as potatoes are transported by the revolution (endless rotation) of the conveying brush roller, they are cleaned by contact with the flat brush or the upper brush roller. However, agricultural products such as potatoes are cleaned by the flat brush or the upper brush roller. Since the rolling contact shaft is invariable, the contact surface that comes into contact with the conveying brush roller is substantially the same outer peripheral surface as the contact surface that comes into contact with the conveying brush roller. There is a tendency not to touch. However, when the agricultural product moves in the left-right direction while rolling (rolling), the side in the moving direction is cleaned because it is pressed against the conveying brush roller and the flat brush or the upper brush roller, but as described above, other agricultural products There is a risk of crashing.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an agricultural product cleaning device that does not roll agricultural products such as potatoes more than necessary, and can avoid contact with adjacent agricultural products as much as possible to clean the entire peripheral surface of the agricultural products.

  The first configuration of the agricultural product cleaning apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention is a body to be cleaned between two adjacent brush rollers, in which a plurality of rotating brush rollers are horizontally mounted in parallel with a constant interval. A plurality of endlessly rotating brush roller conveyors provided with storage recesses for storing agricultural products in the axial direction of the brush roller, and arranged above the conveying path of the brush roller conveyor, between the adjacent brush rollers Brushing means that has a rotating brush portion that extends to the side surface of the agricultural product so as to sandwich the agricultural product that rolls in the accommodation recess provided, and that moves the rotating brush portion in the axial direction of the brush roller. Features.

  According to a second configuration of the agricultural product cleaning apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention, in the first configuration described above, the brushing means is provided with a spiral groove in which a spiral groove portion is formed on an outer peripheral portion of a cylindrical brush roller. It is a brush roller.

  The third configuration of the agricultural product cleaning apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention is any one of the configurations described above, and the adjacent brush roller has a large-diameter portion as the shape of the outer peripheral portion of one or both brush rollers. The small diameter portion is connected in the axial direction and formed into a waveform.

  The fourth configuration of the agricultural product cleaning apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention is any one of the above-described configurations, and the accommodating recess formed between the adjacent brush rollers is formed to have a size enough to mount one agricultural product. It is characterized by being.

The fifth configuration of the agricultural product cleaning apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention is the above-described second configuration, wherein a plurality of the spiral grooved brush rollers are arranged along the conveying direction of the brush roller conveyor. And

  The sixth configuration of the agricultural product cleaning apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention is any one of the configurations described above, wherein the interval between the rotating brush portions of the brushing means is substantially the same as the installation interval of the accommodating recesses. Features.

  A seventh configuration of the agricultural product cleaning apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention is characterized in that the brushing means can be moved up and down with respect to the transport track in any one of the configurations described above.

  According to the present invention, not only the rolling direction during cleaning without damaging agricultural products such as potatoes, but also both sides are brushed securely, and the entire peripheral surface of agricultural products including elliptical agricultural products such as potatoes is cleaned ( Can remove and polish the soil.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 2, it can comprise simply by making the said brushing means into a brush roller with a spiral groove.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 3, agricultural products, such as a potato, can be reliably accommodated between adjacent brush rollers.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 4, since agricultural products, such as a potato, can be accommodated without dropping one by one in an accommodation recessed part, there is no possibility that agricultural products may collide and be damaged.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 5, the both sides | surfaces of agricultural products can be brushed reliably by making the direction of a spiral groove into a reverse direction.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 6, it can brush the both sides | surfaces of agricultural products reliably corresponding to each agricultural product accommodated in the accommodation recessed part.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 7, the front-end | tip of the brush of a brushing means can be match | combined according to the side surface position of the agricultural product to clean.

First Embodiment FIGS. 1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a front view of an agricultural product cleaning device, FIG. 2 is a top view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along arrow AA in FIG. 1, and FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which brushes the side surface of the potato rolling by.

  1 to 4, the cleaning device 1 has a frame configuration in which an upper frame base 3 is mounted on a lower frame base 2, and the lower frame base 2 is an endless rotating brush roller conveyor configured with brush rollers. 4, the brush roller conveyor 4 has a horizontal conveyance track (surface) and rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. A manual selection conveyor 5 for supplying, for example, potato P by manual sorting is disposed on the conveyance start end side of the brush roller conveyor 4, and a cleaned potato is disposed on the discharge end side of the brush roller conveyor 4. A shape sorting conveyor 6 for supplying P to the next shape sorting step is disposed.

  In this specification, in the brush roller conveyor 4 attached to the lower frame base 2, the conveying direction is referred to as the front-rear direction, and the axial direction of the brush roller perpendicular to the conveying direction is referred to as the left-right direction.

  The brush roller conveyor 4 has first brush rollers 7 and second brush rollers 8 having different outer shapes arranged alternately in the front-rear direction, and attached to the left and right driving endless chains 9 with a predetermined interval. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, in the front-rear direction of the lower frame base 2, a driving sprocket 10 and a driven sprocket 11 with which a driving endless chain 9 engages are respectively attached in the left-right direction, and left and right driving The sprocket 10 and the driven sprocket 11 are integrally connected by connecting shafts 12 and 13.

  A driving force transmission sprocket 14 is fixed to one end of the connecting shaft 12 of the driving sprocket 10, and a driving force transmission chain 17 is fixed to the motor sprocket 16 fixed to the output shaft of the driving motor 15 and the driving force transmission sprocket 14. And the drive motor 15 is rotationally driven to rotate the left and right drive endless chains 9.

  The first brush roller 7 and the second brush roller 8 both have a cylindrical brush roller body 19 rotatably attached to a roller shaft 18 via a bearing member 20, and a rotating sprocket is attached to one end of the brush roller body 19. 21 is fixed (see FIG. 3). Then, both ends of the roller shaft 18 are connected to the left and right driving endless chains 9, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the endless track of the endless chain 22 for rotation that engages with the sprocket 21 for rotation of the first brush roller 7 and the second brush roller 8 outside the endless track of the endless chain 9 for driving is turned back. 23, 24. A rotation driving motor 25 is attached to the lower frame base 2, and a rotation motor sprocket 26 fixed to the output shaft of the rotation driving motor 25 engages with the rotation endless chain 22. It rotates endlessly.

  Due to the endless rotation of the endless chain 22 for rotation, the rotation sprockets 21 of the first brush roller 7 and the second brush roller 8 are engaged with the endless chain 22 for rotation on the horizontal track of the brush roller conveyor 4, and the conveying direction The first brush roller 7 and the second brush roller 8 that move to (revolve) are rotated (autorotated). Then, the first brush roller 7 and the second brush roller 8 that have deviated from the conveying track start to rotate again when the rotating sprocket 21 is engaged with the rotating endless chain 22 again before reaching the upstream side of the conveying track. .

  In the present embodiment, the first brush roller 7 has a large number of brushes implanted in the brush roller body 19, and a plurality of curved concave portions (small diameter portions) 7a and convex portions (large diameter portions) 7b are continuously formed on the outer peripheral surface. It is formed on the corrugated surface provided. Further, the second brush roller 8 has a cylindrical shape in which the length of the hair planted in the brush roller body 19 is uniformly aligned over the entire length in the axial direction. For example, potato P, which is the object to be cleaned supplied from the manual selection conveyor 5 to the brush roller conveyor 4, rotates between the first brush roller 7 and the second brush roller 8 by the rotation of the first brush roller 7 and the second brush roller 8. It moves in between and is naturally housed in the recess 7a of the first brush roller 7. Accordingly, the distance between the first brush roller 7 and the second brush roller 8 is set to a distance at which the potato P housed in the recess 7a of the first brush roller 7 does not fall.

  The potato P accommodated in the recess 7 a of the first brush roller 7 between the first brush roller 7 and the second brush roller 8 of the brush roller conveyor 4 is connected to the first brush roller 7 and the second brush roller 8. Rolls by rotation. At this time, since the rolling shaft does not change in the left-right direction only when the potato P rolls due to the rotation of the first brush roller 7 and the second brush roller 8, the potato P does not change in the concave portion 7a of the first brush roller 7. The left and right side surfaces of the potato P are not positively cleaned (soil-dropped or polished) by the first brush roller 7 and the second brush roller 8.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the first spiral brush which is an upper brushing means in which one spiral groove is formed in the left and right direction (axial direction) on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical brush roller above the conveying track of the brush roller conveyor 4. The roller 31 and the second spiral brush roller 32 are disposed opposite to each other in the front-rear direction in the transport direction. A cylindrical brush roller 33 is disposed between the first spiral brush roller 31 and the second spiral brush roller 32 so that the length of the brush is constant over the entire length.

  The first spiral brush roller 31 and the second spiral brush roller 32 have the spiral direction of the single spiral groove 31a, 32a formed on the outer peripheral surface as the right-handed screw direction and the left-handed screw direction, and are opposite to each other. The groove widths of the spiral grooves 31a and 32a are substantially the same as the recesses 7a of the first brush roller 7 so that the potato P can be fitted into the openings of the spiral groove 31a and the spiral groove 32a.

  The 1st spiral brush roller 31, the 2nd spiral brush roller 32, and the brush roller 33 are attached to the raising / lowering base 34 attached to the upper frame base 3 so that raising / lowering was possible. Sprockets are respectively fixed to the rotation shafts 31b, 32b, and 33a of the first spiral brush roller 31, the second spiral brush roller 32, and the brush roller 33 that are attached to the lift 34, and one drive is provided on the rotation shaft 31b. Two drive sprockets 33b and 33c are fixed to the sprocket 31c and the rotation shaft 33a, and one drive sprocket 32c and one drive force transmission sprocket 32d are fixed to the rotation shaft 32b.

  A drive motor 35 for driving the first spiral brush roller 31, the second spiral brush roller 32, and the brush roller 33 is attached to the lift 34, and a motor sprocket 36 fixed to the output shaft of the drive motor 35, An endless chain 37 is wound around the driving force transmitting sprocket 32d. Endless chains 38 and 38 for driving are wound between the driving sprocket 31c and one driving sprocket 33c and between the other driving sprocket 33b and driving sprocket 32c, respectively. Therefore, when the drive motor 35 is driven, the first spiral brush roller 31, the second spiral brush roller 32, and the brush roller 33 rotate in the same direction indicated by the arrows. The rotation direction is opposite to the rotation direction of the first brush roller 7 and the second brush roller 8.

  Screw shafts 39 are erected on the upper frame base 3 at four corners in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, and nut members 40 that are respectively screwed on the screw shafts 39 are fixed to the elevating base 34, and each screw shaft 39 is endlessly linked. The chain 41 can be rotated synchronously, and a lifting handle 42 provided on one screw shaft 39 is rotated to adjust the lifting platform 34 so that the first spiral brush roller 31, the second spiral brush roller 32, and the brush The clearance between the rollers 33 and the conveying track of the brush roller conveyor 4 can be adjusted according to the size of the agricultural product to be cleaned.

  The upper surface and side surfaces of the upper frame base 3 are covered with an outer plate 43 so that dust and the like generated during the cleaning process are not released to the outside. Further, the side surface of the lower frame base 2 is also covered with an outer plate and sealed.

  The operation of the agricultural product cleaning apparatus having the above-described configuration will be described below by taking as an example the case where the potato P is cleaned (dropping and polishing).

  The potato P supplied from the manual selection conveyor 5 to the brush roller conveyor 4 is moved between the first brush roller 7 and the second brush roller 8 by the rotation of the first brush roller 7 and the second brush roller 8. Each one is accommodated in a plurality of recesses 7a formed along the axial direction on the outer periphery of the brush roller 7, and is conveyed while having a rolling shaft in the left-right direction perpendicular to the conveying direction.

  When the potato P conveyed on the conveyance track by the brush roller conveyor 4 first reaches below the first spiral brush roller 31, the potato P rolls as it is in the recess 7a of the first brush roller 7, and FIG. As shown, the potato P fits into the spiral groove 31a of the first spiral brush roller 31 up to the side surface in the substantially left-right direction. Since the spiral groove 31a moves in the direction of the arrow by the rotation of the first spiral brush roller 31, the spiral groove 31a of the first spiral brush roller 31 against the potato P rolling in the recess 7a of the first brush roller 7. The brush portion brushes the outer peripheral surface of the potato P from one side of the potato P toward the other.

  When the potato P transported by the brush roller conveyor 4 passes through the first spiral brush roller 31, it next reaches the cylindrical brush roller 33. The brush roller 33 brushes the outer peripheral surface of the rolling potato P accommodated in the recess 7a of the first brush roller 7. The brushing region is the outer peripheral surface excluding both side portions of the potato P.

  When the potato P conveyed by the brush roller conveyor 4 passes through the brush roller 33, it next reaches the second spiral brush roller 32. Since the direction of the spiral groove 32 a is opposite to that of the first spiral brush roller 31, the second spiral brush roller 32 has a second spiral with respect to the potato P rolling in the recess 7 a of the first brush roller 7. The brush portion of the spiral groove 32a of the brush roller 32 brushes the outer peripheral surface of the potato P from the other side surface of the potato P toward one side. That is, one side surface of the potato P is brushed by the first spiral brush roller 31, whereas the second spiral brush roller 32 brushes the other side surface of the potato P. Therefore, the left and right side surfaces of the potato P are brushed. Will be able to. Then, the cleaned potato P that has passed through the second spiral brush roller 32 is supplied to the shape selection conveyor 6.

  In the present embodiment, the first spiral brush roller 31 and the second spiral brush roller 32 are fitted into the potato P in which the spiral grooves 31a and 32a are rolling, and the tip of the brush is made of the potato P by fitting. It reaches the side edge. Therefore, the rotation of the first spiral brush roller 31 and the second spiral brush roller 32 brushes the side surface of the potato P with the spiral brush portion located between the spiral grooves 31a and 32a.

  That is, the first spiral brush roller 31 and the second spiral brush roller 32 enter the upper half of the agricultural product in the left-right direction with respect to the agricultural product accommodated in the recess 7a of the first brush roller 7 and rolling. There is a space, and there is a brush part extending to the upper half of the produce between the spaces. By moving the brush part in the left-right direction, the side of the rolling produce can be brushed. It is a thing. Accordingly, rotating cylindrical brushes are arranged at regular intervals in the left-right direction, and by moving these cylindrical rotating brushes in the left-right direction, the same action as the first spiral brush roller 31 and the second spiral brush roller 32 is achieved. If the reciprocating distance in the left-right direction is increased, the side edge of one adjacent agricultural product that rolls side by side in the left-right direction during the forward movement of the rotating brush will be brushed and The side edge of the other adjacent agricultural product can be brushed.

Second Embodiment FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.

  In the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the configuration of the brush roller conveyor 4 includes a first brush roller 7 and a cylindrical brush that are connected to the concave portion 7 a and the convex portion 7 b and have a corrugated outer peripheral surface. A certain second brush roller 8 is alternately arranged in parallel. In contrast, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the brush roller conveyor 4 is entirely constituted by the first brush conveyor 7. In the present embodiment, the potato P is accommodated in the agricultural product accommodation portion 50 formed in a plane ellipse shape by the concave portions 7a facing each other of the adjacent first brush conveyors 7. Therefore, the potato P is stably accommodated in the agricultural product storage unit 50 and does not come out of the agricultural product storage unit 50 even if the first spiral brush 31 and the second spiral brush 32 are brushed in the working direction.

The front view of the cleaning apparatus of agricultural products. The top view of FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along arrow AA in FIG. 1. The figure which shows the state which brushes the side surface of the potato currently rolling by the recessed part of a 1st brush roller with the spiral brush roller of FIG. The partial top view of the brush roller conveyor which shows 2nd Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

P potato 1 cleaning device 2 lower frame base 3 upper frame base 4 brush roller conveyor 5 manual selection conveyor 6 shape selection conveyor 7 first brush roller 7a concave portion (small diameter portion) 7b convex portion (large diameter portion)
8 Second brush roller 9 Endless chain for driving 10 Sprocket for driving 11 Sprocket for driving 12, 13 Connecting shaft 14 Sprocket for transmitting driving force 15 Driving motor 16 Motor sprocket 17 Chain for transmitting driving force 18 Roller shaft 19 Brush roller body 20 Bearing member 21 Rotating sprocket 22 Rotating endless chain 23, 24 Folding sprocket 25 Rotating driving motor 31 First spiral brush roller 31a Spiral groove 31b Rotating shaft 31c Driving sprocket 32 Second spiral brush roller 32a Spiral groove 32b Rotating shaft 32c , 32d Drive sprocket 33 Brush roller 33a Rotating shaft 33b, 33c Drive sprocket 34 Lifting table 35 Drive motor 36 Motor sprocket 37, 38 Endless chain 39 Screw shaft 40 Nut member 41 Chain 42 lifting handle 43 outer plate 50 produce housing part

Claims (7)

A plurality of rotating brush rollers are horizontally mounted in parallel with a certain interval, and an accommodation recess for accommodating agricultural products to be cleaned is provided between adjacent brush rollers in the axial direction of the brush roller. A plurality of endless rotating brush roller conveyors;
A rotating brush portion that is disposed above the conveying path of the brush roller conveyor and extends to a side surface of the produce so as to sandwich the produce that rolls in an accommodation recess provided between the adjacent brush rollers; And a brushing means for moving the brush portion in the axial direction of the brush roller. 2. The agricultural product cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the brushing means is a spiral grooved brush roller in which a spiral groove portion is formed on an outer peripheral portion of a cylindrical brush roller. The said adjacent brush roller was formed in the waveform by connecting the large diameter part and the small diameter part to the axial direction as a shape of the outer peripheral part of one or both brush rollers. Produce cleaning equipment. 4. The agricultural product cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the housing recess formed between the adjacent brush rollers is formed to have a size on which a single agricultural product is placed. 5. 3. The agricultural product cleaning apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein a plurality of the spiral groove brush rollers are arranged along a conveying direction of the brush roller conveyor. The agricultural product cleaning apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the interval between the rotating brush portions of the brushing means is substantially the same as the interval between the housing recesses. 7. The agricultural product cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the brushing means can be moved up and down with respect to the transport track.

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