JP5281928B2 - Article input system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an accident where a container strikes against a feeding part and at the same time to prevent an article from being got out of its shape during its feeding. <P>SOLUTION: This article feeding system 10 includes a transferring device 16 having a container mounting part 36 for mounting a container 12 and a driving part 32 for use in transferring the container 12 to a predetermined feeding position P by moving the container mounting part 36, a feeding device 18 having a feeding part M for feeding an article 14 into the container 12 at the feeding position P, an ascending or descending device 20 for ascending or descending the feeding part M, a height detector device 24 for detecting it on an upstream side in a transferring direction Y rather than at the feeding position P that a height of the uppermost point Q1 of the container 12 exceeds a reference height H, and an ascending or descending control device for driving the ascending or descending device 20 to lift up the feeding part M in such a way that the lowermost point Q2 of the feeding part M may be positioned higher than the uppermost point Q1 of the container 12 when the height detector device 24 detects that the height of the uppermost point Q1 of the container 12 exceeds the reference height H. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an article input system including a transfer device that transfers a container and an input device that inputs an article into a container transferred by the transfer device.

  An example of a conventional article input system is disclosed in Patent Document 1. This article input system includes a packaging conveyor for conveying a packaging tray and an input device for inputting an object to be weighed into the packaging tray conveyed by the packaging conveyor. The charging device distributes the objects to be weighed discharged from the plurality of combination weighing units to the two charging hoppers through the collecting chute, the discharging hopper, the discharging chute, the general chute and the sorting hopper, and from each of the two charging hoppers. It is discharged at a predetermined timing, and a packaging conveyor is disposed below each of the two charging hoppers. When the packaging tray conveyed by the packaging conveyor is positioned at the loading position directly below the loading hopper, the discharge gate of the loading hopper is opened, and the object to be weighed in the loading hopper is dropped by gravity, and the packaging Into the tray.

JP-A-1-199125 (FIG. 1)

  In the conventional article input system disclosed in Patent Document 1, an object to be weighed (that is, an article) in the input hopper is dropped by gravity and is input into a packaging tray (that is, a container). In other words, the input part) must be located above the packaging tray. However, if the “interval between the input hopper and the packaging tray” is designed to be long, the object to be weighed will fall from a high place. As a result, the object to be weighed may be out of shape. On the other hand, when the interval is designed to be short, the above problem does not occur, but there is a possibility that an accident may occur in which the packaging tray conveyed by the packaging conveyor collides with the charging hopper. For example, if the height of the uppermost point of the packaging tray becomes higher than the normal height due to the inclination of the packaging tray mounted on the packaging conveyor in the vertical plane, the packaging tray is placed in the input hopper. There was a risk of a collision.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides an article input system that can prevent an accident in which a container collides with an input part and can prevent an article from collapsing. For the purpose.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an article input system according to the present invention includes a container mounting unit that mounts a container and a drive unit that transports the container to a predetermined input position by moving the container mounting unit. An apparatus, an input apparatus having an input part for supplying an article into the container at the input position, an elevating device for raising and lowering the input part, and the height of the uppermost point of the container exceeds a reference height When the height detection device detects that the height of the uppermost point of the container exceeds the reference height, And a lift control device that drives the device to raise the charging portion so that the lowest point of the charging portion is located above the highest point of the container.

  In this configuration, when the height of the uppermost point of the container exceeds the reference height, the charging part is raised so that the lowest point of the charging part is located above the uppermost point of the container. Therefore, for example, even when the container mounted on the container mounting portion is undesirably tilted in the vertical plane and the height of the uppermost point of the container is higher than the normal height, the container is placed in the input portion. Colliding accidents can be prevented. Accordingly, it is possible to design the “interval between the charging unit and the container” when performing the charging operation shorter than that of the conventional technique (Patent Document 1), and it is possible to prevent the article from being deformed at the time of loading. .

  A container detection device for detecting the presence or absence of the container in the container mounting portion; and a charging control device for stopping the charging operation of the charging portion when the container detection device detects that the container is not in the container mounting portion; May be provided.

  In this configuration, when there is no container in the container mounting part, the charging operation of the charging part can be stopped, so that it is possible to prevent the articles from being scattered around the missing part of the container or in the vicinity thereof.

  A configuration may further include an alarm device that performs an alarm operation and an alarm control device that drives the alarm device when the container detection device detects that the container is not in the container mounting portion.

  In this configuration, an alarm device (for example, a signal tower, an alarm sound generator, an audio generator, etc.) is driven when there is no container in the container mounting portion. ”Or“ sound ”or the like.

  The charging device includes a plurality of the charging units, the transport device includes a plurality of the container mounting units corresponding to the plurality of the charging units, and the charging control device includes a plurality of the charging devices. When the container detection device detects that there is no container in any of the container mounting parts, the charging operation of the charging part corresponding to the container mounting part may be stopped.

  In this configuration, when there is no container in any of the plurality of container mounting parts, the charging operation of the charging part corresponding to the container mounting part is stopped, so the charging operations of all the charging parts are stopped. This is not necessary, and a reduction in throughput can be prevented.

  The alarm device includes a plurality of light emitting units corresponding to the plurality of the input units, and the alarm control device detects that the container is not present in any of the plurality of container mounting units. When the apparatus detects, the light emitting part corresponding to the throwing part whose throwing operation is stopped may be configured to emit light.

  In this configuration, when there is no container in any of the plurality of container mounting parts, the charging operation of the charging part corresponding to the container mounting part is stopped and the light emitting part corresponding to the charging part is caused to emit light. Therefore, it is possible to immediately notify the operator of the lack of the container for each charging unit.

  An accommodation space for accommodating at least a part of the container is formed below the upper surface of the container mounting portion, and an opening of the accommodation space is formed on the upper surface of the container mounting portion, The outer peripheral surface of the said container may be supported by the inner peripheral part of opening.

  In this configuration, since at least a part of the container is stored in the storage space, the height of the uppermost point of the container can be reduced, and the entire system can be downsized.

  According to the article input system of the present invention, when the height of the uppermost point of the container exceeds the reference height, the input unit is arranged so that the lowermost point of the input part is located above the uppermost point of the container. Since it is made to raise, the accident which the said container collides with an injection | throwing-in part can be prevented reliably. Accordingly, it is possible to design the “interval between the charging unit and the container” when performing the charging operation, and it is possible to prevent the article from being deformed at the time of loading.

It is a front view showing composition of an article input system concerning an embodiment. It is a right view which shows the structure of the article | item input system which concerns on embodiment. It is a partially omitted plan view showing the configuration of the article input system according to the embodiment. It is a front view which shows a part of structure of the input device used with an article | item input system. It is a right view which shows a part of structure of the input device used with an article | item input system. It is a partial expansion right view which shows operation | movement of the article | item throwing-in system which concerns on embodiment.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Overall configuration of article input system]
FIG. 1 is a front view showing the configuration of an article input system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a right side view showing the configuration of the article input system 10, and FIG. FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the article loading system 10 includes an article 14 in the container 12 at a plurality of (eight in the present embodiment) loading positions P existing in the middle of the cup instant noodle production line L. And a plurality of devices (in the present embodiment, for raising and lowering a loading unit M, which will be described later) in the loading device 18. Four) lifting devices 20, an alarm device 22 for executing an alarm operation, a height detecting device 24 for detecting the height of the uppermost point Q1 (FIG. 6) of the container 12, and a plurality of detecting the presence or absence of the container 12. (In this embodiment, eight) container detection devices 26 and a control device 28 that executes various controls are provided. A container supply device (not shown) for supplying the container 12 to the article input system 10 is disposed on the upstream side of the article input system 10 in the production line L, and the container 12 is provided on the downstream side. A downstream article input system (not shown) for supplying other articles (such as ingredients and powdered soup) is provided.

  Here, the container 12 is a “circular cup” having a substantially circular shape in plan view, which also serves as a packaging container for cup instant noodles, and a plurality of containers 12 are continuously conveyed to each of a plurality of input positions P by the conveying device 16. The The article 14 is “Wonton” serving as an ingredient for instant cup noodles, and a plurality of (eight in the present embodiment) input sections M are provided with the articles 14 weighed by combination weighers 40A and 40B described later. And is poured by gravity into the inside of the container 12 located at the loading position P from each loading unit M.

  The article input system 10 according to the present embodiment is for inputting the article 14 into the container 12 in the “cup instant noodle production line L”. However, the present invention describes the “packaging line for fresh foods”. The type of “article” and the shape or size of “container” may be appropriately changed according to the usage. Further, the number of input positions P is not necessarily plural (eight in the present embodiment), and may be only one.

  The article loading system 10 according to the present embodiment throws the article 14 into the container 12 that is transported from a direction orthogonal to the row of the loading positions P at a total of eight loading positions P that are arranged in a line. Therefore, in the following description, the direction in which the loading positions P are arranged is referred to as “loading row direction X”, and the direction orthogonal to the loading row direction X is referred to as “transport direction Y”.

[Configuration of control device]
The control device 28 includes a central processing unit (CPU) that executes various types of arithmetic processing and a storage device (ROM, RAM) that stores various types of data and programs. The operations of the charging device 18, the lifting device 20 and the alarm device 22 are controlled. In other words, in the present embodiment, one control device 28 is a “transport control device” that controls the transport operation of the transport device 16, a “load control device” that controls the input operation of the input device 18 (the input unit M), It functions as a “lift control device” that controls the lifting operation of the device 20 and an “alarm control device” that controls the warning operation of the warning device 22. In this embodiment, a single control device 28 is provided with a transport control function, a loading control function, a lift control function, and an alarm control function. However, these control functions are provided in a plurality of physically independent control devices. You may do it. Each control function of the control device 28 will be described later.

[Conveyor configuration]
As shown in FIG. 3, the transport device 16 transports the container 12 from the transport direction Y to each of the eight input positions P arranged in the input row direction X, and a plurality of (eight in the present embodiment, eight). ) Having a plurality of mounting plates 30, a drive unit 32 that moves the plurality of mounting plates 30 toward the loading position P, and a frame 34 that supports the plurality of mounting plates 30 and the driving unit 32. doing.

  As shown in FIG. 3, each of the plurality of mounting plates 30 is a plate-like member having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view extending in the input row direction X, and eight container mounting portions 36 are provided in the input rows on each of the mounting plates 30. They are formed side by side in the direction X. The container mounting portion 36 is a portion on which the container 12 is stably mounted. As shown in FIG. 2, an accommodation space S that accommodates at least a part of the container 12 below the upper surface 36 a of the container mounting portion 36. Is configured. An opening 38 of the accommodation space S is formed on the upper surface 36 a of the container mounting portion 36, and the inner peripheral portion of the opening 38 is a container support portion 38 a that supports the outer peripheral surface of the container 12. The shape and size of the opening 38 are not particularly limited, but in the present embodiment, since the container 12 is a “椀 cup” having a substantially circular shape in plan view, the shape in plan view of the opening 38 is substantially It is designed in a circular shape, and the inner peripheral surface of the opening 38 is formed in a tapered shape that decreases in diameter as it goes downward along the outer peripheral surface of the upper end portion of the container 12. The minimum inner diameter of the opening 38 is the container 12. It is designed to be smaller than the outer diameter of the upper end portion. Therefore, when the container 12 is correctly mounted on the container mounting portion 36, as shown in FIG. 2, the height of the uppermost point Q1 of the container 12 is substantially the same as the height of the upper surface 36a of the container mounting portion 36. At the charging position P, it is possible to design the “interval between the container 12 and the charging unit M” and the “interval between the container mounting unit 36 and the charging unit M” so as to reduce the size of the entire system. be able to. Each of the plurality of mounting plates 30 is slidably attached in the transport direction Y to a guide rail (not shown) disposed on the upper portion of the frame 34 (FIG. 2).

  In the present embodiment, the storage space S is formed below the container mounting portion 36 and the through hole formed in the container mounting portion 36 is used as the opening 38 of the storage space S. However, the upper surface 36a of the container mounting portion 36 is used. The housing space S may be formed inside the recess formed in the, and the entrance of the recess may be used as the opening 38 of the housing space S.

  Although not shown, the drive unit 32 (FIG. 1) includes a pair of sprockets disposed at one end or both ends in the loading row direction X at an upper portion of the frame 34 at an interval in the transport direction Y, and It has an annular endless chain spanned between a pair of sprockets, and a drive motor that applies rotational force to one of the sprockets, and each of the plurality of mounting plates 30 is fixed to the endless chain. . Therefore, when the sprocket and the endless chain are rotated by the drive motor, the plurality of mounting plates 30 (including the container mounting portion 36) are moved toward the charging position P along the guide rail (not shown), and the container mounting portion The container 12 mounted on 36 is transported to the loading position P.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the frame 34 includes an upper frame 34a to which a plurality of mounting plates 30 and a drive unit 32 are attached, and leg portions 34b that support the upper frame 34a. By adjusting the height, the height of the upper surface 36a of the container mounting portion 36 at the charging position P can be adjusted.

  The configuration of the conveying device 16 is not limited to the present embodiment. For example, an annular endless belt provided with a plurality of container mounting portions is bridged between a pair of driving rollers, and at least one driving roller is provided. A configuration in which the motor is rotationally driven by a motor may be used.

[Configuration of input device]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the charging device 18 is configured to allow the articles 14 discharged from the respective collection hoppers 42 of the two combination weighers 40 </ b> A and 40 </ b> B to be placed inside the eight containers 12 at the eight charging positions P. The first distribution unit 44A for distributing the articles 14 discharged from one combination weigher 40A to the four containers 12 and the articles 14 discharged from the other combination weigher 40B to the other four A second distribution unit 44B that distributes to the container 12 and a frame 45 that supports the first distribution unit 44A and the second distribution unit 44B are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the first distribution unit 44A includes two primary distribution chutes 48 corresponding to each of the two discharge gates 46 of the collection hopper 42 in the combination weigher 40A, and each of the two primary distribution chutes 48. Primary distribution hoppers 50 are arranged below, the inlets of the primary distribution chutes 48 are arranged below the corresponding discharge gates 46, and the outlets of the primary distribution chutes 48 are 1 It is connected to the entrance of the next collective hopper 50. The primary collection hopper 50 has two discharge gates 52, and when the discharge gate 52 is opened by the opening / closing device 53, the articles 14 stored inside the primary collection hopper 50 are discharged in two directions. It has become so.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the first distribution unit 44A includes two (four in total) secondary distribution chutes 54 corresponding to the two discharge gates 52 of the primary collecting hopper 50, and one of the two distribution chutes 54. A reject product receiving box 56 disposed below the secondary distribution chute 54 and a secondary collective hopper 58 disposed below the other secondary distribution chute 54 are provided. The respective inlets of the two secondary distribution chutes 54 are arranged below the corresponding discharge gates 52, and the outlet of one of the secondary distribution chutes 54 is connected to the inlet of the reject product receiving box 56. The outlet of the other secondary sorting chute 54 is connected to the inlet of the secondary collecting hopper 58. Since the article 14 as the “object to be weighed” that could not be weighed in the proper range in the combination weigher 40A is a “defective product”, when the article 14 is collected in the primary collective hopper 50, the article 14 is discharged to one side. The product is discharged from the gate 52 to the reject product receiving box 56 through one secondary distribution chute 54. On the other hand, when an article 14 as an “object to be weighed” that has been weighed in an appropriate range is accumulated in the primary collection hopper 50, the article passes from the other discharge gate 52 through the other secondary sorting chute 54 to the secondary collection hopper. 58 is temporarily stored inside. As shown in FIG. 4, the secondary collecting hopper 58 has two discharge gates 60, and the discharge gate 60 is opened by an opening / closing device (not shown) to be stored inside the secondary collecting hopper 58. The received article 14 is discharged in two directions.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the first distribution unit 44A includes two (four in total) tertiary distribution chutes 62 corresponding to each of the two discharge gates 60 of the secondary collective hopper 58, and the tertiary distribution. And a tertiary collecting hopper 64 disposed below each of the chutes 62, and the inlets of the tertiary distributing chutes 62 are disposed below the corresponding discharge gates 60. The outlet is inserted into the inlet of the tertiary collecting hopper 64 so as to be freely inserted and removed. Accordingly, the articles 14 discharged from each of the two discharge gates 60 of the secondary collecting hopper 58 are temporarily stored in the corresponding tertiary collecting hopper 64 via the tertiary sorting chute 62.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the tertiary collection hopper 64 has a discharge gate 66 facing the container 12 located at the loading position P, and the tertiary collection hopper 64 is opened by the opening / closing device 67 to open the tertiary collection hopper 64. The article 14 stored in the hopper 64 is dropped by gravity and put into the container 12. The tertiary collecting hopper 64 is moved up and down by the lifting device 20 described later. As described above, the outlet of the tertiary sorting chute 62 is inserted into the inlet of the tertiary collecting hopper 64 so as to be freely inserted and removed. At this time, the tertiary collecting hopper 64 does not interfere with the tertiary sorting chute 62.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a cylindrical spill cover 68 surrounding the lower end portion of the discharge gate 66 and a region in the vicinity thereof is disposed around the discharge gate 66 in the tertiary collecting hopper 64. The spill cover 68 prevents the article 14 discharged from the discharge gate 66 from being scattered. Therefore, in the present embodiment, both the tertiary collecting hopper 64 and the spill cover 68 constitute the “loading portion M for loading the article 14 into the container 12 at the loading position P”. An arbitrary point included is the lowest point Q2 of the input portion M.

  Since the second distribution unit 44B has substantially the same structure as the first distribution unit 44A, portions corresponding to the components of the first distribution unit 44A are denoted by the same reference numerals as those of the components, and redundant descriptions thereof are given. Is omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the frame 45 includes a frame main body 45a to which the first distribution unit 44A and the second distribution unit 44B are attached, and leg portions 45b that support the frame main body 45a. By adjusting the length of the portion 45b, the height of the tertiary collecting hopper 64 and the spill cover 68 at the charging position P, that is, the height of the charging portion M can be adjusted.

[Configuration of lifting device]
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the elevating device 20 has two guide rails 70 extending in the vertical direction on the frame body 45 a (FIG. 2) of the loading device 18, and the guide rail 70. The slide body 72 includes a slide body 72 that is slidably mounted, an air cylinder device 74 (FIG. 4) that moves the slide body 72 in the vertical direction, and a fixing member 76 that is fixed to the slide body 72. Then, two tertiary collective hoppers 64, an opening / closing device 67 (FIG. 5), and two spill covers 68 are integrally attached to the fixing member 76. Therefore, when the air cylinder device 74 is driven to move the sliding body 72 in the vertical direction, the two input parts M are simultaneously moved in the vertical direction as the sliding body 72 moves.

  In the state where the sliding body 72 is lowered to the lowest position, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the input portion M is close to the container 12, and the interval between the tertiary collecting hopper 64 and the container 12 is minimized. Therefore, the articles 14 stored in the tertiary assembly hopper 64 can be put into the container 12 from a low position (low place), and the deformation of the articles 14 at the time of filling can be prevented. . On the other hand, in the state where the sliding body 72 is raised to the uppermost position, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 6, the charging unit M is separated from the container 12 and the distance between the spill cover 68 and the container 12 is maximized. Therefore, even when the height of the uppermost point Q1 is higher than the normal height due to the container 12 being tilted undesirably in the vertical plane (FIG. 6), the spill cover 68 serving as the “input part M” The collision of the container 12 can be prevented.

  In the present embodiment, both the tertiary collecting hopper 64 and the spill cover 68 are moved up and down by the lifting device 20, but the manner in which the loading unit M is raised and lowered is not limited to this, and the container 12 Only parts that may collide may be raised or lowered. And when the articles | goods 14 which are not scattered are thrown in, the spill cover 68 may be abbreviate | omitted. In addition, the number of input portions M that are moved up and down by one lifting device 20 is not particularly limited, and may be one or three or more. Furthermore, instead of the air cylinder device 74, another drive device such as a motor may be used.

[Configuration of alarm device]
As shown in FIG. 1, the alarm device 22 is a “signal tower” having a plurality of (eight in the present embodiment) light emitting units 22a corresponding to each of the plurality of input units M, and “a plurality of light emitting units 22a”. By changing the color of the light emitting unit 22a or changing the blinking cycle of the plurality of light emitting units 22a, it is possible to visually determine which light emitting unit 22a corresponds to which input unit M. The alarm device 22 is electrically connected to a control device 28 as an “alarm control device”. Note that the type of the alarm device 22 is not particularly limited, and for example, an “alarm sound generator” or a “voice generator” may be used.

[Configuration of height detector]
The height detection device 24 detects “the height of the uppermost point Q1 of the container 12 has exceeded the reference height H” upstream of the loading position P in the transport direction Y, as shown in FIG. As described above, the light projecting unit 24a that emits light, the light receiving unit 24b that receives the light emitted from the light projecting unit 24a and converts it into an electrical signal, and the height at which the electrical signal output from the light receiving unit 24b is detected. And a detection circuit (not shown). The light projecting unit 24 a and the light receiving unit 24 b are attached to the upper surface of the upper frame 34 a located on both sides of the loading device direction X in the transport device 16, and the height detection circuit is integrated with the control device 28. It has been incorporated.

  The light emitted from the light projecting unit 24a is a light beam that travels in a direction slightly parallel to the upper surface 36a of the container mounting unit 36 slightly below the lowest point Q2 of the input unit M when performing the input operation. In the present embodiment, the height of the light beam is designed to be the same as the reference height H. That is, the reference height H is designed to be slightly lower than the lowest point Q2 of the insertion portion M. In a state where the container 12 is correctly mounted on the container mounting portion 36, the height of the uppermost point Q1 of the container 12 is substantially the same as the height of the upper surface 36a of the container mounting portion 36. The light beam traveling from 24a to the light receiving unit 24b is not blocked by the container 12, and the height detection circuit continuously receives the electrical signal output from the light receiving unit 24b. On the other hand, when the container 12 mounted on the container mounting portion 36 is undesirably inclined in the vertical plane, the height of the uppermost point Q1 of the container 12 is higher than the height of the upper surface 36a of the container mounting portion 36. When the height of the uppermost point Q1 exceeds the reference height H, the light beam traveling from the light projecting unit 24a to the light receiving unit 24b is blocked by the container 12, so that the voltage of the electrical signal received by the height detection circuit is Descent significantly. Therefore, the height detection circuit can detect “the height of the uppermost point Q1 of the container 12 has exceeded the reference height H” based on this voltage drop.

  When the height detection circuit detects that the height of the uppermost point Q1 of the container 12 has exceeded the reference height H, the height detection circuit sends an “abnormal signal” to the control device 28 serving as the “elevation control device”. Is given. The control device 28 as the “lift control device” drives all the lift devices 20 based on the “abnormal signal”, and as shown in FIG. The charging unit M is raised so as to be positioned above the uppermost point Q1, and the collision of the container 12 with the charging unit M is avoided.

  The configuration of the height detecting device 24 is not particularly limited, and a “reflective photoelectric sensor” may be used instead of the “transmissive photoelectric sensor” as in the present embodiment, or a CCD camera. You may make it detect "the height of the highest point Q1 of the container 12 exceeded the reference height H" by processing the image | photographed image.

  In the present embodiment, the height of the eight containers 12 arranged in a row can be monitored simultaneously by disposing one set of the light projecting unit 24 a and the light receiving unit 24 b on both sides in the loading column direction X of the transport device 16. However, the height of the container 12 may be monitored more finely by providing a plurality of sets of the light projecting unit 24a and the light receiving unit 24b. For example, eight containers 12 may be monitored in four sets by two sets of light projecting sections 24a and light receiving sections 24b, or eight containers 12 may be monitored by eight sets of light projecting sections 24a and light receiving sections 24b. May be monitored one by one. With this configuration, it is only necessary to drive the lifting device 20 corresponding to the container 12 to be monitored, and it is not necessary to drive all the lifting devices 20 at the same time, so that the throughput can be improved.

[Configuration of container detection device]
The container detection device 26 detects the presence / absence of the container 12 in the container mounting unit 36. As shown in FIG. 6, the light projecting unit 26a that emits light and the light emitted from the light projecting unit 26a The light-receiving part 26b which receives the reflected light reflected by the container 12, and converts it into an electrical signal, and the container detection circuit (illustration omitted) which detects the electrical signal output from the light-receiving part 26b are provided. The light projecting unit 26 a and the light receiving unit 26 b are attached to a support member 78 disposed below the mounting plate 30 in the transport device 16, and the container detection circuit is integrally incorporated into the control device 28. ing.

  The light emitted from the light projecting unit 26 a is a light beam that irradiates the bottom surface of the container 12 mounted on the container mounting unit 36, and the light receiving unit 26 b is a position where the reflected light reflected by the bottom surface of the container 12 can be received. It is arranged. Therefore, in a state where the container 12 is mounted on the container mounting unit 36, the light emitted from the light projecting unit 26a is reflected on the bottom surface of the container 12, and the reflected light of the light is incident on the light receiving unit 26b to detect the container. The circuit continuously receives the electrical signal output from the light receiving unit 26b. On the other hand, in a state where the container 12 is not in the container mounting portion 36, the light emitted from the light projecting portion 26a is diffused through the opening 38, so that the reflected light of the light is not incident on the light receiving portion 26b. The voltage of the electric signal supplied from the light receiving unit 26b to the container detection circuit is significantly reduced. Therefore, the container detection circuit can detect “the absence of the container 12 in the container mounting portion 36” based on this voltage drop.

  When the container detection circuit detects that “the container 12 is not in the container mounting portion 36”, the container detection circuit detects that the container 12 is missing from the control device 28 that functions as the “loading control device” and the “alarm control device”. A “container missing signal” is provided. Then, the control device 28 as the “loading control device” stops the loading operation of the loading unit M corresponding to the container mounting unit 36 in which the container 12 is missing, based on the “container missing signal”. Further, the control device 28 as an “alarm control device” controls the alarm device 22 so that the light emitting unit 22a corresponding to the input unit M for which the input operation is stopped is caused to emit light. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the article 14 from being scattered around the missing part of the container 12 or the vicinity thereof, and to notify the operator of the missing container 12 immediately.

  The configuration of the container detection device 26 is not particularly limited, and a “transmission type photoelectric sensor” may be used in place of the “reflection type photoelectric sensor” as in the present embodiment, or an image is taken with a CCD camera. It is also possible to detect “there is no container 12 in the container mounting portion 36” by processing the processed image.

[Operation of article input system]
When the article loading operation is started after the article loading system 10 has been incorporated into the production line L, the container 12 is placed on each of the eight loading positions P arranged in the loading row direction X by the transport device 16 as shown in FIG. Is transported. On the other hand, in the dosing device 18, as shown in FIG. 1, eight articles 14 discharged from the collective hoppers 42 of the two combination weighers 40A and 40B are loaded by the first dispensing unit 44A and the second dispensing unit 44B. Discharge gate 66 (FIG. 5) is closed (ie, distributed) to eight tertiary collect hoppers 64 (FIGS. 4 and 5) corresponding to position P until articles 14 are stored in all tertiary collect hoppers 64 (ie, FIG. 5). Standby state) is maintained. In the present embodiment, since the articles 14 weighed on one of the combination weighers 40A or 40B are distributed to the four tertiary collecting hoppers 64, the time required to complete at least four weighing operations is “waiting time”. " When the articles 14 are stored in all the eight tertiary collection hoppers 64, the discharge gates 66 are simultaneously opened by the opening and closing device 67, and the articles 14 stored in the tertiary collection hopper 64 are dropped by gravity. Are simultaneously put into the container 12. In the article loading operation, since the loading section M is located at the lowest position, it is possible to prevent the article 14 from being deformed due to an impact at the time of dropping.

  In the article loading operation, the height of the container 12 is constantly monitored by the height detection device 24, and the height detection device 24 indicates that “the height of the uppermost point Q1 of the container 12 has exceeded the reference height H”. , The lifting device 20 raises all of the input parts M (all or a part when the height detection device 24 monitors the containers 12 in a plurality of sets), thereby raising the container to the input part M. 12 collisions are avoided.

  Further, the presence or absence of the container 12 is constantly monitored by the container detection device 26, and when the container detection device 26 detects “the container 12 does not exist in the container mounting portion 36”, the control device 28 as the “loading control device” By stopping the loading operation of the loading unit M, a situation where the articles 14 are scattered is avoided. Further, when the charging unit M is stopped, the control device 28 as an “alarm control device” causes the light emitting unit 22a corresponding to the charging unit M to emit light, thereby informing the operator of the lack of the container 12. .

H: Reference height L ... Production line M ... Input part P ... Input position Q1 ... Uppermost point Q2 of container ... Lowermost point S of input part ... Storage space X ... Input row direction Y ... Conveying direction 10 ... Article input system 12 ... Container 14 ... Article 16 ... Conveying device 18 ... Loading device 20 ... Elevating device 22 ... Alarm device 22a ... Light emitting unit 24 ... Height detecting device 26 ... Container detecting device 28 ... Control device 30 ... Mounting plate 32 ... Driving unit 34 ... Frame 36 ... Container mounting portion 38 ... Opening 64 ... Third assembly hopper 68 ... Spill cover

Claims (6)

A transport apparatus having a container mounting section for mounting a container and a drive section for transporting the container to a predetermined charging position by moving the container mounting section;
An input device having an input unit for supplying an article into the container at the input position;
A lifting device that lifts and lowers the charging unit;
A height detection device for detecting that the height of the uppermost point of the container exceeds a reference height on the upstream side in the transport direction from the loading position;
When the height detection device detects that the height of the uppermost point of the container has exceeded the reference height, the lowermost point of the charging unit is driven to be higher than the uppermost point of the container. An article input system comprising: an elevation control device that raises the input unit so as to be positioned above. A container detection device for detecting the presence or absence of the container in the container mounting portion;
The article input system according to claim 1, further comprising an input control device that stops an input operation of the input unit when the container detection device detects that the container is not in the container mounting unit. An alarm device for executing an alarm action;
The article input system according to claim 2, further comprising: an alarm control device that drives the alarm device when the container detection device detects that the container is not in the container mounting portion. The charging device has a plurality of the charging units,
The transport device has a plurality of the container mounting portions corresponding to each of the plurality of the input portions,
The charging control device stops the charging operation of the charging unit corresponding to the container mounting unit when the container detection device detects that the container is not present in any of the plurality of the container mounting units. The article input system according to any one of 1 to 3. The alarm device has a plurality of light emitting units corresponding to each of the plurality of input units,
The alarm control device, when the container detection device detects that the container is not present in any of the plurality of container mounting units, causes the light emitting unit corresponding to the charging unit to stop the charging operation, The article input system according to claim 4.   An accommodation space for accommodating at least a part of the container is formed below the upper surface of the container mounting portion, and an opening of the accommodation space is formed on the upper surface of the container mounting portion, The article input system according to claim 1, wherein an outer peripheral surface of the container is supported by an inner peripheral portion of the opening.

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