JP5784952B2 - Article sorting equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention includes a transport line for transporting articles such as fruits and vegetables, a sorting line branched in the crossing direction, a sorting mechanism for sending out the long article from the sorting location toward the sorting line, and a transport line. The present invention relates to an article sorting apparatus including a relay conveyor device disposed between the sorting lines.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are various types of article sorting apparatuses for sorting articles that are continuously conveyed on a conveyance line into predetermined groups.

  As a typical example of this kind of article sorting apparatus, Patent Document 1 discloses a structure of a cross belt conveyor. The cross-belt type conveyor includes a transport line that transports a large number of transport units arranged in a line, and a sorting line that branches in an orthogonal direction. Each transport unit is provided with a cross belt sorter that feeds articles such as fruits and vegetables placed on the upper surface thereof toward a sorting line. In this case, when the transport unit on which the article to be sorted arrives at a predetermined sorting location in the transport line, the article is sent out toward the sorting line by the operation of the cross belt sorter.

JP 2003-53275 A

  By the way, it is often performed to sort long articles such as cucumbers with the conventional article sorting apparatus. In the conventional configuration, when a long article is delivered from the conveyance line to the sorting line, the movement of the long article along the conveyance line (movement in the conveyance direction) is suddenly restricted by the cross belt sorter. The long article moves in an oblique direction on the sorting line by the action of inertia along the line. For this reason, the posture of the long article always becomes uneven on the staying conveyor that temporarily retains the long article after sorting, and the placement space on the staying conveyor cannot be used effectively, and the stock of the long article on the staying conveyor There was a problem that the amount was not enough. In addition, since the postures of long items on the staying conveyor are not uniform, packing is performed while aligning the posture of long vegetables manually during the packing operation (boxing operation), resulting in a troublesome work. It was.

  Therefore, the present invention has a technical problem to solve the above problems.

The invention of claim 1 is a transport line that transports a large number of long articles in a line, a sorting line that branches from a sorting location in the transport line in a sorting direction that intersects the transport direction of the transport line, and the sorting An article sorting apparatus comprising: a sorting mechanism for sending out the long article from a location toward the sorting line; and a relay conveyor device disposed between the transport line and the sorting line, wherein the relay conveyor device The horizontal rotation of the long article sent from the sorting location in one direction is changed to a sorting attitude that intersects the conveying attitude in the conveying line by changing the attitude of the long article in the sorting line in one direction. has providing means such that said rides the Chobutsu articles fed from the sorting point is straddling, conveyor two rows arranged in parallel with the sorting direction Has a, by having the speed difference in the driving speed of each conveyor is a conveyor of the second column those that constitute the lateral rotation imparting means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the article sorting apparatus according to the first aspect , the driving speed of the downstream conveyor on the downstream side in the transport direction as viewed from the transport line of the two rows of conveyors is higher than that of the other upstream conveyor. A posture in which the long article is conveyed in the conveying line in a direction extending in a direction intersecting the conveying direction, and the long article is sorted in the sorting line in the attitude extending in the conveying direction. It is said that.

According to the present invention, a transport line that transports a large number of long articles arranged in a line, a sorting line that branches from a sorting location in the transport line to a sorting direction that intersects the transport direction of the transport line, and the sorting location An article sorting device comprising a sorting mechanism for sending out the long articles toward the sorting line, and a relay conveyor device disposed between the transport line and the sorting line, wherein the relay conveyor device includes: Lateral rotation imparting means for laterally rotating the long article sent from the sorting location in one direction to change the attitude of the long article on the sorting line to a sorting attitude crossing the conveying attitude on the conveying line was a, the so rides the Chobutsu articles fed from the sorting point are straddling two rows con arranged in parallel with the sorting direction Has a Ya, by having the speed difference in the driving speed of the respective conveyor, since a conveyor of the two rows constitute the lateral rotation imparting means, by the action of the lateral rotation imparting means, the transport It is possible to change the posture of the long article from a conveying posture that can be placed densely on a line to a sorting posture that can be placed densely on the sorting line.

  For this reason, the long article is efficiently placed on the two lines while the article sorting apparatus can effectively use the installation space in an arrangement relationship in which the transport line and the sorting line intersect. The transport amount per unit time can be increased (the stock amount on the sorting line can be increased). Moreover, since the sorting posture of the long article in the sorting line can be made uniform, there is an advantage that it can contribute to the improvement of the working efficiency of the subsequent packing work (boxing work).

It is a schematic plan view of an article sorting apparatus. It is a schematic perspective view of an article sorting apparatus. It is a side view explaining a double movement mechanism, (a) is a figure before sending out, (b) is a figure which shows the state after sending out. It is a schematic plan view of the article | item sorting apparatus in the state which abbreviate | omitted the conveyance unit. (A)-(d) is a schematic plan view explaining a series of flows of a classification mode.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(1). Outline of Article Sorting Apparatus First, an outline of the article sorting apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. The article sorting apparatus 1 is for sorting long articles M such as cucumbers, radishes or carrots into groups according to grade (quality) or class (size and shape), and a large number of transport units 3 are arranged in a line. A transport conveyor line 2 for transporting in line and at least one sorting conveyor line 4 branched from the transport conveyor line 2 are provided. Between the transfer conveyor line 2 and each sorting conveyor line 4, a relay conveyor device 40 that relays delivery of the long article M from the transfer conveyor line 2 to each sorting conveyor line 4 is arranged.

  Each sorting conveyor line 4 is configured to be intermittently driven for the purpose of transporting the long article M sent from the relay conveyor device 40 while temporarily retaining it. The long article M staying on each sorting conveyor line 4 is packed (boxed) into a packaging container such as a transparent synthetic resin packaging pack or a cardboard box, for example, manually by an operator.

  As shown in FIG.2 and FIG.4, the conveyance conveyor line 2 is equipped with the left-right paired traveling rail 5 extended along the longitudinal direction. On these traveling rails 5, a carriage type transport unit 3 group is disposed so as to be able to travel. Although not shown in the drawing, a drive sprocket and a driven sprocket are arranged in a distributed manner at both longitudinal ends of the conveyor belt 2. Each transport unit 3 is connected to an endless chain wound around both sprockets at a predetermined pitch interval. By driving both sprockets and endless chain, the transport unit 3 group circulates and moves on the transport conveyor line 2. The transport unit 3 group of the embodiment moves along the transport direction X on the upper side of the transport conveyor line 2. The position of each transport unit 3 is measured by counting the drive amount of the drive sprocket with a rotary encoder (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, each transport unit 3 transports in a sorting direction Y that intersects the transport direction X at a predetermined sorting location (a branching point with the sorting conveyor line 4) in the transport conveyor line 2. A cross belt sorter 10 is provided as a sorting mechanism for feeding out long articles M on the unit 3. The cross belt sorter 10 according to the embodiment includes a double movement mechanism 12 provided between a pair of frame plates 11 in the transport unit 3 and a cross belt 13 wound around the double movement mechanism 12. In the embodiment, the sorting direction Y is orthogonal to the transport direction X.

  The double moving mechanism 12 is composed of a combination of upper and lower roller pairs 14 and 15 that revolve the cross belt 13. Both the upper and lower roller pairs 14 and 15 extend in parallel with each other along the transport direction X. The upper roller pair 14 is disposed with an interval in the sorting direction Y, and is pivotally supported by the pair of frame plates 11 so as to be rotatable. The lower roller pair 15 is disposed close to each other between the upper roller pair 14, and is rotatably connected via a connection shoe 16. The connecting shoe 16 reciprocates in the sorting direction Y to reciprocate the cross belt 13, and a guide pin 17 protruding downward is provided on the lower surface side thereof.

  As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the cross belt 13 is formed in a band shape, and the longitudinal direction thereof is aligned with the sorting direction Y. The cross belt 13 is wound around the upper roller pair 14 from above. One end in the longitudinal direction of the cross belt 13 passes between the upper roller 14 and the lower roller pair 15 from the upper side to the lower side, and is wound around the lower roller 15 on the same side as the one upper roller 14. The one upper roller 14 is pulled out to the same side and fixed to the bottom plate of the cross belt sorter 10. The other end in the longitudinal direction of the cross belt 13 passes between the other upper roller 14 and the lower roller pair 15 from the top to the bottom, and is wound around the lower roller 15 on the same side as the other upper roller 14, Then, it is pulled out to the same side as the other upper roller 14 and fixed to the bottom plate of the cross belt sorter 10.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), when the connecting shoe 16 is moved in the direction opposite to the sorting direction Y, the lower roller pair 15 serves as a moving pulley, and the upper and lower roller pairs 14, 15 are rotated. The cross belt 13 is slid and moved. The upper surface side of the cross belt 13 moves in the sorting direction Y. A long article M is placed on the upper surface side of the cross belt 13. Therefore, the long article M on the cross belt 13 is carried out toward the relay conveyor device 40 by the movement in the sorting direction Y on the upper surface side of the cross belt 13. In this case, the long article M is placed on each cross belt 13 in a conveying posture that extends long in the sorting direction Y orthogonal to the conveying direction X (see FIGS. 1 and 2).

  The upper roller pair 14 serves as a fixed pulley, while the lower roller pair 15 serves as a moving pulley. For this reason, the connection shoe 16 and the guide pin 17 only need to move in the opposite direction to the sorting direction Y by half L / 2 with respect to the movement amount L in the sorting direction Y on the upper surface side of the cross belt 13. That is, since the movement amount L in the sorting direction Y on the upper surface side of the cross belt 13 is doubled with respect to the movement amount L / 2 of the connecting shoe 16 and the guide pin 17, it is placed with a long conveying posture in the sorting direction Y. Thus, the long article M on each transport unit 3 can be reliably and smoothly carried out toward the relay conveyor device 40. A support plate 18 that supports the upper surface side of the cross belt 13 from below is disposed inside the cross belt sorter 10. The support plate 18 is for receiving the weight of the long article M on the cross belt 13 and is fixed to the inner surfaces of the pair of frame plates 11.

  As shown in FIG. 4, an upwardly open groove-like path 21 extending along the conveying direction X is provided at a position near the sorting conveyor line 4 between the pair of traveling rails 5 in the conveying conveyor line 2. . The guide pin 17 of each transport unit 3 is fitted into the groove-shaped path 21 from above. The guide pins 17 are guided in the transport direction X by movement of each transport unit 3 along the transport direction X. On the other hand, a guide plate 22 that guides the guide pins 17 in the direction opposite to the sorting direction Y by the movement of the transport unit 3 along the transport direction X is disposed at the sorting location in the transport conveyor line 2. The guide plate 22 is inclined obliquely away from the sorting conveyor line 4 as it goes to the transport downstream side of the transport conveyor line 2 in plan view. One end of the guide plate 22 near the sorting conveyor line 4 faces a communication gap 23 formed at an appropriate location in the groove-like path 21.

  A switching piece 24 that can be turned up and down by driving the electromagnetic solenoid 25 is disposed at the communication gap 23. In the vicinity of the guide plate 22, an auxiliary belt 26 wound around the drive pulley 27 and the driven pulley 28 is disposed. A portion of the auxiliary belt 26 on the transport upstream side of the transport conveyor line 2 overlaps the flat surface on the transport upstream side of the guide plate 22. The auxiliary belt 26 is configured to circulate and move by driving of a drive motor 29 connected to the drive pulley 27. The auxiliary belt 26 of the embodiment constantly circulates counterclockwise in the plan view of FIG. Accordingly, the portion of the auxiliary belt 26 that overlaps the guide plate 22 moves in an oblique direction along the guide plate 22.

  When the switching piece 24 is turned upward, the groove-shaped path 21 is blocked by the switching piece 24, and the guide pin 17 hits the switching piece 24. Then, the guide pin 17 slides in an oblique direction along the guide plate 22 by the movement along the conveyance direction X of the conveyance unit 3 and the feeding action of the auxiliary belt 26. As the guide pin 17 moves in the oblique direction, the connecting shoe 16 moves in the direction opposite to the sorting direction Y, and the upper surface side of the cross belt 13 moves in the sorting direction Y in conjunction with this movement. As a result, the long article M on the cross belt 13 is sent out toward the relay conveyor device 40. When the switching piece 24 is rotated downward, the guide pin 17 advances along the groove-like path 21 as it is along the conveyance direction X of the conveyance unit 3. The combination of the groove-shaped path 21, the guide plate 22, the communication gap 23, the switching piece 24, and the auxiliary belt 26 constitutes a guide means 20 for the double movement mechanism 12 (specifically, the guide pin 17).

  In addition, the determination means 30 which determines the grade of the long article M is arrange | positioned in the conveyance upstream rather than the most upstream sorting location in the conveyance conveyor line 2. FIG. The determination means 30 is employed according to the purpose of sorting and the type of the long article M. For example, when sorting by size or shape, an optical sensor or an image processing device may be employed, and when sorting by quality, a saccharimeter or the like may be employed. Although not shown in the drawings, a return guide plate for returning the guide pins 17 of each transport unit 3 to the position of the grooved path 21 is provided further downstream than the most downstream sorting portion in the transport conveyor line 2. ing.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, the relay conveyor device 40 disposed between the transport conveyor line 2 and each sorting conveyor line 4 includes a pair of substantially parallel conveyor frames 41. Between the two conveyor frames 41, two belt-type conveyors 42 and 43 are arranged in parallel with the sorting direction Y so that the long article M fed from the sorting position in the transport conveyor line 2 is straddled. They are arranged side by side. The conveyors 42 and 43 are composed of a downstream conveyor 42 positioned on the downstream side of the conveyor as viewed from the conveyor line 2 and an upstream conveyor 43 positioned on the upstream side of the conveyor. Each of the conveyors 42 and 43 is configured to be driven by power transmission from an electric motor (not shown) as a drive source. The electric motor may be provided separately for each conveyor, or power may be transmitted to the conveyors 42 and 43 at different reduction ratios after making the electric motor common. Both conveyors 42 and 43 are configured to circulate in the same direction.

  There is a speed difference between the driving speeds of the conveyors 42 and 43. In other words, the driving speed of the downstream conveyor 42 is set to be faster than the driving speed of the upstream conveyor 43. Although details will be described later, when the long article M is sent from the transfer conveyor line 2 to the relay conveyor apparatus 40, the long article M straddles the downstream conveyor 42 and the upstream conveyor 43 due to the inertia of the transfer conveyor line 2. . In other words, the long article M is placed on the relay conveyor device 40 in an oblique posture with respect to the sorting direction Y such that the front end side is placed on the upstream conveyor 43 and the rear end side is placed on the downstream conveyor 42 (FIG. 5B). reference). And since there is a speed difference in the drive speed of both the conveyors 42 and 43, the substantially half part by the side of the downstream conveyor 42 among the long articles M will be conveyed ahead of the substantially half part by the side of the upstream conveyor 43. . Due to such a forward feed phenomenon, the long article M on the relay conveyor device 40 rotates laterally in the direction of arrow R from the downstream conveyor 42 toward the upstream conveyor 43. In other words, the long article M is conveyed toward the sorting conveyor line 4 while being laterally rotated in the direction of the arrow R due to the difference in driving speed between the conveyors 42 and 43.

  In the embodiment, the long article M on the relay conveyor device 40 is rotated about 90 ° before being sent to the sorting conveyor line 4 (carrying out to the sorting conveyor line 4 in a posture extending long along the conveying direction X). The drive speed of both the conveyors 42 and 43 is set (refer FIG.4 and FIG.5 (c) (d)). Moreover, the upstream conveyor 43 is arrange | positioned corresponding to the positions of the guide plate 22, the switching piece 24, the auxiliary belt 26, etc. in the sorting location in the conveyance conveyor line 2.

(2). Next, an example of a sorting mode in the article sorting apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (d). When the long article M on the transport unit 3 that has reached the sorting position is unloaded to the relay conveyor device 40 by the revolving movement of the cross belt 13, the moving force Fx (inertia) in the transport direction X by the transport conveyor line 2 Then, the pushing force Fy in the sorting direction Y by the cross belt sorter 10 acts on the long article M (see FIG. 5A). For this reason, the long article M slides in an oblique direction along the resultant force F (x + y) of the moving force Fx and the pushing force Fy, and finally the front end side is placed on the upstream conveyor 43 and the rear end side is the downstream conveyor 42. And transfer to the relay conveyor device 40 (see FIG. 5B).

  Next, since there is a speed difference between the driving speeds of the conveyors 42 and 43 to which the long article M has been transferred, the long article M moves in the sorting direction Y while rotating laterally in the direction of the arrow R, and downstream of the conveyors 42 and 43. When reaching the side, the orientation is changed to a posture that extends long along the transport direction X (see FIG. 5C). And the long article M of the sorting attitude | position extended in the conveyance direction X is delivered to the sorting conveyor line 4 which carried out intermittent drive and the mounting space was vacant (refer FIG.5 (d)).

  According to the above configuration, the transport line 2 that transports a large number of long articles M arranged in a line, and the sorting that branches from the sorting location in the transport line 2 to the sorting direction Y that intersects the transport direction X of the transport line 2 A line 4, a sorting mechanism 10 that sends out the long articles M from the sorting location toward the sorting line 4, and a relay conveyor device 40 disposed between the transport line 2 and the sorting line 4. In the article sorting device 1, the relay conveyor device 40 is configured to rotate the long article M fed from the sorting location in one direction to change the posture of the long article M in the sorting line 4. Since there are lateral rotation imparting means 42 and 43 that change to a sorting posture that intersects with the transport posture in the transport line 2, , From the conveying posture can closely placed on the conveying line 2, the sorting posture can closely placed on the sorting line 4, it is possible to change the posture of the Chobutsu article M.

  For this reason, in the article sorting apparatus 1 in which the installation line can be effectively used (the space can be saved) in an arrangement relationship in which the transfer line 2 and the sorting line 4 intersect, By efficiently placing the article M, the transport amount of the long article M per unit time can be increased (the stock amount in the sorting line 4 can be increased). Since the sorting posture of the long articles M in the sorting line 4 can be made uniform, it can contribute to the improvement of the work efficiency of the subsequent packing work (boxing work).

  In addition, two rows of conveyors 42 and 43 arranged in parallel with respect to the sorting direction Y are provided so that the long article M fed from the sorting location is placed over the driving direction of the conveyors 42 and 43. Since the two rows of conveyors 42 and 43 are configured as the lateral rotation imparting means by giving a speed difference to the speed, the posture of the long article M is classified from the transport posture in the transport line 2. It can be easily changed to the sorting posture in line 4.

  By the way, when the long article M is delivered from the transport line 2 to the sorting line 4, the movement of the long article M along the transport line 2 is rapidly regulated by the sorting mechanism 10. Due to the inertial action along the line 2, the long article M is placed on the relay conveyor device 40 in an oblique posture with respect to the sorting direction Y.

  On the other hand, in the embodiment, the driving speed of the downstream conveyor 42 on the downstream side in the transport direction as viewed from the transport line 2 among the two rows of conveyors 42, 43 is made faster than the other upstream conveyor 43, The conveying posture of the long article M on the conveying line 2 is set to a posture extending in a direction (sorting direction Y) intersecting the conveying direction X, and the sorting posture of the long article M on the sorting line 4 is the conveying Since the posture extends along the direction X, the sorting line 4 can be used from the transport posture in which the long article M can be placed on the transport line 2 by using the delivery of the long article M in the oblique posture by the action of inertia. The posture of the long article M can be easily and smoothly changed to a sorting posture that can be placed densely, and the possibility of causing damage to the long article M can be greatly suppressed.

(3). Others The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be widely applied as an article sorting apparatus that conveys and sorts various types of long articles other than agricultural products. Depending on the type and size of the long article, the width of the sorting conveyor line 4 and the number of guide plates 22 and switching pieces 24 can be set as appropriate. The sorting mechanism is not limited to the cross belt sorter 10 but may be a slide shoe sorter.

  In addition, the structure of each part is not limited to embodiment of illustration, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of this invention.

Fx Inertia Fy Extrusion force F (x + y) Combined force M Long article X Conveying direction Y Sorting direction 1 Article sorting device 2 Conveying conveyor line 3 Conveying unit 4 Sorting conveyor line 10 Cross belt sorter (sorting mechanism)
12 times moving mechanism 13 cross belt 20 guide means 40 relay conveyor device 42 downstream conveyor 43 upstream conveyor

Claims (2)

A transport line that transports a large number of long articles in a line, a sorting line that branches from a sorting location in the transport line to a sorting direction that intersects the transport direction of the transport line, and from the sorting location to the sorting line An article sorting device comprising a sorting mechanism for feeding out the long article and a relay conveyor device disposed between the transport line and the sorting line,
In the relay conveyor device, the long article sent from the sorting location is rotated in one direction, and the attitude of the long article in the sorting line is changed to the sorting attitude that intersects the conveying attitude in the transfer line. Having a lateral rotation imparting means for changing ,
By providing two rows of conveyors arranged in parallel with the sorting direction so that the long article sent from the sorting location is straddled, by giving a speed difference to the driving speed of each conveyor, The two rows of conveyors are configured as the lateral rotation applying means.
Article sorting equipment. Of the two rows of conveyors, the driving speed of the downstream conveyor on the downstream side in the conveying direction as seen from the conveying line is faster than the other upstream conveyor,
The transport posture of the long article in the transport line is a posture extending in a direction intersecting the transport direction, and the sorting posture of the long article in the sorting line is a posture extending along the transport direction.
The article sorting apparatus according to claim 1.

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