JP6856898B2 - Posture changer for leafy vegetables and preparation device for leafy vegetables - Google Patents

Description

The present invention is a posture changing device for leafy vegetables and a posture changing device for changing the posture of the leafy vegetables from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture or from a vertical posture to a horizontal posture in the preparation of leafy vegetables such as spinach, Japanese mustard spinach, and shungiku. It relates to a device for preparing leafy vegetables using.

Many non-heading leafy vegetables such as spinach, Japanese mustard spinach, and garland chrysanthemum are also called soft vegetables, and their freshness rapidly decreases from harvest. Therefore, it must be shipped immediately after harvesting and displayed at the store, which imposes a large time constraint on preparation.

In the preparation work of such leafy vegetables, for example, spinach, a lot of working hours are required for root cutting work after harvesting and removal of cotyledons and lower leaves, and labor saving is required. In the past, cotyledons and lower leaves were scraped and removed using a brush, but the brush was easily soiled by the mud and lye from the spinach plant, and it was necessary to frequently clean and replace the brush. Therefore, in recent years, instead of scraping with a brush, a method has been proposed in which the posture of the leafy vegetables is changed from horizontal to vertical, the cotyledons and lower leaves are hung downward by gravity, and then the cotyledons and lower leaves are removed. ..

Techniques for transporting an article while changing its posture by 90 degrees or 180 degrees are disclosed in, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 9. Further, Patent Document 10 discloses a device for transporting harvested green onions while twisting a belt in order to lay down and accommodate vertical green onions.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-321115 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-164713 Japanese Patent No. 3195267 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2015-30547 Japanese Patent No. 4219531 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-180541 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-24635 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-333414 Jikkensho No. 51-9916 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-171813

However, conventionally, when the posture is changed while holding the article with the transport belt, the belt is twisted and wound around the roller, so that there is a problem that the belt floats from the roller and easily derails. Therefore, when combining thin belts, it is necessary to adjust the length so that the tension is constant in order to prevent derailment. In all of the devices described in Patent Documents 1 to 9, the difference in length is absorbed by the elasticity of the belt by securing a long transport distance required for posture change. However, in this case, the transport distance is long and the device becomes large. If the posture of the leafy vegetables is changed over such a long transport distance, the leafy vegetables will bend during the posture change and rotate with a delay from the pinched part, so the posture change can be completed completely at the exit of the device. In addition to being unable to do so, there is concern that the quality of leafy vegetables will deteriorate.

In Patent Document 10, the length of the belt is made uniform by inclining the roller on the outlet side, but the rotation axis and power of each of the inclined rollers are required, which complicates the apparatus.

An object of the present invention is a posture changing device capable of changing the posture of leafy vegetables such as spinach, komatsuna, and shungiku from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture or from a vertical posture to a horizontal posture in a short transport distance, and a posture changing device thereof. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for preparing leafy vegetables using.

In order to solve the above problem, the present invention changes the posture of the leafy vegetables from the horizontal posture to the vertical posture or from the vertical posture to the horizontal posture while transporting the leafy vegetables placed in the direction perpendicular to the transporting direction. It is a posture change device that converts to, and is equipped with four pulleys each in which two grooves for tensioning a round belt are formed, and the first pulley and the second pulley are centered on horizontal axes having different heights. Rotate, the second pulley is located above the first pulley, and the third and fourth pulleys rotate about different vertical axes with respect to the first and second pulleys, respectively. They face each other in the same direction and are arranged at right angles to the transport direction, and one groove of the first pulley and the groove on the upper side of the third pulley are stretched by a first round belt. The other groove of the first pulley and the lower groove of the third pulley are stretched by a second round belt, and of the two grooves of the second pulley, the one groove of the first pulley The groove on the same side and the groove on the upper side of the fourth pulley are stretched by a third round belt, and the other groove of the second pulley and the groove on the lower side of the fourth pulley are stretched by a fourth round belt. Provided is a leafy vegetable attitude changing device, which is hung and the fourth pulley is installed at a position lower in the vertical direction than the third pulley.

In the leafy vegetable posture changing device, the first pressing roller that presses the first round belt and the second round belt in the direction of the fourth pulley at right angles to the transport direction is downstream in the transport direction. A second pressing roller, which is arranged near the pulley on the side and presses the third round belt and the fourth round belt in the direction of the third pulley at right angles to the transport direction, is downstream in the transport direction. It is preferably arranged near the side.

The first pulley , the second pulley, the third pulley, and the fourth pulley may be chamfered between the groove and the outer peripheral surface.

Further, according to the present invention, a carry-in unit for transporting leafy vegetables placed in a horizontal posture and a preparation unit for performing preparation work while sandwiching and transporting the leaf blade portion of the leafy vegetables in a vertical posture. Provided is a leafy vegetable preparation device, characterized in that the attitude changing device is provided between the carry-in unit and the preparation unit.

Further, according to the present invention, a carry-in unit for transporting leafy vegetables placed in a horizontal posture, a preparation unit for performing preparation work while sandwiching and transporting the leaf blade portion of the leafy vegetables in a vertical posture, and the above. at the conveying direction downstream side of the brewer, anda discharge portion for conveying said leaves vegetables after preparation horizontally, between said loading unit said preparation unit, and said prepared portion and the exit portion An apparatus for preparing leafy vegetables is provided, which comprises the above-mentioned attitude changing apparatus.

According to the present invention, the posture of leafy vegetables can be changed from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture or from a vertical posture to a horizontal posture within a short transportation distance with a simple configuration. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size of the leafy vegetable preparation device and save labor in the preparation work.

It is a front view which shows the outline of the preparation apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the transport mechanism part of the preparation apparatus of FIG. It is a perspective view of the posture change apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a side view of the posture change device of FIG. It is a front view of the posture change device of FIG. It is a plan view of the posture change device of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a different embodiment of a round belt. It is a figure which shows the example of the further different embodiment of a round belt.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present specification and the drawings, elements having substantially the same functional configuration are designated by the same reference numerals, so that duplicate description will be omitted.

FIG. 1 shows a preparation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The preparation device 1 is used when performing preparation work such as removing cotyledons and lower leaves of non-heading leafy vegetables, which are also called soft vegetables, such as spinach, Japanese mustard spinach, and garland chrysanthemum. The preparation device 1 includes a carry-in unit 2 for transporting leafy vegetables placed in a horizontal posture, a posture change device 3 for changing the posture of the leafy vegetables 9, and a preparation unit 4 for preparing the posture-changed leafy vegetables 9. It has. Further, on the downstream side in the transport direction of the leafy vegetables 9, a posture changing device 5 that changes the posture of the prepared leafy vegetables 9 to make it a horizontal posture again, and a carry-out unit in which the horizontal posture of the leafy vegetables 9 are placed and transported It has a 6.

The carry-in section 2 is provided with a conveyor 11 for transporting the leafy vegetables 9 placed in a horizontal posture in the transport direction. The worker aligns the roots of the leafy vegetables 9 in a predetermined direction and places them on the belt of the conveyor 11. As shown in FIG. 1, the carry-in portion 2 may be provided with a positioning plate 12 for positioning the root of the leafy vegetable 9. The positioning plate 12 is composed of a series of triangular protrusions and valleys, and moves in the transport direction at the same speed as the belt of the conveyor 11. The operator can place the leafy vegetables 9 in the correct orientation by placing the roots of the leafy vegetables 9 on the valley portion of the positioning plate 12.

In the preparation unit 4, preparation work such as removal of cotyledons and lower leaves of leafy vegetables 9 is performed. The preparation unit 4 includes a transport mechanism 13 that sandwiches and transports the leaf blade portion of the leaf vegetable 9 in a vertical posture. As shown in FIG. 2, in the transport mechanism 13, endless bands 16a and 16b are wound between two pairs of rollers 14a and 15a and rollers 14b and 15b that rotate about a vertical axis, respectively. The endless bands 16a and 16b are arranged in parallel with a slight gap in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction (left-right direction), and the leaf blade portion of the leafy vegetable 9 in a vertical posture is sandwiched in the gap. Then, the rollers 14a, 14b, 15a, and 15b rotate symmetrically when viewed from the transport direction, and the leafy vegetables 9 are transported. While the leafy vegetables 9 are transported to the transport mechanism 13 and pass through the preparation unit 4, the cotyledons and lower leaves of the leafy vegetables 9 that hang down due to gravity due to the vertical posture are cut off with the brush 17. The cut cotyledons and lower leaves are housed in the lower collection box 18. In this specification, the direction perpendicular to the transport direction may be described as the left-right direction.

The posture changing device 3 according to the present embodiment is installed between the carrying-in unit 2 and the preparing unit 4. The posture changing device 3 converts the leafy vegetables 9 placed in the horizontal posture by the carry-in portion 2 into the vertical posture.

The configuration of the posture changing device 3 is shown in FIGS. 3 to 6. FIG. 3 is a perspective view, FIG. 4 is a view seen in the transport direction of the leafy vegetable 9, FIG. 5 is a view seen from the front of the preparation device 1, and FIG. 6 is a plan view seen from above. The posture changing device 3 includes four pulleys each in which two grooves for tensioning the round belt are formed. The first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22 rotate about horizontal axes having different heights, and the second pulley 22 is arranged above the first pulley 21. The third pulley 23 and the fourth pulley 24 rotate around different vertical axes, and are arranged on the downstream side in the transport direction of the leafy vegetable 9 so as to face the first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22, respectively. The third pulley 23 and the fourth pulley 24 are arranged at intervals in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction. The leafy vegetables 9 in the horizontal posture pass through the vertical gap 25 between the first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22, and the leaves in the vertical posture pass through the gap 26 in the horizontal direction between the third pulley 23 and the fourth pulley 24. Vegetable 9 passes. In this posture changing device 3 installed between the carry-in section 2 and the preparation section 4, the first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22 are on the upstream side.

A first round belt 31 and a second round belt 32 are stretched on the first pulley 21 and the third pulley 23. The first round belt 31 is stretched in one groove of the first pulley 21, for example, the groove 21a on the left side in FIG. 3 and the groove 23a on the upper side of the third pulley 23. Further, the second round belt 32 is stretched in the other groove of the first pulley 21, that is, the groove 21b on the right side in FIG. 2 and the groove 23b on the lower side of the third pulley 23. Then, the third round belt 33 and the fourth round belt 34 are stretched on the second pulley 22 and the fourth pulley 24. Of the two grooves of the second pulley 22, the groove 22a on the left side and the groove 24a on the upper side of the fourth pulley 24 are located on the same side as one groove (groove 21a on the left side) of the first pulley 21. The third round belt 33 is stretched. Further, the fourth round belt 34 is stretched in the other groove of the second pulley 22, that is, the groove 22b on the right side in FIG. 2 and the groove 24b on the lower side of the fourth pulley 24.

In the posture changing device 3 on the carry-in portion 2 side, the first pulley 21 may rotate coaxially with the downstream roller of the conveyor 11 of the carry-in portion 2. In this case, the conveyor 11 of the carry-in unit 2 is divided into two belts in the left-right direction when viewed from the transport direction, and the first pulley is attached between the two belts. Further, either or both of the third pulley 23 and the fourth pulley 24 may be rotated coaxially with the upstream rollers 14a and 14b of the transport mechanism 13 of the preparation unit 4. In the present embodiment, both the third pulley 23 and the fourth pulley 24 are coaxial with the upstream rollers 14a and 14b of the transport mechanism 13, and the outer diameter of the third pulley 23 is the first as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6. It is smaller than the 4-pulley 24. This is because when the gap between the rollers 14a and 14b is reduced in order to firmly grip the leafy vegetables 9 with the endless bands 16a and 16b of the transport mechanism 13, the leafy vegetables 9 are between the third pulley 23 and the fourth pulley 24. By reducing the outer diameter of the third pulley 23, the distance between the third pulley 23 and the fourth pulley 24 can be widened, and the leafy vegetables 9 can pass through sufficiently. A gap 26 can be secured. Since it is sufficient to secure a gap 26 through which the leafy vegetables 9 can pass without being strongly pinched, the fourth pulley 24 may be made smaller than the third pulley 23, and both the third pulley 23 and the fourth pulley 24 may be rollers. It may be smaller than 14a and 14b.

Further, a first pressing roller 41 that presses the first round belt 31 and the second round belt 32 in the direction of the fourth pulley 24 at right angles to the transport direction C is arranged in the vicinity of the third pulley 23. Further, a second pressing roller 42 that presses the third round belt 33 and the fourth round belt 34 in the direction of the third pulley 23 at right angles to the transport direction C is arranged in the vicinity of the fourth pulley 24. When two sets of two round belts wound between a pair of pulleys like the attitude change device 3 are twisted 90 degrees on a rotation axis parallel to the transport direction C, each of them is wound between the pair of pulleys. There is a difference in the circumference of the round belt. Therefore, when a round belt having the same length is wound, one belt has a margin of length and derailment from the pulley (falling off from the pulley) is likely to occur. Therefore, by arranging the pressing rollers 41 and 42, the round belts 31, 32, 33 and 34 are pressed to maintain the tension and prevent derailment. Further, the round belts 31, 32, 33, 34 are placed on the side of the round belts 31, 32, 33, 34 with respect to the horizontal grooves 23a, 23b, 24a, 24b of the third pulley 23 and the fourth pulley 24. And press so that the direction of the exit side faces as much as possible. Therefore, the first and second pressing rollers 41 and 42 are provided at positions as close as possible to the third pulley 23 and the fourth pulley 24, respectively. Further, by inclining the pressing rollers 41 and 42, the tensions of the two round belts stretched on the pair of pulleys can be adjusted to be equal. By providing the pressing rollers 41 and 42 in this way, the derailment of the round belts 31, 32, 33 and 34 can be prevented, and the leafy vegetables 9 can be smoothly operated even at a short transport distance without reducing the pulley diameter. Can be converted.

Further, by chamfering between the grooves of the pulleys 21, 22, 23 and 24 and the outer peripheral surfaces and providing C surfaces on both sides of the grooves, the round belts 31, 32, 33 and 34 can be smoothly inserted into the grooves. It is guided and can prevent derailment.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the fourth pulley 24 is installed at a position lower in the vertical direction than the third pulley 23. As a result, the rotation of the leafy vegetables 9 to be transported in the direction of the arrow R in FIG. 3 is promoted, and the posture change is completed at an early stage during the transportation.

In order to change the posture in a short transport distance, the twist angles of the round belts 31, 32, 33, and 34 become steep, and derailment is likely to occur. However, in the present embodiment, pressing rollers 41 and 42 are provided in the vicinity of the third pulley 23 and the fourth pulley 24 to press the round belts 31, 32, 33 and 34, respectively, and the pulleys 21, 22, 23 and 24 are further pressed. Even if the lengths of the first round belt 31 and the second round belt 32 stretched on the pair of pulleys (first pulley 21 and third pulley 23) are made equal by providing the chamfered C surface in the groove of , Can prevent derailment. Similarly, derailment can be prevented even if the lengths of the third round belt 33 and the fourth round belt 34 stretched on the pair of pulleys (second pulley 22 and fourth pulley 24) are equal.

The horizontally-positioned leafy vegetables 9 carried in from the carry-in portion 2 enter the posture changing device 3 along the transport direction C in FIG. 3 through the gap 25 between the first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22. After that, it is guided by each of the round belts 31, 32, 33, and 34, rotates 90 ° in the arrow R direction, takes a vertical posture, and passes through the gap 26 between the third pulley 23 and the fourth pulley 24 to the preparation unit 4. Be transported.

On the downstream side of the preparation unit 4, a posture changing device 5 having the same structure as the posture changing device 3 on the upstream side is arranged substantially symmetrically with the upstream side. In order to prevent the round belts 31, 32, 33, and 34 from derailing, the pressing rollers 41 and 42 are arranged in the vicinity of the pulleys on the downstream side, respectively. The direction in which the pressing rollers 41 and 42 press is the direction perpendicular to the transport direction C, as in the posture changing device 3 described above, and the first round belt 31 and the second round belt 32 are pressed by the fourth pulley 24. The first pressing roller 41 that presses in the direction is arranged in the vicinity of the first pulley 21. Further, a second pressing roller 42 that presses the third round belt 33 and the fourth round belt 34 in the direction of the third pulley 23 is arranged in the vicinity of the second pulley 22. The posture changing device 5 changes the posture of the leafy vegetables 9 in the vertical posture to the horizontal posture, contrary to the upstream side. That is, the leafy vegetable 9 invades through the gap 26 between the third pulley 23 and the fourth pulley 24 in a vertical posture, is guided by the round belts 31, 32, 33, and 34, rotates 90 °, and takes a horizontal posture. Then, it is carried out from the gap 25 between the first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22.

The leafy vegetables 9 whose posture has been changed to the horizontal posture are placed on the conveyor 19 of the carry-out unit 6 and horizontally transported to a predetermined position.

As described above, two sets of the posture changing devices 3 and 5 according to the present embodiment are installed in which a pair of pulleys for tensioning the two round belts are arranged at an angle of 90 degrees to each other. With the posture changing devices 3 and 5, the leafy vegetables 9 can be sandwiched and transported in the transport direction C while changing the posture. According to this embodiment, the posture of the leafy vegetable can be changed by 90 ° with a short transport distance, for example, a transport distance of about 20 cm.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is clear that a person skilled in the art can come up with various modifications or modifications within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims, and of course, the technical scope of the present invention also includes them. It is understood that it belongs to.

For example, the tension between the pulleys is not limited to the round belt having a circular cross-sectional shape, and as shown in FIG. 7, the portion in contact with the leafy vegetables 9 may be a flat belt 35. In this case, the leafy vegetables 9 can be held more stably. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a cushioning material 36 such as a sponge may be attached to a portion of the belt 35 in contact with the leafy vegetable 9, thereby dispersing the holding force and preventing damage to the leafy vegetable 9. it can.

The present invention can be applied to a posture changing device and a preparing device for leafy vegetables.

1 Preparation device 2 Carry-in part 3, 5 Posture conversion device 4 Preparation part 6 Carry-out part 9 Leafy vegetables 11, 19 Conveyor 12 Positioning plate 13 Conveyor mechanism 14a, 14b, 15a, 15b Roller 16a, 16b Endless band 17 Brush 21 First pulley 21a Left side groove 21b (of the first pulley) Right side groove 22 (of the first pulley) Second pulley 22a Left side groove 22b (of the second pulley) Right side groove 23 Third pulley 23a (of the second pulley) Upper groove 23b (of the third pulley) Lower groove 24 (of the third pulley) Fourth pulley 24a Upper groove 24b (of the fourth pulley) Lower groove 25, 26 of the fourth pulley 31 1 Round belt 32 2nd round belt 33 3rd round belt 34 4th round belt 41 1st pressing roller 42 2nd pressing roller

Claims (5)

A posture changing device that changes the posture of the leafy vegetables from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture or from a vertical posture to a horizontal posture while transporting the leafy vegetables placed in a direction perpendicular to the transporting direction.
It has four pulleys, each with two grooves for tensioning a round belt.
The first pulley and the second pulley rotate about horizontal axes having different heights, and the second pulley is arranged above the first pulley.
The third pulley and the fourth pulley rotate around different vertical axes, face the first pulley and the second pulley in the same direction, respectively, and are spaced apart from each other in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction. Placed,
One groove of the first pulley and the upper groove of the third pulley are stretched by a first round belt, and the other groove of the first pulley and the lower groove of the third pulley are second. It is stretched with a round belt, and of the two grooves of the second pulley, the groove on the same side as the one groove of the first pulley and the groove on the upper side of the fourth pulley are stretched with a third round belt. Then, the other groove of the second pulley and the groove on the lower side of the fourth pulley are stretched by a fourth round belt .
A posture changing device for leafy vegetables, wherein the fourth pulley is installed at a position lower in the vertical direction than the third pulley. A first pressing roller that presses the first round belt and the second round belt in the direction of the fourth pulley at right angles to the transport direction is arranged in the vicinity of the pulley on the downstream side in the transport direction.
A second pressing roller that presses the third round belt and the fourth round belt in the direction of the third pulley at right angles to the transport direction is arranged in the vicinity of the pulley on the downstream side in the transport direction. The attitude changing device for leafy vegetables according to claim 1, wherein the leafy vegetables are prepared. The posture change of leafy vegetables according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the first pulley, the second pulley, the third pulley, and the fourth pulley are chamfered between the groove and the outer peripheral surface. apparatus. It has a carry-in section for transporting leafy vegetables placed in a horizontal posture and a preparation section for carrying out preparation work while sandwiching and transporting the leaf blade portion of the leafy vegetables in a vertical posture.
A leaf vegetable preparation device, wherein the posture changing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is provided between the carry-in unit and the preparation unit. To the carry-in section for transporting the leafy vegetables placed in the horizontal posture, the preparation section for performing the preparation work while sandwiching and transporting the leaf blade portion of the leafy vegetables in the vertical posture, and the downstream side in the transport direction of the preparation section. has a discharge portion for conveying said leaves vegetables after preparation horizontally, and
The posture changing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is provided between the carry-in section and the preparation section , and between the preparation section and the carry-out section. A device for preparing leafy vegetables.

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