JPH0318323Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (a) Industrial application field This invention relates to a fruit boxing device that is effective when stacking fruits in multiple tiers and packing them into boxes.

(b) Conventional technology When packing fruit into boxes, a box is used to arrange the fruit in squares on a flat surface.In order to box slightly larger fruits, the fruit is arranged in a staggered pattern. By doing so, one type of box can be used to box two types of fruit, and the box can be used effectively.

Furthermore, by stacking the fruits in a staggered manner vertically as well, the height of stacking the fruits can be lowered, making it possible to use one type of multi-tier stacking box to box multiple types of fruit. .

A conventional fruit boxing device for packing fruits in the manner described above is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 48-38398.

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention However, the structure of the above-mentioned conventional device is such that, in order to arrange the fruits in a staggered manner, the fruits are placed on an alignment plate with a plurality of grooves parallel to the direction in which the fruits flow. Two position regulating plates are placed that are inclined at right angles to each other, and the fruits are arranged in a diagonal line using these position regulating plates to obtain a staggered arrangement. This has the problem that a dead space is created and the size of the alignment section is increased.

Furthermore, in the conventional device described above, the suction elements of the suction unit that adsorb fruits arranged in a staggered manner are arranged in two auxiliary suction elements for each row of main suction elements in order to adsorb fruits arranged in different staggered patterns. The two auxiliary absorber rows are configured to form a row, and the two auxiliary absorber rows are alternately rotated and used to perform suction in different staggered arrangements. Since the suction unit has a structure in which the rows are alternately switched and rotated, there are problems in that the suction unit becomes bulky and the structure becomes complicated.

Therefore, the object of this invention is to provide a fruit boxing device that is small and compact as a whole by downsizing the configuration of the alignment section and, accordingly, downsizing and simplifying the configuration of the suction unit.

(d) Means for solving the problem This invention has an arrangement section for arranging the fruits in a staggered pattern in front of the boxing position, and in the arrangement section, the staggered fruits are sucked with a suction device and packed into boxes. The fruit boxing device is equipped with a suction unit for storing fruit in a box at a certain position, and the alignment section is arranged so that position regulating plates are erected on the inclined lower edge and both side edges of the inclined alignment section. The upper edge is set on the fruit supply side, and the position regulating plates on both side edges are formed with uneven zigzag alignment guide surfaces for arranging the fruits in a zigzag pattern, and the suction unit is connected to the alignment part. The above-mentioned suction unit is constructed by setting two suction patterns corresponding to the staggered arrangement and having different staggered directions by one column, and arranging suction elements in correspondence with these suction patterns. The fruit boxing apparatus is characterized in that the fruit boxing device is equipped with a suction unit driving means that performs suction control by alternately shifting the position of the alignment section by one row in response to the suction pattern switching control.

(E) Function The fruit boxing device of this invention has the suction unit driving means move the fruits arranged in a staggered manner on the arrangement board of the arrangement section in response to switching control between the two suction patterns of the suction unit. Fruits can be staggered in the stacking direction by alternately shifting the position by one row to control the suction of the suction unit and packing the fruit in boxes.

(f) Effects of the invention As a result of the above, according to this invention, the fruit to be arranged in the upper row of the alignment section is arranged in a staggered manner on the zigzag alignment guide surfaces on both side edges, with the position regulating plate on the inclined lower edge as a reference. Since the fruits are arranged in a shape, there is no dead space and the fruit can be formed in a space-saving manner.The suction unit, which has two suction patterns formed corresponding to the staggered arrangement of fruits arranged in this space-saving arrangement section, also takes up little space. In addition, since the suction elements are arranged in the space corresponding to the two suction patterns, the suction unit can also be made smaller.
Furthermore, the control of the suction unit requires only the configuration of the drive means by slightly shifting the position of the suction unit by one line, which simplifies the control, and as a result, the boxing device can be made compact and compact. It can be configured as follows, and the structure is also simplified.

(g) Example of the invention An example of the invention will be described below in detail based on the drawings.

The drawings show a fruit boxing device, and are shown in Figures 1 to 3.
In the figure, a fruit supply section 12 using a belt conveyor 11 is disposed in the front stage of the boxing device 10. In this supply section 12, if the fruit 13 is a persimmon, for example, the belt portion is placed on the lower side, and a smooth surface that can be sucked is placed in the fruit supply section 12. The package is placed with the top side facing up, and transported to the boxing device 10 side.

The alignment unit 14 of the boxing device 10 arranges the fruits 13 supplied from the previous stage into a staggered arrangement that can be boxed, and the alignment plate 15 for arranging the fruits 13 is
The rear edge side is moved between an inclined position and a horizontal position, and vibrations are applied to the rear edge side using the front edge side as a base point, by means described later.

When the above-mentioned alignment plate 15 is in an inclined state, a linear position regulating plate 16 is provided in the width direction on the inclined lower edge (front edge) thereof, and furthermore, the boxing storage range is accommodated from this lower edge. Position regulation plates 1 are also placed on both sides of the
7 and 17, and press the left and right position regulating plates 1.
Guide plates 18 and 18 are erected on both side edges of the alignment plate 15 from the upper ends of the alignment plates 7 and 17 to the supply section 12.

Therefore, the above-mentioned arranging plate 15 has a U-shape with the lower edge and both side edges surrounded, and the fruit 13 is supplied from the upper edge (rear edge), and the arranging plate 15 is in an inclined state. When vibration is applied, the fruit 13 can be moved to the lower edge side.

Furthermore, at the upper position on the supply side of the above-mentioned alignment plate 15, two photoelectric sensors are installed on the left and right positions.
The left and right sensors S1, S1 detect the filling state and unevenness of the fruit 13 supplied to the alignment plate 15, and based on this detection signal, the left and right sensors S1, S1 The supply of fruits 13 is uniformly corrected.

The alignment plate 15 described above is attached to the support plates 20, 20 of the vibration generator 19 on its lower surface side, and the alignment plate 15 is vibrated by the vibration generated by the vibration generator 19.

The above-mentioned vibration generator 19 is attached to a frame 21 via a spring 22 so as to be able to be buffered, and the frame 21 has a shape in which the center of the upper surface is open in the front and back direction, and as a result, this center open The above-mentioned alignment plate 15 and vibration generator 19 are located in the section.

Pivot shafts 23, 23 extending to both sides are projectingly provided on both sides of the upper front part of the frame 21, and these pivot shafts 23, 23 are supported by a base 24. is connected to a first hydraulic cylinder 25, and by operating the frame 21 up and down with this hydraulic cylinder 25, the alignment plate 15
is operated in a horizontal position and an inclined position.

The aforementioned left and right position regulating plates 17, 17 are removably fixed on their respective outer surfaces to the movable plates 26, 26 with bolts or the like, and these movable plates 26, 2
The base ends of the sliding rods 27, 27 are fixed to the outer surface of the frame 21, and the free ends of the sliding rods 27, 27 are connected to support plates 28 fixed to the upper portions of the left and right sides of the frame 21 mentioned above. , 28 to support the movable plates 26, 28 so as to be movable in parallel in both directions. The second hydraulic cylinders 30, 30 are connected, and by operating the second hydraulic cylinders 30, 30, the left and right position regulating plates 17, 17 are moved in parallel to both left and right sides, that is, moved in and out.

On the inner surfaces of the left and right position regulating plates 17, 17, uneven alignment guide surfaces 31, 31 for arranging the fruits 13 in a zigzag pattern are formed.

The above-mentioned zigzag alignment guide surfaces 31, 31 are arranged so that when the fruits 13 are aligned in a line using the inner surface of the position regulating plate 16 at the lower edge of the alignment plate 15 as a reference plane, the following two alignment guide surfaces 31, 31 are used.
The position regulating plates 17, 1 are arranged so that the rows are aligned in the left-right direction with a half-pitch position shift of the fruit 13.
One side of 7 is formed in a concave shape, and the other side is formed in a convex shape, and this uneven state is formed alternately in each row.

Further, when arranging the fruits 13, the interval between the left and right position regulating plates 17, 17 is set in accordance with the number of fruits stored.

When the above-mentioned arranging board 14 arranges the fruits 13,
When the first hydraulic cylinder 25 is operated, the alignment plate 15
is set in an inclined position, and at the same time, the vibration generator 19 generates vibrations.

When the fruit 13 is supplied from the supply section 12 in the previous stage, the fruit 13 moves to the lower edge side due to the inclination and vibration of the alignment plate 15, and at the time of the transition, the fruit 13 is moved from side to side by the position regulating plate 16 at the lower edge. The directions are aligned in a line, and the staggered alignment guide surfaces 31 provided on the left and right position regulating plates 17 are moved in and out at regular intervals by the second hydraulic cylinder 30 together with the position regulating plates 17, so that the lower edge The fruits 13 aligned in a line by the position regulating plate 16 are reliably guided to the corner and are accurately aligned in a staggered manner.

Furthermore, when the required number of fruits 13 for packing are finished, the vibration generator 19 stops vibrating, and the first hydraulic cylinder 25 is operated to bring the alignment plate 15 into a horizontal state, and The fruits 13 arranged in a staggered manner are fed to the next suction unit 32.

The suction unit 32 described above is a device that takes out the fruits 13 arranged in a staggered manner from the arrangement plate 15 and stores them in a box. A plurality of horizontal beams 34 attached to 33... and this horizontal beam 34...
It is formed by a plurality of suction elements 35 arranged and fixed in a square shape on...

The above-mentioned suction elements 35... are attached in accordance with the number of boxes to be packed, and the number attached to the horizontal bars 34 corresponds to the number of rows to be packed, and the horizontal bars 34...
The number of ... corresponds to the number of columns to be packed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the suction elements 35 are arranged in a square shape and fixed by the attached side beams 34, and are further connected to the switching control valve and the vacuum pump ( These suction elements 35... have two suction patterns 35a..., 35b in different staggered directions, as shown by black circles and white circles in Fig. 4.
... are set, and these adsorption patterns 35a...
..., 35b... are alternately controlled by switching control valves to adsorb the fruit 13.

In addition, the above-mentioned vertical position adjustment of the horizontal step 34,
The suction element 35 itself can be adjusted in its lateral position, and the suction element 35 is provided so as to be able to adjust the staggered arrangement problem and the arrangement interval of the squares.

A holding frame 37 is fixed to the upper surface side of the frame body 33 of the suction unit 32 described above, and two sliding rods 38, 38 are erected on the left and right sides on the upper surface of this holding frame 37. The movable rods 38, 38 have a cylindrical guide member 40 attached to a movable plate 39 located above.
A third hydraulic cylinder 41 is inserted into the holding frame 37 and is supported to be slidable in the vertical direction, and is attached to the movable plate 39. The third hydraulic cylinder 41 is connected to the holding frame 37. unit 3
2 is operated up and down.

The above-mentioned movable plate 39 is supported by two sliding rods 42, 42 installed in the front-rear direction of the base 24 via cylindrical guide members 43, 43 so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction.

A fourth hydraulic cylinder 44 is connected to the rear part of the above-mentioned movable plate 39, and this fourth hydraulic cylinder 4
A fifth hydraulic cylinder 45 is connected to the rear part of 4,
The rear part of this fifth hydraulic cylinder 45 is attached to a fixing member 46 attached to the base 24.

The fourth hydraulic cylinder 44 mentioned above is the suction unit 3.
2 is reciprocated between the alignment position and the packing position, and the fifth hydraulic cylinder 45 performs an operation to change the suction position between the alignment position of the suction unit 32 and the first and second alignment positions.

Note that a stand 48 on which a box 47 is placed is provided at the boxing position, and an example is shown in which the box 47 is stored by stacking the fruits 13 in four layers vertically.

Packing device 1 for fruit 13 configured as described above
0 is operated as follows.

When the fruits 13 that can be boxed are arranged in a staggered manner on the arrangement plate 15 of the arrangement section 14 as shown in FIG. 2, the vibration generator 19 stops vibrating, and the first hydraulic cylinder 25 is operated. , the orientation of the alignment plate 15 is changed to a horizontal state.

Suction unit 32 located above the boxing position
In order to store fruit in the first stage in the box 47,
The fourth hydraulic cylinder 44 is operated, and at this time, the fifth hydraulic cylinder 45 is inactive.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the suction unit 32 is operated to a position where the first line of the alignment plate 15 and the first rear side line of the suction unit 32 face each other.

Next, the third hydraulic cylinder 41 is operated to move the suction unit 32 downward, and the suction negative pressure switching control valve is controlled so that each suction element 35 is in the first suction pattern 35a... When the fruits 35a reach the suction position and come into contact with the fruits 13, they suction the arranged fruits 13 from the first row in the first suction pattern.

Next, the third hydraulic cylinder 41 returns and the suction unit 32 moves upward, and when the fourth hydraulic cylinder 44 returns, the suction unit 32 moves above the boxing position.

Then, the third hydraulic cylinder 41 is operated,
As the suction unit 32 moves downward, the suction element 35
The fruit 13 that had been adsorbed to the fruit 13 is stored in the box 47, and the negative pressure of the absorber 35a is released and the pressure is controlled to atmospheric pressure, so that the fruit 13 is no longer adsorbed. Then, the third hydraulic cylinder 41 is returned and the suction unit 32 is moved upward.
The first stage of fruit storage is completed.

In addition, during the fruit storage operation of the first stage, the alignment plate 15
The next fruits 13 are arranged in a staggered manner on top.

Next, for storing fruit in the second stage, both the fourth and fifth hydraulic cylinders 44 and 45 are operated simultaneously.

As shown in FIG. 5B, the amount of movement of the suction unit 32 increases as the fifth hydraulic cylinder 45 is operated.
Since the first row of suction units 32 on the rear side is moved to a position opposite to the second row of suction units 32 on the alignment plate 15.

After that, the same suction operation as in the first stage described above is performed, but this time the second suction pattern 35b...
The suction negative pressure switching control valve is controlled so that the absorber 35b reaches the suction position and suctions the arranged fruits 13 from the second row in the second suction pattern.

In this second suction pattern, the staggered direction of the first suction pattern is shifted left and right by half a pitch of the fruit, so the suction unit 32 is moved to the boxing position in the same way as described above. When stacked on top of the stored fruits 13 in the first tier, the fruits 13 are staggered by half a pitch.

By performing the above boxing operations alternately for the third and fourth tiers, as shown in Figure 3,
The fruits 13 can be stacked vertically in a staggered manner and stored.

By storing the fruits 13 in a staggered manner in the vertical direction in this manner, compact storage of the fruits 13 becomes possible.

In addition, although the above-mentioned embodiment showed the case of four-tiered box packing, other multi-tiered box packing can also be used effectively.

Further, in FIG. 6, the boxes 47 are stacked in one layer, but even when the boxes 47 are stacked one after another to pack the fruits 13, the suction pattern is arranged in a staggered manner between the boxes 47. By alternately storing the fruits 13, the boxes 47 can be stacked up stably.

In the correspondence between the configuration of this invention and the above embodiment, the suction unit driving means of this invention corresponds to the fourth and fifth hydraulic cylinders 44, 45, and the two suction patterns are the suction patterns 35a...
..., 35b..., but this invention is not limited to only the configuration of the embodiment.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of this invention, in which Fig. 1 is a partially sectional side view of the fruit boxing device, Fig. 2 is a partially sectional plan view of the fruit boxing device, and Fig. 3 is a side view of the suction unit. Figure 4 is a bottom view showing the arrangement of the absorbers, Figure 5 A and B are explanatory diagrams showing the fruit storage function,
FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing another fruit storage. 10...Boxing device, 13...Fruit, 14...
alignment section, 32...adsorption unit, 35...adsorption element, 44...fourth hydraulic cylinder, 45...fifth hydraulic cylinder.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Utility Model Registration Claim] A suction system in which an arrangement section for arranging fruits in a zigzag pattern is provided in front of the boxing position, and the zigzag arrangement of fruits in the arranging section is sucked by a suction device and stored in a box at the boxing position. In the fruit boxing device, the aligning unit is arranged such that position regulating plates are erected on the inclined lower edge and both side edges of the obliquely installed alignment plate, and the inclined upper edge is arranged on the fruit supply side. and a concave-convex zigzag alignment guide surface for arranging the fruits in a zigzag pattern on the position regulating plates on both side edges, and the suction unit is arranged so that the suction units are arranged in a manner corresponding to the zigzag arrangement of the alignment parts. In addition to setting two suction patterns that are shifted by one column and have different staggered directions,
The suction elements are arranged and configured to correspond to these suction patterns, and in response to the switching control of the suction pattern of the suction unit, suction control is performed by alternately shifting the position by one column with respect to the staggered arrangement of the alignment section. A fruit boxing device equipped with a suction unit driving means.