JPH0321409B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Application Field This invention deals with thin products that are irregularly shaped and easily damaged during handling, such as round rice crackers, after removing non-standard defective products such as cracks. , synchronized with the packaging timing of the automatic packaging machine,
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for automatically supplying articles to a supply conveyor of the packaging machine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various types of automatic article feeding apparatuses have been proposed and put into practice in the past, which supply various types of packaged articles to a bag-forming-fill-sealing machine in the required number and at the required timing. However, when supplying articles that are uneven in shape and break easily during handling, such as circular rice crackers, the conveyed articles are often damaged during supply or are not supplied at regular intervals. There was a problem. For this reason, the timing at which the article is supplied by the article supply device and the timing at which the article is packaged by the automatic packaging machine to which the article is supplied are not synchronized, resulting in problems such as shortages and packaging defects.

As a technical means for solving the problem of damage to the article and uneven supply intervals occurring during the supply of the article, a device as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-9619 has been proposed. There is. The "method and apparatus for separating and supplying confectionery pieces" according to the present invention includes a rotating disk, a variable speed first conveyor belt disposed around the outer circumference of the rotating disk, and articles delivered from the first conveyor belt. and a second conveyor belt that conveys the food to the automatic packaging machine.

In this device, articles are supplied from a hopper to the rotating disk, and the centrifugal force of the rotating disk causes the articles to be aligned in a line around the outer circumference of the rotating disk. Then, the articles arranged in a line around the outer circumference of the rotating disk are sent to a first conveyor belt, and by adjusting the conveyance speed of this first conveyor belt, the articles can be sequentially sent to a second conveyor belt at regular intervals. It's structured well. Therefore, articles are fed to the automatic packaging machine at regular intervals, eliminating the possibility of stockouts, and since the articles are fed by a belt, there is no chance of the articles being damaged during feeding.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, according to the apparatus according to the prior art, even if damage such as cracking does not occur during feeding, it is possible to prevent damage to the articles that are already damaged before being fed to the rotating disk. does not include any means to eliminate this. Therefore, an inspection worker is assigned during the supply process to manually remove the defective products through visual inspection, or an image sensor or other means for identifying the shape of the product and an automatic removal mechanism are installed, and the sensor detects the defective products. It was necessary to identify this and eject it using an automatic removal mechanism.

In addition, when the processing speed of automatic packaging machines increases (for example, when it is necessary to supply two or more items for one pitch of automatic packaging machine supply attachments), conventional supply devices cannot keep up with the supply speed and some items are missing. rate increases. For this reason, it is necessary to reduce the capacity of the packaging machine to a speed commensurate with the feeding speed, or to install two or more feeding devices as necessary, thus sacrificing the packaging speed or reducing the product price. I was faced with the choice of whether to move up.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention has been proposed in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and has been proposed to suitably solve the problems. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and device for automatically supplying articles that can automatically supply articles in accordance with the packaging timing of a machine without causing shortages, and can also cope with faster packaging processing.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to overcome the above-mentioned problems and achieve the intended purpose, the automatic article feeding method according to the present invention provides a method for automatically supplying articles stored in a hopper in the form of a strip arranged obliquely below the hopper. The articles are supplied to an endless conveying means of the endless conveying means, and are conveyed by being positioned in a plurality of rows in a manner that they cannot fall out through a plurality of through holes formed in the endless conveying means at required intervals in the width direction and the longitudinal direction, respectively. Also, during the transportation of the article, defective articles located in the through hole that are smaller than the standard are dropped from the endless conveying means to be sorted out, and the article after the defective articles are removed is an endless article. The articles are dropped and discharged from the endless conveying means for each through hole in the widthwise row of the conveying means, and diagonally below the endless conveying means, the articles are held in at least two upper and lower stages in the longitudinal direction so as to be freely sent out individually, and By releasing the holding on the lower side in synchronization with the wrapping timing of the automatic packaging machine, the articles are supplied to the supply conveyor of the automatic packaging machine in half or less of the widthwise columns, and the discharged articles are When the amount of retained goods reaches the permissible limit for each row in the transport direction, the discharge of the articles after removing defective products from the endless transport means is changed for each row in which the permissible limit has been reached. It is characterized by being blocked on the downstream side.

In order to suitably carry out the above-mentioned method, an automatic article feeding device according to another invention of the present application includes a pair of frames that are arranged facing each other with a predetermined distance apart, and each frame has an inclined portion formed at one end in the longitudinal direction; a hopper fixed to the bridge between the inclined parts of the frame and storing a plurality of articles; and a hopper located below the hopper and capable of accommodating the articles one by one in a corresponding manner so as not to fall off. a belt-shaped conveying means having a large number of through holes bored at required intervals in the width direction and the longitudinal direction and driven endlessly in the upward direction of the inclined portion of the frame; article removal means functioning to remove excess articles piled up on articles correspondingly located in the through holes of the endless conveying means; a defective product sorting means disposed so as to be located at the slanted part of the frame, and for sorting and removing defective products smaller than the standard among the articles by dropping them from the through hole; At least two holes are disposed at an angle and correspond to the rows of through holes in the width direction of the endless conveying means, and are arranged in the longitudinal direction so that the articles after the defective products have been removed can be released in synchronization with the wrapping timing of the automatic packaging machine. a selective supply means comprising a passageway for maintaining the stage, and a passageway communicating with the downstream side of the passageway and consisting of less than half of the passageways; When the amount of the discharged article held by the means reaches a permissible limit for each column in the transport direction, temporarily prevents the discharge of the article to the selective supply means for each column in which the permissible limit is reached. It is characterized by comprising a supply blocking means.

Example Next, regarding the article automatic supply method according to the present invention,
In relation to a device that can suitably carry out this,
The following description will be given with reference to the accompanying drawings. For convenience of explanation, "upper and lower" refer to the vertical relationship in the drawing, and "upstream and downstream" refer to the running direction of the endless conveyance means represented by the endless belt. do.

(Regarding Frames and Hoppers) In FIG. 1, which schematically shows a preferred embodiment in a perspective view, an automatic article feeding apparatus 10 includes a pair of frames 1 vertically disposed facing each other with a predetermined distance apart.
2, 12, and the longitudinal upper surface portions of the frames 12, 12 are provided with inclined portions 12a, 12a at a required angle.
and rectangular frame portions 12b, 12b. A hopper 14 having a predetermined capacity for storing a plurality of articles 24 is fixed to a bridge between the inclined parts 12a, 12a of the frames 12, 12. Further, the rectangular frame portion 12 of the frame 12
As is clear from FIG. 2, an opening 12c is provided in b for passing the conveyor 11 of the automatic packaging machine (the main body of which is not shown).

The hopper 14 includes two side plates 14 fixed to the frame 12 via a plurality of brackets 28.
a, 14a and a back plate 14b disposed between the side plates 14a, 14a, forming a U-shape in plan. The lower opening of the hopper 14 is
Inclined portion 12 in the climbing direction in the frame 12
Endless conveying means 1, which will be described later, is arranged between a and 12a.
8, and the interior is divided into two chambers by a partition plate 30.

(Regarding Article Removal Means) In each chamber of the hopper 14, as shown in FIG.
It is rotatably installed between a and 14a. The article removing means 16 is connected to a drive motor 32 (FIG. 1) fixed to the outside of one side plate 14a, and is driven to rotate in a predetermined direction.
includes a plurality of radially extending blades 16b.
are planted in large numbers at required intervals in the axial direction. This article removal means 16 is located in each chamber of the hopper 14 and above an endless conveyance means 18, which will be described later, and is correspondingly located in a through hole 18a formed in the endless conveyance means. It functions to remove excess articles 24 piled up on the articles 24. In the illustrated example, a means for removing surplus articles by rotating the blade has been described, but a means other than a rotary type can be used as long as it performs the same function.

(Regarding the drive system of the endless conveyance means) As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a drive roller 36, which is provided with sprockets 34, 34 at both ends in the axial direction, is installed at an appropriate position between the opposing frames 12, 12. A driven roller 38 and a tension roller 40 are each rotatably installed. for example,
Driven rollers 38, 38 are provided above and below the frame inclined portions 12a, 12a, respectively, and a tension roller 40 and a driving roller 36 are provided above and below the frame portions 12b, 12b, respectively. has been done. An endless conveying means 18, which will be described later with reference to FIG. 4, is wound around the group of rollers and is driven to run along the frame 12.

As shown in FIG. 3, a rotating shaft 35 is rotatably disposed between the frames 12, 12 at a position adjacent to the drive roller 36 in the rectangular frame portion 12b. One end of this rotating shaft 35 projects outward from the frame 12 and is connected to a drive shaft 37 of an automatic packaging machine (not shown) via a coupling ring 42 provided at this end. Also, the rotating shaft 35
and the drive roller 36, there is a gear train 4 that transmits the driving force of the drive shaft 37 to the drive roller 36.
4 are arranged. Therefore, this automatic article supplying apparatus 10 according to the embodiment receives power branched from the automatic packaging machine side, and is configured so that the supply timing and the packaging timing can be synchronized. Note that a torque limiter 39 is disposed on the shaft of the drive roller 36, and a torque limiter 39 is provided on the shaft of the drive roller 36.
It is designed to prevent excessive loads from being applied to the

(About Endless Conveyance Means) As shown in FIG. 4, an endless belt is preferably used as the endless conveyance means 18.
A plurality of through holes 18a are formed at equal intervals in the width direction (horizontal direction) and longitudinal direction (vertical and horizontal directions) of the belt, and each article 24 is placed in each of the through holes 18a one by one. It is designed so that it can be stored and transported in a way that it cannot fall off. A chain 4 is connected to both ends of the endless belt 18 in the width direction via a connecting member 45.
6, 46 are fixed, and the chains 46, 46 engage with each sprocket 34 of the roller groups 36, 38, 40 to perform belt drive. Note that the shape and dimensions of the through holes 18a formed in the endless belt 18 are determined depending on the specific shape, thickness, and other conditions of the article 24 to be supplied.

As shown in FIG. 2, guide rails 48, 48 for stably guiding and running the endless belt 18 are disposed on opposing surfaces of the frames 12, 12. Further, a guide plate 50 is arranged and fixed at a position where the hopper 14 is arranged at the inclined parts 12a, 12a of the frame. This guide plate 50 is located close to and substantially parallel to the lower side of the running line of the endless belt 18 (that is, the back side of the endless belt 18). Therefore, since the articles 24 stored in the through holes 18a of the endless belt 18 are placed on the guide plate 50, they are conveyed by the belt without falling off.
Note that a vibration motor 51 is attached to the guide plate 50, and a vibration motor 51 is attached to the guide plate 50 to move the article 2 put into the hopper 14.
4 to vibrate the belt through hole 1 of the article 24.
This makes it easy to insert into 8a.

As shown in FIG. 9, the conveying means 18 includes a large number of divided plates 18b flexibly arranged between chains 46, 46, and these divided plates 1
A caterpillar structure in which the article 24 is conveyed through a plurality of through holes 18a formed at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction of 8b is also preferably used. Further, the conveying means 18 is not limited to the endless belt or the caterpillar, but can be implemented in various forms as long as it can convey irregularly shaped articles.

(Regarding the defective product sorting means) A defective product sorting device 20 is disposed downstream from the area where the hopper 14 and the guide plate 50 are disposed for sorting and removing defective products from the articles 24 conveyed by the endless belt 18. ing. For example, as shown in FIG.
2, 54 in opposite directions, respectively;
56, a plurality of drive pools 58 and driven pulleys 60 disposed on the rotating shafts 52, 54, and a round belt 62 stretched between the pulleys 58, 60. That is, rotating shafts 52 and 54, each having a sprocket 64 disposed at mutually opposite ends in the axial direction, are rotatably installed in parallel between the frames 12 at a predetermined interval. Furthermore, drive motors 56 are fixed to the frames 12, 12, respectively. and the rotating shaft 52,
sprockets 64, 64 attached to 54;
A corresponding chain 6 is connected between the sprockets 66, 66 attached to the output shafts of the motors 56, 56.
8 and 68 are wound on a rack to rotate the rotating shafts 52 and 54 in opposite directions (clockwise and counterclockwise), respectively.

Drive pulleys 58 and driven pulleys 60 are arranged alternately in the axial direction on the one rotating shaft 52,
The other rotating shaft 54 has a driven pulley 60 and a driving pulley 58 arranged in the opposite direction to that of the rotating shaft 52.
They are arranged alternately in the axial direction in this order. Therefore, the drive pulley 58 disposed on the rotating shaft 52
A driven pulley 6 is located at the position of the rotating shaft 54 corresponding to
A driving pulley 58 is disposed at a position on the rotating shaft 54 corresponding to the driven pulley 60 disposed on the rotating shaft 58. A round belt 62 is stretched between the driving pulley 58 and the driven pulley 60, and runs in the rotational direction of a rotating shaft on which the driving pulley 58 is disposed. That is, as shown in FIG.
2 and 62 are driven in opposite directions.

In this way, the defective product sorting device 20 is configured such that the round belts 62, 62 are driven to run in opposite directions, and as shown in FIG. It faces a through hole 18a formed in the belt 18 and is configured to rotate an article 24 fitted into the through hole 18a. The distance between the round belts 62, 62 in the axial direction is determined by the dimensions of the article 24, and is set to be slightly shorter than the dimensions of the article 24. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7b, the round belt 6
If the article 24 rotated by the round belts 62, 62 is damaged or cracked and has smaller dimensions than a normal article, the round belts 62, 62
It will fall below 62 meters. Therefore, the endless belt 1 after passing over the defective product sorting device 20
8, only normal articles 24 are placed and transported. Further, below the defective product sorting device 20, a collection box 69 is provided to collect defective products that have fallen from the endless belt 18.

(Regarding selective supply means) As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, on the terminal end side of the endless belt 18, an article selection supply means 21 is arranged with an inclination opposite to that of the belt 18. The articles 24 can be held in at least two upper and lower stages in the longitudinal direction so as to be freely sent out individually in synchronization with the packaging timing of an automatic packaging machine.
The article selection and supply means 21 includes a supply chute 22 disposed at the end of the endless belt 18 with a reverse inclination. Only non-defective products with removed products are supplied.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the upper part of the supply chute 22, passages 70 are formed in a number corresponding to the number of through holes 18a formed in the width direction of the endless belt 18 (in the illustrated example, there are eight passages). ). Further, in the lower part of the supply chute 22, there are half the number of passages 70 (four in the illustrated example) than the number of passages 70 formed in the upper part.
books) are formed in a continuous manner. A first hole 70a and a second hole 70b are bored in series in the upper passage 70, and a first hole 70a and a second hole 70b are formed below the hole 70a through which a piston rod 74a can protrude outward. 1 air cylinder 74 is provided. Further, below the hole 70b, this hole 70b
A second air cylinder 76 is provided through which the piston rod 76a can be projected outwardly.
In other words, the passage 70 is the place where the article 2 after the defective article has been removed.
4 are held in at least two stages in the longitudinal direction so as to be releasable in synchronization with the wrapping timing of an automatic packaging machine, and the number of passages 72 on the downstream side thereof is less than half the number of passages 70.

Furthermore, above the supply chute 22, there are as many sensors 78, for example photoelectric switches, for detecting the presence or absence of the article 24 whose supply is blocked by the air cylinders 74, 76 provided on the supply chute 22, as many as the air cylinders 74, 76. It is arranged. As shown in FIG. 2, a rotating brush 82 is disposed on the downstream side of the endless belt 18, and is designed to remove article debris and the like adhering to the endless belt 18 that has passed through the supply chute 22.

(Regarding the supply blocking means) Defective product sorting device 2 in the endless belt 18
0, when the amount of the articles 24 held by the selective supply means 21 reaches the permissible limit in each column in the conveyance direction, the article 24 is removed for each column that has reached the permissible limit. supply blocking means 80 for temporarily blocking discharge toward the selective supply means 21;
80a is provided. That is, downstream of the defective product sorting device 20, the number of through holes 18a (eight in this embodiment) bored in the width direction of the endless belt 18 is determined.
An air cylinder 80 corresponding to the above is provided. A piston rod 80a provided in the air cylinder 80 so as to be movable forward and backward can protrude from each through hole 18a in the endless belt 18. Therefore, when the air cylinder 80 is energized and its piston rod 80a is extended, the article 24 fitted into the through hole 18a is moved by the piston rod 80a into the through hole 1.
8a, and release to the selective supply means 21 is temporarily blocked.

Effects of the Embodiment Next, the effects of the automatic article feeding apparatus configured as described above will be explained in relation to the automatic article feeding method according to the embodiment.

(Process of Belt Conveying Articles from the Hopper) At the start of the automatic article supplying apparatus 10, the first air cylinder 74 disposed on the supply chute 22 is energized, and the piston rod 74 is energized.
a is made to protrude from the hole 70a. However, the air cylinder 80 in the article supply blocking means allows the article 24 placed on the endless belt 18 to be conveyed by retracting its piston rod 80a.
When the article supply device 10 is driven by branched power from an automatic packaging machine (not shown), the roller group is rotated in a predetermined direction, and the endless belt 18 stretched around the roller group is rotated to the frame 12. , 12 in a clockwise direction.

When an article 24 such as rice crackers is put into the hopper 14 in this state, the article 24 will be
It is randomly stored in two chambers in the hopper 14. and the article 24 located at the bottom of the hopper.
is supplied toward the endless belt 18 running below the hopper 14, and one article 24 is inserted into each through hole 18a formed in the belt 18. At this time, on the back side of the endless belt 18,
Since the guide plate 50 is provided, the article 24 stored in the through hole 18a is held so that it cannot fall out from the through hole 18a. Further, since the guide plate 50 is vibrated by the vibration motor 51, the individual articles 24 can be easily inserted into the respective through holes 18a.

As described above, the hopper 14 is divided into two chambers, so even if the article 24 is not inserted into the through hole 18a of the endless belt 18 from the upstream chamber, the article 24 from the downstream chamber cannot be inserted. The article 24 is inserted, so that it is possible to reliably supply the article 24 to all of the through holes 18a. Another article 24 from the hopper 14 will be superimposed on the article 24 inserted into the through hole 18a, but this surplus article 24 will be
The articles are removed by the rotation of the article removing means 16 disposed on the hopper 14, and the articles slide diagonally downward on the upper surface of the belt 18. While the article 24 that has slipped down remains below the rotating belt 18, it is gradually accommodated in the through hole 18a and transported.

(Regarding the step of sorting and removing defective products) Next, the endless belt 18 that has passed directly below the hopper 14 passes over a defective product sorting device 20 that is disposed downstream of the hopper 14. As described with reference to FIG. 5, the article sorting device 20 has two round belts 62, 62, which are driven in opposite directions, facing directly below the through hole 18a of the endless belt 18. Therefore, the articles 24 fitted into the through holes 18a are conveyed by passing over the round belts 62, 62, but at this time, the articles 24 in the through holes 18a are driven in opposite directions. The round belts 62, 62 are rotated in a desired direction as shown in FIG. 7a. Therefore, as shown in Figure 7b, defective products with damage such as cracks are
The defective products fall downward from between the round belts 62, 62 and are removed, and the defective products are finally collected in a box 69.

(Regarding the process of selecting and supplying articles) The endless belt 18 that has passed through the defective product sorting device 20
As shown in FIG.
Endless belt 18 along the inclined parts 12a, 12a of 2
It passes above the selective supply means 21, which is arranged at an opposite slope. At this time, the endless belt 18
The guide plate 50, which was located below the through hole 18a to prevent the article 24 from falling out, is no longer present above the supply chute 22 in the selective supply means 21. Therefore, the article 24 stored in the through hole 18a of the endless belt 18 loses support by the guide plate 50 above the supply chute 22, falls into the supply chute 22, and slides down on the chute. .

At this time, air cylinders 74 and 76 disposed in the supply chute 22 operate in synchronization with the packaging timing of the automatic packaging machine, and the article 24 is transferred to the rectangular frames of the frames 12 and 12 shown in FIG. Part 1
It is supplied to the conveyor 11 installed inside 2b and 12b. The conveyor 11 has attachments 13 provided at a predetermined pitch on an endless chain (not shown), and the attachments 13 feed the articles 24 to an automatic packaging machine (not shown) located downstream.

Next, regarding the supply operation of the selective supply device 21,
A case will be described in which two articles are supplied to one pitch of the supply attachment of an automatic packaging machine. In this case, the two articles are ultimately supplied to the automatic packaging machine in a two-tiered state by the attachment 13 disposed on the conveyor 11. The supply chute 22 is provided with a number of longitudinal passages 70 in the width direction corresponding to the plurality of through holes 18a formed in the width direction of the endless belt 18. In this passage 70, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, indices A to D are attached to the lines that supply the lower tier of the products that will eventually be supplied in two stacks, and the upper tier and For convenience, indexes E to H are assigned to the lines that supply the following items. In addition, as shown in FIG. 8, the supply chute 22
A first supply line l ₁ and a second supply line l ₂ which are perpendicular to the A to H lines are attached from the bottom to the top, and further, at the location where the article supply blocking means 80 is disposed on the endless belt 18, Article discharge lines _l3 shall be installed in sequence. At this time, a first air cylinder group 74 is located in the first supply line _l1 , a second air cylinder group 76 is located in the second supply line _l2 , and an air cylinder 80 is located in the article discharge line _l3 .
is located.

The rod 74a of this first air cylinder 74
protrudes from a hole 70a previously drilled in the passage 70, so that the article 24 initially fed to the supply chute 22 is stopped by this rod 74a and thus held in the first supply line _l1 . . When the sensor 78 (see FIG. 2) disposed above the first air cylinder 74 detects that the article 24 on the first supply line _l1 is held, the sensor 78 disposed above the first air cylinder 74 (see FIG. 2) detects that the article 24 on the first supply line _l1 is held. The second air cylinder 76 is energized to push the rod 76a into the hole 70b.
protrude from Therefore, next the supply chute 22
The article 24 that has fallen into the second air cylinder 76
is stopped and held in the second supply line _l2 .

(About the supply blocking step of temporarily blocking the release of the articles) The articles 24 held in this second supply line _l2
When the sensor 78 disposed above the second air cylinder 76 detects the presence of the article 24, it means that the amount of articles 24 discharged from the endless belt 18 held has reached the permissible limit for each row in the conveyance direction. Therefore, an operation command is issued to the air cylinder 80 disposed in the article discharge line _l3 . That is, after the articles 24 are stored on the first supply line _l1 and the second supply line _l2 , the articles 24 conveyed by the endless belt 18 are no longer stored on the supply chute 22.
The air cylinder 80 is energized so that the article 24 fitted into the through hole 18a of the endless belt 18 is discharged upward from the through hole 18a to prevent it from falling. Note that the article 24 discharged upward from the through hole 18a slides downward on the endless belt 18 and passes through the article removing means 1 disposed in the hopper 14.
6, it is returned to the hopper 14 again.

Said first supply line l ₁ and second supply line l ₂
When the articles 24 are stocked in all the passages 70 of the apparatus 10, a supply timing signal from a control device 84 provided in the apparatus 10 causes, for example, the A line and the E line to be stocked.
The individual first air cylinders 74 corresponding to the lines are reversely biased. That is, one line is selected from lines A to D, which supply the articles 24 to be placed in the lower tier, and lines E to H, which supply the articles 24 which are to be placed in the upper tier. and the hole 7 of the passage 70
When the piston rod 74a retreats during 0a, 2
The articles 24, 24 lose their lock and are fed to the conveyor 11 of an automatic packaging machine (not shown). Piston rod 7 of first air cylinder 74
4a once retreats into the hole 70a, and then returns to the hole 70a.
It is controlled to protrude from 0a.

Note that since priorities are determined in advance for the lines A to D and lines E to H, the articles 24 are selectively supplied according to these priorities. For example, if the priority order is A-B-C-D, E-F-G-H, (A, E), (B, F), (C, G), (D
，
The articles 24 are selectively supplied in the order of H). When the sensors 78, 78 detect that there is no article 24 in the first supply line _l1 of the A line and the E line, the second supply line _l2 is detected.
The second air cylinders 76, 76 of the second air cylinders 76, 76 are reversely biased, and the articles 24, 24 that have been stored by the second air cylinders 76, 76 are transferred to the first supply line.
l Proceed to ₁ . In this case, the piston rod 74a of the air cylinder 74 in the first supply line _l1
protrudes from the hole 70a, so the articles 24 are not directly supplied to the conveyor 11. In this way, when the article 24 is supplied to the conveyor 11 from the first supply line l ₁ , the second supply line l ₂
The articles 24 are supplied one after another from the first supply line l1, so that eight articles 24 are stored again on the first supply line _l1 .

When the article 24 in the second supply line _l2 is supplied to the first supply line _l1 and the sensor 78 detects that there is no article 24 on said second supply line _l2 ;
Air cylinder 8 installed in the article discharge line _l3
0 stops and the article 24 is removed from the endless belt 18.
is supplied toward the supply chute 22. In this way, the endless belt 18 is attached to the supply chute 22.
Since the articles 24 corresponding to the two rows of through holes 18a formed in the width direction are stored, it is possible to smoothly cope with the increase in speed of the automatic packaging machine in the subsequent process, and there is no need to produce the next article.

Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the automatic article feeding method and device according to the present invention, a plurality of articles stored in a hopper are fed to a belt-shaped endless conveying means arranged obliquely below the hopper. The endless conveyance means has a plurality of through holes drilled at required intervals in both the width direction and the length direction, and the articles are positioned in a plurality of rows so as not to fall off and are conveyed. On the way, defective articles that are smaller than the standard among the articles located in the through holes are sorted and removed by dropping them from the endless conveyance means, and the articles after defective articles are separated from each through hole in the widthwise row of the endless conveyance means. The articles can be dropped and discharged from the endless conveyance means, and diagonally below the endless conveyance means, each article of the row can be held in at least two upper and lower stages in the longitudinal direction so as to be freely sent out individually.

Then, by releasing the holding on the lower side in synchronization with the packaging timing of the automatic packaging machine, the articles are supplied to the supply conveyor of the automatic packaging machine in half or less of the width direction columns, and the articles are released. When the amount of held articles reaches the permissible limit in each row in the conveying direction, the discharge of the articles after removing defective items from the endless conveying means is performed for each row in which the tolerable limit has been reached. Block downstream of the means. in this way,
In the present invention, the articles after non-standard defective articles have been removed are held in at least two upper and lower stages in each row in the conveyance direction, and the articles to be held are held in synchronization with the packaging timing of an automatic packaging machine. Since less than half of the rows in the width direction can be supplied to the supply conveyor of the automatic packaging machine, it is possible to cope with higher packaging speeds in the packaging machine, and there is no shortage of items, ensuring reliable supply of goods. It is achievable.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show a preferred embodiment of an apparatus for carrying out the automatic article supply method according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the automatic article supply apparatus according to the preferred example of the present invention, and 3 is a plan view showing the drive section of the device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway obliquely inclined endless belt used in this embodiment. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a defective product sorting device used in this embodiment, FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing a supply chute used in this embodiment, and FIGS. 7a and b is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the operation of the defective product sorting device shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the selective supply device, and FIG. 9 is another implementation of the conveying means used in the automatic supply device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing an example. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Automatic article feeding device, 12... Frame, 12a... Inclined part, 14... Hopper, 16...
...Article removal means, 18... Endless conveyance means, 20...
... Defective product sorting device, 21 ... Selection supply device, 24
... Goods, 80, 80a ... Goods supply prevention means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of articles 24 stored in the hopper 14,
The hopper 14 is supplied to a belt-shaped endless conveying means 18 arranged at an angle below the hopper 14, and this endless conveying means 18
The articles 24 are conveyed while being positioned in a plurality of rows in a manner that they cannot fall off in a plurality of through holes 18a that are formed at required intervals in the width direction and longitudinal direction, respectively, and during conveyance of the articles 24, A defective product smaller than the standard among the articles 24 located in the through hole 18a,
The articles 24 are sorted and removed by being dropped from the endless conveying means 18, and the articles 24 after the defective products have been removed are dropped and discharged from the endless conveying means 18 through the through holes 18a of the widthwise rows of the endless conveying means 18. , each of the articles 24 in the row is held diagonally downward therein in at least two upper and lower stages in the longitudinal direction so as to be freely sent out individually, and the holding on the lower side is released in synchronization with the wrapping timing of the automatic packaging machine. Accordingly, the article 2
4 to the supply conveyor of the automatic packaging machine in less than half of the rows in the width direction, and when the retained amount of the released articles 24 reaches the permissible limit in units of rows in the transport direction, the An automatic article supply method characterized in that the discharge of articles 24 after defective products have been removed from the endless conveyance means 18 is blocked on the downstream side of the endless conveyance means 18 for each row that has reached the permissible limit. 2. A pair of frames 12, 12 that are arranged facing each other with a predetermined distance apart, and have sloped portions 12a, 12a formed at one end in the longitudinal direction; and sloped portions 12a, 12 of the frames 12, 12.
a hopper 14 which is fixed to a bridge between a and stores a plurality of articles 24; and a hopper 14 which is located below the hopper 14 and can accommodate the articles 24 correspondingly one by one in a manner that prevents them from falling off. a belt-shaped conveying means 18 in which a large number of through holes 18a are bored at required intervals in the width direction and the longitudinal direction, and the belt-shaped conveying means 18 is driven endlessly in the upward direction of the inclined parts 12a, 12a of the frames 12, 12; surplus articles 24 stacked on articles 24 disposed above 18 and correspondingly located in the through holes 18a of the endless conveying means 18;
an article removing means 16 that functions to eliminate defective articles smaller than the standard among the articles 24; a defective product sorting means 20 for sorting and removing defective products by dropping them through the through hole 18a; and sloped portions 12a, 12 of the frames 12, 12;
It is arranged at an inclination opposite to that of the endless conveyance means 18 along the direction a, and is provided corresponding to the widthwise row of through holes 18a in the endless conveyance means 18, and the articles 24 after the defective products are removed are placed in an automatic packaging machine. at least 2 in the longitudinal direction so that it can be released in synchronization with the packaging timing.
a passage 70 for holding the stage; and a passage 72 communicating downstream of the passage 70 and comprising less than half of the passage 70.
a selective supply means 21 comprising: a selective supply means 21 disposed downstream of the defective product sorting means 20 in the endless conveyance means 18;
When the amount of the discharged articles 24 held in step 1 reaches the permissible limit in units of rows in the transport direction, the discharge of the articles 24 to the selective supply means 21 is temporarily stopped for each row that has reached the permissible limit. 1. An article automatic supply device comprising: supply prevention means 80, 80a that prevents the supply from occurring. 3. The selective supply means 21 has passages 70 formed in its upper part corresponding to the number of through holes 18a formed in the width direction of the endless conveyance means 18, and communicates with the passages 70 in its lower part. The supply chute 22 is formed with a passage 72 set to less than half of the number of passages 70;
Stop means 74, 76 for selectively releasably retaining the article 24 discharged into the upper passageway 70 of 2;
The automatic article feeding apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a sensor 78 capable of detecting the locking of the article 24 by the stopper means 74a, 76a.