JPH03272674A - Method and apparatus for topping soft substance of indefinite shape - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To industrially and advantageously provide the subject topping by arranging a soft body of an indefinite shape in a specific recessed part, fitting a vacuum pad in the aforementioned recessed part, fixing the pad to the body using a pressure regulating means, then placing the body with the pad on a body to be topped and placing the resultant body in a prescribed position. CONSTITUTION:A soft body (e.g. a boiled lobster) (1a) of an indefinite shape is arranged in a recessed part (7a), bored in a counting plate 7 and having an inner wall forming a curved surface and pressed with a vacuum pad 10 of a flexible material (e.g. rubber or polyethylene) connected to the aforementioned body (1a) and a pressure regulating means 13 installed so as to fit in the aforementioned body (1a) and recessed part (7a) to suck air in a space (7c) between the recessed part (7a) and the pad 10. Thereby, the body (1a) is fixed to the vacuum pad 10, which is then moved to a body (1b) to be topped, placed thereon and pressed. Air is fed to the space (7d) to top the objective body (1b) to be topped with the body (1a).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for topping a flexible, irregularly shaped object, and an apparatus used therefor.

[Conventional technology]

BACKGROUND ART When industrially manufacturing processed foods, placing toppings on soft and irregularly shaped items, such as boiled shrimp, in predetermined positions has conventionally relied on manual labor. Because the objects to be processed are soft, they are easily damaged by mechanical processing, and because their shapes are not uniform, it is extremely difficult to pick them up using machines, so they have to rely on human labor, which is a factor in the high cost of the product. Ta. Therefore, there is a need for an industrial topping method and apparatus for flexible, amorphous objects that are advantageous in terms of working time, personnel, and the like.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The present invention aims to solve the above problems,
The purpose is to provide a topping method and an apparatus therefor that can industrially process large quantities of flexible and irregularly shaped objects without using human hands or damaging the objects.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present inventors placed a flexible, amorphous object to be topped in a recess having a curved inner wall, fitted a vacuum pad made of a flexible material with pressure adjustment means, and then applied suction. The present invention was developed based on the knowledge that the above problems can be solved by fixing an object in the pad, placing the pad on the object to be topped, and then blowing air into the pad. . That is, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for mechanically topping a large amount of flexible, irregularly shaped objects without using human hands or damaging the objects to be topped.

In the present invention, flexible and irregularly shaped objects include small shellfish such as boiled shrimp and clams, and small processed fruits such as plums and grapes, which are irregular in size and difficult to grasp using a machine. Because it is soft, there is a risk of damaging the object itself if stainless steel equipment is used.

The vacuum bat can be made of any flexible material, such as rubber, polyethylene, or vinyl chloride, as long as it is flexible and can be easily changed in shape.

Further, although the vacuum pad is generally attached to a nozzle made of stainless steel or the like, it is preferable that the nozzle itself has a flexible mechanism, for example, an internal spring structure.

The pressure adjustment means is particularly limited if it is a compressor ≦ 3 empty pump, a switching valve, a tube connected to a strainer, a hose, a flexible hose, or a means that can adjust the pressure in the space formed by the inner wall surface of the distribution part and the inner wall surface of the vacuum pad. do not.

[For production]

The effects of the above technical means are as follows.

By making the inner wall of the recess a curved surface, the degree of sealing when the vacuum pad is fitted is improved, and the space formed by the pad and the recess is depressurized, making it possible to fix the object to be topped to the pad. . In addition, since the object to be topped is placed in the center along the curved surface of the recess, it can be easily fixed to the vacuum pad and placed in the center of the object to be topped. Since the vacuum pad is made of a flexible material, even if the object has an irregular shape, it can be fixed along the shape of the object and can be fixed without damaging the flexible object. Topping is performed by placing a pad to which an object is fixed on the object to be toppled and then sending air to the pad, so that the topping can be performed without damaging either the object to be toppled or the object to be toppled.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the operating mechanism of the topping device, and FIGS. 2 to 5 show an embodiment of the topping device of the present invention. Figure 2 is a schematic front view, Figures 3 and 4 are partial views of the placement device,
FIG. 5 shows a partial view of the fixation device.

As shown in FIG. 1, a flexible and irregularly shaped object 1a is placed in a recess 7a having a curved inner wall bored at count #ii7, and the object is installed so as to fit into this hole. The object 1a is held down by a vacuum pad 10 connected to the pressure adjustment means 13, and the air in the space 7c formed by the recess 7a and the pad 10 is sucked to fix the object 1a to the vacuum pad 10. Move the object 1a and place it on top of the object and hold it down to create a space 7 formed by the object 1a and the pad.
Object 1a is topped with object 1b by sending air to d.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, a recess H7a is bored on the counting plate 7, and the counting plate is installed so as to be movable on the chain conveyor 8 in the direction of the vacuum pad 10. A flexible and irregularly shaped object 1a falls from the ompper 2 onto the alignment feeder 4, moves on the alignment feeder by the vibration of the vibration drive unit 3, and falls onto the counting plate. A scraping blade 6 is provided above the counter plate and in front of the vacuum pad in the moving direction,
As a result, the extra fallen object 1a is removed.

The vacuum pads 10 are installed above the counter plate so that each pad can fit into each recess. The vacuum pad is mounted on a stand 9, and the stand is equipped with an air cylinder 1 for vertical movement.
This makes it possible to adjust the vacuum pad in the vertical direction, that is, to lower the vacuum pad 10 to fit into the recess 7a, or to raise it again after fixing the object 1a.

The cylinder 1) is connected to a lateral movement air cylinder 12, allowing the vacuum pad IO to be moved over the object to be toppled. A pressure adjustment means 13 is provided in the vacuum pad IO.
The object 1a is fixed to the vacuum pad by suctioning the air in the space 7C formed when the vacuum pad 10 and the recess 7a are fitted together, and the vacuum pad is placed on the object to be topped. After the object is pressed down, air is sent to make it possible to dump the object la onto the object lb.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, an object to be topped is fixed to a flexible vacuum pad, the pad is placed on another object, and topping is performed by pressurizing the inside of the pad, so that topping can be performed without using human hands. Topping processing can be performed mechanically in large quantities without damaging the object.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows the working mechanism of the topping device, and FIG. 2 and FIG. 5 show partial views of the fixing device. 1a: Object, 1b = topping object, 2: hopper,
3: Vibration drive unit, 4: Alignment feeder 5: Cover, 6:
Scraping blade, 72 counting plate, 7a: recess, 7b: vacuum break hole, 7c: space formed by recess and vacuum pad, 7d: space formed by object and vacuum hat, 8: chain converter hair, 9: vacuum Pad mounting base, 10: Vacuum pad, 1): Air cylinder for vertical movement 12: Air cylinder for lateral movement, 13: Pressure adjustment means.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In the topping of the flexible and irregularly shaped object, a) the flexible and irregularly shaped object is placed in a recess having a curved inner wall, b) a vacuum pad made of a flexible material is fitted into the recessed part, c) fixing the object to the vacuum pad by suction using a pressure regulating means connected to the vacuum pad; d) placing the vacuum pad with the fixed object on top of the topping object; and e) pumping air by the pressure regulating means. A method for placing a flexible and irregularly shaped object, which comprises sending an object to place the object in a predetermined position. (2) A recess having a curved inner wall, a vacuum pad made of a flexible material that can fit into the recess, a pressure adjustment means connected to the pad, and placing the pad at a predetermined position on the object to be topped. A topping device for flexible and irregularly shaped objects consisting of means for