JPH0349848B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention involves transporting goods such as fruits and side dishes on a bucket, and carrying out appropriate operations based on the results of measuring the weight or shape of the goods during transport. The present invention relates to an improvement of a bucket conveyor that discharges articles downward from the top of the bucket.

[Conventional technology] Conventionally, this type of bucket conveyor was developed in 1972.
- Methods such as those shown in Publication No. 158051, Publication of Utility Model Application Publication No. 54-99660, or Publication of Japanese Patent Publication No. 17013-1970, and those in which bucket bags of these methods are arranged in multiple rows (2 to 6 rows). is commonly used. As shown in that figure and in FIGS. 1 to 5 of the present invention, these known devices have a sliding member projecting laterally on the side or lower part of a bucket that is rotatably attached to the bottom. A traveling rail for receiving the sliding member and allowing the sliding member to slide while holding the bucket horizontally is provided below or on the side of the bucket running path, and a part of this traveling rail A path switching device or the like is provided in the notched portion to change the path of the sliding member and rotate the bucket.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The above-mentioned known device has a path switching device installed in a part of the traveling rail cut out in order to rotate the bucket and discharge the articles to be sorted downward. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that the discharge point is fixed,
Furthermore, when the articles to be sorted are discharged at the discharge point, the articles to be sorted may come into contact with the traveling rail or the route switching device, and this contact has the disadvantage of causing damage to the articles to be sorted. This damage was particularly common in the case of oblate block articles that roll poorly.

In addition, in the above-mentioned known method, since the sliding member of the bucket slides on the running rail over almost the entire length of the conveyor, the conveyor is likely to malfunction due to wear of the running rail and the sliding member. In the case of articles to be sorted such as potatoes, onions, etc., which have dust attached thereto, the above-mentioned failures are more likely to occur, and there is a drawback that they lack long-term durability.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned known system, since the buckets run at high speed so that about 3 pieces can be sorted per second per row of bucket conveyors, the path switching device that guides the sliding member of the buckets downward from the traveling rail is electrically operated. Mechanical troubles tend to occur, and these troubles can cause damage to the bucket or the objects to be sorted.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned known method, sliding friction occurs between the sliding member of the bucket belt and the traveling rail, so when bucket belts are arranged in multiple rows, especially in three or more rows, this sliding friction becomes even greater. For this reason,
The disadvantages were that an electric motor with relatively large horsepower was required to run the bucket, and that it generated relatively large sliding noise.

The present invention eliminates these drawbacks and also provides two
It is an object of the present invention to provide a conveyor device for a sorting machine that is optimal when a plurality of rows, particularly three or more rows, of buckets are arranged between chains of rows.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following technical means.

That is, the present invention provides a method for placing articles on each of a large number of mounting members installed in the horizontal direction (left and right direction perpendicular to the direction of movement) at predetermined intervals in the direction of movement of a chain that runs and rotates endlessly. In a conveyor device for a sorting machine, in which a predetermined number of buckets are rotatably attached at one end, the buckets are held horizontally by engaging with the protrusion of the buckets, and when the engagement is released, the buckets are A catch device that rotates downward is installed on the side of each bucket between the left and right chains and on the front and rear mounting members adjacent to each other, and the engagement is released by a discharge actuation device provided at an appropriate position. This is a conveyor device for a sorting machine configured to discharge the articles on the bucket downwardly, thereby making it possible to omit the conventionally used traveling rails and path switching device. This makes it possible to rotate the bucket downwards and discharge the sorted articles at a desired point without fixing the discharge point of the sorted articles, and prevents damage to the sorted articles, conveyor failure, or bucket It eliminates breakage and sliding noise, and can be optimally applied even when three or more rows of buckets are installed between two chains.

[Embodiments] Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings (FIGS. 6 to 17).

In the figure, 1 frame, 2 are chain rails provided on the left and right sides of frame 1 (only one side is shown in the figure), and 3 is a chain that runs and rotates endlessly, with one rail each on the left and right (only one side is shown in the figure). chain conveyor is formed. Reference numeral 4 denotes a large number of mounting members installed horizontally (in the left-right direction orthogonal to the traveling direction) at predetermined intervals in the traveling direction on the left and right chains 3, 3, and each mounting member 4 has an article 7 attached thereto.
A predetermined number of bucket carts 5 are attached for carrying the wheels, and a row of the predetermined number of bucket carts 5 is formed between the chains 3 in the traveling direction. Incidentally, the bucket bag 5 is rotatably attached to the mounting member 4 at one end thereof. Generally, it is preferable to use a round bar or a round pipe as the mounting member 4, but it may also be made of various types of shaped steel.A part of the bucket 5 is provided with a hinged mounting bracket 6, so that the bucket 5 can be rotated. It is well known that there are some that are attached.
The bucket 5 is used to sort the shapes and sizes of the articles 7 to be sorted.
Depending on the product, it may be formed into a square, a wide square, or other various shapes. 8 is formed.
The protrusion 8 may be formed by protruding a part of the main body of the bucket bag 5, or may be formed by attaching another member such as a pin.

9 is a catch device which is the main part of the present invention;
The catch device 9 is provided on the side of each bucket 5 between the left and right chains 3, 3, and engages with the protrusion 8 of the bucket 5 to catch the bucket 5.
When held horizontally and released this engagement, the bucket 5
is adapted to rotate downward, and this rotation causes the articles 7 on the bucket 5 to be discharged downward.
The catch device 9 will be described in more detail below.

The catch device 9 has a hook 10 as an engaging portion that engages with the protruding portion 8 of the bucket bag 5.
The bucket bag 5 is held horizontally when the hook 10 and the protrusion 8 of the bag bag 5 are engaged with each other. This catch device 9 is provided on the side of each bucket 5, and the above-mentioned mounting members on the front and rear adjacent to each other are arranged so that the same horizontal state is maintained regardless of the size of the article 7 placed on the bucket 5. It is constructed at 4,4. That is, since this catch device 9 is constructed in a link-like manner between the mounting member 4 to which the previous bucket belt 5 is attached and the mounting member 4 to which the next bucket belt 5 is attached, one chain 3 on each side is required. Even when two or more buckets 5 are provided in multiple rows for each mounting member 4 installed laterally on the bucket 3, the catching device 9 can be attached to the side of each bucket 5 in the same manner. It is possible to construct a row-type bucket conveyor.

The hook 10 of the catch device 9 is formed in a hook shape, a groove shape, or other shape, and is used to engage the protrusion 8. Further, this catch device 9 includes the protrusion 8 and the hook 10.
A release lever 11 is provided as a lever portion in order to release the engagement. The release lever 11 includes one that is formed integrally with the hook 10 (FIGS. 8 and 16), and one that combines the hook 10 and a release lever 12 as a lever part in a latchet shape (FIGS. 11 and 15). ), but in any case, when the engagement between the protrusion 8 of the bucket bag 5 and the hook 10 is released by the release lever 11 or 12, the bucket bag 5 rotates downward. The above is a detailed description of the catch device 9.

13 is the release lever 11 or 1 of the catch device 8
The release lever 11 is a discharge actuation device installed at an appropriate position along the travel path of No. 2, and uses an actuator such as a solenoid or an air cylinder, and is actuated by a signal based on the measurement result of a weighing machine 17 or the like to release the release lever 11. , or 12,
This action causes the protrusion 8 of the bucket 5 and the hook 1 to
This is to release the engagement with 0. Therefore, by the operation of the discharge actuating device 13, the bucket 5 rotates downward by its own weight, and the articles 7 on the bucket 5 are discharged downward.

After the articles 7 have been discharged, the bucket cart 5 is pushed up again into a horizontal state by the bucket restoring guide 14 at the end 16 of the conveyor, and the protrusion 8 of the bucket cart 5 engages with the hook 10 of the catching device 9. Although the restoring guide 14 can be installed at each discharge location, it is preferable to install it at the terminal end 16 as described above.

In this way, the present invention provides a recovery guide 14 from the start end of the conveyor, that is, from the supply section 15 to the end end section 16.
In the meantime, the conventionally used running rails for holding the bucket tot horizontally and a path switching device for switching the course of the bucket to rotate the bucket tot, etc., are omitted.

Furthermore, the present invention can also be used in a shape sorter using a light beam as a measuring device (not shown) for measuring the shape of the article 7, and a weight sorter using a weighing machine 17 for measuring the weight of the article 7. It can also be used for a sorting machine that measures both shape and weight, and when used in a sorting machine that measures weight, the main body of the bucket 5 can be attached to the mounting part 20 of the bucket 5, upper and lower, as shown in FIG. The main body of the bucket bag 5 is installed with a gap provided so that it can move slightly back and forth and left and right, and the main body of the bag bag 5 is floated from the protruding part 8 and the fixture on a weighing machine 17 so as to be measured without contacting them. In addition, as shown in FIG. 16, when the bucket 5 has a roberval mechanism (parallel four-sided link mechanism) 18, the weighing sliding piece 19 of the bucket 5 is connected to the weighing machine 17.
Measurements are taken while skating on the surface.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention provides a predetermined method for placing articles on each of a large number of mounting members installed laterally at predetermined intervals in the traveling direction on one chain on each left and right side that runs and rotates endlessly. In a conveyor device for a sorting machine, in which a number of buckets are rotatably attached at one end, the buckets are held horizontally by engaging with the protrusion of the buckets, and when the engagement is released, the buckets are moved downward. A rotating catch device is installed on the side of each bucket between the left and right chains and on the front and rear mounting members adjacent to each other, and the engagement is released by a discharge actuating device provided at an appropriate position. Since this is a sorting machine conveyor device configured to discharge the articles on the buckets downward, depending on the configuration of the placement position of each catch device, multiple rows, particularly three or more rows or more of buckets are arranged in parallel between one chain on each left and right. In addition, it has an effect that can be applied to various cases, as well as the conventional running rails used to hold the bucket horizontally and the running rails used to rotate the bucket downwards to discharge articles. It is possible to omit the path switching device that changes the path of the bucket at a partially cut-out location, and by omitting this, the article discharge point is not fixed and the article can be discharged at a desired point, and it is possible to Damage to goods and failure of conveyors due to wear between running rails and sliding members, such as those that occurred in
This has the advantage that there is no damage to the bucket due to trouble with the course switching device, no noise due to sliding friction between the traveling rail and the sliding member, and there is no need for a large horsepower electric motor as in the conventional system. The combination of these effects makes it ideal for use in sorting machines that process large quantities of articles.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 all show the main parts of the conventional model, with Figure 1 being a plan view and Figure 2 being a plan view.
The figure is a sectional view, the third figure is a side view, the fourth figure is a first,
FIG. 5 is a side view different from FIGS. 2 and 3, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view of FIG. 4. Figure 6 and subsequent figures all show embodiments of the present invention; Figure 6 is a plan view of the main part of a bucket conveyor used in a light beam measurement type shape sorter, and Figure 7 is a sectional view of Figure 6. , FIG. 8 is a side view showing the catch device in FIG. 6, FIG. 9 is a plan view of the main part of the bucket conveyor used in the weight sorter,
The figure is a sectional view of FIG. 9, FIG. 11 is a side view showing the catch device of FIG. 12 is a sectional view, FIG. 14 is a side view showing the state in which the bucket shown in FIG. 12 slides on the weighing machine, FIG. 15 is a side view showing the catch device shown in FIG. 12, and FIG. FIG. 17 is an explanatory side view showing the entire sorting machine. 1... Frame, 2... Chain rail, 3...
Chain, 4...Mounting member, 5...Bucket, 6...
...Mounting bracket, 7...Article, 8...Protrusion, 9...
Catching device, 10... Hook, 11... Release lever, 12... Release lever, 13... Ejection actuation device, 14... Restoration guide, 15... Supply section, 16
...Terminal part, 17...Weighing machine, 18... Roberval mechanism, 19... Sliding piece, 20... Mounting part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A predetermined number of buckets for placing articles are rotatable at one end of each of a large number of mounting members installed horizontally at predetermined intervals in the direction of travel on one chain on each side that runs and rotates endlessly. In the attached sorter conveyor device, a catch device that engages with the protrusion of the bucket to hold the bucket horizontally and rotates the bucket downward when the engagement is released is placed between the left and right chains. The apparatus is constructed such that the articles on the bucket are discharged downward by disengaging the engagement with a discharge actuating device provided at an appropriate position and installed on the side of each bucket and on the front and rear mounting members adjacent to each other. A conveyor device for a sorting machine that is characterized by: