JPH04354723A - Distributing conveyer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the falling or congestion of goods at the joining part of both conveyers when the carrying directions of both the conveyers are made the same direction in a distributing conveyer in which vegetables and fruits etc., are distributed into two directions to be carried with a pair of belt conveyers. CONSTITUTION:End rollers 11 and 17 of conveyers A and B are pivotally mounted on both the ends of a rotary layer 25 respectively. When the carrying directions of both the conveyers A and B are made same, the rotary layer 25 is rotated with a handle 26 to locate the roller 11 above the roller 17.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sorting conveyor for sorting and conveying fruits and vegetables in two directions, left and right.

0002

[Prior Art] In fruit sorting facilities, multiple automatic packaging machines are used rather than connecting the end of a wide conveyor for manually sorting the grades of fruits and vegetables directly to the loading port of one automatic packaging machine. It is desirable to use this method to improve work efficiency. In this case, two fruits and vegetables are sorted on a wide conveyor.
A sorting conveyor is required to sort and supply the products to automatic packaging machines.

A conventional sorting conveyor E is shown in FIG. 6(a).
As shown in the figure, a pair of belt conveyors C, which can be rotated forward and backward,
D are arranged in series, and both conveyors C and D are used during sorting work.
were driven in directions away from each other to deliver articles to automatic packaging machines (not shown) in the left and right directions in the figure.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, this sorting conveyor E can be used in cases where a single automatic packaging machine is sufficient due to the small number of goods received or the number of workers, or when one of the two automatic packaging machines breaks down or needs to be replenished with packaging material. Therefore, if the conveyor is to be stopped, the conveyor direction of either conveyor C or D is reversed and both conveyors C or D are driven in the same direction, thereby concentrating fruits and vegetables only on the automatic packaging machine on the downstream side in the conveyor direction. It would be convenient if it could be done.

[0005] However, when the conveyance direction of both conveyors C and D is the same in this way, the articles fall into the gap between the two conveyors C and D and become stagnant, making it difficult to smoothly transfer the goods between the two conveyors. The problem is that it is not carried out.

[0006] In order to prevent the articles from falling, it has been proposed to reduce the gap between the two conveyors by installing a freely rotating roller 55 at the boundary between the two conveyors, as shown in FIG. 6(b), for example. However, when transporting small items such as green soybeans, it is still not possible to prevent the items from falling or stagnation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve these problems and provide a sorting conveyor that does not cause items to fall or stagnate even when both conveyors are conveyed in the same direction. do.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the sorting conveyor of the present invention has two belt conveyors that can be forward and reverse freely arranged in series in the conveyance direction, and both conveyors are adjacent to each other. The ends of the two parts are connected via a pivot rod,
Adjacent ends of both belt conveyors can be pivoted upward or downward, respectively, about the pivot of the pivot rod as a fulcrum.

[0009]

[Operation] According to the present invention constructed as described above, when distributing articles to both ends of the sorting conveyor, the end roller shaft positions of both belt conveyors are maintained at the same height position, and both conveyors are moved in a direction away from each other. drive At this time, the articles supplied onto the conveyors are delivered as they are to the terminal ends of both conveyors by the movement of the belts of both conveyors.

When the articles are concentrated on one end of the sorting conveyor, the positions of the end rollers of both conveyors are moved around the axis, and the end roller of one conveyor is moved to the end roller of the other conveyor. If you keep it in the upper position,
Even when both conveyors are driven in the same direction to convey an article in one direction, the article is smoothly transferred between both conveyors and delivered without falling or stagnation.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the inside of a fruit sorting facility that implements the present invention, and this fruit sorting facility is designed to manually sort fruits and vegetables such as edamame, then package and ship them.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a roller conveyor for transporting containers 2 containing fruits and vegetables to a sorting process, which starts from a receiving area 3, passes through a sorting hopper 4, and reaches an empty container storage area 5.

The starting end of a primary wide conveyor 6 for grade sorting is arranged below the discharge port of the sorting hopper 4 into which fruits and vegetables are loaded in the container 2, and the secondary conveyor 6 is placed below the terminal end of the primary wide conveyor 6. The starting end of a wide conveyor 7 is arranged, and fruits and vegetables are transferred from the conveyor 6 to the conveyor 7.

The end of the conveyor 7 is visible above the center of the sorting conveyor 10, which is arranged in a direction substantially perpendicular thereto. At both left and right ends of the sorting conveyor 10, there are bucket conveyors 43, 4 for loading fruits and vegetables into the scale 58.
4 are arranged substantially perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the sorting conveyor 10, respectively. Automatic packaging machines 41 and 42 are installed below the weighing machine 58, and an automatic checker 56 and a sorting device 57 are connected to the discharge ports of the automatic packaging machines 41 and 42,
Furthermore, a conveyor 45 for conveying the bagged fruits and vegetables is disposed in the orthogonal direction, and a labeler 4 is placed along the conveyor 45.
6, and a circular boxing table 47 is arranged at the end of the conveyor 45. 48 is a roller conveyor for conveying boxed fruits and vegetables, and is equipped with a carton sealer 49 for sealing the boxes. 50 is a product storage area, and 51 is a collection room.

The sorting conveyor 10 according to the present invention has a belt conveyor A and a belt conveyor B arranged in series, as shown in FIG. Conveyor A has rollers 11 and 12 arranged at the start and end ends of the conveyance direction, both ends of these rollers 11 and 12 are pivotally supported by side plates 13 and 13, and a belt 15 is wound around both rollers. Side plate 13,1
A drive motor 17 for driving the belt 15 in forward and reverse directions is attached below the belt 3.

The conveyor B is symmetrical to the conveyor A in the figure, with both ends of rollers 18 and 19 supported by side plates 14 and 14, and a belt 20 wound around both rollers 18 and 19.
A driving motor 21 for driving the belt 20 is provided. 1
6 and 16 are cases for the motor.

As shown in FIG. 2, both conveyors A
, B, pivot pieces 22, 22 are fixed to the side plates 13, 14, respectively, at lateral positions of the end rollers 11, 17 facing the boundary portions of the rollers 11, 17. Between the end roller 11 of the conveyor A and the end roller 17 of the conveyor B, a pivot shaft 23 passing through the center of the turning rods 25, 25 is disposed, and the pivot shaft 23 rotates on the front plate 24a and the rear plate 24b. Freely supported. The pivot 23 and the turning rod 25 are integrally connected. Both ends of the turning rod 25 are rotatably connected to the tips of the pivot pieces 22, 22 by pins 25a, 25a, respectively. Further, between the turning rods 25, 25, a guide plate 59 (not shown in FIG. 2) for preventing fruits and vegetables from falling is fixed to the upper side of the pivot shaft 23.

A handle 26 for operation is provided at the front end of the pivot 23.
Grips 27 and 28 are pivotally attached to both ends of the handle 26, and a fixing pin 29 is loosely inserted into the handle 26 near the grip 27, and the pin 29 is held in the insertion direction by a spring 30. is always energized. Front plate 24a
Holes 52, 53, and 54 for inserting the tip of the pin 29 when the handle 26 is turned are provided above, below, and on the right side of the pivot 23, respectively. Near the ends of the side plates 13, 14, receiving members 32, 33 are provided to protrude downward, and the receiving members 32, 33 are slidably placed on rails 35, 36 provided on the machine frame 34.

At the upper part of the boundary between both conveyors A and B, a chevron-shaped branching plate 37 for dividing the flow is installed between the front plate 24a and the rear plate 2.
4b.

[0020] Therefore, the sorting conveyor 10 of the present invention
Explain how it works. FIG. 3(a) is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the sorting conveyor 10, and the front plate 24a is omitted.

When both automatic packaging machines 41 and 42 are used at the same time, the handle 26 is held in the horizontal position as shown in FIG. 3(a) and fixed by fitting the pin 29 into the hole 54.
With the turning rod 25 in a horizontal state, the end rollers 11 and 17 of both conveyors A and B are maintained at the same height position, and both conveyors A and B are driven in directions away from each other. When fruits and vegetables are supplied by the wide conveyor 7, the fruits and vegetables that have fallen onto the conveyors A and B are delivered as they are to the bucket conveyors 43 and 44 at the terminal ends of the conveyors A and B by the movement of the belts 15 and 20, respectively. Also wide conveyor 7
The fruits and vegetables that fall from the center of the conveyor A are branched to the left and right by the branch plate 37, and are transferred to both conveyors A and A without falling into the joint.
Delivered to B.

The automatic packaging machine 42 is stopped and the automatic packaging machine 41
When using only the handle 2, as shown in Figure 3(b)
6 in the clockwise direction in the figure and fixed by fitting the pin 29 and the hole 53, the turning rod 25 is erected approximately vertically to maintain the end roller 11 at a position above the end roller 17, Both conveyors A and B are driven rightward in the figure. When the fruits and vegetables are supplied by the wide conveyor 7, the fruits and vegetables that have fallen onto the conveyor B are delivered directly to the bucket conveyor 43. On the other hand, fruits and vegetables that have fallen onto conveyor A are
As the belt 15 moves, the fruits and vegetables are delivered to the joint between both conveyors A and B, and eventually fall from the conveyor A. However, at this time, the axial position of the roller 11 is maintained above the axial position of the roller 17, so the fruits and vegetables are spilled. Kone Nari Conveyor B
The belt 20 is used for delivery. In this case, the roller 17 side at the starting end of the conveyor B is tilted downward, but since the guide plate 59 is fixed to the joint of both conveyors A and B, fruits and vegetables are not collected from this joint. There is no risk of it falling.

Further, when the automatic packaging machine 41 is stopped and only the automatic packaging machine 42 is used, the handle 26 is rotated counterclockwise, contrary to FIG. 3(b), and the pin 29 is inserted into the hole 52. The roller 17 may be positioned directly above the roller 11.

The fruits and vegetables thus packed in bags and discharged by the automatic packaging machine are then conveyed by a conveyor 45, labeled by a labeler 46, packed in boxes by a boxing table 47, and then transported to cartons via a roller conveyor 48. The box is sealed with a sealer 49 and sent to a product storage area 50 to complete the entire process.

[0025] The fruit sorting facility that implements the present invention as described above is
Since two automatic packaging machines are operated at the same time, there is not only the advantage of high work efficiency, but also the sorting conveyor 10 of the present invention is arranged at the end of the wide conveyor 7 for grade sorting in a substantially orthogonal direction, and the sorting conveyor Since two automatic packaging machines are arranged in parallel in substantially orthogonal directions at both ends of the conveyor belt 10, the conveyance direction of either conveyor A or B is reversed and the conveyor
By driving B in the same direction, there is an advantage that one of the automatic packaging machines can be stopped when the number of items received or the number of workers is low. There is an advantage that the work can be continued even when the work is suspended.

[0026]The sorting conveyor 10 of the present invention has the following features:
Even when only one automatic packaging machine is used, the rollers 11 of conveyor A can be maintained above the rollers 17 of conveyor B, so fruits and vegetables can be smoothly transferred from the belt 15 of conveyor A to the belt 20 of conveyor B. It has the advantage of being delivered by Moreover, since the adjacent ends of both conveyors can be turned by the handle 26, fruits and vegetables can be concentrated in either the forward or reverse direction.

Furthermore, since the guide plate 59 is fixed to the boundary between the adjacent ends of both conveyors A and B, there is no risk of fruits and vegetables entering the boundary, and fruit and vegetables are prevented from falling from this boundary. is prevented.

Note that the branch plate 37 in this embodiment was installed between the front plate 24a and the rear plate 24b, but instead of this branch plate 37, the front plate 24a and the rear plate 24b are connected as shown in FIG. A branch plate 38 may be provided in the middle of the connecting rods 51, 51. In this case, there is an advantage that the loaded fruits and vegetables will not spill to the sides of the conveyors A and B.

It goes without saying that the sorting conveyor of the present invention can be applied not only to fruit sorting facilities as in this embodiment, but also to a variety of other uses.

[0030]

[Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention is configured as described above,
When concentrating articles at one end of the sorting conveyor, the end rollers of both conveyors should be moved around the pivot, and the end rollers of one conveyor should be maintained above the end rollers of the other conveyor. For example, even when both conveyors are driven in the same direction to convey an article in one direction, the article is smoothly transferred between both conveyors and delivered, and the article does not fall or become stagnant. Moreover, since the adjacent ends of both belt conveyors can be turned upward or downward, it is possible to smoothly convey articles in either the forward or reverse direction.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a sorting conveyor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the main parts of the sorting conveyor according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic front views showing the operation of the sorting conveyor according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an example of the internal configuration of a fruit sorting facility that implements the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing another example of the configuration of the branching plate.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are front views showing an example of the sorting conveyor before improvement according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

A, B Belt conveyor 11, 17 End roller 23 Axis 25 Swivel rod 26 Handle 29 pin 37, 38 Branch plate 59 Guide plate

Claims (1)

[Claims] Two belt conveyors that can freely rotate forward and reverse are arranged in series in their conveying direction, and the adjacent ends of both conveyors are connected via a turning rod, and the adjacent ends of both belt conveyors are connected with the pivot of the turning rod as a fulcrum. A sorting conveyor whose ends can be freely pivoted upward or downward.