JPH04371414A - Distributing feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To change the feed quantity of articles without changing the vibration of a linear feeder in a distributing feeder which distributes the articles to plural linearly advancing feeders from the distributing feeder. CONSTITUTION:By vibrating a receiving plate 12 in a circular shade form, a distributing feeder 11 transfers an article on the top part 12a to a periphery part 12b. Respective linear feeders 15 which receive the article from the periphery part 12b oscillate a transfer deck 17 to feed the article to a measuring part 2. A cylinder body 21 in a cylindrical shape is disposed above the receiving plate 12 coaxially to the receiving plate 12. The cylinder body 21 is supported at both the sides by lifters 30, 50. Two pairs of light emitting/receiving devices 24-27 are provided in the cylinder body 21 on the upper and lower sides, and articles are supplied to the height of one light receiving device from a feed conveyer 80. When the cylinder body 21 is raised by the lifters 30, 50, the thickness of an article layer on the receiving plate 12 increases, and when the cylinder body 21 lowers, the thickness of an article layer on the receiving plate 12 decreases.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dispersion supply device for distributing articles to a plurality of transport routes.

0002

[Prior Art] A combination in which a combination in which the combined weight of the measured values is close to a target weight is selected from among the articles weighed by a plurality of weighing sections, and the articles selected in this combination are discharged all at once. Measuring devices have been put into practical use for some time.

[0003] In this type of weighing device, in order to increase the accuracy of combination, a distributed feeding device is used to feed articles approximately integer fractions of the target weight to a plurality of weighing sections.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a conventional distributed feeding device used in a combination weighing device, and FIG.
FIG.

As shown in these figures, the distributed supply device 10 is provided on the upper surface 1a of the housing 1 of the combination weighing device.

The dispersion feeding device 10 includes a dispersion feeder 11 for distributing and discharging articles falling from above and discharging them to the outside;
It is composed of a plurality of linear feeders 15, 15, . . . , 15 arranged radially around the distributed feeder 11.

The distributed feeder 11 has a circular umbrella-shaped receiving plate 1.
2 is vibrated up and down by a vibrator 13, and the receiving plate 12
The articles W supplied to the top 12a of the receiving plate 12 are conveyed toward the peripheral edge 12b of the receiving plate 12 while being dispersed radially.

Each linear feeder 15 vibrates the conveyance surface 17a of the conveyor table 17 in the direction of arrow B by the respective vibrator 16, and guides the articles received from the dispersion feeder 11 from both sides with the guide portions 17b while moving the articles outward. convey horizontally to

The articles discharged from the linear feeder 15 are
As shown in FIG. 14, the liquid is supplied to the measuring units 2, 2, .

[0010] Since the amount of articles fed to the weighing section 2 each time is determined by the vibration time and vibration intensity of the linear feeder 15, in this type of weighing device, based on the weighing results,
The vibration time and vibration intensity of the linear feeder 15 are feedback-controlled so that the amount of feed each time approaches a predetermined amount.

[0011]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in order to batch articles with a large target weight using this type of weighing device, it is necessary to significantly increase the vibration time and vibration intensity of the linear feeder 15 of the distributed feeding device 10. It won't happen.

However, if the vibration time is significantly increased, the time required to supply the articles each time becomes longer, and the weighing efficiency of the entire weighing device is greatly reduced. Furthermore, if the vibration intensity is significantly increased, the life of the feeder will be significantly shortened, and the influence of vibration on the metering section cannot be ignored, leading to a decrease in metering accuracy.

[0013] Due to such limitations, it has been extremely difficult for conventional distributed feeding devices to significantly change the amount of articles fed without adversely affecting the weighing device.

[0014] Furthermore, in the conventional dispersion feeding device, if an article that tends to bounce is fed from above without any article on the receiving plate of the dispersion feeder, most of the articles will hit the receiving plate and scatter out of the weighing device. There was a problem.

An object of the present invention is to solve this problem and provide a distributed feeding device that can vary the amount of articles supplied without adversely affecting the weighing machine.

[0016]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the dispersion feeding device of the present invention includes a dispersion feeder that vibrates a receiving plate and conveys the articles on the receiving plate toward the peripheral edge; a plurality of linear feeders that receive articles carried out from the peripheral edge of the receiving plate of the distributed feeder on their respective conveying surfaces and convey them in a predetermined direction; The apparatus includes a cylindrical body that allows articles to pass onto the receiving plate, and a lifting device that raises and lowers the cylindrical body in accordance with a control signal.

[0017]

[Operation] Because of this structure, in the dispersion feeding apparatus of the present invention, articles from above are passed through the cylinder and fed onto the receiving plate of the dispersion feeder. The articles on the receiving plate are conveyed to the peripheral edge of the receiving plate and carried into each linear feeder while being regulated by the distance between the lower edge of the cylindrical body and the receiving plate. When the height of the cylindrical body is varied by the lifting device, the layer thickness of the article regulated by the distance between the lower edge of the cylindrical body and the receiving plate changes, and the amount of articles discharged from the linear feeder changes. do.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an embodiment of the distributed supply device 20 provided on the housing 1 of the combination weighing device in the same manner as described above, and FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 3 is a perspective view of essential parts.

In these figures, the distributed feeder 11 and the linear feeder 15 are the same as those in the conventional apparatus described above, and therefore are given the same reference numerals and a description thereof will be omitted.

Distributed feeder 11 of this distributed feeding device 20
A hollow cylindrical body 21 made of a lightweight material such as plastic is arranged above the receiving plate 12 concentrically.

An inverted conical guide section 22 is formed at the upper part of the cylinder 21 to guide the articles supplied from above toward the center, and two projectors 24 are formed on the outer periphery of the lower cylinder section 23. , 25 are attached at predetermined intervals above and below.

The light from the projectors 24 and 25 passes through the center of the cylindrical portion 23 and is received by the light receivers 26 and 27 respectively attached on opposite sides.

A plurality of pressure sensors 2 are provided at the lower edge of the cylindrical body 21.
8, 28, . . . , 28 are attached along the circumference at predetermined intervals.

The cylindrical body 21 is supported from both sides by lifting devices 30 and 50, which are formed symmetrically in FIG.

That is, the feeder 15 moves straight from the upper surface 1a of the housing.
The pillars 31, 31 are erected to sandwich the transport platform 17.
, 51, 51, lifting device mounting plates 32, 52 are fixed respectively.

Motor mounting plates 33, 53 are fixed to the upper portions of the lifting device mounting plates 32, 52, and bearing plates 34, 54 are fixed below them.

Stepping motors (hereinafter referred to as motors) 35, 55 are fixed to the motor mounting plates 33, 53, and one ends of screw shafts 36, 56 are connected to the motor shafts.

The other ends of the screw shafts 36, 56 are supported by bearings 37, 57 of the bearing plates 34, 54, respectively. Motor mounting plates 33, 53 and bearing plate 34,
Lifting plates 38 and 58 are arranged between 54.

The elevating plates 38 and 58 are the left and right guide plates 39
, 39, 59, and 59, only vertical movement is possible, and screw shafts 36, 56 are screwed into the elevating plates 38, 58 so as to pass through them.

Therefore, when the motors 35, 55 rotate in the same direction, the elevating plates 38, 58 both move upward or downward depending on the direction of rotation.

Main arms 40, 60 extending in the direction of the cylinder 21 and reinforcing arms 41, 61 are fixed to the elevating plates 38, 58.

Main arms 40, 6 of both lifting devices 30, 50
0 is fixed to a support ring 45 having an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the cylindrical portion 23 of the cylindrical body 21 .

The cylindrical body 21 is inserted into the support ring 45 from above, and moves upwardly from the support ring 42 when a force is applied from below.

Note that the bearing plate 54 of one lifting device 50
A lower limit switch 62 is attached to the lower limit switch 62, which is turned on when it comes into contact with the elevating plate 58 that has been lowered to the lowest position.

The motors 35 and 5 of the lifting devices 30 and 50
5 are simultaneously driven by a lift control device 70, as shown in FIG.

That is, when the lift switch 71 is turned on, the lift control device 70 simultaneously drives the motors 35 and 55 in the direction of raising the lift plates 38 and 58, and when the lower switch 72 is turned on, The motors 35 and 55 are simultaneously driven in the direction of lowering the elevating plates 38 and 58.

Further, when the lower limit switch 62 is turned on, the elevation control device 70 stops the lowering of the elevation plates by the motors 35, 55, sets this stop position as the origin position of the elevation, and thereafter controls the elevation plates 38, 58. The height of motor 35, 55
It is calculated from the number of pulses sent to and the pitch of the screw shaft and displayed on the display 73.

The outputs of the plurality of pressure sensors 28 of the cylindrical body 21 are input to a pressure determination circuit 74. Pressure judgment circuit 7
4 sends an abnormal signal to the elevation control device 70 when any of the outputs of the pressure sensors 28 exceeds a predetermined value. When the elevation control device 70 receives this abnormal signal,
After sending a pulse signal to the motors 35, 55 to raise the cylinder 21 a predetermined distance, the cylinder 21 is lowered to its original position.

Preset data for each type of product, sensor selection signals, and over/under signals are input to the lift control device 70 from the weighing device side.

The preset data is a value indicating the height of the cylinder so that the amount of articles fed from the linear feeder 15 is a predetermined amount depending on the product type. In addition, the sensor selection signal is transmitted to the two light receivers 26 and 27 during normal operation.
Among these, it specifies which one of the light receivers to supply the article based on the light reception signal from the supply conveyor 80.
It is determined by the product type along with the preset data. The excess/deficiency signal is input from the weighing device when the average value of the weighing results of the weighing section 2 exceeds a predetermined range, and when the average value is smaller than the predetermined range, the cylinder 21 is moved a predetermined distance. An insufficient signal for raising the cylinder 21 is input, and, conversely, when the average value is larger than a predetermined range, an excess signal for lowering the cylinder 21 by a predetermined distance is input.

Next, the operation of this distributed supply device 20 will be explained.

For example, when weighing a new type of article is started, the article is fed from the supply conveyor 80 from a state where there is no article on the receiving plate 12 of the dispersion feeder 11. In this case, the lowering switch 72 is turned on to send pulses for lowering the lifting plates 38, 58 to the motors 35, 55 of both the lifting devices 30, 50, and the lower limit switch 72 is turned on as shown in FIG. 62 is turned on, that is, the pressure sensor 28 on the lower edge of the cylinder body 21 is lowered to a position where the pressure sensor 28 substantially comes into contact with the inclined surface of the receiving plate 12.

By this lowering, the origin of the elevation control device 70 is set, and an article request signal is output to the supply conveyor 80.

For this reason, the receiving plate 1 is removed from the supply conveyor 80.
2. An article is dropped and supplied onto 2. The first article to be fed bounces against the receiving plate 12, but the top 1 of the receiving plate 12
Since the articles hit the inner wall of the cylindrical body 21 surrounding the cylindrical body 2a and return, the articles are accumulated in the cylindrical body 21 without being scattered outside the machine.

Assuming that preset data and a selection signal specifying the light receiver 26 are input from the weighing device to this article, the article is supplied from the supply conveyor 80 as follows.
This continues until the light receiver 26 is in a non-light receiving state.

When the articles in the cylinder 21 are supplied to the height of the light receiver 26, the motors 35, 55 of the lifting devices 30, 50
, a pulse is input to raise the cylinder 21 by a distance corresponding to the preset data, and the cylinder 21 is raised by a predetermined distance as shown in FIG. do.

[0048] Along with this rise, the vibrator 13 of the distributed feeder 11 and the vibrator 16 of each linear feeder 15 are driven simultaneously.

Due to this vibration, the articles accumulated in the cylindrical body 21 are transported over each linear feeder 15 with the layer thickness uniformly regulated by the lower edge of the cylindrical body 21. It is supplied to section 2. In each weighing section 2, supplies are weighed, combinations are selected based on the weighing results, and the selected articles are discharged from the weighing section 2.

The linear feeder 15 corresponding to the empty weighing section 2 is driven to vibrate for a certain period of time, and a new article is supplied to the empty weighing section 2.

[0051] Articles are similarly supplied to each weighing section 2, but if a shortage signal is input from the weighing device while the weighing operation continues, the cylinder 21 moves up a predetermined distance. As a result, the thickness of the article layer on the receiving plate 12 increases, and the amount of articles supplied to the measuring section 2 increases. Conversely, when an excessive signal is input from the weighing device side, the cylinder 21 is lowered by a predetermined distance, the layer thickness of the article on the receiving plate 12 is reduced, and the amount of articles supplied to the weighing section 2 is reduced.

When large preset data is input due to a change in product type, or when the lift switch 71 is turned on to significantly change the combination target weight for the same product type, the cylindrical body changes as shown in FIG. 21 rises to a higher position. Therefore, the thickness of the article layer on the receiving plate 12 increases significantly, and the amount of articles supplied to the measuring section 2 also increases significantly.

[0053] During this feeding, the top part 1 of the receiving plate 12
When the height of the article on 2a becomes lower than the light receiver 26, a new article is supplied from the supply conveyor 80, so that the cylindrical body 2
1, the layer thickness of the articles on each linear feeder 15 hardly changes, and the amount of articles fed to the measuring section 2 becomes almost constant due to vibration for a certain period of time. In addition, as the cylinder body 21 rises, the light emitters and receivers 24 to 27
The amount of articles in the cylindrical body 21 becomes almost constant, and the state in which the layer thickness of the dispersion feeder 11 is regulated by its lower edge continues in a stable manner.

Also, during operation, as shown in FIG.
1 and the receiving plate 12, an abnormal signal due to a change in the signal of the pressure sensor 28 at this caught portion is input to the lift control device 70, so that the lift control device 70 30 and 50, a pulse is inputted to raise the cylindrical body 21 by a predetermined distance, and the cylindrical body 21 moves as shown in FIG.
After rising a predetermined distance as shown in , it returns to its original height.

As a result of this rise, the articles caught between the lower edge of the cylinder 21 and the receiving plate 12 are conveyed toward the linear feeder 15.

Note that the lowering of the cylinder 21 is performed by adjusting the signal of the pressure sensor 28 so that the entire load of the cylinder 12 is not applied to the article between the lower edge of the cylinder 21 and the receiving plate 12 at once. This will be done gradually based on the following.

In the above explanation, the case where the upper light receiver 26 is designated is explained, but if the lower end light receiver 27 of the cylinder body 21 is designated, as shown in FIG. The height of the article above the top 12a of the receiver 2
If the cylinder body 21 is further raised as shown in FIG. 11, the thickness of the article layer on the receiving plate 12 will increase as described above. , the amount of articles supplied to the measuring section 2 can be significantly increased.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, two lifting devices 3
0 and 50, the cylindrical body 21 is raised and lowered by being supported from both sides, but it may be raised and lowered by only one lifting device, and the lifting mechanism is not limited to lifting and lowering by a screw shaft, but also by a chain, etc. A lifting mechanism may also be used.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the lower limit switch 62 provided on the lifting device 50 was used to set the origin position of the cylinder, but a switch is provided at the upper limit position of the cylinder to set this upper limit position. The origin position may be set to the origin position, or the origin position may be set in the middle thereof.

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the occurrence of the object getting caught at the lower edge of the cylinder 21 was detected by the change in the signal of the pressure sensor 28. Since it is possible to detect a significant decrease change, the cylinder rises when an object is caught in response to a signal from the weighing device, and this is done only to prevent the load on the object when the cylinder descends. Pressure sensor 2
8 may be used.

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the cylindrical body 21 is made of a lightweight material such as plastic, and is designed so that when the cylindrical body 21 is lowered, no force greater than the weight of the cylindrical body 21 is applied to the article. Although the cylindrical body 21 is supported by the support ring 45, it may be supported as shown in FIG. 12, for example.

That is, one end of the main arm 40' is fixed to the cylindrical body 21, and a balance weight 81 is attached to the other end of the main arm 40'.
is attached, and the fulcrum P position at which the clockwise moment of the main arm 40' is slightly larger than the counterclockwise moment is raised and lowered by an elevating device (not shown), and the clockwise rotation is controlled. It is regulated by the regulating member 82.

With this configuration, even if the cylindrical body 21 is made of metal or the like, the load on the article during descent can be reduced. Further, the same effect can be obtained even if the cylindrical body 21 is supported through a spring material or the like.

[0064]

As explained above, the distributed feeding device of the present invention is configured such that the cylindrical body disposed above the receiving plate of the distributed feeder can be raised and lowered by the lifting device.
By simply changing the height of the cylindrical body using a control signal, the layer thickness of the article on the receiving plate can be stably and significantly changed without adversely affecting the weighing machine. It can also prevent the scattering of.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line CC in FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of essential parts of one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control section of an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view for explaining the operation of one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view for explaining the operation of one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view for explaining the operation of one embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part for explaining the operation of one embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part for explaining the operation of one embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part for explaining the operation of one embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part for explaining the operation of one embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a conventional device.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 13;

[Explanation of symbols]

11 Distributed feeder 12 Receiving plate 13 Vibrator 15 Straight feeder 17 Transport platform 17a Conveyance surface 20 Distributed supply device 21 Cylindrical body 24, 25 Floodlight 26, 27 Photo receiver 28 Pressure sensor 30, 50 Lifting device 31, 51 Pillar 32, 52 Lifting device mounting plate 33, 53 Motor mounting plate 34, 54 Bearing plate 35, 55 stepping motor 36, 56 screw shaft 38, 58 Elevating board 39, 59 Guide plate 40, 60 Main arm 41, 61 Reinforcement arm 45 Support ring 62 Lower limit switch 70 Elevation control device 71 Rise switch 72 Lower switch 74 Pressure judgment circuit 80 Supply conveyor

Claims (3)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A dispersion feeder that vibrates a receiving plate to transport the articles on the receiving plate toward a peripheral edge; and a dispersion feeder that transports the articles carried out from the peripheral edge of the receiving plate of the dispersion feeder on respective conveying surfaces. a plurality of linear feeders that receive the feeder and convey it in a predetermined direction, and are arranged above the receiving plate of the distributed feeder,
A dispersion feeding device comprising: a cylindrical body that allows articles supplied from above to pass onto the receiving plate; and a lifting device that raises and lowers the cylindrical body in accordance with a control signal. 2. The distributed feeding device according to claim 1, wherein a sensor for detecting the height of the article fed onto the receiving plate is moved up and down together with the cylinder. 3. The distributed supply device according to claim 1, further comprising a pressure sensor attached to the lower edge of the cylinder.