JPH05244917A - Fruit calyx remover and fruit pulp cutter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable automatic operations of calyx removal and fruit pulp cutting into halves, which have been conventionally done by hand. CONSTITUTION:Endless chain 12 which is intermittently driven is equipped with conveyer B which has fruits fixed on its platform 13 at an interval, calyx remover C comprising a stand which is movable toward the platform 13, and has a cutter 23 for removing the calyx and pulp cutter E which has a blade 30 moving vertically toward the platform 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fruit scraping / cutting device for continuously and automatically removing scraps of fruits such as strawberries and cutting the fruit into two parts.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Fruits such as strawberries, which have been divided into two pieces by decorating them, are decorated on a cake such as a decoration cake or Mont Blanc. Conventionally, the work of removing the body of the fruit and dividing it into two parts have been performed manually, and the fruit placed on the cutting board is held by one hand, and the work carried by the knife grasped by the other hand is used. The neighboring fruit was cut to remove the mess, and then the strawberry was divided into two.

[0003]

The work of picking fruits and the cutting work in two parts are both inefficient because they are manual work, and moreover, they are the continuous repetition of simple work, and the degree of mental fatigue of the workers is high. There was a problem such as large. In order to simplify the flattening work, as shown in FIG. 8, when the horizontally placed strawberry W is cut along the vertical cutting plane V, the flattened W ₁
At the same time, there is a problem that the meat of the strawberry W is largely removed, and that the area of the vertical cut surface V becomes large, so that the oxidation of the fruit is promoted by the contact with air and the freshness is deteriorated.

Further, since it is not preferable for hygiene to directly touch the fruit with a fingertip, it was desired to automate this manual work, but there was no automatic device for flattening and cutting. An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem, and to automatically and efficiently cut the fruit into pieces and cut the fruit into two pieces, and reduce the processed cut surface of the piece to make the fruit pieces.・ Provides a cutting device

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, in the take-off / cutting / cutting device of the present invention, two drive sprockets fixed to the drive shaft and two drive sprockets fixed to the driven shaft. 2 endless chains are wound around the driven sprocket, and a plurality of fruit mounting bases each having a fruit accommodating portion formed in the center thereof are arranged and fixed to the endless chain at predetermined intervals, and are fixed to the drive shaft through an intermittent rotation device. And a drive motor are connected, and the fruit placing table temporarily stops at each station such as fruit insertion, scraping, scraping, and cutting, and it is possible to move forward and backward toward the scraping station. It has a flattening moving base, a flattening removing motor attached to the flattening moving base, and a flattening removing cutter which is rotated by the flattening removing motor to come into contact with and separate from the flats of the fruit. Flattening device and above It is composed of a lifting table arranged above the cutting station, a cutting blade driving motor attached to the lifting table, and a cutting device having a cutting blade rotated by the cutting blade driving motor and passing through the fruit. ..

In order to surely remove the cut off pieces,
It is effective to provide a nozzle facing the flattening removal station at the other end of the compressed air pipe, one end of which communicates with the compressed air source via an electromagnetic valve. In order to reduce the displacement of the fruit on the fruit placing table, a guide plate that guides the side of the fruit placed on the fruit placing table and a fruit guide plate that guides the upper portion of the fruit, It is arranged parallel to the endless chain. Alternatively, a pair of arms that can be opened and closed are provided on the hand main body that is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat toward the above-mentioned gathering station, and the fruit stored in the fruit placing table stopped at the gathering station is provided at the tip of the arms. A clamp hand provided with a gripping claw for gripping or releasing is provided.

[0007]

The function of the take-off / cutting / cutting device constructed as described above is as follows. When the drive motor is rotated, the rotation of the motor is transmitted to the drive shaft via the intermittent rotation device, the endless chain circulates by a predetermined amount at a predetermined time interval, and a plurality of fruit mounting tables each insert a fruit. ，
Pause, remove, and disconnect the stations in that order.

[0008] The fruit is inserted into the fruit accommodating recess of the fruit placing table temporarily stopped at the fruit inserting station by the operator (or by another transfer device). When the fruit placing table on which the fruit is placed is temporarily stopped at the squatting station, the scraping moving table advances toward the fruit, and the spinning scraping cutter is used to cut the scrapes after cutting. The transfer table for withdrawal moves backward, and the fruit table is again transported intermittently.

When the fruit is stored in the fruit storage recess in a horizontal position, the flat guide plate is effective for positioning the fruit in the horizontal direction, and the fruit guide plate prevents the fruit from shaking during flattening. It has a suppressing effect. When the fruit is accommodated in the fruit accommodating concave portion in a vertical position, the gripping claws of the clamp hand clamp the fruit during defeating and prevent the fruit from shaking.

When the scraps cut by the scraper removing cutter adhere to the fruit without falling, they are surely removed at the next scraper removing station. When the fruit placing table is temporarily stopped at the squat removing station, the pressured air ejected from the nozzles removes the scraps adhering to the fruits.

When the fruit placing table is temporarily stopped at the cutting station, the elevating table descends and the rotating cutting blade passes downward through almost the center of the fruit to divide the fruit. Next, after the lifting table rises and the cutting blade retracts upward, the fruit placing table is intermittently conveyed toward the carry-out end, and at the carry-out end, the fruit placing table rotates downward and approaches the return path. The fruits on the table are dropped and supplied to the next process below.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a flattening / cutting / cutting device A of a type in which a strawberry W, which is a fruit, is accommodated in a fruit accommodating recess in a horizontal posture. FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the squatting / cutting / cutting device A includes a fruit intermittent conveying device B, a squatting device C, a squatting / removing device D, and a cutting device E. Conveyor frame 1 of carrier B
Side walls 3, 4 facing each other on both sides of the bottom wall 2 are erected, and a drive shaft 5 and a driven shaft 6 are rotatably supported by the side walls 3, 4.

A motor base 7 is fixed to the outer surface of the side wall 3,
A drive motor 8 and an intermittent rotation device 9 connected to the output shaft of the drive motor 8 and the drive shaft 5 are provided on the motor base 7,
The rotation of the drive motor 8 is converted into intermittent rotation and transmitted to the drive shaft 5. The drive shaft 5 has two drive sprockets 1
0 and 10 are fixed, and the driven sprocket 1 is attached to the driven shaft 6.
1, 11 are fixed, and two endless chains 12 are wound around the drive sprocket 10 and the driven sprocket 11.

A plurality of fruit mounting bases 13 as shown in FIG. 3 are arranged on the two endless chains 12 at predetermined intervals and fixed by means such as welding. Therefore, when the drive motor 8 is rotated, the drive sprocket 10 is intermittently rotated by a predetermined angle at predetermined time intervals, and the fruit placing tables 13 are moved to the fruit inserting station F, the first intermediate station G, and the second intermediate station H. Taking station I, waste removing station J, cutting station K, unloading station L
, And then pause (see FIG. 2).

The fruit placing table 13 has a sloping surface 14 which is lowered toward the center in order to place the strawberry W in a horizontal posture.
A fruit accommodating recess 14 having a formed therein is provided. Strawberry w
Since the bent W ₁ is placed so as to face the front side in FIG. 3, the rear portion of the inclined surface 14a is shallow. A slit 15 which is a relief of a cutting blade that divides the strawberry W into two is formed in substantially the center of the fruit placing table 13 (see FIG. 3).

A belt conveyor 16 intersecting the intermittent rotation device 9 at a right angle is provided near the unloading end of the intermittent rotation device 9, and the intermittent rotation device 9 is unloaded above both side edges of the belt conveyor 16. Transfer guide plates 17, 18 for guiding the strawberry W dropped and supplied from the end to the belt conveyor 16 are provided.

In the flattening device C provided in the flattening station I, a pedestal 19 having a sliding surface on its upper surface is attached to the side wall 4, and a drive device (not shown) provided in the pedestal 19 is used. , Moving table 20 for flattening on the sliding surface
However, the fruit stand 13 stopped at Setatori Station I
It is possible to move back and forth toward the front end, and the forward movement position of the flattening movable table 20 is finely adjusted by the cutting depth adjustment handle 21. Deletion motor 22 on the removal table 20
Is fixed, and the scraper removing cutter 23 is attached to the removing motor 22.
Connected to.

In the spatula removing device D arranged at the spatula removing station J, a case 24 for accommodating a compressed air source (not shown) such as a compressor is installed outside the side wall 4,
At the other end of the compressed air pipe 25, one end of which communicates with the compressed air source via a solenoid valve (not shown), a nozzle 26 having an opening toward the strawberry W temporarily stopped at the squatting station J is provided (FIG. 1). And FIG. 2).

In the cutting device E, a quadrangular prismatic post 27 is fixed to the outer surface of the side wall 3, and an elevating table 28 slidably provided on the side surface of the post 27 is a drive device provided on the post 27 ( (Not shown), and the lower end of the lifting table 28 is adjusted by the height adjusting handle 29. A cutting blade driving motor 31 that drives a cutting blade 30 is attached to the lifting table 28, and the cutting blade 30 has a safety cover 32 covering the upper half part thereof, and the cutting table K is temporarily stopped. It passes through the strawberry W on the fruit placing table 13 from directly above and descends until it reaches the slit 15.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a guide plate 33 for guiding the side W ₁ of the strawberry W placed on the fruit placing table 13 and a fruit guide plate 34 for guiding the upper part of the strawberry W. .. The guide plates 33 are slidable plate portions 35 that are parallel to the conveyance direction M of the fruit placing table 13, and extend at both ends of the sliding plate portions 35, and the inclined portions 36 whose ends are inclined in a direction away from the fruit placing table 13. And a slide plate portion 35, an insertion hole 37 formed inside the inclined portions 36, and two leg portions 38 hanging from the lower edge of the slide plate portion 35. It is fastened to the upper surface of the side wall 4 with a screw 39.

The fruit guide plate 34 is composed of a support member 40 whose side wall is fixed and a guide plate 41 which is attached to the support member 40 in a positionally adjustable manner. Support member 40
The lower wall 43 is bent and extended at a substantially right angle from the lower end of the side wall 42, and is fastened to the side wall 3 with a bolt 50 (see FIG. 5). An upper wall 44 is bent and extended from the upper end of the side wall 42 in a direction substantially opposite to the lower wall 43, and two holes 4 are formed in the upper wall 44.
5 (see FIG. 5) are drilled.

The guide plate 41 has a rod 46 inserted into the hole 45.
A male screw is provided on the upper part of the nut, and a nut 47 is screwed onto the male screw. A swash plate 48 having an inclination that increases in the direction of the side wall 3 is fixed to the lower end of the rod 46, and the swash plate 48 and the support member 4 are attached.
A spring 49 having a weak force to be wound around the rod 46 is inserted between the upper wall 42 and the upper wall 42 of 0. Therefore, the guide plate 41 has the spring 4
9 is urged downward, and the height of the descending end is adjusted by the nut 47. Reference numeral 63 shown in FIG. 2 is a standing wall for guiding the strawberry W.

[0023] The pickling of fruits having the above-mentioned structure
The operation of scraping the strawberry W by the cutting device A and the cutting in two will be described. When the automatic operation button on the operation panel (not shown) is operated, the motor 8 for driving the intermittent fruit transporting device B is operated.
Rotates, and the rotation of the motor 8 is converted into intermittent rotation by the intermittent rotation device 9 and transmitted to the drive shaft 5, and the endless chain 12
Circulates by a predetermined amount at a predetermined time interval, and the plurality of fruit placing tables 13 are respectively connected to the fruit inserting stations F,
The first intermediate station G, the second intermediate station H, the scraping station I, the scraping removing station J, the cutting station K, and the unloading side station L are temporarily stopped in this order.

[0024] Fruit accommodating recess 14 of the fruit insertion station F fruit paused on the mounting table 13, at operator's hand (or by a separate transfer device) to guide plate 33 f of stem W ₁ of strawberry W Insert toward. As shown in FIG. 4, when the fruits mounting table 13 is fed in the direction of the arrow M, together with the shank S that protrudes from the stem W ₁ enters the stem insertion hole 37, poor W ₁
The position of is restricted by the guide plate 33.

The swash plate 48 of the fruit guide plate 34 prevents the strawberry W from displacing to the opposite side of the flat guide plate 33. Strawberries W of approximately the same size are flown as a lot, so the height of the fruit guide plate 34 is adjusted by the nut 47 to match the size of the strawberries W. Large strawberry W with a relatively large size in the same lot
However, when it hits the swash plate 48, the swash plate 48 rises against the spring 49 and contacts the strawberry with a small contact pressure, allowing the strawberry W to pass.

When the fruit placing table 13 on which the strawberry W is placed passes through the first and second intermediate stations G and H while being intermittently transported and is temporarily stopped at the settling station I, the settling device C is settling off. The movable table 20 moves forward toward the strawberry W, and the rotating cutter removing cutter 23 cuts the recess W ₁ . Since the cutting resistance of the scraper removing cutter 23 is extremely small, the strawberry W that keeps a light contact pressure with the fruit guide plate 34 does not shake or retreat due to the cutting resistance.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a cut surface U obtained by cutting W ₁ by the scraper removing cutter 23. By reducing the cut amount of the scraper removing cutter 23 as much as possible, the strawberry W Most of the original shape can be retained.

Many of the cut pieces W ₁ are dropped downward, but the pieces W ₁ attached to the strawberry W without falling.
₁ is removed at the next spatula removal station J. When the fruit placing table 13 is temporarily stopped at the set removing station J after the settling moving table 20 is retracted, the solenoid valve of the compressed air pipe 25 is opened, and the compressed air ejected from the nozzle 26 attaches to the strawberry W. W _{1 is} removed.

When the fruit placing table 13 is temporarily stopped at the cutting station K, the elevating table 28 of the cutting device E descends and the rotating cutting blade 30 passes through substantially the center of the strawberry W, and the strawberry W is divided. Next, the lifting table 28 is raised to move the cutting blade 3
After 0 retreats upward, the fruit placing table 13 reaches the carry-out end after passing through the unloading side station L, and the fruit placing table 13
Rotates along the drive sprocket 10, so that the strawberry W on the fruit table 13 rolls on the transfer guide plate 17 and is transferred to the belt conveyor 16. At this time, the outer transfer guide plate 18 prevents the strawberry W from falling off.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a take-away / cutting / cutting apparatus A ₁ showing a second embodiment of the present invention, in which a strawberry W, which is a fruit, is placed vertically in a recess for receiving fruits. The intermittent fruit conveying device B is the same as the first embodiment except that the shape of the fruit placing table 51 is different. In the fruit placing table 51, the lower surfaces of a plurality of plate-shaped portions 52 are fixed to the two endless chains 12 at predetermined intervals, and the tubular portion 53 is provided on the plate-shaped portions 52.

On the inner surface of the tubular portion 53,
The truncated cone-shaped fruit accommodating concave portion 54 is formed, and the cylindrical portion 5 is formed.
3 has a slit 55 formed therein, and the fruit storing recess 54 has a slit 55.
The lower half of W is accommodated. Therefore, the size of strawberry W
And the height of the top of the strawberry W is different, ₁of
There is a problem that you have to adjust the removal processing position
Therefore, a sensor 64 for detecting the height of the top of W is provided.
The removal cutter 23 is lifted and lowered by the signal of the sensor 64.
Control the falling end of the pulse motor.

In the flattening apparatus C provided in the flattening station I, a post 56 is provided in place of the pedestal 19, and the flattening movable table 57 moves up and down along the post 56. Is the same as in the first embodiment. However, instead of the flat guide plate 33 and the fruit guide plate 34, a clamp hand 58 that holds the upper half of the strawberry W is used.

In the clamp hand 58, a pair of arms 61 that can be opened and closed are provided on a hand body 60 that can be moved back and forth toward the fruit placing table 51 along a sliding surface provided on a frame 59. A grip claw 62 for lightly gripping or releasing the strawberry W stored in the fruit mounting table 51 stopped at the scraping station I was provided at the tip.

The flattening device D and the cutting device E are the same as those in the first embodiment. Regarding the automatic operation, the position of the processing end of the flattening cutter is adjusted by the sensor to the height of each strawberry W. And adjust the strawberry W positioned at the flattening station I by the clamp hand 58.
It is the same as the first embodiment except that it is clamped at. This fruit scraping / cutting device A ₁ has the advantage that strawberry W is also difficult to carry during transportation or processing. In the present embodiment, the fruit picking / cutting device for automatically processing strawberry has been described, but the same device can be used for fruits other than strawberry.

[0035]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. (1) The process of scraping fruits such as strawberries and cutting in two parts can be performed extremely efficiently and automatically, and the conventional processing cost can be significantly reduced. (2) In addition, workers who used to perform manual work conventionally are freed from harsh working conditions, which has the effect of solving a permanent labor shortage. (3) Since the fruit can be processed without being manually held, it has an effect on food hygiene.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a fruit scraping / cutting device A showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a fruit placing table showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a flat guide plate and a fruit guide plate.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a fruit guide plate.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a fruit scraping / cutting device A ₁ showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a strawberry with a scrap removed.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a conventional manually cut surface.

[Explanation of symbols]

A, A ₁ Fruit scraping / cutting device B Fruit intermittent conveying device C Breaking device D Breaking device E Cutting device F Fruit inserting station I Breaking station J Breaking station K Cutting station 1 Conveyor frame 5 Drive shaft 6 Driven shaft 8 Drive motor 9 Intermittent rotation device 10 Drive sprocket 11 Driven sprocket 12 Endless chain 13 Fruit placing table 14,54 Fruit receiving recess 15,55 Slit 20, 57 Removal for moving to 22 Motor 23 Cutter for removal 25 Compressed air pipe 26 Nozzle 28 Elevating table 30 Cutting blade 33 Guide plate 34 to be bent Fruit guide plate 40 Support member 41 Guide plate 48 Diagonal plate 58 Clamp hand 60 Hand body 61 Arm 62 Grip claw

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Two drive sprockets fixed to a drive shaft and two driven sprockets fixed to a driven shaft.
A plurality of fruit placing bases each having a fruit accommodating portion formed in the center thereof are wound around the endless chain and fixed to the endless chain at predetermined intervals, and a drive motor is attached to the drive shaft through an intermittent rotation device. An intermittent fruit carrier for connecting and suspending the above fruit placing table at each station such as inserting, scraping, scraping, and cutting the fruit, and moving for scraping that can move forward and backward toward the scraping station. A flat removal device having a table, a flat removal motor attached to the flat removal moving table, and a flat removal cutter that is rotated by the flat removal motor to come into contact with and separate from the flat of the fruit. A lifting table arranged above the cutting station, a cutting blade driving motor attached to the lifting table, and a cutting device having a cutting blade rotated by the cutting blade driving motor and passing through the fruit. Composed Up real poor -
Cutting device. 2. A guide plate for guiding the side of the fruit placed on the fruit placing table and a fruit guide plate for guiding the upper portion of the fruit are arranged in parallel with the endless chain. The device for scraping / cutting fruits according to claim 1, wherein 3. A pair of arms that can be opened and closed are provided on a hand main body that is capable of advancing and retracting toward the harvesting station, and the ends of the arms are accommodated in a fruit placing table stopped at the harvesting station. The device for picking and cutting fruits according to claim 1, further comprising a clamp hand provided with a gripping claw for gripping or releasing the cut fruit. 4. A nozzle having an opening toward the hollow of the fruit of the spine removing station is provided at the other end of the compressed air pipe, one end of which communicates with a compressed air source via a solenoid valve. The fruit scraping / cutting device according to claim 1.