JPH0524646A - Fruit transport device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve a transport device of such a construction as grasping any fruit transported on a horizontal conveyor by means of a catcher on the extreme end of a rotary arm so as to surely grasp it in a stable posture even at high speed operation. CONSTITUTION:A circular-arc-like part 7b is provided on a part of a horizontal conveyor 7. The circular-arc-like part 7b is arranged along the rotary locus b3 of a catcher 3. Hereby, fruits on the conveyor 7 are advanced side by side together with the catcher 3 (at a same speed and a same angular speed), from a point (f) to a point (g) shown in the figure and hence grasping operation can be performed easily and surely during this term.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fruit carrier,
More specifically, the present invention relates to a conveying device of a type in which fruits conveyed by a horizontal conveyor are gripped by a catcher attached to a rotating arm and rotating in a horizontal plane.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art This type of conveying device is applied to, for example, a pear and apple boxing machine. Japanese Utility Model Application No. 63-232288 is known as a technique for ensuring the operation of this type of device. This publicly known invention is a "grip state securing device for a fruit catcher" that the present inventor has applied for, and is hereinafter abbreviated as the invention of the prior application.

FIG. 2 is introduced as a tentative plan in the above-mentioned known invention, in which fruits are fed on a horizontal conveyor 2 from the position 1a to the position 1b in the direction of arrow a. On the other hand, the catcher descends diagonally from the position 3a shown in the figure as shown by the arrow b ₁ and grasps the fruit 1b with the claw 4 at the position 3b, 3
Ascend in the direction of arrow b ₂ to position c. As a result, the fruit at the 1b position is lifted to the 1c position and carried. In the above-mentioned known invention, the catcher 3 is provided with a roller 5 as shown in FIG. 3, and a rail member 6 for guiding the roller 5 is provided to regulate the inclination angle θ of the ascending locus b ₂ of the catcher 3.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present inventor conducts industrial production of the fruit transporting apparatus according to the invention of the earlier application and asks the world about the product, so that "the gripped fruit may be removed as expected." Although there was a high evaluation that the practical effect of "no" was confirmed, we found that there is room for improvement in terms of speedup. FIG. 4A is a plan view showing an embodiment of the invention of the above-mentioned prior application, in which the fruit is at the 1d position, 1
It is fed at a constant speed in the direction of arrow a _{1 in} the order of position e and position 1f. On the other hand, the catcher 3 is attached to the tip of the rotation arm 5 and rotates around the rotation center O as indicated by an arrow b ₃ to grab the fruit.

FIG. 4 (B) is a plan view showing the relationship between the fruit conveyance locus a ₁ and the rotation locus b ₃ of the catcher 3. The straight line a ₁ and the circular arc b ₃ are in contact with each other at a point c. For this reason, the catcher must grab the fruit in the moment when the point c passes through, and it is very busy. In order to reliably perform the above-mentioned grasping operation, the linear speed indicated by the arrow a ₁ and the peripheral speed indicated by the arrow b ₃ must be matched, and these speeds must be set relatively low.

In order to obtain a time margin for the above-mentioned grasping operation, it may be considered to intersect the straight line a ₂ with the arc b _{3 as} shown in FIG. 4 (C). According to this method, the fruit and the catcher meet at the point d and separate at the point e, so that the gripping operation may be performed during this time. However, according to the method of FIG. 6C, the catcher and the fruit are separated from each other by the distance L in the radial direction between the points d and e. Therefore, the posture of the fruit held by the catcher becomes unstable. If the posture of the grasped fruits is not constant, for example, when the next step is packing of fruits in a box, the state of alignment of the fruits in the box deteriorates.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a conveying device capable of accurately and stably grasping fruits with a catcher even if the conveying speed is increased. To aim.

[0008]

As an arrangement for achieving the above object, the device of the present invention comprises an arm that rotates about a vertical axis, a catcher provided at the tip of the arm,
In a fruit transport device comprising a horizontal conveyor passing below a locus circle in which the catcher rotates with an arm, a plane projection figure of a transport path of the conveyor is
(A) a portion approaching the plane projection arc of the trajectory circle of the catcher, (b) an arc-shaped portion that translates along the plane projection arc, and (c) a plane projection arc of the trajectory circle of the catcher. It is characterized by having a part away from.

[0009]

According to the above construction, the fruit conveyed by the conveyor and the catcher for grasping the fruit are moved in parallel along the same arc in the section (b) with respect to the horizontal projection track.
Therefore, during this translational period, the gripping operation can be performed with a time margin, and the gripping and gripping can be carried out in a stable posture even at a relatively high transport speed.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
It is a figure corresponding to (A). The rotation arm 5 has a rotation center O.
Around the vertical axis, the catcher 3 is rotated in the horizontal plane in a circular arc as shown by an arrow b ₃ .
Reference numeral 7 denotes a horizontal conveyor for fruit transportation constructed in the present embodiment. Since a chain conveyor is used, its horizontal layout can be arbitrarily set.

[0011] Conveyor 7 of this embodiment, a linear portion 7a approaching as arrow a ₂ with respect to the arc b ₃ above, the arcuate portion 7b proceeds as indicated by an arrow a ₃ along the arc b ₃ , A straight line portion 7c moving away from the circular arc b ₃ as indicated by an arrow a ₄ . The fruit, which is the object to be conveyed, is conveyed by the conveyor 7 as indicated by the arrow a ₂ and meets the catcher 3 at the point f.
Then, up to the point g, it moves in parallel with the catcher 3 as indicated by the arrow a ₃ , and is caught in the meantime. Vacancy fruit on the conveyor 7 is 1k, the arrow a ₄ direction, like a 1l, conveyor 7
It moves on the straight line portion 7c of. Conveyor 7 of the present embodiment (FIG. 1) was constructed in a direction crossing the straight portion 7a and the arc b ₃ as indicated by arrow a _2. Although not shown in the drawings, as an embodiment different from the above, it is also possible to configure to approach in the tangential direction as indicated by arrow a ₅ . Similarly, the straight line portion 7c can be formed in the tangential direction as indicated by the arrow a ₆ . In short, it suffices to configure a portion that translates along the rotation locus arc of the catcher 3 as indicated by the arrow a ₃ and the front and rear portions connected to the arc-shaped portion 7b.

[0012]

As described above, according to the carrying apparatus of the present invention, the fruit on the horizontal conveyor can be accurately and stably grasped by the catcher even if the carrying speed is increased.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view for explaining the invention of the earlier application.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the invention of the earlier application.

FIG. 4 is a plan view for explaining a problem in the prior art.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 ... Catcher, 5 ... Rotating arm, 7 ... Conveyor, 7a
... straight part, 7b ... arc-shaped part, 7c ... straight part.

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. An arm that rotates about a vertical axis, a catcher that is provided at the tip of the arm, and a horizontal conveyor that passes below a trajectory circle in which the catcher rotates with the arm. In the fruit transporting device provided, the plane projection figure of the conveyor path is close to the plane projection arc of the catcher's trajectory circle, and the arcuate portion is parallel along the plane projection arc. And a portion distant from the plane projection arc of the trajectory circle of the catcher.