JPH0535813B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a weighing and pricing device for products, and particularly to a weighing and pricing device with a weight sorting function.

(Prior art) The price of the product is calculated from the weighing operation of weighing the product, the weight obtained by this operation, the unit price, tare weight, etc. set in advance for the product, and the price, etc. automatically prints a label and attaches it to the product.
Continuous weighing and pricing devices have been put into practical use. According to this weighing and pricing device, even if the weight of each product is different, each product is priced according to its weight.

However, in the case of products that have a specified weight range within a certain range, such as hams and sausages, each product must be weighed within the standard weight range (hereinafter referred to as the correct weight range) prior to the weighing and pricing process as described above. It is necessary to sort items according to whether or not they are included in the above range, and items within this range are not priced or priced at a certain amount, and items that are not included in this range are priced only. The above weighing and pricing work will be carried out. Therefore, when handling such products, a weight sorting device is required in addition to a weighing and pricing device, which increases the equipment cost significantly, requires a large space to install these devices, and also requires a weight sorting device. This becomes extremely troublesome because it requires sorting work and weighing and pricing work.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and is designed to enable sorting work and weighing and pricing work to be performed continuously using a single weighing and pricing device. Therefore, in the case of products for which standard weights are set within a certain range, weighing and pricing work is performed only for products outside the specified weight range. This improves the efficiency of this type of work and also
The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the need for multiple devices, thereby reducing equipment costs and space.

Particularly, in the second invention of the present application, it is an object of the present invention to further improve efficiency by sorting and discharging products that have been subjected to required processing, depending on whether they are within or outside the correct amount range.

(Structure of the Invention) The first and second inventions of the present application are respectively structured as follows in order to achieve the above objects.

First, the weighing and pricing device according to the first invention includes a weighing device that measures the weight of a product, and a label on which a price or a fixed price is printed according to the weight obtained by the weighing device and is attached to the product. In addition, the working modes include a weighing pricing mode in which pricing is performed according to weight using the pricing device, and a non-metric pricing mode in which pricing is not performed in accordance with weight. will be established. Specifically, this non-metric pricing mode includes a mode in which no pricing is performed by the pricing device, or a fixed price pricing mode in which a label with a fixed price printed by the pricing device is affixed to the product. and is included. In addition to these configurations, upper and lower limit value setting means are provided for setting upper and lower limits of the correct weight range of the product, and the weight of the product weighed by the weighing device is included in the correct weight range. The present invention further includes a determining means for determining whether or not the above-mentioned pricing device is operating, and a mode setting means for setting a working mode of the pricing device in accordance with the result of the determination.
This mode setting means sets the work mode to the non-weighing pricing mode when the weight of the product is within the weight range, and to the weighing pricing mode when it is outside the weight range. Therefore, according to this weighing and pricing device, each product is sorted into those within the correct amount range and those outside the correct amount range depending on its weight, and those within the range, that is, the price is constant. For items that are in stock, no pricing or fixed price pricing is performed, and for items that are outside the fixed quantity range, that is, items whose prices are not constant, weight pricing is performed according to weight.

Further, a weighing and pricing device according to a second invention of the present application is characterized in that, in addition to the pricing device according to the first invention, a sorting device is provided in the product discharge section. This sorting device can switch the discharge direction of products in at least two directions, and for example, discharges fixed quantity products that are not subject to weighing and pricing, and products that have been weighed and priced and are outside the fixed quantity range, to different locations. do. In addition, for products outside the specified quantity range,
If necessary, it is configured to further sort and discharge light products (products lighter than the lower limit of the correct amount range) and oversized products (products heavier than the upper limit of the correct amount range).

Therefore, according to this weighing and pricing device, each product is sorted into a plurality of discharge positions of the sorting device into a regular quantity product and an out-of-quantity product, or a regular quantity product, a light product, and an overquantity product. It will be sorted and discharged.

(Example) Examples of the present invention will be described below. still,
This embodiment is common to the first invention and the second invention of the present application.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the weighing and pricing device 1
This includes a main body 10 in which a take-in conveyor 20, a weighing device 30, and a pricing device 40 are arranged in a row on a pedestal 11, and the pricing device 4 in the main body 10.
0, and an operation box 60 located near the main body 10. Furthermore, in this example,
In the main body 10, an input conveyor 70 is disposed adjacent to the intake conveyor 20, and an output conveyor 80 is disposed adjacent to the sorting device 50, and near the starting end of the output conveyor 80 there are containers. A label printer 81 is provided. Here, the weighing device 30, the pricing device 40, and the sorting device 50 each have a weighing conveyor 31, a pasting conveyor 41, and a sorting conveyor 51. A series of conveyance paths are configured, which extend through the sorting conveyor 51 and reach the discharge conveyor 80.
In addition, on both sides of the input conveyor 70 and on both sides of each conveyor 20, 31, 41 in the main body 10,
A pair of guide plates 71, 71 and 12, 12 are provided to prevent the products from falling off to the side, and as shown in FIG. 20a, 31a,
41a is separated into left and right sides, and recesses 20b, 31b, 41b are formed in the center along the conveyance direction, and in the case of a round bar-shaped product such as ham or sausage, it is held in the recesses 20b, 31b, 41b. This prevents it from rolling sideways.

Therefore, the measuring device 30 in the main body 10
As shown in FIG. 1, the weighing conveyor 31 is assembled to a weighing machine 32 so that the weight of the weighing conveyor 31 and the weight of the products on the conveyor 31 are loaded onto the weighing machine 32. It's summery. In this case, since the weight of the weighing conveyor 31 is constant, the weight of the product is measured by the weighing machine 32.

Further, the pricing device 40 has a configuration in which a label printer 43 integrated with a label pasting machine 42 is arranged above the pasting conveyor 41, and the label pasting machine 42 receives the label issued by the label printer 43. It is adapted to be pasted on products passing on a pasting conveyor 41.

Further, the sorting device 50 includes frames 52 on both sides of the sorting conveyor 51, as shown in FIG.
52 has a pair of first and second levers 53 and 54 whose rear ends are swingably supported, and both levers 5
3 and 54 are located in the front-rear direction along the running direction of the sorting conveyor 51 as shown, the products on the conveyor 51 are allowed to proceed straight as they are, but the first lever 53 is not swung as shown by the chain line a. For example, the product is guided by the lever 53 and discharged to the excess product discharge section A provided on the left side (upper side in the drawing) with respect to the running direction of the conveyor 51, and the second lever 54 is similarly shown by the chain line b. When the conveyor 51 swings in this manner, the product is discharged to a lightweight product discharge section B provided on the right side (downward in the drawing) with respect to the traveling direction of the conveyor 51.

The operation box 60 also displays the item code, unit price, tare weight, and quantity range for each product.
Numeric keypad 61a and various item designation keys 61b for setting lower limit values, number of items to be packed into the container, etc.
etc., a display column 62a for displaying the item code and upper and lower limit values set in the input section 61, and a display column 62b for displaying the weight, unit price, price, etc. of each product, etc. It is composed of a display section 62 arranged therein.

In addition to the above-described configuration, this weighing and pricing apparatus 1 includes a taking-in sensor 21 and a weighing sensor 33 at predetermined positions of the taking-in conveyor 20, weighing conveyor 31, and pasting conveyor 41 of the main body 10, which detect the presence or absence of a product at the position. and attached sensor 4
4 are provided respectively. These sensors 21,
33, 44, as shown in FIG. 2, are composed of light emitters 21a, 33a, 44a and light receivers 21b, 33b, 44b, which are arranged facing each other on both sides of the conveyors 20, 31, 41, respectively. , the light output from the light emitters 21a, 33a, 44a is not blocked by the product and the light receivers 21b, 33b, 4
4b, the presence or absence of the product at the relevant position is detected.

Then, upon receiving signals from each of these sensors 21, 33, 44, a signal from the input section 61 of the operation box 60, a signal from the weighing device 30 (weighing machine 32), etc., the intake conveyor 20,
A control device is provided to control the operations of the weighing conveyor 31, the pasting conveyor 41, the label printer 43, the sorting device 50, the container label printer 81, and the like. Here, this control device is constituted by, for example, a microcomputer.

Next, a control system centered on this control device will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control device 90 receives an input signal A from the input section 61 of the operation box 60 indicating the unit price, tare weight, upper and lower limit values of the correct quantity range, etc. set for each product, and A display signal B is outputted to the display section 62 of the operation box 60 to instruct the numerical value etc. to be displayed. Further, this control device 90 inputs the product detection signal C from the intake sensor 21 on the intake conveyor 20 and outputs a stop signal D to stop the conveyor 20. This stop signal D is output when the intake sensor 21 detects a product before the weighing operation by the weighing device 30 for the preceding product is completed.
This prevents two products from being placed on the weighing conveyor 31 at the same time, and is also output when an error occurs.

The control device 90 also controls the product detection signal E from the weighing sensor 33 in the weighing device 30 and the weighing machine 3.
2 and performs a weight reading operation based on these signals E and F, and the label printer 43 in the pricing device 40
The label light emission signal G is output to. When the label printer 43 receives this label emitting signal G, it emits a label in accordance with the instruction contents of the signal G, and supplies this to the label pasting machine 42. When the label pasting machine 42 receives the product detection signal H from the pasting sensor 44, it operates to paste the label on the product.

Further, the control device 90 outputs a distribution signal I to the distribution device 50, and the operation of the first and second levers 53 and 54 in the distribution device 50 is controlled in accordance with this signal I. And the control device 9
0 further outputs a label issue signal J to the container label printer 81, and in response to this signal J, the printer 81 issues a container label.

Next, the specific operation of the above embodiment will be explained using the flowchart of FIG.

When a product is supplied onto the input conveyor 70 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the product is delivered from the input conveyor 70 to the weighing conveyor 31 of the weighing device 30 via the intake conveyor 20 in the main body 10. Depending on the product, the light emitting device 33a of the weighing sensor,
When light is blocked between the light receivers 33b, a product detection signal F is output from the sensor 33 to the control device 90.
When the weighing device 90 receives this product detection signal E, it executes steps _S1 to _S2 in the flowchart of FIG. Load the measured weight value of the product. Here, waiting for the product to be detected by the weighing sensor 33 before reading the weight value is not accurate because the operation of the weighing machine 32 is not stable immediately after the product is delivered to the weighing conveyor 31. This is because the weight cannot be detected, and the weight value is read after the operation of the weighing machine 32 becomes stable.

Next, in step _S3 , the control device 90 inputs the tare weight of the product and the weight signal F, which has been input in advance through the input section 61 of the operation box 60.
The net weight of the product is calculated from the weight value indicated by , and in step _S4 it is determined whether this net weight is overscaled, that is, whether it exceeds a predetermined allowable limit. In the case of overscaling, the control device 90 executes steps _S4 to _S5 to _S7 , outputs a display signal B to display an error on the display section 62 of the operation box 60, and also outputs a display signal B to display an error on the display section 62 of the operation box 60. conveyor 20
is stopped to prevent the next product from being sent to the weighing conveyor 31, and overscaled products are discharged to the excess product discharge section A by the sorting device 50. The operation of this distribution device 50 is controlled by the distribution signal I.
This is done by swinging the lever 53 to the position indicated by the chain line a in FIG. As a result, overscale products are transferred from the weighing conveyor 31 to the sorting conveyor 51 of the sorting device 50, and then guided by the first lever 53 to the excess product discharge section A.
will be discharged.

On the other hand, if the net weight of the item is within the permissible limit,
The control device 90 executes steps S ₄ to S ₈ to determine whether the amount is within the correct amount range whose upper and lower limits are set in advance by the input section 61 of the operation box 60 within the above-mentioned allowable limits. Determine whether or not. If the amount is within the fixed amount range, the fixed amount pricing mode is executed from step _S8 to steps _S9 to _S12 .
In this fixed price pricing mode, the first step is
Label printer 43 in price marking device 40 at S ₉
Label issue signal G to issue a flat rate label to
Output. When the label printer 43 receives this signal G, it prints a predetermined fixed amount and other items on a label and supplies it to the label pasting machine 42. During this time, the product is transferred from the weighing conveyor 31 to the pasting conveyor 41. Then, when the leading part of the product is detected by the pasting sensor 44, steps _S10 to _S11 are executed, and upon receiving the product detection signal H from the pasting sensor 44, the label pasting machine 42 is activated. , the pasting machine 42
The above label will be affixed to the product passing below. Then, the control device 90 performs step _S12 .
, the first and second levers 5 are attached to the sorting device 50.
The sorting signal I is outputted so as to maintain the conveyors 3 and 54 at the positions indicated by solid lines in FIG. As a result, products whose weights are within the correct amount range are sorted by the sorting device 5.
It is transferred straight forward by the zero sorting conveyor 51 and delivered to the carry-out conveyor 80.

However, if the net weight of the product calculated in step _S3 is not within the above-mentioned correct weight range, the control device 90 executes the weighing and pricing mode from step _S8 to step _S13 . That is, first, in step _S13 , the price of the product is calculated from the net weight and the unit price of the product that has been input in advance in the input section 61 of the operation box 60, and this price is printed on a label and issued. A label issuing signal G is sent to the label printer 43 of the pricing device 40.
Output. Then, as in the case of the fixed price pricing mode described above, the pricing label issued from the label printer 43 in steps _S14 to _S16 is pasted on the product by the label pasting machine 42, and the price label is pasted on the product in step S14. In _{step 17} , it is determined whether this product is an oversized product that exceeds the upper limit of the regular amount range or a light product that does not meet the lower limit of the range. And the control device 90
outputs a sorting signal I to swing either the first lever 53 or the second lever 54 of the sorting device 50 depending on whether the product is overweight or light in step S ₁₈ or S ₁₉ . The products are distributed to the excess product discharge section A, and the light products are distributed to the light product discharge section B.

In this way, each product is sorted into full weight, overweight, and light weight products according to the weight obtained by the weighing device, and the full weight products are discharged onto the carry-out conveyor 80 after being priced at a fixed price. In addition, overweight and light products are weighed and priced according to their weight, and then distributed and discharged to the respective discharge sections A or B.

Here, overscale products are also discharged to the same excess discharge section A as the above-mentioned excess products, but when an overscale product is detected, the intake conveyor 20 is stopped and work is temporarily interrupted, so this overscale product is There is no confusion between scale products and oversized products.

In addition, the quantity of products discharged onto the carry-out conveyor 80 is packed into the container
When the number preset by the input unit 61 of 0 is reached, the container label printer 81 receives the container label issuing signal J from the control device 90.
issues a container label. After this label is affixed to the container X, the container X is transported to the next station by the carry-out conveyor 80.

In addition, in the above embodiment, a fixed price is applied to a fixed quantity product, but the fixed quantity product may be discharged without being priced, and then a fixed price may be applied to it all at once. . In other words, the working mode for quantitative products (non-metric pricing mode)
The mode may be either a fixed price pricing mode or a mode in which no pricing is performed, or it may be possible to freely switch between these two modes.

Furthermore, as another work method, first fix the work mode to the fixed price pricing mode, then set the fixed price for the selected regular quantity products, and also set the fixed price for the selected quantity products (excess quantity or lightweight products). As the next step, after switching the work mode to the weighing and pricing mode, the weighing and pricing may be performed again. Next, the procedure of such a working method will be explained according to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the steps in the flowchart in Figure 5.
According to S ₁ ′ to S ₇ ′, as in the case described above, the products are weighed and the net weight is calculated, and predetermined processing for overscale products is performed. In addition, it is a product that is not overscaled,
For the products included in the fixed quantity range, a fixed price is assigned according to steps _S8 ' to _S12 ' in the same way as in the above case, and the products are transferred to the fixed quantity product discharge section C (carryout conveyor 8).
(starting end of 0). On the other hand, for products that are outside the quantity range, steps _S8 ' to _S13 ' are executed to determine whether the excess quantity product is a lightweight product, and depending on the determination result, steps _S14 ' or S13' are executed.
_S15 ' is executed, and the weight is printed in the excess weight column or light weight column of the print paper using a journal printer provided separately. In this case, the products are discharged to the discharge section for products outside the specified quantity range in step _S16 ' without being priced. After that, when weight sorting for a predetermined number of products or fixed price pricing for regular quantity products is completed as described above, the work mode is switched to weighing and pricing mode, and the discharge section for products outside the above quantity range is Weighing and pricing will be carried out again for the products discharged during the period. In the work in this weighing and pricing mode, weight sorting is not performed, and all supplied products are priced according to their weights, as in the past. In that case, since regular quantity products are excluded, it is necessary to sort out regular quantity products from regular quantity products (excessive quantity and light weight) products, and to determine fixed price pricing for regular quantity products and products outside the regular quantity range. Quantitative pricing will be carried out.

It should be noted that the data regarding products outside the specified quantity range printed by the journal printer in steps S ₁₄ ′ and S ₁₅ ′ will be used for subsequent production management of the products.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, in a weighing and pricing device that performs weighing and pricing according to the weight of each product, first, the weight of each product is sorted, and a predetermined Since the above-mentioned weighing and pricing is performed only on products that are not included in the weight range, for example, in the case of products that have standard weights within a certain range, such as hams and sausages, each product is weighed and priced prior to weighing and pricing. There is no need to screen products to see if they fall within the correct amount range. This eliminates the need for sorting equipment, which was conventionally required when handling this type of product, and reduces equipment costs and equipment installation space.
Work efficiency will be significantly improved. In particular, according to the second invention of the present application, products that have undergone the necessary processing depending on whether they are within or outside the fixed quantity range are sorted and discharged to different discharge sections, making it easy to sort them after pricing work. This will further improve work efficiency.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment common to the first and second inventions of the present application, and FIG. 1 is an overall front view of the weighing and pricing device, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a control system diagram. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing one example of operation, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing another example of operation. 1...Weighing and pricing device, 30...Measuring device, 4
0...Pricing device, 50...Distribution device, 60...
... Upper and lower limit value setting means (operation box), 90...
Discrimination means, mode setting means (control device).

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A weighing and pricing device consisting of a weighing device and a pricing device, which has a weighing and pricing mode in which the product is priced according to its weight as a working mode, and a weighing and pricing mode in which it prices the product according to its weight. a non-weighing pricing mode in which no weighing is performed, upper and lower limit value setting means for setting the upper and lower limits of the weight range of the product, and determining means for determining whether the weight of the product is within the weight range. , mode setting means for setting the work mode to a non-metric pricing mode when the amount is within the correct amount range, and to a metric pricing mode when it is outside the range, according to the determination result. Weighing and pricing equipment. 2. The metric pricing device according to claim 1, wherein the non-metric pricing mode is a fixed amount pricing mode in which pricing is performed at a fixed amount. 3. The metric pricing device according to claim 1, wherein the non-metric pricing mode is a mode in which no pricing is performed. 4. A weighing and pricing device consisting of a weighing device, a pricing device, and a sorting device, which has two work modes: a weighing and pricing mode in which the product is priced according to its weight, and a non-marketing mode in which the product is not priced in accordance with its weight. It has a weighing pricing mode, and also has a weighing price range, and
Upper and lower limit value setting means for setting the lower limit value; determining means for determining whether the weight of the product is within the above-mentioned correct amount range; and a mode setting means for setting the weighing and pricing mode to the weighing and pricing mode when the amount is outside the range, and the sorting device is configured to sort the products at least in two directions depending on whether the product is within or outside the weighing range. A weighing and pricing device comprising: 5. The metric pricing device according to claim 4, wherein the non-metric pricing mode is a fixed price pricing mode in which pricing is performed at a fixed amount. 6. The metric pricing device according to claim 4, wherein the non-metric pricing mode is a mode in which no pricing is performed. 7. The metric pricing device according to claim 4, wherein the non-metric pricing mode is switchable between a fixed price pricing mode and a mode in which no pricing is performed.