JPH06229816A - Combined weighing instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To smoothly and efficiently discharge articles by setting the opening time interval of a weighing hopper in accordance with the time required for discharging the articles housed in the weighing hopper. CONSTITUTION:Articles M drop onto a dispersion feeder 2 and are sent to (n) pieces of weighing hoppers 6 through (n) pieces of vibration feeders 3, etc. Each hopper 6 is equipped with a hopper weight measuring instrument 7 and the instrument 7 measures the weight of the articles in its own hopper 6 and sends the measured weight to a combined arithmetic means 10 as a weight signal W. The means 10 takes the sum of (m) pieces of measured values out of the signals W, selects the combination which is the closest to a target weight, and sends data to a discharging time calculating means 11. The calculating means 11 calculates the discharging time required by each of the (m) pieces of hoppers 6 housing the articles M of the selected combination in accordance with the measured weight values. The discharge time data are sent to a discharge control means 12 and the means 12 successively opens the hoppers 6 at the time interval corresponding to the required discharge time and discharges the articles M onto an aggregate discharging chute 9. Therefore, the articles M can be smoothly and efficiently discharged in a combined state.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention mainly measures articles to be weighed (hereinafter referred to as articles) such as confectionery and vegetables with a large number of weighing machines, and selects an optimum combination of articles from the weighing results. The present invention relates to a combination weighing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A combination weighing device combines articles, such as confectionery, fruits, and vegetables, having different weights, to obtain a target weight. In this kind of combination weighing device, articles are conveyed by a conveyor and are supplied to a plurality of driving feeders radially arranged at the periphery of the conical-shaped dispersing feeder. Supplied to the hopper. The respective weighing values (weight of articles) obtained by these weighing hoppers are combined and processed by the combination control means, whereby the optimum combination of weighing hoppers (articles) is selected. That is, the combination closest to the target weight is selected based on the measured values of the plurality of weighing hoppers. The selected articles are collectively discharged through the collective discharge chute.

Conventionally, in this combination weighing device, as a method for smoothly discharging articles without overlapping in the collective discharge chute, for example, a plurality of selected weighing hoppers are opened at regular time intervals (see Fair 1-
No. 52406), or a process in which the selected weighing hoppers are divided into a plurality of groups (for example, three), and the weighing hoppers are opened with a certain time interval between the groups to sequentially discharge the articles. Is being done.

[0004]

However, if the respective weighing hoppers or groups of the weighing hoppers are sequentially opened at such a constant time interval, the weight (or volume) of the articles for each weighing hopper or each group is increased. Is not constant. Therefore, the time required for the articles to flow down on the collecting and discharging chute in a vertically long line varies among the weighing hoppers or groups.

However, since the discharge time interval of each weighing hopper or each group is constant, the articles discharged from the weighing hopper or group having a large weight of articles, that is, the articles in a long vertical row, are completely discharged. If the items are discharged from the succeeding weighing hopper or the group before they are overlapped, an overlap occurs, and in an extreme case, the fluidity of the items deteriorates and the lower openings of the collective discharge chute become clogged, making it impossible to collect the items. There is. On the other hand, if the time difference of the opening timing of the weighing hopper is set longer than necessary in order to avoid this, there is a problem that the cycle time of the weighing and discharging process becomes long and the work efficiency is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a combination weighing device capable of discharging articles smoothly without clogging and efficiently.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a combination weighing device of the present invention comprises a plurality of weighing devices for weighing the weight of articles and an operation for performing a combination based on the weighing values of the weighing devices. And a chute for collecting the articles related to the combination selected by the calculating means,
Discharge time calculating means for calculating a required discharge time according to the measured value of each of the weighing hoppers containing the articles related to the selected combination, and a time interval according to the required discharge time for each weighing hopper. Ejection control means for discharging the articles on the chute by sequentially holding them open.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the time interval from the opening of one weighing hopper to the opening of the next weighing hopper is set according to the required discharge time of the articles stored in the preceding weighing hopper. Therefore, the articles sequentially discharged from the respective weighing hoppers do not overlap on the chute, and the articles can be smoothly discharged without clogging.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, a conveyor 1 is a conveyor that drops an article M sent from a manufacturing line to the center of a flat conical dispersion feeder 2. On the periphery of the dispersion feeder 2, n vibration feeders 3 are provided. Each vibrating feeder 3 is driven according to the set feed force value, that is, vibrated by the set vibration and the number of times, and thereby the articles M on the distributed feeder 2 are sent to the n pool hoppers 4. . Each pool hopper 4 is provided with a gate 5 and n weighing hoppers 6 are provided below it. Each weighing hopper 6 is provided with a hopper weight scale 7 and a gate 8. A collective discharge chute 9 is provided below the gate 8, and a packaging machine 14 is installed below the collective discharge chute 9.

The hopper weight measuring device 7 is composed of, for example, a load cell in which a strain detecting element such as a strain gauge is attached to a strain generating body, weighs the article M in the weighing hopper 6, and outputs the measured value as a weight signal w. Output as. The control unit U includes a combination calculation means 10, a discharge time calculation means 11 and a discharge control means 12, and the weight signal w is input to the combination calculation means 10. The combination calculation means 10 combines the weighing values from the hopper weight scales 7, that is, n weighing hoppers 6
The optimum combination of the weighing hoppers 6 (the optimum combination of the articles) is selected by combining the weights of the articles M stored in. Specifically, of the measured values from the hopper weight scale 7, the combination of m (n> m) measured values is added, and this is compared with the target weight to determine the weight of the article M to be packaged. Select the combination that gives the closest value to the weight or target weight.

The combination data obtained by the combination calculation means 10 is input to the discharge time calculation means 11. The discharge time calculation means 11 calculates the required discharge time according to the measured value of each of the m weighing hoppers 6 that store the articles M related to the selected combination. The required discharge time in this case is the time required for the corresponding stored articles M of the weighing hopper 6 to be discharged to the packaging machine 14 after the hopper is opened. For this calculation, the combination data and the data of the discharge allocation time T input by the operator from the remote control unit 13 to the discharge time calculation means 11 are used.

The discharge allotted time T in this case is the article M
Of the processing time Ts for one cycle to weigh and complete the packaging, the time allotted as the time required for the article M to be discharged from the combination-selected weighing hopper 6 through the weight discharge chute 9. Is. For example, when the processing time Ts for one cycle is 3 seconds, 2 seconds is allocated as the discharge allocation time T.

The discharge time data obtained by the discharge time calculation means 11 is input to the discharge control means 12. The discharge control means 12 sequentially opens the weighing hoppers 6 at time intervals corresponding to the required discharge time, and discharges the articles M onto the collective discharge chute 9.

Next, the operation of the combination weighing device will be described. The articles M are sent from the conveyor 1 onto the dispersion feeder 2, and are further discharged to the packaging machine 14 through the drive feeder 3, the pool hopper 4, the weighing hopper 6, and the collecting and discharging chute 9, and packed into bags. At this time, the combination calculation means 10 selects the optimum combination of the m weighing hoppers 6 as described above.

The combination selection data obtained by the combination calculation means 10 is input to the discharge time calculation means 11. The discharge time calculation means 11 performs the following calculation processing. (1) The results of sorting the weights of the articles M stored in the selected weighing hoppers 6 in descending order (w ₁ , w ₂ , ... W _m ) are obtained. (2) Obtain the total weight W of the discharged contents M W = (w ₁ + w ₂ + ... + w _m-1 ). In this case, the minimum weight w _m is not added. Note that the total value W in this case may be substituted by a predetermined set value such as the above-described target weight, and in that case, the minimum weight is also added.

(3) Based on these calculated data, it is assumed that the weighing hoppers 6 having a heavy weighing value are sequentially opened, and the opening time difference between the weighing hoppers 6 and 6 opened in the front and rear is determined by the preceding weighing hopper. It is calculated as follows, assuming that it is equal to the time interval corresponding to the discharge time. Weighing value w ₁ of the weighing hoppers 6 ₁ of the open time difference t from the point to the open time of the weighing hoppers 6 ₂ of the measured value _{w 2 1: T × (w} 1 / W) opening of the weighing hoppers 6 ₂ of the weighing value w ₂ Time difference from the point of time to the point of opening the weighing hopper 6 ₃ of the measured value w ₃ t ₂ : T × (w ₂ / W) ・ ・ ・ ： ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ： ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Measured value w _m-1 Time difference t _m-1 from the opening time of the weighing hopper 6 _{m-1 to} the opening time of the weighing value hopper 6 _m of the measured value w: T × (w _m-1 / W) These time differences t _{1 to} t _m-1 , Emission quota time T and 1
The relationship with the cycle processing time Ts is shown in FIG.

The data of the respective opening time differences t ₁ , t ₂ , ... T _m-1 calculated by the discharging time calculating means 11 of FIG. 1 are input to the discharging control means 12 and based on the data, each weighing hopper 6 is fed.
_i (i = 1 to m) are sequentially released. In other words, the heaviest at the time when the weight value w ₁ of the weighing hoppers 6 ₁ time since the open _{t 1 = T × (w 1} / W) has elapsed, the weighing hopper 6 ₂ of the next heaviest weight value w ₂ is opened is, then when the time _{t 2 = T × (w 2} / W) has elapsed, the time difference opened to that weighing hopper 6 ₃ of the next heaviest weight value w ₃ is opened is repeated sequentially, the weighing value w _{m -1} weighing hopper 6
When the from the time of releasing the _m-1 time _{t m-1 = T × (} w m-1 / W) has elapsed, the weighing hoppers 6 _m of the lightest weight value w _m
Is released.

When the articles M in each weighing hopper 6 _i slide down on the discharge sheet 9 as a vertically long feeder, the length of the aggregate is proportional to the weight. Here, in this invention, the heavy weight value of the weighing hoppers 6 ₁ from each weighing hopper 6 _i and remembering time interval corresponding to the weight value is opened, as shown in FIG. 3, from each weighing hopper 6 _i Each group of articles M that are discharged and slide down on the collective discharge chute 9 is smoothly discharged without the front and rear parts thereof overlapping on the collective discharge chute 9.

The time required for the lightest weighing value w _m to be discharged from the weighing hopper 6 _{m of} FIG. 1 and stored in the packaging bag set in the packaging machine 14 by the collective discharge chute 9 is ΔT, Assuming that the time required for the packaging processing by the packaging machine 14 is T ₁ and the total time required for one cycle of weighing the articles M to complete the packaging is Ts, the discharge allocation time input and set by the remote operation unit 13 is set. T is
The following relationship Ts = T + ΔT + T ₁ is set (see FIG. 2). The discharge allotted time T is set to such a value that the aggregates of the vertically long articles M before and after being discharged do not overlap each other, and the total required time Ts for one cycle is not longer than necessary. Adjusted and set.

In the above embodiment, the weighing hopper 6 is opened in the descending order of the weighing value. Conversely, the weighing hopper 6 may be opened in the descending order of the weighing value, or the weighing hopper may be opened. 6 may be opened in the order of the identification numbers given in advance, and the opening order can be set in any manner.

The present invention can be similarly applied to the case where the weighing hoppers 6 selected in combination are divided into a plurality of groups and the opening timing is different for each group. That is, the total weighing values for each group may be sorted, and the weighing hoppers of each group may be opened in the order of the heavy weight or the light weight in accordance with the total weight value.

[0022]

As described above, according to the combination weighing device of the present invention, the time interval from the opening of one weighing hopper to the opening of the next weighing hopper is the same as that of the previous weighing hopper. Since it is set according to the required discharge time of the contained articles, it is possible to prevent the articles sequentially discharged from the respective weighing hoppers from overlapping each other on the chute, and the articles can be discharged smoothly without clogging and efficiently.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a combination weighing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a time interval of opening a weighing hopper of the weighing device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an operation of discharging an object to be weighed in the weighing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... Dispersion feeder, 3 ... Drive feeder, 6 ... Weighing hopper, 7 ... Hopper weight scale, 9 ... Collecting discharge chute, 1
0 ... Combination calculation means, 11 ... Discharge time calculation means, 12 ...
Emission control means, M ... Article.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of weighing devices for weighing the weight of each article, and a computing means for performing a combination based on the weighing values of the weighing devices.
In a combination weighing device having a chute that collects articles related to a combination selected by the calculation means, a required discharge time according to a measured value of each weighing hopper that stores articles related to the selected combination. And a discharge control means for discharging the articles onto the chute by sequentially opening each of the weighing hoppers at time intervals corresponding to the required discharge time. apparatus.