JPH0629957Y2 - Flower sorting equipment - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a flower sorting apparatus, and more specifically, a leaf dropper that removes flower leaves prior to weighing the flowers with a weighing unit and sorting. The present invention relates to a flower selecting device equipped with a means.

(Prior art) Flowers such as chrysanthemums are sorted by weight and length before being shipped to the market. Prior to shipping, the leaves at the base end of the stem are generally made for the convenience of holding and handling the flowers. To be removed.

Heretofore, as leaf removers for dropping flowers in this way, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-131754 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 59-23939.
The ones described in JP-B No. 60-11789 and JP-B No. 60-11789 are known. Each of these conventional leaf removers is composed of a pair of upper and lower rotary brushes, an operator holds the flower in his hand, and inserts the base end of the flower between the rotary brush and the rotary brush. The sliding contact force of the rotating brush drops the leaves.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, in any of the above-described conventional devices, the operator must hold the flower in his hand and insert the base end portion between the rotating brush and the rotating brush. There was a problem that the labor burden was extremely heavy and the work efficiency was poor. In addition, after the leaves are removed by a leaf remover, in order to sort the flowers by weight, length, etc.
Since it has to be set in a sorting device as shown in Japanese Patent No. 3185 and leaf removal and sorting cannot be continuously performed as a series of work, there is a problem that work efficiency is poor.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a flower selecting device which can continuously remove flowers from a flower and select them as a series of operations with high work efficiency.

(Means for Solving the Problem) For this purpose, the present invention is provided so as to sandwich the base end portion of the flower P, which is supported by the support member 2 of the flower in a horizontal posture and is conveyed in the conveying path 1, from above and below. The leaf removing means 15, a drive unit 16 for rotating the leaf removing means 15, and a drive unit 16 arranged along the conveying path 1 to prevent the flower P from wobbling when the leaf removing means 15 removes the leaves. A pressing member 22 is provided to elastically press the flower P conveyed from the conveying path 1 from above.

(Operation) In the above configuration, when the base end portion of the flower P comes to the leaf drop means 15 after being transported through the transport path 1, the leaf is driven by the drive unit 16.
The leaves are removed by the leaf removing means 15 driven by. In this case, since the flower P is elastically pressed from above by the pressing member 22, the leaf P fluctuates due to the sliding contact frictional force when the leaf drop means 15 slides on the flower P to drop the leaf P. The posture is not disturbed, and leaves can be surely dropped. Then, the removed flower P is further transported through the transport path 1 and is weighed and sorted by the weighing unit 3. Further, if the posture of the flower P is disturbed when the leaves are dropped, the measurement result of the weight and the length by the measuring unit 3 that is subsequently performed is confused, and the flower P
Are misclassified. However, since the pressing member 22 prevents the flower P from disturbing its posture, the flower P is held in a correct horizontal posture and is properly weighed and selected by the weighing unit 3.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, A is a leaf remover, and B is a leaf remover A.
The flowering section which is connected to the flowering section is the flowering section from which the leaves at the base end of the stem have been dropped by the leaf remover A, as described later.
Transferred to.

Reference numeral 1 denotes an endless rotary chain that constitutes a transportation path for the flower P, and reference numeral 2 denotes an arm-shaped support member that laterally supports the flower P. The flowers P are transported by being supported by the supporting member 2 by the rotation of the chain 1, sorted by weight or length by the weighing unit 3 arranged in the transport path, and fall onto the carry-out conveyor 4 below. Next, the detailed structure of the leaf remover A will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

The leaf remover A has a conveyor 7 composed of an endless belt 6 as a transport path for horizontally transporting the flower P, a leaf remover 8 arranged on the side of the conveyor 7, and a conveyor located above the conveyor 7. hand,
The stem Pa is composed of an anti-sway portion 9 which prevents the stem Pa from wobbling when the leaves are dropped.

In the conveying path of the sorting section B, the sloped portion 1 having an upward slope of a slope angle θ1
a, and the conveyor 7 is installed on this inclined portion 1a. Therefore, by synchronizing the traveling of the endless chain 1 and the endless belt 6, the flower P, which has been defoliated, is removed by the defoliator A.
Is automatically transferred to the support member 2 of the sorting section B, and the sorting operation is performed following the leaf removal. In addition, the conveyor 7 enables smooth delivery of the flower P to the sorting section B,
The inclination angle θ2, which is gentler than that of the inclined portion 1a, is provided obliquely, and the leaf drop portion 8 and the stagger prevention portion 9 are also provided.
A similar inclination angle θ2 is provided so as to be parallel to the conveyor 7.

The endless belt 6 is adjusted to a sprocket 10 and is driven by a motor (not shown) via a driving sprocket 11 (see FIG. 2). Reference numeral 12 is a positioning portion for the stem Pa, which is a rod-shaped body protruding from the endless belt 6 at a constant pitch. The flower P on the conveyor 7 ascending forward positions the stem Pa on the positioning portion 12. Are transported.

In FIG. 3, the leaf drop portion 8 has a pair of upper and lower leaf drop means 15 arranged so as to sandwich the base end portion of the stem Pa protruding laterally of the conveyor 7 from above and below. In this leaf drop means 15, a base member 15a is mounted on a rotary shaft 17 which is driven by a drive unit 16 (FIG. 2) composed of a motor to rotate, and a sliding contact member 15b such as a steel wire is attached to the base member 15a. It is formed as a brush material by projecting, and it makes sliding contact with the base end portion of the stem Pa passing between them and drops its leaves.

As shown in FIG. 3, the sliding contact members 15b, 15b of the upper leaf drop means 15 and the lower leaf drop means 15 simultaneously slide on the base end portions to drop leaves, and at the same time, on the opposite side (chain line in the same figure). (See), and in this retreat state,
An entry space T at the base end of the stem Pa is secured between the upper and lower leaf drop means 15, 15.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a cutter disposed on the side of the conveyor 7, which is driven by a driving means (not shown) to cut the stem Pa and arrange it into a predetermined length. If the cutter 18 is movable in the lateral direction, that is, the length direction of the stem Pa, the length of the stem Pa can be adjusted by adjusting its position.
The cutter may be a rotary blade, and the position of the cutter is not limited to that of this embodiment, and may be provided upstream of the weighing unit 34 in the transport path. Reference numeral 19 denotes a stopper at the end of the stem Pa, which prevents the flower P from unnecessarily moving in the same direction when the leaf removing means 15 is rotated in the (a) direction to remove the leaves.

In FIG. 1, the anti-sway portion 9 is constructed by belting a pulley 21 with an endless rotating belt 22 as a pressing member, and the belt 22 rotates along the pulley 21. The lower traveling portion of the belt 22 is arranged parallel to the upper traveling portion of the conveyor 7 and rotates in the same direction as the traveling direction N of the upper traveling portion at the same speed or substantially the same speed. Move.

The belt 22 is a stretchable elastic belt such as a rubber belt, and is a flower P that is laid horizontally on the conveyor 4 in a horizontal posture.
The flower P is pressed from above by the belt 22 so that the leaves do not sway when they are dropped (see FIG. 4). in this case,
Since the belt 22 has elasticity, the flower P can be elastically and firmly pressed from above, and even if the flower P is strongly pressed, it is not damaged. That is, the belt 22 is a pressing member that presses the flower P from above so that the flower P does not sway.

The present apparatus has the above-mentioned configuration, and the overall operation will be described below.

The flower P is conveyed to the conveyor 7 to remove leaves 15 and 15.
When it is sent during the period, the leaves at the base end of the stem Pa are dropped by the sliding contact member 15b. In this case, the leaf removing means 15
By rotating in the (i) direction, the stem slides toward the end of the stem Pa, so that the leaf Pb extending in the distal direction (b) can be easily and reliably dropped.

Further, since the stem Pa of the flower P is positioned in the positioning portion 12 of the conveyor 7 and the flower P is elastically pressed from above by the belt 22, the sliding contact member 15b.
It is possible to surely remove the leaves without causing the flower P to fluctuate and its posture disturbed due to the sliding contact frictional force when the leaves slide against the flower P to drop the leaves. Further, the specific shape and structure of the pressing member are not limited to this embodiment, and for example, a long plate-shaped plate spring having elasticity is provided, and the flower P is formed by this plate spring.
May be elastically pressed from above, but if the pressing member is composed of a belt 22 that rotates in the same direction as the conveyor 7 as in the present embodiment, the flowers P of the conveyor 7 can be removed. Without disturbing the transportation, the flowers P can be smoothly transported and the leaves can be reliably removed. The flowers P thus leaf-dropped are sent to the sorting unit B and weighed by the weighing unit 3 to be sorted according to weight and length, but the flowers P unnecessarily stagger and lose their posture when leaves are dropped. Since the correct posture is maintained without any adjustment, the weighing unit 3 correctly measures and sorts.

FIG. 5 shows the overall construction of the flower-plant selecting apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment described above, the leaf remover A is separate from the flower sorting unit B, but this second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that it is integrated. That is, the leaf dropper 30 of the leaf remover A is disposed in the transport path 1 and upstream of the weighing unit 3, and the transport path including the endless chain 1 is placed on the support member 2 and transported. Remove the leaves of Flower P. Further, in this embodiment, the flowers P to be selected are stacked on the supply unit 31, and are placed one by one on the support member 2 by manual work or the like.

Therefore, the flower arrangement P placed on the support member 2 from the supply unit 31 has the upper leaf dropping means 15 and the lower leaf dropping means 15.
Leaves are cut off when passing between. Of course, also in this case, the flower P on the support member 2 is elastically pressed from above by the belt 22, so that the flower P does not fluctuate or lose its posture when the leaves are dropped. Then, the leaves P are removed from the flowers P and sent to the weighing section 3 as they are in the transport path 1 to be weighed and sorted, and then dropped onto the carry-out conveyor 4. In this way, by integrally incorporating the leaf dropper A into the sorting section B, the work from leaf drop to sorting can be performed continuously and efficiently as a series of work.

Note that, as shown in FIG.
Two pieces may be attached to each of the two, and this makes it possible to increase the leaf removal ability and the leaf removal range. Needless to say, as the leaf removing means, there are a rotating brush which rotates around a rotating shaft described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-131754, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 59-23939, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-11789, and the like. A rotating string may be used, and the specific structure of the leaf drop means is not limited to this embodiment.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, while the flowers P are being conveyed by the conveying path 1, the leaves P are automatically removed by the leaf drop means 15 prior to weighing and selecting the flowers P by the measuring unit 3. You can drop leaves. When the leaves are removed by the leaf removing means 15,
Since the pressing member 22 elastically presses the flower P from above, the flower P does not unnecessarily wander due to the sliding contact friction of the leaf drop means 15, and the leaves of the flower P can be dropped while maintaining the correct posture. Moreover, since the pressing member 22 elastically presses the flower P, it does not hinder the conveyance of the flower P by the conveying path 1 and leaves can be surely dropped. Since it is possible to sort by weight and length, the work from leaf removal to sorting can be efficiently performed as a series of operations. Further, if the posture of the flower P is disturbed when the leaves are dropped, the weighing unit 3 to be subsequently performed.
The measurement result of the weight and the length due to is misaligned, and the flower P is erroneously selected. However, according to the present invention, since the holding member 22 prevents the flower P from disturbing the posture, the flower P is held in a correct horizontal posture and is properly weighed and sorted by the weighing unit 3.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a side view of a leaf remover and a sorter, FIGS. 2 and 3 are plan and side views of the leaf remover, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a partial side view, FIG. 5 is a side view of a sorting apparatus of another embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a partial side view. 1 ... Conveyance path 2 ... Supporting member 3 ... Weighing section 15 ... Leaf drop means 16 ... Driving section 22 ... Belt as a pressing member

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An arm-shaped support member 2 for horizontally supporting a flower P in a horizontal posture, and a conveyance path 1 for the support member 2.
A flower sorting device comprising a flower weighing unit 3 for weighing and sorting the flower P supported by the support member 2 and provided on the transport path 1, wherein the transport path is supported by the support member 2. A leaf removing means 15 provided with a sliding contact member 15b which is provided so as to sandwich the base end portion of the flower P carrying 1 and is slidably contacted with the base end portion to slide off the leaf Pb; A drive unit 16 for rotating the leaf removing means 15 and the leaf removing means 1
In order to prevent the flower P from wobbling at the time of leaf removal by 5, the flower P that is arranged above the transport path 1 along the transport path 1 and is transported through the transport path 1 is transferred to the transport path 1. A flower selecting device, characterized in that a pressing member (22) that elastically presses from above is provided.