JPH063769Y2 - Fruit boxing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a fruit boxing device for boxing fruits such as tomatoes, cantaloupe, apples and mandarins by quality and size.

(B) Prior art Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-19707 discloses an apparatus for selecting fruits.
There is a No. 4 sorter.

Since this device reads the quality and size of fruits by various sensors arranged on the conveyor and distributes the fruits to predetermined distribution units based on the read data, there is an advantage that fruits can be accurately selected.

However, when the above-mentioned fruits are packed in boxes according to quality and size, it is inefficient to manually perform this by an operator, so it is necessary to use a device.

As a transfer device for the above-mentioned packaging, there is, for example, a suction means disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-158622. However, this adsorbing means has a structure arranged beside a conveyor that conveys the fruit, and since the adsorbing means adsorbs to the fruit on the conveyor that moves up and down at a fixed position, the adsorbing means and the fruit Relative movement occurs between
However, there is a problem that the adsorption is incomplete due to the relative movement and the fruit is dropped at the time of adsorption. Therefore, the conveyor speed must be slowed down, and the processing speed is slowed down, which is a problem.

(C) Problem to be Solved by the Invention This invention has a unique configuration in which a transfer device and a packaging device are provided in each distribution unit provided for each fruit quality and size, and the fruit is sorted by quality and size. By automatically and immediately packing the fruits that have been packed, the labor required for packing can be saved and the efficiency can be improved, and the transfer device can surely adsorb the fruits on the conveyor without dropping them, and thus the transportation speed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a fruit box packaging device capable of improving the processing efficiency by increasing the processing efficiency.

(D) Means for Solving the Problem The present invention is to set an address at a fruit placement position of a conveyor for conveying fruits, provide a supply unit on the conveyance start end side of the conveyor, and provide a fruit at the rear of the supply unit. A judgment unit for reading the address of the placement position and the quality and the size is provided, and only the fruit of a predetermined quality and size is selected after the judgment unit based on the read data of the judgment unit and is taken out and boxed. A transfer device in which a plurality of distributors are arranged along the conveying direction, fruits are selected from the distributors based on the read data of the determination unit, and the fruits are taken out and transferred in the posture of being placed on the conveyor. And a packaging device for packaging the fruits taken out and transferred by the transfer device in the same posture, and the transfer device, and the fruit placement position of each cradle arranged on the conveyor. Conveyance of the above conveyor in the same cycle with the adsorption positions matched. It is characterized in that it is a fruit-packing device formed of a plurality of adsorbents that rotate in synchronization with the speed and that perform adsorption operation based on the determination of the determination unit.

(E) Function This invention reads the quality and size of the fruit continuously supplied from the supply unit side of the conveyor in the judgment unit in correspondence with the address reading of the fruit placement position. Based on the data read in, drive the transfer device of each distribution unit corresponding to the fruit of a predetermined quality and size, and take it out while it is placed on the conveyor, then drive the packaging device and take it out. The fruits are aligned in the same posture and packed in a cardboard box or the like.

(F) Effect of the device According to this device, the entire process from the fruit selection work to the packaging work is automated to correct the orientation of the fruit during packaging and eliminate the mis-packing of the fruits, It is possible to pack efficiently according to quality and size, and at all times, the packing work can be stably performed at a set packing speed, which can save labor and improve the efficiency of the packing work.

Furthermore, since there are multiple adsorbents of the transfer device and they rotate in synchronization with the fruit placement position of the conveyor that conveys fruits in the same cycle, there is no relative movement between the adsorbents and the fruits adsorbed on them. Therefore, even if the convey speed of the conveyor is increased, the rotation of the adsorbent is synchronized with this, so that the processing efficiency can be improved in a reliable transfer state without dropping the fruit.

(G) Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

The drawings show a fruit boxing apparatus for automatically packing fruits according to quality and size. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the fruit boxing apparatus 1 drives a conveyor 2 stretched in the conveying direction. A motor or the like (not shown) rotates in the direction of the arrow, and the unsorted fruits C are sequentially placed on the respective cradle 2a of the conveyor 2 from the feeding unit 3 on the transport start side.

In the above-mentioned conveyor 2, a large number of each receiving bases 2a ... Are arranged at equal intervals in the length direction of the chain 4 stretched in the conveying direction to set addresses.

The cradle 2a on which the fruit C is placed is behind the supply unit 3 described above.
An address reader 5 that reads the address of the fruit, a size sensor 6 that reads the size of the fruit C corresponding to the address reading by the address reader 5, and a quality sensor 7 that reads the quality of the fruit C.
A determination unit 9 including a weight sensor 8 for measuring the weight of the fruit C is provided.

In the posterior part of the determination unit 9, for example, each quality of excellent, excellent, good, and average is further subdivided into each size of LL, L, M, and S, and a plurality of each of them are respectively corresponded to each size. Distributor 10, 11
Are arranged along the conveying direction of the conveyer 2, the first distributing unit 10 is provided with an alignment table 12 on which the fruit C of excellent quality and LL size is placed, and the second distributing unit 11 is provided. An alignment table 13 for placing the fruit C of excellent quality and of L size is provided.

Since the above-mentioned alignment tables 12 and 13 have the same structure,
As shown in the figure, one alignment table 12 will be described. The three conveyor belts 14 corresponding to the number of rows of fruits C packed in a box.
, Which are pivotally supported on the front and rear of the alignment table 12,
The drive belt 1 is stretched between the pulley 15 on the rear side and the pulley 17 of the drive motor 16 fixed to the lower surface of the alignment table 12.
8 is stretched, and by intermittently driving the drive motor 16, the fruits C placed on the respective conveyor belts 14 ... Are sequentially conveyed to the rear portion of the alignment table 12 and aligned.

On the alignment surface of the alignment table 12, guides 12a for fruit alignment are formed between the conveyor belts 14 and on both sides thereof, and the fruits C are aligned between the guides 12a.

In addition, each counter 1 for counting the number of pedestals 2a is provided on the side portion of the conveyor 2 facing the above-mentioned distribution units 10, 11 ...
9 ... Are arranged at the front of the transport side.

As shown in FIG. 3, the fruits C on the conveyor 2 are taken out from the side positions of the above-mentioned alignment tables 12, 13 ... 1
The respective transfer devices 20 to be transferred to 1 are arranged.

The mounting device 20 described above has a rotating body 23 fixed to an upper portion of a support shaft 22 that is pivotally supported by the device body 21, and a plurality of horizontal members radially extending around the support shaft 22 on the upper surface of the rotating body 23. The air cylinders 24 are radially arranged, the vertical air cylinders 25 are fixed axially to the cylinder rod tips of the horizontal air cylinders 24, and the lower ends of the cylinder rods of the vertical air cylinders 25 are further fixed. Each adsorber 2
6 is fixed and configured.

This transfer device 20 rotates the rotating body 23 in the direction of the arrow by the driving force of a drive motor or the like (not shown), and rotates the fruit mounting positions of the respective receiving trays 2a ... At the same cycle in which the suction positions of the adsorbents 26 that are laid vertically on the body 23 are made to coincide with each other, the conveyance speed of the conveyor 2 and the rotation speed of the rotating body 23 are synchronized and rotated.

Further, in conjunction with the rotation of the rotating body 23 described above, the horizontal air cylinders 24 are arranged at the fruit placement positions of the respective pedestals 2a ... And the fruit placement positions of the respective conveyor belts 14 of the alignment table 12 ,. The vertical air cylinder 25 with the adsorber 26 fixed is horizontally moved.

On the other hand, the vertical air cylinder 25 is
The adsorbent 26 is moved up and down at the fruit placement position of each of the cradle 2a ...

Each of the above-mentioned adsorbents 26 ... Includes a connection port 27 ... on the lower surface of the rotating body 23 connected to an air suction device or the like (not shown).
Are connected to the tubes 28 connected to the adsorbents 26, and the fruit C is adsorbed by the negative pressure by the suction operation of the air suction device.

As shown in FIG. 2, the fruits C arranged on each of the alignment tables 12, 13, ...
Each cartoning device 30 which is cartoned in a carton box 29 described later ...
Are arranged respectively.

In the boxing device 30 described above, adsorbents 32 ... Corresponding to the number of fruit Cs packed in a box are arranged vertically and horizontally on the lower surface of the adsorbing unit 31, and the adsorbing unit 31 is installed on the upper part of the mounting body 21 in a transverse feed air cylinder 33. Then, the whole suction unit 31 is horizontally moved to the fruit suction position II on the first alignment table 12 and the packing position III on the cardboard box 29, and the lifting air cylinder fixed to the piston rod of the transverse feed air cylinder 33. 34
Then, it is moved up and down between the fruit adsorption position II and the packing position III.

The above-mentioned cardboard box 29 packed with fruit boxes is a conveyor belt 35.
Then it is transported to the next process.

The address reader 5, the size sensor 6, the quality sensor 7, the weight sensor 8, the counters 19 ...
Each transfer device 20 ... And each packaging device 30 ... Are controlled by a CPU (not shown).

The illustrated embodiment is constructed as described above, and the operation will be described below.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, the fruits C that have not been sorted from the side of the supply unit 3 are placed on the receiving trays 2a of the conveyor 2 that rotate in the conveying direction.
Then, the smooth surface which can be adsorbed is placed on the upper surface, and the orientation is aligned in advance so as to be packed in a predetermined packing state.

Next, when the cradle 2a on which the fruit C is placed passes through the determination unit 9, the size sensor 6 reads the size of the fruit C corresponding to the address reading of the address reader 5, and the quality sensor 7 reads the size of the fruit C. The quality is read, and at the same time, the weight sensor 8 weighs the fruit C.

Based on the data read by the determination unit 9, the fruit C
Is a “LL” size of excellent quality, the number of the transfer device 20 arranged in the first distribution unit 10 until the fruit adsorption position is reached is counted by the counter 19, and the rotating body 23 of the transfer device 20 is counted.
While rotating, the adsorber 26 of the vertical air cylinder 25 is lowered at the fruit mounting position of the cradle 2a on which the fruit C is mounted,
The fruit C is absorbed by the adsorbent 26 while being placed on the conveyor 2.
After adsorbing with, while returning the adsorber 26 to the raised position,
The fruit C is rotationally moved on the conveyor belt 14 at the right end of the first alignment table 12.

Again, the adsorbent 26 is lowered at the fruit mounting position on the conveyor belt 14, the fruit C is placed on the conveyor belt 14, and at the same time, the suction force of the adsorbent 26 is released and the adsorbent 26 is returned to the raised position. Then, the transfer operation of the fruit C is completed.

After that, after adsorbing the fruits C of the same quality and the same size that are successively conveyed by the adsorber 26, while rotating the rotating body 23,
The entire vertical air cylinder 25 is moved horizontally in an elliptical manner, and the conveyor belt 14 at the right end of the first alignment table 12 is moved.
The fruits C are placed one by one in the width direction in order.

After that, the conveyor belts 14 ... Are intermittently rotated to convey and align the fruits C to the rear portion of the alignment table 12.

Next, a predetermined number of boxes in the first alignment table 12, that is, 12
A sensor (not shown) detects that the individual fruits C have been distributed, and automatically lowers the lifting air cylinder 34 to lower the entire suction unit 31 to the fruit suction position II, and the alignment table 1
Adsorber 3 of fruit C for one box with the posture aligned to 2
When adsorbing by 2 ..., The raising / lowering air cylinder 34 moves up and stops the adsorption unit 31 in the raised position.

Simultaneously with this stop, the lateral feed air cylinder 33 is activated to move the entire suction unit 31 to the packing position III, and the lifting air cylinder 34 is moved downward to lower the suction unit 31 to drop the sucked fruit C into the box. After storing in the cardboard box 29 arranged at the packing position III, the suction force of the adsorbents 32 ... Is released and the adsorbents 32 ... Are separated from the fruit C, thereby completing the packaging.

Thereafter, the cardboard box 29 containing the fruit C is conveyed to the next process by the conveyor belt 35, and at the same time, the adsorption unit 31 is conveyed.
Returns to the fruit adsorption position II, and again the predetermined number of fruits C
When is transferred to the first distribution unit 10, the boxing operation is automatically repeated.

As described above, the fruits C selected based on the read data of the determination unit 9 are packed in the cardboard box 29 with the posture of being placed on the conveyor 2, so intervention of human work is required in the packing work. Instead, the whole process from the sorting work of fruit C to the packaging work is automated, and fruit C at the time of packaging is packed.
It is possible to efficiently pack the fruits C according to quality and size by correcting the orientation of the above and eliminating the mistake of packing the fruits C.

Moreover, by automating the work, the packing speed and the packing function do not deteriorate even when the device is operated for a long time, and the packing work can always be performed stably at the set packing speed. It is possible to save labor in packing work and improve efficiency.

Further, the boxing operation 30 ...
Even if each is arranged, since the fruit C is supplied using one conveyor 2 and the fruit C is sorted according to quality and size and packed in a box, the entire facility does not become larger than necessary and one Fruit packing machine 1 in a small installation space with only conveyor 2
Can be installed and layout is easy.

The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment.

For example, the transfer device 20 and the boxing device 30 may be alternately arranged on both sides of the conveyor 2 along the transport direction of the conveyor 2, and the transfer device 20 and the packaging device 30 may be placed on the pedestal 2 of the conveyor 2. The fruit C is sandwiched by a sandwiching device, and each alignment table 1 of each distribution unit 10, 11 ...
It may be reprinted on pages 2, 13 ...

[Brief description of drawings]

 The drawing shows one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a partial vertical plan view of a fruit packing device, FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional side view of the fruit packing device, and FIG. 3 is a transfer device. It is an enlarged front view. C ... Fruit, 1 ... Fruit packing device 2 ... Conveyor, 3 ... Supply unit 9 ... Judgment unit, 10, 11 ... Distributing unit 20 ... Transfer device, 23 ... Rotating body 24 ... Vertical air cylinder 25 ... Horizontal air cylinder 26 … Adsorber, 29… Cardboard box 30… Boxing device

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An address is set at a fruit placement position of a conveyor (2) for carrying fruits (C), and a feeding section (3) is provided at the feeding start end side of the conveyor (2), and the feeding section (3) is provided. ) In the back,
A determination unit (9) for reading the address of the placement position of the fruit (C) and the quality and size is provided, and only the fruit (C) having a predetermined quality and size is provided after the determination unit (9). A plurality of distribution units (10, 11 ...) Which are selected based on the read data of (9) and packed in a take-out box are arranged along the conveyance direction, and each of the distribution units (10, 11 ...) The transfer device (20) for selecting and transferring the fruit (C) based on the read data of (9), and the transfer device (20) for picking up and transferring the fruit while being placed on the conveyor (2). A container (30) configured to package the taken-out and transferred fruit (C) in its posture, and the transfer device (20) provided on the conveyor (2). 2a ...) at the same cycle where the fruit placement position and the suction position are matched and at the same transfer speed as the conveyor (2). While rotating by said determination unit (9) for determining a plurality of Kyuchakuko (26 ...) in form fruit box filling device for the suction operation based on.