JPH0646804Y2 - Boxing mechanism of fruit boxing machine - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a packaging mechanism of a fruit packaging device for packaging large fruits such as watermelon and pumpkin.

(B) Conventional technology Conventionally, in the mechanism for concentrating the watermelons in the above-mentioned example at the packing interval, for example, the suction unit disposed at the upper part of the device is lowered, and the suction units vertically arranged on the suction unit are aligned with each other. Adsorb and hold the upper surface of each watermelon in a specified number of boxes lined up in the box, raise this adsorption unit to a specified height, and move each adsorber horizontally to set the packing interval corresponding to the box. There is a boxing mechanism that focuses each watermelon.

(C) Problems to be solved by the device However, since the above-mentioned large fruits such as watermelon are very heavy, when the top part of the watermelon is adsorbed by an adsorbent, the adsorption force when pulling the watermelon downwards Is relatively strong, but when the watermelon is laterally displaced laterally, the suction surface is elastically displaced and the adhesion is impaired.

Therefore, as described above, when each adsorber is moved horizontally in order to focus on the packing interval, each watermelon oscillates greatly in the left and right lateral directions due to the inertia at the time of start and stop and moves downward. When the adsorbing surface of each facing adsorbent is elastically deformed in the lateral direction, the vertical adhesion between each adsorbent and each watermelon tends to be impaired, and when the adsorbing force of the adsorbent drops below a predetermined negative pressure, When converging to the packing interval, each watermelon adsorbed at the time of starting and stopping the horizontal movement operation may fall off.

Also, by raising the suction unit described above, the drop between the watermelons adsorbed by the adsorbents and the alignment portion and the packing portion becomes large, so that the watermelons that drop at the start and stop of the horizontal movement operation are There is a problem that the value of the product will be lost due to cracking or scratching due to impact, and the loss of watermelon that occurs during the packaging work will be large.

The present invention is capable of surely packaging a given number of fruits adsorbed and held by each adsorbent without sacrificing the commercial value of each fruit, thereby improving the packing efficiency and further adsorbing the adsorbent. An object of the present invention is to provide a boxing mechanism of a fruit boxing apparatus that can always keep the suction posture of the fruit properly.

(D) Means for solving the problem The present invention is directed to lowering the adsorption unit and adsorbing the fruits aligned in the alignment position with the plurality of adsorbents vertically provided on the adsorption unit. A packing mechanism of a fruit packing device for moving a suction unit to a packing position and packing each fruit inside the box body supplied to the packing position, wherein the suction unit includes each of the suction units. A vertical direction and a horizontal direction were combined with the adsorption interval corresponding to the interval between the fruits arranged in the alignment position of the adsorbent, the storage interval of the boxes supplied to the packing position and the corresponding packing interval. It is a packaging mechanism of a fruit packaging device in which a parallel link mechanism that swings in an oblique direction is additionally provided, and the link pins of the parallel link mechanism are horizontally oriented.

(E) Action According to the present invention, each adsorbent of the adsorption unit that drives the parallel link mechanism and moves to the adsorption position is set in the vertical direction at the adsorption interval corresponding to the interval between the fruits arranged in the alignment position. After oscillating in a diagonal direction that is a combination of the horizontal direction and separating them, the adsorbing unit is lowered to adsorb and hold the aligned fruits with each adsorbent, and then the parallel link mechanism is driven to move each After combining with the suction force in the vertical direction by the adsorbents, each adsorbent is swung in the diagonal direction combining the vertical direction and the horizontal direction at the packing interval corresponding to the storage interval of the box body to focus. The adsorbing unit is moved to the packing position, and the adsorbing unit is lowered inside the box body supplied to the packing position to pack the fruits.

(F) Effect of the device According to this device, since each adsorbent is oscillated in an oblique direction which is a combination of the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, each adsorbent is moved horizontally as compared with the conventional mechanism that simply horizontally moves each adsorbent. The horizontal inertia applied to each fruit adsorbed by the adsorbent is reduced, and elastic deformation of each adsorbent and deterioration of the suction function due to the inertia can be prevented.

Moreover, since the suction direction and the moving direction of each of the adsorbents described above are combined, the strongest suction force acts on the load in the vertical direction, and it is possible to reliably prevent the fruits from falling off during the focusing operation. .

As a result, there is an effect that it is possible to surely package the fruits in a predetermined number of fruits adsorbed by the adsorbents without damaging the commercial value of the fruits, and it is possible to improve the packaging efficiency.

In addition, since the link pin of the parallel link mechanism described above is positioned in the horizontal direction, the parallel link mechanism is displaced in the virtual vertical plane with the horizontal link pin described above as the center of displacement,
As a result, the adsorbent described above is always kept in a proper adsorption posture, and particularly when adsorbing the fruits aligned in the alignment position by the adsorbent, a gap is generated between the fruit and the adsorbent. There is no effect, and there is an effect that fruits can be surely adsorbed by a predetermined vacuum suction force.

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

The drawings show a boxing mechanism of a fruit boxing device, and in this embodiment, watermelon is boxed as an example of large fruits. That is, in FIG. 3, this fruit box packaging device 1
Are placed in parallel according to the quality and size of the watermelon S to be sorted, and each watermelon S ... is provided in one tray 2 for transportation.
The first in the front stage of each device that is placed one by one and corresponds to the sorting data
It is distributed and supplied to the roller conveyor 3.

On the first roller conveyor 3 described above, a plurality of transport rollers 4 that are rotationally driven in one direction by a drive motor (not shown) are pivotally supported, and the trays 2 that are distributed and supplied are transported to the rear end of the transport side. The transfer operation is carried out on the first elevating table 5 below the aligning position II set as above, and the rear end of the first elevating table 5 on the conveying side is inclined slightly lower, and the rear end on the conveying side is erected. By controlling the position of the stopper 6, the watermelons S ... are aligned at positions corresponding to the adsorbers 8 of the suction unit 7 installed above the apparatus.

At the rear end of the above-mentioned first roller conveyor 3 on the transfer side, a stopper 9 that is moved up and down on the transfer surface by an air cylinder (not shown) is arranged to transfer each tray 2, ... 5 Stop before 5 to limit the number of transfer.

The above-described first lifting platform 5 has a first upper limit stop position horizontal to the first roller conveyor 3 and a first lifting position such as an air cylinder.
A plurality of conveying rollers 5a, which are vertically moved by a drive motor (not shown), are vertically moved and stopped at a horizontal lower limit stop position with the second roller conveyor 10 installed below the roller conveyor 3. It is pivotally supported.

The second roller conveyor 10 includes a plurality of conveying rollers that are driven to rotate in one direction by a drive motor (not shown).
The empty trays 2 transferred from the first elevating table 5 are returned to the former stage of the sorting process by supporting 11 ...

As shown in FIG. 1, the suction unit 7 described above has a slider 14 mounted on a rail 13 installed along a frame 12 above the apparatus.
And the piston rod end portion of the air cylinder 15 arranged on the upper part of the frame 12 is connected to the slider 14.
On the other hand, the end of the piston rod of the air cylinder 16 erected on the slider 14 is connected to the upper part of the unit body 17, and the suction unit 7 is aligned by the horizontal movement of the air cylinder 15 and the boxing position on the side. Moves horizontally to the upper part of III, and the suction unit 7 is aligned by the vertical movement of the air cylinder 16.
Move up and down at II and packing position III.

A plurality of adsorbents 8 ... Corresponding to the number of boxes are connected in series on the side of the unit main body 17 described above via respective four-bar parallel link mechanisms 18 ... Attached in the vertical direction. Adsorber 8 ...
Is formed of an elastically displaceable member such as synthetic rubber or soft synthetic resin, and an intermediate portion thereof is formed into an expandable bellows (bellows).

Each of the above-mentioned four-section parallel link mechanisms 18 ... has its upper end connected to a suction device (not shown) such as a blower, and each suction pipe 19 ... Body 20
... is vertically slidably inserted into the suction pipes 19, and the suction members 8 are fixed to the lower ends of the suction pipes 19 ... And the upper portions of the cylinders 20 ... The lower part and the lower part are connected in parallel by each link 21 having the same size. Further, the intermediate part of each link 21 on the lower side and the piston rod end part of the air cylinder 22 arranged in the central part of the unit body 17 are connected. Each drive link 23 ... Is connected and configured. Here, each link pin P of the above-mentioned parallel link mechanism 18 is oriented horizontally.

It should be noted that an air cylinder is installed at the bottom of the unit body 17 described above.
A cushion member 25, which is connected to the end portion of the piston rod 22 and prevents the watermelons S from colliding, is vertically provided at the center of the focusing position.

At the outer peripheral positions of the adsorbents 8 ...
On the lower surface side of each mounting plate 26 fixed to the lower end portion of each regulating body 27, the respective regulating bodies 27 are suspended.
It is formed in an annular shape by an elastic member such as synthetic rubber or soft synthetic resin, and is fixed to the lower end of each guide shaft 28 that is hung on the outer peripheral edge of each mounting plate 26. The guide shafts 28 are inserted through the cylindrical portions 26a formed inside the peripheral edge portion, and the stopper portions 28a are formed at the upper ends of the guide shafts 28 so that the guide shafts 28 can be slid vertically.

The springs 29 are interposed on the tubes between the mounting plates 26 and the cylindrical bodies 20 to constantly urge the entire adsorbents 8 and the restriction bodies 27 in the vertical direction. With each regulatory body 27
On the axis between the mounting plate 26 and the mounting plate 26, the springs 30 that are set to a biasing force capable of restricting the rocking of the watermelon S are interposed,
The regulators 27 ... Are constantly urged vertically.

As shown in FIG. 3, the boxing position III is a lower position slightly separated from the watermelons S which are horizontally moved to the top of the boxing position III, and is supplied by the third roller conveyor 31. The receiving plates 32, 32 are axially supported at both side positions at a predetermined distance from the outer side of the box body 24, and the free ends of the receiving plates 32, 32 are narrower than the outer side of the box body 24. The base end is formed into a box 24
Is formed to be slightly wider than the outer side, and a cushioning member such as sponge or synthetic rubber is attached to the upper surface.

The piston rod end of the air cylinder arranged on the side of the boxing position III is connected to the center of the side edge of each of the above-mentioned receiving plates 32, 32 through two connecting rods. By the vertical movement of the support plates 32, 32 in a horizontal closed position for supporting the watermelons S, the flaps 24a, 24a on the top of the box 24 and the lower ends of the support plates 32, 32 are connected to the box 24. It is driven to open and close to an open position where it is opened to the outside of the outer shell.

The above-described third roller conveyor 31 includes a plurality of conveying rollers that are rotationally driven in one direction by a drive motor (not shown).
35 ... is pivotally supported, and the box 24 is transferred onto the second lifting platform 36 below the packing position III, which is set at the rear end on the transport side, with the upper flaps 24a ... standing upright. A stop 37 immediately below the boxing position III is brought into contact with a stopper 37 provided upright at the rear end of the second elevator 36 on the conveying side.

At the rear end of the third roller conveyer 31 on the conveying side, a stopper 38 that is moved up and down by an air cylinder (not shown) is arranged on the conveying surface, and the box 24 to be conveyed is placed in front of the second elevator 36. Stop and limit the number of transfer boxes.

The second elevating table 36 described above has an upper limit stop position that is horizontal to the third roller conveyor 31 by means of elevating means such as an air cylinder.
4th roller conveyor installed under the roller conveyor 10
39 and a horizontal lower limit stop position, and is driven up and down by a drive motor (not shown), and a plurality of conveying rollers each having a cushioning member such as sponge or synthetic rubber wound around the outer peripheral surface. 36a ... is pivotally supported.

The above-described fourth roller conveyor 39 includes a plurality of conveying rollers that are rotationally driven in one direction by a drive motor (not shown).
40 is pivotally supported and the box 24 transferred from the second lift 36 is supplied to the next step.

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

As shown in FIG. 3, the trays 2 on which the watermelons S are individually placed are conveyed by the first roller conveyor 3 and aligned at the alignment position.
Transferred to the first lifting platform 5 directly below II, and each watermelon S with a specified number of boxes
Align ...

On the other hand, the box 24 made of cardboard with the upper flaps 24a ...
It is transferred to the second elevator 36 immediately below and stopped.

After that, the suction unit 7 that has been moved to the upper position of the alignment position II is lowered by vertically operating the air cylinder 16 above the unit, and is previously aligned at the alignment position II by the adsorbents 8 ... Adsorbs and holds each watermelon S.

Next, after the first lift 5 is slightly lowered, the four-node parallel link mechanism 18 is driven by the vertical operation of the air cylinder 22 arranged in the central portion of the unit to vertically move the adsorbers 8. By swinging and moving in a circular arc direction that is a combination of the horizontal direction and the horizontal direction, the watermelons S ...

That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the operation of each of the four-bar parallel link mechanisms 18 ... The vertical movement of the air cylinder 22 causes the piston rod end portion to move up and down, whereby the drive links 23 ... The base ends of the links move up and down to move the links 21 ... In parallel with the phantom line position in FIG. 1 and the solid line position in FIG. 1, and the suction intervals corresponding to the watermelons S. And a box 24 supplied to the boxing position III and a boxing interval corresponding to the box 24 swings in a circular arc direction in which vertical and horizontal directions are combined with the suction surfaces of the adsorbents 8 facing downward. To move.

On the other hand, the first elevating table 5 is slightly lowered in conjunction with the focusing operation of each of the adsorbents 8 ..., and each tray 2 is temporarily stopped at a predetermined position from each adsorbed watermelon S. The suction unit 7 is moved by the horizontal movement of the air cylinder 15 above the device.
When is moved horizontally to the upper part of the boxing position III, at the same time, the first elevating table 5 descends to a position horizontal to the second roller conveyor 10 to transfer the empty trays 2 ...

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, when the suction unit 7 stops at the upper part of the boxing position III, the receiving plates 32, 32 rotate in the opening direction, and the flaps 24a ... The lower ends of the receiving plates 32, 32 are opened outward from the outer shell of the box, and at the same time, the suction unit 7 descends to house each watermelon S ... Inside the box 24 and release the suction of each adsorber 8. As a result, each watermelon S ... is separated and the packaging is completed.

Thereafter, the suction unit 7 is moved upward and horizontally moved to the upper part of the alignment position II, and the suction elements 8 are separated by a suction interval corresponding to the respective watermelons S.
Each of the watermelons S ... Aligned with is suction-held and the packing operation is repeated.

On the other hand, the second elevating table 36 is lowered to a position horizontal to the fourth roller conveyor 39, and the box body 24 that has been completely packaged is transferred to the fourth roller conveyor 39 and conveyed to the next step.

Since the adsorbents 8 of the adsorption unit 7 are oscillated in the circular arc direction that is a combination of the vertical direction and the horizontal direction in this manner, the adsorbents 8 are horizontally moved as compared with the conventional mechanism for horizontally moving the adsorbents. The horizontal inertia imparted to each of the watermelons S adsorbed by ... Is reduced, and elastic deformation of the adsorbers 8 due to the inertia and deterioration of the suction function can be prevented.

Moreover, since the suction direction and the moving direction of each of the adsorbents 8 described above are combined, the strongest suction force acts on the load in the vertical direction, and each watermelon S ... When the focusing operation is started and stopped. Can be reliably prevented from falling off.

As a result, the predetermined number of watermelons S adsorbed by the adsorbers 8 can be surely boxed without impairing the commercial value, and the boxing work efficiency can be improved.

In addition, since the link pin P of the parallel link mechanism 18 is horizontally oriented, the parallel link mechanism 18 is displaced in the imaginary vertical plane with the horizontal link pin P as the center of displacement. The adsorbent 8 described above is always kept in an appropriate adsorption posture, and particularly when adsorbing the fruit (see watermelon S) aligned at the alignment position II by the adsorbent 8 described above, the fruit S and the adsorbent 8 are absorbed. There is no gap between them, and the fruit S can be surely adsorbed by a predetermined vacuum suction force.

The boxing mechanism constituting this invention corresponds to the suction unit 7, each suction element 8, ..., Each four-bar parallel link mechanism 18 ..., And the air cylinder 22 for link drive of the above-mentioned embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment.

For example, a link mechanism such as a pantograph may be attached to the above-mentioned suction unit 7 and the respective suction elements 8 ...

[Brief description of drawings]

 The drawing shows one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an enlarged vertical side view of the suction unit, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the focusing operation of the suction unit, FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a boxing operation of the fruit boxing device. S: Watermelon (fruit) II: Alignment position III: Box packing position 7: Adsorption unit 8: Adsorber 18: Parallel link mechanism 24: Box P: Link pin

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An adsorption unit (7) is lowered, and a plurality of adsorbents (8) vertically installed on the adsorption unit (7),
After adsorbing the fruits (S) aligned at the alignment position, the adsorption unit (7) is moved to the packaging position, and the fruits (S) are placed inside the box (24) supplied to the packaging position. A boxing mechanism of a fruit boxing device for boxing, comprising the adsorption unit (7)
In addition, the adsorption interval corresponding to the interval between the fruits (S) arranged with the adsorbents (8) of the adsorption unit (7) in the alignment position, and the storage of the box body (24) supplied to the packing position. A parallel link mechanism (18) that swings and moves in an oblique direction that combines the vertical and horizontal directions is attached to the interval and the corresponding packing interval,
A packaging mechanism for a fruit packaging device in which the link pin (P) of the parallel ring mechanism (18) is horizontally oriented.