JPH07147958A - Humidifier for bulbs of flowering and ornamental plants - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure the action of a root remover by knowing the moisture insufficiency before carrying out the removal of the roots from bulbs of flowering and ornamental plants. CONSTITUTION:This humidifier for bulbs of flowering and ornamental plants is provided by installing a moisture measuring means 17 for the bulbs and a means 19 for humidifying the bulbs based on results of measurement of the moisture in the former step of a root remover 14 for removing the roots of the bulbs, calculating the amount of water in the humidifier from the detected data of the moisture in the bulbs and regulating the humidifier to the humidity required to remove the roots in a controlling part.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a humidity control device for flower bulbs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the problems to be solved by the invention
There is a facility for sorting and drying the flower bulbs for commercialization and shipping.The bulbs received from the producer are washed and dried to a specified water content, and the treatment such as root removal and selection is performed and stored appropriately. After that, it is packed in a cardboard box or the like according to size and shipped.

By the way, in order to increase the commercial value of bulbs, the root removal process is provided as described above. For example, it is configured to remove while holding the root between a pair of rollers,
If the roots are too dry, this root removal work will be interrupted, and if the water content is high, the root removal rate will decrease.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and is a root removing machine 1 for removing the root of a bulb.
In the preceding step of 4, the humidity control apparatus for flower bulbs is provided, which is provided with a water content measuring means for the bulb and a means for humidifying based on the water content measurement result.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The figure is an outline of a flower bulb dry sorting facility, which is an automated process for commercializing flower bulbs shipped from producers, including a cargo receiving section A, a washing section B, a temporary drying section C, and a pretreatment. It comprises a section D, a sorting and sorting section E, a main drying section F, a shipping and sorting section G, and an auxiliary facility H.

Of these, the cargo receiving section A is composed of a ventilation duct 3 having a placing section 2 for accumulating the containers 1 containing the bulbs, and the cargo receiving section A from the truck 4 via an appropriate lifting device (not shown). The containers are sequentially stacked in the mounting space 2 and provided so that the container 1 can be ventilated arbitrarily during the mounting period. The cleaning unit B has a configuration capable of removing adhered mud while immersing and transferring all the flower bulbs supplied while reversing the bulb storage container 1 sequentially transferred from the cargo receiving unit A by the container damper 5. is there. Reference numeral 7 is a draining conveyor for supplying and transferring these washed products to the temporary drying section C.

The primary drying section C is mainly intended to smoothly carry out the root removing action in the subsequent process, and is constructed to dry the water to about 50%. That is, the temporary drying unit C is composed of the upper buffering tanks 8, 8, a mesh conveyor 9 having a zigzag-shaped inclined guide surface inside the apparatus, a dehumidifier 10, etc., and is slowly moved by dehumidifying air appropriately supplied to the apparatus. It can be dried.

The bulbs discharged from the primary drying section C are
It is transferred and stored in the relay tanks 11 and 11 which also serve as tempering. Next, the pre-treatment section D includes a stock separator 12 and a rough sorter 1.
3, root removal machine 14, wax machine 15, wax dryer 16
Are arranged in this order, and pretreatment for sorting, main drying and storage is performed. Since the coarse sorter 13 is less likely to commercialize bulbs (hereinafter referred to as small spheres) having a smaller outer diameter than the predetermined outer diameter, the rough sorter 13 attempts to separate and remove in advance so as to omit a part of the pretreatment. For example, it is advisable to form a sorting hole having a predetermined width on the rotary drum. The small spheres that have leaked through the sorting hole are treated as reducing spheres that are returned to the producer, and the bulbs from the discharge side end of the rotary drum are processed as shipping spheres. Of these, only the shipping balls are transferred and supplied to the root removing machine 14.

The root removing device 14 is, for example, a supply rotary member 14a.
Among the bulbs from the above, the pair of rotary rollers 14d, which inherits the roots of the bulbs locked to the rotary brushes 14b, 14c,
It is configured to be removable between 14d or 14e, 14e.
Although details are shown in FIG. 1, two rotary brushes 14 are added even if the postures of the bulbs are different by adding the rotary brush 14b.
The root entanglement action of b and 14b can be expanded and the root removal ratio can be expanded.

A moisture detector 17 is arranged in the preceding stroke of the root removing machine 14, that is, in the path from the rough sorter 13 to the root removing machine 14. The moisture detector 17 is advantageously of a non-destructive type in which the high-frequency resistance on the surface of the bulb in the transfer path is measured and converted into moisture. In addition, it is not always necessary to check the total amount of water, and it is possible to use a form in which measurement can be performed at a predetermined ratio while performing random sampling. The detection result of the moisture detector 17 is taken into the controller 18, and a drive command signal is output to the humidifier 19 provided above the entrance of the root remover 14 to drive the humidifier 19 or calculate the amount of supplied water. .

Alternatively, the root remover 14 entrance conveyor 1
A signal is output to set the transfer speed of 4d to a predetermined value. The humidifier 19 is in the form of a shower to humidify the bulbs passing therethrough by nozzle spraying. The small balls and the rooted shipping balls are collected and put into the wax machine 15. Here, the bulbs on the conveyor belt surface can be waxed by an upper wax coating nozzle (not shown). is there. The wax dryer 16 is configured to receive dehumidified air from a connected dehumidifier and gradually dry it.

The sorting and sorting section E has a sorting machine 20 and drawer conveyors 21, 21 ... Which are provided corresponding to each sorting class. The sorting machine 20 employs a belt-conveying type sorting section having sorting holes. It is a structure in which the rank is sorted into 4 ranks of 2S, S, M, and L. Each pull-out conveyor 21 provided for each class is provided with a ball number counter 22, and the grade-specific bulbs discharged from the end of this conveyor 21 can be stored in a fixed quantity in a container transferred by a container transfer conveyor 23. It is configured. The bulb storage container is a container loading / unloading conveyor 24 and a palletizing robot 2.
5 is transferred to the unmanned forklift 26 and is housed in the main drying section F.

Since the main drying section F still has a high water content, it is mainly intended to prevent spoilage at the distribution stage. In this embodiment, the main drying section F is divided into three chambers and is arbitrarily divided according to the shipping time, the kind of product, etc. Although they can be selectively accommodated, both of them are configured so that dehumidified air by a dehumidifier can be introduced and cooling storage can be performed subsequent to drying by controlling the cooling air.

The shipping and sorting section G includes an unmanned forklift 26.
On the contrary, the product transfer conveyor 2 which receives the storage containers returned to the transfer conveyor 24 separately into small balls and shipping balls
7, or a relay conveyor 28 is provided, and each conveyor 27,
Semi-automatic dampers 29 and 30 are provided at the 28 end portions, respectively. The bulbs discharged from the damper 29 of the shipping ball pass through the final inspection table 31, undergo the ball count processing of the ball counter 32, are molded by the box making machine 33, and are supplied to the empty box supply chute 3
It is housed in a cardboard box that descends at 4.
Reference numeral 35 is a housing portion for housing a pallet, and 36 is a box sealing machine for sealing a cardboard box containing shipping balls.

The equipment provided between the cleaning section B and the sorting / sorting section E is provided in two lines to expand the processing. A main one of the incidental equipment H is a management computer 37, which stores information such as a producer code, a received quantity, and a sorting result in association with each other, and also operates the cleaning section B to the sorting / sorting section E. It has functions such as operation control and calculation of the amount paid to the producer, and the necessary information is printed out.

The operation of the above example will be described. The bulbs received from the producer are sequentially supplied to the cleaning section B in a predetermined amount from the container inverted by the container damper 5 and cleaned. Next, the water is drained off, reaches the primary drying section C, and is slowly dried. Desirably, the drying here is finished to a water content value for which root removal in the next step is properly performed, and is supplied while controlling the speed at which the inclined guide surface moves and the dehumidifying air temperature and humidity. That is, the dehumidified air from the dehumidifier 10 is supplied to the dehumidifying / drying section a through the ducts 11, 11, ..., Drys the bulb on the mesh conveyor 9a, and conveys the next stage conveyor 9b.
Moving to, there is no supply of dehumidifying air here, and the so-called humidity control action is performed in which the water difference between the bulb surface side and the central portion side is gradually eliminated and made uniform.

Bulbs that reach a substantially constant water content and are discharged are subjected to strain separation, rough selection, and then root removal treatment. Here, the water content of the bulb that has passed through the rough sorter 16 is detected while passing through the water content detector 17, and the detection data is fetched by the control unit 18. Based on the detection data, the controller 18 first determines whether or not the bulb is in a water state suitable for root removal, and when it is within the appropriate range (around 50%), the bulb is put into the root removing machine 14 as it is. When it is below the appropriate range, the humidification water amount w (Kg
/ Hour) is supplied to perform humidification. That is, w = W (m-m ₁ ) / (100-m) Kg / hour, where w is the amount of humidifying water (Kg / hour), W is the amount of bulb transportation (Kg / hour), and m is the set water content (%). , M ₁ is the detected water content (%). In this way, the humidifying process is performed as necessary, and the root removing machine 14 performs the root removing process later. In addition, in order to lower the root removal rate if the water content is more than the required water content, the water content is returned to the primary drying section C for drying treatment, or a room temperature ventilation drying device is separately provided and dried for a while, and then the moisture detector 17 is subjected to the preceding process. It is advisable to reduce the water content and perform moisture detection again.

As described above, in the pretreatment section D, the pretreatment for the sorting and sorting in the next step is carried out, but the wax application is intended to enhance the commercial value. When the pretreatment is completed in this way, it is supplied to the sorting and sorting unit E. Here, it is sorted into four classes according to the size of the outer diameter, but the containers are stored while counting the number of balls for each class. The palletizing robot 25 transfers the container to the unmanned forklift 26, moves it to the main drying section F, and places it in a predetermined manner. Dehumidified air is supplied to the main drying section F to be dehumidified and dried, and the temperature thereof is maintained at, for example, 20 degrees Celsius or less so that it can withstand long-term storage.

On the desired shipping date, the management computer 37
Is a product that outputs a loading command signal to the unmanned forklift 26 for a predetermined product type and quantity, is transferred to the shipping process via the transfer conveyors 24 and 27, and is appropriately boxed and shipped. FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the cargo receiving section A. The container 1 has a ventilation screen 102 below most of the bulb storage space 101, and below this is a ventilation space 103. In this ventilation space 103, the corresponding two surfaces are released 104 so as to allow ventilation from the adjacent space 103, and the other two surfaces are released.
The surface is provided with a shutter 106 that opens and closes inward while releasing the forklift pawl 105 so that the forklift pawl 105 can be inserted.
Further, the ventilation duct 3 has a plurality of ventilation holes 30 in the vertical direction.
, Which are provided with shutters 302, 302, which can be automatically opened and closed, respectively. Numerals 303, 303 ... Are detectors capable of detecting the presence or absence of the container 1. Based on the detection result of the detectors, the shutter 302 is opened to allow ventilation to the ventilation space 103 of the uppermost container, and the shutter of the next stage is opened. 302 is closed. In this way, a plurality of stacked containers are ventilated every other container, and the ventilation is divided in the vertical direction to act on the bulbs in the container 1. In addition, the ventilation space 1
Ventilation becomes possible by connecting the release parts 104 of 03. Reference numerals 107 and 107 denote lids that are attached to and detached from the outermost side and correspond to opening and closing of the shutter 302.
It is advisable to mount the lid 107 when the is open. The lid 107 may be automated so as to open and close based on the detection result of the detector 303.

FIG. 5 shows an example of an embodiment of the cleaning section B. The bulb from the container damper 5 is supplied from one end side of the drum 601 rotating in the water tank 6 and is transferred while being discharged from the other end side. As it moves, it is washed by the water flow. The drum 601 is rotationally interlocked with a motor 602, but a motor load is appropriately detected during operation, and the detection data is input to the control unit 603. A forward / reverse control motor 502 is provided on the rotary shaft center portion 501 of the container damper 5 so that it is interlocked in the forward / reverse direction with a command signal from the controller 603. That is, in response to the operation start signal from the management computer 37, the container damper 5 is tilted in the forward rotation of the control motor 502 to a preset angle from the position where the limit switch (not shown) is arranged. In this way, the contained bulb begins to be discharged, and the rotational load of the drum 601 increases. Since the load value of the drive motor 602 is sequentially input to the control unit 603, when this value exceeds a preset predetermined value, the control unit 603 adjusts the container damper 5 angle to be gentle in order to reduce the load on the drum 601. The control motor 502 is configured to rotate in the reverse direction in response to a command signal from the. On the contrary, in the standard position, when the load is light, a normal rotation command signal is output to the control motor 502 so that the predetermined angle is steep.

The bulbs exiting the drum 601 float in the second water tank 604 and are picked up by the conveyor 605. Here, the precipitated pebbles and the like are lifted by the conveyor 606 and discharged to a proper place. When passing through the conveyor 605, the thin skin easily peeled off by the jet of the water injector 607 is removed, and after passing through the final water tank 608, it is transferred to the next step by the conveyor 609. Reference numeral 610 is a pump, and 611 is a water distribution pipeline.

[0022]

The effect of the present invention is that the water content of the bulb is removed because the water content measuring means for the bulb and the means for humidifying the water based on the result of the water content are provided in the preceding step of the root removing machine 14 for removing the root of the bulb. It is possible to determine whether it is appropriate or not, and when the predetermined water content is not reached, it can be humidified to an appropriate range by the humidifying means and supplied to the root remover 14, so that a problem such as a root being cut off can be solved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of a main part.

FIG. 2 is an overall plan view.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a load receiving unit.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a load receiving unit.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the cleaning unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

A cargo receiving section B washing section C temporary drying section D pretreatment section E sorting section F main drying section G shipping sorting section H incidental equipment 1 bulb storage container 2 loading section 3 ventilation duct 4 truck 5 container damper 6 water tank 7 draining conveyor 8,8 Buffering tank 9,9 ... Mesh conveyor 10 Dehumidifier 11,11 Tempering and relay tank 12 Stock separator 13 Coarse sorter 14 Root remover 15 Wax machine 16 Wax dryer 17 Moisture detector 18 Controller 19 Humidifier 20 Sorting machine 21, 21 ... Drawer conveyor 22 Ball counter 23 Container transfer conveyor 24 Container loading / unloading conveyor 25 Palletizing robot 26 Unmanned forklift 27 Product transport conveyor 28 Relay conveyor 29,30 Semi-automatic damper 31 Final inspection table 32 Number of balls Coun Over 33 box making machine 34 empty boxes feed chute 35 housing portion 36 Fuhako machine 37 management computer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A humidity control apparatus for flowering bulbs, comprising a means for measuring the water content of the bulb and a means for humidifying based on the result of the water measurement, in the preceding step of a root removing machine 14 for removing the root of the bulb.