JPH07160A - Conveyor for field crop and peeler for leek having the same device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To convey a field crop while rotating the field crop and carry out the treatment over the whole periphery thereof by nipping the field crop with a conveying belt driven in the conveying direction thereof and a pressing member fixed at a position opposite to the conveying belt. CONSTITUTION:The outer surface of a conveying belt 24 is formed from an elastic material such as sponge rubber, rotated and driven in the direction of an arrow. A pressing plate 34 is supported in a state thereof, suspended in midair and parallel to the conveyor belt at a position just above the top surface of the conveyor belt to regulate the width of the pressing plate and conveying plate to nearly the equal size. The surface of the pressing plate opposite to the top surface of the conveyor belt is formed from an elastic material such as the sponge rubber. A field crop (N) such as a leak nipped with the conveying belt and the pressing plate is conveyed while being rolled on the pressing plate.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for conveying agricultural products while rotating them, and an onion peeling apparatus equipped with the apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a crop is processed all around, a user holds the crop with his / her hand and rotates the crop. For example, when blowing air over the entire circumference of the green onion to peel the green onion, apply the green onion to the air jetted in one direction from the nozzle, and in this state, turn the green onion around its own axis with your hand. By rotating, the peeling process is performed over the entire circumference.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION As described above, the work of rotating a crop while holding it with a hand is troublesome, burdens the operator, and is inefficient.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a crop conveying apparatus and an onion peeling apparatus including the crop conveying apparatus, which are capable of automatically treating crops all around. The purpose is to do.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems As means for solving the above problems, the present invention is an apparatus for conveying a crop in a direction orthogonal to the direction of its rotation axis while rotating the crop, in the conveying direction. A conveyor belt to be driven and a pressing member fixed at a position parallel and opposed to the conveyor belt, and the pressing member and the conveyor so that the crop is held between the pressing member and the conveyor belt. The positional relationship of the belts is set (Claim 1).

It is preferable that the surfaces of the conveying belt and the pressing member that face each other are formed of a flexible elastic material (claim 2), and the end portion of the pressing member on the inlet side of the agricultural product is separated from the conveying belt. It is preferable to warp in the direction of separating (claim 3).

The present invention also relates to an onion peeling device equipped with the above-described agricultural crop conveying device, which is provided at a position deviated from the above-mentioned conveying device in the same direction as the rotation axis direction of the agricultural crop. An air supply unit is provided for blowing air to the portion protruding from the transport device (claim 4).

In this apparatus, a rotary member having a cutting edge on the peripheral surface is provided at a position facing the air supply means and in contact with the onion being conveyed, in a direction parallel to the rotation axis direction of the onion. It is rotatably arranged around the axis of
The rotary member may be provided with a rotary drive means for rotating the rotary member at a speed in the same direction as the transport direction of the onion and at which the peripheral speed of the rotary member is higher than the transport speed of the transport belt (claim 5). The transport device is arranged such that the rotation axis direction of the is oriented in a substantially vertical direction, and the boundary portion between the onion leaf portion and the stem portion is sandwiched by the transport device below the transport device. By securing a space where the leaf portion hangs down (claim 6),
More excellent effects as described below can be obtained.

[0009]

In the conveying device according to the present invention, the agricultural products sandwiched between the conveying belt and the pressing member are conveyed in the driving direction by the driving of the conveying belt, but the pressing member facing the conveying belt is stationary. Therefore, the crop sandwiched between the two is conveyed in the above direction while rolling on the pressing member (that is, while rotating around its own axis orthogonal to the above conveying direction). Therefore, it is possible to automatically and continuously perform the above-described processing over the entire circumference of the agricultural product by performing the processing on the agricultural product being conveyed from a predetermined direction.

Further, in the apparatus according to the second aspect, since the surfaces of the pressing member and the conveyor belt which are opposed to each other are formed of elastic members having flexibility, the carrying force of the agricultural products can be enhanced by sandwiching them. At the same time, it is possible to prevent the crops from being damaged by this holding.

Further, in the apparatus according to the third aspect, since the inlet end of the pressing member is warped in the direction away from the conveyor belt, that is, the pressing member gradually approaches the conveyor belt in the conveying direction. Agricultural products are smoothly introduced from the inlet side between the pressing member and the conveyor belt.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a peeling device, wherein the onion is conveyed while being rotated by the conveying device, while air is supplied from the air supply means to a portion of the onion which is protruded from the conveying device. By being blown, air is blown over the entire circumference of the portion to peel the skin automatically, and such peeling treatment is successively applied to the onions being conveyed one after another.

Further, in the apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the boundary portion between the onion leaf portion and the stem portion or a portion close thereto is held between the conveyor belt and the pressing member, and the stem portion is rotated by the rotating member. While operating the transport device,
And by rotating and driving the rotating member at a speed such that the peripheral speed of the rotating member is higher than the conveying speed of the conveying belt, the onion is conveyed while rotating around its own axis, and at the same time, the peripheral speed is higher than this onion. A cutting edge provided on the peripheral surface of the rotating rotating member cuts the stalk of the green onion in the circumferential direction. Therefore, by blowing air onto the surface of the stem, this air penetrates the inside of the stem through the cut end,
This stalk becomes easier to peel.

Further, in the apparatus according to the sixth aspect of the invention, the carrying device holds the green onion in a state where the green onion peels in a substantially vertical direction,
Since the onion is transported under the condition where the leaf of the onion is hung under the transport device, the onion can be peeled while transporting the onion without damaging the leaf.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The device shown here is a device for peeling so-called white onion, and is a frame 1 installed on the ground.
It has 0. A left frame 12 and a right frame 14 are installed in the lower part of the frame 10, and a support plate 16 is arranged in the upper part.

A pair of left and right brackets 18 are provided upright on the front and rear portions of the left-side frame 12, and these brackets 18 are provided.
A shaft 20 extending in the left-right direction is rotatably supported by the. A sprocket 22 is fixed to the left end (the left end in FIG. 2) of each shaft 20, and a conveyor belt 24 is stretched between the front and rear sprockets 22. The outer surface of the conveyor belt 24 is made of sponge rubber. It is made of a flexible elastic material such as.

As shown in FIG. 2, a sprocket 26 is fixed to the intermediate portion of the shaft 20 on one side, while a belt driving motor 28 is installed below the pedestal 12, and this belt driving motor 28 is installed. A sprocket 29 fixed to the output shaft of the above and the sprocket 26 are connected by a chain 30. Then, the belt driving motor 28
1, the sprocket 22 is rotationally driven in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1, and accordingly, the conveyor belt 24 is rotationally driven in the arrow direction in FIG.

A pressing plate (pressing member) 34 is fixed at a position just above the upper surface of the conveyor belt 24 in a state parallel (that is, horizontal) to the conveyor belt 24. The front and rear parts of the holding plate 34 are connected to the support plate 16 via a connecting plate 32 extending in the vertical direction, and thus the holding plate 3
4 is supported by a support plate 16 in a suspended state. The pressing plate 34 has a width dimension that is substantially the same as that of the conveyor belt 24,
The surface (that is, the lower surface) of the pressing plate 34 that faces the upper surface of the conveyor belt 24 is formed of a flexible elastic material such as sponge rubber, similar to the surface of the conveyor belt 24. Then, the pressing plate 34 and the conveyor belt 24 constitute the conveyor of the present invention.

Incidentally, the rear end portion (end portion on the inlet side of the onion) 34a of the pressing plate 34 is warped upward as shown in FIG. 1, and is shaped so as to approach the upper surface of the conveyor belt 24 as it goes forward. . Further, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 33 denotes a guide plate for carrying in the onion N carried from a belt conveyor (not shown) onto the carrying belt 24 from the rear of the carrying device, and 35
Is a guide plate for transferring the onion N, which has been transported by the transport device, from the front part of the transport device to the next step.

A pair of left and right roller brackets 36 are erected on the right frame 14. Each roller bracket 3
As shown in FIG. 1, 6 extends in the front-rear direction, and the roller brackets 36 rotatably support the left and right ends of a plurality of rollers (rotating members) 38. These rollers 38 are arranged side by side in the front and rear direction, and are supported at a position where the upper end surface of the rollers 38 has substantially the same height as the upper end surface of the conveyor belt 24. A cutting edge 40 is formed.

Of the rollers 38, a sprocket 44 is fixed to a left rotary shaft 42 of a specific roller (the second roller from the right in FIG. 1 in the illustrated example) 38. On the other hand, a roller drive motor (rotational drive means) 46 is installed on the support plate 16, and a sprocket 48 fixed to the output shaft of the roller drive motor 46 is connected via a chain 50 to the sprocket 4.
It is fixed at 4. Further, the rollers 38 are connected to each other via an interlocking mechanism (not shown), and the specific roller 38 is rotationally driven by the operation of the roller drive motor 46, so that all the rollers 38 interlock with this. Are driven to rotate in the same direction at the same speed.

Here, the rotational driving direction of the specific roller 38 is set in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1 as shown by the arrow in FIG. 1, and the rotational speed thereof is the peripheral speed of the roller 38. It is set to a speed slightly higher than the driving speed of 24.

Brackets 52 are erected on the front and rear portions of the support plate 16, and joints 54 are attached to the brackets 52.
The shafts 56 in the vertical direction are connected via the pipes 58, and the pipes 58 are connected to the lower end portions of the shafts 56 via the elbows 57. With this structure, the left and right pipes 58 are supported above the roller group 38 so as to extend in the left and right directions, and are supported so as to be rotatable around the central axis (horizontal axis) of the joint 54.

An unillustrated air pressure source is connected to the inside of each pipe 58 via a hose or the like. A plurality of air nozzles 60 are provided on the lower surface of each pipe 58 along the longitudinal direction thereof.
Are installed in parallel, and the air introduced from the pressure source into the pipe 58 passes through the air nozzle 60 and the roller 3
It is designed to be sprayed onto the 8 groups from above.

As shown in FIG. 2, rocking drive motors 61 are fixed to the front and rear portions of the lower surface of the support plate 16 with the output shafts oriented in the left and right directions. A circular crank plate 62 as shown in FIG. 1 is fixed. Then, the peripheral edge portion of each crank plate 62 is connected to the approximately middle portion of the left and right shafts 56 in the vertical direction via a connecting rod 64, and the crank plate 62 is rotated by the operation of each swing drive motor 61, With this rotation, the shaft 56 and the pipe 58 are configured to oscillate as shown by the arrow in FIG.

Next, the operation of this device will be described.

The green onion N conveyed by a belt conveyor (not shown) rolls on the guide plate 33 while being conveyed by the conveyor belt 24.
While being carried onto the rear part of the carrying belt 24 and being further carried forward by the carrying belt 24 below the holding plate rear end portion 34a, the holding plate 34 and the carrying belt 24 are finally held from above and below. Here, the rear end portion 34a is warped in the direction away from the conveyor belt 24 and has a shape that gradually approaches the conveyor belt 24 from the entrance side toward the conveyance direction. The leek N is smoothly introduced between the conveyor belt 24 and the conveyor belt 24.

At the time of this introduction, the direction and the position of the onion N are as shown in FIG.
The stem portion N1 is set to face the left side of the apparatus, and the boundary portion between the two portions N1 and N2 is set so as to be held between the pressing plate 34 and the conveyor belt 24. Here, since the surfaces of the pressing plate 34 and the conveyor belt 24 that face each other are made of an elastic material having flexibility, the conveying force of the green onion N due to the sandwiching of the two is increased, and the green onion N may be damaged. There is no.

In the state of being held in this manner, the onion N is conveyed from the rear side of the apparatus to the front side (from right to left in FIG. 1) by driving the conveying belt 24. Here, the conveying belt 2
4 is moving in the above-mentioned direction, the holding plate 34a remains stationary, so the onion N moves on the lower surface of the holding plate 34 about its own axis (horizontal axis) in the clockwise direction in FIG. It is transported in the above direction while rolling.

During this transportation, the stalk portion N1 of the onion N is transported while contacting with the upper end of each roller 38, but a cutting edge 40 is formed on the peripheral edge of each roller 38, and each roller 38 is transported. 38 is rotatably driven at a speed such that the peripheral speed thereof is higher than the conveying speed by the conveyor belt 24,
Moreover, since each green onion N is conveyed while rotating around its own axis as described above, the cutting portion 40 makes a cut along the entire circumference at the stem portion N1 of the green onion N.

Then, by blowing air from above through the pipe 58 and the nozzle 60, the air penetrates into the inside through the cut and blows the skin from the onion N to the outside. In this way, the onion N conveyed while being stripped over the entire circumference is rolled on the guide plate 35 and transferred to the next step.

As described above, in this apparatus, the conveyor belt 24 which is driven in the predetermined direction and the holding plate 3 which is in a stationary state.
With a simple structure of holding the onion N between 4 and 4, it can be continuously conveyed in the above direction while rotating the onion N, and during this conveyance, the stem N1 of each onion N Only by blowing air from above, the peeling treatment can be automatically and continuously performed over the entire circumference of each onion N.

Further, in this embodiment, the roller 3 with a cutting edge is placed at a position where it comes into contact with the stem portion N1 of the onion N being conveyed.
8 is provided, and each roller 38 is rotationally driven at a speed such that the peripheral speed thereof is higher than the transport speed of the transport belt 24, so that each roller 38 automatically cuts the stem portion N1 of the onion N. As a result, the peeling process by blowing air can be made more reliable.

Further, in this embodiment, since the pipe 58 and the air nozzle 60 are swung back and forth above the group of rollers 38, air can be sprayed repeatedly on the onion N being conveyed, This enhances the peeling effect.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

In this embodiment, a green onion (a green onion in which the leaf portion N2 is longer than the stem portion N1 and the leaf portion N2 is mainly used for food) is particularly suitable for peeling. In this device, as shown in FIG. 3, basically, each member is arranged so that the onion N is held in a substantially vertical direction and is sandwiched from the left and right by the conveyor belt 24 and the pressing plate 34. ing. Specifically, this device includes a duct 70 for collecting the peeled skin, and the duct 70 has a horizontal portion 71 extending in the left-right direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 3) and a vertical direction from the end of the horizontal portion 71. And an upright portion 72 extending to.

Support members 73 extending in the front-rear direction (left-right direction in FIG. 4) are fixed to the upper and lower portions of the upright portion 72, and the brackets 18 are fixed to the front-rear portions of the respective support members 73. By a pair of front and rear shafts 20
Is rotatably supported in a state of facing in the vertical direction. Then, the sprocket 22 is fixed to the upper end of each shaft 20,
A conveyor belt 24 is stretched between both sprockets 22.

On the other hand, a pillar 76 is erected on the right side of the duct 70. The front and rear portions of a holding plate 34 are connected to the support column 76 via a connecting plate 32 extending in the left-right direction.
It is supported at a position facing 4 in a state parallel to this. Further, the connecting plate 32 is provided with a long hole 33 in the left-right direction, and by inserting a bolt 74 into the long hole 33,
The connecting plate 32 is fixed to the support column 76 by the bolts 74, and therefore the position of the holding plate 34 in the left-right direction is adjusted (in other words, the distance between the conveyor belt 24 and the holding plate 34 is adjusted).
Can be appropriately performed according to the diameter of the onion N.

A shaft 56 is connected to the support column 76 via a bracket 52 and a joint 54 in a state in which the shaft 56 is oriented in the left-right direction, and a pipe 58 with a nozzle 60 is connected to each shaft 56 via an elbow 57 in an upright state. Has been done. Due to this structure, the front and rear pipes 58 are connected to the duct 70.
Is supported on the right side of the
It is rotatably supported around the central axis (vertical axis) of the.

As shown in FIG. 3, the swing drive motor 61 is fixed to the left side surface of the support column 76, and the output shaft of the swing drive motor 61 is connected via the link mechanism consisting of the crank plate 62 and the connecting rod 64 shown in the first embodiment. Each swing drive motor 6
The operation of No. 1 causes the shaft 56 and the pipe 58 to swing about a vertical axis.

According to such an apparatus, as shown in FIG. 3, the conveyance belt 24 and the pressing plate 34 hold the boundary portion between the stem portion N1 and the leaf portion N2 in the green onion N, whereby the green onion N is held. Can be transported forward (backward in FIG. 3, leftward in FIG. 4) while rotating about its own axis, and the pipe 58 can be fed from the side with respect to the stem portion N1 of the onion N being transported.
And by blowing air through the nozzle 60,
You can peel it.

Moreover, in this apparatus, the conveyor belt 2 is
4 and the pressing plate 34 hold the green onion N from the left and right, and the leaf portion N2 is hung below the green onion N, so that the leaf onion N is conveyed without contacting other members. It is possible to ensure the protection of the leaf portion N2 mainly used for food.

The conveying device according to claim 1 of the present application is not limited to the peeling device for the onion N shown in the above-mentioned embodiment, but other than that, it can be used to clean the water flow and chemicals etc. to the onion or agricultural products other than the onion. It can be effectively applied even when spraying over the circumference.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a conveyor belt which is driven in a predetermined direction and a holding member which is fixed at a position opposite to the conveyor belt, which has a simple structure in which the agricultural crop is held by itself. It can be continuously conveyed while rotating around. Therefore, by performing processing on each agricultural product from a predetermined direction while conveying the agricultural product by this apparatus, there is an effect that the processing over the entire circumference of each agricultural product can be continuously and automatically and efficiently performed.

Moreover, in the conveying device according to the second aspect of the present invention, since the surfaces of the pressing member and the conveying belt that face each other are formed of elastic members having flexibility, the conveying force of the agricultural product can be increased by sandwiching the two members. Moreover, it is possible to prevent the crops from being damaged by this holding.

Further, in the conveying device according to the third aspect of the invention, since the end portion of the pressing member on the inlet side of the agricultural product is warped in the direction away from the conveyor belt, the agricultural product is interposed between the pressing member and the conveyor belt from the inlet side. It can be introduced smoothly.

In the peeling device according to claim 4, which is provided with the above-mentioned transport device, air is supplied from the air supply means to the part of the onion which is transported while being rotated by the above-mentioned transport device, in the part of the onion which protrudes from the above-mentioned transport device. Just spray
Air can be blown to the above-mentioned part all around and the skin can be peeled automatically. In addition, such a peeling treatment can be sequentially and continuously applied to the onions being transported, which has the effect of enabling a large amount of peeling treatment of the onions.

Further, in the peeling device according to claim 5,
In a state in which the conveyor belt and the pressing member hold the boundary portion between the onion leaf portion and the stem portion or a portion close to this, and the stem portion is in contact with the rotating member, the conveying device is operated, Moreover, since the rotating member is rotationally driven at a speed such that the peripheral speed thereof is higher than the conveying speed of the conveying belt, it is necessary to cut the onion stem in the circumferential direction by the cutting edge of the rotating member during the conveying. By blowing air on the surface of the stem, there is an effect that the skin facing operation can be performed more reliably.

Further, in the apparatus according to the sixth aspect, the onion is held by the carrying device in a state where the green onion is stripped in a substantially vertical direction, and the onion is carried with the part of the green onion hanging down below the carrying device. Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to transport the leaf, mainly in the green onion, while surely protecting the leaf portion mainly used for food.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an onion peeling device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional front view of the peeling device.

FIG. 3 is a partially sectional front view of an onion peeling device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the peeling device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Frame 24 Conveyor Belt 34 Presser Plate 40 Roller (Rotating Member) 46 Roller Drive Motor (Rotation Driving Means) 58 Pipe (Air Supply Means) 78 Space That Only Suspends the Onion Leaf N Onion N1 Onion Stem Part N2 onion leaf part

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A device for transporting a farm product while rotating it in a direction orthogonal to a rotation axis direction thereof, the transport belt being driven in the transport direction, and a position parallel to and facing the transport belt. With a fixed pressing member,
A conveyance device for agricultural products, wherein a positional relationship between the pressing member and the conveyor belt is set so that the agricultural products are held between the pressing member and the transportation belt. 2. The agricultural crop transportation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the surfaces of the transportation belt and the pressing member facing each other are made of an elastic material having flexibility. 3. The agricultural product transportation device according to claim 1, wherein an end portion of the pressing member on the inlet side of the agricultural product is bent in a direction away from the transportation belt. 4. An onion peeling device comprising the agricultural crop transporting device according to claim 1, which is provided at a position deviated from the transporting device in the same direction as the agricultural product rotation axis direction. The onion peeling device is provided with air supply means for blowing air to a portion of the onion, which is the agricultural product, protruding from the transport device. 5. The onion peeling device according to claim 4, wherein a rotary member having a cutting edge on its peripheral surface is provided at a position facing the air supply means and in contact with the onion being conveyed. The rotation member is arranged rotatably around an axis parallel to the rotation axis direction of the onion, and the rotation member is in the same direction as the conveyance direction of the onion and the peripheral speed of the rotation member is higher than the conveyance speed of the conveyance belt. A peeling device for an onion, which is provided with a rotation driving means that is driven to rotate at a certain speed. 6. The onion peeling device according to claim 4, wherein the transport device is arranged so that the rotation axis direction of the onion is substantially vertical, and below the transport device.
An onion peeling device, characterized in that a space is provided for allowing the leaf portion to hang down while the boundary portion between the onion leaf portion and the stem portion is held by the transport device.