JPH0729468Y2 - Combination scale - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a combination scale for selecting and discharging a combination of articles whose total weight is equal to or close to a predetermined target weight, and particularly when discharging, , A combination scale for additionally discharging a specific article.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, a combination scale that additionally discharges a specific article has a fourth
There is one as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. This has a plurality of weighing hoppers 2 as shown in FIG. 4, and each of these weighing hoppers 2 has a weight detection unit, for example, a load cell 4.
Is provided. Articles are supplied to the weighing hoppers 2 from a supply hopper 6 provided above the weighing hoppers 2, and each load cell 4 generates an analog weighing signal representing the weight of the supplied articles. These analog weighing signals are converted into digital weighing signals by the A / D converter 8 shown in FIG. 5 via a multiplexer (not shown) and supplied to the CPU 10. The CPU 10 variously combines the digital weighing signals according to the program stored in the ROM 12, and selects a combination having a total weight equal to or closest to a predetermined target weight from these combinations. In addition, the CPU 10 provides a signal to the drive unit 14 to open the gate of the weighing hopper 2 containing the articles that make up the selected combination. The drive unit 14 has a plurality of output lines 16 corresponding to the respective gates of the weighing hopper 2, and when the above-mentioned signal is supplied, the weighing hopper which stores the selected article among these output lines 16 The one corresponding to the second gate is set to the H level, for example. As a result, these articles are discharged from the weighing hopper 2 containing the selected articles to the collecting chute 18 and are supplied to the packaging machine (not shown) provided below the collecting chute 18 to be packaged. .

Further, the CPU 10 causes the weighing hopper 2 that has become empty due to the discharge of the articles to open the gate of the supply hopper 6 provided above the weighing hopper 2 to supply a signal for supplying the article to the drive unit 14. To do. The drive unit 14 accordingly supplies the supply hopper 6 above the empty weighing hopper 2 in the output line 20 provided corresponding to the gate of each hopper 6.
The one corresponding to the gate of is set to the H level. As a result, the weighing hopper 2 emptied by discharging the articles
Goods are supplied to. Further, the CPU 10 operates one of the linear feeders 22 provided above each of the supply hoppers 6 in order to supply the articles to the empty supply hoppers 6, which corresponds to the empty supply hoppers 6. The drive unit 14 is supplied with a signal for performing the operation. In response to this, the drive unit 14 sets the output line 24 corresponding to each linear feeder 22 corresponding to the linear feeder 22 that supplies articles to the empty supply hopper 6 to the H level, and the linear traveling Operate the feeder 22. Reference numeral 25 is a dispersion feeder for supplying articles to each straight feeder 22.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, a specific article supply section 26 is provided. The specific product is a product different from the product supplied to each weighing hopper 2, but is packaged in the same package as the above-mentioned product, and is, for example, an oxygen absorber or a bonus product. The specific article is supplied from the specific article supply unit 26 to the collecting chute 18 via the chute 28, and a gate 30 is provided in the middle of the chute 28. The gate 30 operates when an H level signal is supplied from the OR circuit 33 shown in FIG. The OR circuit 33 is connected to the output line 16 of the drive unit 14. In the output line 16, at least one of the weighing hoppers 2 is at the H level when the article is discharged from any one of the weighing hoppers 2. Therefore, when the article is discharged from each of the weighing hoppers 2, the gate 30 is opened to open the specific article. Is also supplied to the collecting chute 18.

Reference numeral 32 shown in FIG. 5 denotes a program memory, which is used to open / close the gate of each weighing hopper 2, open / close time of the supply hopper 6,
A plurality of types of operating condition programs that determine the operating time of the straight feeder 22 according to the type and target weight of each item,
For example, 50 pieces are stored, and the operating condition program instructed by the keyboard 34 is stored in the RAM 36, and is used for controlling the gates of the respective weighing hoppers 2 and the respective supply hoppers 6 and for controlling the linear feeder 22. Reference numeral 38 denotes a display, which displays the selected operating condition program, displays the total weight of the selected combination, and displays the weighing hopper 2 that contains the articles that make up the selected combination. It is a thing.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the above-mentioned combination scale, at the same time as the articles forming a combination whose total weight is equal to or close to the target weight are supplied to the packaging machine or the like via the collecting chute 18, the gate 30 is opened, Since the specific article is supplied to the collecting chute 18, the article and the specific article can be packaged in the same package. But,
In the above-mentioned combination weigher, the gate 30 for supplying a specific product is opened by using the signal from the drive unit 14 which supplies the weighing hopper 2 so as to discharge the products constituting the selected combination. Therefore, it is not possible to confirm whether or not the specific article is actually supplied to the collecting chute 18, for example, the specific article is caught in the gate 30, and the specific article is not actually supplied to the collecting chute 18. However, there is a problem in that it is not possible to confirm this and there is a possibility that a package that does not include the specific article is shipped as it is.

An object of the present invention is to provide a combination weigher that solves the above problems.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a plurality of article weighing means for generating weighing signals representing the weights of the articles respectively supplied, and these article weighing means. Combining the weighing signals from the various combinations, the combination calculation means for selecting a combination of which the total weight is equal to or close to the predetermined target weight from these combinations, and the article to which the articles constituting the selected combination are supplied. Discharging means for discharging the articles from the weighing means, specific article supply means for supplying the specific articles to be discharged together with each article, and a specific article weighing signal indicating the weight of the specific articles supplied from the specific article supply means When it is determined that a specific article is supplied to the specific article weighing means based on the specific article weighing signal from the specific article weighing means, The determination means for activating the step and the specific article discharging means for discharging the specific article from the specific article weighing means at the same time when the discharging means are activated are provided.

[Operation] According to the present invention, the determining means is combined with the combination calculating means only when the specific article is supplied to the specific article weighing means and the specific article weighing signal representing the weight of the specific article is generated. Start the calculation. Then, when the combination calculation means selects a combination whose total weight is equal to or close to the target weight, the discharge means discharges the articles constituting the selected combination from the article weighing means that accommodates them. At the same time, the specific article discharging means discharges the specific article.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a specific article weighing hopper 40 is newly provided in addition to the weighing hopper 2, the supply hopper 6, the linear feeder 22, and the like.

The specific article weighing hopper 40 is provided with a weight detection unit, such as a load cell 42, for weighing the specific article supplied thereto. In addition, the specific article weighing hopper 42 has a specific article supply section through the chute 28 when the gate 30 is opened.
Specified goods are supplied from 26. Further, when the gate of the specific article weighing hopper 40 is opened, the specific article inside is discharged to the collecting hopper 18.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, a gate is connected to the output line 24 corresponding to each linear feeder 22 in the drive unit 14.
An output line 24a for opening and closing 30 is added, and when this line 24a becomes H level, the gate 30 is opened. Further, a line 16a for opening the gate of the specific article weighing hopper 40 is added to the output line 16 corresponding to each weighing hopper 2, and when the line 16a becomes H level, the gate of the specific article weighing hopper 40 is opened. be opened.

The analog weighing signal representing the weight of the specific article from the load cell 42 is converted into a digital weighing signal by the A / D converter 8 and supplied to the CPU 10. Although not shown in the figure, the analog weighing signals of the load cell 4 of each weighing hopper 2 and the load cell 42 of the specific article weighing hopper 40 are supplied to the A / D converter 8 via the multiplexer. .

FIG. 1 shows a schematic flowchart of this embodiment. First, it is determined whether or not the specific article is supplied to the specific article weighing hopper 40 (step S2). This is performed by determining whether the digital weighing signal obtained by converting the analog weighing signal representing the weight of the specific article from the load cell 42 is larger than a predetermined threshold value.

If the answer is NO, then in step S4 the output line 24
The level a is set to H level, the gate 30 is opened, the specific article is supplied to the specific article weighing hopper 40, and the process returns to step S2. If the answer to step S2 is YES, that is, if the specific article is supplied to the specific article weighing hopper 40, a digital meter showing the weight of the articles supplied to the weighing hoppers 2 other than the specific article weighing hopper 40. Various combinations of the heavy signals are selected, and from these combinations, a combination whose total weight is equal to or larger than a predetermined target weight and is closest to the target weight is selected (step S6).

Then, it is determined whether the selected total weight is within the allowable range, that is, is less than or equal to a predetermined allowable upper limit weight and is equal to or more than the target weight (step S8). If the answer is NO, in step S4, if there is an empty weighing hopper 2, the supply above the empty weighing hopper 2 in the output line 20 of the drive unit 14 so as to supply the articles to it. An H-level signal is generated by the one corresponding to the hopper 6. Further, when the articles are supplied to all the weighing hoppers 2, in step S4, the drive unit is arranged to discharge the articles from the appropriate ones of the weighing hoppers 2.
An appropriate one of the 14 output lines 16 is set to the H level, and one of the output lines 20 of the driving unit 14 is supplied so that the articles are supplied from the supply hopper 6 above the weighing hopper 2 from which the articles are discharged. Set to H level.

If the answer to step S8 is YES, that is, if the total weight of the selected combination is within the proper amount range, the weighing hoppers 2 containing the articles constituting the selected combination are allowed to discharge the articles. The output line 16 of the drive unit 14
The output line 16a of the drive unit 14 is set so that the one corresponding to the weighing hopper 2 accommodating the articles forming the selected combination is set to the H level and the specific article is discharged from the specific article weighing hopper 40 at the same time. To H level (step S10).

After that, in step S4, the articles are supplied to the weighing hopper 2 that has been emptied by discharging the articles.
Of the output lines 20 of the drive unit 14, those corresponding to the gate of the supply hopper 6 above the emptied weighing hopper 2 are set to H level, and the output lines 24 of the drive unit 14 are emptied. The one corresponding to the linear feeder 22 corresponding to the supply hopper 6 is set to H level. At the same time, the output line 24a of the drive unit 14 is set to H level, and the gate 3
Open 0, supply the specific article to the specific article weighing hopper 40, and return to step S2. Thereafter, the same operation as described above is performed.

Although the specific article weighing hopper 40 and the load cell 42 are added in the above embodiment, one of the plurality of weighing hoppers 2 provided may be used as the specific article weighing hopper. In that case, since one of the output lines 16 of the drive unit 14 can be used instead of the output line 16a, it is not necessary to add the output line 16a. Further, in this case, one straight feeder 22 and one supply hopper 6 are not required, respectively, and since one of the output lines 24 can be used instead of the output line 24a, it is not necessary to add the output line 24a.

[Advantage of the Invention] As described above, according to the combination weigher of the present invention, the combination calculation means is caused to perform the combination on the condition that the specific article is supplied to the specific article weighing means, and the combination calculation is performed. When the selected articles are discharged from each weighing means, the specific articles are simultaneously discharged from the specific article weighing means, so that when the combined articles are packaged, the specific articles are surely included in the same package. Can be made. Therefore, the problem that the specific article is not included in the package or the like does not occur.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of one embodiment of a combination weigher according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the same embodiment, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the same embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a schematic of a conventional combination weigher. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a conventional combination weigher. 2 ... Weighing hopper (weighing means), 4 ... Load cell (weighing means), 10 ... CPU (combination calculation means, determination means), 2
6: Specific article supply unit (specific article supply means), 28 ... Chute (specific article supply means), 30 ... Gate (specific article supply means), 40 ... Specific article weighing hopper (specific article weighing means) , 42 …… Load cell (specific item weighing means).

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A total weight from a plurality of combinations of a plurality of article weighing means for generating weighing signals respectively representing the weights of the supplied articles and various combinations of the weighing signals from the article weighing means. A combination calculation means for selecting a combination equal to or close to a predetermined target weight, a discharging means for discharging an article from the article weighing means to which articles constituting the selected combination are supplied, and each article A specific article supply means for supplying a specific article to be discharged together with the specific article supply means, a specific article weighing means for receiving a supply of the specific article from the specific article supply means, and generating a specific article weighing signal representing the weight thereof, and the specific article scale. Determining means for activating the combination calculating means when it is determined that the specific article is supplied to the specific article weighing means based on the specific article weighing signal from the weighting means; And means for discharging the specific article from the specific article Weighing means simultaneously when the discharge means is activated, the combination weigher equipped.