JPH0757342B2 - Agricultural product selection method and agricultural product selection device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an agricultural product selection method and an agricultural product selection device.

(Prior art and its problems) Various agricultural product sorting devices have been developed that automatically sort agricultural products into each class according to criteria such as outer diameter or weight.

In these agricultural product selection devices, the outer diameter or the weight is measured while the agricultural products are stored in a predetermined bucket and conveyed, and the bucket is inverted according to the measurement signal to reach the predetermined collecting conveyor, and the agricultural products are inverted. The agricultural products are dropped so that they can be collected on each of the collection conveyors in predetermined classes.

By the way, for specific agricultural products such as apples and pears, a so-called packing method of packing in a pack is adopted.

As a packing method, there is one disclosed in JP-A-61-21308.

In this conventional method, the agricultural products for which measurement has been completed are sequentially carried out one by one onto the pull-out conveyor, and are connected to the pull-out conveyor. This is a method of packing by sequentially aiming at the pack holes of each row of the pack to be fed in a short distance.

With this conventional method, agricultural products can be automatically stored in the pack holes of the pack.

However, once the agricultural products are pulled out on the conveyor one by one
Since the individual products are drawn out one by one and further guided to the pack holes via the automatic arrangement conveyor, the agricultural products roll on the extraction conveyor or the automatic arrangement conveyor, and the posture of the agricultural products is difficult to settle in a certain direction. Therefore, it is not suitable for selection of agricultural products such as apples that need to be stored in a pack in a certain direction.

In addition, since a plurality of agricultural products have already been discharged on the pull-out conveyor or the automatic arrangement conveyor, once a trouble occurs in the distribution by the automatic arrangement conveyor, the distribution of the already discharged plural agricultural products to the pack holes is prevented. There is a problem that problems such as being unable to respond occur.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an agricultural product selection device capable of automatically boxing agricultural products and achieving labor saving.

(Outline of the Invention) The present invention has the following configuration in order to achieve the above problems.

That is, a bucket carrying line is formed by continuously straddling buckets for sequentially carrying one agricultural product to be sorted on a pair of endless strips, and the buckets are straddled over the pair of endless strips. A bucket mounting frame and a saucer shape that is rotatably supported on the bucket mounting frame at the outer edges thereof in the vertical direction and is supported by an appropriate stopper member and can receive agricultural products as a whole when closed. , A plurality of bucket members capable of dropping the agricultural products downward while being rotated and opened while maintaining a substantially posture, and placed on the bucket on the bucket transfer line. A measuring unit for measuring agricultural products according to selection criteria such as outer diameter and weight is provided, and a packing box conveying line for conveying packing boxes is provided in a plurality of lines downstream of the measuring section, orthogonal to the bucket conveying line. , A packing product that stores agricultural products in a packing box or a container such as a pack stored in the packing box in the packing box transportation line by appropriately arranging the packing boxes so that each row is located directly below the bucket transportation line A fixed-size feed mechanism for fixed-size feed is provided at intervals of one row, and stopper release means is provided for releasing the support of the bucket member by the stopper member when the bucket moves to a position where the agricultural product is dropped. The measurement signal from the input box is input to select which packing box transport line to store the agricultural products in, and directly from the bucket to the agricultural product storage position in each row of the packing boxes selected above. So that they are dropped into and stored in a predetermined order.
It is characterized in that a control unit for controlling the transport distance of the bucket and the stopper releasing means is provided.

(Operation) The agricultural product, which is placed on the bucket and is transported on the bucket transport line, has its outer shape and the like measured by the measuring unit.

This measurement signal is input to the control unit, and the control unit selects which packing box of the packing box transport line in which to store the agricultural products, and at a predetermined order at each storage position of the selected packing box storage row. The conveyance distance of the bucket is controlled so that the agricultural products are sequentially stored, and a support release command for the stopper member that supports the bucket member of the bucket is issued.

In response to this command, the support by the stopper member is released at a predetermined position, and the bucket member rotatably provided on the bucket mounting frame at its outer edge is rotated at the inner end side downward in the bucket mounting frame inner space. Drop the produce directly into the corresponding position inside the packing box below, keeping its posture.

When the storage of a predetermined row of packing boxes is completed, the packing boxes are fed at a fixed size so that the next row is located below the bucket transport line, and thus the packing boxes are automatically stored so that the produce is full.

(Embodiment) A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, an outline of the entire agricultural product sorting apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a pair of endless chains, to which buckets 11 to be described later are attached at predetermined intervals. 12 is its drive motor.

Reference numeral 13 denotes an air cylinder that divides the bucket 11 by a mechanism to be described later and drops the agricultural products, and a plurality of air cylinders 13 are arranged at a position slightly before the agricultural products discharge position of the bucket 11.

14 is a measuring section for agricultural products.

Reference numeral 15 denotes the floodlight, which projects light onto the bucket 11 on which the agricultural product is placed and moves. In this case, the bucket 11 is provided on a transparent body, or is provided with a cross-shaped slit as shown in FIG. 2 or the like to transmit light downward, and the light receiver 16 detects a range where the light is blocked by the agricultural products. is there.

The light receiver 16 includes a vertical measurement light receiving sensor 17 that measures the length of the agricultural product in the traveling direction and a horizontal measurement light receiving sensor 18 that measures the length of the agricultural product in the direction perpendicular to the traveling direction. An image sensor such as a CCD can be used as the lateral measurement light receiving sensor 18.

19 is a pulse encoder, the bucket 11 is a predetermined distance,
For example, one pulse is generated when traveling 0.5 mm. The pulse signal and the signal from the vertical measurement light receiving sensor 17 are input to the calculation unit, and the length of the agricultural product in the vertical direction is calculated from the number of pulses while the light is blocked by the vertical measurement light receiving sensor 17. The horizontal length of the agricultural product is the horizontal light receiving sensor
The signal from 18 is directly calculated by the calculation unit.

If the agricultural product is an apple, for example, the average value of the length in the vertical direction and the length in the horizontal direction is set as the outer diameter of the apple.

According to this measurement value, when the bucket 11 has advanced to a predetermined position, the corresponding air cylinder 13 is driven, and the bucket 11
As will be described later, the agricultural products are divided from the center and dropped into the storage box 20 below.

Next, an example of the bucket 11 will be described based on FIGS. 3 to 5.

Reference numerals 21a and 21b denote chain rails arranged inside the machine frame 22, and the pair of endless chain chains 10a and 10b described above are guided on the chain rails 21a and 21b.

Reference numeral 23 is a bucket mounting frame having a rectangular shape, which is laid across the endless chain 10a, 10b and moves along with the movement of the endless chain 10a, 10b.

The bucket mounting frame 23 has an endless chain at its rear end.
Pins 24 are fixed to 10a and 10b, and a forked portion 25 is projectingly provided at the front end, and a pin 24 for fastening the rear end of the bucket mounting frame 23 adjacent to the forked portion 25 is fitted to mount the bucket. The frame 23 is attached to the endless chain 10a, 10b. Therefore, even if the endless chain 10a, 10b slightly expands or contracts, the pin 24 moves in the forked portion 25 and the expanded or contracted portion is absorbed, so that the bucket mounting frame 23 is not broken.

Reference numerals 11a and 11b denote bucket members, which are rotatably supported by the bearings 26a, 26a and the bearings 26b and 26b on the bucket mounting frame 23 in the vicinity of the outer edges, respectively, and are located in the space of the bucket mounting frame 23 on the inner edge side thereof. Is becoming depressed.

The bucket members 11a, 11b have concave upper surfaces so that agricultural products, which are objects to be sorted, can be placed when the bucket members 11a, 11b are supported horizontally.

Reference numeral 27 denotes a rotary shaft (FIG. 2), which is rotatably supported around the fixed shaft 28 on a fixed shaft 28 fixedly supported at the rear end of the bucket mounting frame 23.

Bifurcated arms 29, 29 are provided on the outer periphery of the rotating shaft 27 so as to correspond to the rear ends of the bucket members 11a, 11b, and stopper rollers 30, 30 are rotatable on the bifurcated portions of the arms. It is provided in.

The rotating shaft 27 is biased in the upper hour hand rotation direction in FIG. 5 by the coil spring 31, and the projection 32 contacts the stopper 33 to stop the positioning. Then, at this stop position, the stopper rollers 30, 30 come into contact with the lower surfaces of the rear ends of the bucket members 11a, 11b to horizontally support the bucket members 11a, 11b.

Reference numeral 34 is a lever provided upright at the end of the rotating shaft 27.

The air cylinder 13 described above is the endless chain 10
The levers 34, which are moved along with the movements of a and 10b, are arranged at corresponding positions above the movement path.

The air cylinder 13, the lever 34, etc. constitute a stopper releasing means.

Reference numeral 35 denotes a partition body provided to partition the bucket adjacent to the rear end of the bucket mounting frame 23, and a rubber plate is fixed to the upper surface.

Then, the agricultural products measured as described above are placed, and the bucket 11 is moved at a predetermined position along with the movement of the endless chain 10a, 10b, that is, sorted into various classes based on the above measurement results and discharged. When the air cylinder 13 is moved to a predetermined position, the corresponding air cylinder 13 is urged and the rod 37 having the roller 36 at the lower end thereof is lowered slightly ahead of the lever 34. Then, the lever 34 moves to the endless chain 10a, 1
When 0b further moves, it abuts against the roller 36, and further, the lever 34 is pressed against the roller 36 against the biasing force of the coil spring 31, so that the rotating shaft 27 moves in the counter hour hand rotation direction in FIG. It is rotated, and along with this, the stopper roller 30,
30 moves upward and disengages from the lower surface of the bucket members 11a, 11b, and both bucket members 11a, 11b rotate downward with the bearings 26a, 26a and the bearings 26b, 26b as fulcrums, so that the produce is below the predetermined packing box 20. It will fall inside.

After the mold is broken, the bucket members 11a and 11b are endless chain 10
When it reaches the end of a and 10b, it reverses and the stopper roller 3 resists the urging force of the coil spring 31 due to its own weight and inertial force.
Push 0, 30 open and hang vertically, endless chain 1
When it reaches the other end of 0a, 10b, it is inverted again, and its lower surface is supported by the stopper rollers 30, 30 and kept horizontal.

By arranging a plurality of air cylinders 13 in a row in the bucket advancing direction, the corresponding air cylinders 13 can be driven so that agricultural products can be sequentially dropped and stored in the packing box. And at that time, in the present invention, since the bucket members 11a and 11b of the bucket 11 rotate downward in a double-open manner, the agricultural product is stored in the packing box or the like of the agricultural product while keeping the posture placed in the bucket 11 as it is. .

The bucket member may be divided into three or more pieces instead of two pieces.

The above has described the sorting apparatus.

Next, a packing box mechanism for agricultural products will be described.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the traveling direction of the bucket and the feeding direction of the packing box 20.

In the figure, X is a bucket transport line, and the bucket moves in the direction of arrow A.

Y is a packing box conveying line, and feeds the packing box 20 in the direction of arrow B, which is perpendicular to the direction of arrow A. The packing box transportation line Y is provided in a plurality of lines in the feeding direction of the bucket according to the number of selection criteria of the objects to be sorted.

The packing box transport line Y includes a large number of rollers 40, and the packing boxes placed on the rollers 40 are constantly rotated by contacting each of the rollers 40 with a rotating endless belt (not shown).
Carry 20. Reference numerals 41 and 41 are guide plates provided on the sides of the roller 40, and guide the packing box 20.

The packing box 20 is provided with a pack 43 having storage holes 42 for storing agricultural products arranged in four rows in a staggered manner. Storage hole 42 shown
Shows a pack 43 in which three or four are alternately formed in each row. An elastic mat 44 is laid on the bottom surface of the packing box 20 to reduce the shock when the agricultural product is dropped into the storage hole 42 of the pack (Fig. 1).

45a and 45b are a pair of stopper cylinders, which are arranged on the side of the packing box transport line Y. The stopper cylinder 45
A and 45b stop the packing box 20 conveyed on the packing box transfer line Y so that the first row of the storage holes 42 of the pack 43 stored in the packing box is located directly below the bucket transfer line. When the packing box 20 is stopped at this position, the agricultural products are sequentially dropped on the first row of the storage holes 42 as described later.

Explaining the stopping mechanism of the packing box 20, ribs 46 are provided at predetermined places on both side walls of the packing box 20 (Fig. 7), and when the packing box is transported, the ribs 46 stop cylinders 45a, 4a.
The packing box 20 is stopped by equilibrating the rod of 5b.
During this time, the roller 40 is idling. Therefore, the packing box 20 is continuously transported by retracting the rod.

47a and 47b are also a pair of stopper cylinders, and the second-row storage hole 42 of the pack 43 of the packing box 20 that is transported by retracting the rods of the above-mentioned pair of stopper cylinders 45a and 45b has a bucket transport line. Packed so that it is located directly below
Stop 20.

Similarly, the pair of stopper cylinders 48a and 48b have the storage hole 42 in the third row of the pack, and the pair of stopper cylinders 49a and 49b have the storage hole 42 in the fourth row immediately below the bucket transport line. Stop packing box 20 so that

When the last stopper cylinders 49a and 49b are unlocked (when the storage of agricultural products is completed), the packing box 20 moves to the packing box transport line Y.
While being conveyed in the direction of the arrow B, the first stopper cylinders 45a and 45b stop the succeeding packing box so that the storage holes 42 in the first row thereof are located immediately below the bucket conveying line X.

In the present embodiment, seven air cylinders 13 are arranged in a row in the bucket feeding direction at predetermined intervals with respect to each packing box transport line Y (FIG. 1). If the storage holes 42 of the pack 43 are arranged in a zigzag pattern of four in the first and third rows and three in the second and fourth rows as shown in the drawing, As described above, the a, c, e, and g air cylinders 13 are used to fill the first and fourth rows with b,
The air cylinders 13 of d and f operate for filling the second and fourth rows.

Next, the procedure for filling the pack 43 of the packing box 20 with agricultural products will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the vertical measurement light receiving sensor 16 and the horizontal measurement light receiving sensor 18 described above.
The signal from the pulse encoder 19, the pulse signal from the pulse encoder 19, and the bucket signal from the bucket detector 50 are input to the sorting / sorting operation control unit 51, and which class the agricultural products stored in the corresponding bucket are based on the sorting value setting standard. Is calculated.

A signal from the sorting / sorting calculation control unit 51 is input to the packed sorting control unit 52. A pulse signal from the pulse encoder 19 is also input to the pack sorting control unit 52.

In the packed packing sorting control unit 52, the moving distance of the bucket is calculated based on the above both input signals, and at the same time, when the bucket moves by a predetermined distance, a signal for urging a predetermined air cylinder 13 is issued, and as described above. The bucket is divided and the agricultural products are dropped into the storage holes 42 of a predetermined pack.

Then, the signal from the packing sorting control unit 52 is first of all stored holes in the first row of the pack in accordance with a predetermined program.
The air cylinder a is urged to drop the agricultural product into the storage hole A on the back side with respect to the bucket traveling direction. Next, the agricultural products are sequentially dropped from the rear side of the storage holes B, C, and D, that is, the storage hole 42 in the traveling direction of the bucket. At the time when the agricultural products are completely delivered to the storage holes 42 in the first row, the packed sorting control unit 52 causes the stopper cylinder 45 described above.
A signal for urging a and 45b is issued, the rod is retracted, the packing box 20 is moved forward, and the storage hole 42 in the second row of the pack is located immediately below the bucket transport line X.

Even when the agricultural products are dropped into the storage holes 42 in the second row, from the back side in the bucket traveling direction, that is, E, F of the storage holes,
It is dropped in the order of D.

Drops of agricultural products to the third and fourth rows are similarly performed.

In this way, since the agricultural products can be sequentially dropped from the storage holes on the back side of each row, there is enough time when transferring the packing box 20 to be stored in the storage holes of the rear row after completing the storage in the storage holes of the front row. it can. For example, when the storage in the storage hole D is completed and the storage is performed in the storage hole E of the next row, the bucket 11 needs to be additionally transported to the back side in the traveling direction, and the packing box 20 is moved during this transportation time. To do. This makes it possible to store agricultural products continuously without difficulty.

When the storage of the agricultural products in the pack is completed, the packing box 20 is moved onto the packing box transport line Y, collected, packed, and shipped.

In the above embodiment, the case where the agricultural products are packed is described, but the same can be applied to the case where the agricultural products are positioned and packed in the packing box.

(Effect of the invention) As described above, according to the present invention, since the bucket is configured as a split type bucket whose central portion opens, it is possible to directly drop the agricultural product in a posture that is almost the same as the posture that is placed on the bucket. , The labor of arranging work in the packing box can be greatly reduced, and it is suitable for selection of agricultural products such as apples that need to be stored in a certain direction, and the fall distance of agricultural products can be set small, bruising of agricultural products, etc. The occurrence of scratches due to can be eliminated as much as possible.

Further, as described above, since one agricultural product is placed on the bucket and directly dropped to a predetermined position directly below it, the agricultural product is aligned and stored in a container such as a pack or a packing box. This also means that the bucket moves to the designated agricultural product storage position in a one-to-one correspondence and discharges the agricultural products at that position, so if a trouble such as a wrong packing position occurs, It has an effect that troubles can be immediately dealt with, such as troubles at only one or two places where agricultural products are stored.

Furthermore, if the agricultural products are stored sequentially from the back side of each row of packing boxes in the direction of travel of the buckets, there will be more time when the storage in the front row is completed and the storage in the next row starts, and the packing boxes will be packed in the meantime. It can be sent so that the storage position in the next row is located immediately below the bucket transfer line, waste of time is eliminated, and more efficient selection of agricultural products becomes possible.

Although the present invention has been variously described with reference to the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and many modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. That is.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the agricultural product sorting apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the outline of the whole, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a bucket portion, and FIG. 3 is a bucket portion and an air cylinder. Front view, FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the bucket portion, FIG.
The figure is a cross-sectional view of the bucket portion. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the relationship between the bucket transport line and the packing box transport line, and FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the constant-size feeding mechanism of the packing box. 10,10a, 10b …… Endless chain, 11 …… Split bucket, 11a, 11b …… Bucket member, 12 …… Drive motor, 13
...... Air cylinder, 14 …… Measuring section, 15 …… Sender, 16…
… Receiver, 17 …… Vertical measurement photosensor, 18 …… Horizontal measurement photosensor, 19 …… Pulse encoder, 20 …… Packing box, 21a, 21
b …… chain rail, 22 …… machine frame, 23 …… bucket mounting frame, 24 …… pin, 25 …… forked part, 26a, 26b …… bearing, 2
7 …… Rotary axis, 28 …… Fixed axis, 29 …… Arm, 30 …… Stopper roller, 31 …… Coil spring, 32 …… Protrusion, 33 …… Stopper, 34 …… Lever, 35 …… Partition body , 36
…… Roller, 37 …… Rod, X …… Bucket transport line, Y …… Package box transport line, 40 …… Roller, 41 …… Guide plate, 42 …… Storing hole, 43 …… Pack, 44 …… Elasticity mat,
45a, 45b, 47a, 47b, 48a, 48b, 49a, 49b ... Stopper cylinder, 50 ... Bucket detector, 51 ... Sorting sorting control unit, 52 ... Packing sorting control unit, a ... Air cylinder ,
A, B, C, D, E, F ... Storage holes.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A single agricultural product to be sorted is sequentially conveyed to a large number of buckets continuously extending over a pair of endless strips, and the size, weight, etc. of the agricultural product are appropriately measured during the transportation. In the agricultural product sorting method, the agricultural products are collected by dropping the agricultural products from a bucket onto a corresponding collection line among a plurality of collection lines provided orthogonally to the bucket transport line, based on the measurement result. In addition, the plurality of bucket members provided to be rotatable in the vertical direction around the outer end edge can receive the agricultural product in a saucer shape when the bucket members are closed, and the bucket member is rotated downward. By using a bucket that can be dropped by keeping the posture of the agricultural product downward by moving and opening it, the packing box is packed on the collection line at a position corresponding to the bucket transportation line. Each row of agricultural products to be stored in a container such as a stored pack is fed at a fixed interval, and the bucket is a corresponding row of containers of the packed box that has been fed at a fixed size, a packed box or a container such as a pack stored in a packed box. The method for sorting agricultural products is characterized in that the products are sequentially transported to each agricultural product storage position in a predetermined order by the bucket transportation line, and the bucket is opened downward at the transportation position to drop the agricultural products directly to the agricultural product storage position. 2. When the agricultural products are stored in a corresponding row of containers such as packed boxes or packs stored in the packed boxes, the agricultural products are sequentially transferred from the agricultural product storage position in the row on the back side in the bucket traveling direction where the bucket transport distance becomes long. The agricultural product selection method according to claim 1, wherein the agricultural products are stored by dropping. 3. A bucket carrying line is formed by continuously straddling buckets for sequentially carrying one agricultural product to be sorted on a pair of endless strips, the buckets straddling the pair of endless strips. A bucket mounting frame to be installed, and a tray which is rotatably supported in the vertical direction at each outer edge of the bucket mounting frame and which is capable of receiving agricultural products as a whole when supported by an appropriate stopper member and closed. It has a shape and is composed of a plurality of bucket members that can be dropped downward in a state in which the agricultural product is kept in a substantially posture when it is rotated downward and opened, and is placed on the bucket on the bucket transfer line. A measuring unit for measuring the placed agricultural products according to the selection criteria such as outer diameter and weight is provided, and a plurality of packing box transfer lines for transferring packing boxes are provided on the downstream side of the measuring section orthogonal to the bucket transfer line. Rye Provided in the packing box transfer line, the packing boxes or the containers such as packs housed in the packing boxes are arranged in rows as appropriate, and the packing boxes are stored in such a manner that each row is positioned immediately below the bucket transfer line. A fixed-size feed mechanism is provided for fixed-size feed for each row of produce, and stopper release means is provided for releasing support of the bucket member by the stopper member when the bucket moves to a position where the produce is dropped, and the measurement is performed. The measurement signal from the department is input, and which packing box transport line to store the agricultural products is selected, and the agricultural products are stored in the packing boxes in each row of the packing boxes selected above from the buckets. A control unit is provided to control the transport distance of the bucket and the stopper releasing means so that the bucket is directly dropped and sequentially stored in a predetermined order. Agricultural products sorting apparatus to. 4. The control unit of a row on the back side in the traveling direction of the bucket, which has a long bucket transport distance, when the agricultural product is stored in a corresponding row of a packed box or a container such as a pack stored in the packed box. 4. The agricultural product sorting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the transport distance of the bucket and the stopper releasing means are controlled so that the agricultural products are sequentially dropped from the position.