JPH0885619A - Article sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To facilitate work for sorting a measured object by a class as well as to prevent any possible damage to the value of merchandise. CONSTITUTION: Each fruit C is successively placed in each root part of respective cloth belts 5 constituting a sorting conveyor 4, and the fruit C is successively conveyed toward each sorting position preset by types. The fruits C mounted on each root part of these cloth belts 5 are gradually lowered perpendicularly, and these fruits C is horizontally guided toward the feeding direction by each support plate 20 installed in a front state at each position. When the fruit in a size corresponding to each of the grade is shifted to each sorting position, the fruit C is gradually lowered vertically along an incline of the respective support plates 20, and each fruit is made to come close at proper intervals and transferred on each sorting conveyor 6 installed in the respective sorting positions, so that in time of assortment, such a possibility that each fruit C might be turned sideways in the longitudinal direction is preventable. In addition, any impact to be produced in time of transference is reduced, and thus such a fear that the value of merchandise is damaged can be obviated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention sorts spherical objects such as fruits (apples, pears, peaches, kiwis, etc.) and potatoes (potatoes, Satsuma yams, etc.) by rank. The present invention relates to an article sorter used for work.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, as a general method for selecting fruits according to their ranks as described above, for example, a drum system,
There are selection methods such as a belt method, a camera method, and a weight method.

When fruits are selected by the above-mentioned camera system, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a large number of fruits C each having a unique shape are provided on each tray 31 of the sorting conveyor 30. The fruits of each of the plurality of fruits C placed on the respective saucers 31 are sequentially picked up by the image pickup camera 32, and the image data picked up by the image pickup camera 32 and the determination device 33 are stored. By comparing with the class data, the class of each fruit C placed on each saucer 31 is determined. When the tray 31 corresponding to the determination moves to the sorting position set in advance for each class, the tray 31 is laid sideways and the fruits C of the same class are sequentially transferred onto the sorting conveyor 34 arranged at the sorting position. There is a method to select.

[0004]

However, as described above, since the respective trays 31 ... Are overturned to the sideways posture and the fruits C of the same class are sequentially transferred onto the sorting conveyor 34 arranged at the sorting position. , A fruit of a new variety commonly known as Kumamoto Dekopon, Ehime Himepon, Hiroshima Kyopon, etc.
When selecting, the fruit C of these new varieties has a soft skin and fleshy meat, and therefore the fruit C falls sideways when transferred onto the sorting conveyor 34, and a protrusion protruding toward the head Ca side of the fruit C. The commercial value of the fruit C is impaired only by the contact of Cb with the conveying surface of the sorting conveyor 34. In addition, the fruit C of the new variety is easily peeled off, and is easily scratched or scratched. Therefore, it is difficult to select the fruit C of the new variety by the illustrated sorting method. It has a problem that it is not suitable in terms of workability and workability.

In view of the above problems, the present invention places and conveys an object to be measured between the respective conveyor belts constituting the sorting conveyor,
The object to be measured placed between the conveyor belts is gradually lowered vertically and distributed by class, so that the posture of the object to be measured can be prevented from being displaced and the product value is surely impaired. An object of the present invention is to provide an article sorter that can be prevented.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A plurality of conveyor belts constituting the sorting conveyor are installed in parallel with each other in the feed direction, and the longitudinal facing surfaces of the conveyor belts are inclined downward at an angle that narrows and The present invention is characterized in that it is an article sorter in which the valley portions formed between the facing surfaces of the strip are formed at intervals widened in the feeding direction.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, it is placed in each valley portion of each of the conveyor belts between each sorting position set on the sorting conveyor. The article selector is characterized in that each guide member is horizontally installed in the feeding direction so as to face the bottom surface side of the object to be measured.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure of the second aspect, the rear end side of each of the guide members is inclined at an angle gradually lower than the feed direction, It is characterized in that the rear end side is an article sorter which is appropriately close to each sorting section provided at each sorting position.

[0009]

In the article sorter according to the first aspect of the present invention, the objects to be measured are sequentially placed in the valleys of the respective conveyor belts constituting the sorting conveyor, and the objects to be sorted are respectively directed to the sorting positions preset for each rank. The measurement object is sequentially conveyed. Since the valley portion of each conveying band becomes wider in the feeding direction, each object to be measured placed on the valley portion of each conveying band is gradually lowered vertically. Next, when the DUT of a size corresponding to each class is moved to each sorting position and the valley portion of each transport zone becomes wider than the lateral dimension of the DUT, each sorting position is moved to each sorting position. Each object to be measured is supplied to each of the provided sorting sections in the mounting posture.
Similarly, the respective objects to be measured placed on the valleys of the respective transport zones are distributed and supplied according to the rank.

According to the article sorting machine of the second aspect, in addition to the action of the first aspect, the objects to be measured placed on the valley portions of the respective conveyor belts are gradually vertically lowered, and the sorting positions are set. Along the horizontal part of each guide member installed in the previous stage, each DUT held in the valley part of each conveyor band is moved horizontally in the feed direction, so that each sorting position set in advance for each class, It prevents each DUT of the corresponding size from falling by the time it arrives.

In addition to the function of the second aspect, the article sorter according to the third aspect is held in the valley portion of each conveyor band along the inclined portion of each guide member installed in the preceding stage of each sorting position. The measured objects are gradually lowered vertically with respect to the feed direction, and the measured objects are supplied close to the sorting sections provided at the sorting positions at appropriate intervals. The head drop at the time of loading is reduced, and the impact generated during transfer is reduced.

[0012]

According to the present invention, the object to be measured is conveyed while being placed between the conveyor belts constituting the sorting conveyor, and the object to be measured placed between the conveyor belts is gradually transferred. Since it is vertically lowered and distributed to each sorting unit, it is possible to prevent the posture of the object to be measured placed between the transport belts from being displaced during transport and at the time of transport. It is most suitable for the work for distributing and supplying, and the product can be distributed and supplied while keeping the posture at the time of placement.

Moreover, since each of the objects to be measured held in the valleys of the respective conveyor belts is horizontally moved along the horizontal part of each of the guide members, each of the objects to be measured is reached before reaching each sorting position preset for each class. It is possible to prevent the objects from falling on the way, and it is possible to surely perform the sorting operation in which the objects to be measured are distributed to the sorting sections according to the class. Moreover, since each of the DUTs held in the valleys of the transport belts is gradually lowered vertically along the inclined portion of each of the guide members, there is no drop when transferring the DUTs to each sorting unit. It becomes smaller, the epidermis of the fruit does not peel off like the conventional example, and the epidermis is not scratched,
It is possible to prevent the commercial value of the measured object from being impaired.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The drawings show the fruit sorter of the first embodiment used in the work of sorting fruits according to rank as an example of the object to be measured. In FIG. 1, this fruit sorter 1 is, for example, a producer. A large number of each fruit C brought from the side is placed on the distribution conveyor 2, and each fruit C mounted on the distribution conveyor 2 is distributed to the left and right cargo receiving conveyors 3 and 3. . The fruits C ... Conveyed by the respective cargo receiving conveyors 3, 3 are directly held by the hand of an operator who is on standby, and the respective fruits C ... Are sequentially arranged in the valley portions of the respective cloth belts 5. Place it. The fruits C are sequentially conveyed to the sorting positions a, b, c, d, and e for each class set on the sorting conveyor 4, and the classes (for example, S, M, L, 2
L, 3L) and the corresponding fruit C ... Only vertically descends from the valleys of the cloth belts 5 and is arranged at the sorting positions a, b, c, d, e. 6 ...
Will be transferred to. The fruits C distributed to the sorting conveyors 6 are sequentially boxed by an artificial work or a mechanical work. In addition, each non-standard fruit C that does not correspond to the class C ...
Is put into the fruit collecting section 7 arranged at the sending end of the sorting conveyor 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the above-mentioned sorting conveyor 4 has three dough guides 8 ... Each having a trapezoidal cross section, which are installed in parallel with each other in the feeding direction. Each pulley 9 pivotally supported near the feed-side start end of the guide 8 ...
, And the respective pulleys 10 that are pivotally supported in the vicinity of the feed-side end portions of the respective fabric guides 8 ...
1 is stretched. Moreover, the belt guides 12 on the upper side, which are installed along the upper ends of the fabric guides 8 on the long side.
Engage each orbiting belt 11 ...
... A pair of upper and lower belt guides 13 installed on the lower side,
The orbiting belts 11 ... Are engaged between 14 and the orbiting belts are passed through the sprockets 16 and 17 and the drive chain 18 by the driving force of the orbiting motor 15 with a reduction gear arranged on the upper end side. 11 ... are synchronously rotated in the feed direction, and the cloth belts 5 made of cloth fixed to the entire length of the longitudinal belts 11 ...

At the lower positions corresponding to the sorting positions a, b, c, d, and e, the sorting conveyors 6 ... Are alternately arranged at right angles to the feeding direction of the sorting conveyor 4 described above. The vertical distance between the sorting conveyor 4 and the sorting conveyors 6 is set to be slightly separated from the maximum height of the fruit C having an appropriate size.

Further, the folding guides 19, 19 are continuously provided at the feed-side starting ends of the belt guides 14, 14 and the hanging-side lower edges of the cloth belts 5 returning to the feeding-side starting ends are folded-back guides. 19 and 19 are sequentially folded back, and the lower edges of the cloth belts 5 are continuously inserted into the valleys of the cloth guides 8 while converging.

The above-mentioned cloth guides 8 are shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the longitudinal facing surfaces of the material guides 8 are inclined downward so as to be gradually narrowed, and the entire longitudinal length of the material guides 8 with respect to the feeding direction. The cross-sectional shape is gradually narrowed, and the valley portions of the respective fabric guides 8 are formed at intervals W that are gradually widened in the feeding direction, and the sorting positions a, b, c, d, The valley portion of each of the dough guides 8 ... Corresponding to e is formed at an interval W in which each size of the fruits C ... Preliminarily set for each class can be dropped.

At the lower part of the front side of each sorting position a, b, c, d, e, and at the lower edge of each fabric guide 8 on the valley side, two support plates 20 are provided in the feeding direction. The support plates 20 and 20 are installed in parallel with each other, and the longitudinal side edge portions of the support plates 20 and 20 are installed so as to project slightly inward from the valley-side lower edge portions of the fabric guides 8 ... Inclining the end side to an angle that gradually decreases with respect to the feed direction,
The rear end sides of the respective support plates 20, 20 are close to the transport surface of the sorting conveyors 6 at appropriate intervals.

Each of the above-mentioned cloth belts 5 ... Is formed, for example, by sewing a soft cloth cloth such as velvet, denim, tweed, jersey cloth, silk cloth, and non-woven cloth in a loop shape to form each cloth belt 5. The fabric belts 5 are formed in a width of the fabric that covers the slopes on both sides of the fabric guide 8, and the fabric belts 5 are formed in the width of the fabric that covers the slopes on one side of the fabric guides 8 installed on both sides. The entire length of the circumferential surface of the orbiting belt 11 stretched around the portion and the central portion on the back surface side of the fabric belt 5 facing the longitudinal side circumferential surface of the orbiting belt 11 are fixed with a large number of setscrews 21 ... The total length of the circumferential surface of each orbiting belt 11 stretched on both sides, and the orbiting belt 11 ...
The longitudinal side peripheral surface of the cloth belt 5 and the upper edge of the back surface of the cloth belt 5 which face each other are fixed by a large number of setscrews 21, and the valley side of each cloth guide 8 is covered with each cloth belt 5. are doing.
Although the cloth belt 5 made of a soft cloth material is used in the embodiment, for example, a belt made of a soft material such as natural leather, synthetic leather or synthetic resin may be used.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, each cloth belt 5
.. are sewn to the opposing surfaces on the longitudinal side of, for example, a large number of knit-knitted support pieces 5a at intervals in the front-rear direction in which one fruit C is placed in the feeding direction. The postures of the fruits C placed on the valleys of ... are held by the support pieces 5a, and the sorting positions a, b, c,
When the fruits C having a size corresponding to the classes d and e are transferred to the sorting conveyors 6, the fruits C placed on the valleys of the fabric belts 5 roll over in the front-rear direction. This can be positively prevented, and the fruit C can be transferred with the protrusion Cb protruding toward the head Ca side facing upward.

Assuming that the illustrated embodiment is configured as described above, the method of selecting the fruits C by the fruit selector 1 will be described below. First, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a large number of fruits C brought from the producer side are distributed to the conveyor 2 for distributing.
Fruits C placed on the distribution conveyor 2
... are distributed and supplied to the left and right conveyors 3 and 3 for receiving goods. At the same time, the fruits C carried by the conveyors 3 and 3 for receiving cargo are directly held by a worker who is on standby, and the fruits C are formed in the valleys of the cloth belts 5 forming the conveyor 4 for sorting. Are placed in sequence. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the protrusion Cb protruding toward the head Ca side of the fruit C is placed in the valley portion of each fabric belt 5 with the protrusion Cb facing upward.

Next, by class (for example, S, M, L,
2L, 3L), the sorting positions a, b, c, d,
The fruits C placed on the valleys of the fabric belts 5 are sequentially conveyed to the e while keeping the upward state, and the size corresponding to the class of each sorting position a, b, c, d, e. Only the fruit C of Sano is vertically lowered, and the sorting positions a, b, c,
They are sequentially transferred to the sorting conveyors 6 ... Arranged in d and e.

That is, as shown in FIG. 6, since the valley portions of the cloth guides 8 ... Are formed at intervals W that gradually widen in the feeding direction, the sorting positions a, which are preset for each class, When each of the fruits C having a size corresponding to each class is moved to b, c, d, and e, each of the fruits placed between the facing surfaces of each fabric belt 5 until reaching each position. C
... is gradually lowered while facing upward. At the same time, until reaching the sorting positions a, b, c, d, e, the support plates 2 laid on the valley-side lower edge of the fabric guides 8 ...
The lower portions of the cloth belts 5 ... Are supported by the horizontal portions 0 and 20, and the fruits C ... Mounted on the lower edges of the cloth belts 5 are horizontally moved in the feeding direction.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, when the fruits of the sizes corresponding to the classes are moved to the sorting positions a, b, c, d, and e, the dough guides 8 ... Since the valley portion is wider than the width of the fruit C, the fruit C is vertically dropped from the lower edge of the hanging side of each cloth belt 5. At the same time, the fruits C placed on the lower edge of the hanging side of the cloth belts 5 are gradually lowered vertically along the inclined portions of the support plates 20 and 20 at each sorting position. a,
Only fruits C having a size corresponding to the classes of b, c, d, and e are vertically lowered, and the fruits are placed on the sorting conveyors 6 disposed at the sorting positions a, b, c, d, and e. C ... are transferred in close proximity and sequentially.

Next, the fruits C distributed to the sorting conveyors 6 are directly held by the operator's hand and packed in several boxes as appropriate. Alternatively, an appropriate number of each fruit C ... Is adsorbed and held by an adsorption pad (not shown) to be mechanically boxed, so that a large number of each fruit C ... can be easily sorted and boxed. . In addition, class (eg, S, M,
L, 2L, 3L) each non-standard fruit C ...
The fruit is temporarily stocked and collected in the fruit collecting section 7 arranged at the end of the sorting conveyor 4 on the sending side.

As described above, the fruits C are conveyed while the fabric belts 5 constituting the sorting conveyor 4 are placed between the fabric belts 5 and the fruits C are placed between the fabric belts 5. …
Is gradually lowered vertically and distributed by class, so
It is possible to prevent the postures of the fruits C placed between the fabric belts 5 from being displaced during the transportation and the supply, and the sorting positions a and b with the fruits C facing upward. , C,
It can be distributed and supplied to the sorting conveyors 6 ...

Moreover, since the fruits C held in the valleys of the cloth belts 5 are horizontally moved along the horizontal portions of the support plates 20 and 20, the sorting positions a and b which are preset for each class are set. , C, d, e each fruit C can be prevented from falling on the way, and each sorting conveyor 6 arranged at each sorting position a, b, c, d, e.
On the other hand, it is possible to surely perform the sorting work in which each fruit C is distributed and supplied according to the class.

Further, since the fruits C held in the valleys of the cloth belts 5 are gradually lowered vertically along the inclined portions of the support plates 20, 20, the sorting positions a, b, c ,. Sorting conveyors 6 arranged in d and e ...
On the other hand, the drop in transferring each fruit C ... becomes small, the epidermis of the fruit C is not peeled off or the epidermis is not scratched as in the conventional example, and the commercial value of each fruit C is impaired. Can be prevented.

FIG. 10 shows a fruit sorter 1 of the second embodiment for sorting the fruits C that are mechanically supplied, and this machine sequentially loads a large number of each fruit C to be received on the conveyor 22 for receiving. The fruits C, which are placed and fed from the load receiving conveyor 22, are sequentially transferred to the vibration type aligning feeder 23, and the inclined belts 24 of the aligning feeder 23 are also transferred.
While being vibrated, the fruits C are supplied from the conveyor 22 for receiving the goods and are aligned at intervals corresponding to the space between the cloth belts 5 of the conveyor 4 for sorting.

That is, each of the inclined belts 24 constituting the aligning feeder 23 is stretched in parallel with the feeding direction, and the conveying surface of each of the inclined belts 24 is inclined so as to form a V shape with respect to the feeding direction. Therefore, the fruits C supplied from the cargo receiving conveyor 22 are sequentially transferred between the inclined belts 24, and the fruits C placed between the inclined belts 24.
By being conveyed while applying vibration to the belts, the cloth belts 5 on the sorting conveyor 4 are aligned at intervals corresponding to each other.

Next, the fruits C supplied from the inclined belts 24 of the aligning feeder 23 are fed to the sorting conveyor 4.
Of the cloth belts 5 ... are sequentially transferred onto the respective alignment belts 25 stretched between the cloth belts 5 of the cloth belts 5 ... . Less than,
In the same manner as in the first embodiment, the fruits C held in the valleys of the cloth belts 5 of the sorting conveyor 4 are vertically lowered and placed at the sorting positions a, b, c, d and e. Since the fruits C ... are transferred onto the respective sorting conveyors 6 ... Installed in the state of being faced up, the work of supplying a large number of the respective fruits C ... And efficiency can be improved.

In the correspondence between the configuration of the present invention and the above-described embodiment, the article sorter of the present invention corresponds to the fruit sorter 1 of the embodiment, and hereinafter, the object to be measured corresponds to the fruit C. The conveyor belt corresponds to the cloth belt 5, the sorting unit corresponds to the sorting conveyor 6, and the guide member corresponds to the support plate 20. However, the present invention is limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment. It is not something that will be done.

The above-mentioned fruit sorter 1 is used for sorting fruits C having a peculiar shape. For example, fruits such as apples, pears, peaches and kiwis, or potatoes such as potatoes and Satsuma potatoes are used. Can also be applied to the work of sorting by class, and similarly to the first embodiment, the work of sorting the objects to be measured such as fruits and potatoes by class can be easily performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a fruit sorter of a first embodiment for sorting fruits artificially supplied.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an arrangement state of a sorting conveyor and each sorting conveyor.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing an arrangement state of a sorting conveyor and each sorting conveyor.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional front view showing an installed state of a cloth belt.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional front view showing a holding state of fruits placed on a valley portion of a fabric belt.

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional front view showing a sorting operation of fruits placed on the valley portion of the fabric belt.

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional front view showing a sorting operation of fruits placed on a valley portion of a fabric belt.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a sorting operation of fruits placed on the valley portion of the fabric belt.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing a state in which a support piece is stretched over a valley portion of a fabric belt.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a fruit sorter according to a second embodiment for sorting fruits that are mechanically supplied.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing a method for selecting fruits by a conventional device.

FIG. 12 is a vertical sectional front view showing a fruit sorting operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 C ... Fruit a, b, c, d, e ... Sorting position 1 ... Fruit sorter 2 ... Sorting conveyor 3 ... Conveying conveyor 4 ... Sorting conveyor 5 ... Fabric belt 6 ... Sorting conveyor 7 ... Fruit collecting section 8 ... Fabric guide 20 ... Support plate 22 ... Conveyor for receiving 23 ... Alignment feeder 24 ... Inclined belt 25 ... Alignment belt

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An article which conveys a large number of respective objects to be measured to respective sorting positions set on a sorting conveyor, and supplies the respective objects to be measured to respective sorting sections provided at the respective sorting positions according to ranks. A sorting machine, in which a plurality of conveyor belts constituting the conveyor for sorting are laid in parallel in the feed direction, and the longitudinal facing surfaces of the conveyor belts are inclined downward at an angle that narrows. In addition, the article sorter in which the valley portions formed between the facing surfaces of the conveying belts are formed at wide intervals in the feeding direction. 2. A guide member is provided in the feeding direction between the sorting positions set on the sorting conveyor so as to face the bottom surface side of the object to be measured placed in the valley portions of the transport belts. The article sorter according to claim 1, which is horizontally installed. 3. The rear end side of each guide member is inclined at an angle that gradually decreases with respect to the feeding direction, and the rear end side of each guide member is provided with respect to each sorting portion provided at each sorting position. The article sorter according to claim 2, wherein the article sorters are closely spaced.