JPH09104531A - Aerial transport type classifying and boxing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an aerial transport type classifying and boxing device in which constitution of a processing line of a round body classifying and boxing device can be simplified to reduce installation surface, and in which man's work can be facilitated to reduce a failure rate. SOLUTION: A device is provided with a class discrimination device C to discriminate classes of round bodies being carried in a line at a constant interval on a round body supply conveyor A, an aerial transport conveyor device D comprising a discriminated round body sorting and boxing means provided with a number of round body catchers to circulate at an equal interval to that of the round bodies to face it, and plural class-based boxing conveyor devices E disposed under the conveyor device D perpendicularly to it. The device is also provided with a control device J for operation to feed round body receiving positions on the conveyor device E in order to designated coordinate positions, and release operation to release the round bodies caught by the round body catchers from the supply conveyor A at a specified position on the boxing conveyor E of an applicable class.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sorting / boxing device for round vegetables or fruits such as ripe tomatoes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 8 shows a conventional sorting / boxing device for this kind of round products. In FIG. 8, the conventional apparatus is generally a conveyor A'that supplies round objects in a line, a grade determination device B'provided on this conveyor A'line, and a grade determination device B '.
It comprises a plurality of rows of grade sorting conveyors C'connected at right angles to the round feed conveyor A ', and a box packing device D'provided along this sorting conveyor C'.

At the delivery end of the round material supply conveyor A ',
Supply conveyor 03 of real container 02 containing round 01, container stand 04, and conveyor 05 for unloading empty container
And a round conveyor E of the empty tray 06, etc. are provided, and the empty tray 06 is placed on the empty conveyor 06 by the manual work of the worker 08 and the empty tray 06 is rounded. Put one thing 01 on top and send it out.

Further, a pusher 09 or the like is provided at a connecting portion between the round article supply conveyor A'and the grade sorting conveyor C'to send the round article 01 of the corresponding grade together with the tray 06 onto the sorting conveyor C '.

The boxing device D'comprises a boxing robot 010 and an automatic position adjusting type boxing conveyor 011. The boxing robot 010 moves on the sorting conveyor C'with an arm having a vacuum suction pad. Pick up a round object from the top and box 012 on the boxing conveyor 011
Put it in a box.

Around the boxing device D ', horizontal and vertical empty box supply conveyors 013 and 014 for sending empty boxes to the boxing conveyor 011 and a real box 012 which has been boxed from above the boxing conveyor 011 are put on a packaging line. Sending out conveyor 0
15, an empty tray recovery conveyor 016 is further connected from the end of each sorting conveyor C ′ to the empty tray supply conveyor 07 of the round article input section E ′.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above-mentioned conventional apparatus uses the grade determining device B'for grade determination of the round 01 fed onto the round transport conveyor A'and the sorting conveyor from the round transport conveyor A '. Round object 01 and saucer 0 to C '
The selection and delivery of 6 and the packaging process of the round 01 by the packaging device D ′ are performed in three stages, that is, the sorting and packing of the round are performed.
Further, since the trays 06 are collected and circulated and used, empty box supply conveyors 013 and 014 and empty tray recovery conveyors 0 are provided around the downstream of each sorting conveyor C ′, particularly around the boxing device D ′.
16. Conveyor arrangement such as carry-out conveyor 015 is concentrated,
A large equipment area is required.

In addition, for the inspection and repair of concentrated facilities,
There is a problem that it is difficult to get in and out of each equipment section. In addition, in the round material input section E ′ of the round material supply conveyor A ′,
Since the operator has to carry out the operation of placing the tray 06 and the round article 01 on the round article supply conveyor A'in order from different positions or at the same time, the operation is busy and easily fatigued, and damage is likely to occur. There is.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional apparatus, the present invention simplifies the construction of the processing line of the round sorting / boxing apparatus, reduces the equipment area, and facilitates the manual work to reduce the scrap rate. Aimed at.

[0010]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention is provided with means for discriminating grades, sorting, and packing boxes of a round object placed on a supply conveyor and conveyed in a row at regular intervals. Together with the sorting and boxing means, one end side is overlapped with a plurality of round upper parts positions on the terminal side of the supply conveyor, and the other end side is arranged at a hollow position along the extension line of the supply conveyor so as to form a space between round objects. An air-conveying conveyor device provided so as to circulate a plurality of round object grippers facing each other at equal intervals, and a plurality of position-adjustable graded-boxing conveyor devices arranged at right angles in the extension lower side of the air-conveying conveyor device. , Sequentially moving the receiving position of the round article on the packing conveyor device to the designated coordinate position, and picking up the round article picked up by the round article gripping tool from the supply conveyor of the corresponding grade. It was constructed by a control unit for opening operation in place on the stuffing conveyor.

According to the above construction, the round object gripping device of the air-conveying conveyor device faces the plurality of round objects on the round object feeding conveyor at a position which overlaps with the end of the round object feeding conveyor. The circular articles on the circular article supply conveyor are picked up in sequence at the designated position and conveyed to the downstream side.

The control device counts the number of discriminations from the position discriminated by the grade discriminating device, stores the round article grade for each count, and the round article grasping tool of the air-conveying conveyor device grasps and moves the round article. At the counting position, open the gripper with a rounded item of the corresponding grade at any position of the box-type conveyor device with multiple grades that is placed immediately below the airborne conveyor device, and automatically place the boxes in order within the box. Control.

The box-carrying conveyor device for each grade is arranged below the aerial conveying conveyor device at a counting position interval of different discrimination numbers from the discriminating position of the grade discriminating device, and is emptied from the empty box supply conveyor side to the carry-out conveyor side. The box is intermittently fed and laterally fed so that the tray hole position in the empty box is sequentially fed to a designated box-insertion coordinate position in synchronization with the movement of the aerial transport conveyor device and controlled by the controller.

As a result, the round articles on the supply conveyor are sequentially picked up by the round article grasping tool of the air-conveying conveyor apparatus, and are automatically boxed into the boxes on the boxing conveyor apparatus according to grades, and the boxing is completed on the boxing conveyor apparatus. The boxes are sent out onto a carry-out conveyor connected with or without a relay conveyor.

Therefore, the structure of the processing line is remarkably simplified, and the equipment area can be reduced. Also, by using the configuration that the round object gripping tool of the airborne conveyor picks up and moves the round object, the pan for exclusive use of the round object used on the round object feeding conveyor can be moved from the round object feeding conveyor to the other conveyor. Therefore, the pan can be fixedly circulated on the round material supply conveyor, and at the round material input part of the round material supply conveyor, the operator can move from the inside of the round material collection container to the fixed pan on the conveyor. Only the circular object needs to be transferred and put in place, which facilitates manual work and has the effect of reducing damage.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[Structure] FIG. 1 shows an overall plan view of an embodiment of a sorting / boxing device of the present invention. In FIG. 1, A is a round article feeding conveyor, B is a round article feeding section at one end of the round article feeding conveyor A, C is a grade determination device provided in a tunnel shape at an intermediate portion of the round article feeding conveyor A, and D is a round end portion. An air-conveying conveyor device in which a plurality of round objects are overlapped on the other end side of the article supply conveyor A and the other end side is arranged in a hollow position along an extension line of the supply conveyor, and E is an air-conveying conveyor device D. Is a boxing conveyor device provided at a position directly below the other end side of the above with a space provided in the direction perpendicular to the airborne conveyor device D.

Further, F is an empty box supply conveyor connected to the upstream side of the boxing conveyor device E, G is a relay conveyor connected to the downstream side of the boxing conveyor device E, and H is a relay conveyor G. An unloading conveyor provided in contact with the end in a direction parallel to the air-conveying conveyor device, and J is a control device provided in connection with the grade determining device C, the air-conveying conveyor device D, and the boxing conveyor device E.

It is also possible to omit the relay conveyor G and arrange the carry-out conveyor H so as to be in direct contact with the end of the boxing conveyor device E.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the II portion of FIG. FIG.
In FIG. 1, 1 is a tray for exclusive use of round articles provided on the conveyor surface of the round article supply conveyor A at regular intervals, 2 is a round article, and the round article supply conveyor A is cyclically operated in the direction of arrow 3. Note that, in FIG. 2, the round article supply conveyor A does not have a frame structure for the sake of clarity, and only the conveyor belt portion is illustrated.

The round material input section B connects the supply line 5 of the actual container 4 and the unloading line 6 of the empty container 4a, which are arranged with the base end portion of the round material supply conveyor A sandwiched between them, and a cross connecting both lines 5 and 6. Consists of a conveyor 7, a lift conveyor 8 and a workbench 9 provided on the side of the lift conveyor. Reference numeral 10 denotes an operator who inputs the round article 2 into the round article supply conveyor A.

As the grade discriminating device C, a device for discriminating an image with a plurality of well-known cameras is used to discriminate the grade of the shape and size of a round object. Judgment is made based on the shape or the like into excellent / excellent / good / defective, and depending on the size, such as large / medium / small grades and classes. Here, these determination contents are collectively referred to simply as grade discrimination.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of section III in FIG. In FIG. 3, the airborne conveyor device D is configured such that the upper surface rotates in a horizontal plane, and the lower surface circulates in a horizontal plane that is shallower than both ends and deep in the middle. In FIG. 3, the frame structure portion is omitted and only the conveyor belt portion is shown for easy understanding.

The airborne conveyor device D is provided with a large number of round object gripping tools 11 on the conveyor surface at the same intervals as the receiving trays 1 on the round object feeding conveyor A, and one end of the round object feeding conveyor A.
Overlaps several saucers (for example, eight saucers) so that the round object gripping tool 11 is aligned and arranged so as to face the saucer 1, and the other end is supported horizontally in the extension line direction of the round article supply conveyor A. Set up.

Further, immediately below the aerial conveying conveyor device D, which is separated from the tip of the round object supplying conveyor A, for example, a gripping member 11 is provided in the direction perpendicular to the aerial conveying conveyor device D, for example, every five round object gripping tools 11. The box-filling conveyor device E is provided with the position of as the box-filling coordinate position.

The boxing conveyor device E is composed of a box support conveyor 13 which is supported on the support base 12 so as to be movable back and forth and left and right through a drive mechanism, and is controlled by the controller J together with the aerial transfer conveyor device D. .

FIG. 4 shows the operation of the airborne conveyor device D.
-Around the burlap part (a) and the box conveyor E
It is a perspective view which expands and shows (b). Shown in the lower half (a)
At the overlap part, whether the tip side of the round object conveyor A
2nd to 6th position N ₁~ N_Five5 of
A pair of refracting guide rails straddling the round object gripping tool 11.
15 is a lower stepped portion of the airborne conveyor device D and is on both sides.
To the frame of airborne conveyor device D from
Is placed and the upper surface of the guide rail 15 passes through it.
It is provided to receive the lower surfaces of the 11 pairs of rollers.

The construction of the embodiment of the round object gripping tool 11 will now be described with reference to the longitudinal sectional view shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 16 is a two-stage cylindrical chuck, 17 is a chuck support portion 18 having a large diameter from below, a medium diameter shaft portion 19 penetrating the chuck, and an upper end small diameter bolt portion 20. 16 is a fixed shaft whose upper end is fixedly supported by a belt support plate 22 of the air-conveying conveyor device D by a bolt portion 20 and a nut 21 at the tip of a medium-diameter shaft portion protruding from the upper end opening of 16.

Reference numeral 23 denotes a key-shaped gripping piece made of a leaf spring, which is provided with the upper end fixed to four places on the lower end side of the chuck support portion 18 having a large diameter of the fixed shaft 17, and which is made of a leaf spring, and 24 is a belt support plate 22. And a coil spring fitted around the upper end surface of the chuck 16 around the middle diameter shaft portion 19, and a pair of rollers 25 provided near the upper end of the small diameter portion of the chuck 16 for biasing the chuck 16 to open. The inner surface of the key-shaped tip of the key-shaped gripping piece 23 is formed with a soft and slippery pad so as not to damage the surface of the ripe tomato or the like.

The round object gripping tool 11 is normally pushed down to the lower position by contacting the inner surface of the upper end of the chuck 16 with the chuck support portion 18 of the fixed shaft 17 by the weight of the chuck 16 and the pushing force of the coil spring 24. Lower cylindrical part is key-shaped gripping piece 2
3 is pressed inward and held in the closed position shown by the solid line in FIG.

The guide rail 15 shown in part (a) of FIG.
As for the round object gripping tool 11 that engages with the pair of rollers 25, the gripping tool 11 at the position N ₁ from the left end is in a normal chuck closed state.
Is held on the upper surface of the guide rail 15, the grip 11 at the position N ₂ is pushed up the roller 25 by the upper surface of the guide rail 15, the chuck 16 is lifted, and the key-shaped gripping piece 23 is opened, the position N ₃ And the gripping tool 11 at the position N ₄ is moved downward along the tilt rotation part of the belt support plate 22 with the key-shaped gripping piece 23 opened, so that the lower end of the key-shaped gripping piece 23 approaches the saucer 1. Gripping tool 1 in the lowered state, position N ₅
1 is the chuck 1 due to the relative descending slope of the guide rail 15.
In this state, 6 is lowered and the key-shaped gripping piece 23 is closed.

That is, the position N ₅ is the position for picking up the round article 2 on the round article supply conveyor A by the round article gripping tool 11. The round 2 pick-up position N ₅ is, for example, the eleventh fixed position when counted by the number of discriminations from the discrimination position M of the grade discrimination device C.

Now, the required number of graded box-carrying conveyor devices E are provided with the position of every 5 counts counting from the pick-up position N ₅ as the box-insertion coordinate position. Although the number of grade-based boxing conveyor devices E is determined according to the grade discrimination type, in FIG. 3, it is shortened to only three rows of grade-based boxing conveyor devices E.

In the upper half (b) of FIG. 4, one graded box packaging conveyor device E is shown in an enlarged manner. In FIG. 4B, the position indicated by P ₁ (= N ₁₀ ) is the box-inserting coordinate position of the box-carrying conveyor device E which is the fifth count from the round-piece pick-up position N ₅ . Further, as shown in FIG. 3, boxing coordinate positions P ₂ and P ₃ are also set in the graded boxing conveyor device E arranged downstream.

The support base 12 has a pair of horizontal ball screws 28 driven by a motor 27.
The legs 13a of the box supporting conveyor 13 are supported by being meshed with each other via nuts so as to be able to move laterally, and the box putting coordinate positions P _{1 to} P _1
3 are respectively located in the center of the width of the support 12.

The box support conveyor 13 is equipped with a conveyor roll 13c driven by a motor 13b, and supports the round packing box 29 on the conveyor roll 13c.

The ball screw 28 and the drive conveyor roller 13c are driven at a pitch of the round receiving holes of the tray in the round packing box 29, and the tray receiving positions of the tray are sequentially from the front end corner to the rear end diagonal corner. It is automatically fed to the box-placing coordinate positions P _{1 to} P ₃ .

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the outline of the automatic feeding. In FIG. 7, P is a box-filling coordinate position of each boxing conveyor device E, an arrow 50 is a box feeding direction by the motor 13b and the conveyor roll 13c, an arrow 51 is a box lateral feeding direction by the motor 27 and a ball screw 28, and 52 is a box 29 inside. It is a round object receiving hole provided in the tray.

In the box 29, first, as shown in FIG. 7, the receiving hole 52 at the lower right corner is aligned with the box-inserting coordinate position P to receive the round article 2, and then the motor 13b or 27 is moved in the order shown by the arrows a to k.
Drive the empty receiving hole 52 to the boxed coordinate position P,
The round object 2 is received, and finally the round object 2 is placed in the receiving hole 52 in the upper right corner.
Accept and finish the boxing.

Returning to FIG. 4B, reference numeral 30 denotes a pair of box-carrying guide rails provided at the position of the cartoning conveyor device E. The guide rail 30 has a position N ₁₀ and a position N ₉ one before.
Provided astride between, and supported by a pair of rollers 25 conveyor frame end pivotably about a horizontal axis 31 so as to be in contact with the remains closed jaws 11 the chuck 16 of the position N _9, position N The other end on the ₁₀ side is supported by a cylinder 32 provided downward on the conveyor frame, and the operation of this cylinder 32 moves the guide rail end on the position N ₁₀ side up and down to a height at which the grip 11 is opened or closed. I am trying.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the control device J shown in FIG.
It is. The control device J is a circle that is performed by the grade determination device C.
A counting unit 35 that counts the number of discriminations for each object, and
A storage unit 36 for counting individual grades of round objects,
Boxing position P for each grade₁~ P _ThreeCount the number of feeds to
Counting section 37, and airborne conveyor control section 38
And the box conveyor system controller 39.
You.

[Operation / Effect] In FIGS. 1 and 2, the sorting / packing operation starts from the operation of loading the rounds 2 on the rounds feeding conveyor A in the rounds loading section B. At this time,
Since the saucer 1 dedicated to the conveyor of the rounds 2 is fixed on the belt surface of the rounds supply conveyor A and circulates together, the worker 10 rounds the ripe tomatoes or the like in the conveyor 4 on the lift conveyor 8. Place the object 2 on the pan 1 on the round material supply conveyor A.
The relatively slow and simple work of placing individual pieces will be alleviated, and damage to round objects and the occurrence of blank feeding will be eliminated.

The round article 2 moving on the tray 1 of the round article supply conveyor A enters the grade discriminating apparatus C, and at the discriminating position M,
Sequentially determined.

The control device J starts counting the number of discriminations starting from the discrimination position M of the discriminating device C, stores the grade of each round item together with the quality and package name in correspondence with the count, and at the same time responds to each count. The number of movement counts from the box-coordinate coordinate positions P _{1 to} P ₃ corresponding to the grade of the round article is counted by the counting unit 37, and the corresponding box-insertion position is passed through the air-conveying conveyor control unit 38 for each corresponding movement count. P ₁
Operation cylinder 32 of box-placing guide rail 30 with empty P ₃
To the open position to open the grasping tool 11 of the airborne conveyor device D to put the round article 2 in the box, and at the same time, drive the motors 13b and 27 of the boxing conveyor device E via the boxing conveyor control unit 39 in a fixed amount. As shown in FIG. 7, control is performed to sequentially move the next empty receiving hole 52 to the box-inserting coordinate position P. The configuration of the control device J and the method of control may be performed in other manners.

Under the above control by the control device J, the round article 2 on the supply conveyor A is sent through the discriminating device C,
It reaches the pick-up position N ₅ and is picked up in order by the gripping tool 11 of the airborne conveyor device D which is synchronously operated at the same speed.

When the movement count number of the gripping tool 11 that has been picked up passes one position before the position, for example N _{9, at} which the number of movements of the holding device 11 of the controller J matches the set number, the air conveyance conveyor control unit 38 is used. The boxing guide rail 30 operating cylinder 32 at the corresponding boxing conveyor E position is driven to be pulled up, the tip side of the guide rail 30 is raised to the open height position, and the boxing position N ₁₀ is reached.
1 pushes up the roller 25 and the chuck 16 to open the key-shaped gripping piece 23, and inserts the round article 2 into the receiving hole 52 of the box 29 which has been positioned and moved immediately below the box-placing position N ₁₀ .

The box 29 that has been put into the box is sent as it is onto the relay conveyor G by the drive drive of the conveyor roll 13c of the box support conveyor 13, and is sent to the packaging line by the carry-out conveyor H to the empty box support conveyor 13. An empty box 29 is supplied from above to the empty box supply conveyor F.

According to such a configuration, one operation of picking up and releasing the round article 2 by the grasping tool 11 of the air-conveying conveyor device D is used to perform both sorting of the round article 2 according to the grade and box putting together. This eliminates the need for a conventional multi-row grade sorting conveyor, reduces the space required for equipment, simplifies equipment layout, and has the effect of facilitating operation and maintenance. To be

[0048]

In summary, the present invention is provided with a means for discriminating the grades of round articles that are carried on a supply conveyor and conveyed in a row at regular intervals, and for sorting and boxing, and the sorting and boxing means are One end side is overlapped with a plurality of round object upper positions on the end side of the supply conveyor, and the other end side is arranged at a hollow position along the extension line of the supply conveyor, and a large number of round object grippers are arranged at intervals equal to the round object interval. , An air-carrying conveyor device provided so as to circulate, and a plurality of grade-adjustable box-carrying conveyor devices arranged at right angles to the lower side of the extension side of the air-carrying conveyor device, and a round-item receiving position on the box-carrying conveyor device. To the designated coordinate position in sequence, and open the round object picked up from the supply conveyor by the round object gripper at a fixed position on the box conveyor of the corresponding grade. The control unit that controls the operation of this type has the effect of reducing the size and size of the equipment for sorting and boxing equipment for this kind of round products, simplifying the equipment layout, and facilitating operation and maintenance. did.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall plan view of a round object sorting / boxing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a part III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of FIG. 3;

5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line VV in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a control device used in the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the alignment procedure of the boxing conveyor device.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a conventional sorting / boxing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

A Round object supply conveyor B Round object input section C Distinguishing device D Aerial transfer conveyor device E Box packing conveyor device F Empty box supply conveyor G Relay conveyor H Outgoing conveyor J Control device M Discrimination position 1 Round object tray 2 Round object 3 Circulating direction 4 Real Container 4a Empty Container 5 Actual Container Supply Line 6 Empty Container Discharge Line 7 Cross Conveyor 8 Lift Conveyor 9 Worktable 10 Worker 11 Round Grasping Tool 12 Support 13 Box Support Conveyor 13a Leg 13b Roll Drive Motor 13c Conveyor Roll 15 Guide rail 16 Two-stage cylindrical chuck 17 Fixed shaft 18 Chuck support part 19 Medium diameter shaft part 20 Bolt part 21 Nut 22 Belt support plate 23 Key type gripping piece 24 Coil spring 25 Roller 27 Ball screw motor 28 Ball screw 29 Round packing box 30 Box Putting Moth Doreru 31 horizontal axis 32 cylinder N ₅ round was taken up position P, P ₁ ~P ₃ tray boxes traversing direction 52 within box according graded Boxed coordinate position 50 the box by the conveyor rolls feed direction 51 the ball screw 28 round product receiving bore

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A means for discriminating the grades of round objects which are carried on a supply conveyor and conveyed in a row at regular intervals, and for sorting and boxing, and the sorting and boxing means,
One end side is overlapped with a plurality of round object upper positions on the terminal side of the supply conveyor, and the other end side is arranged at a hollow position along the extension line of the supply conveyor, and a large number of round objects are gripped at intervals equal to the round object interval. An air-carrying conveyor device provided so that the tools face each other and circulate, a plurality of position-adjustable graded box-carrying conveyor devices arranged at right angles to the lower side of the extension side of the air-carrying conveyor device, and a round article receiving device on the box-carrying conveyor device A control unit for sequentially moving the positions to designated coordinate positions and for opening the round object picked up by the round object gripping tool from the supply conveyor at a fixed position on the boxing conveyor of the corresponding grade. Characteristic airborne sorting / boxing device.