JPH0957211A - Method for sorting agricultural product and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to discriminate the agricultural products of producers by the producers and to sort and evaluate these products by installing withdrawing conveyors in juxtaposition with sorting conveyors and independently carrying out the work to transfer the agricultural products from the respective withdrawing conveyors to the sorting conveyors. SOLUTION: The data on the producers are first inputted at the time of carrying agricultural product-contg. containers 10 into a fruit sorting shop. The information on products (producer identification information, total number of the containers, serial number, etc.) is recorded in the data carriers 1 mounted at the respective containers 10 by a data writing device. Next, the recording contents of the data carriers 1 are read by respective data readers 2a, 2b by every container 10 distributed and supplied to the withdrawing conveyors 9 via supplying conveyors 8. The information to which producers of the agricultural products S supplied to the buckets of the sorting conveyors 7 belong is transmitted to an arithmetic processor 6 by a supply worker 20. Further, the grades, class, etc., are decided at the time when the agricultural products pass a measuring instrument 4. The measurement data obtd. by this instrument are fed to the arithmetic processor 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to apples, pears, persimmons,
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for selecting and evaluating agricultural products, which are used for selecting and evaluating agricultural products such as tomatoes and flowers for each producer in a fruit sorting plant or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a sorting field or the like for collecting and shipping agricultural products such as fruits and vegetables, while the producers carry the agricultural products that they have brought in in containers such as containers on a sorting conveyor,
For example, a measurement process by an imaging device or the like, an image processing by an arithmetic processing device or the like, a process such as sorting, and the like, the work of sorting by a predetermined classification is performed.

This work is an important sorting work for sorting agricultural products into a predetermined classification and packaging and shipping them in groups of uniform quality, and at the same time, the evaluation results of the sorted agricultural products are paid to each producer. It is also an important task in the sense that it becomes the basis for calculating the consideration. From this point of view, the term “selection” in the following description includes the meaning of sorting into a predetermined classification and the meaning of “selection evaluation” for calculating evaluation data which is the basis for calculating the consideration of agricultural products.

For selection evaluation, it is necessary to identify which producer the evaluated agricultural product belongs to.
In the conventional sorting work, it is general to carry out the sorting work for each manufacturer with a different time for this identification.

Regarding such a conventional selection method and apparatus, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-454 concerning a method for selecting fruits and vegetables.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 37, Japanese Patent Publication No.
No. 34674, No. 62-5262 of Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-5262, which relates to a sorting device for evaluating each cargo port.

[0006] As a conventional concrete method of performing the selection of agricultural products in a mechanized facility at different times for each producer, a plurality of pull-in conveyors are installed in parallel in the agricultural product supply section to the selection conveyor, and A method of manually supplying (transferring) the agricultural products of one producer on the pull-in conveyor to the selection conveyor can be mentioned. This ensures that only the agricultural products of one producer are conveyed on the sorting conveyor in distinction from other cargo ports. In addition, as described above, the plurality of pull-in conveyors are arranged in parallel with respect to the selection conveyor so that a large number of workers can work in parallel to improve productivity.

In addition to the above-mentioned processing, in order to identify the producer who brought in the agricultural product, the full-time operator uses the receipt slip attached to the first container of the agricultural product carried onto the pull-in conveyor. It is normal to input shipping data such as codes and number of receiving containers into the evaluation data aggregation processing device. Recently, it has become popular to use magnetic cards, barcodes, ID cards, etc. to avoid input errors. There is.

By the way, among the above-mentioned sorting operations,
After the work of transferring the agricultural product (load port) of one producer from the pull-in conveyor to the sorting conveyor is completed, the work procedure performed when switching to the agricultural product of the next producer (load port) is to aggregate the evaluation data of the agricultural products. It is important in relation to what you do. To explain this concretely in accordance with the conventional work of switching the cargo port, one of the important things at the time of switching the cargo port is that the agricultural products of different cargo ports are different from each other on the sorting conveyor. The point is not to mix (mix) with other agricultural products.

As described above, the mixing of agricultural products of different cargo ports is a problem because the evaluation of agricultural products cannot be aggregated for each producer if such mixing occurs, and the agricultural products of different cargo ports are mixed on the selection conveyor. The possibility is caused by the fact that the above-mentioned equipment has a plurality of pull-in conveyors arranged in parallel for the purpose of improving productivity. In other words, it is extremely rare in practice that the work of transferring agricultural products from the pull-in conveyer to the selection conveyer is completed at the same time in a plurality of pull-in conveyers. Because it will result.

Therefore, in the conventional work of switching the cargo port, after the transfer work of all the agricultural products of the one producer carried on the pull-in conveyor is completed, the break of the load on the sorting conveyor (the agricultural products on the sorting conveyor It is usual to prevent the above mixture by creating a region (not shown). For example, if the sorting conveyor is a bucket type,
A predetermined number of empty buckets are continuously flowed (moved) in the continuously operating sorting conveyor to clarify that the cargo port has been switched before and after the continuous empty buckets, and to show the break of the load. While the empty bucket area flows on the sorting line and the sorting work is stopped, the full-time operator inputs that there was a load change, and also inputs the producer code of the producer who performs the next sorting evaluation. The above-mentioned work is performed.

[0011]

However, it is necessary to consider the cargo port switching work from the viewpoints of productivity (efficiency of selection processing) and equipment cost, and from this viewpoint, it is carried out as described above. Considering the conventional cargo port switching work, if the above-mentioned work is performed in a facility in which a plurality of pull-in conveyors are installed side by side, when the transfer work of some pull-in conveyors is completed, the transfer work for that conveyor is interrupted. Therefore, there arises a problem that an empty area is generated in the selection conveyor by the amount of work related to the drawing conveyor. Further, as described above, when the transfer of the agricultural products on the entire drawing-in conveyor is completed, an empty area for making the break clear is created for switching to the next cargo port. Therefore, from these facts, the filling rate as a whole is reduced by the amount of the empty area generated for each of the above reasons,
As a result, there is a problem that high productivity cannot be obtained.

The degree of the reduction of the filling rate depends on the number of processing ports per unit time, but generally, the sorting / evaluating equipment is continuously operated without waste (the filling rate is 100%) to 20 to 20% of the processing capacity. It will be reduced by 30%. For this reason, the equipment to be introduced into the sorting field must design the sorting capacity in consideration of this decrease in capacity.As a result, it is necessary to design the sorting conveyor with a large number of threads, or equipment with high capacity. It becomes necessary to introduce the above, which causes a problem that leads to excess capacity of 20 to 30% of the required capacity, expansion of installation area, and increase of equipment cost.

An object of the present invention is, in a sorting facility in which a plurality of pull-in conveyors are arranged side by side with respect to a sort conveyor, the transfer work from each of these pull-in conveyors to the sort conveyor is independently performed without mutual restriction. It is also possible to sort and evaluate agricultural products of different producers by different producers at the same time, and by doing so, the evaluation data of agricultural products can be reliably aggregated for each producer, and at the same time, the agricultural products of the sorting conveyor can be filled. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for selecting agricultural products that can achieve a high productivity with a rate of substantially 100%.

Further, another object of the present invention is to efficiently utilize the processing capacity originally possessed by the sorting equipment as described above, thereby making the equipment to be introduced into the sorting field smaller and reducing the equipment area. The present invention provides an effective agricultural product selection method and apparatus.

Still another object of the present invention is to select an agricultural product which can configure a facility suitable for mechanization and automation, which does not require a dedicated operator for inputting cargo port information on an agricultural product carried into a sorting field or the like. Methods and apparatus are provided.

[0016]

Means for Solving the Problems The features of the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned object are that, from the conventional "method of supplying agricultural products by producer so as not to mix cargo ports by producer and selecting and evaluating", The present invention provides a sorting method and apparatus of a completely new sorting evaluation method for each manufacturer, which is a method of sorting evaluation that enables sorting even when cargo ports of producers are mixed in the supply section.

That is, one of the features of the method of the present invention is a plurality of work areas that are separated from each other in the direction of conveyance with respect to the sorting conveyor, and the agricultural products are collected from a container such as a container that stores a large number of agricultural products. The work of transferring to the sorting conveyor is carried out independently, and the agricultural products are sorted at the measurement positions provided on the downstream side of the transportation of these work areas, the elements for evaluation are measured, and the agricultural products are sorted based on the measurement results. In the sorting method of performing, producer information of each agricultural product that is sequentially transferred to the measurement position, information of the work area that has been transferred to the sorting conveyor, and of the container that is supplied to the corresponding work area. This is because the evaluation data of the agricultural products specified by this producer is classified and recorded by the producer.

In the above description, the transfer work may be performed in two or more work areas, and is appropriately set according to the transport speed of the sorting conveyor and the number of workers performing the transfer work so as not to make an empty bucket, for example. To be done. The configuration of the sorting conveyor is not limited to the bucket type, and any one such as a belt conveyor, a slat conveyor, or a so-called free tray type conveyor that conveys agricultural products back and forth at irregular intervals can be used.

The elements for sorting and evaluating the agricultural products measured at the measuring position may have the same or different elements for sorting and evaluation and sorting, and these elements include size, weight and the like. Necessary elements are appropriately selected and selected from the grade factors, external grade factors such as scratches, shapes and colors, and internal grade factors such as sugar content and maturity.

In order to obtain information on the work area where the transfer work is carried out on the sorting conveyor, it is not limited, but
For example, at the most downstream position of the work area set to a certain length in the conveying direction of the sorting conveyor, it is detected by a suitable sensor or the like whether or not the agricultural products are placed on the bucket moving downstream from this work area. It can be done by Further, the record information of the container in which the agricultural product in which the information in the work area is detected can be obtained by reading the record of the container that is being supplied to the work area in which the transfer operation is performed. In addition, when the cargo port (producer) is switched when specifying the container in which the agricultural products transferred in one work area were stored, the buckets existing in the work area at the time of the switching are switched. The transfer operation from the next container whose cargo port has been switched may be interrupted until all are detected by the sensor. Specifically, at the time of switching the cargo port, a lamp or the like is turned on in the work area to instruct work interruption,
From this time, when the sensor detects, for example, eight buckets corresponding to the number existing in the work area, the lamp can be turned off and the transfer work can be restarted. The interruption time of this work is usually about 3 to 4 seconds considering the bucket transport speed of 2 to 3 buckets per second, and during the interruption of the transfer work, the empty container (container) is replaced with another one. It is possible to perform a work for discharging to a place and a work for carrying the next agricultural product-containing container to a predetermined position in the work area, and it is possible to perform selection with substantially no waste. Thereby, the record information of the container can be surely matched with the information of the work area detected by the sensor. However, the method of the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to adopt a method in which a large number of the sensors are provided over the entire working area or a transfer detection means is provided in the bucket.

Further, in the above method, the following method can be adopted in order to detect and discriminate the switching of the cargo port (producer). That is, (1) the work in which the containers containing the agricultural products of the same producer are continuously supplied to one work area is sequentially performed for each producer, and the containers in which different producer information is recorded are supplied to the work area. The method of determining the end of the agricultural product supply of the previous producer by detecting that it has been done, (2) The work of distributing the containers containing the agricultural products of the same producer to a plurality of work areas is sequentially performed for each producer. , A method of determining the end of the agricultural product supply of the previous producer by detecting the supply of the container in which different producer information is recorded in all the work areas, (3) producing the record information of the container, As information for identifying a person, information indicating the total number of containers of the producer, and information indicating the container number, the record information of the containers distributed and supplied to the plurality of work areas is read and the number of containers of the same producer is integrated. , The total number of containers is the container of the producer It is a method to determine the end of agricultural product supply of the producer by detecting that the number has reached the number.By using these methods, it is possible to determine the time when the evaluation data of agricultural products is aggregated for each producer. .

Another feature of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for selecting agricultural products together with the above-described selection method. One of the characteristics of this apparatus is a selection conveyor that conveys agricultural products in a row and a large number of agricultural products. A plurality of work areas are provided which are sequentially supplied with the accommodated containers, and are separated from each other in the transport direction of the selection conveyor so that the operations of transferring the agricultural products in the container to the selection conveyor are independently performed. A measuring device such as a weighing means and an imaging camera arranged on the downstream side of the conveyor in the work area of the sorting conveyor, and the measuring device measures the elements for sorting and evaluating the agricultural products. In a sorting device that sorts agricultural products based on the output, a transfer work area identification signal is output to identify and output the transfer work areas in which the work of transferring agricultural products to the sorting conveyor is performed. Means, output means of a producer identification signal for reading and outputting at least information for identifying a producer recorded in a container supplied to the plurality of work areas, and evaluation data of agricultural products measured by the measuring device. Outputting means for outputting an evaluation signal, means for associating the transfer work area identification signal, producer identification signal and evaluation signal relating to each agricultural product, and evaluation of each agricultural product using these associated signals as input information The data processing apparatus is provided with an arithmetic processing means for classifying and recording the data for each producer.

The means for associating the transfer work area identification signal, the producer identification signal, and the evaluation signal in the above description is not limited, but, for example, the transfer work area is detected by a sensor or the like. The output transfer work area identification signal for a certain bucket is linked with the record information (producer identification signal) of the container in the work area at the time of detection,
It is possible to synchronize the agricultural products specified by these signals with the evaluation data of the agricultural products on the measured buckets in synchronization with the feed pitch of the buckets. When the sorting conveyor is a free tray type, a unique number such as a bar code is attached to the bucket, the unique number of the bucket on which the transfer work is performed is read and stored, and the number of the bucket on which the measurement is performed is stored. They may be read and related to each other. Furthermore, the order in which the buckets are transferred can be matched.

In such a sorting device, the record information recorded in the container is used as the information for identifying the producer, the information showing the total number of containers of the producer, and the information showing the container number. For an arithmetic processing device that uses the signal output by reading as the input information, the counter that counts the number of containers of the same producer and the producer that detects that the total number of containers has reached the total number of containers of the producer By separately having a determination means for determining the end of agricultural product supply and a totalization processing means for totaling evaluation data for each producer based on the determination of the end of agricultural product supply, the time of the totalization processing for each producer You may be able to decide.

[0025]

In the sorting method of the present invention, the producer of each agricultural product transferred from the plurality of work areas to the selection conveyor is supplied with the work area information of the transferred work areas and the corresponding work area. It is possible to store the evaluation data of the agricultural products specified by the record information of the container and also specified by the producer, classified by the producer. As a result, the transfer work from each work area to the selection conveyor can be independently performed without being mutually restricted, and high productivity can be exhibited. Further, in the sorting device, at least the producer identification information (producer code) of the container containing the agricultural product is output by the producer identification signal output means in the plurality of work areas,
Also, the total number of containers and the container identification information are read as necessary.

The agricultural products supplied on the selection conveyor pass through the position of the transfer operation area identification signal output means of the operation area provided along the selection conveyor, so that the operation area where the transfer operation is performed is detected. Then, it is associated with the producer identification information read from the container.

Next, elements for sorting and evaluation are measured by a measuring device provided along the conveying path of the sorting conveyor.

The producer identification signal obtained by the producer identification signal output means (further, the total number of containers and the container identification information in some cases), and the transfer work area obtained by the transfer work area identification signal output means. The signal detected for each of the agricultural products and the evaluation data signal relating to the evaluation obtained by the measuring device are sent to the arithmetic processing means each time they are detected.

The arithmetic processing means is provided with, for example, a clock generating device which outputs a clock signal in synchronization with the movement of the selecting conveyor, and the conveying position of the agricultural products to be conveyed based on the signal of the clock generating device. It can be grasped and tracked over time. This arithmetic processing means is, for example, a signal output from the output means of the transfer work area identification signal that the agricultural product supplied on the sorting conveyor is first blocked, and the output means of the producer identification signal prior to this. The read producer identification information is moved to the measuring device by a clock signal in synchronization with the movement of the agricultural product, and is linked to the evaluation data which is the measurement result of the measuring device. Thereby, even if the agricultural products of different producers are conveyed from a plurality of work areas on the same sorting conveyor in a mixed state, evaluation data can be aggregated for each producer.

Further, after the agricultural products in the container have been supplied to the sorting conveyor and replaced with the next container, the processor identification information (producer code) of the container newly read by the output means of the producer identification signal is processed. When it is received, it is possible to determine that the supply of the preceding container to the selection conveyor of the agricultural products has ended, and thus the arithmetic processing means checks whether or not all the supply of the producer's container has ended, If all the containers have been finished, the process of ending the evaluation of the producer is performed after the end of the measurement by the measuring device and the process of the evaluation data.

On the other hand, if the producer identification information (producer code) of the output means of the newly received producer identification signal is new data (different producer), the arithmetic processing unit produces a new production. It is determined that the selection of agricultural products in the individual's container will be started, and a buffer (memory) for storing the evaluation data of the agricultural products of the producer identification information is secured, and at the same time, the agricultural products supplied from the work area of the agricultural products to the selection conveyor are After obtaining the producer identification information, each agricultural product is selected. In addition, if a buffer for storing agricultural product evaluation data has already been secured, it will be recognized as a consignment for ongoing evaluation,
Similarly, each agricultural product is selected.

As a result, it is possible to automatically carry out the load change processing (sort management for each lot).

At the time when the supply of agricultural products from the next container is not performed, the processing for storing the evaluation data of agricultural products, which has been treated as ongoing, is completed with the signal of the completion of the selection evaluation by the arithmetic processing unit. .

[0034]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

First Embodiment This example will be described below with reference to FIG. 1 showing the present invention as a system including various devices of general sorting equipment.

Reference numeral 10 is a container (container) in which the agricultural products S are randomly loaded and carried into the sorting field, and at least the producer identification information is recorded, and preferably, in addition to this, the amount of cargo (total number of containers). The data carrier 1 in which the container identification information (serial number, unique number, etc.) is recorded is attached to a position (outer wall surface, etc.) suitable for being read by the data reading devices 2a and 2b described later. The data carrier 1 is an information recording medium in which recording data such as symbolic display of characters, numbers, figures, or magnetic information is recorded on a paper, a plate, a magnetic body or the like. Incidentally, it is desirable to record each record of the container identification information and the amount of cargo in the data carrier 1, by using these records, the work of the port of cargo can be performed by matching the quantity of the carried-in container with the actual quantity of the sorting process. This is because the end can be confirmed.

In this example, the containers 10 carried into the sorting field are placed in a line on a single-line container supply conveyor 8 and distributed and supplied to the following two-line pull-in conveyors 9a and 9b.

Reference numerals 9a and 9b denote pull-in conveyors, which are arranged in parallel with each other at a right angle to the downstream end of the container supply conveyor 8 as shown in FIG. It is provided so that when it is sequentially distributed and supplied from the conveyor 8, the transfer end portion thereof is stopped as the transfer work position to perform the transfer work. Two
Reference characters a and 2b are data reading devices, which are arranged near the transfer work positions of the corresponding pull-in conveyors 9a and 9b (ends in the illustrated example), and of the containers 10 whose supply is stopped at the transfer work position. The data carrier 1 is provided so as to read the recorded contents.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a bucket type sorting conveyor for rotating buckets provided at regular intervals in an endless manner. The sorting conveyor 7 is provided in a direction substantially perpendicular to the two pull-in conveyors 9a and 9b as shown in the drawing. From the position where the agricultural products S are transferred from the container 10 on 9a, 9b to the bucket one by one, the measuring device 4 and the discharge solenoid 11 which is a sorting device
After sorting and discharging the agricultural products S through each position, the bucket is rotated again to the transfer position. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the work of transferring the agricultural product S from the two pull-in conveyors 9a and 9b to the bucket is performed as follows.
It is preferable to transfer the agricultural products S to every other bucket in the upstream pull-in conveyor 9b, and to transfer to the remaining buckets in the downstream pull-in conveyor 9a. The present invention is not limited.

3a and 3b are mounted agricultural products S in the bucket
And a transfer area identification sensor for identifying in which of the transfer areas A and B (see FIG. 3) the agricultural products S have been transferred by dividing the areas by these sensors. In the example of FIG. 3, in the transfer area B, the transfer area identification sensor 3 is provided for each bucket of the sorting conveyor 7 to determine whether or not the agricultural product S is transferred and supplied from the drawing conveyor 9b.
b, and in the transfer area A, the transfer area identification sensor 3a detects whether or not the agricultural product S is transferred and supplied from the pull-in conveyor 9a. Note that the transfer area identification sensor 3a (that is, the sensor on the most downstream side) is arranged in front of the measuring device 4 in the illustrated example, but may be the same as the measuring device 4, and the measuring device 4 may be a camera. In the case of a sensor such as the above, the function may be partially used. However, this configuration (the sensor 3a is the same as the measuring device)
In the case where the distance between the position of the pull-in conveyor 9a on the downstream side and the measuring device 4 is long, the time from the supply to the detection becomes long, so the detection is performed one by one for each pull-in conveyor (for each transfer area). It is often preferable to provide the sensor as described above. Further, by providing a sensor for each transfer area as described above, the upstream sensor (3b in FIG. 3) can identify the bucket that has not been transferred. Therefore, the bucket on which the agricultural product S has been transferred in the downstream area A can be identified. It can be surely identified.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a measuring device for measuring the predetermined items (elements necessary for sorting and evaluation judgment) necessary for sorting and evaluation of the agricultural products S conveyed by the bucket of the sorting conveyor 7. A weight measuring device, an internal quality inspection device, or a device in which these are combined, and the like, is configured by means capable of measuring a predetermined selection element (evaluation element).

Reference numeral 5 denotes a synchronous clock generator that outputs a signal (bucket clock signal) that is synchronized with the movement of buckets (agricultural products), and is provided in association with the intermittent drive of the sorting conveyor 7, and as shown in FIG. Then, information on the progress status of a predetermined bucket is sent to the arithmetic processing unit 6 which will be described later, and this progress status information is used for measurement, sorting, evaluation data aggregation and the like. This will be described later.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a discharge solenoid forming a sorting device, which is arranged on the downstream side of the sorting conveyor 7 for each sorting section, and receives a command from a later-described sorting signal from a computing device 6 to receive the produce S in the relevant section. Tilt the bucket to discharge the.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the relationship between the hardware circuit configuration of the arithmetic processing unit 6 for controlling the operation of each of the above-mentioned devices and the peripheral devices.

Signals from the data reading devices 2a and 2b, the transfer area identification sensors 3a and 3b, the measuring device 4, and the synchronous clock generating device 5 are input to the arithmetic processing device 6 through a communication interface 604 and an input / output interface, respectively. 605, and a measurement signal input interface 606.

A ROM 602 stores processing procedures.
(Read-only memory), 603 is a RAM (random access memory) indicating a temporary data memory in the processing process, and 60l is an MPU (microprocessor unit) for executing the process.

The sorting signal output by the arithmetic processing unit 6 is output to the discharge solenoid 11 through the input / output interface 605.

The arithmetic processing unit 6 also outputs the obtained evaluation data for each cargo port to the personal computer 12 via a LAN (local area network) interface 607. The personal computer 12 includes a touch panel unit 13 or a keyboard, a mouse (not shown), a display 14, a printer 15, and a hard disk 16 as peripheral devices, and is configured to perform operations, display evaluation data and the like, print, save data, and the like. ing.

In this example, a work area for a plurality of agricultural products S (pull-in conveyors 9a, 9a) is provided on one sorting conveyor 7.
It is possible to sort while supplying the agricultural products S of different shipping ports from b) at the same time, and separately from the sorting and sorting, the evaluation data of each agricultural product can be evaluated and aggregated by shipping port (producer). That is, the producer identification information (producer code) read from the data carrier 1, the amount of cargo (total number of containers), the container identification information (serial number, unique number), and the measurement data of the measuring device 4 are the synchronization clock generation. The information of the device 5 can be used to associate with each agricultural product, and can be aggregated as evaluation data of the agricultural product S of the producer.

In the drawing of this example, the single-piece sorting conveyor is shown, but this sorting conveyor may be a plurality of single-piece sorting conveyors.
Further, the number of the pull-in conveyors 9 can be set arbitrarily. The setting of the number of rows is usually set based on the selection processing amount of each sorting field.

This processing method will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the details of the supply section of FIG. At the time of switching to another person, the container 10 of the preceding producer of the former is present on the pull-in conveyor 9a, and the agricultural product S of the producer's former is sent from the downstream transfer area A partitioned by the transfer area identification sensor 3b. Is supplied to the sorting conveyor 7. On the other hand, from the transfer area B, the agricultural product S of the next producer B is supplied.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the instep A and the second agricultural produce S are mixed and conveyed on the sorting conveyor 7.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a state in which the agricultural products S having different cargo ports are mixed and transported on the sorting conveyor 7. The agricultural products S transported on the sorting conveyor 7 are individually transported after passing through the measuring device 4. Since the producer identification information (producer code) of A and B and the measurement data of the measuring device 4 are linked and transported, the evaluation data of the agricultural products S brought in by A and B respectively is sent. It is possible to add up for each producer. Therefore, it is possible to simultaneously sort the cargo ports of a plurality of producers with one sorting conveyor.

FIG. 5 illustrates a progress state in which the agricultural products S of different producers supplied from the plurality of work areas onto the selection conveyor 7 are advanced in synchronization with the movement of the selection conveyor 7 and sent to the measuring device 4 for measurement. As can be seen from these figures, the read and stored producer identification information can be sent in synchronization with the movement of the conveyor and linked with the measurement data measured by the measuring device 4.

For the above processing, the RAM 603 shown in FIG.
5, a tracking buffer for registering data relating to the transfer area (that is, the identification information of the producer of the agricultural product S placed in the bucket) and an address pointer of the tracking buffer are provided. In addition, in the embodiment, the description was made to link the producer identification information and the measurement data using the tracking buffer, but as a different method, for example, unique information is given to the bucket by a barcode or the like, and the producer is added together with this number. The identification information is stored. Further, at the time of measurement, this number is read and the measurement data is stored together with this number. By doing so, it is possible to obtain the identification information of the producer and the measurement data from the unique number of the bucket.

The tracking buffer schematically shown in FIG. 5 is a buffer related to the number of pulses generated by the synchronous clock generator 5 in terms of the distance between the transfer area identification sensor 3b on the upstream side and the measuring device 4. Capacity (0, 1, 2, ...
11) is given, the address pointer points to the address of the tracking buffer, and is returned to 0 when it coincides with the buffer capacity, so that the tracking buffer is managed in a ring shape. In this example, as shown in FIG. 5, the transfer area identification sensor 3b and the measuring device 4 are used.
Since there is 10 clocks between and, the tracking buffer capacity is set to 12. Note that the tracking buffer is expressed in a clock shape in FIG. 5 for the purpose of facilitating the explanation of the process, and does not show the actual configuration.

The procedure for registering the producer identification information in the tracking buffer based on the clock signal output from the synchronous clock generator 5 is shown in the flowchart of FIG.

The operation of the apparatus of this embodiment performed as described above will be described below in accordance with a temporal processing procedure.

(1) When the container 10 is carried into the sorting field, data relating to the producer is input by the data writing control device provided in the load receiving line (not shown), and the data writing device causes each container containing agricultural products. Information (manufacturer identification information, total number of containers, serial number, etc.) relating to the cargo port is recorded in the data carrier 1 attached to l0.

(2) The container 10 distributed and supplied from the cargo receiving line to the pull-in conveyors 9a and 9b via the container supply conveyor 8 is attached to the container 10 and is recorded in the data carrier 1 in which the predetermined information is recorded. The contents are read by the data reading devices 2a and 2b. As a result, information about which producer the agricultural product S supplied to the bucket of the sorting conveyor 7 belongs to is transmitted to the arithmetic processing unit 6 via the data communication unit.

(3) The supply worker 20 supplies and transfers the agricultural products S taken out from the agricultural product-containing container 10 to the buckets of the sorting conveyor 7 in each area partitioned by the transfer area identification sensors 3a and 3b.

(4) The transfer area identification sensors 3a and 3b detect the agricultural products S conveyed on the selection conveyor 7 to detect in which area they are transferred to the selection conveyor 7. The signals detected by the transfer area identification sensors 3a and 3b are output to the arithmetic processing device 6 in order to identify the producer of the agricultural product S mounted in each bucket.

(5) When the agricultural products S conveyed by the sorting conveyor 7 pass through the measuring device 4, the items necessary for sorting and evaluation of the agricultural products S, such as grade and class, are measured and the measured data are calculated. It is sent to the processing device 6.

(6) The arithmetic processing unit 6 has data on the producer (producer identification information) detected by the data reading devices 2a and 2b, and the sorting conveyor 7 detected by the transfer area identification sensor 3. A signal for identifying the producer of the agricultural product S and a signal for evaluating the agricultural product S measured by the measuring device 4 are the synchronization signal (clock signal).
Based on, the data is combined as data for one agricultural product S. FIG. 7 shows a procedure for registering the measurement result and the evaluation result in the evaluation data buffer of the corresponding producer when the measurement is performed.
It is shown by the flowchart of FIG.

(7) The measurement data measured by the measuring device 4 is compared with the division values such as grade and class preset in the arithmetic processing device 6, and the agricultural product S is compared.
It is judged as the grade and rank of. At this stage, it is specified which producer (shipper) the agricultural product S that has passed through the measuring device 4 belongs to, and the grade and class for sorting and evaluation. The arithmetic processing unit 6 outputs the sorting signal for each grade and class obtained as described above to the discharge solenoid 11 in synchronization with the movement of the produce S.

According to the above processing, even if the agricultural products S of a plurality of producers (shipping ports) are mixed and supplied on the sorting conveyor 7 as shown in FIG. Since the producer data relating to the individual agricultural products S that are installed and the evaluation data of the grade and class determination results are combined, it is possible to reliably aggregate the evaluation results of agricultural products for each producer.

The process of totaling evaluation results for each producer will be further described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a producer-specific measurement evaluation data buffer area secured in the RAM 603 of the arithmetic processing unit 6.

(8) The arithmetic processing unit 6 reads the contents (producer identification information, total number of containers of container, serial number) of the data carrier 1 of the agricultural product-containing container 10 read by the data reading unit 2 via the communication interface 604. To receive.

(9) When the contents of the data carrier 1 are input, the arithmetic processing unit 6 stores the RAM 60 in each transfer area.
3 is searched for whether the agricultural product container reception buffer 603l that has secured the area is empty or registered.

(10) If it is empty, the RAM 603 is searched for a plurality of evaluation data buffers 6032 that have secured areas, and whether or not the producer code buffer received in (8) is secured is searched.

(11) If it has not been secured, the producer code and the total number of containers are registered in the empty buffer as a new evaluation cargo port to secure the buffer.

(12) Also, in (9), the preceding container has already been processed, and the produce container reception buffer 6
If it is already registered in 031, the evaluation data buffer 6032 is searched based on the producer code of the preceding container, and the container end flag of the corresponding buffer is set based on the container number.

(13) Furthermore, the total number of containers is checked against the container end flag to check whether the supply of all the containers at the relevant cargo port has been completed.

(14) When the supply is completed, the number of clock pulses generated by the synchronous clock generator 5 corresponding to the distance from the front of the corresponding supply port to the measuring device 4 is registered in the tracking counter.

(15) After the above (9) to (14), the contents (producer code and container number) of the data carrier received in (8) are registered in the agricultural product container reception buffer 6031.

(16) On the other hand, the tracking counter value of the evaluation data buffer 6032 registered in (14) is stored in the input / output interface 905 as the clock pulse signal generated in the synchronous clock device 5 as the sorting conveyor 7 moves. Each time you receive it, it will count down.

(17) Further, it is checked whether the tracking counter has reached zero.

(18) Zero, that is, the final agricultural product S put into the sorting conveyor 7 reaches the measuring device 4, and after the final measuring process of the agricultural product S, the evaluation data buffer 6032
Since it has been added to, the shipment end processing is performed.

The processing for ending the cargo is performed in the evaluation data buffer 6
The data 032 is transferred to the personal computer 12 via the LAN interface 607, and the printer 15 of the apparatus issues an evaluation slip and the hard disk 16
Data is stored in.

(19) After that, the evaluation data buffer 6032 is cleared and the next use is permitted.

[0080]

As described above, the method and apparatus of the present invention have the following effects.

(L) In a sorting facility in which a plurality of pull-in conveyors are installed side by side with respect to the sort conveyor, the transfer work from each of these pull-in conveyors to the sort conveyor can be independently performed without mutual restriction. However, at the same time, it was possible to sort and evaluate the agricultural products of different producers separately for each producer, so that the agricultural product filling rate of the sorting conveyor can be substantially A high productivity of 100% can be achieved.

(2) As described above, since the processing capacity originally possessed by each device such as the sorting conveyor can be effectively exhibited, the downsizing of the equipment to be introduced into the sorting field and the reduction of the equipment area are achieved. To be done.

(3) Since it is not necessary to have a dedicated operator for inputting cargo port information on agricultural products brought into the sorting field, it is possible to realize mechanized and automated labor-saving equipment.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an entire configuration of a sorting device to which the present invention is applied.

2 is a block diagram showing the relationship between the hardware configuration of an arithmetic processing unit used in the apparatus of FIG. 1 and its peripheral devices.

FIG. 3 is a detailed view for explaining a state during the transfer operation of agricultural products from the pull-in conveyor to the selection conveyor in the selection apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a traveling state of buckets in a measurement portion of the sorting apparatus of FIG.

5 is a diagram for explaining processing by a tracking buffer or the like that links producer identification information and the like with measurement data in the sorting apparatus of FIG.

6 is a flowchart showing a procedure of registering producer identification information of agricultural products on a bucket in the tracking buffer shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of registering the measurement result and the evaluation result in the evaluation data buffer of the corresponding producer when the measurement of the agricultural product is completed.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a manufacturer-specific measurement / evaluation data buffer area secured in a RAM of an arithmetic processing unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Data carrier, 2a, 2b ... Data reading device, 3a, 3b ... Transfer area identification sensor, 4 ...
・ Measuring device, 5 ... Synchronous clock generator, 6 ...
Arithmetic processing device, 7 ... sorting conveyor, 8 ... container supply conveyor, 9a, 9b ... drawing conveyor, 10
... Container, 11 ... Discharge solenoid, 12 ...
-Personal computer, 13 ... Touch panel unit, 14 ... Display, 15 ... Printer, 16 ... Hard disk.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of work areas that are separated from each other in the conveying direction with respect to a sorting conveyor, independently carry out the work of transferring agricultural products from a multi-housing container to the sorting conveyor, and In the sorting method, in which the elements for sorting and evaluating the agricultural products are measured at the measurement position provided on the downstream side of the transportation of the work area, and the agricultural products are sorted based on the measurement result, each of the measurement positions is sequentially transferred. Agricultural producers,
Information on the work area that has been transferred to the sorting conveyor and the record information of the container that is supplied to the work area are specified, and this producer specifies the agricultural product evaluation data for each producer. A method for sorting agricultural products characterized by classifying and recording. 2. The container according to claim 1, wherein the work in which the containers containing the agricultural products of the same producer are continuously supplied to one work area is sequentially performed for each producer, and different producer information is recorded in the containers. A method of selecting an agricultural product, characterized in that the end of the agricultural product supply of the previous producer is determined by detecting the supply to the work area. 3. The work according to claim 1, wherein the work in which the containers containing the agricultural products of the same producer are distributed and supplied to a plurality of work areas is sequentially performed for each producer, and the containers in which different producer information is recorded are supplied. The method for selecting agricultural products is characterized in that the end of the supply of agricultural products of the previous producer is determined by the fact that all the work areas have been detected. 4. The record information of the container according to claim 1, wherein the record information of the container is information for identifying a producer, information for showing a total number of containers of the producer, and information for showing a container number, which are distributed and supplied to the plurality of work areas. It is possible to determine the end of the agricultural product supply of the producer by detecting the fact that the accumulated number of containers has reached the total number of containers of the producer by reading the record information of the containers of the same producer. Characteristic agricultural product selection method. 5. The method according to claim 2, wherein
A method for selecting agricultural products, characterized by collecting evaluation data for each producer who has been determined to have finished supplying agricultural products. 6. A sorting conveyor for transporting agricultural products in a line and a container containing a large number of agricultural products are sequentially supplied, and the operation of transferring the agricultural products in the containers to the sorting conveyor is carried out independently of each other. A plurality of work areas that are set apart from each other in the conveying direction of the sorting conveyor, and a measuring device that is arranged on the downstream side of the conveying area of the sorting conveyor, and the sorting and evaluation of agricultural products by this measuring device. In the sorting device that measures the elements for sorting and sorts the agricultural products based on this measurement result, the transfer work that identifies and outputs the transfer work area in which the transfer of the agricultural products to the sorting conveyor was performed Area identification signal output means, and producer identification signal output means for reading and outputting at least information for identifying the producer recorded in the containers supplied to the plurality of work areas. An evaluation data signal output means for outputting the evaluation data of the agricultural product measured by the measuring device; a means for associating the transfer work area identification signal, the producer identification signal and the evaluation data signal relating to each agricultural product; An apparatus for selecting agricultural products, comprising: arithmetic processing means for classifying and recording the evaluation data of each agricultural product for each producer using these associated signals as input information. 7. The record information recorded in the container according to claim 6, is information identifying a producer, information indicating a total number of containers of the producer, and information indicating a container number. A processor that reads information and uses the signal output as input information is a counter that counts the number of containers of the same producer and a producer that detects that the total number of containers has reached the total number of containers of the producer. An apparatus for selecting agricultural products, comprising: a determination unit that determines the end of agricultural product supply for each item; and an aggregation processing unit that aggregates evaluation data for each producer based on the determination of the end of agricultural product supply.