JPH10129833A - Frame product assorting conveyer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an assorting conveyer which can reduce an installation interval between discharge passages when receiving plates are discharged for assortment. SOLUTION: This device has an assorting conveyer 101 for endlessly moving many transfer bodies 110 each of which supports a receiving plate T, a plurality of discharge conveyers 2 for receiving the receiving plate T discharged at right angles in the direction of transfer from a predetermined position along the direction of transfer of the assorting conveyer 101, receiving plate discharging mechanisms 120 provided on the transfer bodies 110 to discharge the receiving plate T from on the assorting conveyer 101, and discharge motion cooperation mechanisms 3 each of which is provided near the assorting conveyer 101 in response to a plurality of discharge conveyers 2 and moves the receiving plate discharging mechanism 120 of the transfer body 110 by an assorting signal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method for sorting and sorting relatively fragile agricultural products such as apples, persimmons and tomatoes, and a method for sorting relatively heavy large agricultural products such as watermelons. It relates to a preferably used sorting conveyor device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a sorting and sorting facility for agricultural products, the agricultural products are evaluated by predetermined measurement items while the agricultural products are placed on a saucer (also referred to as a tray, a bread or the like) and conveyed. Then, in order to pack the containers for each sorting class, a mechanism for discharging the trays containing the corresponding agricultural products from the transport conveyor to the waiting section for packing, for example, via a discharge path provided for each sorting class. Are often adopted. Note that the above-mentioned transport conveyor is variously referred to as “transport conveyor”, “sorting conveyor”, “sorting conveyor”, etc. Since the present invention has a characteristic mechanism for sorting, the following “sorting conveyor” is used. ".
Further, since the discharge path for receiving the tray discharged from the sorting conveyor is often configured as a mechanism using a conveyor, the discharge path for the tray is hereinafter referred to as a “discharge conveyor”.
However, the present invention is not limited to this.

[0003] As a sorting conveyor device having a mechanism for discharging a tray from a sorting conveyor to a discharge conveyor,
The following are conventionally known.

(A) In order to discharge a flat circular tray conveyed on a sorting conveyor to a discharge conveyor at a predetermined position, the tray is placed on a transfer path corresponding to the position of each discharge conveyor from the center in the traveling direction to the discharge side. The contact piece protrudes and retracts at a position slightly displaced in the opposite lateral direction, and for the tray that goes straight on the conveyance path to be ejected, the corresponding contact piece protrudes to prevent the straight movement and deflects to the discharge conveyor (Turning) contact piece in / out system (Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-54398).

(B) A guide roller for guiding the conveyance is provided below the tray, and a part of the conveyance path is connected to a curved discharge path so that the guide roller of the tray can be selectively received. A moving lever is provided, and for a tray that is to be ejected among the trays that travel straight on the transport path, the swinging lever is pivoted to the receiving side to force the guide roller of the tray to the curved discharge path. Lever switching method (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-189380).

(C) On the discharge path side of the sorting conveyor,
A rotary table that rotates synchronously with the conveyor is arranged, and for the trays that go straight, the trays to be ejected are pulled by pin engagement or pulled by magnetic attraction, so that the trays are rotated along with the rotation of the rotary table. A rotary table pulling method for leading to a discharge conveyor (JP-B-7-90904, JP-A-6-278848).

[0007]

However, the above-described conveyor apparatus has the following problems. For example, in the sorting conveyor device of the contact piece appearing and retracting method of the above (a), the agricultural product may be damaged by moving or jumping out of the saucer due to the impact when the conveyed saucer hits the contact piece, and on the saucer. When agricultural products move, for example, the attitude of the agricultural products placed on the saucer with the stake facing upwards changes, so when packing at the end of the discharge conveyor etc., especially when using a mechanical boxing device, There is a problem that it is necessary to adjust the posture of the agricultural product on the saucer, which is troublesome, and furthermore, there is a problem that it is difficult to mechanically adjust the posture because the direction of deviation is not constant.

Further, in the sorting machine of the lever switching type described in (b) above, if the operation timing of the operation lever is slightly deviated, there is a problem that the operation lever collides with the guide roller of the tray and the apparatus is broken down. There is a limit to speeding up, and there is a problem that the apparatus is complicated and the price is easily increased due to timing. In addition, since it is necessary to guide the tray from the sorting conveyor to the discharge conveyor along the curved discharge path, the intervals of the plurality of discharge mechanisms provided along the transport direction of the sorting conveyor cannot be so close to each other, so that the total length of the sorting conveyor becomes longer, There is also a problem that the installation space is large and the apparatus is likely to be expensive from this point. Furthermore, in order to reliably receive the tray guide roller by the operating lever that performs the switching operation, there is a problem that the set dimensions of each part and the accuracy of the guide control must be improved.

In the sorting conveyor apparatus of the rotary table pulling type described in (c) above, the rotary table for pulling the tray is disposed on the discharge conveyor side of the sorting conveyor, regardless of whether it is pulled by pin engagement or magnetic attraction. In addition, since the trays are discharged in a curved manner, the intervals of a plurality of discharge conveyors cannot be set very close. Therefore, there is a problem that the total length of the sorting conveyor tends to be long, the equipment space needs to be wide, and the apparatus tends to be expensive. In addition, if the rotation speed of the rotary table is increased to increase the processing efficiency, the peripheral speed of the rotary table increases accordingly, and agricultural products are shaken off from the tray by centrifugal force. . This tendency is particularly remarkable in the case of agricultural products having a poor shape.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems in the conventional sorting conveyor apparatus and solves the above-mentioned (b) or (c) method in which the direction of conveyance of a tray conveyed on the sorting conveyor is sequentially changed. The object of the present invention is to provide a sorting conveyor device free from defects (a large installation interval is required for the discharge path to bend).

Another object of the present invention is to change the transport direction by applying a discharge action in a direction perpendicular to the transport without applying an impact to a tray transported on a sorting conveyor. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sorting conveyor device that does not have a problem (effect of impact) of a method of abutting a receiving tray against an abutting piece and therefore does not damage transported agricultural products.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The features of the sorting conveyor of the present invention for achieving the above object are as described in each of the claims set forth above.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sorting conveyor comprising: a sorting conveyor connected in a transport direction such that a large number of transporters each supporting a saucer on which agricultural products are to be placed endlessly rotate; A tray discharge path such as a discharge conveyor provided at each position to receive a tray discharged in a lateral direction perpendicular to the transport direction from a plurality of predetermined positions separated along the transport direction (hereinafter referred to as a “discharge conveyor or the like”). ") And a tray discharging mechanism provided on each of the transport bodies so that the trays on the sorting conveyor can be discharged in the lateral direction, and near the sorting conveyor corresponding to the plurality of discharging conveyors and the like, respectively. And a discharge operation linking mechanism for operating the tray discharge mechanism of the transporting body selected by the instruction of the sorting signal.

According to the present invention, the tray on the carrier has:
Since the movement in the transport direction does not change at all and only the discharge in the lateral direction is added, if the discharge in the lateral direction is moderately applied, the discharge can be performed without giving an impact.

According to the invention of claim 2 of the present application, the tray discharge mechanism provided on the carrier has a pair of swinging portions each having a pivot point at two positions on the carrier separated in the transport direction.
In addition, these swinging parts are linked to the operation of the discharge operation linking mechanism and synchronously swing in a line symmetry with the intermediate line between the two pivot points as a symmetric line, and the tip of each swinging part is symmetrical. The present invention is characterized in that the tray is engaged with the tray and the resultant force causes the tray to be discharged in the lateral direction.

According to the present invention, a mechanism for synchronously oscillating the pair of oscillating portions by a link mechanism, a sector gear, or the like can gently apply the action of discharging the tray in the lateral direction to an appropriately set degree. it can.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the pair of swinging portions of the tray discharging mechanism are arranged such that the intermediate line between the two pivot points is symmetrical with respect to the tray placed on the rotation start end side of the carrier. The tray receiving portion is formed to have a concave shape in the tray discharging direction with a curved surface having a line symmetry.

According to the present invention, the tray can be stably received at a predetermined position where the tray discharging mechanism can correctly discharge the tray in the lateral direction.

The invention according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is directed to a case where the tray is placed on the carrier at the rotation start end side of the sorting conveyor so that the tray can be correctly discharged in the lateral direction by the tray discharging mechanism. Transport means for transporting the tray at the same height as the tray placing surface in parallel with the sorting conveyor, and a tray at a predetermined position on the transport body of the sorting conveyor from above the transport means in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction. And a guide means for moving the tray with the guide means in a direction opposite to a direction in which the tray is discharged from the sorting conveyor.

According to the present invention, the receiving tray can be automatically and reliably received at a predetermined position on the conveyor of the sorting conveyor from the upstream (upstream) conveyor.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

Embodiment 1 This example is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and FIG.
The overall outline of the sorting and sorting equipment including is shown below. As can be seen from these figures, the sorting conveyor apparatus 1 has a structure in which a large number of conveyed carriers 110 move between an upper horizontal trajectory moving in an upright posture and a lower horizontal trajectory (not shown) moving in an inverted posture. And a pair of parallel conveyor chains 10
2 (see FIG. 1) and a plurality of discharge conveyors 2 connected side by side at right angles to one side (the left side in FIG. 3) of the sorting conveyor 101.
(10 rows of 2 _{1 to} 2 ₁₀ ), and a discharge operation linking mechanism 3 (3 ₁ to 3) provided on the opposite side (the right side in FIG. 3) of the sorting conveyor 101 in a one-to-one correspondence with each of the discharge conveyors 2. 3 ₁₀ )
It is composed of The upper horizontal trajectory of the sorting conveyor 101 moves in the transport direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG.
In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, illustration of agricultural products is omitted to avoid complication of the drawings.

In the sorting and sorting equipment of the present embodiment, the following configuration is provided on the upstream side of the sorting conveyor device 1. That is, at the first stage (first stage), the first transport conveyor device 4 having the screw type pitching device 401 is provided. The second stage (second stage) is provided with a second conveyor 5 having a rail for conveying the trays T at a constant interval. The second conveyor 5 supplies the results graded by visual judgment by the operator 502 in the positioning in the conveyor width direction (generally referred to as “tracking”), and detects the positioning by the tracking detector 501. Has become. On the downstream side of the tracking detector 501, an imaging device 5 for determining, for example, a class or a grade based on imaging information of the agricultural product V on the saucer T.
03 is provided. In this example, the tray T is placed at the end of the second conveyor 5 so that the tray T is placed at a predetermined position on each transport 110 of the sorting conveyor 101.
Is provided.

The details of the sorting conveyor device 1 of this embodiment are shown in FIG.
2, the sorting conveyor 101 is a flat conveyance body 1 fixed to an attachment 104 formed on a link 103 of a pair of parallel conveyor chains 102.
10 are connected without any gap in the transport direction, and the pins 105 of the conveyor chain 102 are configured to rotate endlessly by rolling on rails 106. 107 is rail 1
06.

The transport body 110 is provided with a link-actuated pan discharge mechanism 120 which is biased to one side in the width direction (right side in FIG. 3).
Reference numeral 20 denotes a first triangular shape provided so as to be able to swing along the upper surface of the carrier 110 with a slight gap by a first pivot pin 121 implanted rotatably around the axis of the carrier 110. A slight gap is formed along the upper surface of the transport body 110 by the plate 122 and the second pivot pins 123 which are paired with the first pivot pins 121 in the transport direction so as to be rotatable around the axis of the transport body 110. A second plate 124 provided so as to be able to swing apart.
Each of the first plates 12 having a middle line between the first and second pivot pins 123 (a line orthogonal to a midpoint of a straight line connecting both pins) as a symmetric line
Extruding rollers 125, which engage with the swinging tip (swinging portion) of the second and second plates 124 at line-symmetric positions so as to push the tray T in the lateral direction (leftward in FIG. 3 perpendicular to the transport direction).
126 are provided. And these pivot pins 12
Swinging arm 1 fixed to the end on the back side of the transport body of 1,123
An interlocking link 129 for interlocking the rotation of the two pivot pins is connected between 27 and 128, and the first plate 122 is normally moved by the torsion coil spring 130 wound around the first pivot pin 121. The initial state of the lowermost stage (the same applies to the uppermost stage) of the three transport bodies shown in FIG. 1 is maintained. In the present example, the first plate 122 and the second plate 124 have side surfaces provided in a curved shape along the circular outer shape of the saucer T (entirely formed in an arc-shaped concave portion). The tray T fed from the widthwise inclined guide 504 of the second conveyor conveyor device 5 at the second stage can be stably received at a predetermined position and posture.

At another apex position of the first plate 122 having a triangular shape, a linking engagement roller 131 which is engaged with a discharge operation linkage mechanism described later is rotatably assembled. The first plate 122 swings in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1 by engaging the discharge operation linking mechanism 131 with the discharge operation linking mechanism.
By pivoting the clockwise direction, the pair of plates 122 and 124 are synchronously pivoted, and the pair of pushing rollers 125 and 126 apply a pushing force symmetrically with respect to the diameter line of the tray T. Therefore, the pushing force acts only in the lateral direction.

The discharge conveyor 2 is composed of a number of rotatable roller conveyors 201 in this embodiment. 2
02 is a roller conveyor support frame. Numeral 203 denotes a box for packing agricultural products. The box packing section 203 can be provided with a box packing robot (not shown) capable of automatically packing boxes. Further, the box packing section 203 can be provided with a work area for manually packing the boxes together with a box packing robot (not shown).

Next, the discharge operation linking mechanism 3 will be described. The discharge operation linking mechanism 3 of this embodiment is configured such that the conveying upstream side and the downstream side are inclined surfaces 301a and 301c and the tray side is a short side in the conveying direction plane 301b. A flat trapezoidal linkage table 301 is provided so as to be reciprocated by an air cylinder device 302 from an outside standby position in the transport direction to an engagement position protruding toward the tray, and the linkage table 301 is engaged. When the first plate 122 protrudes to the position, it engages with the linkage engagement roller 131 of the pan discharge mechanism 120 and
Can be swung. Reference numeral 303 denotes a support frame of the discharge operation linking mechanism 3;
Reference numeral 04 denotes a guide rod for supporting and guiding the movement of the link base 301, and is slidably fitted to a through hole provided in the support frame 303.

The operation of the sorting and sorting equipment having the sorting conveyor apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described.
As shown in FIG. 3, a large number of trays T on which the agricultural products V are pitched so as to be spaced at a predetermined interval in the transport direction by the pitching device 401 of the first transport conveyor device 4 are connected to a second conveyor device with a crossbar. 5 is sent to each of the crossbars so as to be addressed to each of them, and is visually graded by the worker 502 and subjected to tracking processing. By detecting this with the tracking detector 501, one of information for sorting is obtained. This information is sent to a sorting / determining apparatus (usually a computer) not shown.

Next, the tray T is moved to the downstream side, and a predetermined image is obtained by the image pickup device 503. By analyzing the image, information on class elements such as shape and size or class elements such as flaws and colors is obtained. This information is also sent to the sorting / determining apparatus, and the sorting of each agricultural product is determined based on these factors.

On the other hand, the tray T on which the agricultural products for which predetermined processing such as imaging has been completed is loaded by the second transport conveyor device 5 is shifted by the inclined guide 504 at the end thereof and is placed on the transport body 110 of the sorting conveyor 101. Will be migrated. At this time, saucer T
Are a pair of plates (1) in the initial state of the carrier 110.
22 and 124), it is possible to stably and surely receive the arc-shaped recess formed as described above.

The sorting information on each agricultural product determined based on each of the above information is sent as a sorting signal to the discharge operation linking mechanism 3 provided for each sorting rank, and the tray T on which the corresponding agricultural product V is placed is received. The discharge operation linking mechanism 3 operates in synchronization with being sent to that position, and the linking table 301 projects from the standby position to the engagement position.
The synchronization of the operation of the discharge operation linking mechanism 3 and the movement of the tray T by the sorting signal can be performed by any known method such as a method of detecting the feed of the sorting conveyor with a servomotor or the like and a method of controlling the time of transport. Depending on the method.

When the ejection operation linking mechanism 3 is operated and the linking table 301 projects from the standby position to the engaging position, the linking engagement roller 13 of the first plate 122 on the carrier 110 is moved.
1 engages with the upstream slope 301a of the link table 301, and the first plate 122 swings counterclockwise. This swing is caused by the swing arm 12 pivotally attached to the first pivot pin 121.
7, transmitted to the second plate 124 via a swing arm 128 which is pivotally mounted on the interlocking link 129 and the second pivot pin 123, and the second plate 124 swings in synchronization with the first plate 122. . These plates (122, 12)
4) The pair of pushing rollers 125 and 126 push the tray T symmetrically by swinging, and the tray T is pushed laterally onto the discharge conveyor 2 under symmetrical force.

According to this embodiment having the above-described structure, the tray T is pushed out by the pair of swinging plates, not in a curved manner, but in a lateral direction. Since there is no need to increase the installation interval, there is an advantage that the total length of the sorting conveyor device can be shortened.

Further, it is easy to accurately and reliably engage the linkage table 301 of the discharge operation linkage mechanism 3 provided as a fixed portion with the plate on the conveyor of the sorting conveyor 101 which rotates on a fixed track. Even when the transport speed is increased, a stable and reliable discharge operation can be ensured without a timing shift, which is suitable for high-speed processing.

Further, in the present embodiment, the inclined guide 504
The tray T is placed on the sorting conveyor 101.
Can be stably and reliably received by the pair of plates (122, 124) of the transfer body 110 at a position formed as an arc-shaped concave portion, and the reliability for ensuring the reliable operation of the sorting conveyor apparatus 1 can be increased. Can be. Note that the sorting and sorting equipment having the sorting conveyor device 1 of the present embodiment is not limited to the one shown in FIG. 3, and can be applied to equipment in which the tracking processing is omitted as shown in FIG. 4. The equipment shown in FIG. 4 differs from the equipment shown in FIG. 3 in that the tracking processing is omitted and that the position of the imaging device 503 is arranged downstream of the tilt guide 504.

Embodiment 2 In this embodiment shown in FIG. 5, instead of transmitting the swing of the first plate 122 to the second plate 124 by the interlocking link, the swing is transmitted by a pair of sector gears 141 and 142. The third embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the other points, and thus the detailed description is omitted.

This embodiment is more preferable in that the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and in this embodiment, parts can be shared except for the first plate 122 and the second plate 124.

[0039]

According to the first or second aspect of the present invention,
A problem in the conventional sorting conveyor device, for example, in a method in which the conveying direction of the receiving tray is curved and discharged, a problem that a large interval between the discharging devices provided is required is largely eliminated, and an installation space in the conveying direction of the sorting conveyor is solved. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size of the entire equipment and to achieve the effect of reducing the size of the entire equipment. That is, in the present invention, the tray discharge mechanism is provided on the conveyor of the sorting conveyor, and the function of discharging the tray from the sorting conveyor in the right-angled horizontal direction is provided independently of the conveyance, so that the tray needs to be bent and discharged. Therefore, the space between the discharge conveyors can be reduced, and the entire equipment can be reduced in space.

Further, in these inventions, the receiving tray discharging mechanism is provided on the carrier constituting the sorting conveyor, and the operation of the receiving tray discharging mechanism is performed by the discharging operation linking mechanism provided at a predetermined position along the sorting conveyor. Therefore, it is possible to apply an action for discharging to the pan completely independently of the movement in the transport direction, and therefore, it is possible to apply an impact of the type in which the pan directly engages with the abutting piece as in the conventional case. In addition, there is almost no risk of damaging the agricultural product, and the effect of being able to obtain the discharge direction reliably and stably is obtained.

Further, in these inventions, the tray discharging mechanism fixedly provided at a predetermined position along the sorting conveyor and the tray discharging mechanism provided on the carrier are mechanically linked to each other to discharge the tray. Because the mechanism is operated, a design can be realized in which the fixed portion and the sorting conveyor that rotates on a fixed track accurately engage with each other accurately and accurately in the positional relationship between them. As a result, a stable and reliable discharge operation can be ensured without deviation, and the effect of being suitable for high-speed processing is achieved.

According to the third or fourth aspect of the present invention, the loading state of the tray suitable for reliably discharging the tray from the sorting conveyor is stabilized by an automatic and mechanical device. The effect is obtained that it can be secured.

By combining the various effects as described above, the equipment for industrially sorting and sorting agricultural products including the sorting conveyor device of each invention of the present invention realizes a small installation space and a highly productive process. And an extremely excellent effect, which has not been achieved before, that the entire equipment can be reduced in cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a part of a sorting conveyor device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an outline of a sorting and sorting facility to which the sorting conveyor device of the first embodiment is applied.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the outline of another example of the sorting and sorting equipment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a part of a sorting conveyor device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Sorting conveyor apparatus 101 ... Sorting conveyor 102 ... Conveyor chain 103 ... Link 104 ... Attachment 105 ... Pin 106 ... Rail 107 ... Frame 110 ... Carrier 120: Receiving tray discharge mechanism 121: First pivot pin 122: First plate 123: Second pivot pin 124: Second plate 125, 126 ... Extrusion rollers 127, 128 ... Swinging arm 129 ... Linking link 130 ... Torsion coil spring 131 ... Roller for linking engagement 141,142 ... Sector gear 2 (2 ₁ to 2 ₁₀ ) ... Discharge conveyor 201 ... - roller conveyor 202 ... roller conveyor support frame 3 (3 ₁ to 3 ₁₀₎ ... discharge operation linkage mechanism 301 ... linking table 301a ... inclined surface 3 01b: plane in the conveying direction 301c: inclined plane 302: air cylinder device 303: support frame 304: guide rod 4: first conveying conveyor device 401: pitching device 5. ..Second transport conveyor device 501: tracking detector 502: worker 503: imaging device 504: tilt guide

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sorting conveyor connected in the transport direction such that a number of transporters supporting each one of the trays on which agricultural products are placed are endlessly rotated, and a plurality of predetermined conveyors separated in the transport direction of the sorting conveyor. A tray discharge path provided for each position to receive a tray discharged in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the transport direction from the position, and a tray on the sorting conveyor so that the tray on the sorting conveyor can be discharged in the lateral direction. A tray discharge mechanism provided respectively, and a discharge operation linking mechanism that is provided near the sorting conveyor corresponding to each of the plurality of tray discharge paths and operates the tray discharge mechanism of the carrier selected by the instruction of the sorting signal, An agricultural product sorting conveyor device comprising: 2. The tray discharging mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the tray discharging mechanism provided on the transporting body has a pair of swinging portions each of which has two pivot points on the transporting body separated in the transporting direction. The oscillating portions are synchronously oscillated in line symmetry with an intermediate line between the two pivot points as a symmetric line in association with the operation of the discharge operation linking mechanism, and the tip of each oscillating portion is symmetrically engaged with the tray. The sorting conveyor for agricultural products, wherein the tray is discharged in the lateral direction by the combined force. 3. The tray according to claim 2, wherein the pair of swinging portions of the tray discharging mechanism are line-symmetric with respect to the tray placed on the rotation start end side of the transporting body, with an intermediate line between the two pivot points being a symmetric line. An agricultural product sorting conveyor device, wherein a saucer receiving portion having a concave shape in the saucer discharging direction is formed on the curved surface of the dish. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein
Transport means for transporting the tray at the same height as the tray mounting surface in parallel with the sorting conveyor to load the tray on the transport body at the rotation start end side of the sorting conveyor; and Guide means for moving the tray at a predetermined position on the conveyor of the conveyor in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction,
An apparatus for sorting agricultural products, wherein the direction in which the tray is moved by the guide means is opposite to the direction in which the tray is discharged from the sorting conveyor.