JPH10129834A - Farm 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 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, wherein the receiving plate discharging mechanism has a slant base 111 which can slant in the direction of the discharge conveyer 2 in cooperation with the motion of the discharge motion cooperation mechanism 3.

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).

[0011]

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 in which a plurality of conveyors each supporting one of the receiving trays on which agricultural products are placed are connected endlessly in the conveying direction so as to rotate endlessly; 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. A discharge operation linking mechanism provided for operating the tray discharge mechanism of the carrier selected by the instruction of the sorting signal, and a tray discharge mechanism provided on the carrier. A tilting table that can be tilted downward in the discharge conveyor direction about an axis parallel to the transport direction and supports a tray on a table, and the tilting table tilts in conjunction with the operation of the discharging operation linking mechanism. By so doing, the tray on the table is discharged in the lateral direction.

According to the present invention, the tray can be discharged in the lateral direction by a simple mechanism in which the tray is transported so that the tray slides down the slope formed by the tilting of the table. It does not change the directional movement effect at all, but only adds a lateral discharge effect,
If the tilting of the table is applied gently and the discharge action in the lateral direction is applied gently, the discharge can be performed without giving an impact. It is also preferable that the surface of the tilting table is made of a material having low friction in relation to the pan, or that a roller, a roller, or the like is arranged on the table so as to move the pan smoothly.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the tilting table is
In addition to being provided so as to be tiltable by the weight of the pan on which the agricultural product is placed, tilting locking means for locking this tilting is provided, and the locking of the tilting locking means is released in conjunction with the operation of the discharge operation linking mechanism. It is characterized by having comprised so that.

According to the present invention, the tray is discharged laterally by a simple weight-operated mechanism in which the center of gravity of the tray on which the agricultural product is placed is eccentric to the discharge conveyor side with respect to the tilting center of the tilting table. Can be.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tray discharging mechanism provided on the carrier in place of the tilting table, a spring means for discharging the tray in a lateral direction, and a receiving means of the spring means. And a spring action locking means for locking a spring action for discharging the spring action, wherein the locking of the spring action locking means is released in conjunction with the operation of the discharge operation linking mechanism. And

According to the present invention, by releasing the locking of the spring action locking means, the tray can be reliably discharged in the lateral direction by the spring means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the tilting table,
A spring means and means for locking the tilt and spring action thereof, wherein the locking of the tilt and spring action is released in conjunction with the operation of the discharge operation linking mechanism. I do.

According to the present invention, the sliding action by the weight of the receiving tray by using the tilting table and the spring action are used together, so that a reliable discharging action by using the spring means is ensured, and the spring action (spring force) is ensured. And the initial discharge operation of the pan can be made gentler.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the tray discharge mechanism has a tray receiving portion having a concave shape in the tray discharge direction with respect to the tray placed on the rotation start end side of the carrier. It is characterized by.

According to the present invention, the pan can be stably received at a predetermined position where the pan can be correctly discharged in the lateral direction by the pan discharge mechanism. For example, the tilting of the weight operation type can be reliably and stably performed. Can be given.

The invention according to claim 6 of the present application is directed to placing the tray 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.

[0024]

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 In the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the solenoid 332 is excited by an agricultural product sorting signal, and the tilting table 111 on the carrier 110 is tilted so that the tray T is pushed out. 1 shows a sorting conveyor device having a discharge operation linking mechanism 3 that operates using both the tilting of a tilting table and a spring action.

FIG. 3 shows the overall outline of the sorting and sorting equipment including the sorting conveyor device 1. As can be seen from this figure, the sorting conveyor device 1 has a large number of connected transport bodies 110,
It is connected to a pair of parallel conveyor chains 102 (see FIG. 1) so as to rotate endlessly between an upper horizontal track moving in an upright posture and a lower horizontal track (not shown) moving in an inverted posture. The sorting conveyor 101 thus configured and a number of discharge conveyors 2 (2 ₁ to 2 ₁₀ 1) arranged side by side at right angles to one side (the left side in FIG. 3) of the sorting conveyor 101 are branched and connected.
0 row) and the opposite side of the sorting conveyor 101 (right side in FIG. 3)
In the and is configured from the respective discharge conveyor 2 emission operation linkage mechanism provided to correspond one-to-one to 3 (3 ₁ to 3 _10). 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.

Further, 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.

A tilting table 111 is supported on a conveying body 110 by a tilting table support shaft 112 parallel to the conveying direction so as to be tiltable, and a tilting member provided at an end opposite to the discharge conveyor 2 is provided. The stop shaft 113 is provided so as to be always locked by the tip hook portion 132 of the tilt preventing hook member 131. 114 is the tilting table support shaft 11
2 is a bracket on the transport body 110 that supports both ends of the transport body 110. The tilting table 111 has a substantially rectangular flat plate receiving surface 111a having an opening 111b that is long in the transverse direction in the transport direction at the center, and three sides of the lower surface (three sides excluding the discharge conveyor 2 side). Enclosure walls 115, 11 provided downward
6, 116; a guide shaft 118 erected between the surrounding wall 115 and the downward bracket 117;
8 and a tray extruding piece 119 whose upper part is protruded on the pan mounting surface 111a of the tilting table 111. The pan extruding piece 119 is compressed by the compression spring 120 to discharge the discharge conveyor 2 In the normal direction (when the tilt of the tilt table 111 is prevented by the tilt preventing hook member 131), the compression spring 12 is pressed.
It is locked by the locking piece device 121 on the carrier 110 in the receiving state where the tray 0 is compressed. The bottom surface of the pair of surrounding walls 116, 116 on the side of the discharge conveyor 2 is formed as an inclined surface 116a as shown in FIG. In addition, the tilting table 111 of this example is configured such that the tray T on which the agricultural product is placed is placed on the tray placing surface 1.
The position of the tilting table support shaft 112 is set such that a force acts in the tilting direction due to its weight in a state where the tilting table support shaft 112 is supported at a predetermined position on the base 11a. Is released and tilts naturally. In addition, you may comprise so that the spring force for inclination of a comparatively weak force may act in addition to this weight effect. Further, the tilting table 111 can be provided with a roller, a roller (both not shown), or the like on its upper surface, so that the tray T can be sent out smoothly when tilted.

In order to re-engage the locking piece device 121 in the locked state, the locking piece 121 is provided with a head 121a pressed upward by an upward spring 121b. And the discharge conveyor 2 of the head 121a.
Upper corner and corresponding countersink extrusion 1
19 are formed on the inclined surfaces, respectively, so that the tray extruding piece 119 pushes down the head 121a while the locking piece device 12 is pressed.
1 when moving over the head 121 with the upward spring 121b.
a is click-engaged. As shown in FIG. 1, the upper portion of the tray extruding piece 119 protruding above the tray mounting surface 111a has left and right arms 119a and 119a extending to both sides of the opening 111b of the tray mounting surface 111a. A receiving recess 119b approximated to an arc shape is formed so that the flat circular receiving tray T can be received stably and reliably.

The hook member 131 for preventing tilting is provided on the carrier 110 so as to be rotatable around a fixed rotation center shaft 133. Usually, the hook member 131 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. Power is urged and leg 13
4 is blocked by the carrier 110, and in this state, the tip hook portion 132 is engaged with the tilt locking shaft 113 of the tilt table 111 to prevent tilt. Then, the lever 331 swings the arm 135 of the tilt preventing hook member 131 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 2 by the operation of the discharge operation linking mechanism 3, thereby engaging the tip hook portion 132 with the tilt locking shaft 113. The tilting table 111 is tilted by the release of the agricultural product.

In the present embodiment, the discharge conveyor 2 includes a rotatable roller conveyor 201 and a chute type inclined plate 2.
02. 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 discharging operation linking mechanism 3 will be described. The discharging operation linking mechanism 3 of the present embodiment receives the sorting signal from the sorting / sorting determination device, and conveys the corresponding agricultural product by the transport of the sorting conveyor 101. Operating in synchronization with the transport, the solenoid 332 moves the projection 333 downward to operate the lever 331.

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 information on 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 receiving tray T on which the agricultural products which have been subjected to the predetermined imaging and other processing by the second transporting conveyor device 5 are moved by the inclined guide 504 at the end thereof to be placed on the transporting body 110 of the sorting conveyor 101. Will be migrated. At this time, saucer T
Indicates the initial state of the carrier 110 (the state indicated by the solid line in FIGS. 1 and 2).
Is received stably and reliably in the receiving recess 119b of the receiving tray pushing piece 119 as described above.

The sorting information for each agricultural product determined based on the above information is sent as a sorting signal to the discharge operation linking mechanism 3 provided for each sorting rank, and the receiving tray T on which the corresponding agricultural product V is placed is received. In synchronism with being sent to that position, the discharge operation linking mechanism 3 at a predetermined position is activated, and the release of the tilting lock of the hook member 131 and the release of the compression spring 120 accompanying the release of the hook member 131 cause the compression spring When the tray 120 is extended and the tray pushing piece 119 moves toward the discharge conveyor 2 and the tilting table 111 tilts, the tray T is reliably pushed out in the lateral direction. With such a configuration, there is no need to increase the installation intervals of a large number of discharge devices provided in the transport direction, and the advantage is obtained that the total length of the sorting conveyor device can be shortened. In this example, the eccentricity of the center of gravity of the tray T is set to a small amount on the side of the discharge conveyor 2 with respect to the tilt center of the tilting table 111, but the eccentricity of the tray on which the agricultural product is loaded by pushing the tray T by the spring means. Tilting by weight is ensured.

The synchronization of the operation of the discharge operation linking mechanism 3 and the movement of the tray T by the sorting signal is performed by detecting the feed of the sorting conveyor by a servomotor, an encoder, or the like, or by controlling the time of transport. Any known method may be used.

The timing at which the arm 135 of the hook member 131 for preventing tilting on the conveyor of the sorting conveyor 101 which rotates on a fixed track and the discharging operation linking mechanism 3 is engaged with the timing accurately and reliably. Because the design is easy,
Stable without timing deviation even if the transport speed is increased
It can secure a reliable discharge operation and is suitable for high-speed processing. Further, in the present example, the tray T is simply moved toward the width by the tilt guide 504 in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the pan T is placed on the pan-mounting surface 111 a of the tilting base 111.
19a, concave portion 11 formed in the shape of an arc formed by 119a
9b can stably and reliably receive the circular tray T in the plane, and high reliability in ensuring the reliable operation of the sorting conveyor device 1 can be obtained.

The sorting and sorting equipment having the sorting conveyor device 1 of the present embodiment is not limited to the equipment shown in FIG. 3, but can be applied to equipment in which the tracking process is omitted as shown in FIG. . 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.

The method using the tilting table that tilts by weight according to the present embodiment is suitable for sorting relatively heavy agricultural products such as watermelon.

The above-described embodiment shows an example in which the tray is pushed laterally by the compression spring 120 and the tilting of the tilting table 111 due to the weight of the agricultural product accompanying the pressing is performed. Either a method in which the tray is pushed out only by the means or a method in which the tilting table is tilted only by the eccentricity of the center of gravity of the agricultural product by omitting the spring means can be adopted. In the latter case, it is preferable to set a large eccentric amount of the tilt center and the center of gravity of the pan on which the agricultural product is placed, in order to surely tilt the tilt table.

[0043]

According to the present invention, the problems in the conventional sorting conveyor device, such as the problem that a large number of discharge devices are required to be installed at a large interval in a system in which the conveying direction of the tray is bent and discharged, are eliminated. As a result, it is possible to reduce the installation space in the transport direction of the sorting conveyor, and to achieve the effect of realizing miniaturization of the entire equipment. In other words, in the present invention, the tray discharge mechanism is provided on the conveyor of the sorting conveyor, and the operation of discharging the tray from the sorting conveyor in the horizontal direction at right angles is given independently of the conveyance, so that
It is not necessary to discharge the tray in a curved manner, so that the space between the discharge conveyors can be reduced, and the entire equipment can be reduced in space.

Further, in the present invention, 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. It is possible to apply a discharging action to the pan completely independently of the movement in the transport direction, and therefore, it is possible to eliminate the impact of the conventional type in which the pan directly engages with the contact piece or the like. In addition, there is almost no risk of damaging the agricultural products, and the effect is obtained that the discharge direction can be obtained reliably and stably. Still further, in the present invention, the operation of the tray discharging mechanism is mechanically linked with a discharging operation linking mechanism fixedly provided at a predetermined position along the sorting conveyor and a tray discharging mechanism provided on the carrier. As a result, it is possible to realize a design 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, so that there is no timing shift even when the transport speed is increased. As a result, a stable and reliable discharge operation can be ensured, which is suitable for high-speed processing.

By combining the above various effects, the equipment for industrially sorting and sorting agricultural products including the sorting conveyor device of the present invention can realize a small installation space and a highly productive process. And an extremely excellent effect that can be achieved at a low cost as a whole can be obtained.

[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 BB in 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.

[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 111: tilting table 111a: tray receiving surface 111b: opening 112: tilting table support shaft 113: tilting locking shaft 114: bracket 115, 116: surrounding wall 112 ... -Downward bracket 118-Guide shaft 119-Receiving plate extruded piece 119a-Left and right arm parts 119b-Receiving concave part 120-Compression spring 121-Locking piece device 121a-Head part 121b · · · Upward spring 131 · · · Hook member for preventing tilting 132 · · · Tip hook portion 133 · · · Rotation center axis 134 · · Leg 135 ··· Arm 2 (2 ₁ to 2 _10), 2 ... discharge conveyor 201 ... inclined plate 202 ... roller conveyor 3 (3 ₁ to 3 _10), 3 ... discharge operation linkage mechanism 331 ... lever 332 ··· Solenoid 333 ··· Projection 4 ··· First transport conveyor device 401 ··· Pitching device 5 ··· Second transport conveyor device 501 ··· Tracking detector 502 ··· Worker 503 · ..Imaging device 504...

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A sorting conveyor connected in the transport direction such that a number of transporters each supporting a tray on which agricultural products are to be placed are rotated endlessly, and a plurality of predetermined conveyors separated along 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 provided near the sorting conveyor corresponding to each of the plurality of tray discharge paths and operating the tray discharge mechanism of the carrier selected by the instruction of the sorting signal. The tray discharge mechanism provided on the transport body has a tilting table that can tilt downward in the direction of the tray discharge path around an axis parallel to the transport direction and supports the tray on a table. The tilting table is configured to discharge the tray on the table in the lateral direction by tilting in conjunction with the operation of the discharge operation linking mechanism. 2. The tilting table according to claim 1, wherein the tilting table is provided so as to be tilted by the weight of the tray on which the agricultural product is placed, and tilting locking means for locking the tilting is provided. An agricultural product sorting conveyor device, wherein the tilting locking means is unlocked in cooperation therewith. 3. A sorting conveyor connected in the transport direction such that a large number of transporters supporting each one of the trays on which agricultural products are placed are rotated endlessly, 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 provided near the sorting conveyor corresponding to each of the plurality of tray discharge paths and operating the tray discharge mechanism of the carrier selected by the instruction of the sorting signal. A tray discharging mechanism provided on the carrier, a spring means for discharging the tray in a horizontal direction, and a spring for locking a spring action of discharging the tray of the spring means. An agricultural product sorting conveyor device, wherein the agricultural operation sorting means is configured to release the locking of the spring action locking means in conjunction with the operation of the discharge operation linking mechanism. 4. A tilting table according to claim 2, a spring means according to claim 3, and a tilt locking means and a spring action locking means of the tilt table, which are linked to the operation of the discharge operation linking mechanism. Wherein the tilting locking means and the spring action locking means are unlocked. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein
An apparatus for sorting and sorting agricultural products, wherein the tray discharging mechanism has a tray receiving portion having a concave shape in a tray discharging direction with respect to a tray placed on the rotation start end side of the carrier. 6. 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.