JPH10248546A - Tobacco leaf feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accelerate the supply of a tobacco leaf from a tobacco lead mounting table to a processor such as a leaf knitting device and to stabilize the transportation of the tobacco leaf. SOLUTION: This device is provided with a means 2 such-lifting a tobacco leaf T, a tobacco leaf grasping means F grasping the tobacco lead T lifted by the suck-lifting means and a four-node parallel linking mechanism 50 or a parallel crank movement mechanism moving the means F from a grasping position to the processor obliquely forward without changing the grasping direction of the tobacco leaf.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tobacco leaf supplying apparatus, and more particularly to a tobacco leaf supplying apparatus effectively used for continuously transferring harvested tobacco leaves to a tobacco leaf processing apparatus such as a leaf knitting machine. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to reduce the time required for knitting tobacco leaves, various devices have been proposed for automatically and continuously supplying tobacco leaves to such devices, together with devices for mechanically knitting leaves. ing. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-322536 discloses an adsorber for adsorbing tobacco leaves placed on a mounting table,
A gripper for gripping the base side of the tobacco leaf adsorbed by the suction unit, and a substantially 90 degree transporting the tobacco leaf gripped by the gripper to a tobacco leaf supply point of a processing device such as a continuous knitting machine or a sewing machine. A tobacco leaf feeder with a horizontally rotating transfer arm is described.

This tobacco leaf supply apparatus repeatedly repeats a process of adsorbing a large number of tobacco leaves placed on a tobacco leaf mounting table one by one by an adsorption means and transferring the adsorbed tobacco leaves to the tobacco leaf processing apparatus side. It can be performed automatically and automatically, which greatly contributes to labor saving.

[0004]

However, in the tobacco leaf supply apparatus described above, the transfer of the tobacco leaves to the processing apparatus is performed by a 90-degree horizontal rotation by a transfer arm, and the tobacco leaves are rotated with the rotation of the transfer arm. Since the direction is changed by 90 degrees, the torsion of the leaf varies depending on the weight and leaf length of the tobacco leaf, and the supply accuracy of the tobacco leaf on the processing device side such as a continuous knitting machine or a sewing machine is slightly increased. In some cases, it became unstable.

There is also known a tobacco leaf supply apparatus in which tobacco leaves placed on a mounting table are adsorbed and lifted by an adsorbent and the adsorbent is moved in the leaf length direction of the tobacco leaf ( JP-A-6-189731). Since this apparatus transfers the tobacco leaf in the leaf length direction, the direction of the tobacco leaf does not change during the transfer, but a transfer distance (800 mm or more) corresponding to at least the leaf length is required as a transfer distance to the processing apparatus. However, the size of the apparatus must be increased as compared with the above-described apparatus having a transfer arm that rotates in the horizontal direction by 90 degrees. Furthermore, the position of the mounting table side for replenishing tobacco leaves and the processing apparatus side may be greatly separated, and the operability may deteriorate, such as an increase in the movement distance of the worker during work.

[0006] There is also known a feeding device in which tobacco leaves adsorbed and lifted by the adsorbent are re-adsorbed by another adsorbing means and transferred in the width direction of the tobacco leaves (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-266259). Gazette). This device does not change the direction of the tobacco leaves during the transfer, but the configuration is complicated because two adsorption means are used. Further, it can be effectively used when the tobacco leaves are continuously arranged in an aligned state on a belt conveyor. However, each tobacco leaf is sent out to a processing device such as a continuous knitting machine or a sewing machine. Not suitable for

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned disadvantages of the tobacco leaf supply apparatus, and to speed up the supply cycle per sheet, and at the same time, to transfer one tobacco leaf to the processing apparatus side. It is an object of the present invention to provide a tobacco leaf supply device in which the delivery accuracy of sheets is improved.

[0008]

A tobacco leaf supplying apparatus according to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems basically includes a means for adsorbing and lifting tobacco leaves and a means for lifting the tobacco leaves by the adsorption and lifting means. It is characterized by having tobacco leaf gripping means for gripping tobacco leaves, and moving means for moving the tobacco leaf gripping means diagonally forward from the gripping position without changing the gripping direction of the tobacco leaves. The moving means is desirably constituted by a parallel link mechanism or a crank movement mechanism, but is not limited thereto.

When using the tobacco leaf supplying apparatus according to the present invention, first, a bundle of about 50 harvested tobacco leaves is preferably aligned on a tobacco leaf mounting table in the tobacco leaf adsorption and lifting means. Place. Next, a negative pressure generating source attached to the tobacco leaf adsorption and lifting means is driven to generate a negative pressure at the tip of the adsorption cylinder. In this state, the suction cylinder is caused to reciprocate up and down by a suitable driving means. In the vicinity of the bottom dead center, the tip of the adsorption cylinder comes into contact with the placed tobacco leaf to adsorb one of the tobacco leaf, and lifts the adsorbed tobacco leaf to the top dead center.

[0010] Near the top dead center, the negative pressure is released and the adsorption of tobacco leaves is stopped. At about the same time, the tobacco leaf is gripped, preferably at the base side, by the tobacco leaf gripping means. The moving means moves the tobacco leaf gripping means, which has gripped the tobacco leaf, diagonally forward without changing the gripping direction of the tobacco leaf.
As a result, the tobacco leaf is quickly transferred to the tobacco leaf supply point of a processing device such as a continuous knitting machine or a sewing machine, and is taken over to the processing device side while keeping the gripped posture without twisting or the like.

[0011] In this way, the group of tobacco leaves arranged on the mounting table is transferred to the processing apparatus side one by one continuously without changing its direction and at a short transfer distance.
The processing time per tobacco leaf can be made faster than that of the conventional apparatus, and the processing time of the tobacco leaf processing apparatus such as a leaf knitting operation can be shortened.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, a tobacco leaf supplying apparatus according to the present invention will be described in more detail based on a preferred embodiment. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a case where an embodiment of a tobacco leaf supply device according to the present invention is used together with a conventionally known leaf knitting mechanism. FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing tobacco leaf gripping means of the tobacco leaf supply device shown in FIG. 1 and moving means of the gripping means.

In FIG. 1, A is a tobacco leaf supply device, and B is a leaf knitting machine as an example of a tobacco leaf treatment device. The leaf knitting machine B is conventionally known, and includes a untwisting rotation unit 90, a rotation mechanism unit 91, a knitting opening 92, and the like, and is configured to knit the tobacco leaves T on the drying rope 93.

The tobacco leaf supply device A has a lifter L which is raised and lowered by a drive mechanism (not shown) accommodated in a machine frame a, and the lifter L supports a tobacco leaf mounting table 1. Usually, about 50 tobacco leaves T to be processed are placed on the mounting table 1 in the same direction. The mounting table 1
At a position higher than the uppermost position, a suction tube 2 adapted to adsorb tobacco leaves T at the tip is provided so as to be able to reciprocate in a vertical direction. It is connected to a negative pressure source (not shown) (for example, a suction pump, a suction blower, etc.) via a pipe P.

The suction tube 2 is attached to the tip of a support member 3 forming a parallel link. As shown in FIG. 2, the other end of one link member 3a of the support member 3 is connected to a machine frame a. It is pivoted freely. The link member 3a
The gear pulley 12 is in sliding contact with the cam 13 near the pivot point, and the gear pulley 12 integrated with the cam 13 is a gear pulley 11 attached to the drive shaft 10 of the motor M mounted on the machine frame a.
And the timing belt 12a. Accordingly, the rotation of the motor M is controlled by the drive shaft 10
1, transmitted to the cam 13 via the gear pulley 12, and swings the link member 3a in the vertical direction according to the shape of the cam 13, and finally swings the suction tube 2 in the vertical direction. Note that the vertical swing of the suction tube 2 is not limited to this movement mechanism, but can be performed using a means such as a pneumatic cylinder (not shown). Further, it is preferable that the tip end of the adsorption cylinder 2 is formed in a bellows-like extensible shape as shown in the figure, so that the tobacco leaf T at the time when the adsorption cylinder 2 reaches the vicinity of the bottom dead center is described later. It is possible to make the adsorption position wider and prevent tobacco leaves from being damaged.

Next, a description will be given of tobacco leaf gripping means and moving means for moving the tobacco leaf gripping means diagonally forward without changing the tobacco leaf gripping direction. The tobacco leaf gripping means F is provided at the other end of the gripping body support member 9 which is an extension of one short side link (connection member) 8d of the four-node parallel link mechanism 50 described later in detail. The holding body support member 9
Is provided with a casing 5a at the tip thereof.
a, two gripping claws 5, 5 are opened in a horizontal state shown by a solid line and vertically closed by a chain line through a conventionally known pivot mechanism (not shown) in a casing 5a. It is pivotally attached to the switchable. The opening and closing directions of the two gripping claws 5 are set to the direction of the long axis of the gripping body support member 9.

The pivoting mechanism is operatively connected to a wire Y, and by pulling up the wire Y, the two gripping claws 5, 5 are vertically opposed to each other as shown by a chain line in the figure. When the wire Y returns to the original position, the two gripping claws 5, 5 are in a horizontally opened position shown by a solid line in the figure. It is a preferable embodiment that an elastic machine is interposed in the pivot mechanism to bias the two gripping claws 5, 5 in the normally open direction (that is, the horizontal direction).

The four-bar parallel link mechanism 50 to which the tobacco leaf gripping means F is attached is mounted on the machine frame a in the following manner. That is, the four-section parallel link mechanism 50
Are parallel support members 8a, 8 as long side links.
b, and a connecting member 8d as a short side link connecting the distal ends of the supporting members 8a, 8b.
The other end of 8b is pivotally connected to the machine frame a by pivot points 8e and 8f so that the four-bar parallel link mechanism 50 can swing in a range of approximately 90 degrees.

In the four-bar parallel link mechanism 50, in the retracted position shown by the solid line, the directions of the support members 8a and 8b substantially coincide with the longitudinal direction of the tobacco leaf mounting table 1, and the gripper support member 9 is attached to the machine frame a such that the extending direction of the member 9 is orthogonal to the directions of the support members 8a and 8b,
Preferably, the tip of the holding body support member 9 is located at the center of the tobacco leaf mounting table 1 in the short width direction.

By the driving force of the motor M, the support member 8a constituting the four-bar parallel link mechanism 50 has a retracted position indicated by a solid line and a position substantially 90 degrees indicated by a chain line in the figure.
A reciprocating movement to and from a rotated position is provided. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the rotational force of the motor M is transmitted to the transfer driving rotary plate 6 through the bell gear box 16 provided at the tip of the drive shaft 10 to rotate the rotary plate 6.
As shown in FIG. 3, a pin 6a provided at a point near the circumference of the rotary plate 6 and a point 8 near one end of the support member 8a are provided.
The crank 7 is pivotally supported between the g.

When the rotary plate 6 is rotated, the rotary motion causes the crank 7 to perform a crank motion, and the support member 8a reciprocates in a substantially 90 ° range around a pivot 8e. Give rocking movement. As a result, 4
The node parallel link mechanism 50 performs a 90-degree reciprocating swing motion from a retracted position shown by a solid line in the figure to an advanced position shown by a chain line. At this time, the holding body supporting member 9 does not change its direction.

Further, the drive shaft 10 of the motor M
A cam 14 with a groove as shown in FIG. 1 is attached, and an end of the wire Y is engaged with a cam groove 14a of the cam 14 with a groove through a wire support tube 15 fixed to a machine frame a. . Incidentally, 15a is a spring locked between the wire support tube 15 and the end of the wire Y,
The end of the wire Y is constantly urged upward. The trajectory of the cam groove 14a shows that at a certain rotation angle of the grooved cam 14, the end of the wire Y is pulled down through the wire support tube 15, and the gripping claws 5, 5 of the gripping body 4 are in a closed state. At a certain rotation angle, the closed state is maintained as it is, and at the next rotation angle, the gripping claws 5, 5 of the support 4 are opened by pushing out the end of the wire Y.

In this apparatus, the gripping claws 5, 5 formed by the grooved cam 14 provided on the rotating shaft 10 of the motor M are used.
The timing of the opening / closing timing, the timing of the vertical movement of the suction cylinder 2 due to the rotation of the cam 13, and the timing of the 90-degree reciprocating swing movement of the four-node parallel link mechanism 50 due to the rotation of the rotary plate 6 are as follows. Is set to That is, at the position where the four-node parallel link mechanism 50 shown by the solid line in the drawing is most retracted, the suction cylinder 2 is at the most elevated position (top dead center position) and the negative pressure at the distal end is eliminated. The claws 5, 5 change from the open state to the closed state,
In the process in which the four-bar parallel link mechanism 50 rotates 90 degrees from that position, the gripping claws 5 and 5 maintain the closed state, and the suction cylinder 2 is at the most lowered position with a negative pressure generated at its tip. (Bottom dead center position), and at the position where the four-bar parallel link mechanism 50 is rotated by 90 degrees (dashed line position), the gripping claws 5, 5 are in an open state, and the four-bar parallel link mechanism 50
In the process of returning from the position rotated by 90 degrees to the original solid line position, the gripping claws 5 and 5 are kept open, and the suction tube 2 is raised with a negative pressure generated at the tip. I have.

Next, the operation of the tobacco leaf supply device will be described. First, the tobacco leaf T is placed on the tobacco leaf mounting table 1 such that the leaf side is on the tobacco leaf gripping means F side.
Place about 0 sheets. Next, a negative pressure source such as a suction blower (not shown) is operated to generate a negative pressure at the tip of the suction tube 2.
In this state, the tobacco leaf mounting table 1 is raised. The ascending stop position is a position where the tip of the adsorption tube 2 can be brought into contact with the uppermost one of the tobacco leaves T placed on the tobacco leaf mounting table 1 at the position where the adsorption tube 2 is lowered. The detection of the stop position can be easily performed using a signal from a presence detection sensor capable of detecting the position of a tobacco leaf such as a photoelectric sensor.

The motor M is driven to lower the suction cylinder 2 to the suction position. A negative pressure is generated at the tip of the adsorption tube 2, and the uppermost tobacco leaf T is almost positioned at its center of gravity.
Is adsorbed. After the suction, the suction cylinder 2 rises to reach its raised position (near the top dead center position). At that position, the gripping claws 5, 5 which are open in the horizontal direction are in the closed position in the vertical state, and at the same time, the suction cylinder 2 is
The negative pressure at the tip is eliminated.

The base of the tobacco leaf T is sandwiched between the gripping claws 5 and 5 of the gripping means F. The gripping means F is rotated by a four-node parallel link mechanism 50 as a moving means. It moves diagonally forward without changing the posture of T. In this embodiment, the leaf knitting machine B is positioned at the tip of the gripping claws 5, 5 in the moving direction, and the leaf side of the tobacco leaf T gripped by the gripping means F is fed into the knitting opening 92 of the leaf knitting machine B. At the same time as the feeding, the grip claws 5, 5 are opened, while the tobacco leaf T is knitted by the leaf knitting machine B.

When the gripping claws 5 and 5 are released and gripping of the tobacco leaf T is completed, the four-node parallel link mechanism 50 is rotated substantially 90 degrees in the opposite direction and returns to the original position. Meanwhile, adsorption tube 2
Of the tobacco leaf T descends and adsorbs the next tobacco leaf T to the tip. At the same time that the four-bar parallel link mechanism 50 returns to the original position, the suction tube 2 moves up together with the newly adsorbed tobacco leaf T, and the same operation is repeated thereafter. By repeating the above operation, a tobacco leaf ream TR is obtained as shown in FIG. The above description is a description of a preferred embodiment of the tobacco leaf supply device according to the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this and many other variations may exist.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the moving means for moving the tobacco leaf gripping means F obliquely forward without changing the gripping direction of the tobacco leaf. In this example, a parallel crank motion mechanism 100 is used instead of the four-bar parallel link mechanism 50. This mechanism has an L crank 108, one end of which is pivotally connected to the machine frame a at a pivot point 109, and the other end of which is formed with an elongated hole 110. One end of a crank 107 is pivotally mounted on a pin 6a erected on the rotary plate 6 which rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the motor M.
7 is located at a position 111 near the rear end of the L crank 108.
Is pivoted at. As a result, the L crank 108 makes a 90-degree reciprocating rocking movement between the solid line position and the chain line position in the figure according to the rotation of the rotary plate 6.

On the other hand, between the solid line position and the dashed line position in the illustrated swinging movement of the L crank 108 on the tip side,
Two slide shafts 103 are attached to the machine frame a in an oblique direction, and a transfer member 102 is slidably disposed on the slide shafts 103. Then, the transfer member 102
The pin 120 erected on the long hole 1 of the L crank 108
10 is engaged. Further, the same tobacco leaf gripping means F as described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 is attached to the lower surface side of the transfer member 102.

When the rotary plate 6 rotates, the L crank 108 makes a 90-degree reciprocating swing motion,
As a result, the tobacco leaf gripping means F is
, A linear reciprocating motion between the solid line position and the chain line position can be performed. In this device, the movement timing of the parallel crank movement mechanism 100, the opening / closing timing of the gripping claws 5, 5 and the timing of the vertical movement of the suction cylinder 2 are based on the 90-degree reciprocating swing of the four-node parallel link mechanism 50. Same as in the case. In this configuration, since the tobacco leaf gripping means F transfers the tobacco leaf T linearly along the slide shaft 103, the supply cycle can be further shortened.

Further, in the above-mentioned example, the gripping claws 5 and 5 have a flat plate shape. However, as shown in FIG. 6, a gripping claw 51A having a concave portion substantially at the center in the longitudinal direction can be used. In this case, the tobacco leaf T is sandwiched via the cushioning material 51C. In particular, the middle bone and the leaf meat near the middle bone are sandwiched by the thickened cushioning material portion. More stable. In addition, the shape of the concave portion is substantially arbitrary at a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction, and a similar effect can be obtained even if a semicircular concave portion is provided instead of a mountain shape as shown in FIG.

In the illustrated example, a leaf knitting machine is shown as an example of a tobacco leaf processing apparatus. However, the tobacco leaf feeding apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to a leaf knitting machine for inserting one sheet at a time, but may be arranged in a line. The present invention can be sufficiently applied as a supply device to a processing device such as a sewing machine for knitting and knitting, and a hanger for aligning and sandwiching.

[0033]

The tobacco leaf supply device according to the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, and can transfer the tobacco leaf to a predetermined position at the shortest distance without changing its direction. It is possible to move at a high speed one by one in a stable state without being influenced. Further, by shortening the transfer distance, the device itself becomes compact, the work movement range of the worker is reduced, and efficient work can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a case where a tobacco leaf supply device according to the present invention is used together with a leaf knitting machine.

2 is an enlarged perspective view showing tobacco leaf gripping means of the tobacco leaf supply device shown in FIG. 1 and moving means of the gripping means.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the movement of a four-bar parallel link mechanism which is an example of a moving unit.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the movement of a crank movement mechanism as another example of the moving means.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining a movement mechanism for opening and closing a gripping claw.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another example of a gripping claw.

[Explanation of symbols]

A: tobacco leaf feeding device, B: leaf knitting machine, F: tobacco leaf gripping means, T: tobacco leaf, 1 ... tobacco leaf mounting table, 2 ... suction cylinder, 5 ... gripping claw, 50 ... 4-section parallel link mechanism, 6 ... Rotating plate, 7 ... Crank, 9 ... Grip support member, 92 ... Weaving port, 100 ... Parallel crank movement mechanism

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A means for adsorbing and lifting tobacco leaves, a tobacco leaf gripping means for gripping tobacco leaves lifted by the adsorption and lifting means, and changing the gripping direction of the tobacco leaves with the tobacco leaf gripping means. And a moving means for moving obliquely forward from the gripping position. 2. The tobacco leaf supplying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said moving means is constituted by a parallel link mechanism. 3. The tobacco leaf supplying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said moving means is constituted by a crank movement mechanism.