JPH10249287A - Color sorter for glass bottle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To sort glass bottles based on their colors irrespective of labels attached or the like by a method wherein a rotary body in which a bottle holding part holding a bottle so that a bottom or a mouth part of a glass bottle is positioned at a drum shaped side face part, is provided to a peripheral part, is provided, and holding of the glass bottle is released according to a signal emitted from a photo-sensor. SOLUTION: When a glass bottle 6 is fed onto a conveyor 2 from a glass bottle feed source, the glass bottle 6 is conveyed by correcting a posture with a V-shaped trough of the conveyer 2, and stops by abutting against a gate plate 3. Then, when a bucket 4 is appropriately opened, the glass bottle 6 is charged into a pocket 10 of a drum 7 during operating. When the glass bottle 6 in the pocket 10 reaches a color discrimination device 18, a color is detected with a photo-sensor by irradiating it with light from a light source in a bottom part direction from a bottom mouth side of the glass bottle 6 or in its reversal direction, and an opening and closing cover 14 of each color is functioned according to the color detected signal. Thereby, the glass bottle 6 is discharged into a bottle storing box 16 through a chute 15 for each color.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a glass bottle color sorting apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, it is said that the shipping volume of glass bottles exceeds 1.6 million tons, and the reuse rate of used glass bottles is less than 60%.

On the other hand, in order to recycle glass, it is necessary to promote reuse of glass bottles and take measures against cullet. In order to collect high-quality cullet (glass waste for melting), it is important to sort glass bottles by color. It is.

That is, a glass bottle to be cullet is
Separating by color such as colorless and transparent, brown and green, cullet has high value.

[0005] In order to use glass bottles in wastes from general households as recycled resources, many business establishments have conventionally classified glass bottles by size and color.
Most of these operations are manual, which makes the cost for resource recycling very high.

In recent years, glass bottles have been fed one by one with the bottle mouth or bottom directed in the advancing direction by a conveyor means such as a belt conveyor, and received transmitted light or reflected light of a light source provided at a side position of the glass bottle. A glass bottle color selection device that performs color determination by using a glass bottle is used.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned glass bottle color selection device, since the light beam of the light source is irradiated from the side of the glass bottle, when there are many parts such as labels attached to the side surface of the glass bottle, However, there is a problem that the light does not enter the glass portion, and it is difficult to select the color of the glass bottle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a color sorting apparatus for a glass bottle configured to receive a light beam of a light source of the color sorting apparatus from a bottle mouth or a bottom. Things.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a glass bottle color selecting apparatus having a drum shape which rotates around a rotation axis and a bottom or a mouth of the glass bottle. A rotating body provided with a bottle holding portion for holding the glass bottle in the peripheral portion so as to position the portion on the side surface of the drum shape, glass bottle supply means for sequentially supplying the glass bottle to the bottle holding portion, An optical sensor disposed so that the bottom or mouth portion of the glass bottle passes forward by rotation, and glass bottle opening means for releasing the holding of the glass bottle by the bottle holding unit at a predetermined position according to a signal generated by the optical sensor. I have.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a glass bottle color sorting apparatus, wherein the glass bottle supply means is disposed directly below a downstream end of the glass bottle supply means, and is rotatably supported by a horizontal shaft. A drum having a plurality of pockets extending in a direction parallel to the horizontal axis at a constant pitch in the circumferential direction of the peripheral surface and provided to receive a glass bottle from the glass bottle supply means, a driving device for rotating and driving the drum, A cover frame that covers a half circumferential surface of the drum and has a plurality of discharge ports having a lid that can be opened and closed at a predetermined position; and a drum provided near a non-rotational side end of the drum of the cover frame. A color discriminator capable of irradiating a glass bottle stored in a pocket from the bottle mouth or bottom direction to discriminate colors and outputting a color detection signal, and a color discriminating apparatus based on the output signal of the color discriminating apparatus. Each and an actuator capable of individually opening and closing the lid corresponding to the operated detection color in each lid of the Te.

Furthermore, in the glass bottle color selecting device according to the third aspect of the present invention, the glass bottle supply means and the glass bottle supply means are disposed just below the downstream end of the glass bottle supply means and are rotatably supported by a horizontal shaft. It has a plurality of pockets extending in the direction parallel to the horizontal axis at equal pitches in the circumferential direction of the peripheral surface and provided so as to be able to receive a glass bottle from the glass bottle supply means. A drum having a closed lid, a driving device for driving the drum to rotate, a guide frame extending along a half circumference of the drum and capable of pressing in a direction to close the lid, and disposed at a predetermined position of the guide frame. And a plurality of guide bars that are tilted so as to be able to guide the lid in the opening direction as needed, and provided near the end of the drum of the guide frame in the anti-rotational direction. A color discriminator capable of irradiating a glass bottle housed in a pocket of a drum from a bottle mouth or a bottom direction to discriminate colors and outputting a color detection signal, and operating based on an output signal of the color discriminator to operate each of the above-described components. And an actuator that can individually tilt the guide bars corresponding to the detected colors in the guide bars.

According to the above means, the following effects can be obtained.

In the glass bottle color selecting apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the bottle holding section holding the corresponding glass bottle moves to a position corresponding to the signal generated by the optical sensor, the glass bottle opening means. Releases the glass bottle of the same color from the rotating body to the outside at the same position by releasing the holding of the glass bottle by the bottle holding unit.

In the glass bottle color sorting apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the glass bottle is stored at a position where a discharge port preset to be opened according to the detected color is provided. When the pocket moves, the actuator operates to open and close the lid provided at the discharge port based on the color detection signal output by the color identification device, so that the glass bottle of the same color is placed in the drum at the same position. Release from pocket.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a glass bottle color selecting apparatus which stores a glass bottle in a position where a guide bar is provided at a predetermined position so as to operate according to a detected color. When the pocket moves, based on the color detection signal output by the color identification device,
By opening the lid of the pocket containing the corresponding vial that has been moved to the set position by operating the actuator of the guide bar, the vial of the same color is discharged from the pocket of the drum to the outside at the same position.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 5 show a first embodiment of a glass bottle color sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a glass bottle supply means. The glass bottle supply means 1 comprises a conveyor 2 extending substantially horizontally from a glass bottle supply source (not shown) and having a V-shaped trough cross section, and a portion above a downstream end of the conveyor 2. A gate plate 3 is provided so as to be able to move up and down, and a bucket 4 is arranged near the downstream end of the conveyor 2.

As shown in FIG. 4, the bucket 4 is provided on the extension of the conveyor 2 at a position slightly lower than the height of the conveyor 2, and the U-shaped cross section opened upward is divided into two vertically. It has a hollow box shape, is formed so as to be able to open and close in the width direction around pins 5 provided at the upper ends of both ends in the longitudinal direction, and is driven by an opening and closing mechanism (not shown).

Reference numeral 7 denotes a drum, which is disposed immediately below the bucket 4 and is fixed to a drive shaft 8 so as to rotate in the width direction of the bucket 4. 9 and supported in a rotatable and horizontal state.

The drum 7 has a circumferential surface having substantially the same width as the length of the bucket 4, and extends in a direction parallel to the drive shaft 8 at equal intervals in a circumferential direction along the circumferential surface and at both ends. A plurality of pockets 10 whose parts are closed and whose circumferential surface is open,
On both side surfaces in the longitudinal direction of each of the pockets 10, there are provided through holes 32 through which light beams emitted from the light source 19 of the color identification device 18 described later pass.

The bucket 4 and the pocket 10
Is set to a size suitable for the glass bottle 6 to be handled.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a driving device. The driving device 11 includes a servo mechanism (not shown) including a speed reducer with a pulse motor directly connected to the drive shaft 8, and controls the rotation speed of the drum 7 by a pulse signal. The drum 7 can be stopped at a rotation angle that is directly proportional to the number of input pulses.

The bucket 4 opens and closes when the pocket 10 of the drum 7 rotates just below, and the gate plate 3 moves up and down immediately after the bucket 4 opens and closes. Interlocked to each other.

Numeral 12 is a cover frame. The cover frame 12 extends along a half circumference of the drum 7 as shown in FIG. 1, and is formed so as to cover an opening of the pocket 10 (circumferential surface of the drum 7). A plurality of outlets 13 are provided at predetermined intervals at a side end of the drum 7 in the rotation direction, and an opening / closing lid 14 is provided at each of the portions where the outlets 13 are provided.

A chute 15 having a predetermined inclination angle is connected to the discharge port 13 and communicates with a bottle storage box 16 that stores the glass bottle 6 for each color.

The opening / closing lid 14 has an actuator 17 which is individually opened and closed so as to operate in accordance with a detected color based on an output signal of a color identification device 18 described later.

The color discriminating device 18 is provided near the end of the cover frame 12 opposite to the rotation direction of the drum 7 and irradiates the glass bottle 6 stored in the pocket 10 of the drum 7 from the bottle mouth or the bottom. The light source 19 is disposed on one side of the drum 7 so as to obtain light from the light source 19 disposed on the other side of the drum 7 at a position opposite to the light source 19 and transmitted through the glass bottle 6. And outputs an operation signal to an actuator 17 for identifying a color based on the color detection signal of the optical sensor 20 and operating a predetermined opening / closing lid 14 corresponding to each of the identified colors. And a control device 21 for performing the operation.

The operation of the glass bottle color selection device shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 will be described below.

When performing color selection of the glass bottle 6,
The rotation speed of the drum 7, the rotation angle at which the drum 7 stops, and the like are set in advance by a servo mechanism, and the interlock operation of the drum 7, the bucket 4, and the gate plate 3 is confirmed.

When the glass bottle 6 is supplied onto the conveyor 2 from the glass bottle supply source, the glass bottle 6 is forced by the V-shaped trough of the conveyor 2 and is conveyed toward the bottle opening or the bottom in the traveling direction of the conveyor 2 and is conveyed. When the pocket 10 of the drum 7 moves immediately below the bucket 4 with the rotation of the drum 7, the bucket 4 opens and closes. 3
Rises and the end of the conveyor 2 is opened, so that the glass bottle 6 is put into the bucket 4.

When the next pocket 10 rotates just below the bucket 4, the bucket 4 is opened, the glass bottle 6 in the bucket 4 falls into the pocket 10 immediately below, and the bucket 4 is closed.

When the bucket 4 is closed, the gate plate 3 rises again and the tip of the conveyor 2 is opened. During this time, the glass bottle 6 transported by the conveyor 2 and reaching the tip of the conveyor 2 is removed from the tip of the conveyor 2. It is put into the bucket 4.

Thereafter, the above operation is repeated, and
The glass bottle 6 is put into the pocket 10 of the drum 7.

Further, as the drum 7 rotates, the glass bottle 6
Reaches the place where the color discriminating device 18 is arranged, the light beam emitted from the light source 19 of the color discriminating device 18 passes through the through hole 32 provided on the side surface of the drum 7, The light sensor 20 which is irradiated from the mouth side of the glass bottle 6 toward the bottom or from the bottom side toward the mouth of the glass and receives the transmitted light outputs a color detection signal.

The control device 21 that has received the color detection signal of the optical sensor 20 identifies the color of the glass bottle 6 based on the color detection signal, and discharges a predetermined position set in advance corresponding to the color of the glass bottle 6. An operation signal for operating the opening / closing lid 14 of the outlet 13 is output.

When the pocket 10 containing the glass bottle 6 whose color has been identified is turned to the outlet 13 at the predetermined position, the actuator 1 receiving the operation signal
7 operates to open and close the open / close lid 14 of the discharge port 13 and discharges the glass bottle 6 from the pocket 10 to the bottle storage box 16 via the chute 15.

The color discriminating device 18 repeats the above-described operation each time the pocket 10 in which the glass bottle 6 is inserted passes through the place where the color discriminating device 18 is installed with the rotation of the drum 7, and the glass bottle is almost continuously. 6 are identified and the glass bottles 6 of the same color are operated so as to be stored in the same bottle storage box 16.

As described above, in the glass bottle color selecting apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the color of the glass bottle 6 can be reliably identified without being disturbed by the label or the like attached to the glass bottle 6, so that there is no malfunction. , The color coding of the glass bottle 6 can be completely automated.

FIGS. 6 to 12 show a second embodiment of the glass bottle color sorting apparatus according to the present invention, in which the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 1 to 5 denote the same parts. Represents an object.

In the glass bottle color sorting device shown in FIGS. 6 to 12, the drum 2 formed substantially in the same manner as the drum 7 and the pocket 10 of the glass bottle color sorting device shown in FIGS.
2 and a pocket 23, and each of the pockets 23 is provided with a lid 24 which is set to be opened by the repulsive force of a spring 28.

The lid 24 is supported at the end of the peripheral surface of the drum of the partition member 25 on the rotation direction side of the drum 22 of the pocket 23 via a shaft 26 so as to be openable and closable, as shown in FIG. A guide roller 27 is provided outside both ends in the width direction of the shaft 26, and is urged in the opening direction by a spring 28 fitted near both ends of the shaft 26. The drum 22 of the partition member 25
It is formed so as to extend radially outward of the drum 22 on the circumferential surface.

As shown in FIG. 6, the outer periphery of the drum 22 extends along both side edges in the width direction of the drum 22 and circumscribes a guide roller 27 provided on the lid 24 of the pocket 23. It has a guide frame 29 that can be pressed to cover the opening.

Further, a plurality of guide bars 31 which are tilted inward in the radial direction of the circumferential surface of the drum 22 by the actuator 30 are required at predetermined positions of the end of the guide frame 29 on the rotation direction side of the drum 22. Are arranged at intervals.

Each of the guide bars 31 is required to open the lid 24 pressed by the guide frame 29 so as to cover the opening of the pocket 23 at each position where the guide bar 31 is provided. In accordance with the output signal for each detected color of the color discriminating device 18, the actuator 30 of each guide bar 31 at a position corresponding to the detected color individually operates the guide bar 31,
It is formed to be tilted as shown in FIG.

A chute 15 having a predetermined inclination angle is connected to the outside of the guide frame 29 at the position where each of the guide bars 31 is arranged, and communicates with the bottle storage box 16 for accommodating the glass bottle 6 for each color. I have.

Other than the above, there is no difference from the glass bottle color sorting apparatus shown in FIGS.

The operation of the glass bottle color selection device shown in FIGS. 6 to 12 will be described below.

When the color selection of the glass bottle 6 is performed,
The rotation speed of the drum 22, the rotation angle at which the drum 22 stops, and the like are set in advance by a servo mechanism, and each interlock operation of the drum 22, the bucket 4, and the gate plate 3 is confirmed.

FIG. 1 shows an operation in which the glass bottle 6 is thrown into the bucket 4 from the glass bottle supply source via the conveyor 2 and an operation in which the glass bottle 6 is thrown into the pocket 23 of the drum 22 sequentially from the bucket 4. 5 is not different from the glass bottle color selection device shown in FIG.

When the pocket 23 in which the glass bottle 6 is loaded reaches the position where the color discriminating device 18 is arranged with the rotation of the drum 22, the light beam emitted from the light source 19 of the color discriminating device 18 is Irradiated from the bottle mouth side of the glass bottle 6 toward the bottom or from the bottom side toward the bottle mouth through the through-hole 32 provided in the pocket 23, the optical sensor 20 receiving the transmitted light outputs a color detection signal.

The control device 21 having received the input of the color detection signal of the optical sensor 20 makes the glass bottle 6 based on the color detection signal.
And outputs an operation signal for operating the actuator 30 of the guide bar 31 at a predetermined position set in advance corresponding to the color of the glass bottle 6.

Further, when each pocket 23 approaches the upper end of the guide frame 29 as the drum 22 rotates,
Guide roller 27 of each lid 24 of each pocket 23
Are sequentially pushed toward the center of the drum 22 by the guide frame 29, so that each lid 24 closes the corresponding pocket 23.

When the pocket 23 accommodating the glass bottle 6 whose color has been previously identified approaches the position of the predetermined guide bar 31, the actuator 30 which has received the operation signal is activated. When activated, the guide bar 31 is tilted inward as shown in FIG. 11 into the circumferential surface of the drum 22, so that a gap is formed in a part of the guide frame 29.

When the guide roller 27 of the lid 24 of the pocket 23 in which the glass bottle 6 is stored in the gap portion moves, the guide roller 27 is released from the guide frame 29 holding down the guide roller 27. As a result, the lid 24 is pushed up, and the pocket 23 of the drum 22 is opened.

When the pocket 23 is opened, the glass bottle 6 stored in the pocket 23 is discharged to the bottle storage box 16 via the chute 15.

The lid 24 raised as described above,
After passing through the portion provided with the guide frame 29 and the portion where the guide frame 29 is provided, the lid 24 pushed and raised by the repulsive force of the spring 28 moves to the upper end portion of the guide frame 29 while maintaining the posture.

Also, in the glass bottle color selecting device shown in FIGS. 6 to 12, the color identifying device 18 includes the drum 22.
Pocket 2 into which glass bottle 6 is inserted with the rotation of
Each time 3 passes through the place where the color identification device 18 is installed,
By repeating the above operation, the colors of the glass bottles 6 are identified substantially continuously, and the glass bottles 6 of the same color are stored in the same bottle storage box 16.

As described above, in the glass bottle color selecting apparatus shown in FIGS. 6 to 12, the color of the glass bottle 6 can be reliably identified without being disturbed by the label or the like attached to the glass bottle 6, so that there is no malfunction. , The color coding of the glass bottle 6 can be completely automated.

The apparatus for selecting colors for glass bottles of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is needless to say that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0061]

As described above, according to the glass bottle color sorting apparatus of the present invention, the following various excellent effects can be obtained.

(1) In any of the glass bottle color sorting apparatuses according to the first to third aspects of the present invention, the color of the glass bottle can be reliably identified without being disturbed by the label or the like attached to the glass bottle. .

(2) In any of the glass bottle color discriminating apparatuses according to the first to third aspects of the present invention, the color coding of the glass bottles can be completely automated, so that the cost for the color coding of the glass bottles can be reduced. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a first example of an embodiment of a glass bottle color selection device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a case where a bucket related to FIG. 1 is opened.

FIG. 3 is a view taken in the direction of arrows III-III in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a conveyor or the like related to FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a discharge port and an opening / closing lid related to FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a second example of the embodiment of the color sorting device for glass bottles of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a case where a bucket related to FIG. 6 is opened.

FIG. 8 is a view taken in the direction of arrows VIII-VIII in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a side view of a conveyor or the like related to FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the guide bar related to FIG. 6;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing a case where the guide bar of FIG. 10 is tilted.

FIG. 12 is a front view of the lid associated with FIG. 6;

[Description of Signs] 1 Glass bottle supply means 6 Glass bottle 7 Drum 8 Drive shaft (horizontal axis) 10 Pocket 11 Drive device 12 Cover frame (bottle holding unit) 13 Discharge port 14 Openable lid (lid) (bottle holding unit) 17 Actuator ( (Glass bottle opening means) 18 Color discriminating device 20 Optical sensor 22 Drum (rotating body) 23 Pocket 24 Lid (Bottle holding part) 29 Guide frame (Bottle holding part) 30 Actuator (Glass bottle opening means) 31 Guide bar

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A rotating body having a drum shape that rotates about a rotation axis and a bottle holding portion provided on a peripheral portion for holding the glass bottle so that a bottom or a mouth portion of the glass bottle is positioned on a side surface of the drum shape. A glass bottle supply means for sequentially supplying the glass bottle to the bottle holding unit, an optical sensor arranged so that the bottom or the mouth portion of the glass bottle passes forward by the rotation of the rotating body, and A glass bottle opening means for releasing the holding of the glass bottle by the bottle holding unit at a predetermined position according to a signal emitted from the glass bottle. 2. A glass bottle supply means and a glass bottle supply means disposed directly below a downstream end of the glass bottle supply means, rotatably supported by a horizontal axis, and in a direction parallel to the horizontal axis at a constant pitch in a circumferential direction of a circumferential surface. A drum having a plurality of pockets extending and provided to receive a glass bottle from the glass bottle supply means, a driving device for rotating the drum, and a cover for covering a half circumferential surface of the drum and opening and closing the drum at a predetermined position A cover frame with a plurality of outlets having a free lid,
A color identification device that is provided near the end of the cover frame on the anti-rotation direction side and irradiates a glass bottle stored in a pocket of the drum from a bottle mouth or a bottom direction to identify a color and output a color detection signal, An actuator which operates based on an output signal of the color discriminating apparatus and is capable of individually opening and closing lids corresponding to the detected colors in the lids, respectively. 3. A glass bottle supply means and a glass bottle supply means disposed directly below a downstream end of the glass bottle supply means, rotatably supported by a horizontal shaft, and in a direction parallel to the horizontal axis at a constant pitch in a circumferential direction of a circumferential surface. A drum having a plurality of pockets extending and provided to receive the glass bottle from the glass bottle supply means, and a lid having a lid set to be freely opened in each of the pockets; and a driving device for rotating and driving the drum. A guide frame extending along a half circumference of the drum and capable of pressing the lid in a direction to close the lid, and a guide frame disposed at a predetermined position of the guide frame and capable of guiding the lid in an opening direction as necessary. A plurality of guide bars that are tilted toward the bottle, and a glass bottle provided near the end of the guide frame on the anti-rotation side of the drum and stored in the pocket of the drum. A color discriminator capable of discriminating colors by outputting light from different directions and outputting a color detection signal, and a guide bar that operates based on an output signal of the color discriminator and corresponds to a detected color in each of the guide bars, respectively. And a tiltable actuator.