JPH11104571A - Bottle sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely sort all of the bottles to be shorted by longitudinally aligning the directions of the bottles. SOLUTION: A bottle sorting conveyor 11 has two transporting routes 23, 24 arranged in parallel apart a prescribed spacing. The two transporting routes 23, 24 are so inclined that their one-side marginal parts facing each other are made lower than their respective other-side marginal parts. A sorting clearance 25 which allows the passage of the bottles having the sizes to be sorted but blocks the passage of the bottles having the sizes larger than the same is formed between both transporting routes 23 and 24. The transporting speeds S1, S2 of the two transporting routes 23, 24 are varied from each other.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sorting apparatus for sorting, for example, glass bottles by size in the field of packaging container recycling.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, trash that has not been discarded but has been burned has been discarded in landfills. However, since the nation's landfills have only a few years of usable life, it is necessary to reduce the amount of waste by actively sorting and collecting resources that can be recycled and recycling them. (Three types of glass bottles and PET bottles are subject to the obligation of companies to recycle products under the Containers and Packaging Recycling Law that came into effect in April this year.) Currently, what is collected as recycled resources is ,
Examples include iron, aluminum, glass, plastic (including PET bottles), and paper. Among them, glass bottles are targeted to contain 55% or more recycled materials under the guidance of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. For this reason, glass bottles are being collected at recycling facilities around the country. In order to recycle these glass bottles, it was necessary to collect them in different colors, and manual sorting and collection were mainstream.

[0003] Automatic color selection of glass bottles is performed by image processing. In order to perform automatic color selection with high accuracy, it is necessary to perform image processing with an appropriate visual field suitable for the size of the bottle.

At present, when the bottles to be discarded are classified by size, there are extra-large bottles such as laver and plum wine bottles, large bottles for shochu bottles, medium bottles for beer bottles, and small bottles for drinks.

[0005] Of these bottles, extra large bottles and large bottles account for only a few percent of the number distribution,
Oversized and large bottles are excluded from recycling, and only middle and small bottles are recycled. Therefore, current bottle sorting apparatuses are mainly used for removing extra-large bottles and large bottles from the entire bottle.

[0006] Such a sorting apparatus has a bottle sorting conveyor, and the conveyor has two transport paths arranged in parallel with a predetermined gap therebetween. One of the opposite edges is inclined so that it is lower than the other, so that bottles of the size to be sorted pass between both transport paths, but bottles of a larger size are blocked. It is known that a bottle sorting gap is formed.

[0007]

According to the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, when a bottle is placed in a state of being laid horizontally on both conveyor paths, the bottle to be sorted does not pass through the sorting gap forever. There was a problem that it was not done.

[0008] An object of the present invention is to provide a bottle sorting apparatus capable of reliably sorting all bottles to be sorted.

[0009]

The bottle sorting apparatus according to the present invention has a bottle sorting conveyor, and the conveyor has:
It has two transport paths arranged in parallel at a predetermined gap, and the two transport paths are inclined such that one edge facing each other is lower than the other edge of each other. In a bottle sorting apparatus in which a bottle sorting gap is formed between the transport paths to allow a bottle of a size to be sorted to pass but prevent a bottle of a larger size from passing therethrough.
The transport speeds of the two transport paths are different from each other.

In the bottle sorting apparatus according to the present invention, the transport speeds of the two transport paths are different from each other.
When the bottle is placed horizontally across both conveyor paths, one end of the bottle is pulled upstream in the conveying direction by the high-speed conveying path, and the other end of the bottle is downstream in the conveying direction by the low-speed conveying path. And the bottle can be turned vertically. Therefore, all the bottles to be sorted can be reliably sorted.

Another bottle sorting apparatus according to the present invention has a bottle sorting conveyor, and the conveyor has two conveying paths arranged in parallel with a predetermined gap therebetween.
One transport path is inclined so that one edge facing each other is lower than the other, so that bottles of the size to be sorted pass between both transport paths, but bottles of a larger size In a bottle sorting apparatus in which a bottle sorting gap for preventing the passage of a bottle is formed, an alignment projecting on a transport path from an upper edge to a lower edge of the transport path at a required position on two transport paths. A guide is provided.

In another bottle sorting apparatus according to the present invention, since the alignment guide protruding from the upper edge to the lower edge of the transport path on the transport path is provided, the bottle which is laterally oriented on the transport path is provided. It is conveyed while being displaced by the alignment guide, and its posture can be changed vertically. Therefore, all the bottles to be sorted can be reliably sorted by another bottle sorting apparatus.

In another bottle sorting apparatus, if the transport speeds of the two transport paths are different from each other, the change in the vertical position of the bottle is promoted.

If the alignment guide is curved from the upper edge to the lower edge of the transport path toward the downstream side of the transport path and is formed of a spring material, a large bottle that cannot pass through the sorting gap is obstructed. Without passing through the alignment guide.

A bottle transport conveyor is provided for receiving the bottles passing through the bottle sorting gap and transporting the bottles to the color sorting apparatus. The bottle transport conveyor is constituted by an upstream conveyor and a downstream conveyor, and the upstream conveyor is transported. If the conveyor speed of the downstream conveyor is set faster than the speed,
The spacing of the bottles on the downstream conveyor is greater than the spacing of the bottles on the upstream conveyor. This is convenient for the sorting operation by the color sorting apparatus.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, a bottle sorting conveyor 11, an upstream small bottle conveying conveyor 12, and a downstream small bottle conveying conveyor 13 are shown.
And a medium and large bottle conveyor 14 are shown. The transport paths of these conveyors 11 to 14 are directed forward as shown by arrows in FIG. The lower end of a bottle supply chute 15 is connected to the rear end of the transport path of the bottle sorting conveyor 11. The downstream small bottle transport conveyor 13 and the middle / large bottle transport conveyor 14 are connected to a color sorting device (not shown) at the end of the transport path.

As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the bottle sorting conveyor 11 has left and right endless belts 21 and 22 arranged in parallel, and the belt upper movement path is used as the conveyance paths 23 and 24. The two transfer paths 23 and 24 have a vertical section of approximately V
In order to form a letter, they are inclined so that opposing inner edges are lower than respective outer edges. Two transport routes
A small bottle passes between the inner edges of 23 and 24,
A bottle sorting gap 25 is formed that does not allow medium and large bottles of a larger size to pass through. Below the bottle sorting gap 25, there is provided a vertically opposed guide plate 26 opposed to a space corresponding to the bottle sorting gap 25.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the upstream bottle sorting gap is l1 and the upstream bottle sorting gap is l2, l1 <
l2. That is, the bottle sorting gap 25 is gradually widened from upstream to downstream.

When the transport speed of the left transport route 23 is S1 and the transport speed of the right transport route 24 is S2, S1 <S
2 That is, the transport speed of the left transport route 23 is faster than the transport speed of the right transport route 24. 1, the transport speed of the upstream bottle transport conveyor 12 is set equal to the transport speed S2 of the right transport path 24. The transport speed of the downstream bottle transport conveyor 13 and the transport speed of the middle / large bottle transport conveyor 14 are set to be equal to each other. If this is S3, then S2 <S
3

The bottles to be sorted by the supply chute 15 are supplied to the beginning of the transport path of the bottle sorting conveyor 11.
The supplied bottles are transported along the transport path of the bottle sorting conveyor 11, while the small bottles are placed in the bottle sorting gap 25.
, And fall at the start of the transport path of the upstream bottle transport conveyor 12. When the bottle is transported by the upstream bottle transport conveyor 12 to the end of the transport path, the bottle drops from there and is transported by the downstream bottle transport conveyor 13 this time. Since the transport speed S3 of the latter conveyor 13 is faster than the transport speed S2 of the former conveyor 12, the distance between the bottles on the latter conveyor 13 at the time of transfer to the latter conveyor 13 is greater than that on the former conveyor 12 Become wider.

The medium and large bottles that cannot pass through the bottle sorting gap 25 are transported to the end of the transport path by the bottle sorting conveyor 11 as they are, fall from there, and are transferred to the medium and large bottle transport conveyor 14. The interval between bottles on the medium / large bottle conveyor 14 is also wider than that on the sorting conveyor 11.

When the bottle is placed so as to straddle the two transport paths 23 and 24 of the bottle sorting conveyor 11, one end of the bottle is connected to the right transport path 24 as shown by imaginary lines in FIG. The bottle is pulled forward, and the other end of the bottle is pulled backward by the left conveying path 23, and is gradually changed to a vertical position.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which an alignment guide 31 is provided at a required position on the two transport paths of the bottle sorting conveyor. The alignment guide 31 is formed of a spring material, and is configured such that the transport paths 23 and 24 are transported from the upper edge to the lower edge.
It is made to protrude above 23 and 24, and is curved to the downstream of the transport path from the upper edge to the lower edge of the transport paths 23 and 24.

With such an alignment guide 31, the bottle is conveyed while being in contact with the alignment guide 31, so that the orientation of the horizontal bottle is gradually changed to the vertical orientation.

When the alignment guide 31 is installed on the transport paths 23 and 24, the transport speeds of the two transport paths 23 and 24 of the bottle sorting conveyor 11 may be equal to each other. However, both transport routes
If the conveying speeds of the bottles 23 and 24 are made different from each other, there is a double effect in changing the orientation of the bottle together with the effect of the alignment guide 31.

FIG. 5 shows a modified example of the bottle sorting conveyor 41. The conveyor 41 according to this modified example has, as in the above-described example, two left and right transfer paths 42 and 43 which are inclined. A member 44 is provided and a bottle sliding guide member is provided.
On both sides of 44, two small bottle sorting gaps 45 are provided.
Below the small bottle sorting gap 45, a vertically opposed guide plate 46 is provided, as in the above example. The bottle sliding guide member 45 is formed in a substantially inverted V-shaped cross section so as to be continuous with the upper end of one of the opposing guide plates 46. Further, the upstream small bottle conveying conveyor 47 is formed wide so as to receive two bottles that fall at once from the both bottle sorting gap.

The use of the conveyor according to this modification can increase the processing amount. In addition, both transport paths 42,
Since the sliding guide member 44 and the guide plate 46 are integrally formed between the 43, the production and assembly of the conveyor can be easily performed, and thus the conveyor can be produced at low cost.

[0029]

According to the present invention, the directions of the bottles can be vertically aligned, and all the bottles to be sorted can be reliably sorted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of a bottle sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical transverse cross-sectional view of a main part of the device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a main part of the device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 3 and showing a modification of the apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2, showing another modification of the same device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Bottle alignment conveyor 23 Transport path 24 Transport path 25 Bottle clearance

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A bottle sorting conveyor, wherein the conveyor has two conveying paths arranged in parallel with a predetermined gap therebetween, and the two conveying paths have one edge facing each other. Are separated from each other so that a bottle of a size to be sorted is passed between the transport paths, but a bottle of a larger size is prevented from passing therethrough. In the bottle sorting apparatus, the transport speeds of the two transport paths are different from each other. 2. A bottle sorting conveyor, wherein the conveyor has two conveying paths arranged in parallel with a predetermined gap therebetween, and the two conveying paths have one edge facing each other. Are separated from each other so that a bottle of a size to be sorted is passed between the transport paths, but a bottle of a larger size is prevented from passing therethrough. In the bottle sorting apparatus described above, alignment guides are provided at required positions on the two transport paths so as to protrude from the upper edge to the lower edge of the transport path onto the transport path. Bottle sorting equipment. 3. The bottle sorting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the transport speeds of the two transport paths are different from each other. 4. The alignment guide according to claim 2, wherein the alignment guide is curved toward the downstream side of the transport path from the upper edge to the lower edge of the transport path, and is formed of a spring material. Bottle sorting equipment. 5. A bottle transport conveyor for receiving bottles passing through a bottle sorting gap and transporting the bottles to a color sorting device,
The bottle conveyor according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the bottle conveyor is constituted by an upstream conveyor and a downstream conveyor, and the conveyor speed of the downstream conveyor is set higher than the conveyor speed of the upstream conveyor. Bottle sorting equipment.