JPH11152110A - Apparatus for arranging direction of receiving tray for selection of agricultural product, and receiving tray to be used therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To arrange the direction of free trays carrying agricultural products thereon in a fixed direction and carry the trays into a light transmitting detector in a selection apparatus. SOLUTION: Direction arranging planar parts 6131, either one of which is engaged with a direction arranging guide rail 76 extending along a transfer direction, are provided on a plane circular-shaped receiving tray 6. Driving type short rollers 72 and driving type long rollers 73, which transfer the receiving tray 6, are parallely connected to one another, and the transfer speed of the latter rollers is set faster. The direction arranging guide rail 76, which is engaged with the planar part 6131 of the receiving tray, is provided so that the receiving tray 6 delivered onto the short rollers 72 is gradually moved onto the long rollers 73 along an inclined part 762 of the guide rail. A straight part 763 of the guide rail, which is disposed on the long rollers 73, is designed so as to be engaged with the planar part 6131 of the receiving tray.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for orienting a saucer having a structure suitable for aligning the direction of long agricultural products conveyed on a saucer on a conveyor and aligning the direction of a peach suture line. Or a device for orienting a saucer with a structure suitable for measuring internal transmitted light to check the internal quality of agricultural products such as peaches, pears, apples, citrus fruits, melons, etc., and suitable for measuring the internal transmitted light of agricultural products The present invention relates to a tray having a structure which is suitably used for the orientation device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It has been known that, when agricultural products are transported by a conveyor, it is sometimes required to transport the agricultural products in a certain direction.

For example, when performing operations of measuring sorting information for sorting agricultural products and packing agricultural products in a packaging box, aligning the orientation in a certain direction facilitates measurement of information for sorting and sorting. It is effective for improving the accuracy and facilitating the work at the time of packing.

In recent years, as a recent apparatus for sorting and sorting agricultural products while transporting them on a conveyor, a tray that is not connected to a transport means called a so-called “free tray” may be used. In general, those having a circular shape in a plan view are generally used because operations such as transport, branching, and stacking are easy.

[0005] However, although the flat circular saucer has a large degree of freedom of movement, it has a problem that it is difficult to make the direction of the agricultural product carried on the saucer uniform. For example, long vegetables such as cucumbers have anisotropy in shape, and circular free trays are not suitable for sorting or stacking in the same direction. For this reason, the flat circular free tray (dish) is generally used only for agricultural products such as apples and pears.

[0006] In order to solve such a problem,
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 9-175508 proposes an orientation aligning device that can pack a long agricultural product in a fixed direction.

[0007] This proposed orientation aligning device comprises a pair of iron plates provided on the bottom surface of a receiving tray, a magnet belt having a two-way magnet strip extending on the inclined conveying surface in the conveying direction, and a brake plate provided on the lower side of the inclined surface. While the tray is conveyed on this inclined magnet belt, rotation occurs due to the resistance received from the brake plate, and the iron plate of the tray is magnetically attracted to the magnet band so that the direction of the tray can be determined. Things. Therefore, if the agricultural product carrying portion of the saucer is provided as an anisotropic concave portion conforming to the shape of the long agricultural product, the direction of the agricultural product carried in the concave portion is also uniquely determined.

[0008]

However, in the orientation device proposed above, when the iron plate of the tray is attracted to the magnet band relatively early on the inclined magnet belt, the tray is then rubbed with the brake plate. Will be transported while being
In addition to the problem of damaging the saucer, there is also the problem that accurate orientation cannot always be ensured. For example, if the resistance of the brake plate is large, it may spin past the adsorption by the magnet band, and if liquid such as water or oil, iron powder, dust, etc. adhere to the transfer surface or the brake plate surface. There is a possibility that the dispersion of the rotation force and the magnetic attraction force becomes large, and the direction cannot be fixed. Further, in order to convey downstream while maintaining a predetermined direction with an inclined magnet belt having a magnet band, it is necessary to provide a magnet band also on a downstream conveying belt or the like, so that equipment tends to be expensive. .

The present invention has solved the above problems,
It is an object to provide an orientation device which can surely perform accurate orientation by mechanical engagement, and which is inexpensive as a device, and a tray which is preferably used for the orientation device. It is.

[0010]

The above object is achieved by the invention described in each claim of the present application.

[0011] The invention of an apparatus for aligning pans according to claim 1 of the present application is to carry agricultural products, which are conveyed without being connected to the conveying means, have a plane circular shape, and form a part of the circular outer peripheral side with a chord. A device for aligning the orientation of a tray having an alignment flat surface portion engaging with an alignment guide rail as a side wall, comprising: a transport unit that transports the tray by placing the tray on a transport surface; and An alignment guide rail extending at a height to be engaged with the alignment flat portion of the tray along the transport direction, wherein the alignment guide rail is a tray for the tray that is transported from the transport upstream side. An inclined portion that generates a rotational force action on the pan by engaging with the orientation aligning flat portion;
And a linear portion that is provided downstream of the inclined portion and that guides the tray in the transport direction in a state in which the flatness portion for aligning the tray is engaged.

[0012] In the above, the mode of carrying agricultural products in the saucer is determined by measuring a class element or a grade element for sorting.
There is no particular limitation as long as it is suitable for being sorted and discharged into a predetermined sorting section and packed in a box. In general, the center of a relatively flat saucer is defined as a recess, and the recess is formed as a recess. And agricultural products. When the agricultural product is anisotropic, such as a long agricultural product, the concave may be a concave that matches the anisotropic shape, in addition to the plane circular shape. When the saucer is for measuring the internal transmitted light of the agricultural product, one having an upper and lower through-hole for guiding the transmitted light downward at the center of the concave portion can be used.

[0013] The saucer has a "planar circular shape"
Although not limited, it is preferable that the bottom surface be circular so that the tray has a degree of freedom to move smoothly at each stage such as transportation and sorting, and in this case, the upper structure is not necessarily circular. do not do.

"Without being connected to the conveyance means" means that
For various transport means such as roller conveyor, belt conveyor, roller conveyor, roller conveyor that is endlessly rotated by chain conveyor, etc., it is placed on the transport surface, but there is no integral connection Say.

The orientation aligning flat portion which forms a part of the circular outer peripheral side surface of the tray with chordal side walls may be a notch type, a groove type, or the like. And has a predetermined length in the horizontal direction suitable for being stably conveyed.

Generally, the guide rails for alignment are as follows.
It can be configured using a rod-shaped or plate-shaped one made of a rigid material such as metal or plastic. The inclined portion provided on this guide rail engages with the flat portion of the tray to be transported, or engages with the peripheral surface portion other than the flat portion to provide transport resistance, and this gives a rotational force about the vertical axis of the tray. Used to work. The degree of the rotation (rotation) of the pan by the inclined portion is determined by the inclination angle of the inclined portion, the properties of the guide rail, the engagement surface of the pan, and the like. In this case, the action of the rotational force by the inclined guide rail may be ignored. On the other hand, the straight portion that is continuous downstream of the inclined portion is extended in a direction coinciding with the transport direction of the tray, and engages with the flat portion of the tray to transport the tray in an aligned state.

According to the present invention, by providing the guide rail having the inclined portion and the linear portion with respect to the tray having the alignment flat surface portion, the orientation of the tray can be aligned, and the transport direction can be further improved. Only has a flat part where the tray is mechanically engaged with the guide rail extended to
Reliable orientation alignment is realized, and the orientation of the anisotropic agricultural product and the direction of the side illumination opening for measuring the transmitted light of the agricultural product described later can be aligned in a predetermined direction.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the orientation device, the transport means has a low-speed transport surface and a high-speed transport surface faster than the low-speed transport surface in parallel.
The alignment guide rail is provided so as to guide the tray fed on the low-speed transport surface by the inclined portion and shift the tray to the high-speed transport surface.

The conveying means having the low-speed conveying surface and the high-speed conveying surface in parallel, for example, connects a large number of first and second roller rows rotatably supported on the same axis in the conveying direction in a dense manner. Although it is possible to provide a configuration in which a difference is made between the driving rotation speed of the first roller row and the driving rotation speed of the second roller row, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration.

According to the present invention, the tray transferred from the upstream side onto the low-speed transport surface constituted by the first roller row is:
While being gradually guided on the inclined portion of the guide rail and gradually moving on the high-speed transport surface constituted by the second roller row, a rotational force about the vertical axis is received due to the difference in these transport speeds. The engaged state between the flat portion of the tray and the guide rail can be reliably obtained, and a rotational force is positively applied, so that the overall length of the alignment device can be reduced.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in each of the above-described orientation devices, a transport path for a receiving tray is formed between the orientation guide rails on the transport surface of the transport means.
The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that guide means is provided for giving an action of engaging the saucer to the guide rail to the saucer.
The guide means may be a rotating belt that rotates endlessly in a horizontal plane, and the rotating speed of the rotating belt is set to a speed higher than the transport speed of the high-speed transport surface.

According to these inventions, since the rotating force is positively applied to the tray, the engagement between the flat portion of the tray and the guide rail can be more reliably obtained, and the overall length of the alignment device can be further reduced. can do.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tray having a circular shape in a plane, which carries an agricultural product and is transported without being connected to the transporting means. A pair of parallel chordal side walls is formed on a part of the circular outer peripheral side surface of the saucer to be spaced apart in the circumferential direction, and an agricultural product carrying part is formed. A window-type or notch-type illumination opening for illuminating the supported agricultural product from the side is provided in a portion of the upright wall above the receiving tray above the orientation aligning flat portion.

[0024] The tray has a circular shape in a plane that carries the agricultural product and is transported without being connected to the transporting means, and is provided with an orientation aligning guide rail that extends along the transport direction. The flat portion may be formed by providing one chordal side wall or a pair of parallel chordal side walls on a part of the circular outer peripheral side surface of the saucer. It is preferably used as Further, according to the invention of the tray provided with the flat portion formed by the pair of parallel chord-shaped side walls, the rotation angle required for the flat portion of the tray to engage with the guide rail is reduced by one flat portion. Can be reduced to half or less of the case where
The overall length of the alignment device can be reduced. In addition, the standing wall at the top of the tray can be used to prevent the fall of agricultural products, or can be used to attach an elastic member to the support (recess) of the agricultural products. When measuring the light, by aligning the directions of the trays, the illumination opening can be surely directed to the illumination lamp arranged on the side of the transport path, and a large illumination light amount can be secured.

[0025]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiment 1 Hereinafter, an agricultural product sorting device provided with an orientation device of the present invention,
A free tray type tray 1 used for the tray will be described based on a first embodiment shown in FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall outline of the sorting apparatus of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the outline of the configuration of a packaging stage from a sorting discharge section, and FIG. Is shown.

In these figures, reference numeral 1 denotes an agricultural product supply stage.
Are supplied in a line, and the workers S
Perform the operation of placing the agricultural products P on the saucer 6 one by one. Reference numeral 103 denotes a main container conveyor for sending containers containing a large number of agricultural products to the work position of the worker S, and reference numeral 104 denotes a distribution container conveyor for distributing and supplying containers to each worker.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a measurement stage, and a supply conveyor 1
The tray 6 containing the agricultural products transferred from 02 to the measuring and conveying conveyor 201 is aligned with the direction of the receiving tray 6 by the orientation aligning device 7, and then a transmitted light detection device provided in the middle of the measuring and conveying conveyor 201. In step 202, predetermined information on the internal quality is detected and measured by the transmitted light detection, and a sorting section of each agricultural product is determined based on the measurement information by a sorting section determining device (not shown). In this example, each receiving tray 6 is provided with an identification mark such as a bar code, and is read by a bar code reader (not shown) arranged at the entrance of the transmitted light detection device 202, and is linked to the measurement information. By sending this barcode information to the sorting classification determining device, sorting can be performed only by reading the barcode on the tray 6 in the subsequent sorting stage. In this example, an example is shown in which the internal quality of peach as an agricultural product is measured and the direction of the suture line is aligned. However, it is of course possible to provide the external quality in conjunction with this. Is equipped with an external appearance imaging device equipped with an external appearance imaging camera (neither is shown).
01 may be provided in the middle of the transport path. The orientation aligning device 7, which is a characteristic component of this example, will be described later in detail.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a sorting stage. A large number of sorting / discharging devices 302 are provided along the transporting direction of the sorting / conveying conveyor 301, which is provided so that the tray 6 is transferred from the measuring / conveying conveyor 201, according to sorting. The sorting device 301 is arranged and reads a barcode on the tray 6 by a barcode reader (not shown) provided on the starting end side of the sorting conveyor 301, and sorts the sorting device 302 corresponding to the sorting category of the agricultural products placed thereon. The sorting and discharging device 3
02 is operated, and the agricultural products P are discharged together with the tray 6 to a branch conveyor 303 branched in a direction perpendicular to the sorting conveyor 301. The above-mentioned sorting / discharging device 302 can be constituted by, for example, a device described in JP-A-6-278848, and as shown in FIG. 2, a rotary table having a large number of electromagnetic suction portions 3022 arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. 3021 and excitation means 302 at a fixed position
3 and an excitation canceling means 3024, 3025, and a tray 6 on which agricultural products of the corresponding sorting category are placed is a sorting conveyor 3.
When it is sent at 01, the electromagnetic attraction part 3022 is excited by the exciting means 3023, for example, an annular iron plate attached to the bottom of the tray 6 is attracted and turned to the branch conveyor 303 side,
The excitation of the electromagnetic attraction portion 3022 is released by either the excitation release means 3024 or 3025, and the tray 6 is distributed to two rows of passages. And the branch conveyor 30
3, an orientation aligning device 7 is provided in the middle, the tray 6 is aligned in a fixed direction so that the directions of the peach sutures are aligned, and the tray 6 is conveyed to the terminal end, and provided at the terminal end of the branch conveyor 303. It is stopped by the stopper 3034. The movement of the trays 6 to the standby conveyor 401 is stopped by the stopper 3034 until a predetermined number of the trays 6 are accumulated.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a packaging stage, which is a standby conveyor 4 connected to the end of the branch conveyor 303.
01 (see FIGS. 2 and 3), a predetermined number of trays 6 are arranged in two rows and accumulated, and the packing device 402 collectively packs the agricultural products on the trays 6 in the standby state into the packaging box 9. ing. Reference numeral 4011 denotes a passage partition. The tray 6 after taking out the agricultural products is connected to the standby conveyor 401 by the air cylinder device 40.
4 and is sent out to the return conveyor 403 and returned to the return conveyor 10 of the supply stage 1 described above.
1 and returned to the supply conveyor 102.

The box packing device 402 and the packaging box standby device 405 of this embodiment are configured as follows.

That is, the box packing device 402 of this embodiment is configured to lift and transfer the agricultural products P, which are waiting in two rows, on the standby conveyor 401 at once, and to lift the six lifting rods 4022 by lifting means. Is mounted on a lower end of a vertical guide bar 4025 of a traveling platform 4024 provided so as to be able to travel on the apparatus frame 4023.
24, a vertical driving air cylinder device 4
026. An air cylinder device 4027 for horizontal movement provided on the device frame 4023 is connected to the traveling platform 4024 so that the traveling platform 4024 is horizontally moved between a box standby position and a box packaging position by driving the air cylinder device 4027. It has become. 4
Reference numeral 028 denotes a moving roller provided on the traveling platform 4024.

The packaging box standby device 405 is configured as follows in this embodiment. That is, the packaging box 9 made of corrugated cardboard with the top flap opened by the packaging box supply device 406 is lowered by the elevator device 4061, and then is sent below the packaging box standby position by the horizontal moving conveyors 4062 and 4063. The packaging box 9 stopped by the retractable empty box stopper 4051 constituted by a cylinder device is used for the box lift table 4052 of the packaging box standby device 405.
(Shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3), and is raised to a box packing position (shown by a solid line in FIG. 3) by the operation of the lift air cylinder device 4053. As a result, the empty packaging box 9 waits at the box packing position. Reference numeral 4054 denotes a vertically extending guide rod for guiding the vertical movement of the box lift table 4052, and a fixed guide 4055.
Are inserted into the vertical through holes (not shown).

After the packing of the agricultural products P is completed in the above-described predetermined arrangement, the packaging box 9 is placed on the horizontal moving conveyor 4063.
The box lift table 4052 is lowered to this position. The movement of the empty box stopper 4051 in conjunction with the lowering is released (the blocking means is immersed), and the packaging box 9 is unloaded from the carry-out conveyor 405.
Send up to 6. Then, the sheet is sent to the shipping step through various processing steps such as closing a top flap provided on the downstream side of the carry-out conveyor 4056 and printing a divided display. Reference numeral 4057 denotes a stopper device for temporarily stopping the packaging cardboard box (packing box) 9 to be sent from the boxing device of each sorting section to the carry-out conveyor 4056.

Next, the tray 6 of this embodiment will be described. The detailed structure of the tray 6 is shown in FIGS. 8 to 12. The tray main body 61 is made of an opaque rigid material (synthetic resin material).
Except for the surrounding wall portion in which the upper standing wall is provided in a circumferential shape, the whole has a flat flat circular shape with a small depth (FIGS. 8 and 1).
0). In the center, as shown in FIG. 10, an inner cylindrical wall for mounting a cylindrical elastic body 63 having a receiving seat 631 and a vertical through hole 632 and a supporting elastic body 62 to which the cylindrical elastic body 63 is attached. 611 are formed, and an outer cylindrical wall 612 forming the surrounding wall portion is formed (see FIGS. 10 and 11).

The above-described support elastic body 62 and cylindrical elastic body 63
Are made of an opaque elastic material, and when combined with each other, constitute a receiving means for forming the above-mentioned upper and lower through holes 632 and a receiving seat 631 at an upper end opening edge for supporting the agricultural product to be placed. I do. In addition, the receiving seat 631 of this example is an outer lip-type seal portion 6311 whose diameter increases upward.
(631) and the inward flange type seal portion 6312 (6
By the concentric double circle seal of 31), good adhesion can be achieved without disturbance light leaking into the through-hole 632 with respect to agricultural products of different sizes. The support elastic body 62 has a dish-like structure having a central opening, and its outer peripheral edge 621 has an outer cylindrical wall 612 of the tray main body 61.
And the claw flange 622 provided on the lower side of the inner peripheral edge is formed with the inward claw portion 6 of the inner cylindrical wall 611 of the saucer main body 61.
It is assembled so as to engage with 111. In the cylindrical elastic body 63, a circumferential groove 633 formed between the lower through hole 632 and the upper receiving seat 631 is fitted to the inner peripheral edge of the support elastic body 62. It can be assembled.

In the receiving tray 6 of this embodiment, the receiving seat 63
Opposite walls 64, 64 extending upward from the outer cylindrical wall 612 of the saucer body 61 are provided at a pair of positions diametrically interposed between the two, and a circumferential intermediate portion between the opposing walls 64, 64 is provided. In the portion, illumination through-holes (openings) 65, 65 for passing illumination light from the outside to the inside are formed. 6
Numeral 6 denotes an annular surrounding wall, which is supported by the opposing walls 64, 64 and columns 67, 67 provided in the through holes 65, 65 for illumination. The agricultural products placed on the seat 631 are prevented from rolling down in case of emergency.

Reference numeral 69 denotes an easily curvable elastic fin-like piece 692 attached to the pair of opposing walls 64, 64, respectively.
As shown in FIG. 11, a member main body block 691 is assembled and fixed to the opposing wall 64 of the tray main body 61, and in this example, three upper and lower elastic fin-like pieces 692 are arranged in the center direction. When the agricultural product is placed on the receiving seat 631, it is deformed as shown in FIG.
It stabilizes and supports the posture of the mounted agricultural products. Reference numeral 614 denotes an annular iron plate provided on the bottom of the tray main body 61 so that the electromagnetic attraction portion 3022 of the sorting and discharging device 302 described above magnetically attracts.

Reference numeral 613 denotes a side groove which forms the alignment flat portion 6131 having the characteristic components of the tray 6 of this embodiment, and is provided as follows in this embodiment, that is, the tray main body. A diameter line (diameter line in the transport direction) including the center point of the plane circle is defined as a symmetry line on the outer circumferential surface of 61.
A pair of side-surface grooves 613 having a chord-shaped bottom face for a pair of flat circular figures on both sides were formed, and the chord-shaped bottom face was formed as a plane part 6131 for alignment. With this configuration, the position of the side groove 613 is located below the upper illumination through hole 65.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the tray 6 aligned in a fixed direction in relation to the side groove 613 and the alignment device 7 described later is carried into the transmitted light detection device 202 located downstream thereof. In this case, the tray 6 is conveyed in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 9, and the plurality of illumination through-holes 65 located above the flat portion 6131 are arranged on both sides of the conveyance path in the conveyance horizontal direction. The illumination lamp 2023 satisfactorily illuminates the light, which is effective for measuring the transmitted light inside the agricultural product with a remarkable attenuation.

The direction of the tray 6 discharged to the branch conveyor 303 by the sorting / discharging device 302 is uncertain because the transport direction is turned by the sorting / discharging device 302, but as shown in FIG. The orientations are arranged in a certain direction by the orientation aligning device 7 arranged in the middle of the conveyor 303, and the plurality of trays 6 are carried into the standby conveyor 401 for packing in a certain direction. Therefore, if it is desired that the peach sutures be packed in a certain direction and attitude, the peach sutures are placed in parallel on the flat part of the saucer to automatically align the produce. Can be performed effectively.

It is to be noted that if a guide rail which engages with the orientation flat portion 6131 of the tray is provided to extend downstream of the orientation device 7, the target position of the transmitted light detection device 202, the standby conveyor 401, etc. Thus, it is possible to more reliably ensure that the direction of the pan is constant.

Next, the behavior of the tray 6 when performing the sorting process of the agricultural products P by the sorting apparatus of FIGS. 1 to 3 using the tray 6 having the above-described configuration will be described, particularly in relation to the orientation aligning device 7. This will be described below.

First, the worker S places the agricultural product P on the empty tray 6 returned from the return conveyor 101 to the supply conveyor 102 at the supply stage 1 and then the agricultural product P
Is transferred to the measurement / conveyance conveyor 201, passes through the orientation device 7, is conveyed through the measurement stage, and passes through the transmitted light detection device 202.

FIG. 4 shows a state when the tray 6 passes through the inside of the transmitted light detecting device 202. The tray 6 is provided with the orientation device 7 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, and the transporter shown in FIG. After passing through the alignment device 8, the dark room box 202 is shielded from light.
2 and illuminated by an illumination lamp 2023.
The arrangement of the illumination lamp 2023 is such that the agricultural product is illuminated through the illumination through hole 65 of the receiving tray 6 from the lateral direction of the conveyance path as shown in FIGS.

In the dark room box 2022 of the transmitted light detecting device 202, a pressing device 2024 for pressing the agricultural product P on the tray 6 to be conveyed downward from above so as to more reliably secure the light shielding seal of the receiving seat 631. Is provided,
The holding device 2024 of this example is provided so that a large number of adjacent holding pieces 20241 are rotated endlessly in synchronization with the transport speed of the tray 6, and the holding pieces 20241 have a spring force at the transmitted light detection position. Press the produce down. As a result, the agricultural product P is strongly pressed against the receiving seat 631 of the receiving tray 6 to ensure a reliable sealing state, and the possibility that the leakage of disturbance light enters the through hole 632 is reduced. On the other hand, below the transport surface of the transmitted light detecting device 202, a light receiving device 2025 of a light receiving optical system for detecting transmitted light is provided.
The first through-hole 632 is disposed at a position where the through-hole passes oppositely, and is provided so as to be able to detect light transmitted through the inside of the agricultural product P on the receiving seat 631 and passing through the inner cylinder of the cylindrical elastic body 63. ing. Note that a lower dark room box 2026 similar to the upper dark room box 2022 is provided so that light other than transmitted light does not enter the light receiving device 2025.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a device 7 for aligning the tray 6, which is provided at a position upstream of the transmitted light detecting device 202. The direction aligning device 7 of the present example is configured such that a conveying path is formed by connecting a large number of rolling roller conveyors fixed on a shaft, and a short shaft that is slightly separated from one shaft 71 in the axial direction to form a low-speed conveying surface. A roller 72 and a long roller 73 forming a high-speed conveying surface are mounted on the lower drive belt 7.
The rotation speeds of the short rollers 72 on the right side in FIG. 5 are the speed v ₁ , and the long rollers 73 on the left side are the speed v ₂ (>).
v ₁ ). In this example, the short roller 7 is used.
The length of the shaft 2 is shorter than the diameter of the tray 6 conveyed from the upstream side so that the tray 6 can be rotated. Reference numeral 76 denotes a guide rail of the orientation aligning device. The guide rail 76 extends from a linear portion 761 along the short roller 72 to a linear portion 763 along the long roller 73 via the inclined portion 762.
The height is set along the side groove 613 of the tray 6 so as to be able to slide. Thus, the guide rail 76
Is provided, the tray 6 conveyed from the upstream while riding on the substantially short roller 72 becomes a long roller 73 and a short roller 7.
The speed difference of ₂ (v ₂ > v ₁ ) gives rotation about the vertical axis indicated by the arrow in FIG. After the side groove 613 slides on the guide rail 76, the linear flat portion 6
131 is engaged with the guide rail 76 and guided without being rotated. 5, a speed v ₃ (> v ₂ > v) in the direction of the arrow in the figure along a trajectory along the guide rail while forming a conveyance path for the tray 6 with the guide rail 76 as shown in FIG. ₁ ) is a rotating belt device as a guide means provided to rotate the belt 772, and the rotation trajectory of the belt 772 rotated by the pulley 771 is at the terminal end 7621 of the inclined portion 762 of the guide rail 76. Since the distance between the guide rail 76 and the guide rail 76 is reduced, when the side groove 613 of the tray is not yet sliding on the guide rail 76, the side groove 613 is forcibly rotated strongly to perform the sliding. It has become.

With the orientation aligning device 7 having such a configuration,
The direction (posture) of the tray 6 to be conveyed is such that the illumination through-hole 65 is carried out to the downstream side in a posture in which it is directed in the lateral direction of conveyance, and the favorable illumination state in the transmitted light detection device 202 described above is improved. Secured. In this example, in order to surely maintain the orientation of the tray 6 unloaded from the orientation aligning device 7 in the aligned state, the guide rail 2011 that engages with the flat portion 6131 is also provided on the downstream measuring and conveying conveyor 201. (See FIG. 5).

FIG. 7 shows a transport aligning device 8 provided on the way from the orientation aligning device 7 to the transmitted light detecting device 202. The transport aligning device 8 of the present example is a pair of right and left endlessly rotating. A bracket 82 with an upward flange 821 is assembled to each of the conveyor chains 81 so as to be continuous without any gap in the conveying direction to form a conveying device, and the pair of left and right chain conveyors 81 is gradually moved from a wide state on the starting end side. The width dimension is closed symmetrically to the left and right, and the tray 6 is sandwiched by the left and right upward flanges 821 so as to pass through the transmitted light detection device 202.

The tray 6 to be transported by the transport aligning device 8 thus configured is transported on a straight line with no deviation in the width direction of the transport path, with the direction of the tray 6 kept constant. become. Further, a guide rail for carrying the paper with the direction thereof oriented in a certain direction may be provided in the aligning device. For this purpose, the bracket 82 may be provided with a corresponding inward flange of such a guide rail.

The tray 6 conveyed through the transmitted light detecting device 202 by the orientation aligning device 7 and then the transport aligning device 8 configured as described above has the orientation of the illumination through hole 6.
5 is directed sideways, and is conveyed accurately directly on the light receiving device 2025 without causing misalignment.
When measuring the transmitted light of the agricultural product in the transmitted light detection device 202, the posture of the saucer 6 and the agricultural product P is always stable, and there is no danger that the posture changes during the measurement of the transmitted light detection information. Moreover, the agricultural product P is reliably illuminated from the side by the illumination lamp 2022 on the tray 6, and the light transmitted through the agricultural product can be reliably received and detected by the light receiving device 2025 through the through-hole 632 of the tray 6. With the optical path length of the transmitted light in the inside shortened, highly sensitive and accurate measurement can be realized.

As described above, the predetermined measurement information obtained by these devices is sent to a sorting classification judging device composed of a computer or the like (not shown) to determine the sorting of agricultural products. (A bar code, etc.) is also sent to the sorting classification determining device to determine the sorting of the agricultural products placed on the saucer 6 with a specific mark, and the predetermined sorting discharge is performed in the next sorting stage 3. Device 3
02, the tray 6 is discharged to the branch conveyor 303. Then, even if the saucer 6 is subjected to an impact such as turning or stopping of the saucer 6 acting in the sorting and discharging process, the posture of the produce P is stabilized on the saucer 6, and the produce P rolls due to vibration or inertia. The effect that there is almost no possibility of falling is exerted. In addition, even if there is a risk of rolling down which may occur due to the shape of the agricultural product, etc.
Since the falling can be prevented by the surrounding member 66 to which the elastic cover 68 is attached, even if the processing is performed at a high speed, there is no risk of damaging the agricultural products, and the processing efficiency can be improved.

As described above, by using the tray 6 of this embodiment, agricultural products can be transported without being damaged, and at the same time, the illumination holes 65 of the tray 6 can be surely transmitted in a state where they are directed in the transport lateral direction. An excellent advantage is obtained that light can be detected and the processing speed can be increased.

Another feature of the present embodiment is that the orientation aligning device 7 is provided in the middle of the branch conveyor 303, whereby the direction of the stitching line is kept constant when peaches are packed in a box as described above. can do.

[0055]

As described above, according to the present invention, the orientation of the tray can be accurately and reliably achieved by mechanical engagement, and the orientation can be reduced at low cost as a device. , And an orientation device using the same.

According to the invention of each claim, the following effects can be obtained.

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
By providing a guide rail having an inclined portion and a straight portion with respect to the tray having the orientation aligning flat portion, the orientation of the tray can be aligned.

According to the second aspect of the invention, there is provided an orientation aligning apparatus.
The pan moved from the upstream side onto the low-speed transport surface is guided by the inclined portion of the guide rail and gradually moved onto the high-speed transport surface, and the rotational force around the vertical axis is reduced due to the difference in these transport speeds. As a result, a reliable engagement state between the receiving plate flat portion and the guide rail is obtained, and thereby a rotational force is positively applied, so that the overall length of the alignment device can be shortened.

According to the third or fourth aspect of the present invention, the rotating force is more positively applied to the tray by the rotating belt or the like, so that the engagement between the flat portion of the tray and the guide rail is achieved. As a result, the overall length of the alignment device can be further reduced.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, stable and reliable alignment can be realized only by having the flat portion mechanically engaged with the guide rail extending in the transport direction, and anisotropically. The direction of the agricultural product and the direction of the illumination through hole on the side surface provided for measuring the transmitted light inside the agricultural product can be aligned in a predetermined direction. Also, since the plane portions for orientation alignment are provided in a parallel pair, when there is only one flat portion,
The rotation angle of the tray required for the flat portion to engage with the guide rail can be reduced to 以下 or less, the overall length of the alignment device can be shortened, and furthermore, the internal transmitted light is significantly attenuated. In the case of measuring, by aligning the directions of the trays, the illumination opening can be surely opposed to the illumination lamp arranged on the side of the transport path, so that a large illumination light amount can be secured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an outline of a sorting device to which a tray and an orientation device according to a first embodiment of the present invention are applied.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an outline of a configuration of a sorting stage from a sorting discharge unit of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an outline of a transmitted light measurement unit of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the orientation alignment device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional side view of the alignment device of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the transport and alignment device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a perspective external view of a saucer used in the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a positional relationship between the tray of FIG. 8 and an illumination lamp of the transmitted light detection device.

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a partial longitudinal sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state where agricultural products are placed on the saucer of FIG. 11;

[Description of Signs] 1 ... Supply Stage 101 ... Return Conveyor 102 ... Supply Conveyor 103 ... Main Container Conveyor 104 ... Distribution Container Conveyor 2 ... Measurement Stage 201 ... Measurement Conveyor 2011: guide rail 202: transmitted light detection device 2022: dark room box 2023: illumination lamp 2024: holding device 20241: holding piece 2025: light receiving device 2026: dark room box 3 Sorting Stage 301 Sorting Conveyor 302 Sorting Discharge Device 3021 Rotary Table 3022 Electromagnetic Attraction Section 3023 Exciting Means 3024 Excitation Canceling Means 3025 Excitation Release means 303 ・ ・ ・ Branch conveyor 3034 ・ ・ ・ Stopper 4 ・ ・ ・ Packing stage 01 Standby conveyor 4011 Passage partition wall 402 Box packing device 4021 Holding unit 4022 Lifting rod 4023 Device frame 4024 Travel platform 4025 Vertical guide Bar 4026 Air cylinder device 4027 Horizontal air cylinder device 4028 Moving roller 403 Return conveyor 404 Air cylinder device 405 Packaging box standby device 4051 Empty box stopper 4052 ・ ・ ・ Box lift stand 4053 ・ ・ ・ Air cylinder device for lift 4054 ・ ・ ・ Guide rod 4055 ・ ・ ・ Fixed guide 4056 ・ ・ ・ Conveyance conveyor 4057 ・ ・ ・ Stopper device 406 for temporary stop・ Packaging box supply device 4061 ・ ・ ・ Elevator device 4062 ・ ・ ・ Horizontal movement Conveyor 4063: Horizontal moving conveyor 6: Receiving tray 61: Receiving tray main body 611: Inside cylindrical wall 6111 ... Inward claw portion 612 ... Outside cylindrical wall 613 ... Side groove 6131 ... · Planar portion 614 ··· Annular iron plate 62 ··· Support elastic body 621 ··· Outer peripheral edge 622 ··· Claw flange 63 ··· Cylindrical elastic body 631 ··· Receptacle 6311 ··· Lip type seal portion 6312: Flange-type seal portion 632: Through hole 633: Circumferential groove portion 64: Opposing wall 65: Illumination through hole 66: Enclosure wall 67: Support column 68: Elasticity Cover 69: Support piece member 691: Member body block 692: Elastic fin piece 7: Orientation device 71: Shaft 72: Short roller 73: Long roller 74, 75 ... drive belt 76 ... Guide rail 761 ... Linear part 762 ... Inclination part 7621 ... Terminal part 763 ... Linear part 77 ... Rotating belt device 771 ... Pulley 772 ... Belt 8 ... Transport alignment device 81: Conveyor chain 82: Bracket 821: Upward flange 9: Packaging box

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Katsuhiro Iida 630 Shinagase-cho, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka Pref.

Claims (5)

[Claims] An agricultural product is carried and transported without being connected to a transporting means and has a plane circular shape, and a part of the outer peripheral side surface of the circular shape is formed into a chord-like side wall and is engaged with an alignment guide rail. An apparatus for aligning the orientation of a tray having an orientation alignment flat portion formed thereon, comprising: a transport unit that places the tray on a transport surface and transports the tray; and an orientation alignment flat portion of the tray along the transport direction of the transport unit. An alignment guide rail extending at an engaging height, wherein the alignment guide rail engages with an alignment flat surface portion of the tray conveyed from the upstream side of the conveyance. And a linear portion that is continuous downstream of the inclined portion and guides the tray in the transport direction in a state where the flat plate portion for aligning the tray is engaged. Agricultural products characterized by being provided in A device for aligning trays for sorting items. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the transporting means has a low-speed transport surface and a high-speed transport surface faster than the low-speed transport surface in parallel, and the alignment guide rail is provided on the low-speed transport surface. An orientation aligning device for agricultural product sorting trays, which is provided so that the fed trays are guided by the inclined portion and transferred to a high-speed transport surface. 3. The transfer means according to claim 1, wherein a transfer passage for the tray is formed on the transfer surface of the transfer means with the guide rail for alignment, and the tray is engaged with the guide rail. An apparatus for arranging saucers for sorting agricultural products, wherein guide means for feeding the saucers are provided. 4. The device according to claim 3, wherein the guide means is a rotary belt that rotates endlessly in a horizontal plane, and the rotation speed of the rotary belt is set to a speed higher than the transport speed of the high-speed transport surface. A device for arranging saucers for sorting agricultural products. 5. A flat circular saucer which carries agricultural products and is transported without being connected to the transporting means, and which is oriented for engaging with an orientation guide rail extending along the transport direction. The flat portion is formed by providing a pair of parallel chordal side walls spaced apart in the circumferential direction on a part of the circular outer peripheral side surface of the saucer, and the upright wall on the upper portion of the saucer for forming the agricultural product carrying portion. A saucer for agricultural product selection, wherein a window-type or notch-type illumination opening for illuminating a supported agricultural product from the side is provided in an upper position portion of the orientation alignment flat portion.