JPH11169799A - Automatic sorter of fruit and vegetables - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a classifier which needs only a small installation area, can be installed simply, and can be used easily in a general farmer's work site and others. SOLUTION: Fruit and vegetables (w) are supplied from a supply part A onto a conveyer B by the first pick-up mechanism 3 of the first transfer apparatus C, the shapes of the fruit and vegetables (w), which are transported by the conveyer B, are measured by a measuring instrument D to classify them into property sections. The fruit and vegetables (w) on the conveyer B are taken up by the second pick-up mechanism 32 of the second transfer apparatus F to be supplied to a collection part E corresponding to the property sections. The first pick-up mechanism 3 is constituted to be transferred by a straight and horizontally driving mechanism and a vertically driving mechanism, and the second pick-up mechanism 32 is constituted to be transferred by a straight and horizontally driving mechanism which moves horizontally in the two directions crossing at right angles and a vertically driving mechanism.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically selecting cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of an automatic cucumber sorting apparatus which is an example of fruit vegetables, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 9-131574, cucumber contained in a container is grasped one by one by a robot hand. There is a configuration in which cucumber is supplied on a conveyor, cucumber on the conveyor is imaged, the image is analyzed to determine an equality / class, and the cucumber is sorted and supplied to a collection container or the like by a robot hand based on the determination result. .

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, since an articulated robot hand is used for transport from the conveyor to the collection container, the sorted objects to be sorted are pushed laterally from the conveyor to a predetermined collecting section. Handling sorted objects in a state where abrasions and dents are less generated as compared to the sort form found in general sorting means that is discharged to a predetermined collecting unit by side dumping of bucket conveyor or side dumping Although it has the advantage that it can be installed, it requires a dedicated installation location for the robot hand separately from the installation location of the supply unit, conveyor, and collection unit, and requires a large installation area as the entire sorting device It was easy to become. In addition, since the articulated robot hand needs to be firmly installed on the floor of the workplace, it is necessary to provide a robot hand installation base on the floor, which takes a lot of work and changes the position once it is installed. It was difficult.

The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and the area required for the installation is small, and the installation can be easily performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic fruit and vegetable sorting apparatus that can be used.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems [Structure, operation and effect of the invention according to claim 1]

(Structure) An automatic fruit and vegetable sorting apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention is an apparatus for supplying an object to be sorted which sets an object to be sorted in a predetermined position in a state where the object to be sorted is placed in a container, and a method for moving the object to be sorted to a predetermined path. A conveyor to be conveyed along, a first transfer device that automatically takes out the objects to be sorted in the container by a first pickup mechanism and supplies the objects to the conveyor, a measuring device that measures properties of each object to be conveyed by the conveyor, Discriminating means for classifying each object to be sorted into a plurality of property sections based on the measurement result, picking up the object to be sorted on the conveyor by a second pickup mechanism, and supplying the picked-up article to a collecting section corresponding to the determined property section. 2 a transfer device, a control device for controlling the operation of the first transfer device and the second transfer device, wherein the first transfer device is located above the sorting object supply section and on the upstream side of the conveyor. Department The first pickup mechanism is linearly and horizontally moved by a linear and horizontal drive mechanism provided over the upper position, and the first pickup mechanism is moved to an arbitrary horizontal movement position.
The pickup mechanism is configured to be moved up and down by an up-down drive mechanism, and the second transfer device is moved up and down by a linear horizontal drive mechanism provided over the lower conveyor side portion of the conveyor and above the collection section. (2) that the pickup mechanism is configured to be horizontally moved in a direction parallel to the conveying direction of the conveyor and in a direction perpendicular thereto, and that the second pickup mechanism at an arbitrary horizontal movement position is moved up and down by an up-down driving mechanism. Features.

(Operation) According to the above configuration, the first transfer device is arranged so as to overlap above the sorting object supply section and the conveyer-upper part of the conveyor, and the second transfer device is connected to the conveyor. And the upper part of the lower part of the conveyance and the upper part of the collecting part are overlapped.
There is no need for a large dedicated installation area for installing the transfer device. Further, since the first transfer device and the second transfer device can be configured by assembling a linear horizontal drive mechanism to a device frame or the like on which a frame is erected, the installation floor is particularly reinforced as in the case of installing a robot hand. It is not necessary to install the base or install the base specially. The base can be installed and used anywhere, and the installation location can be easily moved as necessary.

(Effects) Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the installation area of the entire sorting apparatus can be made relatively small, and there is no need to make a special base for installation. It can be easily installed or moved even in a small place, and can be easily used in general farms and small sorting facilities.

[Structure, operation and effect of the invention according to claim 2]

(Structure) In the automatic fruit and vegetable sorting apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the first aspect, the supply unit is provided on a lateral side portion of the conveyer on the upstream side of the conveyor. A plurality of the collecting units are arranged on both lateral sides of the lower part of the conveyor.

(Operation) According to the above configuration, the entire length of the sorting device becomes substantially equal to the entire length of the conveyor,
The width of the entire sorting apparatus is substantially equal to the width of the collecting section with the conveyor interposed therebetween.

(Effects) Therefore, according to the present invention, even if a large number of collection units are set, the entire apparatus can be made compact, and the above-mentioned effects of the first aspect of the invention are promoted.

[Structure, operation and effect of the invention according to claim 3]

(Structure) In the automatic fruit and vegetable sorting apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the first or second aspect, the object to be sorted is a long fruit and the container is moved by the first transfer device. The object to be sorted taken out of the conveyor is supplied onto the conveyor in a posture in which the longitudinal direction thereof is along the conveyor conveyance direction.

(Operation) According to the above configuration, the long fruits and vegetables (sorted items) placed on the conveyor with the longitudinal direction along the conveyor conveyance direction do not roll in the conveyance direction, and do not roll. It is conveyed while stably maintaining the posture and the position when it is placed, and the property measurement (particularly, shape measurement by imaging) with the measuring device can be performed accurately and accurately. Also, since the transport posture and position are stable,
Also in the case where the fruit on the conveyor is picked up and carried out by the second transfer device, the second pick-up mechanism can be easily applied to the fruit and vegetables easily, which is effective in suppressing a take-out mistake.

(Effects) Therefore, according to the present invention, the above-described effects of the first or second aspect of the present invention can be obtained, and the operation can be performed accurately with stable performance, and the practical effects are large.

[Structure, operation and effect of the invention according to claim 4]

(Structure) The fruit and vegetable sorting apparatus according to the invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pickup mechanism of the first transfer apparatus and the pickup mechanism of the second transfer apparatus are provided. Each of the pickup mechanisms is constituted by a suction nozzle.

(Function / Effect) According to the above configuration, since the suction nozzle is only applied to the fruit, the finger that bends and stretches and the fruit are rubbed like a pick-up mechanism that grasps using a bending finger. The fruit vegetables can be handled gently, and the above-mentioned effects of the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3 can be obtained.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 to 3 show an example of an embodiment in which a fruit and vegetable sorting apparatus according to the present invention is used for sorting cucumber. This cucumber sorting apparatus includes a container 1 such as a container in which cucumber w, which is an object to be sorted, is stacked and accommodated.
And a conveyor B on which the cucumber w is placed and transported along a predetermined path, and the cucumber w is taken out one by one from the container 1 of the sorted material supply unit A and the conveyor is taken out. A first transfer device C that automatically supplies the cucumber w onto the conveyor B, a measuring device D that measures properties (for example, length, thickness, bending degree, etc.) of each cucumber w that is placed and conveyed by the conveyor B; A second transfer device F that picks up the cucumbers w on the conveyor one by one at the downstream side of the transfer of B and sorts and supplies the cucumbers w to any of a plurality of collection units E based on the measurement result by the measurement device D; It is provided with a control device G using a microcomputer for controlling the operations of the conveyor B, the first transfer device C, and the second transfer device F, and the like. The configuration and function of each unit will be described below. . In the following description, for the sake of convenience, the transport direction of the conveyor B is referred to as the front-rear direction, and the direction orthogonal to the conveyor B is referred to as the lateral direction.

The selected material supply section A includes the conveyor B
A horizontally long container (container) 1 in which the cucumber w is stacked and housed in the same direction, and the longitudinal direction of the cucumber w is oriented in the front-rear direction. It is positioned and set at a predetermined position of the supply unit A.

The first transfer device C moves the first pickup mechanism 3 in the horizontal direction by a linear horizontal drive mechanism 2 disposed above the supply section A and above the conveyer-side portion of the conveyor B. The first pickup mechanism 3 is vertically moved by an up / down driving mechanism 4 at an arbitrary horizontal movement position.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the linear and horizontal drive mechanism 2 of the first transfer device C is a device frame that is erected from a supply portion A and a conveyer B on the upstream side of the device. 5, a guide shaft 6 laid horizontally and horizontally, a movable base 7 supported so as to be able to move laterally along the guide shaft 6, and rollers 8 provided on the movable base 7. Guide rail 9 laid horizontally and horizontally, and a toothed belt 10 wound and stretched horizontally horizontally by connecting the movable table 7.
And a stepping motor 11 for driving the toothed belt 10, and the like.
Is driven by the stepping motor 11 in the forward and reverse directions so that the movable table 7 is linearly reciprocated horizontally and horizontally.

The vertical drive mechanism 4 of the first transfer device C is
As shown in FIG. 5, it is provided at the lower part of the movable base 7, and has a rectangular cylindrical support frame 12 extending downward from the movable base 7, and has a vertical guide roller 13 inside thereof. A movable bracket 14 movably guided and supported, a vertically long hollow support shaft 15 supported by the movable bracket 14, and a toothed belt 16 connected and connected to the movable bracket 14 and wound up and down, The stepping motor 17 drives the toothed belt 16 to rotate the movable bracket 14 and the support shaft 15 up and down. It has become.

The first pickup mechanism 3 of the first transfer device C has a rubber suction nozzle 18 which can be deformed in a bellows shape attached to the lower end of the support shaft 15. The inside of the support shaft 15 is connected to a negative pressure generator (not shown). A soft guide 19 made of a sponge or the like is provided at the lower end of the support frame 12. When the suction nozzle 18 moves up, the sucked and held cucumber w is elastically engaged with the concave portion 19 a formed in the soft guide 19. The cucumber w is stably held by being inserted and held. Note that this soft guide 19
Has a large front-rear width, a small width, and a lower end surface formed into a convex curved surface, so that even in the case of a bent cucumber w, the middle portion in the longitudinal direction can be properly engaged with the concave portion 19a. ing.

On the outer surface of the upper part of the support frame 12,
A laser type distance sensor 20 that receives the reflection of the laser beam oscillated vertically downward and detects the distance to the object is provided. The height of the cucumber w group stacked in the uppermost layer is measured.

The conveyor B is configured as a belt conveyor using a flat rubber belt 21 having a dark black surface.
The collection unit E is driven from the supply unit A side toward the collection unit at a predetermined speed by the stepping motor 22, and is controlled so that the transfer operation and the stop are intermittently repeated as described later.

As shown in FIG. 2, the measuring device D includes a CCD camera 24 for picking up an image of the cucumber w loaded therein from above in a box-shaped light shielding case 23 installed so as to cover the conveyor B from above. And a lighting device such as a lighting lamp 25 and a reflecting mirror (not shown), and a light blocking case 26 that allows passage of cucumber w is provided at the entrance of the light blocking case 23.

The CCD camera 24 has a resolution in a two-dimensional direction, and is configured to sequentially output image information of a shooting location as monochrome image information at set intervals. The output image information is subjected to image processing,
The length, bending, thickness, and the like are measured, and the grade and class of the cucumber w are determined based on the measurement result and the reference information for sorting stored in advance. .

As shown in FIG. 9, the second transfer device F
The second pickup mechanism 32 is provided by a horizontal linear horizontal drive mechanism 30 and a front-rear linear horizontal drive mechanism 31 which are provided over the lower conveyor side portion of the conveyor B and above the collecting section E. The second pickup mechanism 3 is moved horizontally in the left, right, front and rear directions, and at any horizontal movement position.
2 is moved up and down by an up-down drive mechanism 33.

A linear horizontal drive mechanism 30 for controlling the lateral movement of the second transfer device F is provided with a device frame 34 erected from the lower conveyor side of the conveyor B and the collection unit E group.
, A guide shaft 35 erected horizontally and horizontally, a movable base 36 long in the front and rear direction movably supported along the guide shaft 35, and a roller provided at an end of the movable base 36. A guide rail 38 extending horizontally and horizontally to guide the rolling 37, a toothed belt 39 connected to the movable table 36 and wound horizontally and horizontally, and a stepping motor for driving the toothed belt 39 The movable table 36 is reciprocally moved horizontally and horizontally by rotating the toothed belt 39 forward and backward by the stepping motor 40.

Further, the linear horizontal drive mechanism 31 for controlling the movement of the second transfer device F in the front-rear direction is mounted on the movable base 36 of the linear drive mechanism 30 in the left-right direction, and is mounted horizontally in the front-rear direction. A guide shaft 41, a movable table 42 supported to be movable back and forth along the guide shaft 41, a guide rail 44 laid horizontally in the front and rear directions to roll and guide a roller 43 provided at an end of the movable table 42, The toothed belt 45 includes a toothed belt 45 that is connected to the bases 42 and is wound horizontally and horizontally, and a stepping motor 46 that drives the toothed belt 45. Conversely, the movable table 42 is reciprocated horizontally and horizontally by the rotational drive.

The vertical drive mechanism 33 of the second transfer device F
Is provided below the movable base 42, and as shown in FIG. 10, a rectangular cylindrical support frame 47 extending downward from the movable base 42, and a guide roller 48 inside the support frame 47. A movable bracket 49 that is guided and supported so that it can move up and down,
A vertically long hollow support shaft 50 supported by a movable bracket 49, a toothed belt 51 connected to the movable bracket 49 and wound up and down, and a stepping motor 52 for driving the toothed belt 51; The movable bracket 49 and the support shaft 50 are moved up and down by rotating the toothed belt 51 forward and backward by a stepping motor 52.

The second pickup mechanism 32 of the second transfer device F has a bellows-shaped deformable rubber suction nozzle 53 attached to the lower end of the support shaft 50. The inside of the support shaft 50 is connected to a negative pressure generator (not shown). A soft guide 54 made of a sponge or the like is provided around the suction nozzle 53.

The movable table 42 is provided inside the support frame 47.
An angular shaft 56, which is rotationally driven forward and reverse by an upper stepping motor 55, is supported vertically, and the movable bracket 49 has a gear 5 fixed to the support shaft 50.
7 and a drive gear 58 that meshes with the movable bracket 49 so as to move up and down together with the movable bracket 49. The drive gear 58 is rotatably transmitted to the square shaft 56 and is externally engaged so as to be vertically slidable. Moving bracket 4
9 is located in any of the vertical directions, the rotation of the stepping motor 55 is controlled by the angular shaft 56, the driving gear 58, and
The power is transmitted to the support shaft 50 via the gear 57, and the suction nozzle 53 of the second pickup mechanism 32 is rotated around the vertical axis.

The collecting section E collects the sorted and sorted cucumber w in a box. As shown in FIG.
A plurality of front and rear portions (two in the illustrated example) are respectively provided on the left and right lateral sides of the lower conveyor side portion of the conveyor B. As shown in FIG. 13, the storage boxes 61 installed in each collection unit E are mounted on the support 63 in an inclined posture via an angle adjuster 62 such that the conveyor side is lower. Further, below the left and right support bases 63, a plurality of collecting sections 64 for collecting cucumber w of a low grade are provided in the front-rear direction, and a conveyor is provided to supply the cucumber w to the collecting section 64. A charging space 65 is formed between B and the support 63, and a chute 67 to which a cushion material 66 is adhered is provided so as to guide the charged cucumber w to the collection unit 64 without damage. Also,
At the end of the conveyor B, a collection box 68 for collecting the cucumber w that has failed to be removed from the conveyor B is provided.

The automatic sorting apparatus of the present invention is configured as described above. Next, the basic sorting operation will be described.

[Supply Operation] When an operation start operation is given in the control device G, a supply operation by the first transfer device C is executed. That is, the first pickup mechanism 3 moves horizontally and horizontally with the upper limit, and at this time, the height of the cucumber w group in the top layer of the stacked and stored cucumber w group is measured by the distance sensor 20. Here, the inside of the container 1 is the first transfer device C
Is divided in advance into a plurality of regions (for example, five regions) in the horizontal movement direction, and the position of the cucumber w at the highest position in each region is detected and stored. Based on the information obtained in this manner, first, the cucumber w at the highest position in the plurality of areas is picked up by the first pickup mechanism 3 and picked up, and the cucumber w is supplied to the supply position of the conveyor B that is waiting to stop. The sheet is placed and supplied on the belt in a posture in which the longitudinal direction is along the conveying direction of the conveyor B.

Thereafter, suction and extraction are performed in the order of the regions having the highest cucumber existence position, and the above-described height measurement operation is not performed until the cucumber extraction of the last region is completed. When the cucumber removal of the last area is completed, the height measurement in all the areas is performed again, and thereafter, the above operation is sequentially repeated. That is, five extractions of the cucumber w at the high position are executed based on information obtained by one height measurement. For example, in a stacked state illustrated in FIG. _{8, w 1, w 2,} w 3, w 4, is the extraction in order of w ₅ is performed.

If the cucumber w at the highest position in each area is on the area boundary, the existence of the cucumber w is ignored in the next adjacent area, so that the same cucumber w is 2 It is intended to avoid performing a single take-out operation. Further, the position of the highest cucumber w in each region is compared, and if the position is lower than a certain value (for example, 30 mm) from the highest position of the cucumber w, a check is performed so as not to execute extraction in that region. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the arrangement of the cucumbers w in the container 1 from being distorted and causing collapse.

It is expected that the sensor output value of the distance sensor 20 will change due to a change in temperature during operation or a change with time, and this will be compensated as follows. That is,
When the origin of the first transfer device C is adjusted, suction is not performed even after performing suction and extraction a predetermined number of times (for example, two times), and every time a predetermined number of times (for example, 200 times) of extraction operation is performed. In addition, two upper and lower reference plates for distance correction 71, 7 which are installed at a predetermined height beside the sorting object supply unit A.
Then, the distance measurement formula is reconstructed by performing the distance measurement on the distance calculation 2.

[Measurement Operation] When the taken cucumber w is supplied onto the belt, the conveyor B starts to be conveyed and is carried into the light shielding case 23 of the measuring device D. Here, when it is determined that the cucumber w on the belt has entered a predetermined position on the upper side of the conveyance of the imaging area of the CCD camera 24, the conveyance is continued for a set distance from that point and then stopped. In this case, as the set distance,
A value close to the maximum value of the length of cucumber w (for example, about 25 cm
Degree), and by this set distance conveyance,
The whole cucumber w is set in the imaging area.

The conveyor B is stopped for a set time, and during this time, an evaluation process for equal / class sorting is executed by image processing based on the image of the cucumber w taken by the CCD camera 24, and the supply of the sorting object is performed. In the section A, the above-described supply operation for the subsequent cucumber w is performed. In addition, when there is the previous cucumber w on the lower side of the conveyor B, the sorting and taking-out operation by the second transfer device F is performed as described later during the transfer stop time.

[Sorting / Removing Operation] At the start of the control, the second pickup mechanism 32 of the second transfer device F is waiting at a preset origin position. This origin position is
It is set above the position where the cucumber w that has been subjected to the measurement processing is expected to exist while the conveyor B is stopped, and corresponds to the position where the measured cucumber w is transported two pitches from the measurement position. doing.

By the preceding image processing, the appropriate position of suction of the cucumber w and the inclination with respect to the transport direction are taken in as the position / posture information of the object to be carried out. Is determined, and the second pickup mechanism 32 of the second transfer device F is controlled to move toward the suction / removal position. Thereafter, the second pickup mechanism 32 is controlled to move down to the suction / removal operation. At this time, the direction of the soft guide 54 provided on the suction nozzle 53 is corrected by controlling the rotation angle of the support shaft 50, and as shown in FIG.
Before and after Step 3, it is engaged with a concave portion 54a formed on the lower surface of the soft guide 54. The cucumber w thus adsorbed
In the concave portion 54a of the soft guide 54,
Next, it is possible to prevent the posture of the sucked cucumber w from being changed or shaken off due to a change in acceleration or swinging when the cucumber is conveyed toward the collection unit E.

The cucumber w taken out by the second pick-up mechanism 32 is conveyed to the collecting section E determined based on the evaluation result by the image processing, and stored in the storage box 61 in a predetermined posture. In this case, if the cucumber w has already been carried in, the current cucumber w is aligned with the preceding cucumber w with as small a gap as possible and the bends are aligned based on the information on the carry-in position of the previous cucumber w. Is controlled as follows. In addition, the second
The pickup mechanism 32 returns to the origin position and is prepared for the next take-out.

When the cucumber w is arranged from one end of the storage box 61 to the other end, the carry-in descent height of the second pickup mechanism 32 is corrected to be higher by one cucumber w, and the next time the cucumber w is set on the lower cucumber w group. Will be sequentially stacked.

Further, when the cucumber w on the conveyor B is taken out, a suction error may occur. If the set number of times (for example, three times) is not achieved, the picking operation is interrupted, and the picking operation is interrupted. The cucumber w is sent to the collection box 68 by the next transport operation of the conveyor B, and the sorting process is manually performed later. The suction error is detected by detecting a negative pressure in the suction path of the suction nozzle 53.

The linear and horizontal drive mechanisms 2 in the first transfer device C and the linear and horizontal drive mechanisms 30 and 31 in the second transfer device F include stepping motors 11 and 40,
Since the working distance is controlled by counting the number of drive pulses to 46, the planar position control of the first pickup mechanism 3 and the second pickup mechanism 32 is performed by so-called open-loop control, motor misstep or step-out occurs. For example, the positions of the pickup mechanisms 3 and 32 managed by the control device G may deviate from the actual positions. Therefore, during normal operation, the origin position passing timing is detected using a limit switch or the like installed at a predetermined position in the movement path, and the origin position managed by the control device G and the newly detected origin position are compared. When a difference exceeding a predetermined value occurs, the origin position in management is rewritten.

[Another Embodiment] (1) As shown in FIG. 14, a storage box 61 arranged in an inclined position in the collecting section E is placed on a support base 69 which freely swings up and down around a fulcrum P. In advance, when the second pickup mechanism 32 carries the cucumber w into the upper end of the storage box 61, the second pickup mechanism 32 presses the side plate of the storage box 61 to swing up and swing the storage box 61. , Can be carried into the end of the storage box 61 without being obstructed by the side plate. (2) The linear and horizontal drive mechanism 2 in the first transfer device C and the linear and horizontal drive mechanism 30 in the second transfer device F,
As means for driving 31, besides using a stepping motor and a toothed belt driven and rotated by this,
A rodless cylinder or a screw feed mechanism can also be used. The vertical drive mechanisms 4 and 33 may be air cylinders or screw feed mechanisms. (3) Depending on the type of fruit vegetables to be sorted, it is also possible to adopt a grasping type using a bendable / extendable finger for the first pickup mechanism 3 and the second pickup mechanism 32. (4) A feedback control system may be used for planar position control of the pickup mechanism. (5) A plurality of collecting units E arranged before and after may be arranged on one side of the conveyor B so as to be located only on the same side as the sorting object supply unit A.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a cucumber sorting device.

FIG. 2 is an overall side view.

FIG. 3 is an overall plan view.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a sorting object supply unit.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the first transfer device.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a take-out operation state of the first pickup mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the take-out operation of the first pickup mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing an example of a laminated state in the container.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a second transfer device.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a vertical drive mechanism of the second transfer device.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing a state in which the second pickup mechanism is taken out.

FIG. 12 is a front view showing a take-out operation of a second pickup mechanism.

FIG. 13 is a rear view of the collecting unit.

FIG. 14 is a front view showing another embodiment of the collecting unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Container 2 Linear horizontal drive mechanism 3 1st pick-up mechanism 4 Vertical drive mechanism 18 Suction nozzle 30 Linear horizontal drive mechanism 31 Linear horizontal drive mechanism 32 2nd pick-up mechanism 33 Vertical drive mechanism 53 Suction nozzle A Sorted object supply part B Conveyor C First transfer device D Measuring device E Collection unit F Second transfer device G Control device w Sorted material (fruit vegetables)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masahiro Kiyokawa 64 Ishizukita-cho, Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture Inside Kubota Sakai Plant (72) Inventor Yoshiyuki Katayama 64 Ishizukita-cho, Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture Kubota Sakai Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Inside

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sorting object supply unit for setting a sorting object at a predetermined position in a container, a conveyor for transporting the sorting object along a predetermined route, and sorting in the container by a first pickup mechanism. A first transfer device for taking out an object and automatically supplying the object to the conveyor, a measuring device for measuring properties of each object to be conveyed by the conveyor, and sorting each object to be classified into a plurality of property sections based on the measurement result A second transfer device, a first transfer device, and a second transfer device, which pick up an object to be sorted on the conveyor by a second pickup mechanism and supply the collected object to a collection unit corresponding to the determined property section. A control device for controlling the operation of the loading device, wherein the first transfer device is provided by a linear horizontal drive mechanism disposed over the sorting object supply unit and over the conveyer upper part of the conveyor. The first pickup mechanism is configured to move linearly and horizontally, and the first pickup mechanism at an arbitrary horizontal movement position is moved up and down by an up-down drive mechanism. The second pickup mechanism is horizontally moved in a direction parallel to the conveying direction of the conveyor and in a direction orthogonal thereto by a linear horizontal drive mechanism provided over the space above and above the collecting section, and at any horizontal movement position. Wherein the second pickup mechanism is vertically moved by a vertical drive mechanism. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of collection units disposed on both sides of the conveyor at a lower side of the conveyor, and a plurality of the collecting units disposed at a lower side of the conveyor at a lower side of the conveyor. The automatic fruit and vegetable sorter according to claim 1, wherein 3. The object to be sorted is a long fruit and vegetable, and the object to be sorted taken out of the container by the first transfer device is supplied onto the conveyor in a posture in which a longitudinal direction thereof is along a conveyor conveyance direction. 3. The apparatus for automatically sorting fruits and vegetables according to claim 1 or 2, which is configured as described above. 4. The fruit vegetable according to claim 1, wherein the first pickup mechanism of the first transfer device and the second pickup mechanism of the second transfer device are each constituted by a suction nozzle. Automatic sorter of a kind.