JPH11258027A - Article weighting-out apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently weight out articles to make small a range exceeding specified weight as much as posible. SOLUTION: This apparatus is composed of a conveying device 1, article feed devices 2 and article weight sorting devices 3, the conveying device 1 is composed of a prescribed number of tray stopping parts 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d provided on a conveying table 11 with a fixed pitch in a conveying direction, weighting devices 13b, 13c, 13d, and a conveyer, the article feed devices 2 are used as devices for feeding subdivided articles A, B to a tray 17 on the tray stopping parts 12a, 12b, and the article weight sorting devices 3 are used as devices for measuring weight of article units, and for selecting one article unit C from a plurality of article units and one article unit D from a plurality of article units to feed them to the 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 weighing articles having a weight not less than a prescribed weight within a predetermined allowable range.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When weighing an article having a prescribed weight, it may be difficult to accurately weigh the article depending on the size of the minimum unit of the article. If the weight of the article is less than the specified weight, it may be unfavorable in commercial practice. In such a case, generally, a combination of minimum units of articles is manually examined so as to minimize the range exceeding the specified weight.

[0003] For example, when weighing articles such as fragrant foods such as mentaiko and cod roe, an operator examines the combination so as to have a specified weight while paying attention to maintain the commercial value.

[0004]

According to the above method, the weight in the range exceeding the specified weight can be suppressed as small as possible, but it is a manual operation and is not efficient.

[0005] Further, there is known an apparatus comprising a plurality of electronic balances and a computer which simultaneously weighs a plurality of articles such as foods in a certain unit and picks up a combination that exceeds the specified weight and minimizes the range exceeding the specified weight. Have been.

In this apparatus, the combination is judged by a computer, so that the judgment can be made quickly. However, since the work of placing the fixed unit of articles on the balance and the operation of taking out the selected fixed unit of articles are manual work, It is likely to be insufficient efficiently.

An object of the present invention is to efficiently weigh articles such as foods in a range exceeding a prescribed weight so as to minimize the range.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an article weighing and weighing apparatus according to the present invention comprises:
The apparatus comprises an article delivery apparatus and an article weight sorting apparatus, wherein the transport apparatus has a predetermined number of tray stops provided at a fixed pitch in a transport direction on a fixed transport table, a weighing apparatus provided at a predetermined tray stop, It is composed of a conveyor provided in the length direction above the transfer table, and a tray gripper that is vertically expandable and contractible with respect to the conveyor is attached to the conveyor corresponding to each of the tray stoppers. The article delivery apparatus is an apparatus that sends out the divided articles divided into a predetermined amount to a tray on the tray stop, and the article weight sorting apparatus measures the weight of an article unit, which is an article divided into fixed units. Is a device for selecting one article unit from a plurality of article units whose weights have been measured and sending it to a tray, and the direction of conveyance of the tray on the conveyance table of the conveyance device. Along with the end tray stop, or a plurality of tray stops continuous from the end tray stop to the start end, the article weight sorting device is provided at each tray stop, and the remaining trays are provided. Each of the article delivery devices is provided along a stop portion, and the weighing device is provided at least at the end tray stop portion of the tray stop portions where the article delivery device is provided, and a tray arranged at each tray stop portion is provided. The above-mentioned conveying device intermittently conveys to an adjacent tray stop at the same time, and sends out the subdivided articles to the tray on the tray stop provided along the article delivery device by the device, and the above-mentioned subdivision by the weighing device. The weight of the tray on which the articles are placed is weighed, and the weighing data is sent to the above-mentioned article weight sorting apparatus. To the extent that the total weight of the article to put on the tray exceeds the prescribed weight, picks the article unit that exceeds the range is within a predetermined allowable range, it is to that and to pump in the tray.

[0009] The divided articles are sent to the tray arranged at the tray stop at the start end of the carrier of the carrier by an article delivery device provided along the tray stop. The tray to which the subdivided articles are sent is conveyed by a conveyor to an adjacent terminal stop on the end side. Then, a new subdivision article is sent in the new tray stop. This operation is sequentially performed at a tray stop provided with the article delivery device.

[0010] When the tray is conveyed to the last tray stop of the tray stops provided with the article delivery devices and the divided articles are sent in, the divided articles from all the article delivery devices are placed on the tray. It is listed one by one. The total weight of the divided articles placed on the tray is weighed by a weighing device provided at the tray stop. This weighing data is sent to one or more article weight sorting apparatuses, and the article weight sorting apparatus is set so that the total weight of the articles to be placed on the tray is within a predetermined allowable range within a specified range. Select the above article units. In other words, when one article weight sorting apparatus is used, one article unit which is heavier than the weight obtained by subtracting the weight of the articles already placed on the tray from the specified weight and which exceeds the predetermined weight is within a predetermined allowable range. Pick out. When two or more article weight sorting devices are used, the weight is larger than the weight obtained by subtracting the weight of articles already placed on the tray from the specified weight, and the weight exceeding the weight is within a required allowable range.
One article unit is selected from each article weight sorting device. By sending the selected article unit to the tray that has been conveyed, articles are weighed out in a range exceeding the specified weight and within a predetermined allowable range.

[0011]

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

As shown in FIG. 1, the article weighing and weighing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a transport apparatus 1, an article delivery apparatus 2, and an article weight sorting apparatus 3.

The transport device 1 includes four tray stops 12 provided on a fixed transport table 11 at a constant pitch in the transport direction.
a, 12b, 12c, 12d, tray stops 12b, 1
Measuring devices 13b, 13c, 13d, such as an upper balance provided along each of 2c and 12d, and tray stopper 12
a, a transfer table 1 (see FIG. 2)
1 comprises a conveyor 14 (see FIG. 2) provided in the length direction thereof. Although four tray stops are provided in FIG. 1, the present invention is not limited to this.

As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the tray gripper 15, which is vertically expandable and contractible with respect to the conveyor 14 and has a chuck 20 at the lower end, is provided with the tray stoppers 12a, 12b, It is attached to the conveyor 14 corresponding to 12c and 12d. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the conveyor 14 reciprocates at a constant stroke, is covered by a casing 16, and the lower end surface of the tray grip 15 is open.

The tray grip 15 provided on the conveyor 14 can grip both ends 18 of the tray 17 bent upward by the chuck 20 at the tip thereof. For this reason, the tray 17 moves up and down according to the expansion and contraction of the tray gripping portion 15 and moves in parallel according to the movement of the conveyor 14.

As shown in FIG. 1, the article delivery device 2 is provided along the tray stoppers 12a and 12b, and is divided into predetermined amounts such as food (hereinafter referred to as "subdivided articles"). .) A or B, or containers such as trays containing the subdivided articles A or B are arranged in a row on each conveyor 21 and the like, and the trays on the tray stopper 12 are extruded by an extruder 22 such as a cylinder. It is a device for pushing out to 17. The rail 23 of the article extruding device 2 for extruding the subdivided articles A or B is provided close to the tray 17 on the same plane, and can smoothly extrude the subdivided articles A or B. The article delivery apparatus 2 is not limited to the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 described above, and is not limited as long as it is an apparatus capable of placing one subdivided article on the tray 17.

As shown in FIG. 1, the article weight sorting apparatus 3 is provided along the tray stoppers 12c and 12d, and is divided into predetermined units such as foods (hereinafter referred to as "article unit"). ").
This is a device that selects one of the article units from a plurality of article units C and D whose weights have been measured, and sends out the selected article unit to the tray 17. As shown in FIG. 1, the article weight sorting apparatus 3 is configured to extrude a container such as an article unit C or D arranged in a row on a conveyor 31 or the like or a tray or the like containing the article unit C or D into an extruder such as a cylinder. At 32, the article units are pushed out to the temporary storage section 33, and the predetermined predetermined article units C and D selected from the group of the article units C and the group of D placed at the plurality of temporary storage sections 33 are extruded by an extruder 35 such as a cylinder. Is a device for pushing out onto the tray 17. The rails 34 of the article weight sorting device 3 from which the article units C and D are extruded are located on the same plane as the tray 17, and the article units C and D are smoothly pushed out to the tray 17.

The selection of the article unit C or D to be extruded onto the tray 17 is performed by a weighing device 13b provided at a trailing end tray stop 12b provided with the article delivery device 2, as described later. Subdivision A
, And B, and sends the weighing data to the control device 19 of the article weight sorting device 3. Then, the required weight of the article is calculated from the sent weighing data and the specified weight of the article to be placed on the tray 17, and the weight that is not less than the weight, the closest to the value, and within the allowable range is calculated. This is performed by picking up the article units that have.

The above-mentioned measurement of each article can be performed by an arbitrary method. For example, a weighing device such as a precision balance is provided in the temporary placing section 33, and each article on the temporary placing section 33 is provided. When weighing the units C and D and sending out a predetermined unit of goods, by moving a plurality of upper balances themselves,
A method of arranging a predetermined article unit placed on the upper balance at the sending position is conceivable. In addition, a weighing device such as a precision balance is provided at the end of the conveyor 31 for extruding the article units into the temporary placing section 33 by the extruder 32, and the extruded article units C and D are weighed, and the weight of the extruded article units is measured. A method of storing the data in the control device 19, selecting a predetermined product unit according to the storage, and transmitting the product unit to a position where the product unit is transmitted may be considered. The article weight sorting apparatus 3 is not limited to the above-described apparatus, and can measure the weight of each article unit C or D, select a preferred article unit according to predetermined measurement data, and place it on the tray 17. Any device can be used as long as it is a device.

As shown in FIG. 1, the above-mentioned article weight sorting apparatus 3 is arranged such that a direction from the tray stop 12d at the end of the tray 17 on the transfer table 11 of the transfer apparatus 1 in the transfer direction to the start end of the transfer table 11 is changed. A plurality of tray stops 12d, 12
c. The article delivery device 2 is provided in the remaining tray stops 12a and 12b.

Also, unlike the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the article weight selection device 3 is provided only at the tray stop 12d at the end of the transfer table 11, and the remaining tray stops 12a, 12b, 12
A device provided with the article delivery device 2 in c can also be used.

Further, when a plurality of article weight sorting apparatuses 3 are provided, the number thereof is not limited to two as described above, and three or more articles can be provided. When a plurality of article weight sorting apparatuses 3 are provided, one article unit can be selected from each of the article unit groups mounted on each article weight sorting apparatus 3, so that a more preferable combination of article units is selected. can do.

The subdivided articles and the article units do not necessarily have to have the same weight.
It can be set arbitrarily according to the minimum unit weight of the article to be measured and the specified weight to be measured.

The weighing devices 13b, 13c and 13d are:
The tray stops 12b, 12c, and 12d are provided. In addition, a pedestal 10a is provided in the tray stopper 12a instead of the weighing device. When weighing is performed by the tray stopper 12a, a weighing device can be provided instead of the pedestal 10a. Among the weighing devices 13b, 13c, and 13d, the tray stopper 12a in which the article delivery device 2 is provided,
The weighing device 13b may be provided at least at the tray stop 12b at the end of the 12b. Thereby, tray 1
The total amount of the subdivided articles on 7 can be weighed, and this weighing data can be sent to the article weight sorting device 3. Further, the total weight of the articles on the tray 17 can be confirmed and measured by the other weighing devices 13c and 13d.

Next, the function of the article weighing apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the transfer device 47 places the tray 17 at the tray stop 12a at the start end of the transfer device 1. The subdivided articles A are pushed out of the article delivery device 2 onto the tray 17.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B,
The tray gripper 15 descends, and grips both ends 18 of the tray 17 with the chuck 20. Then, as shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, the tray gripper 15 is raised to
Lift. Then, as shown in FIG. 2C and FIG.
Is moved in parallel by the pitch of the tray stop unit 12, the tray holding unit 15 is lowered at the adjacent tray stop unit 12b, the chuck 20 is opened, and the tray 17 is lowered. Next, as shown in FIG. 3 (e), the tray grip 15 is raised and returned to the original position by the conveyor 14. Since the tray grippers 15 are provided for each of the tray stoppers 12, it is possible to simultaneously and intermittently transport the trays 17 disposed at the respective tray stoppers 12 to the adjacent tray stoppers. Become. For this reason, each tray stop 1
When the trays 17 are arranged at 2a, 12b, 12c, and 12d, all of the trays 17 can be simultaneously and intermittently conveyed to the adjacent tray stopper 12 by the conveying device 1. Also, the weighing device 13 is provided at the tray stop.
In the case where upper balances are provided as b, 13c, and 13d, the tray 17 is lifted upward, conveyed, and lowered, so that accurate measurement can be performed without damaging the upper balances.

When the tray 17 is conveyed to the tray stop 12b at the end of the conveying table 11 of the article delivery device 2, the article B is pushed out of the article delivery device 2 and placed on the tray 17. In addition, the total weight of the tray 17 and the divided articles A and B is measured by the weighing device 13b, and transmitted to the control device 19 of the article weight sorting device 3. Here, the total weight of the subdivided articles A and B is calculated, and the difference from the specified weight to be placed on the tray 17 is calculated. From now on, goods unit C
And D, the weights of the articles on the two article weight sorters 3 are set so that the total weight of the articles to be placed on the tray 17 exceeds the prescribed weight and the excess range is within a predetermined allowable range. Each one is selected from the group of the unit C or the group D. Selected predetermined article units C and D
Is a tray 17 on which the above-mentioned subdivided articles A and B are placed.
Is pushed out onto the tray 17 at the stage when it is conveyed to the tray stops 12c and 12d.

The tray on which the articles having a predetermined weight are placed is transported to a refilling work table 41 by a belt conveyor or the like, where the articles are refilled. The used tray 42 is placed on the cleaning conveyor 43 and the cleaning machine 4
4 and dried by the dryer 45,
Is transported to a position where it is placed on the tray stop portion 12a at the start end of the tray by the transfer machine 47, and is again provided for weighing articles.

The refilled articles are sent to the next process for shipping by the product conveyor 46.

The above-mentioned articles A to D may be the same kind of articles or different kinds of articles. If the same kind of goods,
Articles having a predetermined weight can be continuously weighed. In addition, if the articles are of different types, a combination article having a predetermined total weight can be continuously obtained.

Since each of the articles A to D is gently extruded onto the tray 17 from the extruder, the articles A to D can be used for weighing easily breakable foods such as acacia and cod roe. Further, in the case of food such as tofu which is fragile due to skidding, it can be slid freely by placing it on a container such as a dish, and can be used in the same manner as described above.

The number of tray stops 12a and 12b provided along the above-mentioned article delivery device 2 is not limited to the number shown in FIG. 1, but the types of articles to be weighed, the total amount of weighing, and one unit. One, two or more arbitrary numbers can be provided according to the weight, shape, properties, and the like. Further, the number of tray stops 12c and 12d provided along the above-mentioned article weight sorting apparatus 3 is not limited to the number shown in FIG. 1, but the type of articles to be weighed, the total amount of weighing, and one unit. One, two or more arbitrary numbers can be provided according to the weight, shape, properties, and the like.

Articles weighed by the article weighing apparatus according to the present invention are traded in quantity, such as nails, rubber bands, zempins, clips and the like, which are difficult to weigh, and are traded in units of a predetermined weight. It can also be used for weighing food. In particular, since this article weighing device gently pushes out the articles onto the tray from the extruder, there are sticky foods such as mentaiko, cod roe, raw scallop, etc. It can be used for weighing food that is difficult to weigh, food that is easily entangled, such as soybean and radish tender. Further, the present invention can be applied to a combination food which is a combination of a plurality of types of foods.

The system of the refilling work table 41, the washing conveyor 43, the washing machine 44, the dryer 45, the product conveyor 46 and the like is not limited to the system shown in FIG. Any system can be adopted as long as the system can be used.

[0036]

According to the present invention, articles such as foods which do not fall below a specified weight and exceed the specified weight within an allowable range can be weighed, so that articles having a constant weight can be continuously obtained. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an article weighing apparatus according to an embodiment.

2 (a) is a partially cutaway front view of the transfer apparatus according to FIG. 1; FIG. 2 (b) is a front view showing a state in which the tray is gripped in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 (a); Front view showing lifted state

3D is a front view showing a state in which the tray is lowered in the apparatus shown in FIG. 2A. FIG. 3E is a front view showing a state in which the tray grip is returned to the original state in the apparatus shown in FIG. 2A.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conveying device 2 Article sending device 3 Article weight sorting device 10a Pedestal 11 Conveying table 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d Tray stop part 13b, 13c, 13d Weighing device 14 Conveyor 15 Tray gripping part 16 Casing 17 Tray 18 End part 19 Control plate DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 Chuck 21 Conveyor 22 Extruder 23 Rail 31 Conveyor 32 Extruder 33 Temporary placement part 34 Rail 35 Extruder 41 Refilling work table 42 Tray 43 Conveyor for cleaning 44 Washer 45 Dryer 46 Product conveyor 47 Transfer machine

Claims (1)

[Claims] The present invention comprises a transport device, an article delivery device, and an article weight sorting device, wherein the transport device has a predetermined number of tray stops provided on a fixed transport table at a constant pitch in the transport direction, and a predetermined tray stop. Weighing device provided in the section, a conveyor provided in the longitudinal direction above the transfer table, the conveyor has a tray gripper that is vertically expandable and contractible with respect to the conveyor, the tray stop unit The article delivery device is a device that sends out the subdivided articles divided into a predetermined amount to a tray on the tray stop, and the article weight sorting apparatus is an article divided into fixed units. A device for measuring the weight of a certain product unit, selecting one product unit from a plurality of the measured product units, and sending it to a tray. The article weight sorting device is provided at each tray stop along the tray stop at the end of the tray on the feeder in the transport direction, or along a plurality of tray stops at the end from the tray stop at the end to the start end. And each of the article delivery devices is provided along each of the remaining tray stops, and the weighing device is provided at least at the end tray stop of the tray stops where the article delivery devices are provided. The tray arranged at the tray stop is conveyed intermittently to the adjacent tray stop by the above-mentioned conveyance device at the same time, and the subdivided articles are transferred to the tray on the tray stop provided along the article delivery device by this device. The weight of the tray on which the subdivided articles are placed is weighed by the weighing apparatus, and the weighing data is sent to the article weight sorting apparatus. An article weight sorter selects the above-mentioned article units in which the total weight of articles to be placed on the tray exceeds a specified weight and the excess range is within a predetermined allowable range, and sends out the article to the tray. apparatus.