JPH11351953A - Article containing and discharging apparatus and metering device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To alleviate a load to a weight sensor by simplifying a structure. SOLUTION: A bearing support plate 25 and a motor 30 are fixed to a lower portion of a support frame 24 supported to one end side of a load cell 23, and a shutter support 45 is turnably supported to the plate 25 at a shaft 46 as a center. A shutter plate 55 is detachably supported to one end side of the support 45, and a hopper body 60 is detachably supported to a hopper locking plate 43 provided at the support 25. An arm 32 is fixed to a rotary shaft 31 of the motor 30, and a roller 34 at an end of the arm 32 is engaged with a long hole 49 extended to the other end side of the support 45. The plate 55 supported to the support 45 closes a lower portion opening surface of the body 60 at a position where the arm 32 is perpendicularly crossed with the hole 49 of the support 45, and when the arm 32 is rotated from this position, a lower portion opening surface of the body 50 is opened.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for simplifying the structure of an article storing and discharging apparatus for storing and discharging articles and a weighing apparatus, and for reducing the load on a weight sensor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an automatic weighing apparatus and the like, an article storage / discharge apparatus using a hopper has been conventionally used to temporarily receive and hold an article put in from above and discharge it downward at a predetermined timing.

FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically showing a conventional article storage and discharge device used for an automatic weighing device and the like. Here, the hopper 1 has a cylindrical hopper main body 2 having an open top and bottom and a shutter 3 rotatably supported by the hopper main body 2 for storing and discharging articles. Spring 4 hung between one end of shaft 3a and hopper body 2
As shown in FIG. 11A, it is urged to always close.

As shown in FIG. 11B, a spring 4 is attached to the other end of the rotating shaft 3a of the shutter 3 from an actuator 5 of a driving device (not shown) using an air cylinder or the like as a driving source. The shutter 3 is opened by applying a force in a direction against the force.

[0005]

However, in a structure in which the action of closing the shutter is left to the urging force of a spring attached to the hopper itself, as in the above-mentioned conventional article storage / ejection apparatus, the article is discharged. The shutter is opened by the impact when the is input, and the article is spilled.

Further, if the urging force of the spring is increased to prevent this, a large force must be applied from the actuator when the shutter is opened, and a powerful large driving source must be used as the driving source of the driving device. This leads to an increase in the size of the entire apparatus and an increase in power consumption.

Further, in the hopper using a spring as described above, it is necessary to remove and attach the spring at the time of cleaning, and the shutter flaps when the spring is removed, which complicates the cleaning operation. was there.

An object of the present invention is to provide an article storage / discharge device and a weighing device which solve these problems.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article storing and discharging apparatus having an opening at an upper portion for receiving an article from above, and an apparatus for discharging the received article. A tubular body having an open lower portion, a supporter for detachably supporting the tubular body, and a supporter supported by the supporter, parallel to a lower opening surface of the tubular body and separated from the tubular body; A shutter support rotatably provided about a substantially horizontal axis, and a shutter supporter detachably supported by the shutter support, and rotating about the axis together with the shutter support to lower the cylindrical body; A shutter member for opening and closing the opening surface; and a rotation drive device for rotating the shutter support to temporarily store and discharge the articles in the cylindrical body.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the article storing and discharging apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the rotation driving device has a rotation axis parallel to an axis of the shutter support. A motor supported by the support, and one end fixed to the rotating shaft of the motor, and the other end provided with a protruding portion projecting in parallel with the rotating shaft of the motor, and rotating the rotating shaft of the motor. The shutter support is formed along a direction orthogonal to the axis, and receives the protrusion of the arm in the protruding direction, and slides in the longitudinal direction. A sliding guide portion is provided, and when an angle between the sliding guide portion of the shutter support and the arm is substantially a right angle, the shutter plate moves the lower opening surface of the cylindrical body. Try to close It is characterized in that.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the article storing and discharging apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein the arm of the rotary driving device has one end on each end of the rotating shaft of the motor. A pair is provided so as to be fixed and parallel, and a pair of the sliding guide portions of the shutter support are provided in parallel corresponding to the pair of arms, respectively.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a weighing device, wherein the support of the article storing and discharging device according to the first, second, or third aspect is supported by a weight sensor.
The weight of the article stored in the cylindrical body is detected by the weight sensor.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 7 show a weighing device according to an embodiment used for an automatic combination weighing machine.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a concave load cell support 22 is fixed to the lower surface 21 a side of a chassis 21 in the weighing machine housing 20.
One end of a substantially horizontally elongated rectangular parallelepiped load cell 23 as a weight sensor is fixed to the concave portion.

On the other end side of the load cell 23, a support frame 2 which forms a support of this embodiment together with a bearing support plate 25, a bearing 40 and a hopper locking plate 43 which will be described later.
4 is fixed.

The support frame 24 is a rectangular substrate 2 fixed in close contact with the other end surface of the load cell 23.
4a and a pair of parallel side plates 24b and 24c which are bent rearward from both ends of the substrate 24a (one end of the load cell 23) and extend downward. A bearing support plate 25 is attached.

The bearing support plate 25 includes side plates 24b and 24c.
Base 25a connecting the lower front ends of the bases, and protrusions 25b, 25c protruding forward from both ends of the base 25a by a predetermined length.
And bearing support portions 25d and 25e extending outward from the tips of the protruding portions 25b and 25c, respectively. A vertically long hole 26 is provided in the center of the bearing support portions 25d and 25e.

A stepping motor (hereinafter simply referred to as a motor) 30 is fixed to a lower portion of the support frame 24 between the side plates 24b and 24c.

The motor 30 constitutes a rotary drive device of this embodiment together with an arm 32 described later.
The rotating shaft 31 is horizontally fixed in a direction perpendicular to the length direction of the load cell 23 so as to be sandwiched between the side plates 24b and 24c, and both ends 31a and 31b of the rotating shaft 31 are attached to the outer surfaces of the side plates 24b and 24c. To protrude.

One ends 32a of the same arms 32, 32 are fixed to both ends 31a, 31b of the rotating shaft 31, respectively.

The two arms 32 are fixed at the same angle with respect to the rotation axis 31 of the motor 30 and parallel to each other. On the other end 32b side, a roller shaft 33 parallel to the rotation axis 31 of the motor 30 is provided. Are protruded outward.
A cylindrical roller 34 is rotatably attached to the roller shaft 33.

On the other hand, the bearing portion 25 of the bearing support plate 25
Bearings 40, 40 are fixed to d, 25e, respectively.

The bearing 40 is, as shown in FIGS.
A disk-shaped base 40a and a bearing 40b protruding from the front side of the base 40a are integrally formed.
The two bearings 40 are fixed such that the back sides of the respective bases 40a are in close contact with the front faces of the bearings 25d and 25e of the bearing support plate 25, and the bearings 40b are horizontally and linearly aligned.

Inside the bearing portion 40b, a shaft hole 41 parallel to the base portion 40a is provided at a predetermined depth from one side surface to the other side surface. A vertically long hole 42 penetrating into the shaft hole 41 is provided. The hole 42 is provided in the bearing portion 2 of the bearing support plate 25.
It matches the holes 26 of 5d and 25e. On the other end of the bearing portion 40b, a hopper locking plate 43 for locking a hopper main body 60 described later is provided upright. The hopper locking plate 43 is provided with a horizontally convex locking groove 44.

The two bearings 40 are fixed to the bearing portions 25d and 25e of the bearing support plate 25 such that the shaft holes 41 face outward and the centers of the shaft holes 41 are aligned horizontally and in a straight line. A shutter support 45 is rotatably supported in the shaft hole 41 of the bearing 40.

As shown in FIG. 6, the shutter support 45 has a pair of shafts 46, 46 respectively engaged with the shaft holes 41 of the both bearings 40, and a direction substantially perpendicular to the center of the both shafts 46. Arm connecting portions 48, 48 respectively extended,
It is composed of an arm connecting portion 48 and a shutter supporting portion 50 provided on the opposite side with the shaft 46 interposed therebetween.

Each arm connecting portion 48 includes a rod-like portion 48a having a distal end inserted into substantially the center of the shaft 46 in the shaft hole 41 through the hole 42 of the base 40a of both bearings 40 from the rear side.
A frame portion 48b is provided on the other end of the rod portion 48a. The frame portion 48b extends in a direction perpendicular to the shaft 46 as a sliding guide portion of this embodiment, and the roller 34 of the arm 32 is substantially An elongated hole 49 is formed to be received with no gap and to slide and guide in the longitudinal direction.

On the other hand, the shutter supporting portion 50 is
The support arms 50a, 50b extending in a direction perpendicular to both axes and parallel to each other from the outer end of the support arm 46, and a connecting plate 50c connecting between the support arms 50a, 50b, are formed substantially in an H shape.
Locking grooves 51 and 52 for locking a shutter plate 55 described later are provided on a lower outer surface of the lower portion 50b in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the support arm.

When the arm 32 is rotated by the drive of the motor 30, the arm connecting portion 48 of the shutter support 45 is rotated together with the shaft 46, and the shutter support 50 is rotated by the rotation of the shaft.

The shutter plate 50 includes a shutter plate 5
5 is detachably supported. The shutter plate 55 includes a rectangular substrate 55a having a size to cover a lower opening surface of the hopper body 60, and side plates 55b and 55c extending upward from both left and right edges of the substrate 55a. Are formed with a pair of engaging claws 56 and 57 which are engaged with the left and right ends of the upper edge of the connecting plate 50c of the shutter supporting portion 50. The side plates 55b and 55c are elastically deformed and provided on the shutter supporting portion 50c.
Locking pieces 58 and 59 are mounted in the locking grooves 51 and 52 of the support arms 50a and 50b in a non-return manner.

As shown in FIG. 7, the shutter plate 55 is provided with engaging claws 56, 57 which are connected to the connecting plate 5 of the shutter support 50.
By engaging with the upper edge of the shutter support portion 50 and locking the locking pieces 58 and 59 into the locking grooves 51 and 52 of the shutter support portion 50, the locking pieces 58 and 59 are supported on the shutter support portion 50. Also, locking pieces 58,
59, is disengaged from the locking grooves 51, 52 of the shutter supporting portion 50, and is shifted upward to engage the engaging claws 56, 57 with the connecting plate 5.
By releasing the engagement with Oc, the shutter supporting portion 50 can be detached.

As shown in FIG. 6, the hopper main body 60 has a rectangular front plate that entirely closes a space between substantially opposite triangular opposed side plates 60a and 60b and front inclined portions of the side plates 60a and 60b. 60c, and a rear plate 60d that closes between the rear upper portions of the side plates 60a and 60b. The upper surface side is largely opened horizontally, and the lower half of the rear inclined portion is opened to form a tubular body. I have. The upper half of the hopper main body 60 is formed such that the opening surface increases as it goes upward.

A locking plate 61 is attached to the rear plate 60d. The locking plate 61 is formed in a substantially U-shape by a rectangular base 61a fixed to the rear plate 60d, and pin mounting plates 61b and 61c extending from both ends of the base 61a so as to face rearward in parallel. And both pin mounting plates 61
Locking pins 63 and 64 are provided vertically on the outer surfaces of the b and 61c.

The distance between the pin mounting plates 61b and 61c is set slightly shorter than the distance between the hopper locking plates 43 of the two bearings 40 and 40, and the upper and lower locking pins 63 and 64 are
The interval is set so that it can be attached to and detached from the laterally convex locking groove 44 of the hopper locking plate 43. That is, the entrance width of the locking groove 44 is set shorter than the interval between the locking pins 63 and 64,
The length of the vertical groove portion of the locking groove 44 is set to be longer than the interval between the locking pins 63 and 64. After the upper locking pin 63 is inserted into the upper end of the vertical groove portion of the locking groove 44, Lock pin 64
Into the locking groove 44 and engage with the lower end of the vertical groove portion of the locking groove 44 to move the hopper body 60
3 can be locked. Further, the locking pins 62 and 63 of the hopper main body 60 and the hopper locking plate 43 are
Can be released.

Here, as shown in FIG.
When the arm 32 and the elongated hole 49 of the arm connecting part 48 are at a position orthogonal to each other, the dimensions of the respective parts are set in advance so that the shutter plate 55 supported by the shutter supporting part 50 closes the lower opening surface of the hopper body 60. ing.

The two bearings 40 protrude outside the housing 20 so as to pass through holes 20 a provided in the housing 20. The outer edge of the base 40 a of the bearing 40 and the holes 20 a Is covered with a bellows-like cover 70 for preventing the force from the housing side from being transmitted to the load cell 23 and for preventing intrusion of foreign matter into the housing.

In the weighing device configured as described above, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3A, when the shutter plate 55 is closed and an article is thrown into the hopper body 60 from above and a load is applied to the shutter plate 55, the arm 32 and the shutter support 45 Since the long hole 49 of the arm connecting portion 48 is at a position perpendicular to the arm 32, no rotational moment is generated on the arm 32, and the rotation of the shutter plate 55 is restricted.
No spillage of articles occurs.

The load of the article put into the hopper body 60 is applied to the load cell 23 together with the weights of all the members supported by the load cell 23. Weight is detected.

When discharging the weighed articles, the motor 30 is driven to rotate the arm 32 counterclockwise and the shutter support 45 is moved to the shaft 46 as shown in FIG. , The shutter plate 55 opens, and the articles in the hopper body 60 are discharged downward.

Then, the arm 32 makes one rotation and returns to the state shown in FIG. 8A, and the lower opening surface of the hopper body 60 is closed by the shutter plate 55. Hereinafter, storage, weighing, and discharging of articles are continuously performed in the same manner.

When the rotation direction of the rotating shaft of the motor 30 is counterclockwise as shown in FIG.
Is rotated in the direction approaching the shaft 46, the angle formed by the line connecting the center of the rotating shaft 31 of the motor 30 and the center of the shaft 46 and the arm connecting portion 48 when the shutter plate 55 is closed is α. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, when the rotating shaft 31 (arm 32) of the motor rotates by 180 ° -2α, the opening angle of the shutter plate 55 becomes maximum.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, even when the rotation speed of the motor 30 itself is constant, the opening angle of the shutter plate 55 is slower when the shutter plate 55 is closed than when it starts to be opened. When the shutter plate 55 is closed, the shutter plate 55 does not come into strong contact with the hopper body due to inertia, and no large noise is generated.

Since a stepping motor whose rotation speed can be easily controlled is used as the motor 30, the speed at the time of opening is made faster, the speed at the time of closing is made slower, and the article discharging speed is made faster. Noise generation can also be suppressed.

The structure of the weighing device is the same as that of the motor 3
0, the center of the hopper main body 60 is substantially aligned with the center of the load cell, and arms are fixed to both ends of the rotation shaft of the motor 30, respectively.
And a pair of arm connecting portions 48 are formed so as to have a line-symmetrical structure with respect to the load cell, so that a moment in the torsional direction is not generated in the load cell 23 when the shutter plate 55 is stationary and when the shutter plate 55 is opened and closed. Therefore, the load cell is hardly deteriorated, and accurate measurement can be stably performed for a long period of time.

When the cleaning operation is performed, the hopper body 60 can be detached from the hopper locking plate 43 and the shutter plate 55 can be detached from the shutter support member 45 so that they can be individually cleaned. Since there are no articles such as springs in the main body, the removal operation is unnecessary and the cleaning operation can be performed very efficiently. Further, since no spring is required on the drive device side, the structure is simple and maintenance is easy.

[0046]

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiment, the weighing device has been described. However, in the case of simply storing and discharging articles without performing weighing, the support frame 24 may be fixed to a chassis or the like of the device. In that case, the hopper locking plate 43 may be attached to the housing of the apparatus without providing the hopper locking plate 43 on the bearing 40.

In the above-described embodiment, the arms are attached to both ends of the rotation shaft of the motor 30, and the rollers of both arms are engaged with the two arm connecting portions. However, the shutter support shown in FIG. As in the case of the body 45 ', the shaft 46' is unified, an arm connecting portion 48 is provided at the center thereof, and one arm is connected to the arm connecting portion 48 to rotate the shutter supporting portion 50. It may be.

In the above embodiment, the roller at the tip of the arm is received and slidably guided by the long hole provided in the shutter support. However, the protrusion at the tip of the arm is slidably guided by the groove. You may.

[0049]

As described above, in the article storing and discharging apparatus according to the present invention, the cylindrical body which is open at the top and bottom for receiving and discharging the article is detachably supported on the support. A shutter plate for opening and closing the lower opening surface of the shutter is detachably supported on a shutter support that rotates about an axis at a position separated from the cylindrical body.

For this reason, the cylindrical body and the shutter plate can be attached and detached independently of each other, and the cleaning work and the maintenance work thereof become extremely easy.

Further, the rotary drive device is constituted by a motor having a rotation axis parallel to the axis of the shutter support and an arm fixed to the rotation axis, and a protrusion at the tip of the arm is provided on the shutter support. Since the shutter plate is closed at a position where the arm and the sliding guide portion are orthogonal to each other while being received by the moving guide portion, the rotational moment with respect to the arm when an article is put into the cylindrical body. Does not occur, and the shutter plate can be opened and closed without using an urging action such as a spring.

Further, since arms are provided at both ends of the rotating shaft of the motor and a pair of sliding guides are provided on the shutter support corresponding to the two arms, the entire mechanism can be made symmetrical. When used in a weighing device, it is possible to eliminate the adverse effect on the weight sensor due to the moment in the torsional direction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a main part of one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a main part of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic side view for explaining the operation of the embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a rotation angle of an arm and an opening angle of a shutter according to the embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a modification of a main part.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a conventional apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 23 load cell 24 support frame 25 bearing support plate 30 motor 31 rotation shaft 32 arm 33 roller shaft 34 roller 40 bearing 41 shaft hole 43 hopper lock plate 45 shutter support 46 shaft 48 arm connecting portion 49 long hole 50 shutter support portion 50a 50b Support arm 50c Connecting plate 51, 52 Locking groove 55 Shutter plate 56, 57 Locking claw 58, 59 Locking piece 60 Hopper body 61 Locking plate 62, 63 Locking pin

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] July 27, 1998

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] All figures

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG.

FIG. 4

FIG. 2

FIG. 3

FIG. 5

FIG. 7

FIG. 8

FIG. 9

FIG. 6

FIG. 10

FIG. 11

Claims (4)

[Claims] A cylindrical member having an upper portion opened to receive an article from above and a lower portion opened to discharge the received item; a support member for detachably supporting the cylindrical member; A shutter support supported by the support and rotatably provided about a substantially horizontal axis parallel to the lower opening surface of the cylindrical body and separated from the cylindrical body; and detachable from the shutter support. A shutter member which is freely supported and rotates about the shaft together with the shutter support to open and close a lower opening surface of the tubular body; and An article storage and ejection device comprising: a rotation driving device that rotationally drives the shutter support. 2. The motor according to claim 1, wherein the rotation driving device comprises: a motor supported by the support so that a rotation axis is parallel to an axis of the shutter support; one end fixed to a rotation shaft of the motor; On the side, there is provided a projecting portion projecting in parallel with the rotation axis of the motor,
An arm that rotates with the rotation of the rotating shaft of the motor; and the shutter support is formed along a direction orthogonal to the axis, and receives the projecting portion of the arm in the projecting direction. A sliding guide portion for slidingly guiding in the longitudinal direction is provided, and when an angle formed between the sliding guide portion of the shutter support and the arm is substantially a right angle, the shutter plate is provided with the cylinder. 2. The article storage and discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the lower opening surface of the body is closed. 3. A pair of arms of the rotary drive device are provided at both ends of a rotary shaft of the motor so that one ends thereof are fixed and parallel to each other, and the sliding guide portion of the shutter support is provided. 3. The article storage and discharge device according to claim 2, wherein a pair of the arms are provided in parallel with each of the pair of arms. 4. The article storage / ejection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the support is supported by a weight sensor, and the weight of the article stored in the cylindrical body is determined by the weight sensor. A weighing device characterized by detecting.