JPH1190343A - Sorting and collecting device for agricultural and livestock products - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sorting and collecting device for agricultural and livestock products capable of suppressing an increase in an equipment cost and equipment space and efficiently and rapidly sorting and collecting a large amt. of articles to be sorted. SOLUTION: The sorting and collecting device for agricultural and livestock products that sorts and collects the articles (w) to be sorted consisting of the agricultural and livestock products by each of preset characteristic segments is equipped with a transporting means 1 which transports the articles (w) to be sorted, a characteristic detecting means 7 which detects the characteristic of the articles (w) to be sorted transported by this transporting means 1 and a transfer means 20 which takes out the articles (w) to be sorted transported by the transporting means 1, transfers the articles to a housing section corresponding to their own characteristic segments and houses the articles therein based on the detected information of the characteristic detecting means 7. The upstream side in the transporting direction of the transporting means 1 from the installation point of the transfer means 20 is provided with a transporting array changing section D for changing the transporting array of the articles (w) to be sorted transported by the transporting means 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for selectively collecting agricultural and livestock products such as fruits, vegetables, eggs and the like in accordance with predetermined property categories such as grade, grade, maturity or taste. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of sorting and collecting, while sorting a sorting object by a conveyor, image processing or other discriminating means is used to classify properties (for example, a grade based on color, presence or absence of scratches, etc.). , Or a class based on size or weight), sorts and sorts the objects to be sorted into a predetermined collection unit according to the classification based on the result of the judgment, and collects them manually in boxes. It has become a target. In addition, in order to improve the work efficiency, an automatic device such as a robot hand has been partially introduced into the boxing work of the sorting target materials sorted and transported for each property section.

[0003]

In a co-sorting facility where agricultural and livestock products are brought in from many producers, the quantity of sorted items brought in becomes enormous, and the number of property categories increases. In order to process in the form of the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, a large sorting and transporting facility is required to sort and transport sorted materials to a predetermined collecting section according to the property category after determining the property category, and equipment cost and equipment space are required. Will be increased.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and is capable of efficiently collecting a large amount of materials to be sorted in a short time while suppressing an increase in equipment cost and equipment space. The main purpose is to provide a sorting and collecting device for products.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 [Configuration, operation and effect of the invention according to claim 1]

(Structure) The invention according to claim 1 is an apparatus for sorting and collecting agricultural and livestock products, which sorts and collects selected objects made of agricultural and livestock products for each preset property category. , A property detecting means for detecting a property of the sorting object carried by the carrying means, and the sorting carried by the carrying means based on detection information of the property detecting means. Transfer means for taking out an object, transferring it to a storage unit corresponding to its own property section, and storing it,
A transfer arrangement changing means for changing the transfer arrangement of the sorting objects carried by the transfer means is provided on a side of the transfer means at a position upstream of the installation position of the transfer means.

(Operation) According to the above-described configuration, the properties of the sorting object conveyed by an appropriate conveying means such as a bucket conveyor are first detected by the property detecting means. As the property detection, for example, an object to be sorted is photographed, its image data is analyzed, the size, color tone, presence / absence of a flaw, and the like are detected, and classification is performed in a plurality of preset property categories.

[0008] The sorted objects whose properties have been detected are continuously conveyed, and the transfer means takes out the sorted objects corresponding to the property section in charge of itself and takes them out and transfers them to the storage section. go. In this case, the transfer processing speed by the transfer means cannot be increased indiscriminately to avoid accidents such as mistaken removal from the transfer means and unexpected dropout during movement after removal. The transport speed cannot be reduced too much in terms of work efficiency. Therefore, if the sorted objects of the same property section are continuously conveyed at short intervals, the transfer means will leave behind. When the transfer is performed in an arrangement where such a leftover occurs, the transfer arrangement changing means is operated in advance in the transfer direction above the place where the transfer means is installed, and the transfer means is placed in an array in which the transfer means can operate without being left behind. Change the transport arrangement of the sorted items.

(Effect) Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the sorting object of the property section in charge by the transfer means is taken out from the transport means and is directly transferred to the storage section.
A transport device for sorting and transporting the sorted materials to a predetermined collecting section according to the property classification and a sorting and transporting process are not required, so that the equipment cost and equipment space of the entire sorting device can be reduced, and the sorting and collection processing time can be reduced. Shortening can be achieved. In addition, the transfer speed of the transfer means can be set to a speed at which the transfer speed of the transfer means is not excessively reduced, and the operation speed of the transfer means is set to a speed at which there is no erroneous removal or dropout, so that a reliable transfer operation can be performed. In addition, the sorting and collection can be performed efficiently without leaving or leaving little.

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

(Structure) According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the transfer arrangement changing means is arranged such that the transfer arrangement changing means is located at a position upstream of the transfer means in the transfer direction of the transfer means. Conveyance that performs an acquisition operation of transferring the sorted object to be transferred by the mounting means to the temporary placing table, and a return operation of again transferring the sorted object placed on the temporary placing table to the transport means. It is characterized by comprising a transfer device for changing the arrangement.

(Operation) According to the above configuration, when the sorting object to be transferred by the transfer means is conveyed in a state where the leftover occurs, the sorting object is transferred by the transfer device for changing the transfer arrangement. The picked-up object is temporarily transferred to the temporary placing table, and then the sorting object temporarily placed on the temporary placing table is returned to the transport means so that the transfer means can be operated without being left behind. In other words, the sorting object is transferred to the transfer means by a transferer of the transfer device to obtain an array with no residue.

(Effects) Therefore, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the above effects of the first aspect of the present invention can be accurately exhibited.

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

(Structure) According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the transfer arrangement changing means includes a control means for controlling an operation of the transfer device,
The control means executes the acquisition operation when there is a possibility that the transfer means may not be able to perform a transfer operation on a sorting target object to be transferred conveyed by the transfer means, and The transfer device is configured to control the operation of the transfer device so as to execute the return operation when the transfer operation is executable with respect to the transport state of the sorting target object by the transport unit. It is characterized by.

(Operation / Effect) When the property detection processing is performed, it is possible to grasp the arrangement of the objects to be sorted in each property section. It is possible to recognize whether or not the sheet is conveyed in a timely manner. Then, if it is recognized that the transfer operation is in an arrangement that cannot be made in time, the transfer device is acquired and operated on the upstream side of the transfer means, and the sorting target material to be transferred is automatically once. Take up and transfer to the temporary placement table, then, while checking the placement and transfer status of the sorting object in the transfer means, so that the transfer means can operate the sorting object temporarily placed on this temporary holding table without leaving behind Automatically returns to the transport means. That is, the transfer arrangement is automatically changed based on the property detection information, so that the function of the invention according to claim 2 can be properly exhibited.

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

(Structure) According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, a plurality of the transfer means are arranged along the transport direction of the transport means in correspondence with each of the property sections. The transfer arrangement changing unit may be configured such that another transfer unit located on the upper side in the transfer direction of the transfer unit with respect to the location of the transfer unit is a transfer target by the transfer unit located on the lower side in the transfer direction. Acquisition operation to transfer the sorted object to be placed on the temporary table, and again the sorted object placed on the temporary table,
And a return operation for transferring the data to the transporting means.

(Operation) According to the above configuration, when the sorting object of the property section with respect to a certain transfer means is conveyed in a state in which a leftover is generated, another transfer apparatus located on the upper side in the conveying direction from this. The means uses the idle time during which the sorted material that is in charge of itself is not transferred, takes out the sorted material of the property section for a certain transferring means on the lower side from the transporting means, and temporarily transfers it to the temporary placing table. Thereafter, another transfer means located on the upstream side in the transfer direction transfers the sorting target object placed on the temporary placing table to the transfer means using the pause time to form an array in which no residue is generated. You do it.

(Effects) Therefore, according to the invention according to claim 4, the transfer means for sorting and collecting can be used also as the transfer device for changing the transport arrangement, and the above-mentioned effect of the invention according to claim 1 is achieved. And at the same time, the facility structure can be simplified.

[Structure, operation and effect of the invention according to claim 5]

(Structure) In the invention according to a fifth aspect, in the invention according to the fourth aspect, the transport arrangement changing means is configured such that the transfer means located on the lower side in the transport direction is transported by the transport means. When there is a possibility that the transfer operation for the sorting target object to be transferred may not be in time, the acquisition operation is performed, and the transfer operation is performed with respect to the transport state of the sorting target object to be transferred by the transport unit. Is configured to control the operation of another transfer unit located on the upper side in the transport direction so as to execute the return operation when the operation is executable.

(Operation / Effect) According to the above configuration, the transport arrangement change by another transfer means located on the upper side in the transport direction is automatically performed based on the property detection information. The above function of the invention can be exhibited properly.

[0024]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a schematic plan view of a sorting and collecting apparatus using fruits such as persimmons as an object to be sorted as an example of an apparatus for sorting and collecting agricultural and livestock products according to the present invention. The basic configuration of the sorting and collecting apparatus and the outline of the processing steps will be described.

Sorted objects (fruits) w stored in a container or the like and brought to the work place are first carried into the aligning and supplying unit A, and are visually sorted by the operator m, and are not visually noticeable scratches, particularly, An object having a good shape is placed and supplied to the bucket conveyor 1 as a conveying means in a posture in which a “bent portion” faces downward.

As shown in FIG. 3, the bucket conveyor 1 uses a plurality of rows (for example, four rows) in which a circular dish-shaped bucket 3 is attached to a wound chain 2 at a constant pitch. Here, brackets 4 are attached to the chain 2 at a constant pitch in the transport direction,
A bucket support 5 is rotatably connected to the bracket 4 around a longitudinal axis x along the transport direction, and the bucket 3 is further rotatably connected to the bucket support 5 around a vertical axis y. A hook-shaped locking member 6 that is elastically pivoted and biased is pivotally connected to the bracket 4. Usually, the locking member 6 is engaged with the locking pin 5 a of the bucket supporting member 5. By doing so, the bucket 3 is held horizontally, which is the transport posture. Then, if necessary, the locking member 6 is forcibly removed from the locking pin 5a by the solenoid 17 or the like, so that the bucket supporting member 5 is rotated by its own weight around the longitudinal axis x together with the bucket 3, so that the bucket 3 Is configured to be able to discharge the sorting object w placed on the side to the side. The fallen bucket 3 is forcibly returned to the original position by an operation from the outside, and the locking fitting 6 is elastically engaged with the locking pin 5a to maintain the position. You.

An image measuring device 7 as a property detecting means is provided under the transport of the supply section A. Here, the upper surface and the entire periphery of the object to be sorted w are photographed, and the image data is analyzed by the controller 8. Then, desired properties to be inspected, such as size, color, presence or absence of flaws, etc., are detected, and a predetermined property category (for example, grade and class) is determined. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the image measuring device 7 has a pair of front and rear cameras 9 disposed above the conveyor with respect to each bucket row, and a pair of tilts on the left and right sides of each bucket row. A mirror 10 is arranged, and the upper surface and the left and right side surfaces of the sorting object w on the bucket 3 are simultaneously photographed by one camera 9. A belt 11 is provided between the front and rear cameras 9 so as to contact the peripheral surface of the circular dish-shaped bucket 3, and the bucket 3 passes through the first camera 9 and the second camera 9. The bucket 3 is rotated by 90 degrees due to the relative contact with the belt 11 before entering the photographing area, so that both sides not photographed by the first camera 9 are photographed by the second camera 9. It has become. In other words, 2 with a different rotation phase by 90 degrees
The upper surface and the entire side surface of the object to be sorted w are photographed by each photographing. Then, the data of the detection result in the image measuring device 7 is stored in the control device 8, and based on the information from the rotary encoder 12 provided in the bucket conveyor 1, the transport position of the sorting object w of each property section is determined. The calculation is performed by the control device 8.

An automatic box packing work area B for automatically packing boxes and a manual packing work area C for manually packing boxes are arranged in this order on the lower side of the conveyance of the image measuring device 7. A plurality of collecting units 13 and a collecting conveyor 14 for feeding the selected material w of each property section to the collecting unit 13 are arranged in parallel in the transport direction in the hand-packing work area C. A plurality of automatic cartoning units 15 are arranged in parallel in the transport direction. Here, the assignment of the property classification in the automatic boxing work area B and the property classification in the manual packing work area C can be arbitrarily changed by the assignment setting unit 16 connected to the control device 8, and the frequency of occurrence is usually normal. The property section having the largest number is assigned to each automatic box packing section 15.

The basic configuration of the sorting / collecting apparatus according to the present invention is as described above. The sorting object w whose property classification has been determined based on the photographing by the image measuring device 7 first enters the automatic boxing work area B. When the sorting object w of the property section in charge of itself arrives at the retrievable area of each automatic box packing unit 15, only the retrievable items are automatically removed and boxed as described later. Then, the sorted objects w of the other property categories not handled by the automatic box packing unit 15 are sent to the hand-packing work area C,
Each is distributed to the collection conveyor 14 according to a predetermined property classification, sent to the predetermined collection unit 13, and is manually packed in a box. The transfer from the bucket conveyor 1 to each collection conveyor 14 is performed by the bucket 17 being turned down by the solenoid 17.

FIGS. 6 to 8 show the structure of the automatic box packing section 15. FIG. The sorting object w on the bucket 3 is picked up above the bucket conveyor 1, and the bucket conveyor 1
A handling device 20 is provided as a transfer unit for transferring the data to a storage unit provided at a lateral side of the storage unit. The handling device 20 includes a fixed guide 21 that horizontally traverses above the conveyor, and a movable guide 2 that is long before and after (transfer direction) that is driven and moved horizontally and horizontally along the fixed guide 21.
2, a movable member 23 that is driven back and forth along the movable guide 22, and a suction pad 24 that is supported by the movable member 11 and that is vertically driven and moved. By applying a negative pressure to the pad 24 and pressing it against the object to be sorted w, the object to be sorted w can be sucked and held and lifted, and by releasing the negative pressure, the holding function is released to cancel the object to be sorted w. Can be left alone.

That is, by moving the suction pad 24 horizontally in two orthogonal directions and moving the suction pad up and down, the sorting object w is taken out from any of the three groups of buckets in a plurality of rows within the retrievable area of the automatic box packing section 15. It can be carried out of the conveyor line. The horizontal movement of the entire movable guide 22 is the fixed guide 2
The horizontal movement of the movable member 23 is carried out by the same actuator provided in the movable guide 22, and the vertical movement of the suction pad 24 is performed by the air cylinder 25. The operation of moving the suction pad 24 using these actuators, and the operation of taking out and holding the material to be sorted w and the operation of discharging it are controlled based on commands from the control device 8.

A box 26 made of corrugated cardboard is used as a storage section for receiving the sorting object w taken out by the above-mentioned handling device 20, and two boxes 26 are provided in one handling device 20 in the transport direction. The bucket conveyors 1 are arranged side by side and arranged close to the side of the bucket conveyor 1. Each box 26 is placed on a lifter 27 and can be moved up and down between a transfer operation level at which the handling device 20 is transferred and a lower unloading level. Also,
An empty box supply conveyor 28 for loading an empty box 26 is provided at the higher transfer operation level, and a box filled with the transferred sorted objects w is provided at the lower transfer level. A full box unloading conveyor 29 for unloading the container 13 is provided. When one of the boxes 26 is full, storage in the other box 26 is continued, and the storing operation in the other box 26 is performed. The lower box 26 that has been filled in between has been lowered and carried out, and a new empty box 26 has been carried in. By successively repeating these steps, continuous packing and collection can be performed.

When the insole 30 made of paper or resin molded so as to accommodate the objects to be sorted w in a predetermined arrangement pattern is placed inside the box 26, and a plurality of stages of stacking and storing are to be performed. The insole 30 is inserted for each stage. Preferably, the supply of the insole 30 is automatically performed, but may be performed manually.

Further, the automatic cartoning work area B is provided with a transfer arrangement changing means configured and functioned as described below for avoiding the left behind by each automatic cartoning section 15.

A transfer arrangement changing unit D is provided on the uppermost transfer side of the automatic box packing unit 15 located at the uppermost position. The transport arrangement changing section D is provided with a handling device 40 as a transfer means for changing the transport arrangement and a temporary placing table 41 for temporarily placing the sorting objects w.
Reference numeral 0 denotes a configuration similar to that of the above-described handling device 20 for packing a box, in which the suction pad 42 serving as a holding means is moved back and forth, right and left, and up and down. FIG.
As shown in (1), each of the automatic cartoning sections 15 except for the last automatic cartoning section 15 is also provided with a temporary placing table 43.

The handling device 40, which is a transfer means for changing the arrangement, is automatically controlled by the information from the control device 8. In the case where the sheet is transported in an array that cannot be transferred at 20, the transport arrangement is changed so that the handling device 20 can be transferred. When the objects are conveyed at such a small interval that they cannot be processed, the arrangement changing handling device 40 takes out the sorted objects w that are not in time for the transfer processing, temporarily places them on the temporary mounting table 41, and temporarily arranges the objects in time for the transfer processing. When the bucket 3 arrives in the empty space, the temporarily-selected sorting object w is put back into the bucket 3.

Also, the handling device 20 of each automatic box packing section 15 has the original function of transferring the sorting object w of the property section to which the automatic box packing section 15 is in charge, and the automatic box packing section 15 adjacent to the lower side of the conveyance. Also has a function of changing the arrangement of the property section to be sorted w to be selected. That is, the handling device 20 of each automatic box packing unit 15
When there is a waiting time for the transfer operation of the sorting object w of the property section in charge of itself, the sorting section w of the property section in which the automatic box packing unit 15 adjacent to the lower side of the conveyance is in charge of,
Take out what is not in time for transfer processing and temporarily place
3 and the empty buckets 3 arrive in an array in time for the transfer processing, and the provisionally sorted objects w are operated to be returned to the buckets 3.

It is to be noted that the present invention can be modified and implemented in the following forms. When the arrangement of each of the automatic cartoning sections 15 can be changed only by the transport arrangement changing section D, it is not necessary to cause the handling device (transfer means) 20 of the automatic cartoning section 15 to perform the arrangement changing operation. The handling devices 20 and 41 as transfer means are configured to move the holding means such as the suction pads 24 and 42 by combining the horizontal movement mechanism and the vertical movement mechanism as described above. A handling robot can also be used. As the holding means 24, 42 for taking out the sorting object w, in addition to using the suction pad as described above, an open / close claw driven by an electric actuator or a fluid pressure actuator can be used, and the sorting object to be sorted is selected. What is necessary is just to select the form suitable for the thing w. As the property detection means 7, as described above,
In addition to the configuration in which the image is captured, the configuration may be such that the weight is simply measured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a sorting and collecting apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing linkage of control;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a bucket conveyor.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of an image measuring device (property detecting means).

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing rotation operation means of the bucket.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of an automatic box packing unit.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the automatic box packing unit.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an automatic box packing unit.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a hand stuffing unit.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an arrangement changing unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conveying means 7 Property detection means (image measuring device) 13 Collection part 20 Transfer means (handling mechanism) 26 Storage part (box) 40 Transfer means for arrangement change 41 Temporary table 42 Temporary table w W

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing from the front page (72) Kenichi Ikeura, 64 Ishizukita-cho, Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture Inside the Kubota Sakai Works (72) Kazuyuki Okada 64, Ishizukita-cho, Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture Kubota Sakai Co., Ltd. Inside the manufacturing plant (72) Inventor Kunio Nanbu 12 in Kambelu Minamitono Honmachi, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan

Claims (5)

[Claims] An apparatus for sorting and collecting agricultural and livestock products, which sorts and collects sorted objects made of agricultural and livestock products in accordance with preset property divisions, comprising: transport means for transporting the sorted objects; A property detecting means for detecting the property of the sorting object conveyed by the means; and, based on the detection information of the property detecting means, taking out the sorting object conveyed by the conveying means and dividing the property into its own property section. Transfer means for transferring and storing in a corresponding storage portion, the transfer of the sorted objects to be transferred by the transfer means to a position closer to the transfer direction of the transfer means than the installation position of the transfer means. A sorting and collecting apparatus for agricultural and livestock products provided with a transport arrangement changing means for changing an arrangement. 2. The transfer arrangement changing means, wherein a sorting target object to be transferred by the transfer means is transferred to a temporary mounting table at a position closer to a transfer direction of the transfer means than an installation position of the transfer means. 2. A transfer device for changing a transport arrangement, the transfer device performing an acquisition operation to be performed and a return operation to re-transfer an object to be sorted placed on the temporary mounting table to the transport means again. An apparatus for sorting and collecting agricultural and livestock products according to the description. 3. The transfer arrangement changing means includes a control means for controlling an operation of the transfer device, wherein the control means is configured to transfer the transfer target by the transfer means. When there is a possibility that the transfer operation for the sorting target object may not be in time, the acquisition operation is executed, and the transfer operation can be executed for the transport state of the sorting target object to be transferred by the transport unit. 3. The sorting and collecting apparatus for agricultural and livestock products according to claim 2, wherein the apparatus is configured to control the operation of the transfer apparatus so as to execute the return operation when. 4. A plurality of said transfer means are arranged along the transport direction of said transport means in correspondence with each of said property sections, and said transport arrangement changing means is located at a position closer to said transfer means. Another transfer unit located on the upper side in the transport direction of the transport unit, an acquisition operation of transferring the sorted object to be transferred by the transfer unit located on the lower side in the transport direction to the temporary table, The agricultural and livestock product sorting and collecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sorting and collecting apparatus is configured to perform a returning operation of transferring the sorting object placed on the temporary table to the transporting means again. 5. The transfer arrangement changing unit, wherein the transfer unit located on the lower side in the transfer direction may not be able to perform a transfer operation on a sorting target object to be transferred transferred by the transfer unit in time. In some cases, the acquisition operation is performed, and the transfer operation is performed such that the return operation is performed when the transfer operation can be performed on the transfer state of the sorting target object to be transferred by the transfer unit. The agricultural and livestock sorting and collecting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the apparatus is configured to control the operation of another transfer means located on the upper side in the direction.