JPS621552B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sorting device suitable for sorting fruits and vegetables that tend to have cavities inside.

BACKGROUND ART Sorting devices for fruits and the like include weight sorting devices that sort objects by weight and shape sorting devices that sort objects by external shape, and both are used depending on the type of objects to be sorted and the purpose of sorting. At the actual sorting site,
Generally, multiple sorting lines are installed in parallel for each grade of the material to be sorted, and the material to be sorted is first graded based on its appearance and then fed to the sorting line for the corresponding grade. It's getting old. Among the sorting devices that make up the sorting line, weight sorting devices generally have higher sorting accuracy than shape sorting devices.
It is widely used for sorting tomatoes, mandarin oranges, etc., which tend to have uneven external shapes, but this device alone has not been able to remove abnormal products that are large in shape relative to their weight, such as those with internal holes.

For abnormal products that are large in shape relative to their weight, if the grade is one rank lower and the weight classification (class) is one rank higher, it will normally pass as an acceptable product, so a weight sorting device is used. It would be extremely advantageous to be able to extract abnormal products that are large in appearance relative to their weight from a higher grade sorting line and use them as products of a grade one rank lower.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the present invention has been made with the purpose of providing a sorting device that can reduce abnormal products that are large in shape relative to their weight by one grade and make effective use of them. , a weight sorting line is provided for each grade of the material to be sorted, and the material to be sorted taken out from the outlet provided for each weight category of the weight sorting line is in proportion to the set weight of the outlet. A shape sorting device is installed to inspect whether the product has an appropriate external shape and remove abnormal products, and a conveyor is installed to mix the abnormal products picked out by this shape sorting device with products one grade lower. . The embodiments shown in the drawings will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing one example of a sorting device according to the present invention, in which a chevron-shaped sorting plate 2 with a raised center is provided at the front of a hopper 1, and a weight sorting device 3 is mounted in front of it. It is provided. Near the end (starting end) on the hopper side of the weight sorting device 3 is a grade sorting section 4, and sorting conveyors 5, 5, which also serve as sorting tables, are provided on both left and right sides of the grade sorting section 4. The lower end is connected to this.

The illustrated weight sorting device 3 has three weight sorting lines A, B, and C, where the A line is a sorting line for grades "Excellent," the B line is a sorting line for grades "Excellent," and the C line is a sorting line for grades "Excellent." It has become a sorting line for "good" products. As shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b, the weight sorting device 3 includes saucers 10, 10, While maintaining the horizontal state of the saucer 10, which is placed on a guide rail 12 which is rotatably supported and has a pin 11 protruding from the side of the saucer 10 on the side of each line, The guide rail 12 is configured to be movable in the X direction, and furthermore, a notch 13 is formed in the middle of the guide rail 12, and a weighing rail 15 supported by a weighing spring 14 is provided in this portion. When a material to be sorted with a weight greater than the set weight passes over the weighing rail 15, the weighing rail 15 is
is lowered, the tray 10 is rotated downward about the shaft 9, and the objects to be sorted placed thereon are discharged. The weighing section equipped with such a weighing rail is suitable for each weight category 3L, 2L,
2S is provided for each line A, B, and C, and along the traveling direction (X) of the saucer 10, the one closer to the starting end 3a side has a larger set weight, and the one closer to the terminal end 3b side has a smaller set weight. The strength of the weighing springs 14, 14, . . . is adjusted in order so that It should be noted that at the end portion 3b of each line A, B, and C constituted by the rows of saucers 10, the saucer 10 is inverted, folded back below each line, and returned to the start end 3a.

The lower part of each weighing section W receives the objects to be sorted discharged from the tray 10 and transfers them to the weight sorting device 3.
Take-out conveyors 16, 16,...
is provided. In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the take-out conveyors 16 for the A line and the B line are provided to send out to the right in the direction of travel (X), and the take out conveyor 16 for the C line is provided to send out to the left. There is.

At the terminal end 16b of the take-out conveyor 16, which is the take-out port of the weight sorter 3, a shape sorter 20 is provided as illustrated in FIG. The shape sorting device 20 has objects to be sorted 30 supplied thereto.
is of a predetermined size, and the objects to be sorted whose external shape is larger than the predetermined size are sent to the discharge port 20.
In the illustrated example, a so-called hole-passing type shape sorting device equipped with a perforated belt 21 is used. The perforated belt 21 is an endless belt having a large number of holes 22 of a predetermined size, and moves in the direction of arrow Z as the roller 28 rotates. The size of the hole 22 is such that a non-defective, normal product such as a steel having a weight belonging to the weight category concerned can pass therethrough. As the shape sorting device 20, other suitable shape sorting devices such as a drum type, photoelectric type, etc. can be used.

In the above configuration, when the objects 30 to be sorted, such as tomatoes, are supplied to the hopper 1, the objects 30 to be sorted are sorted left and right by the sorting plate 2, and then sorted in the direction of the arrow X by the left and right sorting conveyors 5, 5. On the way, workers 40, 40, etc. visually observe and classify them into "excellent,""excellent," and "good," and place them on the trays 10 in the corresponding lines A, B, and C, respectively. .

The objects to be sorted 30 placed on the weight sorting line by grade are discharged onto the take-out conveyor 16 in descending order of weight based on preset weight categories in the weight sorting section. shape sorting device 20
is supplied to The weight classification in the weight sorting section is in descending order of weight.
There are six types: 3L, 2L, L, M, S, and 2S, but the shape sorting device 20 has a special sorting section 4L that represents objects larger than 3L.

Most of the objects to be sorted 30 fed onto the perforated belt 21 of the shape sorting device 20 fall through the holes 22 onto the take-out belt conveyor 23 while the belt is moving; It is carried into the receiver 24. On the other hand, the perforated belt 21
Items with a large external shape that do not pass through the holes 22 are supplied from a discharge port 25 provided at the end of the perforated belt 21 onto a communication belt conveyor 26, and are transported by the communication belt conveyor 26 to a take-out port in the lower grade. be guided. FIG. 4 illustrates the sorting method in this case. For example, among the objects 30 sent to the shape sorting device 20 from the weight sorting section of the A-line weight class 3L, those with an appropriate external shape are classified into It is taken out as a 3L item with an "excellent" grade, but abnormal items with a larger external shape are classified as an "excellent" grade.
It is taken out as a 4L product. A-line weight classification
Among the 2L products sent from the weight sorting section to the shape sorter 20, those with a proper external shape are taken out as ``Excellent'' 2L, and abnormal products with a larger external shape are taken out as ``Excellent'' 3L. . Similarly, abnormal products with large external dimensions are mixed in with products that are one class lower and one class higher. Fourth
The arrow indicated by a broken line in the figure indicates the connecting belt conveyor 26.
represents the transfer line.

Next, FIGS. 5 and 6 show different embodiments. In this example, there is only one A line for the grade "Excellent", a B line for the grade "Excellent", and a C line for the grade "Good". 2 to 3 lines are provided. In addition, in this example, only weight sorting is performed for the lowest grade "good" products,
The configuration is such that no shape sorting is performed, and furthermore, the configuration is such that all abnormal items in the top class 3L, both ``excellent'' and ``excellent,'' are mixed into the ``good'' 3L.

In FIG. 5, from the chute 40 to the grade sorting section 4
The material 30 to be sorted is classified into three grades, ``excellent'', ``excellent'', and ``good'', as in the previous example, and placed on conveyors 41, 42, and 43 for each grade, and subjected to weight sorting. It is supplied onto the trays 10 of lines A, B, and C. The grade conveyor 41 is a conveyor for grade "excellent" and is provided one step higher than the other grade conveyors. The grading conveyors 42 and 43 are conveyors for ``excellent'' and ``good'' grades, respectively, and grading conveyors 42 for ``excellent'' are provided on both sides of the grading conveyor 43 for ``good'' grade. The objects to be sorted supplied from these grade conveyors 41, 42, and 43 to the A, B, and C lines, which are the respective weight sorting lines, are extracted from each weight sorting section in descending order of weight, and then transferred to the take-out conveyor 16. Then, it is sent out to the side of the weight sorting device 3. In this example, the shape sorting device 20 similar to the previous example is connected to the take-out conveyors for grades "Excellent" and "Excellent", but the shape sorter 20 is connected to the take-out conveyor 16 for grades "Good". It is now being taken out as is. A
Among the items taken out by the take-out conveyor 16 of the line and B line, those with appropriate external shapes are taken out as products of the respective grades, but items with larger external sizes are classified as "good". ” will be treated as a product.

As explained above, the apparatus for sorting fruits, etc. according to the present invention is capable of extracting objects with defects such as "s" from high-quality products, and
It has become highly practical as the extracted abnormal products can be used as low grade products.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 5 are plan views showing mutually different embodiments of the sorting device according to the present invention, FIGS. 2 a and b are plan views and side views of the weighing section, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the shape sorting device. , FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 are explanatory diagrams of the sorting method. 1... hopper, 2... sorting plate, 3... weight sorting device, 4... grade sorting section, 5... sorting conveyor, 7... chain, 9... shaft, 10... saucer, 11... pin, 12
...Guide rail, 14...Weighing spring, 16...
Take-out conveyor, 20... shape sorting device, 21... porous belt, 22... hole, 30... object to be sorted, 41, 4
2,43...Grade belt conveyor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A weight sorting line for sorting objects such as fruits by weight is provided for each grade of the object to be sorted, and the weight sorting lines are taken out from the outlet provided for each weight category. A shape sorting device is installed to inspect whether the material to be sorted has an appropriate external shape commensurate with the set weight of the outlet and to extract abnormal products, and the abnormal products extracted by this shape sorting device are classified into 1st grade. A sorting device for fruits, etc., characterized by being equipped with a conveyor that mixes with the products below.