JPS6241798B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sorting machine that randomly transports fruits and vegetables of different grades one by one on a sorting conveyor with a tray, and sorts and discharges them by grade and class.

Conventionally, the sorting facilities for deciduous fruits such as pears and apples, and vegetables such as watermelons, melons, and tomatoes (hereinafter referred to as fruits) have been able to handle the grades of fruits, such as excellent quality, whether by weight sorting or shape sorting. Then, one or two conveyors with trays are installed in parallel for each grade, and each fruit is judged by the fruit sorter and placed in the tray of the conveyor of the corresponding grade. When passing through a weight or shape measuring device installed in
A method is adopted in which the waste is graded into multiple grades such as S, M, L, and 2L, and then sorted and discharged.

On the other hand, the grade ratio of fruits differs depending on the type and production area, but for pears and apples, the highest grade is 45
It accounts for ~55%, and the standard for excellent and good grades is around 25% each. In addition, the sorting capacity of the machine in the sorting facility is normally 10,000 pieces per hour in one line, and in the case of three grade three conveyors installed side by side, the capacity is 30,000 pieces per hour. Therefore, in the case of 3 grades of 3 types of fruits, conventional sorting facilities would not be able to handle other excellent grades even if the most excellent grade fruits were fully loaded into the tray of the conveyor for the above-mentioned fruits. 50% of the inside and outside are put into the trays of the conveyor for the grade and good grades, and 50% each.
% of the trays were empty, and the actual sorting capacity decreased by around 10,000 pieces per hour compared to the machine capacity, which meant that the machine capacity of the facility could not be fully utilized and the sorting efficiency per row was poor.

In addition, if the object to be sorted is a heavy item such as watermelon or melon that is easily broken by the slightest impact, the conveyor of the corresponding grade in several chain conveyors each time the grade is judged as in conventional sorting facilities. Pour- ing into a saucer is not preferable in terms of sorting efficiency and prevention of damage.

The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and provides a conveyor-type sorter equipped with a large number of trays, which can be loaded with fruits of different grades and sorted by grade and class. The purpose is to

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a sorting conveyor with a saucer, which is provided with a device for measuring the shape or weight of fruits as objects to be sorted at a predetermined position from the starting end, and a measuring device for measuring the shape or weight of fruits as objects to be sorted, and a measuring device for measuring the shape or weight of fruits as objects to be sorted at a predetermined position from the starting end. A grade setting display means that advances simultaneously with the sorting conveyor until the grading conveyor sets and displays the grade for each tray, and a grade setting display means that detects the grade of each fruit set on the grade setting display means at a predetermined position, Means for inputting a grade signal into an arithmetic device, determining and ranking the grade of fruit on each saucer from the measurement signal measured by the measuring device, and processing the grade signal to determine the grade. A computing device is provided which shifts the sorting signal for each class to a predetermined discharge location in synchronization with the receiving tray, and sorts the products into each receiving box, so that a single sorting conveyor can sort the products into a plurality of grades and classes. It is.

The details will be explained below based on the attached drawings.

Figure 1 shows a plan view of a conventionally known three-row type standard sorting facility, in which a large number of trays 1 are mounted at equal intervals on each endless conveyor, and a grade sorting section 2 is installed.
A fruit sorter judges the grade of each fruit between the two, and the best grade fruits are transferred to the tray 1 of the best grade conveyor 3.
Excellent fruits are put into the tray 1 of the conveyor 4 for excellent grades, and fruits of good grade are put into the tray 1 of the conveyor 5 for good grades. Reference numeral 6 is a measuring device based on shape or weight, which measures the class (S, M,
L, 2L, etc.) is determined, and the tray 1 is tilted at a predetermined position to discharge the fruits into the tray 8 according to their class.

In the above-mentioned conventional sorting facility, conveyors are designated by grade, so even if the superior grade fruits with the highest grade ratio are fully loaded into the tray 1 of the superior grade conveyor 4, the superior grade fruits with the lower grade ratio and Good grade conveyor 3,
The saucer 1 of No. 5 has many defects, and the actual fruit sorting ability is lower than the mechanical capacity, which is economically disadvantageous, and it is also unsuitable for sorting heavy fruits that are easily broken, such as watermelons.

FIG. 2 and subsequent figures show embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a single-line sorting machine of the present invention. 101 and 102 are the same conveyor and tray as in FIG.
The tray 102 and a measuring device 106, which will be described later, constitute a sorting conveyor with a tray.

Reference numeral 103 denotes an endless chain that runs in parallel with the conveyor 101 and in synchronization from the starting end of the conveyor 101 to the measuring section where the measuring device 106 is disposed, and is, for example, a slat chain conveyor.

Reference numeral 104 denotes a manually operated display, in which push buttons or levers are used to set and display each grade for each tray 102 of the sorting conveyor with trays, and the required number is set as one set according to the number of grades. The endless chain 1 corresponds to each saucer 102.
It is attached to 03 attachments (slats, etc.). For example, in the case of three grades of excellent, superior, and good, the push buttons or levers are set as a set of three, but when operated manually, which one is for excellent grade, which is for excellent grade, and which is for excellent grade. In order to clearly distinguish whether it is a good grade or not, it is provided in different colors as shown in Figure 3. Since this color coding makes it easy to distinguish during manual operation, other means may be used, such as changing the shape for each grade or changing the position for each grade.

As described above, the endless chain 103 and the manually operated display 104 attached thereto manually determine the grade of the fruit placed on each tray of the tray-equipped sorting conveyor, which progresses synchronously. It constitutes a grade setting display means that can be set. The push button or lever of the grade setting display means is formed such that a protruding piece protrudes either downward, upward, or to the side when manually operated to set and display the grade of the fruit. The protruding piece advances to the vicinity of the measuring section while remaining protruded.

Reference numeral 105 denotes a detection device installed near the end of the endless chain 103 that moves synchronously with the conveyor 101 to the measurement section, and detects a protrusion by operating a push button or lever that differs depending on the grade of the manually operated indicator. It is provided so that pieces can be detected at different positions for each grade. For example, detection device 1
When a micro switch or a limit switch is used for 05, the protruding piece may be constructed so as to act as a toggle to press down the lever (tongue) of the switch. The detection device 105 may be located below, above, or to the side of the travel path of the manual operation indicator attached to the attachment of the endless chain 103 depending on the direction in which the projecting piece projects.
established in The detection device 105 outputs the grade signal of the fruit on the tray, which is progressing in synchronization with the manually operated display, to the flip-flop circuit 7 of the calculation device 107.
-Send to 4.

The protruding piece protruded by the operation of the push button or lever of the manual operation display is the detecting device 10.
After 5 transmits the grade signal, it is mechanically reset to its original position, restoring its state before ejection.
Note that the grade setting display means described above is an example of implementation, but it is possible to provide some kind of display means such as a mark or a protruding piece to display the grade of the fruit in the saucer 102 on something that advances in synchronization with the saucer 102. if there is,
Of course, other embodiments such as a moving electric light display may also be used.

The measuring device 106 is installed at a position a predetermined distance from the starting end of the conveyor 101, and the measuring device 106 is installed at a position a predetermined distance from the starting end of the conveyor 101.
A light emitter is installed on one side of the gate sandwiching 02 from the sides, and a light receiver (phototransistor) is installed on the other side.While the light beam from the light emitter is blocked by the passage of the fruit placed on the saucer 102, measurement is carried out. The measurement circuit 7-1 of the arithmetic unit 107 shown in FIG.
It is to be sent to. The arithmetic unit 107 counts the number of pulses generated by a rotary encoder (not shown) that can be linked to the conveyor 101 in the circuit 7-1 while the measurement circuit 7-1 is receiving the measurement signal, and outputs the count signal. The signal is sent to the comparator circuit 7-2, which determines the class by comparing it with a preset class classification. At the same time, the corresponding class is determined by a signal command from the flip-flop circuit 7-4, which temporarily stores the class signal generated by the detection device 105. gate circuit (Hide,
Gate circuits classified by grade of excellent and good 7-5 ₁ , 7-5 ₂ ,
7-5 ₃ ) is opened and input to a shift circuit (not shown), which shifts the sorting signal by grade and class to a predetermined discharge location in synchronization with the receiving tray,
It is for sorting into respective receiving boxes 108. Note that the measuring device 106 may be an electronic scale type weight measuring device of a type that measures the weight of the fruit placed on the saucer 102 at the lower part of the travel path of the saucer 102 and sends the measurement signal to the calculation device 107. .

According to the present invention, with the above-described configuration, fruits of different grades can be sorted and sorted by grade and class using a single sorting machine, so even if the grade ratios of fruits such as excellent and superior are different, into each saucer
Since it is possible to input 100% of the input, it is possible to make full use of the machine's capacity and improve the sorting efficiency per row. Even in the case of items that are easily broken by impact, this system has the effect of improving sorting efficiency and preventing damage such as cracks, compared to conventional conveyors designated by grade.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a conventional sorting facility. Second
The figure is a schematic diagram showing the sorting machine of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a manual push-in indicator. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the circuit configuration of an arithmetic unit used in the sorting machine in FIG. 2. 1... saucer, 2... grade sorting section, 3... conveyor for excellent grade, 4... conveyor for excellent grade, 5... conveyor for good grade, 6... measuring instrument, 8... receiving box, 101
... conveyor, 102 ... saucer, 103 ... endless chain, 104 ... manually operated display,
105...detection device, 106...measuring device, 10
7...Arithmetic unit, 108...Receiving box, 7-1...Measuring circuit, 7-2...Comparing circuit, 7-4...Flip-flop circuit. 7-5 ₁ , 7-5 ₂ , 7-5 ₃
... Graded gate circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sorting conveyor with a tray, which is equipped with a device for measuring the shape or weight of the objects to be sorted at a predetermined position from the starting end, and a sorting conveyor that moves in synchronization with the sorting conveyor from the starting end of the sorting conveyor to the measuring section, and a device that measures the shape or weight of the objects to be sorted at a predetermined position. On the other hand, a grade setting display means for setting and displaying the grade, a detection means for detecting the grade of each object to be sorted set in the grade setting display means at a predetermined position, and inputting the grade signal to a calculation device; The class of the objects to be sorted on each tray is determined and classified based on the measurement signal measured by the measuring device, and the classification signal is processed by the grade signal to generate a sorting signal for each grade. Shifts to the designated discharge location in synchronization with the tray,
A sorting machine for fruits and vegetables, characterized in that each receiving box is provided with a sorting computing device, and the fruits and vegetables are sorted into a plurality of grades using a single sorting conveyor.