JPS63178912A - Case packer for vegetable and fruit - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a boxing device for packing and packaging fruits and vegetables at collection and shipping sites.

[Conventional technology and problems]

Conventionally, as a device for boxing fruits and vegetables,
Special Publication No. 48-38398, Special Publication No. 56-3216
No. 9 is publicly known.

However, in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Publication No. 48-38398 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-32169, the targets are spherical oranges of uniform shape, and the fruit is placed in a boxing container on a supply chute in advance. Arrange the predetermined rows and number of fruits in a space corresponding to the dimensions, set the arrangement pattern so that the fruits fit tightly into each other, wait, and then lift the fruits from above using a cup-shaped vacuum suction cup. This is a method and device in which the object is moved horizontally and inserted into a carton container (cardboard box). It is used for citrus fruits that are elastic and relatively hard to damage even when pressed together under lateral pressure, but they are used for citrus fruits that are not spherical and deformed, or have concave stems such as apples and pears, and persimmons. The vacuum cup does not adhere tightly to the irregularities of the surface of the fruit, such as tomatoes, which have the disadvantage of being unusable due to suction errors.

On the other hand, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present applicant had previously proposed the device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-190415.
For distribution, the conveyor 8 is swung to the left or right according to the hole arrangement of the tray punctures, fruits and vegetables are thrown into the holes of the tray punctures, and the tray punctures that have been loaded are pushed into cardboard boxes to form product boxes. However, the structure is complicated, and the stacking boxes require special boxes with multiple lift holes in the bottom, resulting in cost problems, which has delayed their widespread use.

Furthermore, persimmons in particular are packed in boxes by flat packing, cart packing, or loose packing, and the above-mentioned known methods have the disadvantage that they cannot be used particularly for car packing.

Furthermore, all of the devices shown above are devices that automatically box boxes, and in general, boxing fruits and vegetables, etc.
A storage device such as a receiving box for fruits and vegetables sorted by class and a boxing table are arranged on the side of the sorting machine, and a boxing worker places an empty box on the packing table and takes out the fruits and vegetables from the storage device. The workers carry the packed product boxes onto a product conveyor located behind the workers.

On the other hand, a method is used in which empty boxes for packaging are supplied by providing an empty box conveyor above the worker in parallel with the direction of movement of the sorting machine.

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional method, workers unload empty boxes one by one onto a boxing table, pack them, and carry the packed product boxes onto a product conveyor, which causes significant fatigue and reduces efficiency. There was a drawback that the value decreased.

[Purpose of the invention]

It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide an inexpensive and simple packaging device for fruits and vegetables.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention has taken the following technical means to achieve the above object.

In order to sort fruits and vegetables into different grades of the sorting machine, a pull-out conveyor is provided for each class to transport fruits and vegetables discharged from the discharge section to the outside of the machine.

This pull-out conveyor can also be formed by using a wide conveyor and providing a partition on the wide conveying surface to form a conveying path for a plurality of classes.

A storage device for temporarily storing fruits and vegetables delivered from the drawer conveyor is disposed at the outlet of the drawer conveyor.

It is preferable that this storage device is provided with different storage volumes corresponding to classes where a large amount of fruits and vegetables are concentrated and sorted and classes where fruits and vegetables are sorted in small amounts, and a storage device such as a receiving box or a turntable is used.

The fruit and vegetable packing section includes an empty box pool section, a lifting device, and a feeding device as described below.

an elevating device that raises and waits empty boxes to a predetermined height at a position adjacent to the storage device and lowers them when a predetermined number of fruits and vegetables have been packed; and a temporary pool for supplying empty boxes from one side to the elevating device. It is constructed by combining an empty box pool section and a sending device that sends out the product boxes that have been completely packed and have been lowered to the other side.

In order to supply empty boxes to the box packing section, an empty box transport conveyor is installed on the side of the sorting machine to transport empty boxes in parallel with the sorting machine, and empty boxes are transported by the empty box transport conveyor. Empty boxes are supplied in combination with a box distribution device that supplies the empty boxes toward the empty box pool section of the box packing section provided for each of the drawer conveyors.

The lifting device is provided to be able to lift and lower the supplied empty box at a position adjacent to the storage device.

This lifting device can be configured to be able to move up and down by combining a drive device such as an air cylinder or a motor with a pedestal on which an empty box is placed.

Furthermore, when fruits and vegetables are stacked in multiple tiers in an empty box, this lifting device can be used by providing a switch to stop each tier in stages and lowering the tiers in increments.

In order to send out the packed product boxes, a product sending device is provided that sends the product boxes lowered by the lifting device onto a product conveyor provided in a direction parallel to the sorting machine.

The product delivery device may be temporarily stopped at the position lowered by the lifting device or at the exit of the product delivery device, and an automatic printing device may be provided at the exit of the product delivery device to print the product and then send it out.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

1 is a sorting machine, 2 is a drawer conveyor, 3 is a storage device, 4
5 is an empty box conveyor, 5 is a box distribution device, 6 is an empty box pool section, 7 is a lifting device, 8 is a product delivery device, and 9 is a product conveyor.

The sorting machine 1 measures the shape and dimensions of fruits and vegetables 10 supplied from the previous process 101 using a plurality of strips of the same length using a measuring device 102 such as a measuring sensor, and sorts the fruits and vegetables into categories by grade at the discharge section. It is discharged from 103, and is published in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5
A conveyor device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 8-135026 is used.

In addition, as another method different from this embodiment, a packet-type conveyor using so-called packets, which is a tray on which fruits and vegetables 10 are placed one by one, is used to measure the weight or shape with a measuring device 102 to determine the class. Discharge section 103
It can also be discharged from

The drawer conveyor 2 is provided by penetrating the inside of the sorting machine 1 in the discharge part 103 for sorting the same class of each row, and for sorting, it receives the discharged fruits and vegetables 10 and carries them out of the sorting machine 1.

As clearly shown in FIG. 3, this pull-out conveyor 2 is a wide conveyor, and a partition 21 is provided in the center of the conveyance path to form a conveyance path for a plurality of classes.

Furthermore, the wide conveyor described above may be provided in a class that is particularly concentrated to be discharged, so that fruits and vegetables 10 of the same class can be divided into a plurality of conveyance paths and discharged.

The storage device 3 is located adjacent to the outlet section 22 of the drawer conveyor and temporarily pools the fruits and vegetables 10 carried out from the drawer conveyor.As shown in FIG. A box, or as another method, a turntable (not shown) combined with a drive device such as a motor is pulled out and placed at the outlet 2 of the conveyor 2.
Placed in 2! You can also pool 10 fruits and vegetables by doing this.

Although the size of this storage device 3 can be arbitrarily determined, it is preferable that the sorting is determined according to the class distribution ratio of the fruits and vegetables 10 to be discharged.

The empty box transport conveyor 4 is a conveyor disposed in parallel with the sorting Ill and transports the empty boxes 4I, and is a conveyor that is arranged in parallel with the sorting Ill and conveys the empty boxes 4I.The empty box transport conveyor 4 is a conveyor that is arranged in parallel with the sorting Ill and transports the empty boxes 4I. Configure the conveyor.

Reference numeral 42 denotes an empty box stop device that appears on the conveyance surface of the empty box conveyor 4, and is provided so as to stop the empty boxes 41 being conveyed at a position lined up with the empty box pool section 6, which will be described later.

The stop device 42 is constructed in a retractable manner using an air cylinder, a solenoid, or the like.

The box distribution device 5 supplies the empty boxes 41 stopped by the empty box stop device 42 onto the empty box pool section 6, which will be described later. It is provided in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the empty box conveyor 4, and the empty box 41 is
You can also send it by pressing .

As shown in FIG. 2, the empty box pool section 6 temporarily pools the empty boxes 41 pushed out and supplied by the box distribution device 5. A slide plate 61 is provided as a pedestal for the empty boxes 41, and Empty boxes 41 are pooled.

In order to transfer the empty boxes 41 pooled in the empty box pool section 6 to a predetermined position of the lifting device 7, which will be described later, each empty box 41 is pushed out one box at a time by the box distribution device 5.

Since the slide plate 61 pools the empty boxes 41 and slides one box on the top surface of the slide plate 61, it is preferable that the top surface is made of a material with low friction such as a resin material.

In addition, the empty box pool section 6 is a slide play) 6 in the embodiment.
Although a method is used in which the empty boxes 41 are pooled using 1, an accumulation conveyor such as a roller conveyor having a large number of free rollers may be used.

As shown in FIG. 5, another method for forming the empty box pool section 6 is to place the starting end 111 adjacent to the empty box conveyor 4 and the terminal end 112 adjacent to the product delivery device 8, which will be described later. Empty box 4 pushed out and supplied from box device 5
An empty box sending conveyor 11 is provided, which is configured to transport empty boxes 1 by a chain conveyor with a top plate or the like. In that case, a stop device 113 is provided on the empty box feeding conveyor 11 to stop the empty box 41 supplied earlier at a predetermined position of the lifting device 7, which will be described later, and a stop device to stop the empty box 41 that follows to be separated. 114 is provided.

That is, the empty boxes 41 supplied onto the empty box sending conveyor 11 in the empty box pool section by the box distribution device 5 advance to the empty box stop device 113 and stop, and the empty boxes 41 that were subsequently delivered are The apparatus is configured to temporarily stop by a stop device 114 and wait until the preceding empty box 41 is filled with fruits and vegetables 10 and sent out.

The lifting device 7 is configured to be able to move the empty box 41 up and down to a position adjacent to the storage device 3.

That is, 71 is a pedestal for receiving the empty box 41, and 72 is an air cylinder for raising and lowering. Reference numeral 73 denotes a rotation prevention guide provided below from the lower part of the pedestal 71.

In this embodiment, the air cylinder 72 is used as a drive device for raising and lowering the pedestal 71, but other devices such as a motor (
It can also be configured to be movable up and down using a drive device (not shown).

In order to raise and lower the lifting device 7, a worker issues an activation command using a push button or a manual switch such as a foot switch, and an empty box detection sensor (not shown) is placed just before the stop device 113. Set up and automatically empty box 4
1 can also be increased.

In addition, when the fruits and vegetables 1o are stacked in multiple tiers, this lifting device 7 can be used by lowering the fruit and vegetables 1o step by step in increments for each tier. ) are installed in multiple stages and are configured to be lowered in increments.

The product delivery device 8 is provided at a length of at least one product box 12 from a position adjacent to the lifting device 7, and has an outlet portion 82 connected to a product conveyor 9, which will be described later.

This product delivery device 8 is constructed using a driven type roller conveyor having a large number of rollers 81 mounted on an axis, a chain conveyor with a top plate, or the like.

83 is a printing device, and an empty box stopper (
(not shown) to temporarily stop the product box 12 and print.

A product conveyor 9 is provided at the exit portion 82 of the product delivery device 8 in a direction parallel to the sorter 1, and allows the product boxes 12 sent out from each class to merge and be transported.

As the product conveyor 9, a known one such as a driven roller conveyor or belt conveyor can be used.

The operation of the fruit and vegetable packaging apparatus constructed as above will be explained.

The fruits and vegetables 10 supplied onto the sorter 1 from the pre-process 101 are subjected to shape and dimensions measurement by the measuring device 102 as they are transported, and the fruits and vegetables 10 are sorted into predetermined grades and are discharged onto the drawer conveyor 2 from the discharge section 103. .

The fruits and vegetables 10 discharged onto the drawer conveyor 2 are conveyed to the storage device 3 and pooled.

On the other hand, empty boxes 41 being transported on the empty box transport conveyor 4
The empty box stop device 42 stops the empty box, and the box distribution device 5 sends the empty box toward the empty box pool section 6.

Empty boxes 41 that are pushed out from the empty box pool 6 onto the lifting device 7 are raised to a height that allows for easy boxing at a position close to the storage device 3, and are waiting to be lifted from the storage device 3 by a boxing worker. When the specified number of fruits and vegetables 10 are packed, the product box 12
The product then descends and is fed onto the product delivery device 8.

The product boxes 12 fed onto the product delivery device 8 are printed with a predetermined grade and class at the exit section 82 and are merged onto the product conveyor 9.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the present invention automatically distributes the empty boxes conveyed by the empty box conveyor to the boxing section, raises them to a height that makes the boxing work easy, and waits for them to be raised to a height where the boxing work is easy. Not only can boxes be packed without straining the user's posture, but also the packed product boxes can be sent out without having to hold them, which greatly reduces worker fatigue and allows the labor-saving time to be used for box-packing work. This has the effect of improving work efficiency.

Furthermore, since the bottom of the empty box for packing is placed on the lifting device and lifted as it is, there is no need to drill a special lift hole, and a general cardboard box can be used.
Since the boxes are packed by hand by a boxing worker, it is possible to provide a highly versatile device that can be applied to special boxing formats such as car packing and flat packing according to packaging standards for persimmons and the like.

Furthermore, since the structure is relatively simple, failures are rare, and maintenance is easy and the labor devoted to it is streamlined.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an overall plan view of a sorting, packing and packaging facility using the apparatus of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a front view of the main parts of the apparatus of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a plan view of the main parts of the apparatus of the present invention, and Fig. 4 is an arrangement of the equipment. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing how to transport a boxed empty box, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing another device for transporting boxes. l... Sorting machine 2... Drawer conveyor 3
...Storage device 4...Empty box conveyor 5.
...Box distribution device 6...Empty box pool section 7...Elevating device 8...Product delivery device 9...Product transport conveyor 10...Fruits and vegetables 11...Empty box feeding conveyor 12... Product box 101... Pre-process 102...
... Measuring device 103 ... Sorting is carried out at the discharge section 21 ...
・Inner partition 22...Exit part 41...Empty box
42... Empty box stop device 61... Slide plate

Claims (1)

[Claims] A pull-out conveyor that carries out the fruits and vegetables discharged from the sorting discharge section of the sorting machine for each grade class, and a storage device that is provided at the exit of each pull-out conveyor and temporarily stores the fruits and vegetables sent out from the pull-out conveyor; An empty box transport conveyor is disposed on the side of the sorting machine in parallel with the sorting machine and transports empty boxes, and the empty boxes on the empty box transport conveyor are transferred to an empty box pool section provided for each of the above drawer conveyors. A box distribution device for supplying the empty boxes and the empty boxes supplied to the empty box pool section are raised to a predetermined height and on standby at a position adjacent to the storage device,
This fruit and vegetable boxing device is comprised of an elevating device that lowers the fruit and vegetables after a predetermined number of fruits have been packed from the storage device, and a product delivery device that brings the packed product boxes onto a product conveyor provided in a direction parallel to the sorting machine.