KR102449713B1 - Sorting device and sorting method - Google Patents

Abstract

The sorting apparatus includes a supply unit, a determination unit, an air injection unit, an injection control unit, an air pressure detection unit, and a supply control unit. The supply unit supplies the sorting object to the sorting position. The judging unit determines whether or not the sorting object supplied by the supplier satisfies the sorting criteria. When the sorting object determined by the judging unit to satisfy the sorting criteria has reached the sorting position, the jetting control unit controls the air jetting unit to spray compressed air to sort the sorting target. The air pressure detection unit detects the detection air pressure, which is the air pressure at any position in the air path of the compressed air injected by the air injection unit. The supply control unit controls the supply unit when the detected air pressure is equal to or less than the first threshold to decrease the amount of the object to be sorted per hourly supplied to the sorting position.

Description

Sorting device and sorting method

The present invention mainly relates to a sorting device for sorting a sorting object by blowing compressed air.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, a sorting device for sorting a sorting object according to whether or not a sorting criterion is satisfied is known. Also, as a method of sorting a sorting object, a method of blowing compressed air is known. Patent Document 1 discloses a sorting device of this kind.

The sorting apparatus of patent document 1 classifies|selects and removes the heterochromatic granular material contained in granular materials, such as a grain. This sorting apparatus is equipped with a dichroic lip presence detection means, an external force application means, a pressure detection means, and a shutter device. The dichroic lip presence detection means outputs a detection signal when the color of the falling granular material satisfies a predetermined condition. The external force applying means blows the exotic granular material to the defective product accommodating part by opening the electromagnetic on/off valve based on the time the detection signal is input and blowing compressed air. The pressure detection means detects the air pressure of the hermetic tank which stores compressed air, and outputs an abnormality signal when the detected air pressure becomes below a specific value. When an abnormal signal is input, the shutter device blocks the good product accommodating part so that all the granular materials enter the defective product accommodating part.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-150178

However, the sorting device of Patent Document 1 accommodates all the sorting objects (granulars) in the defective article accommodating part when an abnormality occurs with respect to the air pressure. In this case, the defective product is not accommodated in the good product accommodating unit, but the good product is accommodated in the defective product accommodating unit. For this reason, the success rate (precision) of selection will fall. Moreover, in patent document 1, it does not describe about the method of automatically recovering the abnormality regarding air pressure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its main object is to provide a sorting device capable of automatically recovering the drop in air pressure of the air jetting unit without lowering the success rate of sorting.

The problems to be solved by the present invention are as described above, and means for solving the problems and their effects will be described next.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a sorting apparatus having the following configuration is provided. That is, this sorting apparatus is provided with a supply part, a determination part, an air injection part, an injection control part, an air pressure detection part, and a supply control part. The supply unit supplies the object to be sorted to the sorting position. The judging unit determines whether or not the sorting object supplied by the supplying part satisfies a sorting criterion. The air spray unit sprays compressed air. When the selection criterion is satisfied, the injection control unit controls the air injection unit to spray compressed air when the object to be selected determined by the determination unit reaches the selection position, thereby sorting the object to be sorted. The air pressure detection unit detects a detection air pressure that is an air pressure at any position in an air path of the compressed air injected by the air injection unit. The supply control unit controls the supply unit when the detection air pressure is equal to or less than a first threshold to decrease the supply amount of the object to be sorted to the sorting position per hour.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the following screening method is provided. That is, this screening method includes a supply process, a determination process, a selection process, a pneumatic pressure acquisition process, and a supply amount control process. In the supply process, the object to be sorted is supplied to the sorting position. In the determination step, it is determined whether or not the selection target supplied in the supply step satisfies a selection criterion. In the sorting process, if the sorting criterion is satisfied, the sorting target is sorted by controlling the air injection unit to blow compressed air when the sorting target determined in the determining step reaches the sorting position. In the pneumatic pressure acquisition step, a detection air pressure that is an air pressure at any position among the air paths of the compressed air injected by the air injection unit is acquired. In the supply amount control step, when the air pressure acquired in the air pressure acquisition step is equal to or less than the first threshold, the supply amount of the object to be sorted to the sorting position per hour is reduced.

For example, as a result of frequent injection of compressed air by the air injection unit, even when the air pressure of the air injection unit is lowered, the amount of compressed air injected can be reduced by reducing the supply amount of the object to be sorted as described above. Therefore, it is possible to recover the air pressure of the air injection unit. Accordingly, even if the air pressure of the air injection unit decreases, the selection success rate does not decrease. In addition, since a drop in air pressure can be detected and restored automatically, it is possible to eliminate the labor of the operator in the restoration work and to increase the operation rate of the sorting device.

According to the present invention, it is possible to automatically recover the decrease in the air pressure of the air injection unit without reducing the selection success rate of the sorting device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows the structure of the sorting apparatus of 1st Embodiment.
Fig. 2 is a flow chart showing a process for registering quality in crushed pieces;
Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing a process for operating an air jetting unit according to the quality of crushed pieces;
Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing a process for recovering when the air pressure of the air jetting unit is lowered.
It is a figure which shows the structure of the sorting apparatus of 2nd Embodiment.

Next, with reference to drawings, embodiment of this invention is described. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a sorting device.

The sorting device 1 is a device for sorting crushed pieces as a sorting object according to the content of the additive metal. The crushed pieces are obtained, for example, by treating the recycling metal with a crusher or the like. The object to be selected is not limited to a metal, and may be, for example, a resin material or wood. In addition, the selection target is not limited to a material, For example, a resin product, an electronic component, etc. may be sufficient. In addition, the selection criterion is not limited to the material content ratio of the object to be selected, and may be, for example, weight or shape. As shown in FIG. 1 , the sorting device 1 includes a supply unit 10 , an information detection unit 20 , an air injection unit 30 , and a control unit 40 .

The supply unit 10 supplies the crushed pieces obtained from a crusher or the like to a position (hereinafter referred to as a selection position) where the separation is made (supply step). The supply unit 10 includes a hopper 11 , a first conveying unit 12 , and a second conveying unit 13 .

The hopper 11 is provided with a supply port to which the crushed pieces are supplied and an outlet for discharging the crushed pieces. The crushed pieces processed with a crusher or the like are supplied to the supply port of the hopper 11 directly or through a conveying device such as a lifting magnet. The crushed pieces supplied to the hopper 11 are discharged from the outlet of the hopper 11 .

The 1st conveyance part 12 is arrange|positioned below the discharge port of the hopper 11. As shown in FIG. The 1st conveyance part 12 of this embodiment is a vibrating feeder. The first conveying unit 12 conveys the crushed pieces by vibrating the portion (conveying surface) on which the crushed pieces are loaded using a motor or the like. Moreover, by changing the rotation frequency of the motor of the 1st conveyance part 12, the vibration frequency and amplitude of a conveyance surface can be changed. This frequency can be changed according to the operation part provided in the 1st conveyance part 12, for example, and can also be changed by the control of the other control apparatus 40. As shown in FIG. In this embodiment, although this frequency can be changed in 2 steps or 3 steps, it may be changeable beyond that, and may be changeable continuously (stepless).

As for the 2nd conveyance part 13, the crushing piece conveyance direction is arrange|positioned with respect to the 1st conveyance part 12 downstream. The 2nd conveyance part 13 conveys the crushed piece conveyed by the 1st conveyance part 12 further to a downstream side sorting position. The 2nd conveyance part 13 of this embodiment is a belt conveyor.

Moreover, instead of the hopper 11, you may use the shooting apparatus which conveys sorting objects, such as crushed pieces, along an inclined surface etc., for example. Moreover, you may abbreviate|omit the hopper 11. The first conveying unit 12 is not limited to a vibrating feeder, and may be, for example, a belt conveyor, a roller conveyor, a screw conveyor, or a slope depending on the object to be sorted. The 2nd conveyance part 13 is not limited to only a belt conveyor, For example, the said other conveyor may be sufficient according to a sorting object.

The sorting apparatus 1 sorts the crushed pieces supplied by the supply part 10 according to the content rate of an additive metal. For example, if the crushed piece is steel and contains a lot of additive metals such as manganese or chromium, it may not be desirable to use it in cast iron for recycling purposes. For example, in steel with a high manganese or chromium content, graphite may be difficult to precipitate during solidification during casting, or a soft structure called lacquer may be formed. Accordingly, in the present embodiment, crushed pieces having a high content of the added metal are selected on the low-grade side, and crushed pieces with a low content of the added metal are selected on the high-quality side. The composition of the crushed pieces is not limited to steel, and may be other alloys (eg, iron alloys other than steel, aluminum alloys), and the additive metal may also be other than manganese or chromium (eg, nickel). In addition, depending on the type of alloy, crushed pieces having a low content of the added metal may be selected on the high quality side.

The information detection unit 20 acquires information for estimating the content ratio of the added metal (in other words, information for determining whether or not the selection criterion is satisfied). The information detection part 20 is arrange|positioned in the vicinity of the 2nd conveyance part 13, and acquires information about the crushed piece conveyed by the 2nd conveyance part 13. As shown in FIG. The information detection unit 20 includes a laser device 21 and a camera 22 . The information acquired by the laser device 21 and the camera 22 is output to the control device 40 .

The information detection unit 20 detects the height shape of the crushed piece by the optical cutting method. Specifically, the laser device 21 irradiates a laser beam to the crushed piece conveyed by the 2nd conveyance part 13 from the upper side in the vertical direction. The camera 22 is arrange|positioned with respect to the laser device 21 on the upstream or downstream side of the crushing piece conveyance direction. The camera 22 is a three-dimensional camera (profile camera), and acquires the image containing the laser beam which appears on the surface of a crushed piece from the diagonally upper direction of a crushed piece. Since the position of the laser beam differs depending on the presence or absence of the crushed piece and the shape of the surface of the crushed piece (height from the conveying surface), the image acquired by the camera 22 includes the height direction of the crushed piece (up and down direction, the direction perpendicular to the conveying surface of the conveyor) information is included. Therefore, a distance image can be created based on this image. Here, it is known that there is a correlation between the content rate of the added metal and the surface shape of the crushed pieces. In addition, the surface shape of the crushed piece can be determined based on the distance image. In addition, the method of determining the content rate of an additive metal is not limited to the optical cutting method using the laser apparatus 21 and the camera 22. As shown in FIG. For example, you may use the method of detecting the material of a crushed piece using an infrared sensor etc.

The air injection unit 30 can change the course of the crushed pieces by injecting compressed air to the crushed pieces supplied to the sorting position by the second conveying unit 13 . Specifically, when the air injection unit 30 injects compressed air, the crushed pieces are blown away by the compressed air and sent to the high-quality side conveyance unit 52 . The crushed pieces conveyed by the high-quality side conveying unit 52 are accommodated in the high-quality piece accommodating unit 63 . On the other hand, when the air jetting unit 30 does not jet compressed air, the crushed pieces fall from the second conveying unit 13 and are sent to the low-quality side conveying unit 53 . Moreover, the crushed pieces may fall on the low quality side conveyance part 53 after colliding with the partition plate 51 which divides the high quality side conveyance part 52 and the low quality side conveyance part 53. The crushed pieces conveyed by the low-quality side conveying section 53 are accommodated in the low-quality piece accommodating section 64 . Moreover, instead of the structure of this embodiment, the structure which injects compressed air to the crushed piece on the low-quality side and blows may be sufficient.

The air injection part 30 is sequentially from the upstream side of the flow direction of the compressed air, the compressor 31, the air storage part 32, the air filter 33, the pressure adjustment part 34, the solenoid valve 36, and a nozzle. (37) is provided. In addition, in the description of the air injection unit 30 below, the upstream side and the downstream side of the flow direction of the compressed air in the air path from the compressor 31 to the nozzle 37 are simply referred to as an upstream side and a downstream side in some cases.

In addition, in the air injection unit 30 , in the air path from the compressor 31 to the nozzle 37 , on the downstream side of the pressure adjusting unit 34 , the pneumatic pressure detection unit 35 for detecting the pressure of the compressed air upstream of the solenoid valve 36 . ) is installed. The air pressure detection unit 35 outputs the detected air pressure (hereinafter, detected air pressure) to the control device 40 . The air pressure detecting unit 35 is not limited to the downstream side of the pressure adjusting unit 34, and may be configured to detect the air pressure at any position in the path through which the compressed air passes (for example, the path from the compressor 31 to the nozzle 37).

The compressor 31 generates compressed air by sucking in the surrounding air and compressing it. The compressed air generated by the compressor 31 is stored in the air storage 32 . This compressed air is purified by removing garbage and the like by an air filter (33). The pressure adjusting unit 34 adjusts the air pressure of the compressed air supplied through the air filter 33 and sends the compressed air to the downstream side. Specifically, the upper limit pressure is set in the pressure adjusting unit 34 , and when the air pressure of the compressed air supplied through the air filter 33 exceeds the upper limit pressure, the pressure adjusting unit 34 adjusts the air pressure of the compressed air to the upper limit pressure. After lowering, this compressed air is sent downstream. Moreover, this upper limit pressure is comprised so that it can be changed by operation of an operator and control of the control device 40 .

The solenoid valve 36 and the nozzle 37 are provided in multiple numbers side by side in the width direction (direction perpendicular|vertical to the paper surface of FIG. 1) of the 2nd conveyance part 13. As shown in FIG. The opening/closing state of these solenoid valves 36 is individually switched by the control of the control device 40. As shown in FIG. Accordingly, the air injection unit 30 may inject compressed air from any one or a plurality of nozzles 37 arranged side by side in the width direction.

The control device 40 is realized by an arithmetic device such as an FPGA, an ASIC, or a CPU. The control device 40 is configured to be able to execute various processes related to the sorting device 1 by reading and executing a program created in advance. The control apparatus 40 performs the selection method of this embodiment. The control device 40 includes a determination unit 41 , an injection control unit 42 , and a supply control unit 43 . The processing performed by each unit of the control device 40 will be described below.

First, with reference to FIG. 2, the process for registering the quality in the crushed piece (process performed by the determination unit 41) will be described. The determination unit 41 calculates the content ratio of the added metal based on the information obtained by the information detection unit 20 and performs a process of registering a high quality or a low quality in the crushed piece (determination step).

The determination part 41 acquires the distance image of the crushed piece conveyed by the 2nd conveyance part 13 (S101). The distance image acquired here is the image which image|photographed the area|region of the predetermined|prescribed area among the conveyance surfaces of the 2nd conveyance part 13. As shown in FIG. Therefore, this distance image may include one or a plurality of crushed pieces.

Next, the determination unit 41 designates the crushed pieces included in the distance image, assigns an ID to each crushed piece, and stores it together with the detection time (S102). These information may be stored in a storage unit (not shown) included in the control device 40 or may be stored in a storage unit connected to the control device 40 via a network. Since the conveyance surface of the 2nd conveyance part 13 and the crushed piece differ in height, based on the distance image, the presence or absence of a crushed piece can be grasped|ascertained.

Next, the determination unit 41 determines whether or not the crushed piece satisfies the selection criterion based on the surface shape of the crushed piece obtained from the distance image as described above for the crushed piece with the ID specified, and if the selection criterion is satisfied, high quality and registers low quality for others (for example, if the selection criteria are not met or if it is not subject to selection).

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, the process (process performed by the spraying control part) of sorting a crushed piece based on the quality registered in the crushed piece is demonstrated. The injection control part 42 performs the process of switching the presence or absence of injection of compressed air by opening/closing which solenoid valve 36 based on the determination result etc. of the determination part 41 (selection process).

The injection control unit 42 determines whether the crushed pieces from which the second conveying unit 13 has been conveyed and reached the sorting position have been registered with high quality corresponding to the ID of the crushed pieces (S201). The jetting control unit 42 determines that the crushed piece to be sorted is selected at the sorting position (that is, between the second conveying unit 13 and the high-quality side conveying unit 52/lower quality side conveying unit 53 when the crushed piece to be sorted is registered with high quality in the ID of the crushed piece to be sorted. ), by opening the solenoid valve 36 corresponding to the position in the width direction of the crushed piece to be sorted, compressed air is sprayed from the nozzle 37 . As a result, the crushed pieces in the fall receive this compressed air and fly, and reach the high-quality side conveyance part 52 (S202).

On the other hand, the injection control unit 42 does not spray compressed air to the air injection unit 30 when the high quality is not registered in the crushed piece ID, which is the selection target (that is, when it is registered with low quality) (do not apply force to the crushed piece) not). As a result, the crushed pieces to be sorted reach the low-quality side conveying unit 53 (S203). By repeating the above process, the crushed pieces can be sorted according to the quality registered in advance.

Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the process (process mainly performed by the supply control part 43) which recovers when the air pressure of the air injection part 30 falls is demonstrated.

First, a situation in which the air pressure of the air injection unit 30 is lowered will be described. Compressed air is consumed because compressed air is sprayed from the nozzle 37 whenever crushed pieces registered with high quality reach the sorting position during operation of the sorting device 1 . For example, if the hourly supply amount of crushed pieces is large or the crushed pieces contain a lot of high-quality products, the consumption of compressed air per hour increases. Of course, the compressor 31 generates compressed air from time to time. However, in the situation where the consumption of compressed air exceeds the amount of compressed air produced by the compressor 31, the pneumatic pressure of the compressed air decreases. As a result, the force of the compressed air sprayed from the nozzle 37 is weakened, and the crushed pieces cannot be blown away sufficiently. In this case, a selection error may occur, such as high-quality products being sorted to the low-grade side.

Moreover, by increasing the capacity|capacitance of the compressor 31, the said situation can be prevented. However, by increasing the capacity of the compressor 31, the manufacturing cost and maintenance cost of the sorting device 1 increase. Therefore, it is not realistic to arrange a compressor with a large capacity because it is a situation that only occurs at a low frequency.

The sorting apparatus 1 of this embodiment automatically performs the process of recovering this when the air pressure of the air-injection part 30 falls. WHEREIN: It will be described in detail below. During operation of the sorting apparatus 1, the supply control part 43 acquires the detected air pressure from the air pressure detection part 35 (S301, air pressure acquisition process).

The supply control part 43 determines whether a detection air pressure is below a 1st threshold value (S302). The first threshold is a value in which the air pressure is likely to drop to a level to which a selection error can occur within a short period of time. Therefore, it is preferable that a 1st threshold value is a value so low that it is higher than the air pressure which a selection error arises, and does not reach in the fluctuation|variation of the air pressure in a normal state.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the downstream side air pressure of the pressure adjusting unit 34 is detected. The downstream side of the pressure adjusting section 34 is preferable as a detection location for the air pressure, since it represents the pneumatic pressure of the compressed air injected from the nozzle 37 after the pneumatic pressure has been adjusted. Moreover, when detecting the air pressure on the upstream side of the pressure regulating part 34, even if there is an air leak or the like on the downstream side of the pressure regulating part 34, it may not be detected. Also from that point of view, it is preferable to detect the air pressure on the downstream side of the pressure adjusting section 34 relatively downstream in the air path.

Moreover, although the supply control part 43 judges only based on a detected air pressure value in this embodiment, you may add another condition. As another condition, for example, there exist conditions regarding time, such as a 1st threshold value or less continuously over a predetermined time. Alternatively, in addition to the detected air pressure value, a condition related to the rate of decrease of the detected air pressure (the amount of decrease in the detected air pressure per hour) may be set.

When it is determined that the detected air pressure is equal to or less than the first threshold value, the supply control unit 43 lowers the conveying speed of the first conveying unit 12 by lowering the motor rotation frequency of the first conveying unit 12 or the like (S303, feed control process). By lowering the conveyance speed of the 1st conveyance part 12, the supply amount of crushed pieces of the 2nd conveyance part 13 per hour falls. As a result, the amount of crushed pieces supplied to the sorting position per hour is reduced. Accordingly, the consumption of compressed air per hour is basically lowered. Accordingly, the air pressure of the air injection unit 30 is restored (raised) over time.

In this embodiment, the supply control part 43 reduces the conveyance speed of the 1st conveyance part 12 to a value larger than zero while being lower than the original conveyance speed. Thereby, since the 1st conveyance part 12 does not stop, an operator can judge at first glance that the 1st conveyance part 12 is not stopped by abnormal occurrence. The supply control part 43 is good also considering the conveyance speed of the 1st conveyance part 12 as zero. By making the conveyance speed of the 1st conveyance part 12 into zero, the air pressure of the air injection part 30 can be restored in a shorter time. In addition, in this embodiment, the supply control part 43 does not change the conveyance speed of the 2nd conveyance part 13. As shown in FIG.

Next, the supply control unit 43 again acquires the detected air pressure (S304), and determines whether the detected air pressure has risen (S305). There are various criteria for judging whether or not the detected air pressure has risen. For example, the supply control unit 43 acquires the detected air pressure after a predetermined time has elapsed after performing the processing of step S303, and the amount of increase in the detected air pressure is a predetermined value. It is determined whether or not it is above the threshold. The supply control unit 43 may determine based on the rate of increase of the detected air pressure (the amount of increase of the detected air pressure per time).

As the supply amount of crushed pieces per hour decreases, the detection air pressure usually rises. However, when an air leak or the like occurs, the detected air pressure may not rise. Therefore, when it is determined that the detected air pressure does not rise, the supply control part 43 controls the reporting buzzer (report part) 45 to generate|occur|produce a warning sound, and reports the occurrence of abnormality (S306). In addition, instead of or in addition to the report buzzer 45, a warning message may be displayed on a display device included in the sorting device 1 or a screen of a terminal possessed by an operator or manager.

Moreover, when it is determined that the detected air pressure is rising, the supply control part 43 determines whether a detected air pressure is more than a 2nd threshold value (S307). A 2nd threshold value is a larger value than a 1st threshold value, and is a threshold value for determining that the air pressure has fully recovered|restored. Also in this determination, you may add conditions other than a detected air pressure similarly to step S302.

When the supply control part 43 determines that a detection air pressure is more than a 2nd threshold value, it determines whether the fall frequency of a detection air pressure is high (S308). The frequency of decrease in the detection air pressure is the frequency at which the detection air pressure greatly decreases during operation of the sorting device 1 . The frequency of decrease of the detection air pressure is, for example, a frequency at which the detection air pressure is determined to be equal to or less than the first threshold (that is, the frequency at which the conveyance speed of the first conveyance unit 12 is decreased due to the processing of step S303). When the number of times step S303 is made within a predetermined time is equal to or more than a threshold, for example, the supply control unit 43 determines that the frequency of decrease in the detected air pressure is high. In addition, you may determine the high and low of the fall frequency of a detection air pressure by other conditions.

When the frequency of decrease of the detection air pressure is low, it is considered that the detection air pressure has become equal to or less than the first threshold due to a cause such as whether the supply amount of crushed pieces was accidentally high, or the ratio of high-quality products was accidentally high. That is, compared with the capacity|capacitance of the compressor 31, it is thought that the consumption amount of compressed air (that is, the conveyance speed of the 1st conveyance part 12) is appropriate. Therefore, the supply control part 43 raises the conveyance speed of the 1st conveyance part 12 to the original value (the value before reducing in step S303) (S309).

On the other hand, when the frequency of decrease of the detected air pressure is high, compared with the capacity of the compressor 31 , there is a possibility that the consumption of compressed air is too large (that is, the conveyance speed of the first conveyance part 12 is too fast). Therefore, in this case, the supply control unit 43 increases the conveying speed so that the conveying speed of the first conveying unit 12 is lower than the original value (S310).

Then, the supply control part 43 performs the process after step S301 again. By performing the above process, even when the air pressure of the air injection unit 30 is lowered, the air pressure can be automatically restored. In addition, even if the air pressure of the air injection unit 30 is reduced, the success rate of sorting does not decrease, so the success rate of sorting can be increased.

Next, with reference to FIG. 5, 2nd Embodiment is demonstrated.

The 1st conveyance part 12 of 1st Embodiment is a vibrating feeder. On the other hand, the 1st conveyance part 16 of 2nd Embodiment is equipped with the conveyor 14 and the trommel 15. As shown in FIG. The conveyor 14 is arrange|positioned below the discharge port of the hopper 11, and conveys the crushed piece discharged by the hopper 11. The trommel 15 sorts the crushed pieces supplied to the second conveying unit 13 in advance based on the size of the crushed pieces. Specifically, the trommel 15 is provided with a cylindrical member, and crushed pieces are supplied to the inside of the cylindrical member. Moreover, the crushed piece is conveyed downstream by this cylindrical member rotating or vibrating.

As shown in FIG. 5, the trommel 15 sorts the crushed pieces by the piece sorting part 15a and the piece sorting part 15b. A plurality of relatively small openings are formed in the thin piece sorting portion 15a. Through this configuration, fine crushed pieces that are too small to be supplied to the second conveying unit 13 are dropped from the opening of the fine fragment sorting unit 15a and accommodated in the fine fragment accommodating unit 61 . A plurality of relatively large openings are formed in the slab sorting unit 15b. Through this configuration, crushed pieces having a size suitable for supply to the second conveying unit 13 can be dropped from the slab sorting unit 15b and supplied to the second conveying unit 13 . In addition, too large crushed pieces that do not fall from this opening fall from the separately provided opening and are accommodated in the slab accommodating part 62 .

In 2nd Embodiment, when a detection air pressure becomes below a 1st threshold value, it is preferable to reduce the conveyance speed of the conveyor 14. As shown in FIG. This is because it is possible to reduce the amount of crushed pieces supplied to the entire apparatus.

As described above, this sorting device 1 includes a supply unit 10, a determination unit 41, an air injection unit 30, an injection control unit 42, an air pressure detection unit 35, and a supply control unit 43. do. The supply unit 10 supplies the crushed pieces to the sorting position. The determination unit 41 determines whether the crushed pieces supplied by the supply unit 10 meet the selection criteria. The air spraying unit 30 sprays compressed air. When the crushed pieces determined by the determination unit 41 that the selection criteria are satisfied have reached the separation position, the jetting control section 42 controls the air jetting section 30 to spray compressed air to sort the crushed pieces. The air pressure detection unit 35 detects the detection air pressure, which is the air pressure at any position in the air path of the compressed air injected by the air injection unit. The supply control part 43 controls the supply part 10 when a detection air pressure becomes below a 1st threshold value, and reduces the supply amount of the crushed piece to the sorting position per time.

For example, as a result of frequent injection of compressed air by the air injection unit 30, even when the air pressure of the air injection unit 30 is lowered, the injection amount of compressed air can be reduced by reducing the supply amount of crushed pieces as described above. have. Therefore, the air pressure of the air injection unit 30 can be restored. Accordingly, even if the air pressure of the air injection unit is lowered, the success rate of sorting does not decrease. Moreover, since it can not only detect a fall in air pressure but can restore|restore it automatically, the trouble of the restoration work by an operator can be eliminated, and the operation rate of the sorting apparatus 1 can be raised.

Moreover, in the sorting apparatus 1 of the said embodiment, the air injection part 30 contains the air storage part 32 and the pressure adjustment part 34. As shown in FIG. The air storage 32 stores compressed air. The pressure adjusting unit 34 adjusts the air pressure of the compressed air. The detection air pressure is the air pressure downstream from the pressure adjusting unit 34 .

The air injection unit 30 injects compressed air after the air pressure is adjusted by the pressure adjustment unit 34 . For this reason, by detecting the air pressure on the downstream side of the pressure adjusting part 34, it can determine more reliably whether it is an air pressure which a selection error may generate|occur|produce.

Moreover, in the sorting apparatus 1 of the said embodiment, the supply part 10 is equipped with the 1st conveyance parts 12 and 16 and the 2nd conveyance part 13. As shown in FIG. The first conveying units 12 and 16 convey the crushed pieces. The second conveying unit 13 conveys the crushed pieces supplied from the first conveying units 12 and 16 . The crushed pieces are supplied to the first conveying units 12 and 16 according to the conveyed amount of the first conveying units 12 and 16 . The supply control part 43 reduces the supply amount of the crushed piece with respect to the whole apparatus per hour by reducing the conveyance speed of the 1st conveyance parts 12 and 16, when a detection air pressure becomes below a 1st threshold value.

Accordingly, since it is difficult to cause a situation in which the crushed pieces are accumulated in the second conveying unit 13 , even if the amount of crushed pieces is returned to the original size after the air pressure is restored, the treatment can be performed without any problem.

Moreover, in the sorting apparatus 1 of the said embodiment, this sorting device 1 provides information for judging whether or not the sorting criterion is satisfied with respect to the crushed pieces being conveyed by the 2nd conveyance part 13. An information detection unit 20 to detect is provided. The supply control part 43 maintains the conveyance speed of the 2nd conveyance part 13 even when a detection air pressure becomes below a 1st threshold value.

Thereby, since the conveyance speed of the 2nd conveyance part 13 is maintained, since there is no change in the information acquired by the information detection part 20, determination by the determination part 41 can be performed like usual.

Moreover, in the sorting apparatus 1 of the said embodiment, the supply control part 43 restores the hourly supply amount of crushed pieces to the original state when the detection air pressure returns to the 2nd threshold or more while reducing the hourly supply amount of crushed pieces.

Thereby, the sorting amount of the sorting device 1 can be automatically restored to the original state.

Moreover, in the sorting apparatus 1 of the said embodiment, the supply control part 43 is a case where the detection air pressure returns to the 2nd threshold or more while reducing the hourly supply amount of crushed pieces, and when it determines that the frequency with which the detection air pressure decreases is high, crushing The supply is increased so that the supply per hour of convenience is lower than the original value.

Accordingly, when the supply amount of crushed pieces (consumption amount of compressed air) is large compared to the capacity of the compressor 31 , it can be changed to the amount of crushed pieces supplied according to the capacity of the compressor 31 .

In addition, in the sorting device 1 of the above embodiment, when the supply control unit determines that the detection air pressure does not rise after reducing the hourly supply amount of crushed pieces, a reporting buzzer 45 for reporting abnormalities in the air injection unit 30 be prepared

Accordingly, it is possible to detect an abnormality such as an air leak and notify the operator.

Moreover, in the sorting apparatus 1 of the said embodiment, when a detection air pressure becomes below a 1st threshold value, the supply amount per hour of a crushed piece is reduced to the 1st supply amount more than zero.

In this way, since the supply unit 10 does not stop, the operator can grasp at first glance that there is no error.

Although preferred embodiment of this invention was described above, the said structure can be changed as follows, for example.

In the said embodiment, the supply control part 43 reduces the conveyance speed of the 1st conveyance part 12, when a detection air pressure becomes below a 1st threshold value. Instead of this, by providing a shutter (or a gate, etc.) at the outlet of the hopper 11 and controlling the shutter, the amount of crushed pieces per hour (supply amount) may be reduced. In addition, when installing such a shutter, the conveyance speed of the 1st conveyance part 12 does not need to be variable. Therefore, you may employ|adopt an inclined surface as the 1st conveyance part 12, for example.

In the above embodiment, the crushed pieces as the object to be sorted are classified into two types, the high-quality side and the low-quality side, but the configuration may be divided into three or more types.

The flowcharts shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 are examples, and at least one process described above may be omitted, the process order may be changed, or a new process may be added. For example, when it has another abnormality detection means, you may abbreviate|omit the process of steps S305 and S306 of FIG.

In the said embodiment, the conveyance speed of the 1st conveyance part 12 is reduced in step S310 of FIG. 4, and it changes to a more suitable conveyance speed. After that, the conveyance speed (the amount of crushed pieces supplied to the sorting position per hour) of the 1st conveyance part 12 may be raised based on the change condition of the detection air pressure. For example, if the detected air pressure is always maintained at or near the upper limit value (the set value of the pressure adjusting unit 34), there is a possibility that the compressor capacity cannot be fully utilized. In some cases it is desirable.

The air injection part 30 of the said embodiment is an example, and another structure may be sufficient as long as it can inject compressed air. For example, although the air injection part 30 of the said embodiment is equipped with the compressor 31, the structure in which the compressed air generated externally is supplied to the air injection part 30 may be sufficient. In addition, in the above embodiment, compressed air is sprayed from the nozzle 37 to directly contact the crushed pieces (objects to be sorted), but the separate member moves the separate member by making the compressed air come into contact with the separate member so that the separate member sorts the crushed pieces configuration may be sufficient.

1 sorting device
10 supply
11 Hopper
12 first transfer unit
13 second transfer unit
20 information detection unit
30 air jet
40 control unit
41 judging unit
42 injection control
43 supply control

Claims (9)

a supply unit for supplying a sorting object to a sorting position;
a judging unit for judging whether the sorting object supplied by the supplying unit satisfies a sorting criterion;
an air injection unit that jets compressed air;
an injection control unit for sorting the object to be sorted by controlling the air ejection unit to spray compressed air when the object to be sorted, which the determination unit determines that the selection criterion is satisfied, reaches the sorting position;
an air pressure detection unit for detecting a detection air pressure that is an air pressure at any position in an air path of the compressed air injected by the air injection unit;
a supply control unit for controlling the supply unit and reducing the amount of supply of the object to be sorted to the sorting position per time when the detected air pressure becomes less than or equal to a first threshold;
The supply unit,
a first transport unit for transporting the object to be sorted;
and a second conveying unit for conveying the object to be sorted, supplied from the first conveying unit, to the sorting position;
According to the amount of transport of the first transport unit, the object to be sorted is supplied to the first transport unit,
The second conveying unit is a conveyor,
the supply control unit, when the detected air pressure becomes equal to or less than the first threshold, lowers the conveying speed of the first conveying unit, thereby reducing the supply amount of the sorting object to the entire apparatus per hour;
The said supply control part maintains the conveyance speed of the said 2nd conveyance part even if it is a case where the said detection air pressure becomes below the said 1st threshold value, The sorting apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. According to claim 1,
The air injection unit,
an air reservoir for storing compressed air;
a pressure adjusting unit disposed on the downstream side of the air storage unit to adjust the air pressure of the compressed air;
contains,
The detection air pressure is an air pressure downstream from the pressure adjusting unit. delete According to claim 1,
and an information detection unit that detects information for judging whether or not the selection criterion is satisfied with respect to the selection target being conveyed by the second conveying unit. According to claim 1,
and the supply control unit restores the hourly supply amount of the sorting object to its original state when the detection air pressure returns to a second threshold or higher while the hourly supply amount of the sorting object is being reduced. According to claim 1,
The supply control unit is configured to determine that the detection air pressure returns to a second threshold or higher while the hourly supply amount of the object to be sorted is reduced, and when it is determined that the frequency at which the detection air pressure decreases is high, A sorting device, characterized in that the supply amount is increased so that the supply amount becomes lower than the original value. 6. The method of claim 5,
and a reporting unit for reporting an abnormality in the air injection unit when it is determined that the detection air pressure does not rise after the supply control unit reduces the hourly supply amount of the object to be sorted. According to any one of claims 1, 2, 4 to 7,
and the supply control unit reduces the hourly supply amount of the object to be sorted to a first supply amount greater than zero when the detected air pressure becomes equal to or less than a first threshold value. A supplying process of supplying a sorting object to a sorting position by the supplying unit;
a judging step of judging whether the sorting target supplied in the supplying step satisfies a sorting criterion;
a sorting step of sorting the sorting object by controlling an air injection unit to spray compressed air when the sorting object determined in the determining step that the sorting criterion is satisfied reaches the sorting position;
an air pressure acquisition step of acquiring a detection air pressure that is an air pressure at any position in an air path of the compressed air injected by the air injection unit;
a supply amount control step of reducing the supply amount of the object to be sorted to the sorting position per hour by the supply controller when the air pressure acquired in the pneumatic pressure acquisition step becomes less than or equal to a first threshold,
The supply unit,
a first transport unit for transporting the object to be sorted;
a second conveying unit for conveying the sorting object supplied from the first conveying unit to the sorting position;
According to the amount of transport of the first transport unit, the object to be sorted is supplied to the first transport unit,
The second conveying unit is a conveyor,
the supply control unit, when the detected air pressure becomes equal to or less than the first threshold, lowers the conveying speed of the first conveying unit, thereby reducing the supply amount of the object to be sorted per hour;
The said supply control part maintains the conveyance speed of the said 2nd conveyance part even if it is a case where the said detection air pressure becomes below the said 1st threshold value, The sorting method characterized by the above-mentioned.

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