Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B07—SEPARATING SOLIDS FROM SOLIDS; SORTING
  • B07C—POSTAL SORTING; SORTING INDIVIDUAL ARTICLES, OR BULK MATERIAL FIT TO BE SORTED PIECE-MEAL, e.g. BY PICKING
  • B07C5/00—Sorting according to a characteristic or feature of the articles or material being sorted, e.g. by control effected by devices which detect or measure such characteristic or feature; Sorting by manually actuated devices, e.g. switches
  • B07C5/36—Sorting apparatus characterised by the means used for distribution

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a device for the treatment of a series of objects according to at least one of their dimensions and / or weight. their dimensional and / or weight characteristics, this device being of the type comprising a conveyor provided with a conveyor belt, arranged on rollers and on which objects to be treated are arranged in line one after the other, while provision is made, in predetermined locations in the vicinity of the strip, deflector devices making it possible to eject each object from the strip as a function of at least one of its dimensional and / or weight characteristics.
• French patent 2,598,636 in the name of the applicant, is described a device for the treatment of a series of objects according to one of their dimensions, of the type comprising a conveyor provided with a band disposed on rollers and on which the objects to be treated are arranged in line one after the other, and which is provided with a series of positioning markers for the objects to be treated, a series of active treatment devices arranged in predetermined positions along of the upper strand of the conveyor, a first detector comprising a transmitter and a receiver arranged in alignment on either side of the upper strand of the conveyor in a plane substantially perpendicular with respect thereto for detecting the dimensions of the objects in the direction of advance of the transporter, a second detector comprising a transmitter and a receiver also placed on either side of the transporter to detect the passage of said marks.
• This device is essentially characterized in that the first and the second detector are arranged in the vicinity of the end of the loading of said conveyor, the device comprising a third detector providing a signal proportional to at least one of the variables making it possible to calculate the characteristics of movement of the conveyor belt and also carrying a processing circuit and logic commands controlling the actuation of one or the other of the active processing devices as a function of the signals supplied by the three detectors.
• the object of the present invention is to obviate this drawback and to propose a device making it possible, on conveyor belts without cells or marks for the longitudinal positioning of objects, to process objects of any size or shape, and more particularly fruits and vegetables of all kinds such as melons, pears, apricots, tomatoes or asparagus, this list not being exhaustive.
• the present invention therefore relates to a device intended for sorting a series of objects according to their dimensional and / or weight characteristics comprising a conveyor belt conveyor actuated and supported by rollers, the objects being arranged in line one at a time.
• the conveyor belt is devoid of marks, in that the spacing of said objects is arbitrary and in that there are provided first sensor means arranged at the upper strand of the conveyor belt and intended for determine the dimensional and / or weight characteristics of the objects, these characteristics being processed by a control unit where they are associated with data supplied by second sensor means intended to generate a number of pulses proportional to the movement of the conveyor belt of the conveyor , these pulses being transmitted to the control unit where s' perform the comparative operations between the data coming from the processing unit and that supplied by the user, followed by the actuation of one of the series of active processing devices arranged in predetermined positions along the upper strand of the conveyor belt so as to eject objects from said belt.
• the first sensor means are constituted by an opto-electronic device, for example an analysis camera taking into account the dimensional characteristics of the object or a laser or infrared distance sensor measuring the height of the object.
• the first sensor means are constituted by an electro-mechanical device, consisting of a feeler lever, one end of which is free while the other is pivotally mounted so as to cooperate with a sensor for measuring the maximum angle of rotation of the lever. , defining the height of the object to be treated.
• the second sensor means consist of a pulse generator provided on the shaft of at least one of the support rollers of the conveyor belt.
• the second sensor means consist of a tachometer, which is integrated into a device for driving the conveyor belt which can be of variable speed.
• the second sensor means are designed so as to generate "n" pulses for "nx cm” of movement of the strip in a way on the one hand, to define an elementary pitch and on the other hand to detect the center of the object to be sort.
• the elementary step corresponds to the length of the conveyor belt which passes between two successive pulses.
• the basic pitch cannot be less than said size.
• control unit compares the measured value with the limits of the calibration intervals chosen by the user and deduces therefrom an output number to be assigned to the object.
• processing devices each consist of a retractable deflecting means cooperating with a station for packaging objects.
• the conveyor belt can be flat or can have, in cross section, the general shape of a flattened "V", having an angle at the top of 155 to 165 °, preferably 160 °.
• FIG. 1 is a side and schematic view of a preferred embodiment of the sorting device according to the invention
• Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the conveyor belt used in the sorting device of the invention
• Figure 3 is a schematic side view of an electro-mechanical device for determining the height of an object to be sorted
• Figure is an alternative embodiment of the electro-mechanical device of Figure 3, more specifically adapted to measure the dimensional characteristics of an oblong object to be sorted
• Figure 5 is a schematic view of an analysis camera taking into account the dimensional characteristics of an object to be sorted
• Figure 6 is a schematic view illustrating the measurement of weight characteristics of an object to be sorted
• FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a processing device constituted by a retractable deflecting means.
• an object sorting device consisting of a conveyor (1) comprising a smooth and substantially horizontal conveyor belt (2) having no mark capable of defining the position of objects in the longitudinal direction.
• This belt (2) is supported by at least two transverse rollers (3,4), at least one of which is driven in rotation by actuation means not shown in the drawing and intended to drive the conveyor belt (2) in the direction of arrow F 'at a speed which can be variable.
• a manual or automatic loading device which transfers to the upper side of the belt a series of objects (6) intended to be sorted, these objects being deposited in line one after the other on the conveyor belt (2), without longitudinal positioning constraint, the distance between each object can be arbitrary. In particular, objects can go so far as to touch each other and the sorting line can thus absorb a larger number of objects when they are small.
• sensor means (10) In the vicinity of the feed end of the strip (2), there are provided, at the level u of the upper strand thereof, sensor means (10). These sensor means (10) are chosen from opto ⁇ electronic and electro-mechanical devices well known to those skilled in the art.
• the device of Figure 1 further comprises a number of active devices (13a, 13b, 13c), intended for handling and / or sorting objects (6). These active devices advantageously consist of retractable deflectors making it possible to direct an object (6) from the strip (2) as a function of its dimensional and / or weight characteristics, detected by the sensor means (10). These devices (13) are selectively controlled by the control unit, as specified below.
• Second sensor means are mounted on the shaft of one of the rollers (3,4) of the conveyor belt (2), advantageously constituted by a pulse generator mounted on the shaft of the roller (4).
• this pulse generator (14) is mounted on the shaft of the controlled roller and thus provides electrical pulses proportional to the actual running speed of the conveyor belt (2).
• the generator output pulse (14) is also connected to an input of the control unit (12).
• the second sensor means (14) preferably consist of an inductive sensor on a toothed wheel.
• each pulse can represent approximately 1 cm of displacement, designated by the expression "not elementary”. If the elementary step is 1 cm and the smallest object to sort is 4 cm, we will determine a basic step of 4 cm, that is to say four elementary steps.
• the program must determine the position of the center of the object placed on the conveyor belt, indicating in front of which elementary step it is pierced, which obliges to code each elementary step. We are then in the presence of a pair of data, namely the output number corresponding to the dimension of the object (caliber) and the elementary step code corresponding to the position of the center of the object (positioning) in a basic step.
• the size of the object determines the output number (13a, 13b, 13c, ... 13n) according to the caliber intervals chosen by the user. This pair of information will be processed in the control unit (12) on an appropriate register.
• the code number of the elementary step, associated with the mark of the elementary step of the output indicates when the corresponding output must be actuated. In other words, the deflection / ejection device (13d - see Figure 7) will be activated when the object arrives at the exit corresponding to its caliber.
• the second sensor means (14) are constituted by a tachometer. The latter is integrated according to a preferred embodiment in a device for driving the conveyor belt (2) of the conveyor (1) at a speed which can be variable.
• control unit (12) calculates the time necessary for l object to be treated in order to cover said distance and will trigger the actuation of the active treatment device (13) which corresponds to caliber of the object at the moment when said object arrives at the exit corresponding to its caliber.
• the conveyor belt (2) it is a good idea for the conveyor belt (2) to have a cross-section in the shape of a "V" having an apex angle of 16 * 0 °, which will allow an object that can roll, for example melons (Ab) to stay in a queue while waiting to be ejected.
• the conveyor belt (2) consists of two juxtaposed smooth belts constituting the two branches of the "V".
• the electro-mechanical sensor means represented in FIG. 3 consist of a potentio-metric sensor (C) having an axis of rotation (c) to which a strip (RI) will be secured, acting as a probe.
• This strip (RI) will be light so as not to damage the objects (P), for example melons, apricots and the like, and not to drop them.
• the first sensor means are constituted by an opto-electronic device (D), for example an analytical camera, making it possible to determine the dimensional characteristics of an object
• a feed belt (Co) for melons (Me) and the conveyor belt (2) a weighing device (W).
• the dynamic data data measured in (11) is processed in the processing unit (9) where it is associated with data coming from the first sensor means.
• the sensor means (10) of the dimensional characteristics would be advantageously replaced by a presence detector making it possible to locate the fruit on the grader.
• this weighing system has the advantage that direct weighing of the fruit can be carried out unlike conventional weight calibration machines which weigh the fruit in buckets whose degree of soiling affects the precision of the weighing.
• a processing system (13) is shown diagrammatically provided with a retractable deflector (13d), intended to impart an object (6) for example a round fruit or vegetable, a deflection movement enabling it to leave the conveyor belt (2).
• a retractable deflector (13d) intended to impart an object (6) for example a round fruit or vegetable, a deflection movement enabling it to leave the conveyor belt (2).
• a particular advantage of this deflector (13d) is that the latter only leaves a few fractions of seconds before the arrival of the fruit, and that, at the time of the fruit (6) - deflector (13d) contact, the speed of the deflector is zero and the fruit is deflected only under the effect of its own speed printed by the conveyor belt (2).
• This arrangement allows the increase of the rates because the deflector (13d) can exit at very high speed between two successive fruits, for example 5 to 10 times faster than a traditional pusher, while conferring a low exit speed for the fruit .
• the translation of the deflector (13d) out of its seat (13) will be ensured by an electromagnet with a plunging core, not shown in the drawing.

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• Sorting Of Articles (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=9446762

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Families Citing this family (6)

Family Cites Families (6)

• 1993
  • 1993-04-30 FR FR9305335A patent/FR2704461B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 1994
  • 1994-04-29 EP EP94915203A patent/EP0696237A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1994-04-29 AU AU66609/94A patent/AU6660994A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1994-04-29 WO PCT/FR1994/000508 patent/WO1994025187A1/fr not_active Ceased

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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