JP2000296912A - Selective packaging device for agricultural product - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the amount of agricultural products divided and processed by each selective packaging devices by improving the operating efficiency of the selective packaging devices for fully exercising the capacity of an automatic box packing device. SOLUTION: Agticultural products are individually sent out from an accumulating conveyor 201 selected from six lines to two lines of adjacent box packing standby conveyors 301 and 302 putting the agricultural products on a standby in a lined state and box standby positions 601 and 602 each corresponding to these box packing standby conveyors 301 and 302 are provided for packing the agricultural products standing by on the box packing standby conveyors into package boxes standing by on the box standby positions. The two lines of box packing standby conveyors 301 and 302 are each connected to a plurality of accumulating conveyors via carrying-out conveyors 304 and 305 for securing a state of readiness to start box packing at one box packing standby conveyor and box standby position during box packing work from the other box packing standby conveyor.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus used for sorting, box packing, and shipping agricultural products.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to package and pack agricultural products at a fruit sorting place, various sorting and packaging devices for agricultural products, including automatic packing machines, have been proposed and put into practice. A typical one of these devices is to allocate one boxing device for each sorting category set to sort agricultural products according to the specified grades and grades. This is a method of packing agricultural products sorted into categories, and using this apparatus has an advantage of improving the current situation in which it is becoming difficult to secure workers.

[0003] The sorting and packaging apparatus is constituted as a unit centered on one automatic box packing apparatus, and is provided in a free tray (hereinafter referred to as a "free tray") which is not mechanically connected to a conveyor mechanism. A fruit sorting facility is formed by linking a plurality of sorting and packaging devices to a sorting conveyor that carries and transports agricultural products whose sorting has been determined.

[0004] However, the sorting and packaging apparatus of the type in which an automatic boxing apparatus dedicated for each sorting section is installed has a problem that the efficiency of capital investment cannot be increased so much. This is because agricultural products, which are natural and natural products, are not distributed on average from large to small, and the degree of ripening is not average. Is caused. For example, some are large and have a good ripening degree and have a high evaluation, while others are small and have a low ripening degree and thus have a low evaluation. It is rather rare that those with different evaluations are distributed on average. And, if the above-mentioned method of installing a dedicated boxing device for each of these sorting sections is adopted, the operation rate of the automatic boxing device installed for the sorting section with a small distribution is set for the sorting section with a large distribution. This is because the operation rate of the automatic box packing apparatus is significantly lower than that of the automatic box packing apparatus, and as a whole, the downtime of a part of the box packing apparatus is prolonged and the capital investment efficiency is reduced.

[0005] It has been proposed to solve such a problem and improve the efficiency of capital investment. The applicant of the present invention has also devised that one automatic box packing device is not dedicated to packing agricultural products in a specific sorting category.
A new method has been proposed in which agricultural products in a plurality of sorting categories can be packed in a single automatic packing device (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H9-92139).
-301304).

In the proposed sorting and packaging apparatus, a plurality of accumulation lines (accumulation conveyors) for different sorting are linked to one automatic box packing device, and the accumulation state of each accumulation line is managed. It has a characteristic configuration in which the link between the line and the automatic packaging device is switched. According to this sorting and packaging apparatus, the operation ratio of a plurality of automatic packing apparatuses (that is, a plurality of automatic packing apparatuses) is improved by combining the collection line of the less distributed sorting section and the more distributed sorting section with one automatic packing apparatus. (The amount processed by the sorting and packaging equipment) can be averaged, and when viewed as a whole of the fruit sorting equipment, the time during which a specific automatic box packing machine is down is reduced, and equipment with high overall investment efficiency can be provided. Benefits are obtained.

[0007]

By the way, the applicant of the present invention has examined the work mode in carrying out the above-mentioned packing, and found that the operation rates of a plurality of automatic packing machines are averaged. In order to achieve this, it is effective to equalize the opportunity for sending a group of agricultural products to be sent to the boxed standby conveyor in consideration of the distribution size of the sorting categories as described above, but while averaging the operation rate In order to further improve the operation rate, it was found that simply equalizing the opportunity to send in agricultural products was not enough and there was room for improvement.

[0008] This can be considered as follows. In other words, for a plurality of sorting and packaging devices provided in the fruit sorting equipment, by devising a combination of linking with a plurality of sorting categories having different distribution degrees, it is possible to equalize the opportunity to send agricultural products to each of the plurality of sorting and packaging devices, This makes it possible to average the operation rates of a plurality of sorting and packaging apparatuses in the whole fruit sorting equipment.

However, averaging the operating rates of the plurality of sorting and packaging apparatuses is not always the same as increasing the operating rates of the individual sorting and packaging apparatuses, and the sorting is likely to be expensive as a mechanical device or a control device. Further improvement is required for effective use of the packaging device. Specifically, if the operation rate of the individual sorting and packaging apparatuses described above can be increased, the operation rate of the whole fruit sorting equipment can be further improved, and this means that This leads to an increase in the amount of boxed agricultural products to be shared (processed) by the sorting and packaging apparatus, and thus brings benefits such as shortening of fruit sorting work and reduction in the number of sorting and packaging apparatuses to be installed.
The present invention has been made from such a viewpoint.

That is, the inventor of the present invention has conducted intensive studies for the purpose of improving the operation rate of the sorting and packaging apparatus, and has analyzed the aspect leading to the stoppage of the apparatus to achieve the present invention which is excellent in the operation efficiency of the sorting and packaging apparatus. It is a thing.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sorting and packaging apparatus having a layout suitable for fruit sorting equipment, which can improve the operation efficiency of the sorting and packaging apparatus.

Still another object of the present invention is to improve the operation efficiency of the sorting and packaging apparatus so that the ability of the sorting and packaging apparatus, particularly the automatic box packing apparatus, can be fully utilized. Increase the amount of agricultural products to be shared and processed,
It is an object of the present invention to reduce the number of the sorting and packaging devices installed, downsize the equipment, and reduce the volume required for the fruit sorting equipment.

[0013]

A feature of the present invention, which has been made to solve the above-mentioned object and problem, lies in that it has the structure of the invention described in each of the claims.

[0014] That is, the invention of the agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus according to claim 1 of the present application is a boxed standby conveyor for waiting for agricultural products in a line in a line for packing from an accumulation conveyor selected from at least four accumulation conveyors. Sent to
A sorting and packaging apparatus for packing the agricultural products in the aligned standby state in a packaging box in a standby state at a box standby position, wherein the packaging standby conveyor is provided in two rows, and a plurality of integrated conveyors selected from the integrated conveyor group are provided. Connected to the first boxed standby conveyor via the first unloading conveyor, and the agricultural product unloading units of the plurality of integrated conveyors different from the above in the integrated conveyor group to the second unloading unit. It is connected to a second box standby conveyor via a conveyor, and these two box standby conveyors are arranged adjacent to each other in the lateral direction of the conveyance.

In the above configuration, a large number of sorting and packaging devices are connected and used along a sorting conveyor. In a preferred embodiment, the sorting conveyor is configured to transport a free tray (a saucer that is not mechanically connected to the conveyor device) on which the agricultural product is loaded at a supply portion on the starting end side of the sorting conveyor. Class elements such as size and weight,
A grade element such as color, scratch, sugar content, etc.) is measured using a CCD camera or the like, and image classification is performed by a computer to determine a sorting category. Each agricultural product determined by the above is discharged from the predetermined position of the sorting conveyor for each sorting category, along with the free tray on the branch route to which the corresponding sorting category is assigned, and the free tray on which the agricultural product of the same sorting category is placed, The specified number of wastes are discharged so that they can be collected and stored on the conveyer to which the sorting category is assigned.

[0016] The box standby conveyor can be provided two or more as needed for the automatic box packing machine. With such provision, the following preferable operation becomes possible. That is, while performing the packaging operation for one of the packaging standby conveyors, the other packaging standby conveyor can be prepared so that the next packaging operation can be started immediately, and one automatic packaging device is stopped. It can be operated continuously without the need.

In the present invention, it is necessary to provide two boxes of standby conveyors, and at least four stacking conveyors are provided so that each of these boxes can be linked to a plurality of stacking conveyors.

The accumulating conveyor and the boxed standby conveyor are constituted by using a conveyor of a belt type, a roller type or the like. In a preferred embodiment, a conveyor means for conveying and driving a free tray on which agricultural products are placed; The agricultural product on the free tray is configured in combination with stopper means for stopping the agricultural product at the leading end. This integrated conveyor,
It is preferable that the box standby conveyor conveys and stops agricultural products in a line.

In the present invention, a box standby position is provided corresponding to the above-mentioned box standby conveyor, and the agricultural products on the box standby conveyor are packed in the packaging boxes supplied to the box standby position by an automatic box packing device. Is done. At the box standby position, means for supplying empty boxes and means for discharging the boxes after packing the agricultural products are provided in coordination.

In a preferred embodiment, the automatic box packing means having the above-described structure requires an operation of lifting a plurality of agricultural products which are waiting in a line in a line on a box standby conveyor in the line and packing them in a packing box. It is possible to use a lifting transfer mechanism that repeats the packaging a predetermined number of agricultural products a number of times. The lifting and transferring mechanism may be a two-axis direction (x-axis, y-axis direction) orthogonal to the horizontal plane from the upper part of the box standby conveyor to the upper part of the box standby position, or one axis direction (x-axis or y-axis). (In one direction), a lifting rod having a suction cup at the lower end is hung in a row on a movable table provided so that the suction cup can be moved up and down in a vertical direction (z-axis direction). It is possible to preferably use one in which agricultural products are packed in a box by a series of operations of lifting, moving, and suspending the agricultural products in a row from a packing standby conveyor. If the spacing between adjacent agricultural products in the boxed standby conveyor is different from the spacing between adjacent agricultural products in the boxed state, a mechanism that allows the suspended state of the agricultural products to be changed and adjusted using a known pantograph mechanism, etc. It may be used. Note that the automatic box packing means of the present invention is not limited to a means for repeatedly performing an operation of lifting and transferring agricultural products in a row.

According to the present invention having the above configuration, the boxed standby conveyor is linked to the plurality of collecting conveyors. Therefore, by appropriately allocating the sorting section of the agricultural products to these collecting conveyors, the plurality of sorting and packing can be performed. The averaging of the operation rate of the equipment can be achieved, and in addition, one automatic packing device is supported by two-packing standby conveyors, so the agricultural products on one of the box standby conveyors are packed. During this time, the produce can be sent from the accumulation conveyor to the other packing standby conveyor, and when the packing of the produce on the one packing standby conveyor is completed, the agricultural products are immediately placed on the other packing standby conveyor. The automatic packing operation can be switched to the packing operation of agricultural products, and the packing operation can be performed continuously, increasing the operation rate of each sorting and packaging equipment and improving the operation rate of the whole sorting equipment. Sa Rukoto can. Therefore, the amount of agricultural products to be shared and processed by each sorting / packing device can be increased, so that the time required for fruit sorting work is reduced, the number of sorting / packaging devices to be installed is reduced, equipment is downsized, and fruit sorting equipment is required. A reduction in volume can be realized.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned invention, the two convey-out conveyors are provided such that the transport paths are provided adjacent to each other with substantially no gap.

[0023] In the above configuration, the "conveyance paths are substantially adjacent to each other without any gap" of the unloading conveyor means that there is a margin so as not to interfere with each other mechanically, and the useless volume is reduced as much as possible. Means adjacent to each other. In addition, the starting end of the unloading conveyor connected to the accumulation conveyor has to be connected to the corresponding accumulation conveyor, so that there is a non-adjacent portion in that range, but other routes are adjacent to each other. However, the present invention naturally includes the present invention.

According to the present invention, each of the two boxed standby conveyors and the unloading conveyor can be formed as substantially one transport path, so that the common use of the support frame of the conveyor and the layout of the conveyor routing can be achieved. The advantage of being easier is obtained.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the two-conveying conveyor has a starting end side path for receiving agricultural products from a plurality of collecting conveyors, and the conveying direction is turned at right angles from the starting end side path. L-shaped having a terminal-side path to be transported, and a box-packing standby conveyor connected so as to turn the transport direction of the agricultural product at right angles from the terminal part of the terminal-side path, thereby carrying out the two-sheet unloading conveyor and box-packing. The conveyance path of the standby conveyor is formed in a U-shape in plan view, and a box packing portion is provided in a space inside the U-shape.

In the above configuration, the box packing section includes an automatic box packing device, a box supply device to a box standby position, or a device related thereto, and the like. The place to do it.

According to the present invention, since the box packing portion is formed in the flat U-shaped space surrounded by the box packing standby conveyor and the carry-out conveyor, installation of the automatic box packing device and the like and extension of each conveyor are wasted. The advantage that the layout can be realized without any problem is obtained.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the packing portion provided in the flat U-shaped inner space formed by the flat U-shaped conveyance path is packed for packing agricultural products. It is characterized by having one packing standby position for holding a box and at least one box preparation position for preparing a packing box in a packable state to be sent to the packing standby position.

In the above configuration, the box preparation position is
In a preferred embodiment, the packing of the agricultural products is not performed, but a tray pack made of a thin-walled plastic, for example, in which the hollow portions for placing the agricultural products are provided in the empty packaging boxes by the number of the boxes, is inserted. Refers to the position where the work is performed.

According to the present invention, while packing the agricultural products from one of the box standby conveyors to one of the box standby positions, the agricultural products are sent to the other box standby conveyor for the next box packing. Prepare the box by inserting the tray pack etc. into the packaging box where the next box is packed at the box preparation position,
Immediately after discharging the packaging box after the completion of the packaging, the prepared empty packaging box is sent to the box standby position, and the packaging operation of the next agricultural product can be started, and there is almost no pause of the automatic packaging device. It is possible to pack boxes with excellent operation rates.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, a mechanical automatic box which repeats the operation of lifting the standby produce on the box standby conveyor in the box packing section and packing it in the packaging box at the box standby position. A filling device is provided.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, automatic box packing is provided by providing one box standby position in the lateral direction of conveyance for two adjacent box standby conveyors arranged side by side at the same stop position. The agricultural product lifting means of the device can pack agricultural products by moving on a fixed track only by slightly different movement stroke (moving distance for transferring agricultural products), and the automatic packaging device and moving mechanism are simplified, Control is also facilitated.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the box packing section has a plurality of box standby positions for holding the packaging boxes for packing agricultural products.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, by providing two pairs corresponding to the one-to-one correspondence between the box standby conveyor and the box standby position, the packing operation from one of the box standby conveyors and the other can be performed. The box packing operation from the box standby conveyor can be prepared or boxed irrespective of the working state of both, and the switching to the next box packing operation can be performed very quickly.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mechanical automatic box according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, which repeats an operation of lifting a standby product on a box standby conveyor and packing it in a packaging box at a box standby position. Along with providing a packing device, this automatic box packing device has a trajectory of the above-described repetitive operation when packing agricultural products on one of the above-mentioned box packing standby conveyors, and on the other one of the above-mentioned box packing standby conveyors. An operation trajectory changing means for changing the trajectory of the repetitive operation when packing agricultural products is provided.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, two pairs of a box standby conveyor and a box standby position provided in a one-to-one relationship are such that the moving direction of the agricultural product lifting means of the automatic box packing device is parallel. By placing them in one box, while packing from one box standby conveyor to the packaging box at the box standby position,
It is possible to supply a packaging box to the other box standby position and send a group of agricultural products to a box standby conveyor,
At the time when the packaging operation on one side is completed, regardless of the sending out of the packaging box from the box standby position where this operation is completed or the sending out of the free tray from the packaging standby conveyor, the other packaging standby conveyor. , It is possible to start the packing operation of the agricultural products to the box standby position. In addition, for this purpose, it is only necessary to shift the agricultural product lifting means of the automatic packaging device between the parallel movement directions, so that the switching to the next packaging operation can be performed very quickly.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in each of the above-mentioned inventions, a packaging box supply device for selectively supplying different types of packaging boxes is provided at the box standby position.

According to the present invention, a suitable packaging box can be supplied according to the sorting of agricultural products, so that preparation for box packing can be performed quickly.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in each of the above-mentioned inventions, the carry-out conveyor is provided so as to convey the agricultural products in a line, and the agricultural product payout section of the plurality of integrated conveyors connected to the carry-out conveyor has a pay-out agricultural product. And a guide for arranging and feeding them in a line to the carry-out conveyor.

According to the present invention, free trays loaded with agricultural products can always be transported in a line from the collecting conveyor to the unloading conveyor and further to the box standby conveyor, and the agricultural products can be transferred to the box standby conveyor. A reliable continuous packing operation can be realized without causing congestion in the feeding.

The sorting and packaging apparatus of the present invention described above is suitably used for, for example, fruits such as apples, persimmons, peaches, melons, citrus fruits, and vegetables such as tomatoes.

[0042]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a part of a fruit sorting facility equipped with an agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus according to the present invention (a route from measurement for sorting agricultural products to packing). Yes, this sorting and packaging device is roughly divided into a supply and equal grade sorting section for agricultural products, a sorting section that discharges the agricultural products whose equal grade has been determined to an accumulation conveyor for each sorting section, and an accumulation of each sorted sorting section. It is composed of three boxes, which pack a group (the number of packaging units) of agricultural products sent out from the conveyor to the box standby conveyor.

In the present example, the agricultural product supply / gradation classifying section secures a state in which work can be performed at a relatively low speed that requires visual judgment by an operator using two conveyors.
In the sorting section, the two trays that are transported at a relatively low speed (hereinafter referred to as “free trays”) are combined into a single conveyor, transported at a high speed, and processed at a high rate with mechanical work at a high rate. I have. In the following description, a free tray containing agricultural products is indicated by reference numeral 4, and a free tray from which agricultural products have been taken out and emptied is indicated by reference numeral 41.

The above-mentioned agricultural product supply / equivalent class sorting section transports the empty free tray 41 returned by the merging return conveyor 51 onto the transport conveyor 52 which is a low-speed transport conveyor. Agricultural products brought into the area are picked up from the receiving conveyor 57 for randomly transporting the agricultural products and placed on the free tray 41. At this time, in this example, the grades (excellent, excellent, good, A, B, C, etc.) )
And visually determine the position of the free tray 4 on the conveyor 5
2 is moved to the center, right, and left positions to indicate that it is any of the three classes by tracking.

The conveyor 52 of the present embodiment is a crossed conveyor provided with crossbars at regular intervals in the conveyance direction, and has a pitching screw (not shown) having a spiral groove provided at the end of the return conveyor 51. (1), one free tray 41 is inserted into each of the squares separated by the rails and is conveyed at a constant interval.

Reference numeral 53 denotes a tracking detection device such as a photoelectric sensor provided for detecting the position state (tracking state) of the free tray 4, and detects the grade of the agricultural product from the tracking position of the free tray 4 on which it is placed.

After tracking is detected, the free tray 4 is passed through the image pickup device 54 in a row in a row by a taper rail (not shown) in this example. In the imaging device 54, the appearance of the agricultural products is imaged using a color camera, a sensor camera, or the like, and the respective agricultural products are graded or graded by an appropriate calculation method.

Numeral 55 denotes a bar code reader for reading different identification marks, for example, bar codes, displayed on the free tray 4 one by one.

As described above, the identification information (individualization information) of a specific free tray 4 is detected by a bar code.
In addition, sorting information required for the grade and rank of the agricultural product placed on the specific free tray 4, for example, information detected by the tracking detection device 53 or the imaging device 54 is converted into an electric signal and sent to a computer (not shown). It is determined and recorded whether the agricultural product on the specific free tray 4 belongs to which classification class of the equal rank, or recorded as the classification result information of the determination result. This recording information is used as information for discharging the free tray 4 from the sorting conveyor 1 described later to the collecting conveyor.

Next, the free tray 4 where the above measurement was performed is
Are merged by a merging mechanism 56 from the two conveyors 52 onto a single sorting conveyor 1 that conveys the high-speed. This merging is performed as follows.

That is, the two conveying conveyors 52 run in parallel at a predetermined interval at the end side thereof, and both the crosspieces are driven (conveyed) with a phase shift of 1/2 pitch in the conveying direction. And the free tray 4 is horizontally moved by an inclined rail (not shown) with respect to the sorting conveyor 1 which is arranged in the middle of the both conveyors 52 and is arranged so as to transfer at almost twice the speed. The width is adjusted in the direction to join.

As described above, the two conveyors 5
The free tray 4 on which the agricultural products on which the sorting elements for determining the equal-class sorting section are detected on the second tray 2 are engaged with the inclined rails while being conveyed by the conveyor 52, and are laterally narrowed. Transfer to sorting conveyor 1. Since the phases of the crosspieces of the transport conveyors 52 on both sides are shifted by ず れ pitch in the transport direction, they are efficiently aligned at equal intervals and merged on the sorting conveyor 1, and set on the downstream side of the sorting conveyor 1. Is sent at a high speed to the sorting section.

Next, the sorting / packaging apparatus of the present embodiment will be described. The sorting / packaging apparatus has an integrated conveyor apparatus 2 composed of a large number of integrated conveyors 201 branched and connected to the above-mentioned sorting conveyor 1, and the grade / grade is determined by the above. A sorting discharge section for discharging the collected agricultural products P together with the free trays to the selected collecting conveyor 201 of the collecting conveyor apparatus 2, and a group of agricultural products P selectively sent out from each collecting conveyor 201 of the sorting discharge section for each free tray. Two or more boxing standby conveyors 301 and 302 that accept and wait for boxing
And a packaging unit having a packaging standby conveyor device 3 composed of the following. The sorting and packaging device of the present example shown in FIG. 2 is provided as a configuration ranging from the sorting discharge unit to the packaging unit. .

A plurality of (four in this example) sorting and packaging devices are provided along the conveying direction of the sorting conveyor 1. In this example, the sorting and packaging apparatus 25 for manual packing is provided further downstream of the sorting conveyor 1 in addition to these, but since this is not directly related to the present invention, the description is omitted.

The components of the sorting and packaging apparatus and the connection relationship thereof will be described below in order. First, the agricultural products are sorted from the sorting conveyor 1 to the collecting conveyors 201 of the collecting conveyor apparatus 2.
And the free tray 4 is sorted and discharged.

In the above-described integrated conveyor apparatus 2 of the present embodiment, a large number of integrated conveyors 201 are connected to the sorting conveyor 1 by branching at substantially right angles in the horizontal direction. Each of these integrated conveyors 201 has a sorting section. After being sent out a group of free trays 4, the sorting of agricultural products to be received next can be changed and assigned.

In the present embodiment, one integrated conveyor device 2 (in this example, a set of six integrated conveyors) is provided corresponding to one automatic box packing device, and the free tray discharged from the sorting conveyor 1 is provided. Conveyors that store and accumulate the free trays 4 in a line, and a retractable free tray that is provided at the end of the conveyor so as to switch the linkage when sending a group of free trays 4 from the accumulation conveyor 201 to the packaging unit. And a stopper 202. Further, the discharging device 101 for discharging the agricultural products together with the free trays from the sorting conveyor 1 can be configured by using, for example, a sorting and discharging device disclosed in JP-A-6-278848. One is provided corresponding to the two integrated conveyors 201 branched from,
Therefore, three discharging devices 101 are arranged for the six-row integrated conveyor 201. In addition, each discharge device 101 of the present example is provided with a free tray 4
It is configured to have a function of sorting out. That is, when different sorting divisions are assigned to the two accumulation conveyors 201, for example, one of the accumulation conveyors 201 has a classification class of size L and a classification of A (A-
L) is assigned to the other integrated conveyor 201,
Assuming that the sorting category (BM) is assigned, the agricultural products for which the sorting category is determined are conveyed on the sorting conveyor while the collecting conveyor 20 to which the sorting category is assigned.
When passing through the position of the discharge device 101 associated with the device 1, the electromagnetic attraction unit 1011 rotating on the turntable of the discharge device 101 is fixed at a predetermined position by a command from a control means (not shown) such as a computer. When the free tray 4 is excited by the exciting unit 1012 disposed thereon, the free tray 4 is attracted to the free tray 4 and is turned and discharged laterally from the sorting conveyor 1 in accordance with the rotation of the rotary table. Then, the excitation release unit 1013 or 1010 provided at a predetermined angle position
When the excitation of the electromagnetic attraction unit 1011 is released in one of the fourteen, the free tray 4 discharged from the sorting conveyor 1 is separated from the rotary table and sent to one of the lanes of the stacking conveyor 201 arranged in two rows. Will be.

The transportation of the free tray 4 containing agricultural products sent to the accumulation conveyor 201 is stopped because the stopper plate of the free tray stopper 202 provided at the end of the conveyor usually projects above the transportation surface. In this state, a predetermined number of free trays 4 (usually a group of packing units to be packed) on which agricultural products classified in the same sorting category are loaded are accumulated and accumulated.

Next, a description will be given of the relationship between the above-mentioned integrated conveyor apparatus 2 and the boxed standby conveyor apparatus 3 composed of two boxes, ie, the boxed standby conveyors 301 and 302. The six-layered integrated conveyor 201 is divided into two sets of three articles. Each of the stacking conveyors 201 is linked to one of the box standby conveyors 301 and 302, and the storage and storage of the storage
It is linked to selectively send out a group of free trays 4 that have been accumulated. That is, in the present example shown in FIG.
In FIG. 2, the right three-row accumulation conveyor 201 (hereinafter, when distinguishing between the right and left sets of accumulation conveyors,
11 and the left three strips are defined as 2012) in a direction perpendicular to the accumulation conveyor 201 at a position separated by a predetermined length from the end of the accumulation conveyor 201 (sorting conveyor 1).
The free tray stopper 202 at the end of the accumulation conveyor 2011 selected from among the three articles is linked to the first box standby conveyor 301 extending in a direction parallel to
Is released (the stopper plate is immersed downward from the transport surface), the group of free trays 4 stored and accumulated on the accumulation conveyor 2011 is sent to the first boxed standby conveyor 301.

In the same manner, the three left-hand stacked conveyors 2012 shown in FIG. 2 are arranged adjacent to the first boxed standby conveyor 301 and closer to the integrated conveyor than the first boxed standby conveyor. Second boxed standby conveyor 302
In the same manner, the stop of the sending out by the free tray stopper 202 at the end of the accumulation conveyor 2012 selected from the three strips is released (submerged downward from the conveyance surface), and the accumulation / accumulation in the accumulation conveyor 2012 is similarly performed. The group of free trays 4 is sent to the second box standby conveyor 302. In this example, the standby positions of the first and second boxed standby conveyors 301 and 302 are shifted from each other in the extending direction as shown in the drawing. This is to make it suitable for speeding up the operation at the time of automatic packing of agricultural products in the packaging box 620 waiting at the box waiting position described later.

Reference numeral 303 denotes a free tray stopper for retractable box standby conveyors 301 and 302 similar to the free tray stopper 202 provided at the end of each of the accumulation conveyors. Usually, a stopper plate is provided on the transport surface. The protruding portion stops the free tray 4 sent from the accumulation conveyor 201, and the free tray 41, which has been emptied after the lifting of the agricultural products, is discharged to the return conveyor 5 by immersion of the stopper plate below the conveying surface. You. The discharged free trays 41 join the empty free trays 41 discharged from the respective sorting and wrapping devices by the joining return conveyor 51, and return to the agricultural product supply section of the sorting equipment.

Reference numerals 304 and 305 denote boxes-conveying conveyers 301 and 30 from the three conveyers 2011 and 2012, respectively.
2 is an unloading conveyor that forms an unloading conveyance path when the free tray 4 is sent into the free tray 4.
In the state shown in FIG. 2, two strips are adjacently extended so that a space for installing a box standby position or the like can be formed between the terminal end of the box 01 and the box standby conveyors 301 and 302. The left side is open and has a U-shape.

It should be noted that the above-described monitoring of the accumulation state of the free trays 4 on the accumulation conveyor 201, the discharge control of the free trays 4 by the discharge device 101 related thereto, and the control of the stop and release of the free tray stoppers 202 and 303. And the like can be performed using a computer including an MPU (microprocessor unit) not shown.

Next, the packing unit for packing the agricultural products in the packing box will be described.
1, 602 are arranged adjacent to each other along the extending direction of the boxed standby conveyors 301, 302 so as to correspond to the two parallel boxed standby conveyors 301, 302.

FIGS. 2 to 5 show the configuration of the box packing section having the box standby positions 601 and 602.
An empty box supply device 610 is provided so as to supply an empty box 620 corresponding to each of the empty boxes 1 and 602, and the empty box 620 in the open state is lowered in the empty box supply device 610 by a lifting device (not shown). Box conveyor 61 below
1, 612, and the box conveyor 611, 6
12 and the above-mentioned box standby position 6 for automatic packing operation
01, 602, and the lifting devices 6011, 60
At 21, it is raised to the box standby positions 601 and 602. Reference numeral 603 denotes a box stopper for stopping and stopping the empty box 620 conveyed below each of the box standby conveyors below the box conveyers 611 and 612. Usually, a stopper plate protrudes above the conveying surface to convey the box. When the box 621, which has been moved to the box standby positions 601 and 602 and the predetermined packing operation has been completed, is lowered to the box conveyor by the elevating devices 6011 and 6021, it is immersed below the conveying surface to stop. Then, the box 621 in which the agricultural products are packed is transported to the downstream side of the transport. The end of the box conveyors 611 and 612 is connected to the product unloading conveyor 6.
40.

As described above, the empty box 620 is moved to the box standby position 60.
1, 602, and a mechanism for performing a series of operations of discharging the agricultural products P from the box standby positions 601 and 602 after the boxes are packed is described. The supply of the empty boxes 620 for packing to the box standby positions 601 and 602 and the discharge of the packaging box after the packing, and the supply of a group of agricultural products to the box standby conveyors 301 and 302 for the packaging unit. , And a series of movements for discharging the empty free tray 41 are appropriately performed. In addition, in the empty box supply device 610 in this example, independent box supply conveyors 631 to 634 are provided in cooperation with each other in order to supply different types of packaging boxes 620, so that the next box packing operation is performed. Once the type of box to use is selected,
The corresponding one of the pushers 6311 to 6341 is operated, and a box of a corresponding type is sent to the lifting device. FIG. 5 illustrates the operation of the box supply conveyor 634 to the box 62
0 indicates a state in which the box supply device 610 is supplied.

Next, the automatic box packing device 9, the pack collecting and holding device 8, and the pack removal / insertion device 7 will be described.

For the packaging box 620 which has been handled as described above and is to wait at the box standby positions 601 and 602 for automatic packaging, the pack accumulation holding device 8 and the pack unloading / inserting device 7 are used. The tray pack is inserted.

The pack accumulating and holding device 8 prepares tray packs 81 to 83 necessary for packing agricultural products by stacking them on the pack holding portions 811 to 831, and is used for packing the agricultural products step by step. The buffer sheets 84 are stacked 841 on the buffer sheet holding portions, and appropriate tray packs 81 to 83 or the buffer sheets 84 are selected and taken out one by one from these prepared holding portions, and the box standby positions 601 and 602 are taken out.
(See FIG. 2 and the like).

That is, in this example, the pack accumulation holding device 8
Holding tables 812 to 832 of the pack holding units 811 to 831
, Known tray packs 81 to 83 made of thin plastic molded articles for placing agricultural products are stacked and held, respectively. These tray packs 81 to 83 are packed, for example, for 18 pieces and 20 pieces. And 24 dents (recesses). The buffer sheet 84 is made of a plastic sheet having a certain degree of cushioning property, and is laminated on the holding table 842.

In the present embodiment, each of the holding portions 811 to 841 of the pack stacking and holding device 8 has a space above the unloading conveyors 304 and 305 near the end of the stacking conveyor 201 as can be seen from FIGS. In addition, they are linearly arranged in a line in the direction in which the box standby conveyors 301 and 302 extend, thereby simplifying the operation of the later-described pack removal / insertion device 7. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, each of the holding portions 811 to 841 of the pack accumulation holding device 8 of the present embodiment is configured to take out the tray packs 81 to 83 or the buffer sheet 84 from the uppermost portion thereof. , The holding table 812-
By raising 842 by the chain rotation mechanism 85, the take-out position of the uppermost tray pack or the like is always kept constant. 851 is a holding table 812 to 84
2 and a frame for supporting the chain rotation mechanism 85.

In the present embodiment, the trays and the like stacked and held by the above-described pack stacking and holding device 8 are taken out one by one and inserted into the packing box 620 waiting at the box waiting position 601 or 602. The insertion device 7 is provided with a suction hanging portion 701 for sucking and suspending the tray pack and the like, and by moving the suction hanging portion 701 in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, a lifting position of the tray pack and the like, and a box standby state. And a linear moving mechanism 710 for moving to a position for insertion into the packaging box 620 waiting at the positions 601 and 602, and furthermore, the suction and suspension for simplifying the mechanism for horizontal movement. A parallelogram-type rotary link mechanism 720 that connects between the unit 701 and the linear movement mechanism 710 is provided.

The suction suspension portion 701 is connected to the connection portion 702 of the upper parallelogram type rotary link mechanism 720 by the suspension rod 7.
03 is suspended, and a suction head 704 is attached to a lower end thereof. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the suction head 704 has a suction chamber 70 to which a suction pipe 706 is connected.
5 and an air seal mat 707 for preventing air from leaking from the recessed portion of the tray pack by air-sealing a predetermined area around the suction chamber 705.

On the other hand, the linear moving mechanism 710 is horizontally mounted on a rail 711 extending along the linear arrangement direction of the holding portions 811 to 841 of the pack accumulation holding device 8 so as to be slidable in the same direction. A moving slider 712,
A vertical axis (vertical axis) 713 fixed to the horizontal movement slider 712, and a vertical movement slider 714 assembled to the vertical axis 713 and slidable in the same vertical direction.
In this manner, the vertical movement slider 714 is provided with one axis (y
(Axis) direction and vertical movement in the vertical axis (z axis) direction. The driving means for these movements is not shown. The vertical movement slider 714 is provided with a connecting portion 715 for connecting to the connecting portion 702 of the parallelogram type rotary link mechanism 720 above the suction hanging portion 701.

The above-described rotary link mechanism 720 for connecting between the suction suspension section 701 and the linear moving mechanism 710 is
The details are shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, and the connecting portion 702 of the suction hanging portion 701 and the connecting portion 715 of the linear moving mechanism 710 are shown.
At the same time, two (one pair) connecting rods 721 and 722 whose ends are rotatably connected thereto are provided so as to constitute a parallelogram type link mechanism, and these two connecting rods 721 are provided. , 722 are provided at different positions in the vertical direction. A rotating drive motor 723 fixed to a connecting portion 715 provided on the vertical movement slider 714 of the linear movement mechanism 710 is connected to one of the connecting rods 721, and a pair of rotation motors 723 is provided around the connecting portion 715. The connecting rods 721 and 722 can be rotated 180 ° in a horizontal plane.

With the above configuration, the pack unloading / inserting device 7 of this embodiment is selected from the tray packs 81 to 83 or the buffer sheet 84 held by each pack holding unit of the pack stacking and holding device 8. To the holding part (8
11 to 841), the suction head 704 is moved and brought into close contact with the uppermost portion of the stack, suction is lifted, one of the sheets is lifted up and taken out by slightly rising, and the rotary link mechanism 720 is moved by the rotary drive motor 723. By rotating it 1
After turning in the horizontal plane at 80 ° (see FIG. 1), the horizontal moving slider 712 is moved in the y-axis direction to move above the packaging box 620 to be inserted, and then the vertical moving slider 714 is moved in the z-axis direction. And the fitting operation can be completed. In the parallelogram type rotary link mechanism 720, the pair of connecting rods 721 and 722 are vertically displaced from each other, so that the parallelogram is rotated 180 ° without any inconvenience.

Next, the automatic box packing device 9 will be described.
This automatic packaging device 9 of the present example is shown in detail in FIGS.
A pair of horizontal x-axis rails 9 orthogonal to 01 and 302
03, a y-axis direction rail 901 having both ends supported by an x-axis direction movement slider 902, a y-axis direction movement slider 904 traveling on the y-axis direction rail 901, and a y-axis direction slider 904. The movable slider 904 is provided so as to be able to move up and down in the vertical direction, and is provided so as to include a hanging rod support member 905 which holds a row of agricultural product hanging rods 906 having a suction cup 907 at a lower end thereof.
Y-axis rail 901 by axial movement slider 902
Moving in the x-axis direction and a slider 904 for moving in the y-axis direction.
Is moved from the position above the box standby conveyors 301 and 302 to the box standby position 60.
It is configured to be able to move freely in a horizontal plane between the upper positions 1,602. Then, the hanging rod support 90
5 moves upward relative to the y-axis direction moving slider 904 in the vertical axis (z-axis) direction, thereby suspending from above one of the box standby conveyors 301 and 302. After the rod support 905 is lowered and the agricultural products P placed on the free tray 4 waiting in a line are sucked and lifted by the suction cup 907, the hanging rod support 905 is moved to the box standby position 601 or 602. To fit the suspended row of agricultural products P into the packaging box 620. At this time, if the spacing between one row of agricultural products on the box standby conveyor is different from the same spacing when packing, the adjacent spacing of the hanging rods 906 suspended by the hanging rod support 905 will be described. Can be adjusted using a known pantograph mechanism 908 and a drive motor 909 or the like.
Each of the sliders 902 and 904 and the suspension rod support 9
The illustration of the mechanism for driving 05 and the like is omitted.

As described above, the boxed standby conveyors 301, 3
The agricultural products P waiting at 02 can be completed in a predetermined automatic boxing operation by repeatedly performing one-line lifting and insertion into a packaging box.

The state of the automatic packaging operation by the agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus constructed as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
01 and 302, the agricultural products in the predetermined sorting section assigned to each of the three conveyors are sequentially discharged from the sorting conveyor 1 to the three conveyors 201 associated with each of the three conveyors. It is stored and accumulated until it becomes.

When the predetermined number of stacking conveyors 201 satisfy a predetermined condition, such as not being sent out from another stacking conveyor, the stop of the free tray stopper 202 is released. Then, the free tray 4 on which the accumulated agricultural products are placed is sent out, and is sent to the box standby conveyor 301 or 302. As described above, in the present embodiment, the boxed standby conveyor 301 has the three conveyors 20 on the right side of FIG.
11 and the other boxed standby conveyor 302
It is configured so that the three left conveyors 2012 are linked.

On the other hand, at the box standby positions 601 and 602, the empty box 620 in the open state is moved to the box conveyor 611 or 612.
And a box stopper 603 and an elevating device 6 attached thereto
011, 6021, and then, by the pack removal / insertion device 7, any of the tray packs 81 to 83 matching the sorting category of the agricultural products sent out from the predetermined accumulation conveyor 201 as described above is emptied. And a box for packing is prepared.

Then, in a state where the boxes 620 and the agricultural products P are ready for box packing, the automatic box packing device 9 performs the box packing operation from the box standby conveyor to the packing box 620. In this example, the box standby conveyor 301 and the box standby position 601 correspond, and the box standby conveyor 302 and the box standby conveyor 602 correspond.

Then, assuming now that the boxed standby conveyor 301
, The packing operation is performed to the packaging box 620 at the box standby position 601, and during this operation, the agricultural products are sent to the other box standby conveyor 302 and the empty box 602 is conveyed to the box standby conveyor 602. The supply of the box 620 and the empty box 62
0 is inserted into any of the tray packs 81 to 83.

In the above state, the boxed standby conveyor 301
Is completed, the state where the packaging operation of the agricultural products is immediately performed from the other packaging standby conveyor 302 to the packaging box 620 of the packaging standby conveyor 602 can be secured. The packaging operation by the packaging device 9 can be started immediately for the agricultural products on the packaging standby conveyor 302. Further, in the box standby conveyor 301 in which the above-mentioned automatic box packing operation has been completed, the empty free tray 41 is discharged and the next group of agricultural products is fed from one of the conveyors 2011. Further, discharge of the packed box 621 from the box standby position 601, supply of the next empty box 620, and tray pack 8 for the empty box
1 to 83 are inserted.

By repeating the above operations, the automatic packaging device 9 is operated continuously without substantially stopping and without performing any operation other than the packaging operation of the agricultural products. Can be implemented. In addition, the number of accumulation conveyors that can be shared by one automatic boxing device 9 can be increased to the capacity limit when only the boxing operation of the device is continuously performed. The operation efficiency is high, so that it is possible to sufficiently cope with this, and the advantage is obtained that the number of automatic boxing devices 9 in the whole fruit sorting equipment can be reduced.

In this example, two agricultural products were placed in the packaging box.
Assuming a case where a box (or more) is packed in a step (or more), the holding section 841 is a stacked holding section of the buffer sheet 84. As a preferred embodiment, the following box packing operation is performed. it can. That is, the first-stage agricultural products are first packed in the two-stage packed packaging box 620 that is waiting in one of the box standby units. next,
At the time, the automatic box packing device is placed in the packaging box 620 of the other box standby conveyor, which is ready to start the box packing operation, so that the corresponding other box standby conveyor carries out the operation of packing the agricultural products. 9 and immediately start the packing operation. Then, during the work, the pack removal / insertion device 7 inserts and inserts the buffer sheet 84 into the packaging box in which the first-stage agricultural products have already been packed, before packing the second-stage agricultural products in the box. Perform

As described above, the state in which the packaging of the second stage of the packaging boxes to be packed is started is ensured, and when the packaging of the agricultural products in the other packaging box is completed, the agricultural products in the second stage are immediately obtained. Can be started.

Embodiment 2 In the present embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the configuration of the agricultural product delivery section at the end of each of the accumulation conveyors 201 of the accumulation conveyor apparatus 2 is as follows.
Although different from the first embodiment, the other configuration is the same. Therefore, the same reference numerals are given to portions common to the first embodiment, and the description will be omitted.

This embodiment is characterized in that one boxed standby conveyor 3
01 (or 302) to unload conveyor 304 (or 30)
5) three integrated conveyors 201 linked via
1 (or 2012) is provided with guides 203 and 204 that can surely maintain the one-row alignment when feeding a group of free trays 4.

That is, two of the three integrated conveyors 2011 linked to the box standby conveyor 301 (the two conveyors on the right side in FIG.
Is arranged so that the free trays 4 are distributed and discharged), and an inclined guide 203 suitable for discharging the free trays 4 in a line on the unloading conveyor 304 is provided downstream of the transport of the free tray stopper 202. A group of free trays 4 sent out from one of the two stacking conveyors 2011 by releasing the free tray stopper 202 is stably maintained in a line by the inclined guides 203, and the L-shape of the unloading conveyor 304 is maintained. Is sent on the way. Note that the remaining one conveyor (the right one of the center two in FIG. 8) of the conveyer 2011 is fed to the start end of the L-shaped carry-out conveyer 304, so that no particular guide is required.

On the other hand, two trays (three on the left side in FIG. 8) of the three stacked conveyors 2012 linked to the box standby conveyor 302 allow the free tray 4 to be sorted and discharged from the sorting conveyor 1 by one discharging device 101. Is provided with the same inclined guide 204 as described above,
A group of free trays 4 sent out by releasing the free tray stopper 202 from one of the two stack conveyors 2012 is stably maintained in a line by the inclined guide 204, and the L of the unloading conveyor 305 is maintained.
It is fed into the beginning of the character. In addition, the integrated conveyor 2
012 is fed in the middle of the L-shaped unloading conveyor 304. In this case, the free tray 4 is used to smoothly feed the L-shaped unloading conveyor 304. An end guide portion 2041 for curving and turning the conveyance of the sheet is provided. In the case of the present embodiment in which the free tray 4 is fed from the two right-hand integrated conveyors 2011 in the middle of the unloading conveyor 304, the free end tray 2041 is fed straight into the L-shaped straight path of the unloading conveyor 304. There is no need to provide a guide corresponding to the above.

As described above, according to the sorting and packaging apparatus of this embodiment in which the free-tray transport guide is provided at the end of each of the accumulation conveyors of the accumulation conveyor 2 at the end of the accumulation conveyor, the agricultural products P are output from each accumulation conveyor 201. Can be sent out to the unloading conveyor 304 or 305 in a line-like manner, and the free tray 4 can be automatically transported without causing transportation failure such as traffic jam. The device can be operated efficiently without causing the boxing device 9 to stop.

Embodiment 3 In the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 to 13, compared to the sorting and packaging apparatus of Embodiment 1 provided with two box standby positions, one boxed standby conveyor (reference numeral 630) is used. The box standby position 630 corresponds to a two-stage box standby conveyor 311, 3.
12, the agricultural products P are packed in a box, and an empty box 620 is supplied separately from the box standby position 630, and one of the tray packs 861 to 864 is inserted into the empty box 620. The empty box 6 with the tray pack inserted into the box standby position 630 at a predetermined timing.
This is different in that a box preparation position 640 for feeding 20 is provided.

The sorting and packaging apparatus having the above-described configuration employed in the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the above-described points, and the configuration related thereto is similarly changed, but the other points are the same as those in the first embodiment. It is.

In the present embodiment, the operation of sending a group of agricultural products P from the plurality of collecting conveyors 201 to the two-packing standby conveyors 311 and 312 performed by the above-described configuration is performed from one of the box standby conveyors to the box standby position. During the operation of packing the packaging box 630 into the packaging box 620, the agricultural products are sent to the other box standby conveyor so that the next packaging operation can be immediately started. Same as in the first mode. However, the stop positions of these adjacent box standby conveyors 311 and 312 are as follows.
Since there is only one box standby position 630, the positions are the same without shifting in the transport direction as in the first embodiment.

On the other hand, since there is only one box standby position 630, the operation of supplying a box to the box standby position 630 and ensuring that the box 620 can immediately start packing is described in the first embodiment. Is very different.

That is, with reference to FIG. 13 schematically showing these operations, in this example, the empty box 620 is supplied from the box supply device 610 to the box preparation position 640, and the pack removal / fitting / inserting device 7 The operation of inserting any of the tray packs 861 to 864 is performed at the box preparation position 640.

According to the sorting and packaging apparatus having such a configuration,
When performing the packing operation from one box to the next packing box, a pause may occur for the time required to send the packing box from the box preparation position 640 to the box standby position 630. And the time required to change the packaging position of the automatic packaging device 9.

On the other hand, the box supply device 610, the box conveyor 611, the elevating device 6011 and the like can be arranged in one line, so that the structure of the device is simple and the number of parts can be reduced.

Further, the hanging rod support 905 of the automatic box packing device 9 is provided.
In the horizontal plane, only linear movement in the x-axis direction is sufficient, so that the advantage that the configuration of the moving mechanism can be simplified can be obtained. In this example, as described above, the vertical shaft 9051 is provided so as not to be movable in the y-axis direction with respect to the y-axis rail 901. However, as a boxing mode, for example, the tray packs 861, 862, and 864 in FIG. In some cases, the packing may be in a zigzag manner, and in the case of packing in a matrix, such as a tray pack 863. For this purpose, it is necessary to slightly move the suspension rod support 905 in the y-axis direction. Therefore, in this example, as shown in FIG. 11, the hanging rod support 905 is attached to the lower end of the vertical shaft 9051 so as to be able to move slightly in the y-axis direction, and this movement is driven by the air cylinder device 9052. Is provided.

As can be seen from FIGS. 10 to 12, the sorting and packaging apparatus of this example can be effectively used particularly when one-stage packing of agricultural products such as tomatoes, pears, and melons into flat boxes.

[0103]

As described above, according to the invention of the agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus of the present invention, one automatic packaging apparatus corresponds to the two-row packaging standby conveyor. While packing the produce on the conveyor, the produce can be sent from the collecting conveyor to the other packing standby conveyor, and as soon as the packing operation from one packing standby conveyor is completed, the other Ability to start packing of agricultural products from the box standby conveyor, and increase the operation rate of individual sorting and packaging equipment by continuously performing the box packing operation, further improving the operation rate of the whole sorting equipment be able to. Moreover, in addition to this, by allocating the sorting categories of the agricultural products to the accumulation conveyor appropriately, it is possible to achieve the averaging of the operation rates in the plurality of sorting and packaging apparatuses. Therefore, the amount of agricultural products to be shared and processed by each sorting and packaging device can be increased, and the number of sorting and packaging devices required for fruit sorting equipment and the number of automatic boxing devices can be reduced, shortening the time for fruit sorting work, It is possible to reduce the number of sorting and packaging apparatuses to be installed, to reduce the size of the equipment, to reduce the volume required for the fruit sorting equipment, and the like, and to optimize the investment cost for equipment.

In addition to the above-described effects, the following effects can be obtained by the invention of each claim.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, each of the two boxed standby conveyors and the unloading conveyor is formed as substantially one transport path, so that the support frame of the conveyor can be shared,
Conveyor layout can be simplified.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the box packing portion can be formed in a flat U-shaped space surrounded by the box packing standby conveyor and the carry-out conveyor, so that an automatic box packing device and the like are installed and each conveyor is extended. Can be configured with a lean layout.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, while packing agricultural products from the box standby conveyor to the box standby position,
The agricultural product is sent to the other box standby conveyor to prepare for the next boxing, and at the box preparation position, the packing box for the next boxing is prepared, for example, a tray pack or the like is inserted. After completing the packaging, the prepared packaging box is immediately sent to the packaging standby conveyor so that the packaging of the next agricultural product can be started. It is possible to carry out box packing with almost no operation rate. The present invention is particularly effective for packing agricultural products that are packed in a single flat box.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the agricultural product lifting means of the automatic packaging device moves the agricultural product from one of the two packaging standby conveyors to the one box standby position by moving on a fixed track. The automatic packing device and the moving mechanism are simplified, and the control is also facilitated.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, two pairs of the box standby conveyor and the box standby position corresponding to the one-to-one correspondence are provided. The box packing operation from the packing standby conveyor can be prepared or boxed regardless of the operation state of both, and the switching to the next box packing operation can be performed very quickly.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, for two pairs of the box standby conveyor and the box standby position, the moving trajectory of the agricultural product lifting means of the automatic box packing device is arranged, for example, in parallel, so that one of the box standby is provided. While packing the packing box at the box standby position from the conveyor, it is possible to supply the packing box to the other box standby position and send a group of agricultural products to the box standby conveyor. When the packing operation is completed, simply move the agricultural product lifting means of the automatic box packing machine in parallel, and regardless of the box standby position where this operation has been completed, the agricultural products are transferred from the other box standby conveyor to the box standby position. Boxing work can be started.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, a suitable packaging box can be supplied according to the sorting of agricultural products.
Preparation for packing can be done quickly.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, free trays on which agricultural products are loaded can always be conveyed in a line from the collecting conveyor to the unloading conveyor and further to the boxing standby conveyor. The feeding of agricultural products to the standby conveyor does not cause congestion, and a reliable continuous packing operation can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a fruit sorting facility including a sorting and packaging apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which the box packaging device according to the first embodiment is longitudinally cut along a vertical plane including the stacking conveyor side.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which the sorting and packaging apparatus according to the first embodiment is cut along a vertical plane along AA in FIG. 1 to explain a packing operation state by an automatic packing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the sorting and packaging apparatus of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the operation of the pack removal / insertion device of the sorting and packaging device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the movement of the tray pack and the agricultural product when the tray pack is supplied and the agricultural product is packed in the sorting and packaging apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an outline of a partial configuration of a sorting and packaging apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing an outline of the configuration of a sorting and packaging apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing a state in which the box packaging device according to the third embodiment is vertically cut from a stacking conveyor side by a vertical plane including the same.

FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which the sorting and packaging apparatus according to the third embodiment is cut along a vertical plane along BB in FIG. 9 to explain a state of a box packing operation by an automatic box packing apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a side view of the sorting and packaging apparatus according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a view for explaining the operation of a pack removal / insertion device of the selection and packaging device of the third embodiment.

[Description of Signs] 1: Sorting Conveyor 101: Ejector 1011: Electromagnetic Attraction Unit 1012: Excitation Unit 1013: Excitation Release Unit 1014: Excitation Release Unit 2: Integrated Conveyor Device 201: Integrated Conveyor 2011, 2012: Integrated Conveyor 202: Free Tray stoppers 203, 204: inclined guide 2041, terminal guide section 3: box standby conveyor device 301, 302, 311, 312: box standby conveyor 303: free tray stopper 304, 305: unloading conveyor 4: free tray (receiving tray) 41 : Empty free tray 5: Return conveyor 51: Merging return conveyor 601, 602: Box standby position 6011, 6021: Lifting device 603: Box stopper 610: Empty box supply device 611, 612: Box transport conveyor 620: Empty box 621: ( Box 63) 1 to 634: Box supply conveyor 6311 to 6341: Pusher 630: Box standby position 640: Box preparation position 7: Pack removal / insertion device 701: Suction and hanging unit 702: Connecting unit 703: Hanging rod 704: Suction head 705: Suction chamber 706: Suction tube 707: Air seal mat 710: Linear movement mechanism 711: Rail 712: Horizontal movement slider 713: Vertical axis 714: Vertical movement slider 715: Connection section 720: Rotary link mechanism 721, 722: Connection rod 723: Rotation Drive motor 8: Pack accumulation holding device 81-83: Tray pack 84: Buffer sheet 811-831: Pack holding portion 841: Buffer sheet holding portion 812-832: Holding table 85: Chain rotating mechanism 851: Frame 861-864: Tray Pack 9: Automatic packing device 901: Y-axis rail 02: x-axis slider 903: x-axis rail 904: y-axis direction moving slider 905 Tsu杆 support 9051: Vertical axis 906: Agricultural Tsu杆 907: suction cups 908: pantograph mechanism 909: motor

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3E054 AA10 CA08 DC03 DC13 EA02 FA05 FA07 FB01 FE03 GA01 GA07 GB03 GB04 GC03 HA04 HA07 3F015 AA07 KA01

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An agglomeration conveyor selected from at least four accumulation conveyors is sent out to a box standby conveyor for waiting for produce in a line in a row for packing, and the produce in the alignment standby state is moved to a box standby position. A sorting / packing apparatus for packing boxes in a waiting packing box, wherein two packing standby conveyors are provided, and each agricultural product delivery section of a plurality of collecting conveyors selected from the collecting conveyor group is a first unloading conveyor. Connected to the first packing standby conveyor via a second packing standby conveyor via the second unloading conveyor of each agricultural product delivery section of the plurality of different accumulation conveyors from the accumulation conveyor group And a sorting and packaging apparatus for agricultural products, characterized in that these two-stage boxed standby conveyors are arranged adjacent to each other in the lateral direction of their conveyance. 2. The agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the two convey-out conveyors are provided with a conveyance path substantially adjacent to and without a gap. 3. The conveyer according to claim 2, wherein the two convey-out conveyors have a starting end side path for receiving the discharge of the agricultural products from the plurality of collecting conveyors, and an end side path turning the conveying direction at right angles from the starting end side path. By connecting a box standby conveyor so as to turn the transport direction of agricultural products at right angles from the terminal end of the end side path, the conveying path of each of the two articles unloading conveyor and the box standby conveyor is flat. A sorting and packaging device for agricultural products, wherein the device has a U shape and a boxing portion is provided in a space inside the U shape. 4. The package according to claim 3, wherein the packaging unit provided in the planar U-shaped inner space formed by the planar U-shaped conveyance path is a single packaging box that waits for packaging boxes for packing agricultural products. An agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus comprising: a standby position; and at least one box preparation position for preparing a packing box in a packable state to be sent to the packaging standby position. 5. The automatic packing machine according to claim 4, wherein the box packing section is provided with a mechanical automatic box packing device which repeats an operation of lifting the stand-by produce on the box stand-by conveyor and packing it in the packing box at the box stand-by position. Sorting and packaging equipment for agricultural products. 6. The sorting and packaging apparatus for agricultural products according to claim 3, wherein the box packing section has a plurality of box standby positions for holding a packaging box for packing agricultural products. 7. The automatic packing machine according to claim 6, wherein the box packing section is provided with a mechanical automatic box packing device which repeats an operation of lifting the stand-by produce on the box stand-by conveyor and packing it in the packing box at the box stand-by position. The packaging device, the trajectory of the repetitive operation when packing the agricultural products on the one of the box standby conveyor, and when packing the agricultural products on the other one of the box standby conveyors A sorting and packaging apparatus for agricultural products, comprising an operation trajectory changing means for changing a trajectory of a repetitive operation. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein
A sorting and packaging apparatus for agricultural products, wherein a packaging box supply device for selectively supplying different types of packaging boxes is provided at a box standby position. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein
The unloading conveyor is provided so as to convey the agricultural products in a line, and the agricultural product dispensing section of the plurality of integrated conveyors connected to the unloading conveyor is provided with a guide for aligning and sending out the discharged agricultural products to the unloading conveyor. A sorting and packaging apparatus for agricultural products.