JPH0416726B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] A. Purpose of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) This invention relates to the mass or weight (hereinafter simply referred to as mass) of agricultural products such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, green peppers, and carrots, and fruits such as citrus fruits and chestnuts. This relates to a device that transports items to separate them and package them in predetermined amounts.

(Prior art) Conventionally, in this type of device, mass is measured, classified into each mass, conveyed by separate conveyor belts for each mass, and at the discharge end of the conveyor belt, it is returned to the place in the form of mass. It is measured quantitatively and packaged in containers such as packaging boxes and bags.

However, with such sorting, transporting, and packaging methods and devices, in order to classify, the items are weighed, then transported again in bulk for each category, and then weighed again.
Measuring the mass requires two measurements, and a large number of mass measuring meters must be provided.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) Therefore, the values measured when classifying by mass are integrated for each class, and when this reaches a predetermined amount, for example, 10Kg or 20Kg, these are transported all at once. The inventors developed a system to put the liquid into packaging boxes.

If we were to show the system in more detail, it would be something like the one shown in the flowchart in Figure 7, in which several series of conveyor lines sequentially transport the solids at independent intervals. The mass of each solid substance is measured independently for each of the lines during the transfer of the conveyor line, and as soon as the measurement is completed, the mass of each solid substance measured on each conveyor line is sequentially calculated by mass common to each line. and classify into two or more mass classes on the same line, and integrate the measured values classified into mass classes for each line,
In addition, one pulse is counted for each unit transfer dimension of each line, and from when each solid object passes the reference position after mass measurement, when each solid object reaches a specific number of pulses according to its mass class, The solids are sequentially discharged or put into storage boxes provided at different locations according to their mass, grouped into each line by mass class, temporarily stored, and then independently stored in each line. If the cumulative value accumulated for each class by mass is the set number, for example,
When solids that have reached 10Kg or 20Kg and have reached the set value are put into the storage box of that class on that line, the solids of a predetermined mass in this storage chamber are transferred from the storage chambers on other lines. A sequential delivery system was developed with a predetermined amount of solids being delivered in a similar manner.

The present invention is mainly intended for use in the above system, and is intended to be used when a group of solids belonging to the same class each reaching a predetermined amount is conveyed from a large number of sorting lines by a common endless conveyor. This is to prevent objects from mixing with each other and to transport them efficiently.

B. Structure of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems) In the present invention, a plurality of parallel conveyor lines for sorting each having a measuring device are provided, and at least two positions on each of these conveyor lines are provided. There are storage boxes for temporary storage according to the mass class, and a discharge gate is provided at the bottom of each storage box, and below the storage boxes for the same mass class on the different conveyor lines, In a device in which a common delivery conveyor is provided to intersect below the several conveyor lines, each of the delivery conveyors has a compartment that can receive objects to be conveyed that are input at once from a storage box into one compartment. are provided in sequence in the flow direction, and the dispensing gates of each of the storage boxes are closed under normal conditions, and a signal indicating that a predetermined amount of solids has been put into the storage box is sent to the bottom of the storage box. The measuring solids group conveying device is characterized in that the empty compartment of the delivery conveyor is opened by an AND signal with a stop signal, and is closed after discharging the solids group.

(Operation) In the device of the present invention configured as described above, the dispensing gates of several storage chambers are closed, and when solids are sequentially introduced into each storage chamber, the discharge gates of the several storage chambers are closed. The amount of solids in the storage chamber gradually increases, and when the amount of any of the storage chambers reaches a predetermined amount, an output signal is generated. In addition, even if the lower section of the conveyor is empty, the AND signal opens the discharge gate of the storage chamber in which the solids have been stored up to a predetermined amount, and the solids therein are immediately transferred into one section of the conveyor. The discharge gate is closed, and the next solid material is restarted to be introduced into the storage chamber.

The conveyor receives the input and moves in the conveying direction.

Then, when the solids in the other storage chambers reach a predetermined amount, the output gate is opened by the AND signal of this output signal and the signal indicating that a compartment below which no solids have been loaded has arrived. The solids in this storage box are also thrown into other compartments of the common conveyor at once.

In this way, a predetermined amount of solids stored in all the storage boxes are fed one after another into the empty compartments of the common conveyor.

(Embodiments) The present invention will now be described based on representative embodiments shown in the drawings.

In the figure, 1, 2, 3, and 4 are conveyor lines, each of which has a mass meter (same as a weighing scale) in the middle of the conveyor line, and the individual solids passing through this mass meter part are measured. The mass is measured, the mass is classified into classes, and a conveyor A for transporting each class corresponds to each class.
At the storage box 5 provided at the intersection with B, C, and D, the conveyor lines 1, 2, 3, and 4
Therefore, the solid matter is put into individual storage boxes 5.

In other words, the values measured by the mass meter are distributed into mass classes, and the corresponding solids are conveyed to the conveyor A, B, C, or D position corresponding to the classified class. For example, after measurement, Count the reference intermittent pulses and start from the reference position for each conveyor A,
Conveyor lines 1, 2, 3 and 4 depending on the number of pulses corresponding to the distance to position B, C or D.
It is designed to be put into the storage box 5 more frequently.

The storage boxes 5 of each of the conveyor lines 1, 2, 3, and 4 are arranged in a straight line in a direction perpendicular to each conveyor line when viewed from above, and above the conveyor line where each storage box 5 is located. , a discharge member 7 for discharging the individual solids 6 conveyed by the conveyor line into the storage box 5 is provided so as to move back and forth in the transverse direction of the conveyor line, and in the illustrated one, It is arranged to be actuated by a pneumatic cylinder 8. The portion of the ejection member 7 that comes into contact with the solid material 6 is made of a resilient cushion material 9, such as a soft foam or a net, to prevent the solid material 6 from being damaged.

The bottom of each storage box 5 is a payout gate 10.
It has a double-sided door and is opened and closed by another pneumatic cylinder 11. Further, each solid substance 6 discharged by the discharge member 7 is stored in each storage box 5 in a predetermined amount, for example.
After 10Kg and 20Kg are thrown in, the dispensing gate 10 is opened and closed to temporarily prevent subsequent solids 6 from entering the storage box 5 until the solids 6 group in the storage box 5 is discharged. An upper gate 12 is provided at the upper part of the storage box 5, and the timing for closing this upper gate 12 is determined by a detection signal that detects that a predetermined amount of the last solid material 6 has passed through the gate 12. , the next solid material 6 following this last solid material 6 is discharged by the discharge member 7, and the solid material 6 after being put in a predetermined amount is discharged through the closed upper gate 1.
2 is stored separately from the solid matter group 6 in the storage box 5.

In the illustrated example, one conveyor line 1, 2, 3 and 4 each transports solids 6 from a pair of parallel belt conveyors to a common storage box 5.
The upper gate 12 consists of a pair of gates, one of which is opened and closed by independent pneumatic cylinders 13 and 14 that can be selectively closed. It has been done.

Below several storage boxes 5 arranged in a straight line in a direction perpendicular to the conveyor lines 1, 2, 3 and 4, there are conveyors A, B, common to each row.
C or D is provided, which includes the storage box 5.
A large number of compartments 15 are provided, the size of which can accommodate a predetermined amount of solids weighed in one compartment, and in the illustrated example, the size of the compartments 15 is equal to the maximum storage capacity of the storage box 5. Partition walls 17 are provided at predetermined intervals on the surface of the endless rubber belt 16 constituting the conveyor A, B, C, or D, and the endless rubber belt 16 is connected to the machine frame. The compartment 1 is slightly curved into a U-shape by a group of guide rollers installed in the compartment 1.
5 is formed.

The compartment 15 can be formed using side wall plates 18 that stand up above the surface of the endless rubber belt 16 along both sides of the endless rubber belt 16 having the partition wall 17, with or without the guide roller group.
This invention is also the same even if it is formed by installing it on the machine frame.

Also, instead of an endless belt, there are 15 partition boxes on the endless chain body.
It may be a bucket conveyor equipped with a (see Fig. 5), and when the compartment box 15a is large,
It is preferable that each compartment box 15a is provided so as to be bendable in the middle. The pitch of the storage boxes 5 arranged in a straight line on the common conveyor A, B, C or D is exactly twice or three times the pitch of the compartments 15.

In addition, a sensor 19 is provided under each storage box 5 to detect the presence or absence of the solid matter 6 group in the compartment 15 located directly below these, and the sensor 19 may be an optical sensor, but is not particularly limited. Good.

Next, this operation will be explained together with the sequence control device.

First, for the sake of explanation, we will introduce one conveyor, for example, A.
I will explain about it.

Solids 6 are sequentially fed into several storage boxes 5 provided on the conveyor A through conveyor lines 1, 2, 3, and 4, and when one of the storage boxes 5 reaches a predetermined amount, the upper gate 12 is Close (second
Fig. 3).

Next, it is checked whether the compartment 15 directly below the storage box 5 that has reached the predetermined amount is filled with the group of solids 6 discharged from another storage box 5.

Therefore, if the compartment 15 is filled with six groups of solids, the empty compartment 15 is positioned below the storage box 5 by using the conveyor A as a unit of one pitch interval of the compartment 15. The conveyor A is moved in the unloading direction until it reaches the point where the conveyor A is moved (see the flowchart in FIG. 6).

Then, the dispensing gate 10 is opened, and a predetermined amount of 6 groups of solids in the storage box 5 are dispensed into one compartment 15.

If a predetermined amount of solids 6 is added to another storage box 5 during this period, the sensor 19 under that storage box 5 similarly checks whether the compartment 15 below it is empty. If it is empty, open the lower gate 10. If it is not empty, the storage box waits in that state until the dispensing operation of the other storage box currently dispensing is completed.

After a predetermined amount of solids 6 have been delivered onto the conveyor A, the lower gate 10 of the storage box 5 is closed and the upper gate 12 is opened based on a timer after a predetermined period of time.

At that time, if a predetermined amount of solids 6 groups in another storage box 5 are already stored and waiting, the same operation as described above is performed to transfer the solids to a separate compartment from the previous compartment 15 on the conveyor A. The solid matter group is discharged into chamber 15.

In this way, each compartment 15 of conveyor A
A predetermined amount of solid material is transported intermittently or continuously to each compartment pitch of the conveyor A, and at the discharge end, the compartment 15 is turned over, and each compartment 15 is sequentially transferred to a container such as a cardboard. A predetermined amount of solid matter is put into the packaging container 20.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the number specific to that position is determined by the dispensing signal of the storage box 5 in which the dispensing operation has been performed, that is, the number of compartments from that position to the discharge end of the conveyor A. A number is set on a counter, and the conveyor A is moved until the counter completes counting. The above-mentioned counting is performed by counting the number of partition walls 17 by another sensor 21 provided at the discharge end of the conveyor A (see FIGS. 2 and 6).

In this case, 6 groups of solids for one compartment may be put in one container, or 6 groups of solids for several compartments may be placed in one container.
Groups may be programmed to be placed into a single packaging container.

In the above-mentioned operation, since the container filling operation has priority as an operation at the discharge end of the conveyor A, all operations are governed by this efficiency. The above-mentioned operation is performed for the other conveyors B, C and D in exactly the same manner.

An experiment was conducted at the applicant's experimental plant using potatoes grown in Hokkaido, and each line was able to measure the mass (weight) of three items per second, dividing them into four classes by weight, and measuring one mass (weight) per storage box 5. Assuming that the weight stored in each storage box is 10Kg, the minimum time required to store the specified amount, that is, 10Kg in one storage box, is approximately 80 seconds, and the average time is 95 seconds, even in the largest class.
Even if there are five conveyor lines 1, 2, 3, and 4, a predetermined amount of solids is stored in some storage box 5 and discharged once every 19 seconds, and the other conveyor A The time required for inverting one compartment 15 and placing it in a packaging container was within 6 seconds at the longest, including the time required for the entire length of conveyor A to move.

The above-mentioned sequence operation is based on a program stored in a small computer, which sequentially issues output signals based on input signals to operate each operating section in sequence, and sequentially sorts, sorts, and so on.
Transport and packaging.

The present invention is the same even if an electrical or electronic sequence control device is used without using a computer.

C. Effects of the Invention As described above, in this invention, a group of solids placed in a storage box is separated from the groups of solids placed in other storage boxes in different compartments, and is conveyed by a common conveyor. Since the solid materials in each compartment are easily packaged as a unit at the discharge end of these conveyors, a signal is emitted when a predetermined amount of solid materials have been put into each storage box. A control device is provided that opens the dispensing gate in response to an AND signal indicating that an empty compartment is located under the storage box, so that the solids in each storage box are transferred to a single compartment. There is no risk of them being thrown in together, and the weight unit amount measured once in the storage box is transferred to the conveyor's discharge end, so there is no need to measure the weight again at this discharge end. The number of measuring devices can be significantly reduced.

(Effects Unique to the Embodiment) In addition to having the effects of the device of the present invention described above, the illustrated embodiment has the above-mentioned effects, and since the upper gate 12 is provided in each storage box, the solids in the storage box 5 When the sixth group reaches the predetermined amount, by temporarily closing the upper gate 12, the amount in the storage box 5 can be maintained at the predetermined amount until the dispensing gate 10 is opened. After reaching the upper gate 12, the discharging gate 10 opens, and the subsequent solids 6 that arrive before closing can be stored above the upper gate 12, and the conveyor lines 1, 2, 3, and 4 can continue to operate. .

Further, since one of the pair of upper gates 12 can be selectively closed, the weight exceeding the predetermined amount in the storage box 5 can be contained within the weight of the last solid object.

When the conveyor belts A, B, C, and D are endless rubber belts 16, they are highly flexible and operate quietly, and because they are flexible, the solid objects to be conveyed, such as fruits and melons, are not damaged. Easy to transport, suitable for transportation.

If each compartment 15 is a box attached to an endless chain, there is no need for guide rollers or side plates 18 for bending the endless rubber belt into a U-shaped cross section.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show things related to the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a weight-based distributing and conveying device including the device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view with main parts of the invention omitted, and FIG. The figure is an enlarged vertical sectional front view of the storage box part, FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional side view of FIG. 3, FIG.
The figure is a flowchart showing the flow of signals, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of signals in a system of an apparatus that can be used in conjunction with the present invention. Symbols in the figure: 1, 2, 3, 4... conveyor line, 5... storage box, 6... solid matter, 7... discharge member, 8... pneumatic cylinder, 9... cushion material, 10... dispensing Gate, 11... Pneumatic cylinder, 12... Upper gate, 13, 14... Pneumatic cylinder, 15... Compartment, 16... Endless rubber belt, 17... Partition wall, 18... Side wall plate, 19
...Sensor, 20...Packaging container, 21...Sensor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A plurality of parallel conveyor lines for sorting with weighing devices are provided, and at least two positions on each of these conveyor lines are temporarily stored for each mass class along these conveyor lines. Each storage box is provided with a storage box, and a delivery gate is provided at the bottom of each storage box, and a common delivery conveyor is provided below the storage box for the same mass class of the different conveyor lines. In a device installed across the lower side of a conveyor line, each of the above-mentioned delivery conveyors is sequentially provided with compartments in the flow direction that can receive objects to be conveyed that are thrown in at once from a storage box. The dispensing gate of each storage box is closed in a normal state, and a signal indicating that a predetermined amount of solids has been put into the storage box, and an empty compartment of the delivery conveyor located below the storage box. 1. A weighing and solids group conveyance device, characterized in that it opens in response to an AND signal with a position and stop signal, and closes after dispensing the solids group. 2. The compartments of the conveyor are one of the following types: individual open boxes, partitions with intervals that stand up from the surface of a continuous endless belt, and partitions and side walls that stand up from the surface of the endless belt. A solid material group weighing and conveying device according to claim 1, characterized in that: 3. The solid material group weighing and conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor moves intermittently in units of compartment lengths.