JPH0423849Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (a) Industrial application field The present invention relates to a belt conveyor device for detecting, sorting, sorting, etc. the types of food and drink containers, and in particular, to a dining table having a food and drink transfer path, For example, the present invention relates to a bypass conveyor device for detecting, sorting, or sorting food containers at a food and beverage counter such as sushi.

The present invention also relates to a food and drink transfer belt conveyor device for a dining table, which has a food and beverage counter equipped with an optical sensor, that is, a flat top chain conveyor path equipped with an optical sensor for the purpose of conveying food and drinks.
The present invention relates to a belt conveyor device for transporting food and beverages suitable for detecting containers containing food and beverages placed on a crescent-shaped flat top chain conveyor.
The present invention also relates to a belt conveyor device for transporting food and drinks, which is also suitable for calculating the cost of eating and drinking.

(B) Prior Art Conventionally, a food and beverage counter has been provided with an endless food and beverage conveyor path on the counter, and food and drink containers filled with food and drink, for example, sushi, are placed and transferred on this conveyor path. This system is widely used because both the customers at the counter and the cooks at the counter can eat and drink or prepare food without moving, and the customers can eat and drink their favorite food without having to move. In addition, because the cook only needs to check the food and drink items in the food and drink containers that are being transferred and circulated, and cook the food that is missing, the number of cooks can be reduced, and furthermore, the staff working in the store can Because only a small number of people are required to operate the food and beverage counter, conveyor-equipped food and beverage counters help restaurants save labor and help resolve labor shortages.

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention In such conventional food and drink counters, customers select their favorite food and drink from the food and drink that is sent along the conveyor path. The amount of food and drinks transported is reduced accordingly, making it impossible to provide sufficient service to customers. Therefore, the cook has to replenish the food and drink that has been selected and the amount transported has decreased, but he also observes the amount of each type of food and drink that is sent on the conveyor path. Therefore, it is difficult to supply enough food and drink for each type of food, and
This was a problem as it required a lot of manpower. Therefore, based on experience, we have to replenish food and drinks, but when there are many diners, we cannot meet the wishes of the diners, which is a problem.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the problem of oversupply and shortage of new food and drink at conventional food and drink counters.

(d) Means for solving the problem The present invention, for example, detects the food and drink that is sent along the conveyor path of the food and beverage counter by observing the identification mark attached to the back side of the food and drink container. To provide a belt conveyor device for a food and drink counter that counts the food and drink to be sent by type and easily determines, for example, whether there is an excess or shortage of food or drink.

That is, the present invention provides a food and beverage counter equipped with a crescent chain conveyor conveyance path and a dining table on at least a portion of one side of the conveyance path. A belt conveyor conveyance path, an inlet side belt conveyor conveyance path connected on the tail side to the inlet of the or another crescent chain conveyor conveyance path, and wrapped around a cantilevered head pulley and a tail pulley, respectively, and the outlet side Head sides are located on both outer sides of the tail side of the belt conveyor transport path on the entrance side, and tail sides are located on both outer sides of the head side of the belt conveyor transport path on the entrance side, parallel to each other at an interval smaller than the size of the food and drink container. A food and beverage counter comprising: two conveyor belts provided in the same direction; and a detection sensor provided below a conveyance area formed between the two parallel conveyor belts. It is in.

In the belt conveyor device of the present invention, a sensor for detecting food and beverage containers is installed below the conveyor transportation path to detect food and beverage containers on the conveyor transportation path and perform work such as sorting or sorting the food and beverage containers. The conveyor belts of each of the two belt conveyor systems are arranged at least approximately parallel to each other at a distance that allows the food and drink containers to be loaded, i.e., at a distance that is smaller than the size of the food and drink containers. be done.

In the belt conveyor device of the present invention, the width of the conveyor belt is sufficient as long as it can support and convey the food and beverage containers to be conveyed by at least two conveyor belts.

The belt conveyor device of the present invention is particularly installed in a work area such as detecting, sorting or sorting food and beverage containers.

For example, in a food and beverage counter, such a work area can be formed by providing a bypass path on the kitchen side of an endless crescent-shaped flat top chain conveyor path, or by providing a connecting path between crescent-shaped conveyor paths. be done.

The conveyor conveyance surface of the belt conveyor device of the present invention is provided at a position equal to or higher than the conveyance surface of the front and rear conveyor paths, depending on the shape of the food and beverage containers to be conveyed.

For example, in the case of a plate-shaped object such as a sushi plate at a food and beverage counter, the conveyor belt of the present invention is installed at a position higher than the front and rear conveyor road surface so as to hold the periphery of the plate-shaped object. This is preferable because the distance between the two can be widened.

When detecting food and drink containers or detecting the transport density of food and drink containers in the working area, a light source and a light sensor, an image sensor, a color sensor, etc. are provided between the two conveyor belts of the present invention. By doing so, the work area is illuminated by the food and drink containers being carried on the conveyor belt, and the work area is illuminated to provide a light source that can Food and drink containers can be identified. When sorting or sorting food and drink containers, for example, a food and drink container lifting device equipped with a sensor may be placed below the conveyor belt to identify the food and drink containers with the sensor and selectively lift the food and drink containers to the top. Sorting or sorting can be performed by holding the food and drink containers in a stacking device or the like.

In the present invention, when identifying the type of food and drink in the container by color, the identification mark attached to the food and drink container may be a single color or a combination of multiple colors to indicate the type. be. The type of single color used or the type of combination of multiple colors is determined depending on the type of food and drink. When such type classification is performed using a graphic of an identification mark, symbols or patterns having a certain regularity such as letters, numbers, bar codes, etc. are used. Identification marks using such figures or the like are convenient because they can be applied to more types of containers than those based on color. In addition, such identification marks are
By using pigments, for example, a figure can be expressed in a single corresponding color, an arrangement of multiple color bands, or a figure can be attached to a single color background, or by color or by color and figure. It may be possible to create a combination of the following. As the identification mark in the present invention, a code can be indicated using a magnetic material.

In this invention, the identification mark is attached to the food and drink container on the back side of the food and drink container, and on the periphery of the back side in a circumferential manner so that even if the food and drink container rotates during transportation, it can be reliably detected by the sensor. It is preferable to attach it to the bottom part, back bottom part, etc. This position corresponds to the position of the sensor provided below the two conveyor belts.

In the present invention, the sensors are provided corresponding to the identification marks of the food and drink containers, and sensors such as commercially available image sensors, optical sensors, color sensors, magnetic sensors, etc. can be used according to each identification mark. In the present invention, when a color tone is used as an identification mark attached to a food/drink container, at least a color sensor is used. The color sensor used is, for example, a combination of a filter and a photo sensor, but it may also be a combination of a filter and a phototube. When a magnetic material is used for the identification mark, a magnetic sensor is used.

If, for example, color sensors or image sensors are used in the present invention, a white light source is generally provided for the arrangement of these sensors.
In this case, a color sensor and a light source can be provided below the conveyor path, and the surrounding area can be shielded from light to form a color detection section for food and beverage containers on the conveyor path.

An image sensor is used to detect the type of food or drink using the graphic. However, it is preferable to detect the type of food and drink container using an identification mark, such as a figure and color tone, since this can improve the detection performance. In this case, an image sensor is provided together with the color sensor.

The color sensor or image sensor can be placed at an appropriate location at the food and beverage counter that cannot be seen from the customer seats. For example, a communication path is formed on the kitchen side of the conveyor path for food and beverage transportation, for example, at the return port, a light shielding device is provided, a color sensor or an image sensor is placed together with a light source, and food and beverage containers are detected by identification mark. can form a section. It is sufficient to provide one such detection section on the conveyor path, but it is also possible to provide an appropriate number of two or more depending on the size of the conveyor path.

To detect food and drink using a color sensor or an image sensor, the output part of the color sensor is, for example,
The number of each type of food and drink to be transferred may be calculated by inputting the data to the input section of a microcomputer via a D/A converter or the like, or the output section of a color sensor or image sensor may be connected to the input section of a microcomputer to calculate the number of food and drink items to be transferred. It is also possible to lead to a signal light for each type of container and make it blink.

(E) Function The belt conveyor device of the present invention has two conveyor belts arranged with a gap between them, and if a light source or a sensor is placed below between the conveyor belts, it will move while being supported by the two conveyor belts. It is possible to optically detect food and drink containers and identify their types.

As described above, according to the present invention, the food and drink containers sent through the food and drink transfer conveyor path are guided to the bypass path or communication path provided with two conveyor belts, and the identification mark of the container is marked by a sensor or the like. can be detected to automatically identify the food or drink in the container. Therefore, for example, it is possible to count the number of foods and drinks delivered at the food and beverage counter for each type of food and drink. In this case, by displaying the counted value, etc. on a display device, for example, it is possible to indicate the type of food and drink that is in short supply when the number of food and drink items being conveyed on the food and drink transfer conveyor is below a certain level. can. Of course, instead of numerical values, it is also possible to indicate the excess or deficiency of each type of food or drink using an indicator light or the like. As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to know at a glance whether there is an excess or deficiency of food or drink depending on the type of food or drink transported on the food or drink transport conveyor, and replenishment of the food or drink can be easily performed.

Furthermore, according to the belt conveyor device of the present invention,
Since the space between the two conveyor belts can be used, the space below the conveyor belts can be used for work, and therefore, as mentioned above, a sensor can be installed below and monitored.
Alternatively, a sensor may be provided below for monitoring, and then the actuating lever of the launcher may be operated to lift and sort the food and drink containers that are being fed on the two conveyor belts. Furthermore, according to the present invention, the space above the two conveyor belts can also be used, so by arranging a stacking device or the like above, it is possible to stack, for example, food and beverage containers lifted from below by type. can.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the cleaned food and drink containers can be sorted by type of food and drink container or by type of food and drink, stacked, and supplied to the cooking side.

In addition, in the present invention, if an image sensor or the like is arranged together with a color sensor, the detection accuracy can be improved even when the number of types of food and drink that are sent along the food and drink transfer conveyor path increases.

(f) Examples An example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited in any way by the following description and illustrations.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing one embodiment of the conveyor device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial side view schematically showing the conveyor device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a case where the conveyor device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is applied to a bypass path of a food and drink counter.

In Figures 1 and 2, conveyor belt 1
and 1' are supported by cantilever bearings 2, 2', 3 and 3'. In this example, conveyor belts 1 and 1' are connected to an inlet conveyor belt 4 and an outlet conveyor belt 5, in order to support and convey a plate-shaped object on which food such as sushi is placed. On the other hand, it is placed at a height corresponding to the height of the plate edge at both ends.

In this example, conveyor belts 1 and 1' are
Frames 6 and 6', which support cantilever bearings 2', 2', 3 and 3', are arranged offset to both sides with respect to the inlet conveyor belt 4 and the outlet conveyor belt 5, and the frames 6 and 6' support the cantilever bearings 2', 2', 3 and 3'. 7 and frames 10 and 10' of the exit side conveyor device 9.

In this example, conveyor belts 1 and 1' include:
Timing belts are used, and in order to match the moving speeds of the inlet conveyor belt 4 and the outlet conveyor belt 5, for example, the timing belts 11 and 11' are connected to toothed pulleys on the drive side of these belt conveyors. 12, 12', 14
and 14' for belt transmission. In this example, the toothed pulley 12 is formed coaxially with the pulley 13 of the conveyor belt.

In this example, an optical sensor 15 such as a fiber sensor and/or a color sensor 16 are arranged between the two conveyor belts 1 and 1', and are supported between the two conveyor belts 1 and 1' for conveyance. You can check the types of plate-like objects that are used.

Since the conveyor device of this example is configured in this way, the entrance side conveyor belt 4 is connected to the bypass path 19 of the crescent chain conveyor 18 at the food and beverage counter 17, as shown in FIG.
The outlet side conveyor belt 5 is formed on the inlet side of the crescent chain conveyor 18, and the outlet side conveyor belt 5 is
The conveyor belts 1 and 1' are formed on the outlet side of the
It can be provided and formed as shown in the figure.

In the example shown in FIG. 3, the dish-shaped object 20 that is fed through the crescent chain conveyor 18 changes its direction when it hits the direction-changing rod-shaped member 21, and is conveyed through the bypass path 19. Eventually, the edge 2 of the dish 20 is attached to the two conveyor belts 1 and 1'.
2 is supported, the dish 20 is regularly fed by the stepping motor, and the sensor 1
5 and 16 are easily detected by the sensors 15 and 16.

The detected values are counted and displayed by type, for example, by a counter (not shown).

As an application example of this example, we have shown an example in which a sensor is used to detect a plate-shaped object carrying food such as sushi, Chinese food, etc., which is transported through a bypass path, and the food and drink is counted by type. A push rod equipped with a sensor is disposed in the dish cleaning process, and the push rod pushes up or pushes out the different types of dishes detected by the sensor, so that they can be sorted.

By providing two conveyor belts supported by cantilever bearings in this way, the space below the conveyor path can be used effectively.

(g) Effects of the invention The belt conveyor device of the invention has two conveyor belts supported by cantilevered head pulleys and tail pulleys, which are arranged side by side with a gap between them to form a conveyor path, so it is different from the conventional belt conveyor device. Even below the belt conveyor path, which is difficult to do with belt conveyor devices, it is possible to place a device that operates from below on the food and drink containers being transported along the belt conveyor path. Therefore, according to the present invention, compared to conventional belt conveyor devices, it is easier to monitor the types of food and drink containers being sent along the conveyor path, and it is also easier to monitor the food and drink containers on the conveyor path. You can diversify the content of your work.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing one embodiment of the conveyor device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial side view schematically showing the conveyor device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a case where the conveyor device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is applied to a bypass path of a food and drink counter. Regarding the symbols in the figure, 1 and 1' are conveyor belts, 2, 2', 3 and 3' are cantilever bearings, 4 is an inlet side conveyor belt, 5 is an outlet side conveyor belt, 6, 6', 8, 8', 10 and 10' are frames, 7 is an inlet side conveyor device, 9 is an outlet side conveyor device, 11 and 11' are timing belts, 1
2, 12', 14 and 14' are drive side toothed pulleys,
13 is a conveyor belt pulley, 15 is a light sensor, 16 is a color sensor, 17 is a food and drink counter,
18 is a crescent chain conveyor, 19 is a bypass path, 20 is a plate-shaped object, 21 is a direction changing rod-shaped member, and 22 is an edge.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a food and beverage counter comprising a crescent chain conveyor conveyance path and a dining table on at least a portion of one side of the conveyance, an exit side belt conveyor conveyance path connected to the outlet of the crescent chain conveyor conveyance path on the head side; or an inlet side belt conveyor conveyance path connected to the inlet portion of another crescent chain conveyor conveyance path on the tail side;
They are wound around cantilevered head pulleys and tail pulleys, respectively, with head sides located on both outer sides of the tail side of the belt conveyor conveyance path on the exit side, and respective outer sides of the head side of the belt conveyor conveyance path on the entrance side. Two conveyor belts are provided in parallel with each other at an interval smaller than the size of the food and drink containers, and the tail side is located below the conveying area formed between the two parallel conveyor belts. A food and beverage counter comprising a detection sensor.