JPH0464923B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention is for automatically packaging objects that are flexible, irregularly shaped, and have some stickiness, such as processed foods such as sausages and fish cakes. Therefore, the present invention relates to a device for conveying and feeding a large number of such objects so that they are sequentially stored in a tray-shaped container.

In the present invention, a flexible object is an object that easily deforms (either elastic deformation or plastic deformation) when local pressure is applied to its surface, but maintains the same external shape unless external force is applied. shall be said.

In addition, in the present invention, an irregularly shaped object refers to a large number of objects having almost similar shapes, but whose outer shape is not a geometric shape (such as a sphere, cylinder, prism, polyhedron, or a combination thereof). , refers to objects that have slightly different shapes from each other.

[Background of the invention]

2. Description of the Related Art Techniques for sequentially transporting fixed-shaped objects made of hard materials (for example, pistons, light bulbs, milk bottles, ampoules, pencils, etc.) and storing them in packaging containers have already been widely put into practical use.

However, the above-mentioned known techniques are difficult to apply to flexible and amorphous objects such as fruits, vegetables, processed foods (sausages, fish cakes, etc.).

The main reason for the difficulty in application is (a) Gripping too hard may cause damage.

(b) Positioning accuracy is not achieved due to the irregular shape. It is.

(c) It is often a problem if the surface of the flexible, irregularly shaped object has some stickiness.

For this reason, conventionally, the work of storing a fixed number of flexible, irregularly shaped objects into packaging containers has generally been done manually. The circumstances during this time will be explained in more detail.

2. Description of the Related Art Techniques for sequentially conveying flexible irregular-shaped objects, for example, by means of a belt conveyor or a chute (trough-like chute), are already widely used. However,
The positions and postures of the flexible amorphous objects transported by these transport means at the end of transport vary from one object to another. Moreover, the time intervals at which a large number of transported flexible amorphous objects sequentially reach the end point of transport are not necessarily constant.

Therefore, once the above-mentioned transported flexible amorphous objects (or the flexible amorphous objects sequentially discharged from the automatic processing machine) are received, their postures are aligned, and the next process, automatic packaging, is carried out. Unless a device is developed that feeds the flexible object to a predetermined position within the packaging container in synchronization with the machine, it is not possible to automatically package the flexible irregularly shaped object.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and
The present invention aims to provide an automatic packaging supply device that can align the postures of flexible irregularly shaped objects that are sequentially conveyed and supply a predetermined number of flexible objects to predetermined positions in a packaging container (tray). be.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the feeding device of the present invention has a large number of deep dish-shaped recesses arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the circumferential surface of a wheel-shaped rotor that is supported by a horizontal shaft and rotates. At the same time, a half-cylindrical cover is formed to cover the recesses except for the upper recess and the lower recess among the large number of deep dish-shaped recesses, and is installed facing and spaced from the rotor. While the flexible amorphous object thrown into the recess located at the upper part descends as the rotor rotates, it is prevented from falling from the recess by the cover, and is ejected when it reaches the lower part. and a tray mount supporting the tray at the falling position of the ejected flexible amorphous object, and a driving means for intermittently moving the tray mount in the horizontal direction, The drive means for intermittently moving the tray pedestal in the horizontal direction has the function of moving the tray pedestal up and down in stages and intermittently reciprocating in the horizontal direction; The rotor is equipped with a non-contact sensor that detects a flexible amorphous object thrown into a recess located at the top, and has a structure in which rotation is controlled based on a signal that detects the insertion of the object. A through hole is provided at the bottom of each of the deep dish-shaped recesses, and a pusher rod is separately provided that fits loosely into the through hole, and the rotor is A control means is provided for synchronously operating the pusher rod so that it protrudes into the recess from the bottom of the recess reaching the lower part as it rotates, and the cover is disposed directly below the recess located at the lower part. The present invention is characterized in that the gate is provided with a door-type gate that can be opened and closed, and the gate is equipped with drive and control means that are opened and closed in synchronization with the rotation of the rotor.

When carrying out the present invention, the above-mentioned "upper" and "lower"
Although it is convenient to call these the "top" and "bottom", they do not necessarily have to be "top" and "bottom".

[Embodiments of the invention]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In this embodiment, processed food (crab-flavored kamaboko) having the shape shown in FIG. 2 is stored in each tray 2, 12 pieces as shown in FIG. FIG. 1 is a partially sectional front view.

A rotor 4 is provided which is supported by a horizontal shaft 3 and rotates.

The rotor 4 has a short cylindrical shape, that is, a wheel shape, which rotates around a horizontal central axis, and its circumferential surface has many (24 in this example) deep holes in the circumferential direction. Dish-shaped recesses 4a are arranged in a row.

Through holes 4b are provided at the bottoms of the numerous recesses 4a.

A pair of covers 5a and 5b are provided to cover both side surfaces of the rotor 4. These covers do not cover the recess 4a located at the top and the recess 4'' located at the bottom.

When implementing the present invention, the pair of covers 5
Either one of a and 5b may be omitted. In this example, the rotor 4 rotates clockwise as indicated by arrow R, so the left cover 5b can be omitted in this case.

6a and 6b indicated by virtual lines are the recesses 4 at the bottom.
A pair of opening/closing door-shaped gates installed below a″.

In order to use the feeding apparatus constructed as described above, the processed food 1 is sequentially carried in by the conveyor 8 and placed into the uppermost recess 4a'. The loaded processed food descends as the rotor 4 rotates.

For convenience of explanation, a large number of processed foods 1 will be distinguished from each other by giving symbols 1a, 1b to 1p in order from the beginning.

Processed food 1 located at the end of this Figure 1
P passes through the ₁₀ position and _1o position by the conveyor 8, and is thrown into the recess 4a' with a length of 1 m. This charging may be performed using the chute 9.

The processed food at the 1m position sequentially advances to the 1l position and then to the 1k position as the rotor 4 rotates.

Even if it passes the position 1e, there is no risk of it falling out of the recess 4a because it is covered by the cover 5a.

Processed food that has reached the lowest position 1a is placed on tray 2.
It falls to position 1a' inside.

In this embodiment, in order to further ensure the above-mentioned drop release operation, the door-shaped gates 6a and 6b are opened when either of the recesses reaches the lowest position in synchronization with the rotation of the rotor 4. At the same time, the pusher rod 10a attached to the tip of the piston rod of the cylindrical pusher 10 is inserted into the through hole 4b, and the piston rod is extended to release the processed food 1.
Push down a. This ensures that the processed food is released even if the surface of the processed food has some stickiness.

In addition, when releasing the above, a door-shaped gate 6
When a and 6b are in an open position, processed food 1a
The processed food 1a' also serves as a guide to guide the processed food 1a' to the position 1a' in the tray 2, so that the processed food 1a' is stored in the correct position in the tray 2.

In addition, in this embodiment, a non-contact sensor 11 is used to control the rotation of the rotor 4 according to the conveyor 8 or the chute 9 carrying in the processed food.
A drive control device (not shown) rotates the rotor 4 by 1/24 rotation each time one piece of processed food arrives.

The tray 2 is placed on a pedestal 12 equipped with a drive means (not shown) that moves intermittently vertically and horizontally.

When the processed food 1a is released and stored at the position 1a', the tray 2 moves along with the stand 12 in the direction of arrow A.
Move in a pinch. As a result, subsequent processed foods 1
b is stored at position 1b' in the tray. In this way, when the tray is sequentially stored up to the 1f' position, the tray 2
is lowered by one stage as shown by arrow RO, and is sent intermittently in the direction of arrow C. In this way, two levels of processed foods are stacked on top of the already stored 1a' to 1f', and when the tray reaches the 2' position (indicated by the imaginary line), 12 processed foods are placed in one tray. are stored in two stacks, for example, as shown in Fig. 3.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, when the present invention is applied, even if the surfaces of the flexible, irregularly shaped objects that are sequentially conveyed are slightly sticky, the postures of the objects are aligned and the objects are placed in the specified position within the packaging container. It has an excellent practical effect of being able to store individual pieces, and it greatly contributes to the full automation of processed food packaging.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and is a partially cutaway front view. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of an object to be transported (a flexible, amorphous object) in the above embodiment. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the above-mentioned object stored in a packaging container. 1...Processed food (flexible amorphous object), 1a,
1b to 1p...Many processed foods are sequentially conveyed, 2, 2'...Tray, 3...Horizontal shaft, 4...
Rotor, 4a, 4a', 4a''... recess, 4b... through hole, 5a, 5b... cover, 6a, 6b... opening/closing door type gate, 8... conveyor, 9... chute, 10... Pushsia, 10a...Pushiya rod,
11... Non-contact type sensor, 12... Mounting frame.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A wheel-shaped rotor that is supported by a horizontal shaft and rotates has a large number of deep dish-shaped recesses arranged in a row at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the circumferential surface of the rotor. A half-cylindrical cover is constructed to cover the recessed portions of the deep dish-shaped recessed portions, except for the recessed portion located at the upper portion and the recessed portion located at the lower portion, and is installed facing and spaced apart from the rotor. The flexible amorphous object thrown into the recess is prevented from falling from the recess by the cover while it descends as the rotor rotates, and is ejected when it reaches the lower part, and , a tray mount supporting the tray is provided at the falling position of the ejected flexible amorphous object, and a driving means for intermittently moving the tray mount in the horizontal direction is provided, and the tray mount is moved horizontally. The driving means for intermittently moving the tray pedestal has a function of moving the tray frame up and down in stages and intermittently reciprocating in the horizontal direction, and the rotor has a recess located at the upper part. It is equipped with a non-contact type sensor that detects a flexible amorphous object thrown into a container, and has a structure in which rotation is controlled based on a signal that detects the insertion of the object, and the deep dish type A through hole is provided at the bottom of each of the numerous recesses, and a pusher rod is provided separately from the above, which fits loosely into the through hole, and reaches the bottom as the rotor rotates. A control means is provided for synchronously operating the pusher rods so as to protrude into the recess from the bottom of the recess, and the cover is connected to an opening/closing door type gate disposed directly below the recess located at the lower part. 1. An automatic packaging supply device for flexible amorphous objects, characterized in that said gate is provided with drive and control means for opening and closing in synchronization with rotation of a rotor.