JP2014226759A - Tofu product conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tofu product conveying device which can securely hold and convey a tofu product.SOLUTION: A tofu product conveying device is structured by including a holding head 30 which is provided with a clamp 50 (52) having a pair of hold bodies 54, 56 arranged in a mutually facing state, and sandwiches and holds the tofu product by relatively moving the pair of hold bodies 54, 56 close to each other. Non-slip means 100 is arranged on respective contact surfaces of the pair of hold bodies 54, 56 with the tofu product so as to prevent the held tofu product from slipping off. As the tofu product can be conveyed in a securely held condition, it is possible, for example, to convey the tofu product at high speed and stably convey over a long distance.

Description

  The present invention relates to a tofu product transport device that holds and transports a tofu product.

As a method for accommodating the tofu product in the packaging pack, there are a conventional method in water and a method in which the product is taken out of water. In the following patent document, a tofu packing device for dropping and storing in a packaging pack is described as a method performed in a state where it is taken out of water. The apparatus includes a pair of gripping plates, and the tofu product carried by the conveyor is gripped by the pair of gripping plates and is dropped and stored in a packaging pack placed close to the terminal end side of the conveyor. Is.
JP2012-180130A

  Tofu products are slippery and easy to collapse. Therefore, the gripping force cannot be increased in order to make it difficult to slip. In the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, when the distance for holding and transporting the tofu product becomes long, or the transport speed by the transport device is increased. When the speed is increased, it is difficult to say that the tofu product is sufficiently retained. This invention is made | formed in view of such a situation, and makes it a subject to provide the tofu product conveyance apparatus which can hold | maintain and convey a tofu product reliably.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a tofu product transport device according to the present invention includes a clamp having a pair of sandwiching bodies disposed in a state of facing each other, and makes the pair of sandwiching bodies relatively approach each other. An anti-slip means for preventing the held tofu product from sliding down is provided on the contact surface of each of the pair of holding bodies with the tofu product, including a holding head for holding the product in between. It is characterized by.

  According to the tofu product conveyance device of the present invention, the tofu product can be conveyed while being securely held by the non-slip means provided on the contact surfaces of the pair of sandwiching bodies. Furthermore, it is possible to convey the tofu product at high speed and stably convey a long distance.

Aspects of the Invention

  In the following, some aspects of the invention that can be claimed in the present application (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “claimable invention”) will be exemplified and described. As with the claims, each aspect is divided into sections, each section is numbered, and is described in a form that cites the numbers of other sections as necessary. This is merely for the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the claimable inventions, and is not intended to limit the combinations of the constituent elements constituting those inventions to those described in the following sections. In other words, the claimable invention should be construed in consideration of the description accompanying each section, the description of the embodiments, etc., and as long as the interpretation is followed, another aspect is added to the form of each section. In addition, an aspect in which some constituent elements are deleted from the aspect of each item can be an aspect of the claimable invention.

  In each of the following items, the item (1) corresponds to the item 1, and the technical feature described in the item (2) is added to the item 1, the item 2, the item 4, (1) to which the technical features described in (6) are added, and (4) are added to the technical features described in (6), and (1) to (4). The technical feature described in the item (8) is added to any one of the above items, the technical feature described in the item (10) is added to any one of the claims 1 to 5, and the technical feature described in the item (10) is added. What is added is the technical feature according to (11) added to any one of claims 1 to 6 to claim 7, and any one of claims 1 to 7 is added. The technical features described in the items (12) and (13) are added to one of them, respectively, which corresponds to claim 8 respectively.

(1) A clamp having a pair of clamping bodies arranged in a state of being opposed to each other, holding the tofu product by holding the pair of clamping bodies relatively close to each other, and moving the holding head A tofu product transporting device for holding and transporting the tofu product,
The clamp is
A tofu product transporting device, wherein a slip prevention means for preventing the held tofu product from slipping down is provided on a contact surface of each of the pair of sandwiching bodies with the tofu product.

    The tofu product transport device described in this section moves the tofu product in a state where the tofu product is held between the side surfaces of the tofu product. The tofu products transported by the tofu product transport device of this section are not limited to, for example, cotton tofu or silken tofu, but also processed products such as deep-fried tofu. And although the tofu product conveyance apparatus of this clause is the structure which contacts and hold | maintains only the side surface of a tofu product, since the said non-slip | skid means is provided in the part which contacts the tofu product, it is slippery and easy to collapse. It is possible to reliably hold and transport tofu products such as silk-cured tofu. In addition, even high-temperature foods such as deep-fried tofu can be held and transported at a high temperature and stored in the packaging pack. Compared to cooling and storage in the packaging pack, It is possible to greatly reduce the number of bacteria.

  The “anti-slip means” described in this section adopts, for example, a means for preventing the held tofu product from slipping down by forming irregularities on the contact surface of each pair of sandwich bodies with the tofu product. Is possible. It is desirable that the unevenness is such that the tofu product is not damaged. In addition, the method of forming unevenness on the contact surface is not particularly limited, and various methods can be adopted as will be described in detail later.

  (2) The tofu product conveying apparatus according to (1), wherein a net is attached to each of the pair of sandwiching bodies as the anti-slip means.

  (3) The tofu product conveying device according to item (2), wherein the net is 20 mesh or more and 120 mesh or less.

  The modes described in the above two items are one mode in which the slip prevention means is embodied. According to the above two aspects, the slip prevention means can be realized by a simple method of attaching a net. According to the aspect of said 2 term | claim, the water | moisture content of a tofu product can be escaped from the clearance gap between a line | wire, and it is possible to prevent the slip | slip by a water | moisture content reliably. The latter mode is a mode in which the range of the types of nets desirable as the anti-slip means is limited.

  (4) The tofu product transport device according to (1), wherein the anti-slip means includes a plurality of convex portions uniformly formed on the contact surface of each of the pair of sandwiching bodies.

  (5) The tofu product conveying device according to item (4), wherein 100 or more of the protrusions are formed per square inch.

  The aspect described in the above two items is another aspect in which the anti-slip means is embodied, and is an aspect in which a large number of protrusions are uniformly formed on the entire contact surface. Similarly to the aspect using the net as the anti-slip means, the aspect of the above two terms can release the moisture of the tofu product from the gap between the protrusions and the protrusions, and reliably prevent slippage due to moisture. Is possible. The latter mode is a mode in which the lower limit of the number of projections desirable as the anti-slip means, in other words, the upper limit of the size of the projections is defined. Further, the height of the protrusion is desirably 0.3 mm or less.

  (6) The tofu product conveying apparatus according to item (1), wherein the anti-slip means is processed to roughen the contact surface of each of the pair of sandwiching bodies.

  The aspect described in this section is still another aspect in which the slip prevention means is embodied. For the “processing for roughening the contact surface” described in this section, for example, pear processing, embossing, or the like can be employed. Various processing methods such as sand blasting, wire brushing, and chemical treatment by etching can be employed.

  (7) The tofu product conveying apparatus according to item (6), wherein the processing applied to the contact surface is grinding using a No. 500 abrasive.

  According to the aspect described in this section, the contact surface can be roughened by a simple process.

(8) The clamp is
The tofu product conveying device according to any one of (1) to (7), wherein a distance between lower ends of the contact surfaces of each of the pair of sandwiching bodies is smaller than a distance between upper ends.

(9) Each of the pair of clamps is
The tofu product conveyance device according to item (8), wherein the contact surface is disposed so that an angle with respect to a vertical surface is not less than 5 ° and not more than 20 °.

  According to the aspects described in the above two items, it is possible to more reliably prevent the tofu product from falling by inclining the contact surface. In addition, the latter aspect is an aspect which limited the desirable structure in order to prevent fall of a tofu product using the angle which the contact surface makes with the perpendicular plane which cross | intersects the contact surface.

  (10) The tofu product conveyance device according to any one of (1) to (9), wherein the holding head includes a clamp rotation device that rotates the clamp around a vertical line.

  The tofu product transport device described in this section is configured so that the orientation of the clamp can be changed. Therefore, even if the tofu product is carried in a random orientation, the tofu product is aligned with that orientation. Can be held. The anti-slip means described above is particularly effective for the apparatus described in this section in which the tofu product is rotated while being held. In the case of a holding head having two clamps, which will be described later, the “clamp rotating device” described in this section may rotate the two clamps integrally or rotate them individually. It may be.

(11) The tofu product transport device is
Item (1) to (10) including a camera that images the tofu product before being held by the holding head, and a controller that controls holding of the tofu product by the holding head based on imaging data of the camera. The tofu product conveyance device according to any one of the items).

  According to the aspect described in this section, for example, even when the tofu product is carried in a random orientation, the orientation of the tofu product is grasped and the holding operation by the holding head is accurately performed. Is possible. Also, based on the image data of the camera, the speed at which the tofu product is carried in is estimated and the tofu product is picked up by the holding head without stopping the conveyance, so that the tofu product is packed in a pack. Can be done more efficiently.

(12) The holding head is
Each of the clamps has two clamps, and the two clamps are arranged side by side in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the pair of sandwiching bodies are relatively approached. The tofu product conveyance apparatus as described in any one of these.

  In the aspect described in this section, two tofu products can be simultaneously held and transported, so that the tofu products can be packed more efficiently.

  (13) The tofu product conveying device according to (12), wherein the holding head includes a clamp interval changing device that changes an interval between the two clamps.

  The embodiment described in this section is particularly effective when two tofu products are contained in the same packaging pack. Specifically, according to the tofu product transport device described in this section, when holding the tofu product that has been carried in, the holding operation is facilitated by increasing the interval between the two clamps. After each of the clamps holds the tofu product, it is possible to reduce the distance between the two clamps so that both of the two tofu products are simultaneously contained in a single packaging pack.

It is a perspective view which shows the tofu product packaging apparatus comprised including the tofu product conveyance apparatus as an Example of claimable invention. It is a figure which expands and shows the holding head shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the inside of the holding head shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the holding head shown in FIG. 1 in the viewpoint from a side surface. It is a flowchart of control of the tofu product conveyance apparatus as an Example of claimable invention. It is a figure which expands and shows the holding head with which the tofu product conveyance apparatus of a modification is provided. It is a figure which expands and shows the holding head with which the tofu product conveyance apparatus of another modification is provided.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments as modes for carrying out the claimable invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition to the following examples, the claimable invention is implemented in various modes including various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, including the mode described in the above [Mode of Invention]. can do. Moreover, it is also possible to constitute the modification of the following Example using the technical matter described in the description of each item of [Aspect of the Invention].

  FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a tofu product packaging apparatus provided with a tofu product conveying apparatus 10 which is an embodiment of the claimable invention. The tofu product packaging device includes a product carry-in device 20 for carrying a tofu product A (for example, cotton tofu, silken tofu, deep-fried chicken etc.) formed in a predetermined size, and a packaging pack for containing the tofu product A In the present embodiment, B is carried in and the packaging pack conveying device 22 for carrying out the product containing the tofu product A in the packaging pack B, and the tofu product A is transferred from the product carrying device 20 to the packaging pack conveying device 22. And a tofu product transfer device 10 as a tofu product transfer device.

  The product carrying-in apparatus 20 is a belt conveyor, and carries the tofu product A cut | disconnected by the cutting machine (illustration omitted) in the upstream in the state arrange | positioned at random. The tofu product A is cut into a cube or a rectangular parallelepiped by a cutting machine. And the tofu product transfer apparatus 10 picks up the tofu product A carried in by the product carrying-in apparatus 20, and conveys the held tofu product A to the packaging pack B conveyed by the packaging pack conveying apparatus 22 And it accommodates in the packaging container B. The position when the tofu product A is accommodated is determined, and the packaging pack transport device 22 intermittently feeds the packaging pack B and sets the empty packaging pack B at the position when accommodating it, The packaging pack B containing the tofu product A is carried out.

  The tofu product transfer apparatus 10 includes a holding head 30 that is a main body that holds the tofu product A, and a head moving device 32 that moves the holding head 30. The head moving device 32 is a robot using a so-called parallel link mechanism. The head moving device 32 will be briefly described. The head moving device 32 includes a robot body 40, a plurality of link mechanisms 42 provided so as to extend downward from the robot body 40, and a plurality of link mechanisms 42. The movable mount 44 is configured to include a movable mount 44 held at the lower end, and the movable mount 44 is moved to an arbitrary position in a predetermined space by controlling the operations of the plurality of link mechanisms 42. Is possible.

  The holding head 30 is attached to the lower surface of the movable mount 44, and can be moved to an arbitrary position within the movable range of the movable mount 44 by the head moving device 32. The holding head 30 will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing the holding head 30, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the inside of the holding head 30, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the holding head 30.

  The holding head 30 includes a first clamp 50 and a second clamp 52 that are two clamps. Each of the first clamp 50 and the second clamp 52 is mainly composed of a pair of sandwiching bodies 54 and 56 disposed so as to face each other, and the pair of sandwiching bodies 54 and 56 are relatively close to each other. The tofu product A is sandwiched between them. In addition, the holding head 30 has an actuator 58 that relatively brings the pair of sandwiching bodies 54 and 56 close to each other. The actuator 58 includes a ball screw mechanism 64 including a male screw rod 60 formed with a male screw and a nut 62, and a motor 66 that rotates the male screw rod 60. A motor 66 is fixed to one of the pair of holding members 54, and a nut 62 is fixed to the other 56. The nut 62 is fixed by rotating the male screw rod 60 by the motor 66. The other 56 of the pair of sandwiching bodies is configured to approach and separate from one 54.

  The two clamps 50 and 52 are arranged side by side in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the pair of sandwiching bodies 54 and 56 are relatively approached. The holding head 30 includes a clamp interval changing device 70 that changes the interval between the two clamps 50 and 52, specifically, the interval in the direction in which the two clamps 50 and 52 are arranged. The clamp interval changing device 70 includes a ball screw mechanism 76 including a male screw rod 72 formed with a male screw and a nut 74, and a motor 78 for rotating the male screw rod 72. The motor 78 is fixed to the holding plate 80 holding the first clamp 50, and the nut 74 is fixed to the holding plate 82 holding the second clamp 52. By rotating the rod 72, the second clamp 52 to which the nut 78 is fixed is configured to approach and separate from the first clamp 50.

  Further, although the detailed illustration of the holding head 30 is omitted, as shown in FIG. 2, the holding head 30 is supported by the base tube 90, and the two clamps 50 and 52 are suspended downward. The rotary table 92 to be supported and a table rotating mechanism 94 that rotates the rotary table 92 with respect to the base cylinder 90 are configured. That is, the holding head 30 can rotate the two clamps 50 and 52 around the axis of the base cylinder 90 by rotating the rotary table 92 by the table rotating mechanism 94. Therefore, the holding head 30 includes a clamp rotating device 96 configured to include the base cylinder 90, the rotary table 92, and the table rotating mechanism 94, and the configuration in which the orientation of the clamps 50 and 52 can be changed. Has been.

  In the present tofu product transfer apparatus 10, each of the two clamps 50 and 52 has a main feature. Each of the two clamps 50, 52 has anti-slip means for preventing the held tofu product A from sliding down on the contact surface with the tofu product A in each of the pair of sandwiching bodies 54, 56 they have. Is provided. Specifically, a 120-mesh screen (metal mesh) 100 is stuck to each of the pair of sandwiching bodies 54 and 56 as anti-slip means. When the tofu product A is clamped by the clamps 50 and 52, the moisture from the tofu product A can be released from the gap between the lines of the screen 100, and slippage due to moisture can be surely prevented. It is said that.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, each of the pair of sandwiching bodies 54 and 56 has a contact surface inclined by α ° (5 ° or more and within 20 °, for example, 10 °) with respect to the vertical plane Pv. Is provided. That is, in the clamps 50 and 52, the interval between the lower ends of the screen 100 attached to each of the pair of sandwiching bodies 54 and 56 is made smaller than the interval between the upper ends. Therefore, since each of the clamps 50 and 52 has such a configuration, the tofu product A can be more reliably prevented from falling.

  The operation of the tofu product transfer apparatus 10 configured as described above is controlled by the controller 120. In the tofu product transfer device 10, the robot body 40 is provided with a camera 122 that images the tofu product A carried in by the tofu carry-in device 20, and the controller 120 is based on the imaging data of the camera 122. The head moving device 32 and the holding head 30 are controlled. FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of control until the tofu product A is accommodated in one packaging pack B. The control of the tofu product transfer device 10 by the controller 120 will be briefly described with reference to the flowchart.

  First, in step 1 (hereinafter, “step” is abbreviated as “S”), image data on the tofu carry-in device 20 is acquired by the camera 122, and in S2, the tofu moving closest to the holding head 30 is acquired. The direction of the product A and the course of the tofu product A are estimated. In S3, the head moving device 32 is controlled based on the estimated path of the tofu product A, and the movement of the holding head 30 is started toward the tofu product A. In S <b> 4, while the holding head 30 is moved by the head moving device 32, the clamp rotating device 96 is controlled so that the direction of the first clamp 50 matches the direction of the tofu product A. In S5, the actuator 58 is controlled in a state where the first clamp 50 is positioned between the pair of sandwiching bodies 54, 56 so that the pair of sandwiching bodies 54, 56 are relatively close to each other. The tofu product A is clamped by the clamp 50. Subsequently, processing similar to the processing of S1 to S5 performed by the first clamp 50 is performed on the second clamp 52, and the tofu product A is sandwiched by the second clamp 52.

  Next, in S <b> 7, the head moving device 32 is controlled to start moving the holding head 30 toward the packaging pack B carried in by the packaging pack transport device 22. In S8, during the movement of the holding head 30, the clamp interval changing device 70 is controlled to bring the first clamp 50 and the second clamp 52 closer together, and the clamp rotating device 96 is controlled to control the two clamps 50. , 52 match the direction of the two tofu products to the packaging pack B. In S9, the actuator 8 is controlled in the packaging pack B to release the sandwich of the tofu product A by each of the two clamps 50 and 52, and one packing operation is completed.

  As described above, in the tofu product transport device 10 of the present embodiment, the parallel link robot is employed as the head moving device, so that the movement of the holding head 30 is quick. Moreover, in the tofu product conveyance apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the clamps 50 and 52 are rotated while the tofu product A is held by the clamps 50 and 52. On the other hand, since the tofu product conveyance device 10 of the present embodiment is provided with the above-described anti-slip means in each of the clamps 50 and 52, the tofu product A is surely secured even if the above operation is performed. It is possible to hold it. The net used as anti-slip means is preferably 20 mesh or more and 120 mesh or less.

  In the tofu product conveyance device 10 of the above embodiment, the net 100 is used as the anti-slip means provided in the clamp, but other means may be used as the anti-slip means. 6 and 7 show a modified tofu product conveying apparatus. In the tofu product conveyance device 150 shown in FIG. 6, a large number of convex portions 154 are uniformly formed on the contact surface of each of the pair of sandwiching bodies 152 with the tofu product A. Specifically, 100 protrusions 154 are formed in one square inch. The protrusion 154 has a spherical crown shape and has a diameter of 2.0 mm and a height of 0.3 mm. The number of the protrusions is desirably 100 or more per square inch. Moreover, the tofu product conveyance apparatus 170 shown in FIG. 7 is subjected to grinding which is a process for roughening the contact surface of each of the pair of sandwiching bodies 172 with the tofu product A. Specifically, each contact surface of the pair of sandwiching bodies 172 is ground using a No. 500 abrasive. In addition, it is desirable that the abrasive has a large particle size of 500 or less.

  10: Tofu product transfer device [tofu product transport device] 30: Holding head 32: Head moving device 50: First clamp 52: Second clamp 54, 56: A pair of clamping bodies 70: Clamp interval changing device 90: Base Tube 92: Rotating table 94: Table rotating mechanism 96: Clamp rotating device 100: Screen (net) 120: Controller 122: Camera 150: Tofu product conveying device 152: Pair of sandwiching bodies 154: Projection 170: Tofu product conveying device 172: 1 pair of sandwiched bodies

Claims (8)

A holding head for holding a tofu product by holding a clamp having a pair of sandwiching bodies arranged in a state of being opposed to each other and relatively moving the pair of sandwiching bodies, and a head movement for moving the holding head A tofu product transporting device that holds and transports the tofu product,
The clamp is
A tofu product transporting device, wherein a slip prevention means for preventing the held tofu product from slipping down is provided on a contact surface of each of the pair of sandwiching bodies with the tofu product.   The tofu product conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a net is attached to each of the pair of sandwiching bodies as the anti-slip means.   The tofu product conveyance device according to claim 1, wherein as the anti-slip means, a large number of protrusions are uniformly formed on the contact surface of each of the pair of sandwiching bodies.   The tofu product transport device according to claim 1, wherein the anti-slip means is processed to roughen the contact surface of each of the pair of sandwiching bodies. The clamp is
The tofu product conveyance device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a distance between lower ends of the contact surfaces of each of the pair of sandwiching bodies is smaller than a distance between upper ends.   The tofu product conveyance device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the holding head includes a clamp rotation device that rotates the clamp around a vertical line. The tofu product transport device
7. A camera that images a tofu product before being held by the holding head, and a controller that controls holding of the tofu product by the holding head based on image data of the camera. The tofu product conveyance apparatus as described in any one of these. The holding head is
Each of the clamps, and two clamps arranged side by side in a direction orthogonal to the direction of relatively approaching the pair of sandwiching bodies;
The tofu product conveyance device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising: a clamp interval changing device that changes an interval between the two clamps.

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