JPH02296618A - Fruit feeder to weighing and boxing part in fruit selection facility - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase weighing accuracy by feeding selected fruit to a box, laterally transferring them received on a receiving plane by the erection of a guide face at the downstream side and a feed action of a belt-conveyor for a small quantity. CONSTITUTION:Potatoes are received from a selection conveyor 4 to a drawing conveyor 7 and transferring to a guide mechanism 9, passing over space L after dropping along a chute 8. A belt-conveyor 10 for a little quantity of the guide mechanism 9 is not in a driving condition and a change-over plate 11 is in a slanting posture and then all of the potatoes are fed into a vacant box on a weigher 20 by the transfer plane (a) of the belt-conveyor 10 and the transfer plane (b) of the change-over plate 11. When the fruit is fed to some extent into a box A on the weigher 20 and it reaches a specified weight a little lighter than a regulated weight for delivery, a weighing change-over signal is output from the controller, the guide mechanism 9 is changed to be for a little quantity and the belt-conveyor 10 for a little quantity is changed to a driving state an further the change-over plate 11 is also altered to an erected posture. In this way, the selected potatoes from the chute 8 are received once by the change-over plate 11 and laterally transferred by the action of the change- overplate 11 and the belt-conveyor 10 for alittle quantity and finally fed into the box on the weigh 20 via a chute 14 and an auxiliary chute 15 for a little quantity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] This invention relates to a fruit feeding device to a weighing and packing section in a fruit sorting facility.

[Prior art and invention to solve 110] In a fruit sorting facility, in order to pack sorted fruits etc. into empty cardboard boxes by specified weight, a wide conveyor is used as a supply conveyor to the empty boxes on a weighing machine. By installing a belt conveyor for large quantities and a belt conveyor for small quantities in the middle, it is possible to handle up to a weight close to the above specified weight (for example, 14.5 kg for 15-pack).
The fruits are fed by both belt conveyors, and for the remaining portion, the supply by the large delivery belt conveyor is cut off, and the supply is switched to a small amount by only the small delivery belt conveyor.

However, in such a configuration, when the amount of sorted fruit is concentrated during the - period, it is not possible to control the small amount of fruit supplied by the dispensing belt conveyor, and the boxes are packed in excess of the specified weight, which tends to cause variations in accuracy.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention attempts to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and provides a box A of the weighing and boxing unit 19 between the end side of the drawer conveyor 7 that receives and transfers the sorted items from the sorting conveyor 4 and the weighing and boxing unit 19.
A guide mechanism 9 for guiding toward the spare box B is configured to have at least two guide surfaces a and b and are connected to the drawer conveyor 7 in an inclined manner with a falling space to the spare box B separated therebetween, Of these, by raising the guide surface on the lower side and feeding action of the dispensing belt conveyor 10, the sorted material received on the guide surface a is fed horizontally to the weighing and boxing section in the fruit sorting facility, which is configured to supply it to the MA. The structure of the fruit feeding device is as follows.

[Operation and effect of the invention]

The items to be sorted from the sorting conveyor 4 are transferred by the drawer conveyor 7, but initially, the entire amount is supplied into the empty box A waiting in the weighing and packaging section 19 using the guide surfaces a and b of the guide mechanism 9, and then the entire amount is fed into the empty box A waiting in the weighing and packaging section 19. When the weight is reached, the lower guide surface is raised and the cross-feeding mechanism of the dispensing belt conveyor 10 is operated to switch to a small quantity supply state, and in particular, excess materials are passed over the upper guide surface and transferred to the subsequent spare box B. Since the weight is guided and falls inside, the feed by the lateral feed mechanism is ensured, and weighing accuracy is improved.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of this invention will be described based on the drawings.

The figure shows, for example, a facility for sorting potatoes as the material to be sorted,
In FIG. 1, 1 is a receiving section, 2 is a grading section by a grade evaluator, 3 is an alignment supply section, and 4 is a sorting conveyor.

A shape detector 5 such as a CCD camera is provided at the starting end of the sorting conveyor 4, and a plurality of classifying sections 6, 6, etc. are set up from the middle of the conveyor 4 to the discharge section. A belt-shaped pull-out conveyor 7.7 is provided to correspond to the classification section.

A fixed chute 8 is provided at the terminal discharge portion of the drawer transfer conveyor 7, and guide devices #/I49 are provided at appropriate intervals. That is, a dispensing belt conveyor 10 whose transfer surface a is inclined and can be moved in a direction perpendicular to the pull-out conveyor 7 by driving, and a switching plate which is provided in an inclined manner so that the transfer surface is connected to the transfer surface a. 11, of which the dispensing belt conveyor 10 is switched to a driving state upon receiving a predetermined weighing signal from a weighing machine, which will be described later, and the switching plate 11 is rotated around a support shaft 12 at the upper end in response to the predetermined weighing signal. It is configured to switch to a standing position.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a fixed branching plate that is provided so as to be visible above the spare box described later, 14 is a fixed dispensing chute that is provided as seen below the end of the transfer by the dispensing belt conveyor, and 15 is provided to be connected to this dispensing chute 14. The secondary chute receives the specified weight measurement signal from the weighing and packaging section and moves the support shaft 16.
It has a structure that rotates around it.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a weighing and packaging section, which is configured so that the end side of the switching plate 11 can be seen into the empty box placed on the platform scale 20.

Reference numeral 21 denotes a box distribution conveyor, which sequentially transfers empty boxes, and is moved by the operation of a push-out arm (not shown) in response to a weighing signal for filling a predetermined amount into box A of the weighing and boxing section 19. The box filled with a predetermined amount of the material to be selected is sent out to the carry-out conveyor 22 side by the pushing action of the empty box. Immediately after the empty box on one scale 2o,
The above-mentioned box delivery conveyor so that the spare box B can stand by nearby.

The extrusion arm is configured to be interlocked.

The action of the upper side will be explained.

The received potatoes are visually inspected by a grade evaluator in the grade sorting section 2 and sorted into excellent and excellent grades. While maintaining this separated state, the next-stage alignment and supply unit 3 aligns them in a single line.

The above-mentioned potatoes are supplied to the sorting conveyor 4, and the outer diameter shape is detected by the shape detector 5 located at the starting end thereof. The detection signal detected for each potato is input to a controller (not shown), which calculates to which classifier 6.6 the operation signal should be output, and operates the end of the discharge machine from the sorting conveyor 4. The potato stomachs from the sorting conveyor 4 are received by the pull-out conveyor 7 and transferred, and flow down the chute 8 and pass through the air 1111L to reach the guide mechanism 9. In this guide mechanism 9, the dispensing belt conveyor 10 is In the driving state, the switching plate 11 is in an inclined position (solid line in FIG. 2), and the entire amount of potatoes is transferred to the platform scale 20 by the transfer surface a of the dispensing belt conveyor 10 and the transfer surface 1 of the switching plate 11. - supplied to the empty box.

The filling of the box A on the platform scale 2o progresses, and the specified weight (for example, 9
．． 5 kg), a weighing switching signal is output from the controller. In response to this measurement switching signal, the guide mechanism 9 is switched to a small amount supply state, that is, the dispensing belt conveyor 10 is switched to a driving state, and the switching plate 11 is also rotated around the spindle 12 to change to an upright position. (Virtual line in Figure 2).

As a result, the material to be sorted from the chute 8 is transferred to the switching plate 11.
It is once received by the switching plate 11 and the dispensing belt conveyor 10, and is fed laterally through the dispensing chute 14 and the sub-chute 15 into the box on the platform scale 20. The width of the belt conveyor 10 is set to a size that allows one of the objects to be sorted to ride on it, and if the objects to be sorted one after another become excessive, they may collide with the object to be sorted in the middle of being transferred, and the following objects may be transferred via the branch plate 13. It is supplied in spare box B.

When the filling amount reaches a specified weight according to a weighing signal sent to the weighing and packaging section 19, the five boxes are delivered and exchanged, the filled box A is placed on the carry-out conveyor, and the spare box B is placed on the platform scale 20 at its proper position. Further, in response to this signal, the drive of the drawer conveyor 7 and the dispensing belt conveyor 10 is stopped, and the sub chute 1 is stopped.
5 rotates around the support shaft 16 (imaginary line in FIG. 3), and the sorted material remains at that position.

4 and 5 show another embodiment, in which a chevron-shaped fixing plate 24 serving also as a branching plate and forming a transfer surface a serves as a guide mechanism 9.
and a dispensing conveyor 25 having a transfer surface in the form of a belt conveyor. When the dispensing conveyor 25 reaches a predetermined weight close to the specified weight, it switches to the upright position as shown in FIG. This configuration switches to a possible driving state.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is an overall plan view, Fig. 2 is a side view of main parts, Fig. 3 is a front view thereof, and Figs. 4 and 5 are another embodiment. FIG. In the figure, 4 is a sorting conveyor, 7, 7... are drawer conveyors, 8 is a chute, 9 is a guide mechanism, 10 is a dispensing belt conveyor, 11 is a switching plate, and 12 is a spindle. 13 is a branch plate, 14 is a dispensing chute, 15 is a sub-chute, 19 is a weighing and packaging section, and 20 is a platform scale. Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A guide mechanism is provided between the terminal end of the drawer conveyor 7, which receives and transfers the sorted items from the sorting conveyor 4, and the weighing and boxing section 19, for guiding the items toward the box A of the weighing and boxing section 19. 9
are constructed by having at least two guide surfaces a and b arranged in series in an inclined manner with a falling space L to the spare box B between them and the drawer conveyor 7, of which the guide surface b on the lower side is upright. A fruit supply device to a weighing and boxing section in a fruit sorting facility is configured to supply the sorted products received on the guide surface a to the box A while being fed horizontally by the feeding action of the dispensing belt conveyor 10.