JP6031712B2 - Article sorting equipment - Google Patents

Description

It relates to a sorting device for sorting a large number of articles based on the sorting information. In various devices, the articles are sent out almost horizontally and sorted into sorting belt conveyors, turntables, shooters, receiving boxes, etc. It can be used. As an example, it can be used as a sorter for sorting perishable items such as vegetables and fruits.

There are various types of apparatuses that convey a large number of articles to a take-over conveyance body such as a sorting conveyor provided at a sorting port in the middle of the line according to the type, size, and shape of the article. Among these, regarding a sorter that sorts articles such as vegetables and fruits into equal classes, there was the following structure.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-53275 discloses an example of products used for fruit vegetables and fruits that are discharged horizontally and transferred to a transfer carrier such as a belt conveyor. As shown in FIG. 1 of this publication, this apparatus is configured as a mini-belt conveyor in which a fruit and vegetable receiver that carries and transports articles (fruits and fruits) is arranged with two rollers on the front and rear. The transport belt of this mini belt conveyor is attached in a direction perpendicular to the chain (endless transport body), so that the articles on the transport belt can be discharged horizontally in the lateral direction of the chain by operating the lower drive pin. ing. The discharged articles can be transferred to a belt conveyor (fruit vegetable acceptor) provided on the side of the travel path of the fruit vegetable receiver.

A similar one is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-274878. This is an improvement of the above, and when discharging the article from the article carrier for carrying the article, the discharge direction is obliquely rearward with respect to the traveling direction of the article carrier. It can be discharged even from an article carrying body that moves in the horizontal direction as seen from the ground side.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-53275. JP 2009-274878.

Both Patent Documents 1 and 2 are basically configured as a belt conveyor having two rollers along the discharge direction, such as a fruit vegetable receiving body and an article mounting body on which an article is placed and conveyed. When connecting to the belt conveyor, the belt conveyor is connected to the belt conveyor. In this case, the valleys formed at the opposing portions of both conveyors may cause trouble for spherical articles or small articles. If the shape of the article is a sphere and is particularly small, it may fall into the valley and start to rotate when trying to cross the valley. When rotation starts, the belt conveyor on the underwriting side cannot be transferred and stays in the valley. Moreover, even if it does not fall into the valley, smooth connection may be hindered by the force to rotate the spherical article generated in the valley.

In the article sorting apparatus of the present invention, a large number of article carriers are connected to an endless chain, the articles are loaded on the article carrier and conveyed, and the article carrier is based on sorting information for each article. The article is sent horizontally to any of a plurality of sorting ports provided in the middle of the transport path and discharged in a direction orthogonal to the chain moving direction or obliquely rearward to discharge the article, and a belt conveyor or turntable provided at the sorting port or An article sorting device that takes over and sorts by a take-up conveyance body of a rotary conveyor or a receiving box, and the article conveyance body is connected to a chain and serves as a base of the article conveyance body, and can support the article on the basis. A flexible sheet-like member arranged in a substantially horizontal manner that can be conveyed, and the sheet-like member is folded at the front end with one end in the article discharge direction folded back And a part or the whole of the folded back part is connected to the base part, and the end opposite to the article discharge direction is turned back and connected to the base part. The tip of the slide pusher that makes it possible to extrude the tip folding part substantially horizontally toward the article discharge direction is in contact with the back side of the tip folding part, and the rear end of the slide pushing tool is in contact with the back side of the trailing edge folding part In addition, the slide pusher of the article transport body passing therethrough is moved toward each article outlet in the article discharge direction to push out the folded-back portion of the sheet-like member in the same direction, thereby discharging the upper surface of the sheet-like member. Pusher driving means for moving in the direction is provided, and each takeover carrier is not in contact with the tip of the slide pusher slid in the discharge direction and the tip folding portion of the sheet-like member And it is characterized in that provided at a distance.

The article sorting apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a support protrusion capable of supporting an article in the discharge direction ahead and rearward across the position where the article on the upper surface of the sheet-like member is placed, and at least the tip on the front side is the tip structure der to be folded back together with the sheet-like member in the folded portion is, takeover conveying body, the support projections of the discharge direction other party tool pushing slide of the article carrier is moved to the article discharge direction the tip of the slide pusher have at a distance so as not to contact the same support projection is provided in turn is characterized in Rukoto.

The article sorting apparatus of the present invention has the following effects.
(1) When the slide pusher 10 is driven by the pusher drive means 13 of the sorting port 4, the leading end folding portion 8 of the sheet-like member 7 of the article transport body 2 is projected in the discharge direction, and in conjunction with this, the sheet-like shape The upper surface 12 of the member 7 is moved in the discharge direction so that the article 3 is sent out horizontally in the same direction, and can be sent out to the take-up carrier 5 such as a belt conveyor of the sorting port 4 and taken over. . In particular, if the upper surface 12 of the sheet-like member 7 and the transport surface of the takeover transport body 5 are flush with each other, the articles 3 can be transferred without drop. On the other hand, if the upper surface 12 of the sheet-like member 7 is made higher than the conveying surface of the takeover carrier 5, and the sheet-like member 7 is projected onto the takeover carrier 5, the takeover carrier 5 is like a turntable. If it is, the article 3 can be sent out and taken over to a position suitable for article conveyance inside the outer circumference of the turntable. Therefore, the take-up transport body 5 can be handed over not only to the belt conveyor but also to various things such as a turntable, a rotary conveyor, and a receiving box.
(2) Since the upper surface 12 of the sheet-like member 7 is moved in the discharge direction with a movement amount twice as large as the slide amount of the slide pusher 10, the slide amount of the slide pusher 9 can be kept small. Therefore, the pusher driving means 13 can be made compact. Further, since the article 3 can be discharged at a speed twice that of the slide pusher 10 without increasing the drive speed of the slide pusher 10 by the pusher drive means 13, it is easy to design the machine by suppressing the operation speed of the slide pusher 10. There are also benefits.
(3) Especially when the slide pusher 10 is obliquely rearward with respect to the moving direction of the chain 1, the conveying direction of the sheet-like member 7 and the moving direction of the slide pusher 10 can be made the same. This is mechanically advantageous when the sheet-like member 7 is sent out or returned.

The present invention has the following effects.
(1) Support protrusions 18 and 19 capable of supporting the article 3 are provided on the front and rear sides in the discharge direction across the position 17 on which the article 3 is placed on the upper surface 12 of the sheet-like member 7, and at least the front side. Since the protrusion 18 has a structure that is folded back together with the sheet-like member 7 at the tip turn-back portion 8, even a product that is spherical or unstable is supported on the flat sheet-like member 7. It becomes possible to support the parts 18 and 19 and place them stably. Moreover, since the sheet-like member 7 gradually ejects the article 3 while projecting in the ejection direction, and there is a gap between the sheet-like member 5 and the takeover carrier 5, the support projection 18 on the front side is brought into contact with the takeover carrier 5. Can be folded at the tip folding portion 8, and the article 3 can be transited by further eliminating the gap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is 1st Embodiment of the goods sorting apparatus of this invention, (a) is a top view of a sorting mouth part, (b) is an arrow view of a chain moving direction, (c) is a side view. It is 1st Embodiment of the goods sorting apparatus of this invention, and is a perspective view of a sorting mouth part. (A), (b) is a disassembled perspective view of the article | item conveyance body of FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing the whole of the article sorting apparatus of FIG. The arrow view of the chain moving direction which showed 3rd Embodiment of the product sorting apparatus of this invention. The top view which showed 3rd Embodiment of the article sorting apparatus of this invention. The top view which showed 4th Embodiment of the goods sorting apparatus of this invention.

1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the article sorting apparatus of the present invention. Reference numeral 3 in FIG. 1 denotes substantially spherical fruits and fruit vegetables such as tomatoes, apples, and peaches, which are articles to be sorted in this embodiment. Reference numeral 2 in FIG. 1 denotes an article transport body of a sorting apparatus that loads and transports the article 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the transport body 2 is endlessly configured and is attached to two parallel chains 1 driven in the direction of arrow a in FIG. In this embodiment, they are attached at a pitch of 152.4 mm. The chain 1 is hung on a driven sprocket 21 and a drive sprocket 22 disposed at both front and rear ends of a long sorter, and is driven in the direction of arrow a in the figure by a drive sprocket 22 connected to a motor 23 at the rear of the apparatus. It is driven at a predetermined speed and circulates. A sensor 24 for measuring the size, color, etc. of the article 3 is provided in the middle of the conveyance path of the chain 1. A plurality of sorting ports 4 are provided on the downstream side of the sensor 24. The sorting port 4 is located on one side of the conveyor 2, and the sorting port 4 is provided with a narrow belt conveyor 25 (having a width that allows the article 3 to be transported) as shown in FIGS. Yes. Each sorting port 4 is provided with a pusher driving means 13 for discharging the article 3 from the article carrier 2 in correspondence with the discharge position of the article 3 as shown in FIGS. In this embodiment, in addition to the one shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 at the sorting port 4, a gravity roller conveyor in which a large number of ultrafine rollers are finely laid in the conveying direction is arranged in a downward slope so that the discharged article falls by its own weight. May be. Further, various combinations of the above can also be arranged.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the article carrier 2 is attached to and fixed to an attachment 1 a of two chains 1 arranged in parallel, and an arrow c in the figure attached to the part 6. A slide pusher 10 that is slidable in the -d direction (the discharge direction of the article) and a sheet-like member 7 that is disposed so as to wrap around the outer periphery of the slide pusher 10 are provided.

The base part 6 is a metal part formed by sheet metal as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and is attached to two parallel chains 1. In the center of the upper surface of the base part 6, an elongated hole 30 is opened along the discharge direction of the article 3, in this case along the direction orthogonal to the running direction of the chain 1. Also, bent portions 31 are formed on both sides of the long hole 30 by bending downward. In addition to the role of increasing the strength of the base part 6, the bent portion 31 is also used as a guide for preventing the slide pusher 10 from falling off. A screw hole 32 is formed between the elongated hole 30 and the bent portion 31. The screw hole 32 is used for fastening the sheet-like member 7.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the slide pusher 10 is a substantially plate-like component molded with resin, and the whole is molded using low-friction engineering plastic. The slide pusher 10 has a rectangular shape whose planar shape is larger than that of most articles 3 and is disposed on the base part 6. The entire thickness is about 1 cm, the end facing the takeover carrier 5 is formed in an edge shape that becomes gradually narrower toward the tip 11, and the tip 11 is formed in a curved surface having a radius of 2 mm. The tip 11 is in contact with a tip folding portion 8 of a sheet-like member 7 described later. The rear end 16 opposite to the front end 11 is formed in a curved surface having a diameter larger than that of the front end 11, and the rear end folded portion 15 of the sheet-like member 7 is in contact with it. Although not used in the present embodiment, if necessary, a rotatable roller may be disposed at the front end 11 or the rear end 16 so that the friction with the sheet-like member 7 is further reduced. In particular, since the rear end 16 has a large diameter, a roller can be easily arranged. In the present invention, the diameters of the front end 11 and the rear end 16 are one example, and may be larger or smaller. The tip 11 may be formed into a plate-like shape in an extreme example by making the edge tighter (with an acute angle) than that shown in the drawing when it is desired to protrude largely into the upper surface of the takeover carrier 5. On the contrary, if it is only to be brought close to the takeover conveyance body 5, it may be a blunt knife edge as used in a general belt conveyor.

As shown in FIG. 3, the lower surface of the slide pusher 10 is provided with a central protrusion 34 having a metal slide pin 33 protruding downward and side protrusions 35 provided on both sides thereof. Is formed. The central protrusion 35 is inserted into an elongated hole 30 formed at the center of the base part 6 and is slidable in the direction of the arrow cd as shown in FIGS. The slide pusher 10 can be moved in the direction of the arrow cd by operating the slide pin 33 protruding downward from the long hole 30. Further, the side protrusion 35 has a structure in which the bent portion 31 of the base part 6 is sandwiched and guided from both outer sides, and the lower end 36 hooks the lower end 37 of the bent portion 31. Although the slide pusher 10 can be slid by the side protrusion 35, it cannot be detached from the base part 6. In this embodiment, the length of the slide pusher 10 in the slide direction is about 130 mm, and the slide distance is 60 mm at the maximum. The length in the width direction is 120 mm. In the present embodiment, there is no problem even if an article 3 larger than the size of the slide pusher 10 is placed.

The sheet-like member 7 is formed by cutting a sheet material (film material) having high flexibility and low friction into a strip shape. The center of the upper surface 12 of the sheet-like member 7 is a placement position 17 for placing the article 3. The placement position 17 is merely a guideline and is not strictly defined. However, it is preferable that a mark is provided so that the article 3 is placed at substantially the same position so that the measurement accuracy by the measurement sensor 24 or the like is improved. . The leading end on the discharge side of the sheet-like member 7 is folded back to form a leading end folded portion 8, and the folded portion 8 is brought into contact with the leading end 11 of the slide pusher 10 and folded in an edge shape. The opposite end is brought into contact with the rear end 16 of the slide pusher 10 and folded back to form a rear end folded portion 15. The folded back portion 9 of the folded portion 8 and the folded back portion 15 of the folded portion 15 both extend to a portion where the screw hole 32 of the base part 6 is provided, and both the portion 9 and the portion 38 are formed in the screw hole 32. It is fixed by a screw 39 which is combined. As a result, when the slide pusher 10 is slid in the direction of arrow c, the upper surface 12 of the sheet-like member 7 is slid in the direction of arrow c by twice the amount of movement of the slide pusher 10, and when slid in the direction of arrow d, the same direction The slide pusher 10 is pulled back by a moving amount twice that of the slide pusher 10. More specifically, the sheet-like member 7 is formed with slits 40, 41, 42 at three positions corresponding to these so as not to interfere with the central protrusion 34 and the side protrusion 36 of the slide pusher 10. In the present invention, various materials can be used for the material of the sheet-like member 7. Most generally, a conveyor belt corresponding to a knife edge can be used. In addition to this, an industrial film which is hard to tear and excellent in flexibility and low friction may be used. If the film absorbs oil and does not allow permeation (barrier property), an oil component, a grease component, or the like is added to the contact surface between the sheet-like member 7 and the slide pusher 10 in order to increase the slidability. It may be applied. In addition, a mesh sheet of resin fiber or metal fiber can be used, or a metal sheet such as a thin stainless steel sheet can be used. In the present invention, the sheet-like member 7 may be either endless or strip-shaped. Although the description of the embodiment has been described as a striped end, FIGS. 1 to 3 are illustrated as endless. Therefore, the portion 9 of the folded portion 8 and the portion 38 of the folded portion 15 are connected.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, the takeover conveyance body 5 is a narrow (140 mm wide) belt conveyor, and is provided at a distance from the travel line of the article conveyance body 2. Specifically, the distance is set such that the tip 11 of the slide pusher 10 and the tip 26 of the belt conveyor 25 do not collide with each other when the slide pusher 10 is projected to the maximum in the direction of arrow c (discharge state). is there. In this embodiment, the upper surface 27 of the belt conveyor 25 and the upper surface 12 of the sheet-like member 7 are flush or slightly lower on the belt conveyor 25 side.

The sorting port 4 provided with the takeover transport body 5 (belt conveyor 25) has a guide part 43 for driving the slide pin 33 of the slide pusher 10 in the lower part through which the article transport body 2 passes. A pusher driving means 13 is arranged. The guide part 43 is formed by forming a linear groove 44 and an oblique groove 45 that can guide the slide pin 33 on a nylon resin plate, and an electromagnetic solenoid (illustrated) at an entrance 46 where the linear groove 44 and the oblique groove 45 intersect. A switching lever 47 that is driven in the above is disposed. The straight groove 44 is provided close to the chain 1 on the side opposite to the discharge direction so that the slide pin 33 in a state where the slide pusher 10 is moved to the maximum in the arrow d direction can run. When the slide pin 33 moved in the direction of the arrow d enters the groove 45 by the switching lever 47, the oblique groove 45 gradually slides the slide pin 33 in the direction of arrow c and moves the slide pusher 10 in the direction of arrow c. While being slid, the sheet-like member 7 is moved in the direction of the arrow c by a movement amount twice that of the slide pusher 10. The oblique groove 45 moves the slide pin 33 in the direction of the arrow c by a maximum of 60 mm, so that the sheet-like member 7 is moved by a maximum of 120 mm in the direction of the arrow c. Since there is only a distance of less than 100 mm before the rear support 19 of the sheet-like member 7, the article 3 placed in front of the rear support 19 is completely sent forward from the front end of the sheet-like member 7 and discharged. It is like. The diagonal groove 45 has an oblique rear half, and the slide pin 33 moved in the direction of arrow c is pulled back in the direction of arrow d. As a result, the sheet-like member 7 is pulled back in the direction of the arrow d and returned to the initial position at the junction 48 on the rear side of the linear groove 44. In the present embodiment, the cycle from the delivery of the sheet-like member 7 to the withdrawal is completed within the section of the sorting port 4, but the return side may be performed at another part of the sorting port 4. Specifically, only the sheet-like member 7 is sent out at each sorting port 4, and all the article transport bodies 2 (sheets) that pass through the pull-back are, for example, portions close to the drive motor on the terminal side of the article transport body 2. It is also possible to work against a member in which the member is not delivered).

The electromagnetic solenoid of the switching lever 47 is turned on and off in response to a signal from a control device such as a PLC (programmable logic controller). In this case, the appearance sensor 24 shown in FIG. The classification information of the article 3 is generated by discriminating the size color and shape, and the control device manages the positional information of the article carrier 2 and the sorting information of the article 3 thereon, and is preset in the control equipment. An arbitrary electromagnetic solenoid is operated based on the sorting condition to move the slide pusher 10 of the article transport body 2 in the discharging direction to discharge the article 3 to the sorting port 4 for sorting. The electromagnetic solenoid may use parts such as an air cylinder.

A second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. This is provided with support projections 18 and 19 capable of supporting the article 3 on the front side and the rear side in the discharge direction across the position 17 on which the article 3 is placed, on the upper surface 12 of the sheet-like member 7 of the article carrier 2. It is. The front-side protrusion 18 is folded back to the back side together with the sheet-like member 7 at the tip folding portion 8. In this embodiment, the tip 11 of the slide pusher 10 is formed to have a large diameter so that the front-side protrusion 18 is smoothly folded back. While the slide pusher 10 is moved from the standby position in the direction of the arrow c, the forward protrusion 18 turns back the tip 11 of the slide pusher 10, and interference with the tip 26 of the belt conveyor 25 that is the takeover carrier 5 occurs. There is no way. Since the tip of the slide pusher 10 has a large diameter, a large valley is formed between the slide pusher 10 and the belt conveyor 25, which is suitable for conveying a large article 3.

A third embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. In this case, the article carrier 2 is made narrower than the size of the article 3. In this example, the size in the conveyance direction (arrow a direction) is about 60 mm, which is about half the size of the first embodiment. In this embodiment, up to about 60 mm in diameter of the article 3, the articles 3 are placed one by one on one article carrier 2, and those having a larger size straddle two or more article carriers 2. And put it on top. The pusher driving means 13 (not shown) simultaneously discharges the slide pushers 10 of a plurality of corresponding article transport bodies 2 when one article 3 is placed across the plurality of article transport bodies 2. Drive in the direction to discharge the article 2.

A fourth embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. In this case, the discharge direction of the article carrier 2 is obliquely rearward and rearward with respect to the movement direction of the chain 1 (arrow a direction). The slide pusher 10 and the sheet-like member 7 of each article transport body 2 are moved in the direction of arrow cd at the sorting port 4, and a pusher drive means 13 (not shown) sends the article 3 in the direction of arrow c. Thus, the article 3 can be discharged onto the belt conveyor 25 in a direction orthogonal to the chain 1. The slide pusher 10 and the upper surface 12 of the sheet-like member 7 are about 5 mm higher than the upper surface 27 of the belt tonbear 25, and these tip portions protrude so as to protrude onto the upper surface 27 of the belt conveyor 25. Is taken over by the belt conveyor 25 without falling into the valley between the article carrier 2 and the belt conveyor 25.

The article sorting apparatus of the present invention is not limited to fruit vegetables and fruits described in the above embodiment, and can be applied to apparatuses that sort articles into a transfer conveyor such as a belt conveyor, a turntable, and a receiving box in various industrial fields.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Chain 2 Article conveyance body 3 Article 4 Sorting port 5 Takeover conveyance body 6 Base part 7 Sheet-like member 8 Folding part 9 Part 10 Slide pusher 11 Tip 12 Upper surface 13 Pusher drive means 14 End 15 Folding part 16 Rear end 17 Position 18 Projection 19 Projection

Claims (2)

A large number of article transporters are connected to an endless chain, and the articles are placed on the article transporter to be transported, and provided in the transport path of the article transporter based on the sorting information for each article. Articles are sent horizontally to one of a plurality of sorting ports and discharged in a direction perpendicular to the chain movement direction or obliquely rearward to discharge the articles, and the articles are taken over by a belt conveyor, a turntable, a rotary conveyor, or a receiving box provided at the sorting port. An article sorting apparatus that takes over and sorts a body, wherein the article transport body is connected to a chain and serves as a base of the article transport body, and a substantially horizontal body that can support and transport the article. A flexible sheet-like member disposed on the sheet-like member, wherein the sheet-like member is folded at one end in the article discharge direction to the back side to form a folded-back portion, and folded. A part or the whole of the tip part is connected to the base part, and an end opposite to the article discharge direction is folded back to be connected to the base part, and is connected to the back side of the front end folded part of the sheet-like member. The front end of the slide pusher that allows the front end folded portion to be pushed substantially horizontally toward the article discharge direction is contacted, and the rear end of the slide pusher is contacted to the back side of the rear end folded portion, In this case, the slide pusher of the article transport body passing therethrough is moved toward the article discharge direction to push the leading end folded portion of the sheet-like member in the same direction, thereby pushing the upper surface of the sheet-like member in the article discharge direction. Tool drive means are provided, and each takeover carrier is provided at a distance so as not to contact the tip of the slide pusher slid in the discharge direction and the tip folding portion of the sheet-like member. Article sorting apparatus according to claim Rukoto. Support protrusions capable of supporting the article are provided on the front and rear sides in the discharge direction across the position where the article is placed on the upper surface of the sheet-like member, and at least the front-side protrusion is combined with the sheet-like member at the front end folding portion. The take-up transport body is configured to be folded back to the back side when the slide pusher of the article transport body is moved in the product discharge direction, and the support protrusion in the discharge direction turns around the tip of the slide pusher. The article sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the article sorting apparatus is provided at a distance so as not to contact.

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