KR101494135B1 - Apparatus for sorting fruit - Google Patents

Abstract

A fruit sorting apparatus is disclosed. The fruit sorting apparatus of the present invention comprises: a weighing part provided on the conveying conveyor so as to be able to measure the weight of fruits that are selected by the operator and stored in the conveying container by the operator and then continuously conveyed in a plurality of gate directions by the conveying conveyor; A conveyance distance measuring unit provided on the conveying conveyor to measure a conveying distance of fruits conveyed in the gate direction after the weight measurement by the weight measuring unit; A fruit guiding portion coupled to the conveying conveyer so as to be respectively disposed at the entrance side of the gate and guided to the entrance side of each gate by the fruit conveyed by the conveying conveyor; And comparing the current position information of the fruits measured by the distance measuring unit with weight information of a predetermined fruit by the operator based on the weight information of the weight measuring unit to sort the fruits according to the set weight of the operator, And a controller for generating a driving signal to the fruit guiding part so as to be discharged to each gate.

Description

{APPARATUS FOR SORTING FRUIT}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fruit sorting apparatus, and more particularly, to a fruit sorting apparatus capable of sorting fruits discharged continuously by a transfer conveyor according to a set weight at a plurality of gates, .

Generally, various types of fruits on the market are priced based on quality such as shape, size, taste and sugar content of each mountain, but some fruits such as grapes are formed according to their weight There is also.

For the fruits of which the price range is formed by weight as described above, the fruits harvested from the fruits of the fruits must be graded by weight before packing.

Conventionally, a conveyor-type weight sorting apparatus has been disclosed as a sorting apparatus for fruits which are packed and circulated selectively sorted by weight.

In the conveyor type weight sorting apparatus, a plurality of load cells are fixed at predetermined intervals in close contact with a lower end surface of a long conveyor system, each load cell is given a unique weight matching sorting value, And the weight corresponding to the weight matching sorting value given to each load cell is separated from the corresponding position to the outside and selected.

According to the above-mentioned conveyor type weight screening apparatus, when the surface of the fruit is hard, the fruit is placed on the upper surface of the conveyor and the surface is not damaged during the separation process to the outside, However, fruits such as grapes, which have a weak surface, are disadvantageous in that they are scratched or flawed in the screening operation, which makes it difficult to maintain quality.

Therefore, in the prior art, sorting work by the weight of weak fruits such as grapes has been carried out by manual sorting method in which one piece is sorted one by one in the harvested state, and the weight is confirmed and separated into a sorting container according to a certain grade.

However, this conventional manual sorting method is preferable for maintaining the quality of the fruit because the surface of the fruit is hardly damaged unless the operator neglects it. However, since the harvested fruit is put one by one on the balance and the weight is confirmed, There is a problem in that not only the weight error is large when sorting the fruits but also the processing amount is limited so that only a small amount of fruits per unit time can be selected. A small selection of fruit means a decrease in workability and productivity, which leads to problems in that a large number of workers are required to be secured and that the profitability of fruit producers and sellers is inferior due to an increase in labor costs for sorting.

Accordingly, research and development on a fruit sorting apparatus capable of selectively sorting fruits, which are selected by an operator and transported continuously by a conveying conveyor after being placed in a conveying container, according to a set weight at a plurality of gates, It is a fact that is demanded.

Korean Patent No. 10-0724242 (Registration date: May 25, 2007)

The object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for measuring the weight and transfer distance information of fruits that are selected by the operator and stored in a transfer container and continuously transferred to a plurality of gates by a transfer conveyor, It is an object of the present invention to provide a fruit sorting apparatus capable of accurately selecting and discharging fruit from a gate and sorting a large number of fruits per unit time by a plurality of gates.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not intended to limit the invention to the particular embodiments that are described. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, There will be.

According to the present invention, there is provided a weight measuring apparatus provided with a weight measuring unit provided on a conveying conveyor so as to measure the weight of fruits that are selected by a worker and are conveyed in a plurality of gate directions by a conveying conveyor, ; A conveyance distance measuring unit provided on the conveying conveyor to measure a conveying distance of fruits conveyed in the gate direction after the weight measurement by the weight measuring unit; A fruit guiding portion coupled to the conveying conveyer so as to be respectively disposed at the entrance side of the gate and guided to the entrance side of each gate by the fruit conveyed by the conveying conveyor; And comparing the current position information of the fruits measured by the distance measuring unit with weight information of a predetermined fruit by the operator based on the weight information of the weight measuring unit to sort the fruits according to the set weight of the operator, And a controller configured to generate a driving signal to the fruit guiding part so as to be discharged to each gate.

Wherein the fruit guiding unit comprises: a rectilinear motion member arranged to linearly move in a longitudinal direction of the conveying conveyor in accordance with a driving signal of the control unit; A guide bar rotatably connected to the linear motion of the linear motion member and guided to the respective gate side by the conveying conveyor; And guide bars for guiding the fruit guided by the guide bars to enter the entrance of each of the gates, the guide bars being inclined toward the entrance direction of the respective gates with a predetermined interval therebetween.

The control unit controls the operation of the fruit guide unit such that fruits of the same weight are selected and discharged from the respective gates according to the weight information set by the operator.

The control unit controls the operation of the fruit guiding unit so that fruits of different weights are selected and discharged from the respective gates according to the weight information set by the operator.

The transfer conveyor may include a fruit supply unit integrally provided to supply fruit in front of the weighing unit, and the fruit supply unit may be branched from the transfer conveyor and extend to be parallel to each other.

According to the present invention, fruit weight and transfer distance information are collectively collected by a weighing part and a transfer distance measuring part for fruits that are picked up by a human operator and stored in a transfer container and continuously transferred in a plurality of gate directions by a transfer conveyor And the control unit controls the operation of the fruit guiding unit based on the collected information so that the fruit of the set weight can be selected and discharged from each gate. And it is possible to perform mass screening per unit time, so that workability and productivity can be improved.

1 is a view showing a configuration of a fruit sorting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the fruit sorting apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a view showing the weight measuring unit of the fruit sorting apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a view showing a fruit guide portion disposed at an entrance side of each gate of the fruit sorting apparatus shown in FIG. 3; FIG.
5 is a view showing a control state of the fruit sorting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, the well-known functions or constructions will not be described in order to simplify the gist of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a configuration of a fruit sorting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the fruit sorting apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 4 is a view showing a fruit guiding unit disposed at the entrance side of each gate of the fruit sorting apparatus shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a view showing a fruit weighing unit of the fruit sorting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig.

1 to 5, the fruit sorting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a conveying conveyor 10, a weight measuring unit 20, a feed distance measuring unit 30, a fruit guiding unit 40, And a control unit 50.

The conveying conveyor 10 is formed to be capable of conveying the fruit supplied by the operator in the gate direction. To this end, a fruit supply part 12 for supplying fruit is provided on one side of the conveying conveyor 10, and a plurality of gates 14 for sorting fruit by weight are provided on the other side of the conveying conveyor 10 have.

The fruit supply unit 12 is provided so that fruit can be picked up by the operator and picked up in the transport container 1 and transported. That is, the fruit supply unit 12 is integrally extended from the conveying conveyor 10, and the worker packs the fruit in an unchecked state in a mountainous area, picks up the fruits, picks them up in the transfer vessel 1, In the direction shown in Fig. At this time, the fruit supply part 12 is branched at one side of the conveying conveyor 10 and extended so as to be parallel to each other. Accordingly, the operator picks up the fruit from both sides of the fruit supply part 12 by the naked eye, So that it can be supplied quickly in the direction of the gate 14.

The plurality of gates 14 are formed so as to be capable of selectively discharging fruits transferred by the conveying conveyor 10 by weight. That is, the plurality of gates 14 form a space that can be discharged after the fruit conveyed by the conveying conveyor 10 is sorted by weight by the fruit guide portion 40 operated under the control of the control portion 50 .

Here, the fruit refers to fruits such as grapes, cherries, strawberries, and the like, the price of which is formed according to the weight.

The weighing part 20 is provided to measure the weight of the fruit conveyed by the conveying conveyor 10. That is, the weight measuring unit 20 includes a main body 22 having a display unit 23 and a scale unit 24 formed on the main body 22 for measuring the weight of the fruit, And the weight of each fruit is measured by the scale part 24 when the transfer container 1 is passed and outputted to the display part 23. At this time, the weight measuring unit 20 may be provided as an electronic scale.

The weighing part 20 measures the weight of the fruit contained in the conveying container 1 and transmits it to the control part 50. At this time, the weight of the conveying container 1 is not transmitted to the control unit 50 and is excluded. This is to measure only the net weight of the fruit.

The transfer distance measuring unit 30 is provided to measure the transfer distance of the fruit transferred to the gate 14 after the weight measurement by the weight measuring unit 20. [ That is, the feed distance measuring unit 30 is provided with a conveying conveyor 10 and measures the distance of each of the fruits conveyed in the direction of the gate 14 from the point of time when passing through the weight measuring unit 20 in real time, 50). The distance measuring unit 30 may be a distance measuring sensor or a well-known distance measuring sensor provided to measure the feeding speed of the conveying conveyor 10 per minute and calculate the feeding distance of the fruit from the point of passing through the weight measuring unit 20. [ An infrared sensor provided to calculate the present position of the fruit on the conveying conveyor 10 by recognizing the movement of the containing conveying container 1.

The fruit guide portion 40 is provided to be able to guide the fruit conveyed by the conveying conveyor 10 to the inlet side of each gate 14 by being coupled to the conveying conveyor 10 so as to be respectively disposed at the entrance side of the gate 14 A rectilinear motion member 42, a guide bar 44, and a guide bar 46.

Here, the fruit guiding unit 40 has a structure in which the fruit conveyed by the conveying conveyor 10 is operated under the control of the control unit 50 so that the fruit weighted to each gate 14 can be sorted and discharged.

That is, the fruit guiding unit 40 is operated according to the fruit weight information set by the operator inputted to the control unit 50, and selectively discharges the fruit conveyed along the conveying conveyor 10 according to the weight set in each gate 14 .

The linear motion member 42 is provided to linearly move in the longitudinal direction of the conveying conveyor 10 in accordance with the driving signal of the control unit 50. At this time, the linear motion member 42 may be provided by a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder.

The guide bar 44 is provided to guide the fruit conveyed by the conveying conveyor 10 to each gate 14 side. In other words, the guide bar 44 rotates in conjunction with the linear movement of the linear motion member 42. The guide bar 44 serves to guide the fruit conveyed by the conveying conveyor 10 to each gate 14 in accordance with the rotation operation I am responsible.

The guide bar 46 is provided to allow the fruit guided by the guide bar 44 to enter the entrance of each gate 14. For this purpose, the guide bar 46 is formed to be inclined in the direction of the entrance of each gate 14 at a certain distance from the guide bar 44. Thus, the guide bar 46 is able to guide the fruit guided by the guide bar 44 to the entrance to each gate 14.

The control unit 50 controls the fruit guiding unit 40 according to the weight information of the fruit set by the operator so that the fruit conveyed by the conveying conveyor 10 can be sorted according to the set weight and discharged to each gate 14 have.

That is, the control unit 50 is formed of an independent control terminal capable of inputting by the operator, and based on the weight information of the weight measuring unit 20, information on the current position of the fruit measured by the feed distance measuring unit 30, The fruit weight information of the fruits is compared with each other to generate a driving signal to the fruit guiding unit 40 so that the fruit can be sorted according to the set weight of the worker and discharged to each gate 14.

For example, when the weight information of fruit is set in the control unit 50 by the operator so that 700 g of fruit can be selected and discharged to each gate 14, the control unit 50 controls the weight of the weight measuring unit 20 Information and the current position information of the fruit measured by the feed distance measuring unit 30 and compares the information with the weight information of the predetermined fruits to determine whether the fruit conveyed along the conveying conveyor 10 is two or more than three And controls the operation of the fruit guiding part 40 so that the selected fruit can be discharged to each gate 14 so that the fruit of the correct weight for each gate 14 And can be selectively discharged. At this time, the fruits not selected by the control unit 50 are sorted to be weighed 700 g with other fruits in the process of being conveyed along the conveying conveyor 10, and then discharged through the neighboring gate 14. [

The control unit 50 controls the operation of the fruit guiding unit 40 so that fruits of the same weight are selected and discharged from the respective gates 14 according to the weight information set by the operator, The fruit guide portion 40 may be controlled so that the fruit of the fruit guide portion 40 is selectively discharged.

Hereinafter, a process of selecting fruit by the fruit sorting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the fruit sorting apparatus of the present embodiment, the fruits picked up by the operator are transported in the direction of the respective gates in a state in which they are contained in the transfer container at a fruit supply portion provided at one side of the transfer conveyor.

When the fruit contained in the transfer container is transferred, the weighing part 20 individually measures each weight of the fruit when the transfer container 1 is passed, and transfers the measured weight to the control part 50. Then, The fruits which have been weighed by the conveying conveyor 10 are continuously conveyed toward the respective gates 14.

When the fruits are transferred to the gates 14 through the weighing unit 20, the transfer distance measuring unit 30 measures the distance between the gate 14 and the weighing unit 20, And transmits the measured distance to the control unit 50. [0033]

When the current position information of the fruit conveyed in the direction of each gate 14 is collected by the conveyance distance measuring unit 30, the control unit 50 controls the transfer conveying unit 10 to convey The fruit guiding unit 40 is controlled so that the fruit to be selected is sorted according to the set weight and discharged to each gate 14.

That is, based on the weight information of the weight measuring unit 20, the control unit 50 compares the current position information of the fruit measured by the feed distance measuring unit 30 with the weight information of the fruits predetermined by the operator The fruit conveyed by the conveying conveyor 10 can be sorted into the weight set by the fruit guiding portion 40 and discharged to the respective gates 14 by controlling the drive to the fruit guiding portion 40. [

For example, when weight information of fruit is set by the operator so that 700 g of fruits can be selectively discharged to each gate 14 in the control unit 50, the control unit 50 controls the weight of the weight measuring unit 20 Information and the current position information of the fruit measured by the feed distance measuring unit 30 and compares the information with the weight information of the predetermined fruits to determine whether the fruit conveyed along the conveying conveyor 10 is two or more than three And controls the operation of the fruit guiding part 40 so as to discharge the selected fruits to the gates 14 so that the fruit of the correct weight is selected for each gate 14 So that it can be discharged.

As described above, the fruit sorting apparatus of the present embodiment is a fruit sorting apparatus that performs gravimetric measurement on fruits that are picked up by a worker and transported in the direction of the plurality of gates 14 by the conveying conveyor 10 after being contained in the transfer vessel 1 The control unit 50 collects information on the weight and the feed distance of the fruit by the feed unit 20 and the feed distance measuring unit 30 and at the same time the control unit 50 controls the operation So that fruits of a predetermined weight can be selected and discharged from the respective gates 14, so that the fruits can be packed with an accurate weight and can be mass-sorted per unit time, thereby improving workability and productivity.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, It is obvious to those who have. Accordingly, such modifications or variations should not be individually understood from the technical spirit and viewpoint of the present invention, and modified embodiments should be included in the claims of the present invention.

10: conveying conveyor 12: fruit supply part
14: Gate 20: Gravimetric unit
30: Feed distance measuring part 40: fruit guide part
42: linear motion member 44: guide bar
46: guide bar 50:

Claims (5)

A weighing part provided on the conveying conveyor so as to be able to measure the weight of the fruit that is selected by the operator and picked up in the conveying container and continuously conveyed in a plurality of gate directions by the conveying conveyor;
A conveyance distance measuring unit provided on the conveying conveyor to measure a conveying distance of fruits conveyed in the gate direction after the weight measurement by the weight measuring unit;
A fruit guiding part coupled to the conveying conveyor so as to be respectively disposed at an entrance side of the gate and guiding the fruit conveyed by the conveying conveyor to the entrance side of each gate; And
And a control unit for comparing the current position information of the fruit measured by the distance measuring unit and the weight information of the fruit predetermined by the operator based on the weight information of the weight measuring unit, And a control unit arranged to combine the conveying containers containing the fruit as weights and to discharge the collected containers to the respective gates. The method according to claim 1,
The fruit guide portion
A linear motion member arranged to linearly move in the longitudinal direction of the conveying conveyor in accordance with a drive signal of the control unit;
A guide bar rotatably connected to the linear motion of the linear motion member and guided to the respective gate side by the conveying conveyor; And
And a guide bar for guiding the fruit guided by the guide bar to enter the entrance of each of the gates, the guide bar being inclined at an interval in the direction of the inlet of each gate at a predetermined interval, Device. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein,
Wherein the control unit controls the operation of the fruit guiding unit so that fruits of the same weight are selected and discharged from the respective gates according to the weight information set by the operator. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein,
Wherein the control unit controls the operation of the fruit guiding unit so that fruits of different weights are selected and discharged from the respective gates according to the weight information set by the operator. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The conveying conveyor
And a fruit supply unit integrally provided so as to supply fruit in front of the weighing unit,
Wherein the fruit supplying part is branched from the conveying conveyor and extended to be parallel to each other.

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