JP3450627B2 - A device for feeding crops such as lettuce - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for feeding crops such as lettuce . 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a device for feeding crops such as lettuce, a swing arm is supported by a support member via an electric motor so as to be swingable, and a swing end is provided at the swing end of the swing arm. position detecting means for detecting that the crop extraction portion provided, the swing arm positioned at each target stop position of the crop subjected <br/> supply portion side and the crop infeed side, the electric motor and
Control means for controlling the crop take- out section, and when the position detection means detects that the swing arm is located at each target stop position, the swing arm is actuated by electrically braking the electric motor. Stopping, in the stopped state, the crop take- out unit is configured to take out crops from the crop supply unit and send crops such as lettuce to the crop reception unit. there were. [0003] According to the above-mentioned conventional structure, the electric motor is electrically braked based on information detected by the position detecting means to stop the swing arm. Therefore, for example, when there is play between the swing arm and the support member, the actual stop position of the swing arm may vary, and as a result, the stop position may be shifted to the side of the crop supply unit. , The tip of the crop take- out unit may collide with the crop supply unit in some cases. An object of the present invention is to enable the swing arm to always be accurately stopped at the target stop position even if the swing drive section of the swing arm is constituted by an electric motor. It is to make it possible to avoid such a problem. [Means for Solving the Problems] [Structure] A characteristic structure of a lettuce feeding device according to the present invention is a swing arm that is swingably supported around a swing axis centered laterally with respect to a support member. A crop take-out part is provided at the swinging end of the
A posture holding mechanism that drives the swing arm around the swing axis to reciprocate the crop take-out unit between the crop supply unit side and the crop reception unit side, and the swing arm is located on the crop supply unit side. And a position detecting means for detecting that it is located at each target stop position on the crop receiving part side, and a control means for controlling the rocking arm and the crop taking out part, the crop taking out part is a hollow bag-shaped The finger forming body is held by the supply pressure of air, and is configured by a finger unit that changes its attitude to a grip release state by discharging air, and the attitude holding mechanism is configured by a belt transmission mechanism, and the swing arm is When the position detecting means detects that the swing arm is located at the target stop position, the swing arm is stopped, and the swing arm located at each target stop position is received and supported. That is, an elastic stopper is provided. [Operation] According to the above configuration, the following operation can be achieved. (A) When the position detection detecting means detects that the swing arm swings toward the crop supply unit side and is located at the target stop position,
The control means stops the operation of the swing arm, and the elastic stopper receives and supports the swing arm located at the target stop position. Then, in the stopped state, the crop take- out unit takes out the crop from the crop supply unit, and the swing arm moves the farm.
Resume the swing to crops receiving portion side. When the position detection detecting means detects that the swing arm is located at the target stop position on the side of the crop receiving unit, the control means stops the operation of the swing arm, and the swing arm located at the target stop position. The moving arm is received and supported by an elastic stopper. Then, in the stopped state, the crop extracting unit sends the crop to the crop receiving unit. [B] For example, the swing drive unit of the swing arm is constituted by an electric motor, and when the position detection detecting means detects that the swing arm is located at each target stop position, the electric motor is electrically connected. A structure for applying a brake is also conceivable.In this structure, when there is play between the swing arm and the support member, the stop position may vary, but according to the configuration of the present invention, However, even with such a structure, the elastic stopper receives and supports the swing arm located at the target stop position as described in [A] above.
The vehicle can always be stopped accurately at the target stop position. When the swing arm is located at the target stop position, the control means controls the drive of the swing arm to stop the operation of the swing arm, and the elastic stopper controls the swing arm. Since the means for stopping is an auxiliary means, the elastic stopper may be arranged so as to lightly contact the swing arm when the swing arm is at the target stop position. By placing
Coupled with the fact that the stopper has elasticity, it is possible to reduce the impact applied to the swing arm when the swing arm comes into contact with the elastic stopper, thereby preventing malfunction of the swing arm and damage to the elastic stopper. [4] As described above, since the resilient stopper receives and supports the swing arm located at the target stop position, the swing arm overruns the target stop position due to malfunction and collides with another object. Can be prevented. In this case, the impact of the swing arm when the swing arm comes into contact with the elastic stopper can be absorbed by the elasticity of the elastic stopper, and malfunction of the swing arm and damage to the elastic stopper can be prevented. [Effect] Therefore, the swing arm can always be accurately stopped at the target stop position by the above-mentioned operations [1] and [2], and a problem occurs when the stop position of the swing arm varies. That is, it is possible to avoid that the stop position is too close to the crop supply unit side and the tip of the crop take- out unit collides with the crop supply unit. Was able to increase the durability. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a lettuce packaging device 1 (hereinafter abbreviated as a packaging device) and the packaging device 1
Supply device 4 for supplying lettuce (equivalent to agricultural products )
9 on the floor independently of each other, and a control device 12 (corresponding to control means) for controlling both devices 1 and 49
To form a lettuce packaging facility. As shown in FIG. 8, the packaging device 1 has a lettuce receiving portion 4 at the center of the upper surface (corresponding to a crop receiving portion).
This is a device that receives lettuce from the lettuce inlet 29 formed in the above, wraps it with a transparent packaging sheet 50, and discharges the wrapped lettuce from an opening (not shown) provided on one side. The lettuce supply device 49 is provided with a gate-shaped main frame 26 (corresponding to a support member) made of a round pipe that stands upright in a state facing the front wall of the packaging device 1 and is higher than the packaging device 1. A round pipe provided on the side of the main frame 26 opposite to the packaging device 1 at the transport end side of the belt conveyor 35 that supports the lettuce supplied by the user with the lettuce support portion 39 and sends it to the packaging device 1 side. Supported by the first horizontal support frame 50 and the belt conveyor 35.
A leg 51 is provided at the transport start end of the packaging device 1, and the lettuce sent to a predetermined take-out position A by the belt conveyor 35 is gripped and taken out by a plurality of finger portions 3 (corresponding to a crop take- out portion), and the lettuce of the packaging device 1 The robot hand 2 to be fed into the receiving section 4 is configured to be supported by a second lateral support frame 52 (see FIG. 7) provided on the side of the main frame 26 on the side of the packaging device 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 9, the belt conveyor 35 is provided with the lettuce support portions 39 at a constant pitch on the conveying surface, and moves the belt conveyor 35 by one pitch of the constant pitch. After that, an intermittent operation type in which the operation of stopping for a set time is repeated. To constitute the lettuce support portion 39, a plurality of lettuce receiving projections 37 are distributed around the longitudinal axis Q via a circular seat plate 38 on the transport surface so that the lettuce can be fitted in an inverted posture. The lettuce receiving projection 37 is formed in a hollow shape by a rubber material, and the upper end side lettuce receiving surface portion 37A is formed on an inclined surface, and the lettuce receiving projection 37 is formed around the longitudinal axis Q. Both sides facing the circumferential direction are open.
The circular seat plate 38 is also made of a rubber material, and is integrally formed with the lettuce receiving projection 37. At the center of the circular seat plate 38, an annular projecting portion 36 for supporting the head of the lettuce is integrally formed. Affixed to the transport surface. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the robot hand 2 is provided with a support bracket 27 on the second lateral support frame 52, and an electric motor M and the support bracket 27.
A finger support member 6 for hanging a plurality of finger portions 3 is provided at a swing end portion of a swing arm 5 which is supported so as to be capable of driving and swinging, and a finger portion 3 is provided via the finger support member 6. Is provided, and with the swing of the swing arm 5, the finger portion 3 draws an arc trajectory with the finger in the downward position, and the take-out position A and the lettuce receiving portion 4 side It is configured to reciprocate between the lettuce slot 29 and a feed position B corresponding to the lettuce slot 29. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the posture holding mechanism 28 is constituted by a support shaft 30 integrally provided on the finger support member 6 along the lettuce transport direction. The swing arm 5 is supported by the swing end of the swing arm 5 so as to be rotatable around the support shaft axis P in a posture parallel to the moving shaft center O,
An upper toothed pulley 31 rotatably provided integrally with the support shaft 30 in a state where the shaft center is located on the support shaft center P, and a swing arm in a state where the shaft center is located on the swing shaft center O 5, a toothed belt 34 is wound around a lower toothed pulley 32 fixed in position to the support bracket 27 via a support piece 33 on the support bracket 27. The finger portion 3 is formed by molding a hollow bag-shaped finger forming body F having a bellows 3a with a rubber material, and an opening at a base end side thereof is connected to a supporting pipe 7 at a finger supporting member 6 side. At the same time as the fitting connection, the base end side is tightened and fixed with the tightening ring 8 and bent and deformed into a grip state by the supply pressure of the air from the compressor 9 (see FIG. 4) into the finger portion 3 (see FIG. 5). It is configured to elastically return to the grip release state by discharging air. The air supply / discharge path and the like will be described later. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the finger supporting member 6 is formed by connecting a hollow, umbrella-shaped finger holding portion 6B to the lower end of a vertical pipe portion 6A. The structure around it will be described. An elastically deformable lettuce extruded body 18 in which a sponge 18a is covered with a smooth rubber or soft resin 18b is provided at the tip of a piston rod 17 having an oval cross section. The air cylinder 19 is lowered from the vertical pipe portion 6A to the hollow portion of the finger holding portion 6B so that the lettuce extruded body 18 moves back and forth from the support member portion surrounded by the base ends of the plurality of finger portions 3. And the piston rod 1 is inserted into the oval hole 21A of the bracket 21 attached to the bottom plate 20 of the finger support member 6.
7, the lettuce that has been released from gripping or almost released can be pushed into the lettuce receiving section 4 of the packaging apparatus 1. The lettuce extruded body 18 is formed with a cutout portion 18A that allows each finger portion 3 in a gripped state to enter the finger portion 3 separately. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cylinder tube 22 of the air cylinder 19 and the vertical pipe 6
A is formed between the compressor 9 and the air storage space 23 through a first hose 24, and a plurality of portions of the air storage space 23 and each finger portion 3 are formed. Are connected to each other through a plurality of second hoses 25 so as to supply and discharge air from the compressor 9 into each finger portion 3. As shown in FIG. 6, the fact that the swing arm 5 is almost upright means that the detected metal member 4 provided on the swing arm 5
A first proximity sensor 43 for detecting via the second proximity sensor 2 is provided on the side surface 27A of the support bracket 27, and the standby is stopped based on the detection information of the first proximity sensor 43. 44 are arranged side by side so that one end thereof projects laterally from the swing arm 5, and that the swing arm 5 is positioned at the target stop position on the lettuce take-out position A side and the lettuce feed-in position B side, respectively. A pair of second proximity sensors 45 (corresponding to position detecting means) for detecting via the corresponding detected plate 44 of the pair of detected plates 44 are provided on the side surface 27A of the support bracket 27;
When the second proximity sensor 45 detects that the swing arm 5 is at the target stop position, the energization drive of the electric motor M is stopped so that the swing arm 5 stops for removal or feeding. , An electric brake is applied by an electromagnetic brake or the like, and in the stopped state, the finger end 3 is attached to the transfer end portion 35A of the belt conveyor 35 ( agricultural production).
The control device 12 controls the swinging direction of the swing arm 5 to be controlled in the opposite direction by causing the lettuce to be taken out from the lettuce receiving portion 4 and the crops to be sent to the lettuce receiving portion 4. It is composed. An elastic stopper 41 for receiving and supporting the swing arm 5 located at the target stop position is supported on the side surface 27A of the support bracket 27. The elastic stopper 41 integrally has a truncated cone-shaped rubber receiving portion 41B on the head of the bolt 41A, and inserts the bolt 41A into a bolt insertion hole of a support piece 46 provided on a side surface 27A of the support bracket 27. And the bolt 41
The support piece 46 is sandwiched between a pair of upper and lower nuts 55 screwed into A. The height of the receiving portion 41B can be changed and adjusted by loosening the screw of the nut 55 or the like. When the swing arm 5 is at the target stop position, the elastic stopper 41
Determine the vertical position so that it touches lightly. By arranging in this manner, the impact applied to the swing arm 5 when the swing arm 5 comes into contact with the elastic stopper 41 can be reduced, and malfunction of the swing arm 5 and damage to the elastic stopper 41 can be prevented. The operation of the robot hand 2 having the above configuration will be described. As shown in FIG. 7, when the second proximity sensor 45 detects that the swing arm 5 swings toward the belt conveyor 35 and is located at the target stop position, the drive of the electric motor M is stopped, and The operation of the swing arm 5 is stopped by the braking, and the swing arm 5 is received and supported by the elastic stopper 41. Then, in the stopped state, the finger portion 3 takes out the lettuce, and the swing arm 5 resumes swinging to the lettuce receiving portion 4 side. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8, when the second proximity sensor 45 detects that the swing arm 5 has reached the target stop position on the side of the lettuce receiving section 4, the electric motor M is electrically braked and the swing arm 5 is moved. Is stopped, and the resilient stopper 41 receives and supports the swing arm 5. Then, in the stopped state, the finger unit 3 sends the lettuce to the lettuce receiving unit 4. One packing sheet 50 is placed on the packing table 53 of the packing apparatus 1 so as to cover the lettuce slot 29, and the swing arm 5 swings and the finger 3 moves the packing sheet 50. The lettuce push body 18 pushes the lettuce inward of the lettuce insertion port 29 while bringing the lettuce up and releasing the grip. When the lettuce is placed on the movable base 54 of the packaging device 1, the finger portion 3 and the lettuce extruded body 18 retreat above the lettuce slot 29. After several steps such as lowering of the movable table 54, the lettuce is placed
Packaging with [Another Embodiment] The crop may be a crop other than lettuce.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [FIG. 1] A perspective view of a lettuce packaging facility [FIG. 2] A side view of a robot hand [FIG. 3] A longitudinal side view of a robot hand [FIG. 4] A cross section showing an air supply / discharge system of the robot hand FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a gripping operation of a finger portion. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a swing range of a swing arm. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a robot hand in a state where the swing arm swings toward a belt conveyor. Figure 8 [REFERENCE nUMERALS] perspective view of FIG. 9 lettuce supporting portion swinging arm showing the robot hand while swinging lettuce receiving portion 3 crop extraction unit 4 crop receiving unit 5 swing Arm 12 control means 26 support member 35A crop supply part 41 elastic stopper 45 position detecting means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B25J 1/00-21/02

Claims (1)

(57) [Claim 1] A crop take-out part is provided at a swing end of a swing arm that is swingably supported around a swing axis centered laterally with respect to a support member; A posture holding mechanism for driving a swing arm around the swing axis to reciprocally swing the crop take-out unit between the crop supply unit side and the crop reception unit side, and the swing arm is connected to the crop supply unit side. Position detecting means for detecting that each of the target receiving positions with the crop receiving part side is located, and control means for controlling the swing arm and the crop taking out part are provided, and the crop taking out part is a hollow bag-shaped finger. The rocking arm is formed by a finger portion that changes the posture of the formed body to a gripping state by the supply pressure of air and changes to a gripping released state by discharging air, and the posture holding mechanism is configured by a belt transmission mechanism. That located in the target stop position to stop operating the swing arm and the position detecting means detects, feed of lettuce is provided with elastic stoppers for supporting receiving said oscillating arm positioned at each target stop position apparatus.