JP6887148B2 - Crop transport tray - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a tray for transporting agricultural products for transporting agricultural products such as vegetables and fruits.

Traditionally, agricultural products such as vegetables and fruits are sorted by class at the fruit sorting plant and shipped. In order to sort by equal class, the crops are placed on the tray and transported on the conveyor, and the crops are inspected during the transportation. The class of crops is determined according to the test results. Then, as shown in FIG. 13 of Patent Document 1, the crops are sorted by transferring the trays to the fruit sorting conveyors according to the same class. Push the tray with the fruit sorting cylinder to transfer the tray to the fruit sorting conveyor.

However, when the tray is pushed by the fruit sorting cylinder, an impact is generated on the tray, and the impact may cause crops to pop out from the tray. In addition, there is a risk that the trays will collide with each other during transportation and the crops will pop out. Therefore, it is necessary to stably transport agricultural products.

A tray for mounting agricultural products is described in Patent Document 2 below. The tray of Patent Document 2 includes an inclined seat and flexible fin-shaped elastic protrusions provided on the seat. It is described in Patent Document 2 that various agricultural products are stably supported by the flexible fin-shaped elastic protrusions.

However, in the tray of Patent Document 2, the impact generated on the tray is transmitted from the seat to the flexible fin-shaped elastic body, and further transmitted to the agricultural product. That is, the impact is easily transmitted to the crops. There is a risk that the crop will come off the flexible fin-like elastic body and pop out of the tray.

JP 2011-177650 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-11414

An object of the present invention is to provide a crop transport tray for transporting crops in a stable state.

The tray for transporting agricultural products of the present invention is arranged in a tubular portion, a base portion on the inner circumference of the tubular portion, and the inner side of the tubular portion, and is provided on the outer periphery of the upper portion of the accommodating portion with an open upper portion. , It is provided with a mounting part that is movably mounted on the base. The accommodating portion arranged inside the tubular portion is movable because the mounting portion is simply mounted on the base portion.

According to the present invention, the mounting portion is movably mounted on the base portion, and even if an impact is generated on the tubular portion, the impact is not easily transmitted to the accommodating portion. The crops in the containment area are stable and difficult to pop out from the crop transport tray.

It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the tray for transporting agricultural products of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the tray for transporting agricultural products. It is an enlarged view of A of FIG. It is a top view of the tray for transporting agricultural products. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 4 when agricultural products are placed in a tray for transporting agricultural products. It is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 4 when the crop is put in the tray for transporting the crop. It is a figure which shows the structure when the ring is placed on the upper part of the base part. It is a figure which shows the structure when the thing is omitted.

The tray for transporting agricultural products of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The agricultural products to be transported are vegetables and fruits, and are not particularly limited as long as they are placed on the agricultural product transport tray.

The crop transport tray 10 of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a tray body 14 including a tubular portion 12, a holding body 16 arranged inside the tubular portion 12, and a support attached to the holding body 16. It has a body 18.

The tray body 14 includes a cylindrical portion 12 having a cylindrical shape and a bottom portion 20 connected to the lower end of the tubular portion 12. The tray body 14 is made of a hard resin. The tray body 14 can be formed by injection molding or the like.

A plurality of protrusions 22 are provided so as to go around the outer circumference of the tubular portion 12. The protrusion 22 suppresses deformation during molding. The protrusion 22 may be omitted if it is not deformed during molding. Further, the protrusion 22 may be formed of a member different from the tubular portion 12. For example, the protrusion 22 may be made of an elastic body such as rubber to soften the impact.

A recess 23 is formed in the tubular portion 12 so as to go around the outer circumference thereof. A light emitting element is arranged on one side of the conveyor, and a light receiving element is arranged on the other side. The light emitted by the light emitting element crosses the conveyor and is received by the light receiving element. When the crop transport trays 10 are brought into contact with each other in a row on the conveyor, the light is blocked by the tubular portion 12 and passes through the recess 23. By counting the number of times the light is received by the light receiving element, the number of passed agricultural product transport trays 10 can be counted. A well-known photoelectric sensor can be used as the light emitting element and the light receiving element.

The bottom portion 20 is a plate having one side 24 and the other side 26. The outer circumference of the bottom portion 20 is circular, and the outer circumference of the bottom portion 20 is connected to the lower end of the tubular portion 12. The tubular portion 12 and the bottom portion 20 may be integrated or may be fixed with an adhesive or the like. When the tubular portion 12 and the bottom portion 20 are made of separate members, the bottom portion 20 may be made of an elastic body such as rubber, and the bottom portion 20 may absorb the impact of the conveyor.

The center of the bottom portion 20 is a through hole 28, through which light passes through the through plan 28. This is to irradiate the crop with light when inspecting the internal quality of the crop. It is preferable to make the tray body 14 black so that the light is not reflected by the tray body 14.

A plurality of plate bodies 30 are provided on one surface 24 of the bottom portion 20. The shape of the plate body 30 is arbitrary, and the plane surface of the plate body 30 faces the direction perpendicular to one surface 24 of the bottom portion 20. The plate body 30 suppresses deformation during molding, and the number of plate bodies 30 is determined as necessary. The plate body 30 may be omitted if it is not deformed during molding.

The IC tag 32 is arranged on the bottom 20. The IC tag 32 communicates non-contact with a communication device such as an RFID (radio frequency identifier). Communication equipment will be installed where necessary on the conveyor. An IC tag 32 that stores different identification information is attached to each of the crop transport trays 10, and the crop transport tray 10 is identified from the information of the IC tag 32. In FIG. 2, a space 34 for arranging the IC tag 32 is provided on the bottom portion 20, and a lid 36 is provided on the other surface 26 of the bottom portion 20.

The other surface 26 of the bottom 20 is a surface to be placed on the conveyor. The crop transport tray 10 is placed on the conveyor so that the other surface 26 of the bottom 20 is in contact with the conveyor. An elastic body or the like may be attached to the other surface 26 of the bottom portion 20 to absorb vibration when moving on the conveyor.

The base portion 38 is fixed to the inner circumference of the tubular portion 12. The base portion 38 has a ring shape and goes around the inner circumference of the tubular portion 12. The base 38 is made of hard rubber or resin. The upper portion 40 of the base 38 is a flat surface facing in the horizontal direction. A mounting portion 42, which will be described later, is mounted on the upper portion 40.

If the mounting portion 42 is mounted on the upper portion 40 of the base portion 38, the shape of the base portion 38 is not limited. Further, the base portion 38 may make one round continuously around the inner circumference of the tubular portion 12, or may make one round intermittently. Further, the inner circumference of the tubular portion 12 may be inflated to form the base portion 38.

The holding body 16 includes a housing portion 46 having an upper portion 44 opened in a circular shape and a mounting portion 42 provided on the outer peripheral portion of the upper portion 44. The inside of the tubular portion 12 is a space, and the holding body 16 is arranged inside the tubular portion 12.

The shape of the accommodating portion 46 is a mortar shape. The upper part 44 is the most widened part of the mortar shape. The mortar-shaped shape narrows from the upper part 44 to the lower part 48. Since the accommodating portion 46 has a mortar shape, the crops tend to move toward the center of the accommodating portion 46 and are naturally placed in the center of the accommodating portion 46.

The accommodating portion 46 includes a plurality of bent portions 50 on the way from the upper portion 44 to the lower portion 48. This is to make the accommodating portion 46 the same as or similar to the shape of the crop. The number and direction of bending changes depending on the shape of the crop.

The accommodating portion 46 is formed of a deformable elastic body such as rubber or resin. Even if an impact is transmitted from the tubular portion 12, the accommodating portion 46 only sways, and the impact on the crop is softened. The thickness of the accommodating portion 46 is about 0.5 to 2 mm. Further, the accommodating portion 46 is bent as described above, and when the agricultural product is held, the accommodating portion 46 is deformed from the bent portion 50. This transformation will be described later.

A mounting portion 42 is provided downward from the outer peripheral portion of the upper portion 44 of the accommodating portion 46. The mounting portion 42 is annular, and the cross section of the mounting portion 42 is L-shaped. The mounting portion 42 is mounted on the upper portion 40 of the base portion 38, and the accommodating portion 46 floats in the air inside the tubular portion 12. The impact generated on the tray body 14 is not directly transmitted to the accommodating portion 46, and the impact is not easily transmitted to the crops.

As shown in FIG. 3, there is a gap 52 between the mounting portion 42 and the tubular portion 12, and the mounting portion 42 is not fixed to the tubular portion 12 and the base portion 38. That is, the mounting portion 42 is movably mounted on the base portion 38, and is not directly or indirectly fixed to the tray main body 14. When an impact is generated on the tray body 14, the position of the mounting portion 42 is slightly moved, and the impact on the accommodating portion 46 is alleviated. The swinging movement of the housing portion 46 described above is also reduced, and it is possible to prevent the crops from popping out.

The thickness of the mounting portion 42 is thicker than that of the accommodating portion 46. The mounting portion 42 is made of the same material as the accommodating portion 46, and is an elastic body made of rubber or resin. By increasing the thickness of the mounting portion 42, the mounting portion 42 is less likely to be deformed than the accommodating portion 46.

Further, a hard and circular ring 56 is attached to the inner circumference 54 of the mounting portion 42. The ring 56 maintains the shape of the mounting portion 42 and the upper portion 44 in a circular shape. When the agricultural product is put into the accommodating portion 46, the mounting portion 42 and the upper portion 44 try to be deformed by the weight of the agricultural product, but since the shapes of the mounting portion 42 and the upper portion 44 are maintained in a circular shape, the mounting portion 42 It can be prevented from falling from the base 38. Further, it is possible to prevent the mounting portion 42 and the upper portion 44 from being deformed even when an impact is generated on the tray main body 14.

The cross section of the mounting portion 42 is bent by 90 °, and the bottom portion 57 of the mounting portion 42 faces inward toward the mounting portion 42. As described above, the mounting portion 42 faces downward from the outer circumference of the upper portion 44 of the accommodating portion 46. Therefore, the inner circumference 54 of the mounting portion 42 has a portion recessed toward the outside by the bottom portion 57 of the mounting portion 42 and the upper portion 44 of the accommodating portion 46. A ring 56 is fitted in the inner circumference 54 of the recessed mounting portion 54. The ring 56 does not come off from the inner circumference 54 of the mounting portion 42.

A through hole 58 is formed in the lower portion 48 of the accommodating portion 46. The through hole 58 of the accommodating portion 46 is for passing light used for the internal quality inspection of agricultural products, like the through hole 28 of the tray main body 14. The housing 46 is black so that the light is not reflected by the housing 46. The through hole 58 of the accommodating portion 46 is smaller than the crop so that the crop does not fall from the through hole 58.

A cover 60 is attached to the upper end of the tubular portion 12. The cover 60 is arranged above a part or all of the mounting portion 42. Even if an impact occurs on the tray body 14 and the accommodating portion 46 tries to pop out, the mounting portion 42 hits the cover 60, and the mounting portion 42 and the accommodating portion 46 do not pop out from the tubular portion 12.

The size of the cover 60 is arbitrary as long as the cover 60 does not interfere with the loading and unloading of the crops in the crop transport tray 10.

The cover 60 is an elastic body made of rubber or resin. Even if the mounting portion 42 collides with the cover 60, the impact on the mounting portion 42 and the accommodating portion 46 is alleviated so that the agricultural products do not pop out.

As shown in FIG. 3, there is a gap 62 between the cover 60 and the mounting portion 42. The cover 60 does not press or fix the mounting portion 42. When an impact occurs on the tray body 14, the mounting portion 42 moves freely to absorb and alleviate the impact on the accommodating portion 46.

If the cover 60 is arranged not only above the mounting portion 42 but also above the upper portion 44 of the accommodating portion 46, a gap 62 is provided between the cover 60 and the upper portion 44.

The cover 60 can be attached to and detached from the upper end of the tubular portion 12. The holding body 16 is arranged in the tray main body 14 with the cover 60 removed, and then the cover 60 is attached to the upper end of the tubular portion 12.

The support 18 is fixed to the inner side of the accommodating portion 46. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, four supports 18 are attached between the upper 44 and the lower 48 of the accommodating portion 46. The distance between the supports 18 is set to a constant angle around the through hole 58. This is to support the crops evenly.

The support 18 includes a fixing portion 64 to the accommodating portion 46 and a spring portion 66 (FIG. 2). The support 18 is made of rubber, resin, or the like.

The fixing portion 64 has a plate shape and is a portion attached to the accommodating portion 46. The accommodating portion 46 and the fixing portion 64 are fixed with an adhesive or the like. The fixed portion 64 is arranged above the spring portion 66.

The spring portion 66 has a plate shape thinner than the fixed portion 64, and is curved so as to bulge on the opposite side to the accommodating portion 46. A space 68 is created between the accommodating portion 46 and the spring portion 66. The tip of the spring portion 66 may come into contact with the accommodating portion 46, but is not fixed to the accommodating portion 46.

The spring portion 66 is designed to be deformed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, when the agricultural product 70 such as tomato is put in the agricultural product transport tray 10, the spring portion 66 is deformed according to the shape of the agricultural product 70. Since the spring portion 66 tries to return to the original shape, the crop 70 can be held so as to be sandwiched between the plurality of spring portions 66. Even if an impact occurs on the tray body 14, the crop 70 can be held without changing the direction. The direction of the crop 70 (the vertical direction of the crop 70, etc.) can be kept constant, and the appearance inspection of the crop 70 becomes easy. When the crop 70 is boxed by the robot arm, the robot arm can align the crop 70 in a certain direction and pack the crop 70 in a box. The visual inspection of the agricultural product 70 includes an inspection by image processing and a visual inspection.

When the crop 70 is put into the accommodating portion 46, the accommodating portion 46 is lowered while being deformed downward. At that time, a part or all of the bent portion 50 is deformed toward the crop 70 and comes into close contact with or approaches the crop 70. For example, in FIG. 6, one bent portion 50 is deformed toward the crop 70. The bent portion 50, which is a portion without the support 18 and is deformed toward the crop 70, is in close contact with the crop 70, and the storage portion 46 can also hold the crop 70. It becomes easy to stably hold the crop 70. Further, when the storage unit 46 is in close contact with the crop 70 or approaches the crop 70, the storage unit 46 can also shield the crop 70 from light.

Since the crop 70 is held by the support 18 and the accommodating portion 46, when the crop 70 is taken out, the holder 16 and the support 18 may be lifted upward together with the crop 70. At that time, the mounting portion 42 hits the cover 60, the ascending of the holding body 16 is restricted, and the holding body 16 and the support 18 are separated from the crop 77.

As described above, since the holding body 16 is not fixed inside the tray body 14 and can move freely, even if an impact occurs on the tray body 14, the impact is not directly transmitted to the holding body 16 and the support 18, and the crop 70 Can soften the impact on. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the crop 70 from jumping out of the crop transport tray 10 or changing the direction of the crop 70 inside the accommodating portion 46.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, although the mounting portion 42 is directly mounted on the upper portion 40 of the base portion 38, it may be mounted indirectly. As shown in FIG. 7, the ring 72 protrudes below the mounting portion 74, and the ring 72 is mounted on the upper portion 40. The ring 72 is not fixed to the upper 40. The impact on the tray body 14 causes the ring 72 to move, absorbing and mitigating the impact on the holder 16.

The shape of the accommodating portion 46 in FIG. 2 is mortar-shaped, but is not limited to the mortar-shaped shape. The accommodating portion 46 may have another shape such as a bowl shape or a dish shape as long as it has a shape that bulges downward.

Although the rings 56 and 72 are used in the above embodiment, the rings 56 and 72 may be omitted as long as the shape of the mounting portion 42 is not deformed. In that case, the thickness of the mounting portion 74 may be increased to increase the strength of the mounting portion 42, as in the mounting portion 74 of FIG.

In addition, the present invention can be carried out in a mode in which various improvements, modifications and changes are made based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the gist thereof.

10: Agricultural product transport tray 12: Cylindrical portion 14: Tray body 16: Holder 18: Support 20: Bottom 22: Protrusions on the outer circumference of the tubular portion 23: Recesses on the outer circumference of the tubular portion 24: One surface 26 of the bottom : Other surface of the bottom 28: Through hole at the bottom 30: Plate 32: IC tag 34: Space at the bottom 36: Cover 38: Base 40: Top 42 of the base, 74: Mounting part 44: Top of the accommodating part 46: Accommodating part 48: Lower part of accommodating part 50: Bent part 52: Gap between tubular part and mounting part 54: Inner circumference of mounting part 56, 72: Ring 58: Through hole of accommodating part 60: Cover 62: Gap between the mounting part and the cover 64: Fixed part 66: Spring part 68: Space 70: Agricultural products

Claims (5)

Cylindrical part and
A base portion that is arranged on the inner circumference of the tubular portion or has an inflated inner circumference of the tubular portion, and a base portion.
An accommodating portion arranged inside the tubular portion and having an open upper portion,
A mounting portion provided on the outer periphery of the upper portion of the housing portion and movably mounted on the base portion,
The gap formed between the above-mentioned placement part and the tubular part,
A tray for transporting agricultural products, which is equipped with the above-mentioned storage part and can move through the gap. Thick crops transfer tray of claim 1 than the thickness of the thickness of the placement section is accommodating portion. A tray for transporting agricultural products according to claim 1 or 2 , which comprises a hard ring attached to the above-mentioned resting portion. With the cover placed above the above-mentioned placement part,
The gap between the above-mentioned placement part and the cover,
A tray for transporting agricultural products according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The tray for transporting agricultural products according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , further comprising a support including a fixed portion fixed to the accommodating portion and a deformable spring portion.

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