JP7450872B2 - Tray and bedding - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a tray for transporting agricultural products in a sorting facility, etc., and a bedding material laid on the tray.

Agricultural product sorting facilities use a sorting and packaging system that automatically boxes agricultural products brought in by producers into equal classes. The sorting and packaging system includes a transport device that transports agricultural products, a determination device that determines the equal class of the transported agricultural products, a discharge device that sorts and discharges the agricultural products into equal classes based on the determination results, and a discharging device that It is equipped with a boxing device for packing agricultural products into boxes.

As a conveyance device for the above-mentioned sorting and packaging system, a free tray on which agricultural products are placed and a belt conveyor for conveying the free tray are known. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a tray body having a mortar-shaped inclined surface. A free tray is described that includes: and a sponge receiving seat sheet affixed to the inclined surface.

In the free tray of Patent Document 1, the agricultural products are placed on the receiving seat sheet, so that the agricultural products do not directly touch the tray body, thereby preventing damage due to friction between the tray body and the agricultural products.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-118659

Incidentally, in recent years, it has been desired to sort and box more agricultural products per unit time. For this purpose, not only the transportation speed of agricultural products by the transportation device is being increased, but also the determination speed by the determination device, the discharge speed by the discharging device, and the packaging speed by the packaging device are being increased. As each device is becoming faster, there is a need for a tray that more reliably maintains the posture of transported agricultural products and prevents them from being damaged by impact during transport or discharge.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a tray and a bedding material that can reliably maintain the posture of transported agricultural products while preventing damage to the agricultural products from impact.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a tray for conveying agricultural products, which includes a receiving part that is formed with a downward slope toward the inside and receives the agricultural products, and a closed-cell structure as a base material, and a tray that has a closed-cell structure as a base material. A bedding material is arranged along the receiving part so that the structure is exposed on the surface.

Further, the tray has a through hole formed in the center of the receiving part, and the bedding material includes a base fixed to the receiving part and a tongue piece extending from the base to the inside of the through hole. It is characterized by having a part.

Furthermore, the bedding material has a mat shape that extends along the outer edge of the receiving portion and has an opening narrower than the through hole, and the tongue portion is formed by a plurality of cut portions formed on the inner periphery of the bedding material. It is characterized by being formed.

Furthermore, the bedding material is characterized in that a plurality of cut portions are formed on the outer periphery thereof, alternating with a plurality of cut portions formed on the inner periphery.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a bedding material to be laid on a tray for conveying agricultural products, which has a closed cell structure as a base material and is formed on the tray so that the closed cell structure is exposed on the surface. It is characterized by being arranged along a receiving part that slopes downward toward the inner side.

In the present invention, the bedding material is based on a closed cell structure and is provided so that the closed cell structure is exposed on the surface, so that it can reliably maintain the posture of agricultural products being transported and protect them from impact. can prevent damage.

A plan view of a tray according to an embodiment of the present invention (a) Cross-sectional view when agricultural products are placed on the above tray, (b) Cross-sectional view when small-diameter agricultural products are placed on the above tray A plan view of a bedding material according to an embodiment of the present invention

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Trays and bedding materials according to embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tray 1 according to the present embodiment is a so-called free tray used in a sorting and packaging facility for agricultural products W, and each agricultural product W brought in from a producer is placed on the tray one by one. and transported by a belt conveyor or the like. In the conveyance process, the tray 1 carrying the agricultural products W is moved by a determination device (not shown) that determines the class of the agricultural products W, a discharge device (not shown) that sorts and discharges the agricultural products W into the determined class, and a sorting and discharging device. The agricultural products W on the tray 1 are transported to a boxing device (not shown) that boxes the agricultural products W on the tray 1.

The tray 1 described above has a structure in which a bedding material 3 is provided on a tray body 10. The tray body 10 is molded from black resin to prevent light from passing through, and has a bottom portion 12, an inner wall portion 14, an outer wall portion 16, and a slope portion 18. The bottom portion 12 is formed flat so as to stably contact the conveying surface of the belt conveyor, and is formed into a circular shape larger than the diameter of the agricultural products W to be accommodated. A circular hole is provided at the center of the bottom portion 12, and a cylindrical inner wall portion 14 extending upward is formed at the edge of the hole, that is, at the inner periphery of the bottom portion 12. The holes in the inner wall portion 14 and the bottom portion 12 form a through hole 20 that vertically penetrates the tray body 10, and the through hole 20 is used in a determination device to optically determine the internal quality of the produce W. It will be done.

An outer wall portion 16 is formed on the outer periphery of the bottom portion 12 and extends further upward than the inner wall portion 14 . A mortar-shaped slope part 18 is formed between the outer wall part 16 and the inner wall part 14, and is formed with a downward slope from the upper part of the outer wall part 16 toward the inside (the upper part of the inner wall part 14). Agricultural products W are placed on the portion 18. In this way, the slope portion 18 functions as a receiving portion for receiving the agricultural products W.

The bedding material 3 is laid on the tray body 10 and is interposed between the tray body 10 and the agricultural products W placed thereon. As shown in FIG. 3, the bedding material 3 itself is a mat-like member having a thickness of 3 mm to 5 mm and having a base material of polyethylene foam or rubber sponge, which is a closed cell structure, and is formed in a circular shape. The entire mat-like bedding 3 has a closed-cell structure in which microbubbles are formed independently. Further, a circular opening 30 that is slightly narrower than the through hole 20 of the tray body 10 is formed in the center of the bedding material 3.

A plurality of cut portions 32 and 34 are formed at equal intervals along the periphery of the inner and outer portions of the bedding material 3. In this embodiment, 12 cut portions 32 and 34 are formed in each of the inner circumferential portion and the outer circumferential portion. The notch 32 in the inner peripheral portion is a part cut radially from the inner peripheral end 36 toward the outer peripheral end 38, and includes a V-shaped notch 40 from the inner peripheral end 36 and a V-shaped notch 40 from the tip of the notch 40. It is composed of a cut 42 extending linearly. The cut portion 34 on the outer circumferential portion is a portion cut from the outer circumferential end 38 toward the inner circumferential end 36 (the center of the opening 30), and extends from the outer circumferential end 38 in a band shape, from a notch 44 whose tip is rounded. It is configured. The plurality of cut portions 32 and 34 formed on the inner circumference portion and the outer circumference portion are formed alternately (so that the extension line of the cut portion 42 on the inner circumference is located between two adjacent cut portions 34 on the outer circumference). There is.

When the above-mentioned bedding material 3 is laid on the tray body 10, adhesive is applied to the back side of the fan-shaped part 46 separated by the cut part 34 on the outer periphery, and the fan-shaped part 46 is fixed to the slope part 18. . In this way, the plural fan-shaped parts 46 function as base parts fixed to the slope part 18. Further, the tip of the tongue portion 48 formed by the cut portion 32 on the inner peripheral portion extends to the inside of the through hole 20 of the tray body 10.

When a spherical agricultural product W such as a tomato is placed on the tray 1 of this embodiment, the bedding material 3 is shaped like the agricultural product W due to the weight of the agricultural product W, as shown in FIG. 2(a). deform along. Further, as shown in FIG. 2(b), when a small-sized agricultural product W is placed, the tip of the tongue portion 48 of the bedding material 3 supports the agricultural product W while being bent. Here, in this embodiment, since the surface of the closed cell structure that is the base material is exposed, the static friction generated by the minute irregularities formed on the surface allows it to maintain its posture. It becomes possible to hold agricultural products W. In addition, even if a shock occurs to the tray 1, such as when the tray 1 is discharged by the discharging device, the closed cell structure not only exerts its holding power, but also reduces the shock and damages the produce W. This makes it possible to prevent

In addition, in the tray 1 of this embodiment, the tongue portion 48 of the bedding material 3 extends to the inside of the through hole 20, so that even small-sized agricultural products W can be held while maintaining the placed posture. becomes possible.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, a plurality of cut portions 32 and 34 are formed on the outer and inner circumferences of the bedding material 3, and by opening and closing these cut portions 32 and 34, various shapes and sizes can be formed. It is possible to fit and install it on the slope of the road.

Although the above embodiment has been described using a free tray as an example, the present invention is not limited to a free tray, and may be used for a tray connected to a conveyance device.

Further, in the above embodiment, the tray main body 10 has a mortar-shaped slope portion 18, but the tray main body may have a step-like slope portion that slopes downward toward the inside. .

Further, in the above embodiment, the mat-like bedding 3 has a thickness of 3 mm to 5 mm, but the bedding may be thinner or thicker than this thickness.

Further, in the above embodiment, the bedding material 3 is formed only of a closed cell structure, but in an embodiment, another sheet material such as a cloth material is bonded to the entire back surface disposed on the inclined surface 18 side. It doesn't matter if there is.

The present invention can be implemented with various improvements, modifications, or modifications based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit thereof. In addition, any of the matters specifying the invention may be replaced with other techniques as long as the same action or effect is produced.

1...Tray 3...Bedding material 18...Slope part (receiving part)
20... Through hole 30... Opening 32... Cut portion 34... Cut portion 46... Fan-shaped portion (base)
48... Tongue piece part

Claims (1)

A tray for transporting agricultural products,
a receiving part formed with a downward slope toward the inside and receiving the agricultural products;
A bedding material having a closed cell structure as a base material and disposed along the receiving part so that the closed cell structure is exposed on the surface;
Equipped with
A through hole is formed in the center of the receiving part,
The bedding material is
It has a mat shape that spreads along the outer edge of the receiving part,
An opening narrower than the through hole is formed at a position corresponding to the through hole,
Multiple cuts are formed on the inner circumference,
A plurality of cut portions are formed on the outer peripheral portion so as to alternate with the cut portions on the inner peripheral portion,
a base fixed to the receiving part;
a tongue piece portion formed by a plurality of cut portions formed on the inner peripheral portion and extending from the base portion to the inside of the through hole;
with a tray.