JP7572034B2 - Onigiri transport device - Google Patents

Description

Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act applies. Operation verification tests were conducted at Futaba Sangyo Co., Ltd. from August 5, 2020 to August 6, 2020.

This invention relates to an onigiri conveying device that connects an onigiri manufacturing device that forms onigiri into a specified shape with an onigiri packaging device that packages the formed onigiri.

Traditionally, onigiri sold at convenience stores and supermarkets must be mass-produced in a short amount of time, so they are made automatically without manual labor using onigiri production equipment.

This automated onigiri production system consists of three devices: an onigiri production device that shapes cooked rice into a specified shape, an onigiri transport device that transports the formed onigiri to a specified location, and an onigiri packaging device that packages the transported onigiri in packaging film.

One example of a device that automates the production of such rice balls is the rice ball production machine described in Patent Document 1.

The rice ball manufacturing machine described in Patent Document 1 is configured to include a forming process for forming cooked rice into a predetermined rice ball shape, and a delivery conveyor for transporting the rice balls formed in the forming process to a packaging process for packaging the rice balls.

JP 2009-089619 A

However, the rice ball conveying device described in Patent Document 1 is a conveying device that simply conveys rice balls produced in the molding process to the packaging process, and is not a conveying device that can convey rice balls in accordance with the production capacity of the equipment used in the molding and packaging processes.

In addition, the production capacity of the automatically produced rice balls depends on the lowest processing capacity of each device, since the rice ball manufacturing device, rice ball conveying device, and rice ball packaging device are arranged in series.

In the above-mentioned automatic rice ball production device, the rice ball transport device transports the rice balls formed in the rice ball manufacturing device by placing them on the top of a conveyor belt without any packaging, so if the transport speed is increased, there is a risk that the rice balls will fly out from the end of the conveyor belt that constitutes the transport device, and there is a limit to the transport speed.

In addition, at the end of the rice ball conveying device, it was necessary to transfer the formed rice balls from the rice ball conveying device to the rice ball packaging device. This transfer operation is carried out by temporarily stopping the conveyed formed rice balls and pushing them in the direction of travel. Therefore, the rice ball conveying capacity can be improved by increasing the extrusion speed of the device that extrudes the formed rice balls. However, increasing the extrusion speed of the device that extrudes the shaped rice balls raises the risk of the rice balls being deformed by the pressing force of the extrusion device.

To solve this problem, the present invention aims to provide an onigiri transport intermediary device that can efficiently transport onigiri produced by an onigiri production device to an onigiri packaging device, prevent the onigiri from flying out of the transport conveyor, and transfer the onigiri from the transport conveyor to the onigiri packaging device without the onigiri being deformed by pressure.

In a first aspect of the present invention, an onigiri transport intermediary device is provided between an onigiri manufacturing device and an onigiri packaging device for packaging the onigiri transported from the onigiri manufacturing device, and the onigiri transport intermediary device is configured to receive the row of manufactured onigiri transported from the onigiri manufacturing device in a line with a fixed interval and maintain a longer interval between each adjacent onigiri, a first row conveyor belt arranged continuously in the extension direction of the distance adjustment belt, a second row conveyor belt arranged in parallel to the side of the first row conveyor belt, and a push-out mechanism arranged to be able to push out in a direction perpendicular to the first row conveyor belt in order to move the onigiri laterally from the first row conveyor belt to the second row conveyor belt, and is characterized in that the row of onigiri transported in a line at a fixed interval from the onigiri manufacturing device is divided into two rows on the first row conveyor belt and the second row conveyor belt by the push-out mechanism, and each row can be transferred to a packaging device.

The second aspect of the present invention is a rice ball transport intermediary device that is characterized by having a surveillance camera installed above the interval adjustment belt to detect the position of the seaweed wrapped around the rice ball.

The third aspect of the present invention is a rice ball conveying intermediary device characterized in that a push-out mechanism that slides laterally is provided at the base end of the running first row conveying belt and second row conveying belt that are arranged next to each other, and a defective product rejection mechanism that rejects defective rice balls that have been detected as having defective seaweed wrapped around them is provided at the base end of the running first row conveying belt.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an onigiri transport intermediary device is interposed between a rice ball manufacturing apparatus and a rice ball packaging device for packaging the rice balls transported from it, and the onigiri transport intermediary device is composed of a spacing adjustment belt configured to receive the row of manufactured rice balls transported from the rice ball manufacturing apparatus in an aligned state maintaining a constant interval and maintain a longer interval between each adjacent rice ball, a first row conveying belt arranged continuously in the extension direction of the spacing adjustment belt, a second row conveying belt arranged in parallel to the side of the first row conveying belt, and a push-out mechanism arranged to be able to freely push out in a direction perpendicular to the first row conveying belt in order to move the rice balls laterally from the first row conveying belt to the second row conveying belt, and the row of rice balls transported in a single row at a constant interval from the rice ball manufacturing apparatus is divided into two rows by the first row conveying belt and the second row conveying belt so that each can be transported to a packaging apparatus, so that the spacing between adjacent transported rice balls can be adjusted from a dense state to a sparse state separated by a constant distance. This allows the rice balls to be transferred from the first row of conveyor belts to the second row of conveyor belts without interfering with adjacent rice balls.
In addition, by being able to move the rice balls horizontally from the first row conveying belt to the second row conveying belt, the rice balls placed on the first row conveying belt and the second row conveying belt can be conveyed in parallel, thereby increasing the number of rice balls that can be conveyed without changing the conveying speed of each conveying belt.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a surveillance camera for detecting the position of the nori wrapped around the rice ball is disposed above the gap adjustment belt, so that the position of the nori wrapped around the rice ball can be detected and improper wrapping of the nori can be reliably detected. Also, because the wrapping position and angle of the nori relative to the rice ball can be kept constant, the information printed on the packaging film can be reliably aligned with the position of the nori, improving the appearance of the rice ball after packaging.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a push-out mechanism that slides laterally is provided at the base end of the first and second row conveyor belts that are arranged side by side, and a defective product rejection mechanism that rejects defective rice balls that have been detected as having defective seaweed wrapped around them is disposed at the base end of the first row conveyor belt. This allows defective rice balls to be reliably rejected from the conveyor line based on the results of a correct/incorrect judgment of the position of the seaweed wrapped around the rice ball detected by a surveillance camera above the spacing adjustment belt, making it possible to produce only rice balls that look good. Furthermore, rice balls rejected from the conveyor line by the defective product rejection mechanism can be returned to the conveyor line after their orientation has been corrected, making it possible to produce packaged rice balls without wasting any of the formed rice balls.

1 is a perspective view of a rice ball transport intermediary device according to an embodiment of the present invention, seen from the rear. 1 is a front perspective view of a rice ball transport intermediary device according to an embodiment of the present invention; 1A and 1B are schematic diagrams showing the state captured by a surveillance camera according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) shows the correct shape and the incorrect shape of the rolled seaweed wrapped around the rice ball, and (b) shows the incorrectly shaped rice ball packaged in a packaging bag. 1 is a plan view showing a rice ball transport intermediary device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1A is a perspective view showing the operation of the push-out mechanism of the rice ball transport intermediary device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a perspective view showing the state in which the rice ball is pulled into the second row transport belt, and (b) is a perspective view showing the state in which the rice ball is pushed out to the defective product rejection mechanism. 1A is an oblique view showing the operation of a transfer device of a rice ball transport intermediary device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is an oblique view showing the state before the rice ball is pushed out by the transfer device, and (b) is an oblique view showing the state after the rice ball has been pushed out by the transfer device to a packaging device. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the positional relationship of the rice ball transport intermediary device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The gist of this invention is that an onigiri transport intermediary device is interposed between an onigiri manufacturing device and an onigiri packaging device for packaging the onigiri transported from the onigiri manufacturing device, and the onigiri transport intermediary device is composed of a spacing adjustment belt configured to receive the row of manufactured onigiri transported from the onigiri manufacturing device in a line maintaining a fixed interval and to receive the rows of onigiri while maintaining a longer interval between each adjacent onigiri, a first row conveyor belt arranged continuously in the extension direction of the spacing adjustment belt, a second row conveyor belt arranged in parallel to the side of the first row conveyor belt, and a push-out mechanism arranged to be able to push out in a direction perpendicular to the first row conveyor belt in order to move the onigiri laterally from the first row conveyor belt to the second row conveyor belt, and the row of onigiri transported in a single row at a fixed interval from the onigiri manufacturing device is divided by the push-out mechanism into two rows on the first row conveyor belt and the second row conveyor belt, and each can be transferred to a packaging device.

Another feature of the present invention is that a surveillance camera is installed above the gap adjustment belt to detect the position of the seaweed wrapped around the rice balls.

Another feature of the present invention is that a push-out mechanism that slides laterally is provided at the base end of the first and second row conveyor belts that are arranged side by side, and a defective product rejection mechanism is provided at the base end of the first row conveyor belt to reject defective rice balls that have been detected as having defective seaweed wrapped around them.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Figures 1 and 2 are oblique views showing the rice ball transport intermediary device of the present invention, Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing the state of a rice ball imaged by a surveillance camera, Figure 4 is a plan view showing an overall image of the transport intermediary device, Figure 5 is an oblique view showing the operation of the push-out mechanism, Figure 6 is an oblique view showing the operation of the transfer device, and Figure 7 is a front view showing the position of the rice ball transport intermediary device in the rice ball manufacturing process.

As shown in FIG. 7, the rice ball transport intermediary device 100 is a device for transporting the rice balls R formed by the rice ball manufacturing device 200 to the rice ball packaging device 300, and is interposed between the rice ball manufacturing device 200 and the rice ball packaging device 300.

As shown in Figures 1 and 7, the rice ball transport intermediary device 100 is composed of a gap adjustment belt 10 connected to the end of the rice ball manufacturing device 200, a surveillance camera 20 located above the gap adjustment belt 10, a first row conveyor belt 30 arranged continuously in the extension direction of the gap adjustment belt 10, a second row conveyor belt 40 arranged side by side with the first row conveyor belt 30, a push-out mechanism 50 that can push out the rice balls R in a direction perpendicular to the first row conveyor belt 30 in order to move them laterally from the first row conveyor belt 30 to the second row conveyor belt 40, and a defective product rejection mechanism 60 arranged at the base end of the first row conveyor belt 30.

The interval adjustment belt 10 is a conveyor belt that adjusts the intervals between adjacent rice balls R in a row of rice balls that have been formed and placed in succession by the rice ball manufacturing device 200.

As shown in Figures 1 and 7, the gap adjustment belt 10 has a conveying section 11 whose starting end is connected to the terminal end of the rice ball manufacturing device 200, and a gap adjustment section 12 arranged continuously in the extension direction of the conveying section 11.

The conveying section 11 is made of an endless conveyor belt 11a connected to the rice ball manufacturing device 200, and continuously conveys the rice balls R (see FIG. 3) formed by the rice ball manufacturing device 200 to the gap adjustment section 12 while maintaining the gap. The conveyor belt 11a of the conveying section 11 is set to a speed that allows the placed rice ball R to move approximately its diameter in the direction of travel while one rice ball R is being formed by the rice ball manufacturing device 200. As a result, the conveyor belt 11a of the conveying section 11 is configured to allow as many rice balls R made by the rice ball manufacturing device 200 to be placed on the top surface of the conveyor belt 11a as possible.

The interval adjustment unit 12 is disposed adjacent to the end of the conveying unit 11 and is a distance adjustment unit for adjusting the distance between the rice balls R conveyed by the conveying unit 11 to a predetermined distance.

The gap adjustment unit 12 consists of an endless conveyor belt 12a that operates intermittently. This conveyor belt 12a is set to operate faster than the operating speed of the conveyor belt 11a. The conveyor belt 12a has sensor cameras 13 disposed on the left and right of the starting end of the conveyor belt 12a, and a surveillance camera 20 disposed above the approximate center in the front-to-rear direction.

The sensor camera 13 is composed of a photoelectric sensor and detects the rice balls R that enter the interval adjustment unit 12 and measures the number of rice balls R that pass the sensor camera 13.
When the sensor camera 13 detects the rice ball R, it simultaneously starts the conveyor belt 12a, the monitoring camera 20 described below, the first row conveyor belt 30, and the second row conveyor belt 40. This allows the belts to be synchronized, and the rice ball R can be smoothly handed over between the belts for efficient conveyance.

The surveillance camera 20 is an imaging means for capturing images of the shape of the rolled seaweed N wrapped around the rice balls R passing through the conveyor belt 12a.

As shown in FIG. 1, the surveillance camera 20 is disposed at the tip of a support arm 21 that is erected on a support stand S. The surveillance camera 20 is set to capture an image a fixed time after the sensor camera 13 detects the rice ball R. As a result, the rice ball R is captured at a fixed distance from adjacent rice balls R due to the intermittent operation of the conveyor belt 12a. In other words, the rice ball R can be captured independently without being interfered with by other rice balls R, and it can be reliably detected whether the seaweed N is correctly wrapped around the rice ball R.

The image information of the rice ball R captured by the surveillance camera 20 is transmitted to the truth/incorrect determination unit 22 .
The correctness determining unit 22 is a determining unit for determining, from the image information of the rice ball R captured by the surveillance camera 20, whether the wrapped seaweed N wrapped around the rice ball R is wrapped in a predetermined direction.

As shown in FIG. 7, the correctness determination unit 22 is located to the left of the interval adjustment unit 12 (the front side in FIG. 7) and stands on the support stand S. The correctness determination unit 22 has a determination unit 22a for determining whether the rolled seaweed N wrapped around the rice ball R is attached correctly, and a determination output unit 22b for outputting the result of the determination made by the determination unit 22a.

The determination unit 22a prestores the correct shape (hereinafter referred to as the "correct shape") of the rolled seaweed N to be wrapped around the rice ball R. This correct shape refers to the state in which the rolled seaweed N is wrapped around the rice ball R in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the interval adjustment belt 10, as shown in FIG. 3(a). Note that the correctness determination has a certain tolerance, and the direction in which the rolled seaweed N is perpendicular to the conveying direction of the interval adjustment belt 10 is set to 0°, and if it is within a range of ±1° from that, it is determined to be the correct shape. Note that the white arrow shown in FIG. 3(a) indicates the conveying direction of the interval adjustment belt 10, and the rice ball R located on the left side of the conveyor belt 12a is a rice ball with a correct shape, and the rice ball R located on the right side is a rice ball with an incorrect shape (hereinafter referred to as the "incorrect shape"). When an onigiri R determined to be malformed is wrapped in wrapping film, the product text information printed on the wrapping film and the rolled seaweed N surrounding the onigiri R cannot be approximately parallel to each other, as shown in FIG. 3(b), resulting in a poor appearance. When an onigiri R determined to be properly shaped is wrapped in wrapping film, the product text information printed on the wrapping film and the rolled seaweed N surrounding the onigiri R can be approximately parallel to each other, improving the product's appearance.

The determination unit 22a compares the angle of the captured image of the nori roll N with that of the normal nori roll N, and determines that the nori roll N wrapped around the rice ball R is normal if it is within the aforementioned angle range. The rice ball R determined to be normal by the determination unit 22a is handed over to the branching unit 32 that constitutes the first row conveyor belt 30.

The determination unit 22a also compares the shape of the captured nori roll N with the shape of the correct nori roll N, and if the nori roll N wrapped around the rice ball R is outside the aforementioned angle range, it determines that the shape is incorrect, and transfers the rice ball R from the conveyor belt 12a to the branching portion 32 of the first row conveyor belt 30, and then rejects the rice ball R to the defective product rejection mechanism 60 described below.

The first row conveyor belt 30 is arranged continuously from the rear end of the gap adjustment belt 10 and is a conveyor that conveys the rice balls R spaced at a fixed distance by the gap adjustment belt 10 to the vicinity of the rice ball packaging device 300.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the first row conveyor belt 30 has a position adjustment section 31 that conveys the rice balls R to the vicinity of the rice ball packaging device 300, and a branch section 32 that transfers the rice balls R conveyed by the push-out mechanism 50 described below to either the second row conveyor belt 40, the defective product rejection mechanism 60, or the position adjustment section 31.

The branching section 32 is an endless conveyor belt that can transport rice balls R in the same direction as the transport direction of the gap adjustment belt 10. The conveyor belt 32a has a defective product rejection mechanism 60 disposed on the left side and a second row conveyor belt 40 disposed on the right side. In addition, a roller conveyor (not shown) is disposed between the branching section 32 and the second row conveyor belt 40, and a push-out mechanism 50 is disposed above the roller conveyor.

The position adjustment section 31 is an endless conveyor belt 31a disposed continuously from a branching section 32, and a position adjustment device 33 is disposed on the left side of the starting end.
The position adjustment device 33 is a device for adjusting the left-right position of the rice balls R placed on the upper surface of the conveyor belt 31a.

The position adjustment device 33 has a pressure adjustment unit 33a that is movable forward and backward, and a control unit 33b for controlling the forward and backward movement of the pressure adjustment unit 33a.

The pressure adjustment unit 33a is a generally flat plate-shaped body with its front end (right side in FIG. 4) expanding from the front side to the rear side. As a result, when the pressure adjustment unit 33a presses the rice ball R on the top surface of the conveyor belt 31a, it presses the circumferential surface of the rice ball R with a surface, which can reduce the risk of deforming the rice ball R as much as possible. In addition, the pressure adjustment unit 33a is configured to be able to move freely forward and backward in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the conveyor belt 31a by the control unit 33b.

The control unit 33b is a servo mechanism located to the left and rear of the pressure adjustment unit 33a, and allows the pressure adjustment unit 33a to move forward and backward a specified distance. The control unit 33b is configured to operate in conjunction with the detection information of the sensor camera 13. That is, when the sensor camera 13 detects the rice ball R, the control unit 33b receives the detection signal, and is configured to start the forward movement of the pressure adjustment unit 33a a certain amount of time after receiving the signal. As a result, the rice ball R that has been transported to the vicinity of the position adjustment device 33 of the first row conveyor belt 30 is adjusted in position by the forward movement of the pressure adjustment unit 33a so that it is located approximately in the center of the conveyor belt 31a, and is transported to the vicinity of the rice ball packaging device 300.

The second row conveyor belt 40 is arranged parallel to the first row conveyor belt 30 and is a conveyor belt for conveying rice balls R to the vicinity of the rice ball packaging device 300, just like the first row conveyor belt 30.

The second row conveyor belt 40 has an endless conveyor belt 41 for conveying the rice balls R in a predetermined direction, and a position adjustment mechanism 42 for placing the rice balls R transferred from the branching section 32 in approximately the center of the left and right of the conveyor belt 41. The conveyor belt 41 is configured to have approximately the same length as the combined total length of the position adjustment section 31 and branching section 32 arranged side by side.

The start timing of the conveyor belt 41 is controlled by the sensor camera 13. In other words, the conveyor belt 41 is configured to operate when the sensor camera 13 detects a rice ball R. This allows the conveyor belt 41 to start at approximately the same timing as the position adjustment unit 31 of the first-row transport belt 30. The conveyor belt 41 also operates intermittently. This intermittent operation is synchronized with the intermittent operation of the conveyor belt 31a. As a result, the rice balls R, R placed on the first-row transport belt 30 and the second-row transport belt 40 are transported in parallel to the vicinity of the rice ball packaging device 300 while maintaining their front-to-back positional relationship.
As shown in Fig. 4, the rice ball packaging device 300 is configured to have a substantially circular shape in a plan view. Therefore, when comparing the distance a from the end of the first row conveyor belt 30 to the predetermined location where the rice balls R are inserted in the rice ball packaging device 300 with the distance b from the end of the second row conveyor belt 40 to the predetermined location where the rice balls R are inserted in the rice ball packaging device 300, the distance b is longer than the distance a. Therefore, the rice balls R placed on the second row conveyor belt 40 are placed so as to be positioned forward in the traveling direction of the rice balls R placed on the first row conveyor belt 30 by the difference between the distance b and the distance a. As a result, the rice balls R, R placed on each belt 30, 40 can be transferred to the rice ball packaging device 300 by moving them by the common moving distance c.

The push-out mechanism 50 is a device for distributing the transported rice balls R whose spacing has been adjusted by the spacing adjustment belt 10 to either the second row conveyor belt 40, the defective product rejection mechanism 60, or the position adjustment section 31 of the first row conveyor belt 30.

As shown in Figs. 5(a) and (b), the push-out mechanism 50 has a support arm section 51 that is connected to an electric actuator (not shown) contained within the support base S and is movable up, down, left and right, and a push-out arm 52 that is connected to the tip of the support arm section 51. This allows the push-out arm 52 to move freely up, down, left and right in conjunction with the up, down and left and right movements of the support arm section 51.

The support arm 51 is made up of two connected, roughly L-shaped members, and its tip is located above a roller conveyor (not shown) that is disposed between the first-row conveyor belt 30 and the second-row conveyor belt 40. A push-out arm 52 is attached vertically to the tip of the support arm 51.

As shown in Figures 4, 5(a) and 5(b), the push-out arm 52 is configured to be roughly L-shaped in plan view by connecting a push-out portion 52a to a receiving portion 52b that extends to the right from the lower front end of the push-out portion 52a.

As shown in Figures 1 and 5(a) and (b), the extrusion portion 52a is substantially plate-shaped and has a pull-in portion 52c formed flat on the right side surface, and a cut-out portion 52d inclined to the right from approximately the vertical center to the lower end on the left side surface.
The inclination angle of the notch 52d is set to approximately 25 degrees with respect to the vertical plane. As a result, even if the distance between the first-row conveyor belt 30 and the second-row conveyor belt 40 is shortened, there is no risk of the pushing portion 52a interfering with the rice balls R moving straight from the branching portion 32 to the position adjustment portion 31. Furthermore, by having the notch 52d, the pushing portion 52a can bring the first-row conveyor belt 30 and the second-row conveyor belt 40 as close as possible, shortening the travel distance of the rice balls R transferred from the first-row conveyor belt 30 to the second-row conveyor belt 40, thereby reducing damage to the rice balls R during transfer and reducing the risk of the rice balls R losing their shape. Furthermore, a roller conveyor (not shown) is provided between the first-row conveyor belt 30 and the second-row conveyor belt 40. This reduces the distance that the bottom surface of the rice ball R rubs when the rice ball R is handed over from the first row conveyor belt 30 to the second row conveyor belt 40, thereby reducing the risk of the rice ball R losing its shape.

The push-out portion 52a has a receiving portion 52b extending toward the right side at a lower portion near the front end portion.
The receiving portion 52b has an arc portion 52e at the base end where it is connected to the pushing portion 52a, the arc portion 52e having a diameter substantially the same as the radius of the rice ball R. This increases the contact area between the rice ball R and the arc portion 52e when the rice ball R is transferred from the conveyor belt 32a of the branching portion 32 to the second-row conveyor belt 40, thereby dispersing the pressing force of the receiving portion 52b on the circumferential surface of the rice ball R during transfer, thereby minimizing the risk of the rice ball R being deformed.

The defective product rejection mechanism 60 is a defective product rejection unit that rejects rice balls R from the conveying line if the orientation of the wrapped seaweed N of the rice balls R captured by the surveillance camera 20 is determined to be incorrect.

The defective product rejection mechanism 60 has a rejection belt 61 extending perpendicular to the branching section 32, and a correction box 62 located at the tip of the rejection belt 61.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rejection belt 61 extends to the left in a direction perpendicular to the branching portion 32. The rejection belt 61 is configured to operate in conjunction with the movement of the push-out mechanism 50. That is, when the rejection belt 61 pushes the rice ball R to the left at the cutout portion 52d, the rejection belt 61 rotates in conjunction with the movement by an amount approximately equal to the diameter of the rice ball R. This allows the rejection belt 61 to operate only when necessary, and to hold as much of the rice ball R as possible on the upper surface of the rejection belt 61.

A correction box 62 is also provided at the tip of the rejection belt 61. The correction box 62 is formed in a box shape with an upward opening, and is a box body that stores only those rice balls R that are determined to be malformed by the surveillance camera 20 and rejected by the rejection belt 61, and that do not fit on the upper surface of the rejection belt 61.

The correction box 62 is generally rectangular in plan view, with the length of the side disposed below the terminal end of the rejection belt 61 being longer than the left-right width in the traveling direction of the rejection belt 61. The opening of the correction box 62 is configured to widen upward, so that the rice balls R dropped from above do not fall outside the correction box 62.
The rice balls R placed on the rejection belt 61 or stored in the correction box 62 are defective because the seaweed wrap N wrapped around the rice ball R has shifted from a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction. Therefore, the rice balls R determined to be malformed are placed again on the conveyor belt 11a by the worker so that the seaweed wrap N wrapped around the rice ball R is in the correct shape, and the correctness determining unit 22 again determines whether the rice balls are correct. If the rice balls are determined to be in the correct shape, they are packaged by the rice ball packaging device 300 and become products.

A transfer device 70 is provided near the end of the first row conveyor belt 30 and the second row conveyor belt 40 to feed rice balls R from each conveyor belt into the rice ball packaging device 300.

The transfer device 70 is a device for feeding rice balls R, R from the leading ends of the first row conveyor belt 30 and the second row conveyor belt 40 into the rice ball packaging device 300.

As shown in Figures 6(a) and (b), the transfer device 70 has a control unit stored in a support stand S, a support arm unit 71 connected to the control unit, and transfer units 72, 72 suspended from the tip of the support arm unit 71.

The control unit is made up of an electric actuator that can move forward and backward in both the front-rear and up-down directions, allowing the support arm unit 71 to move forward-rear and up-down.

The support arm portion 71 is formed by connecting two roughly L-shaped members, and the tip portion is configured to have roughly the same width as the combined left-right width of the first row conveyor belt 30 and the second row conveyor belt 40. The tip portion has transfer portions 72, 72 vertically attached at positions corresponding to the first row conveyor belt 30 and the second row conveyor belt 40, respectively.

The transfer section 72 is a transport device for moving the rice ball R forward a fixed distance.
As shown in Figures 2 and 6 (a) and (b), the transfer section 72 has a first recess 72a that is configured to have approximately the same width as the first row conveying belt 30, and a second recess 72b that is configured to have approximately the same width as the second row conveying belt 40.

The first recess 72a and the second recess 72b are formed in an arc shape with a diameter approximately equal to the radius of the rice ball R, and are provided with pressing parts 72c, 72d that have multiple semicircular arc-shaped recesses in the lower center. This reduces the contact area between the pressing parts 72c, 72d and the periphery of the rice balls R, R as much as possible when the transfer parts 72, 72 move the rice balls R, R forward, and reduces the risk of rice grains from the rice balls R remaining on the pressing parts 72c, 72d as much as possible.

The rice ball transport intermediary device 100 according to this embodiment is configured as described above, and with this configuration, the rice balls R can be handed over between the conveyors during transport without flying out, and further, when the rice balls R are transferred from the end of the first row transport belt 30 and the second row transport belt 40 to the rice ball packaging device 300, the rice balls R can be transferred without being deformed by pressure, and the rice balls produced in the rice ball manufacturing device 200 can be efficiently transported to the rice ball packaging device 300. Furthermore, when transporting the rice balls R from the rice ball manufacturing device 200 to the rice ball packaging device 300, the number of rice balls R transported can be increased without changing the transport speed by dividing the transport conveyor into two midway.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but also includes configurations in which the components disclosed in the above-described embodiments are substituted with each other or in different combinations, known inventions, and configurations in which the components disclosed in the above-described embodiments are substituted with each other or in different combinations. Furthermore, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but extends to the matters set forth in the claims and their equivalents.

LIST OF SYMBOLS 10 Gap adjustment belt 11 Conveying section 11a Conveyor belt 12 Gap adjustment section 12a Conveyor belt 13 Sensor camera 20 Surveillance camera 21 Support arm 22 Correct/incorrect judgment section 22a Judgment section 22b Judgment output section 30 First row conveying belt 31 Position adjustment section 31a Conveyor belt 32 Branching section 32a Conveyor belt 33 Alignment section 33a Pressing adjustment section 33b Control section 40 Second row conveying belt 41 Conveyor belt 50 Push-out mechanism 51 Support arm section 52 Push-out arm 52a Push-out section 52b Receiving section 52c Retraction section 52d Notch section 52e Circular arc section 60 Defective product rejection mechanism 61 Rejection belt 62 Correction box 70 Transfer device 71 Support arm section 72 Transfer section 72a First recess 72b Second recess 72c, 72d Pressing section 100 Rice ball transport intermediary device 200 Rice ball manufacturing device 300 Rice ball packaging device S Support table N Rolled seaweed R Rice ball a, b, c Distance

Claims (3)

A rice ball conveying intermediate device is interposed between the rice ball manufacturing device and a rice ball packaging device for packaging the rice balls conveyed therefrom,
The rice ball conveying intermediary device receives the row of manufactured rice balls that are conveyed from the rice ball manufacturing device in a line with a constant interval maintained therebetween, and receives the rows of rice balls by maintaining a longer interval between each of the rice balls before and after the row;
A first row conveyor belt is continuously arranged in the extension direction of the gap adjustment belt;
a second row conveying belt arranged in parallel to the side of the first row conveying belt;
This rice ball transport intermediary device is characterized in that it is composed of an extrusion mechanism arranged to be freely extruded in a direction perpendicular to the first row conveying belt in order to move rice balls laterally from the first row conveying belt to the second row conveying belt, and the row of rice balls transported in a single row at regular intervals from the rice ball manufacturing device is divided into two rows, the first row conveying belt and the second row conveying belt, by the extrusion mechanism, and each can be transported to the rice ball packaging device. The rice ball transport intermediary device according to claim 1, characterized in that a surveillance camera is provided above the gap adjustment belt to detect the position of the seaweed wrapped around the rice ball. The rice ball transport intermediary device described in claim 2, characterized in that the push-out mechanism is provided at the base end of the first row conveying belt and the second row conveying belt which are arranged side by side, and a defective product rejection mechanism is arranged at the base end of the first row conveying belt for rejecting defective rice balls whose wrapped seaweed is detected to be defective.

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