JP7796068B2 - Conveying device, article supplying method and weighing system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a conveying device for supplying linear items such as noodles to a downstream device such as a weighing device. In particular, the present invention relates to a conveying device that can supply linear items to a downstream device in the form of blocks, and that allows even unskilled workers to properly feed the items so that they are efficiently supplied to the downstream device. The present invention also relates to a method of supplying items to a downstream device using the conveying device, and a weighing system.

Patent Document 1 below discloses a combination weighing device. This combination weighing device 1 includes an item supply unit 2 equipped with multiple belt conveyors 6 arranged horizontally at predetermined intervals; a combination weighing unit 7 arranged below each of the multiple belt conveyors 6 and including multiple rows of vertically aligned cups 8 arranged horizontally; a collecting conveyor 13 located below the combination weighing unit 7 and transporting objects W to be weighed that have been supplied to form a combination within a target weight range; and a genuine product discharge destination OK located near one end of the collecting conveyor 13 and to which objects W within the target weight range are discharged. Furthermore, a non-genuine product discharge destination NG is located a predetermined distance adjacent to the genuine product discharge destination OK, and one end of the collecting conveyor 13 is movable a predetermined distance so that objects W can be discharged to the non-genuine product discharge destination NG. According to this invention, when multiple types of objects are mixed and supplied, non-genuine objects that cannot be used in combinations can be separated from genuine items and discharged by type.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-12760

In the combination weighing device 1 described in Patent Document 1, an operator manually loads items into the upstream loading section of the belt conveyor 6. If the items are soft, long items, such as noodles, they must be fed as a single block to the downstream weighing device. In other words, in a combination weighing device, in order to obtain a target weight from the combination of multiple weighed items, if the noodles were fed to the weighing device in their long form, they would drag backward in the conveyance direction, causing the noodles to protrude from the weighing container of the weighing device, making it difficult to weigh them as a single block of items.

A skilled worker might be able to feed the noodles onto the belt in clumps rather than as a straight line. Furthermore, if the belt conveyor is provided with markings at appropriate intervals along the conveyance direction to indicate the feeding intervals, it might be possible for a skilled worker to feed the noodles in clumps onto the belt at the specified intervals. However, in reality, the belt conveyor 6 in the feed section 2 of the combination weighing device 1 described above does not operate continuously, but rather intermittently, depending on the item feeding signal output from the combination weighing machine. Therefore, it is unclear when the belt conveyor 6 will start and stop. Furthermore, the noodles on the belt conveyor 6 are often located in a position that cannot be seen visually due to the mechanism, so even a skilled worker would have difficulty maintaining the specified intervals between the noodles in the clumps on the belt conveyor 6.

In addition, with the recent labor shortage, it has become increasingly difficult to secure skilled workers, and as a result, users of combination weighing devices are placing strong demands on manufacturers for automation.

The present invention was made in consideration of the problems with the conventional technology described above, and aims to provide a conveying device that can convert linear objects into blocks and supply them to downstream equipment in order to overcome the characteristics of soft, long objects that make automation difficult and improve productivity in downstream equipment, and that allows even unskilled workers to properly feed objects so that they are efficiently supplied to downstream equipment, as well as a method and weighing system for supplying objects to downstream equipment using such a conveying device.

The conveying device 3 according to claim 1 comprises:
A conveying device 3 for supplying a long object W to a subsequent device 2,
a continuously operated supply conveyor 10 having an input section 14 for the items W on the upstream side in the conveying direction A and a downstream side in the conveying direction A disposed above the subsequent device 2;
a first shutter 21 provided downstream of the supply conveyor 10 for opening and closing a conveyance path of the article W by the supply conveyor 10;
a second shutter 22 provided downstream of the input portion 14 of the supply conveyor 10 and upstream of the first shutter 21, for opening and closing a conveyance path of the article W by the supply conveyor 10;
a control means for controlling the first shutter 21 so that the articles W input from the input section 13 to the supply conveyor 10 become lumped due to being prevented from being conveyed by the first shutter 21 , supplying the lumped articles W prevented from being conveyed by the first shutter 21 to the subsequent device 2 by opening the first shutter 21 for a predetermined time, and after the supplying, opening the second shutter 22 for a predetermined time, and controlling so as not to open the first shutter 21 until a control time has elapsed that exceeds the time required for the lumped articles W present upstream of the second shutter 22 to reach the first shutter 21 ;
The present invention is characterized by the following:

The conveying device 3 according to claim 2 is the conveying device 3 according to claim 1 ,
The apparatus further includes a sensor 23 for detecting the article W present on the upstream side of the first shutter 21,
The control means is characterized in that it opens the first shutter 21 after the sensor 23 detects the article W and the control time has elapsed.

The method for supplying the article W according to claim 3 comprises:
A method for supplying items W using the conveying device 3 according to claim 1 ,
The conveying device 3 is placed in a standby state in which the first shutter 21 and the second shutter 22 are closed and both of them hold the lump-shaped article W while preventing the article W from being conveyed,
By opening the first shutter 21 for a predetermined time, the lump-shaped articles W present on the upstream side of the first shutter 21 are supplied to the subsequent device 2,
After the supply, the second shutter 22 is opened for the predetermined time to transport the lump of goods W downstream, and the first shutter 21 is controlled not to be opened until the control time has elapsed;
The feature of this method is that an item W is inserted into the insertion section 13 where no item W is present, and the second shutter 22 prevents the transport of the item W, causing the item W to form a lump, thereby causing the conveying device 3 to return to the standby state.

The weighing system 1 according to claim 4 comprises:
a continuously operated supply conveyor 10 having an input section 14 for the long articles W on the upstream side in a conveying direction A and disposed above the downstream device 2 in order to supply the long articles W to the downstream device 2;
a first shutter 21 provided downstream of the supply conveyor 10 for opening and closing a conveyance path of the article W by the supply conveyor 10;
a control means for controlling the first shutter 21 so that the articles W input from the input section 14 onto the supply conveyor 10 are prevented from being conveyed by the first shutter 21, and thereby the articles W are formed into a lump;
a conveying device 3 including:
a weighing device 2 as the downstream device 2 to which the articles W are supplied by the conveying device 3;
A weighing system 1 comprising :
The control means controls the first shutter 21 in response to a request signal sent from the weighing device 2 .
The weighing system 1 according to claim 5 is the weighing system 1 according to claim 4,
The first shutter 21 is pivotally supported by a swing shaft,
The control means is characterized by opening and closing the first shutter 21 in response to the request signal.

According to the conveying device of claim 1, when long objects are fed into the inlet of the continuously operating supply conveyor, the objects are conveyed by the supply conveyor, but because their movement is prevented by the closed first shutter, they gather in contact with the upstream side of the first shutter and become tangled and clumped together. If the objects remain in their original long shape, or if some of them become clumped but still drag the long part, the long part may get caught on peripheral equipment when they are fed to a subsequent device, which can cause problems in processing the objects. However, if the objects are clumped, such problems are less likely to occur and they are easier to handle in the subsequent device.
Furthermore, by opening the first shutter, clumped objects blocked from transport by the first shutter can be supplied to a downstream device. After the clumped objects are supplied, the second shutter is opened for a predetermined period of time, allowing the clumped objects located upstream of the second shutter to be sent to the first shutter. The first shutter is not opened until a control time longer than the time required for the clumped objects to reach the first shutter has elapsed. Therefore, the operator need only input the objects into the input section when the absence of objects is detected as a signal to input the objects, eliminating the need for skilled input timing. The input long objects are transported by the supply conveyor, and are blocked from moving by the closed second shutter, causing them to aggregate and become tangled together into a clump. Because clumped objects have been held in front of the first shutter until this point, the closed first and second shutters each hold a clumped object. By repeating the above operations, long objects that are difficult to handle can be efficiently input into a clump and supplied to a downstream device.

According to the conveying device described in claim 2 , the shutter can be opened and the held block of object can be supplied to a downstream device only when the sensor detects an object present upstream of the first shutter and the control time has elapsed.

According to the article supply method described in claim 3 , when both the first shutter and the second shutter are in a standby state holding lump articles, the first shutter can be opened to supply the lump articles to a downstream device. Then, after closing the first shutter, the second shutter is opened to transport the lump articles downstream, and the first shutter is not opened until a control time has elapsed that exceeds the time required for the lump articles present upstream of the second shutter to reach the first shutter. During this time, the operator can use the absence of articles in the input section as a signal to input the articles. This causes the second shutter to hold the lump articles, and the conveying device can return to the standby state. By repeating the above cycle, the operation of efficiently inputting long articles that are difficult to handle to downstream devices by forming them into lumps can be continuously performed.

According to the weighing system of claims 4 and 5, when long objects are fed into the feed section of the continuously operating supply conveyor, the objects are transported by the supply conveyor, but because their movement is prevented by the closed first shutter, they gather in contact with the upstream side of the first shutter and become tangled and form a clump. If the objects remain in their original long shape, or if some of them become clumped but drag the long part, it becomes difficult to weigh them accurately because the long part gets caught on peripheral devices when they are fed to the subsequent weighing device. However, if the objects are clumped, this problem is less likely to occur, and weighing in the subsequent weighing device can be performed more accurately and efficiently.

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a weighing system according to an embodiment. 3A and 3B are schematic side views showing the structure and continuous operation of a conveying device included in the weighing system of the embodiment. 3A and 3B are schematic side views showing the structure and continuous operation of a conveying device included in the weighing system of the embodiment.

The configuration of a weighing system according to a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating the overall configuration of a weighing system 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the weighing system 1 includes a combination weighing device 2 and a conveying device 3 provided above the combination weighing device 2. As will be described in detail later, the conveying device 3 is a device that supplies the objects to be weighed to the combination weighing device 2. The combination weighing device 2 is a device that divides and weighs the long objects W supplied from the conveying device 3, appropriately combines the weighed small portions of the objects W, and discharges them in an amount that falls within a target weight range. Examples of the long objects in this embodiment include slender and soft food ingredients, such as various types of noodles and shirataki noodles.

As shown in FIG. 1, a combination weighing unit 4 is provided at the top of the combination weighing device 2. The combination weighing unit 4 is composed of a large number of cups 5. Each cup 5 is hollow and open at the top and bottom, and a not-shown opening plate is provided at the bottom opening, which can be opened and closed by a drive means, not shown. Cups 5 are lined up vertically in rows of three, and these rows are lined up horizontally in eight rows to form one combination weighing unit 4. Of the cups 5, the top row is a pool cup 5a, the middle row is a measuring cup 5b, and the bottom row is a memory cup 5c. Each cup 5a, 5b, 5c can drop and discharge items W into the row below by opening and closing the opening plate using the drive means.

The pool cup 5a stores a predetermined amount of items W before weighing and then discharges them. The measuring cup 5b measures the weight of the stored items W using a weighing device such as a load cell. The memory cup 5c temporarily stores the items W after weighing. In combination weighing, multiple memory cups 5c are selected so that the combined weight of the items W stored in the multiple memory cups 5c falls within the desired target weight range. The selection of the combination of multiple memory cups 5c that falls within this target weight range, as well as the driving of the opening and closing plates mentioned above and the driving control of each of the other components, are all performed by a control device (not shown).

As shown in Figure 1, a collecting and discharging section 6 is provided below the combination weighing section 4. The collecting and discharging section 6 includes a collecting conveyor 7 provided below a plurality of memory cups 5c, and a discharging chute 8 into which the items W transported by the collecting conveyor 7 are dropped.

As shown in FIG. 1, a conveying device 3 is provided above the combination weighing device 2. The conveying device 3 is equipped with a supply conveyor 10 that supplies items to the combination weighing device 2. A supply conveyor 10 is disposed above each pool cup 5a for each of the three cups 5 (5a, 5b, 5c) arranged vertically in the combination weighing device 2, and is therefore arranged at a predetermined interval in the left-right direction parallel to the plane of FIG. 1. The direction in which the supply conveyor 10 conveys items W is perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1.

2 and 3 are schematic side views showing the structure and continuous operation of the conveying device 3. The structure of the conveying device 3 and its positional relationship with the combination weighing device 2 will be described below with reference to these figures.
The supply conveyor 10 of the transport device 3 is made up of a drive roller 11, a driven roller 12, and a belt 13 wound around the drive roller 11 and the driven roller 12, and transports the articles W along a horizontal transport direction A. The supply conveyor 10 is continuously operated at a predetermined speed under the control of a control means (not shown) while the combination weighing device 2 is in operation.

An item input section 14 is provided at the upstream end of the supply conveyor 10 in the conveying direction A. The input section 14 is open at its top, allowing an operator to visually check whether or not an item is present in the input section 14. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3(a), the downstream end of the supply conveyor 10 in the conveying direction A is positioned above the opening of the pool cup 5a of the combination weighing unit 4, and items W conveyed by the supply conveyor 10 drop from the downstream end of the supply conveyor 10 in the conveying direction A into the pool cup 5a.

A first shutter 21 is provided above the downstream end of the supply conveyor 10 to open and close the path of transport of articles by the supply conveyor 10. The first shutter 21 is pivotally supported at its upper end by a horizontal pivot shaft, and by control means (not shown) controlling drive means (not shown), the shutter can be fixed in position to close the transport path shown in each sub-diagram in Figure 2, and can be opened and closed at will between the closed position and the open position of the transport path shown in Figure 3(a).

When the first shutter 21 is in the closed position, the gap between the lower end of the first shutter 21 and the belt is too small for the items W to pass through. Therefore, after the system is started, when the supply conveyor 10 begins continuous operation and transports long items W to the first shutter 21 in the closed position as shown in Figures 2(a) to 2(c), the items W are prevented from moving by the first shutter 21, gather in contact with the upstream side 21a of the first shutter 21, and become tangled (curled up) into a clump. Furthermore, when the supply conveyor 10, which is already in continuous operation, transports clumps of items W to the first shutter 21 in the closed position as shown in Figures 3(a) to 3(c), the items W are prevented from moving by the first shutter 21, and are held in contact with the upstream side 21a of the first shutter 21.

A second shutter 22 that opens and closes the transport path of items W by the supply conveyor 10 is provided on the supply conveyor 10, upstream of the first shutter 21 and downstream of the input section 14, approximately above the center of the conveyor length. The structure and opening/closing mechanism of the second shutter 22 are similar to those of the first shutter 21. That is, the second shutter 22 can be fixed in the closed position of the transport path shown in Figures 2(b) to (d) and 3(a), and can be opened and closed freely between the closed position and the open position of the transport path shown in Figures 2(a) and 3(b).

When the second shutter 22 is in the closed position, the gap between the lower end of the second shutter 22 and the belt is too small for the items W to pass through. Therefore, when long items W are fed into the feed section 14 of the supply conveyor 10, which has begun continuous operation after the system is started, the long items W are prevented from moving by the second shutter 22 in the closed position, as shown in Figures 2(c) and (d), and are gathered together in contact with the upstream side surface 22a of the second shutter 22, eventually becoming tangled and forming a clump, as shown in Figure 3(a).

A sensor 23 is provided adjacent to the upstream side of the first shutter 21 in a position that does not interfere with the item W, and detects the presence of the item W. The sensor 23 can detect that the item W has reached the upstream side of the first shutter 21, and can also detect that the item W has formed into a predetermined mass upstream of the first shutter 21.

Although not shown, the weighing system 1 is equipped with a control means for controlling the combination weighing device 2 and the conveying device 3. The control means controls the supply conveyor 10 and the drive means for the first shutter 21 and second shutter 22 in accordance with a pre-loaded program and based on arbitrarily determined operational settings and signals from sensors, etc., thereby efficiently supplying block-shaped items to the combination weighing device 2 and controlling the combination weighing device 2 to perform combination weighing of the items.

The control of the transport device 3 by the control means will be described below with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 2( a), when the weighing system 1 is started, the supply conveyor 10 of the conveying device 3 begins continuous operation at a predetermined speed. When the system is started, there are no items W in the input section 14 of the supply conveyor 10. After visually confirming that there are no items W in the input section 14, an operator manually inputs an appropriate amount of items W in the form of long objects. The amount of items W to be input is approximately 1/3 to 1/4 of the target value for combination weighing in the combination weighing device 2, and is input by the operator's visual estimation. When items W are input into the input section 14, a sensor (not shown) detects the items W, and the control means opens the second shutter 22 based on this detection signal. The second shutter 22 is opened in response to the input of items W only when the system is started. The second shutter 22 may be opened automatically in response to the input of items W when the weighing system 1 is started and the supply conveyor 10 of the conveying device 3 begins continuous operation at a predetermined speed.

As shown in Figure 2(b), when a long item W reaches the first shutter 21, the sensor 23 detects the item W, and based on the detection signal for the item W, the control means operates the drive means to close the second shutter 22. At this point, the insertion section 14 is in a state where no item W is present. Note that, without using the sensor 23, the second shutter 22 may be closed a predetermined time after an insertion sensor (not shown) detects the insertion of the item W.

As shown in Figure 2(c), the preceding items W are transported by the supply conveyor 10, but because their movement is prevented by the closed first shutter 21, they gather together in contact with the upstream side 21a of the first shutter 21, entangle with each other, and gradually expand into a larger mass. The input section 14 is once again empty of items W, and the worker, seeing this as a signal to input the long items W, inputs them into the input section 14.

As shown in Figure 2(d), at the first shutter 21, the item W inserted first is in the form of a complete block that does not drag any long objects, but the item W inserted later in front of the second shutter 22 is in the form of a relatively small block with long objects extending rearward, and is not in the form of a complete block.

In the state immediately preceding Figure 3(a), the closed first shutter 21 and second shutter 22 are holding and preventing the transport of the complete block of articles W, i.e., a standby state is realized, which is the stage before the two blocks of articles W are transported and supplied downstream. The operating time required for the supply conveyor 10 to reach the initial standby state can be determined in advance, taking into account various conditions.

As shown in Figure 3(a), after the initial standby state is achieved, the first shutter 21 is opened for a predetermined time, thereby depositing the clumped items W present upstream of the first shutter 21 into the pool cup 5a of the combination weighing unit 4. The first shutter 21 is opened and closed in conjunction with a control signal from the combination weighing device 2 that operates the opening and closing plate of the pool cup 5a, and the time that the first shutter 21 is open is set to slightly shorter than half the weighing cycle of the combination weighing device 2. For example, if the weighing cycle is 1.2 seconds, setting the first shutter 21 open for 0.5 seconds, slightly shorter than half that time, will ensure that the items W are held upstream of the first shutter 21 for a sufficient period of time, making it easier for the items W to form clumps.

3(b), after the first shutter 21 is closed, the second shutter 22 is opened for a predetermined time, and the lump article W is conveyed downstream through the second shutter 22. If the opening time of the first shutter 21 is set to 0.5 seconds, it is preferable that the opening time of the second shutter 22 is also set to 0.5 seconds.
In addition, taking into consideration the time required for transporting the article W from the second shutter 22 to the first shutter 21, the second shutter 22 may start opening before the first shutter 21 is completely closed.

As shown in Figure 3(c), the first shutter 21 is controlled not to open until a control time has elapsed that exceeds the time required for the lump-shaped item W to reach the first shutter 21. Therefore, the lump-shaped item W waits at the first shutter 21 for a short period of time. During this control time, the loading section 14 is in a state where no item W is present, so an operator takes this as a signal to load the long item W into the loading section 14.

Returning to the state shown in Figure 2(d), at the first shutter 21, the item W inserted first is in the form of a complete block with no long objects dragging behind it, but at the second shutter 22, the item W inserted later is in the form of a relatively small block with long objects extending rearward, and then enters a second standby state after the first standby state. Thereafter, the same procedure is repeated, and two block-shaped items W can be produced on the belt as needed, and these can be sequentially supplied to the pool cup 5a of the combination weighing unit 4.

The shapes of the first shutter 21 and second shutter 22 are not limited to these, and as long as they can turn long objects into blocks, they do not need to have a contact surface that completely covers the conveying path. The operation is also similar, and they may be shutters that open and close by moving up and down, for example.

The conveying device 3 of the embodiment described above allows long items W to be supplied to the combination weighing device 2 in the form of a single block that does not drag the long items. Furthermore, by simply refilling the supply section 14 by adding an item W each time it becomes empty, two blocks of items W can be prepared and supplied at any time with an appropriate spacing between them on the supply conveyor 10. Therefore, when supplying long items W to the combination weighing device 2, problems such as the long items getting caught on peripheral equipment are less likely to occur, allowing for smooth weighing of the items W. Higher productivity than conventional methods can also be achieved, even by inexperienced workers or with a small number of workers.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1... Weighing system 2... Combination weighing device 3... Conveying device 10... Supply conveyor 14... Input section 21... First shutter 22... Second shutter 23... Sensor A... Conveying direction

Claims (5)

A conveying device (3) for supplying a long object (W) to a downstream device (2),
a continuously operated supply conveyor (10) having an input section (14) for the articles on the upstream side in the conveying direction (A) and a downstream side in the conveying direction disposed above the subsequent device;
a first shutter (21) provided downstream of the supply conveyor for opening and closing a path for conveying articles by the supply conveyor;
a second shutter (22) provided downstream of the input portion of the supply conveyor and upstream of the first shutter, for opening and closing the path of transport of the articles by the supply conveyor;
a control means for controlling the first shutter so that the articles fed from the feed section onto the supply conveyor are prevented from being conveyed by the first shutter and become lumped, supplying the lumped articles prevented from being conveyed by the first shutter to the subsequent device by opening the first shutter for a predetermined time, and after the supply, opening the second shutter for a predetermined time, and controlling so as not to open the first shutter until a control time has elapsed that exceeds the time required for the lumped articles present upstream of the second shutter to reach the first shutter ;
A conveying device (3) characterized by comprising: The apparatus further includes a sensor (23) for detecting the article present upstream of the first shutter,
2. The conveying apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control means opens the first shutter after the sensor detects an article and the control time has elapsed. A method for supplying articles using the conveying device (3) according to claim 1 , comprising:
The conveying device is placed in a standby state in which the first shutter (21) and the second shutter (22) are closed and both of them hold the lump-shaped article (W) while preventing it from being conveyed;
By opening the first shutter for a predetermined time, the lump-shaped articles present on the upstream side of the first shutter are supplied to the subsequent device (2);
After the supply, the second shutter is opened for the predetermined time to transport the lump of material downstream, and the first shutter is controlled not to be opened until the control time has elapsed;
A method for supplying goods, characterized in that goods are input into the input section (14) where no goods are present, and the second shutter prevents the goods from being transported, causing the goods to form clumps, thereby causing the conveying device to return to the standby state. a continuously operated supply conveyor (10) for supplying long objects (W) to a subsequent device (2), the supply conveyor having an input section (14) for the objects on the upstream side in a conveying direction (A) and a downstream side in the conveying direction disposed above the subsequent device;
a first shutter (21) provided downstream of the supply conveyor for opening and closing a path for conveying articles by the supply conveyor;
a control means for controlling the first shutter so that the articles fed from the feeding section onto the supply conveyor are prevented from being conveyed by the first shutter, thereby forming a lump;
a conveying device (3) comprising :
a weighing device (2) as the downstream device to which the article (W) is supplied by the conveying device;
A weighing system (1) comprising :
The weighing system (1) is characterized in that the control means controls the first shutter (21) in response to a request signal sent from the weighing device. The first shutter (21) is pivotally supported by a swing shaft,
5. The weighing system (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that the control means opens and closes the first shutter in response to the request signal.