JPH0122886B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a combination weigher used to pack approximately constant amounts of articles to be weighed into bags or the like.

(Prior Art) As such a combination scale, there is one shown in FIG. That is, when the worker 1 puts the articles to be weighed into the input boxes 2, 2..., the articles are conveyed to the weighing devices 4, 4... by the supply conveyors 3, 3.... Weighing devices 4, 4... weigh these articles to be weighed and issue weighing signals. These weighing signals are appropriately combined by a control section (not shown) to select the combination closest to the predetermined set weight that is within the allowable range of the set weight. The articles to be weighed forming the selected combination are conveyed to the collection conveyor 6 by conveyors 5, 5, . . . . Then, they are packed into bags or the like at the end of the collecting conveyor.

(Problems with the Prior Art) The combination scale configured as described above requires a plurality of weighing devices 4 and supply conveyors 3, resulting in a complicated structure and a time-consuming adjustment.
Therefore, it was expensive.

(Objective of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to provide a combination weigher that has a simple structure, can be easily adjusted, and is inexpensive.

(Means for Solving the Problems) Therefore, the combination weigher of the present invention includes: one weighing device for weighing articles; a feeding device for feeding the articles one section at a time to this weighing device;
a dispensing means for distributing the articles weighed by the weighing device to one of the empty fixed reservoir hoppers; a plurality of reservoir hoppers for storing the weighed articles; and a plurality of reservoir hoppers for storing the weighed articles; a weight value holding means for storing the weight value of the article, and a combination generating means for combining various weight values stored in the weight value holding means and selecting a combination within an allowable range of a predetermined target weight value. It is characterized by the following:

(Examples) Hereinafter, two embodiments of the present invention shown in FIGS. 2 to 5 will be described. 2 to 4 show a first embodiment, in which a measuring device 8, a rotary chute 10,
It is composed of a driving section 12, reservoir hoppers 14a to 14h, and the like. This weighing device 8 has a tray 16 . This mounting plate 16 is placed at predetermined intervals from the front side to the back side in FIG.
It is composed of fonts. A receiving tray 20 of the feeding mechanism 18 is arranged on the right side of the loading tray 16 in the drawing. This tray 20 is also configured in the same manner as the mounting tray 16. The feeding mechanism 18 further includes a W-shaped arm 22 that can enter between the loading tray 16 and the receiving tray 20, respectively. The base ends of the arms 22 are fixed to drums 24 and 26, respectively. These drums 24 and 26 are connected to motors (not shown) so as to rotate in the directions of arrows A shown in the figure. Further, a bucket conveyor 28 is arranged above the saucer 20. Furthermore, weighing device 8
A slide 30 is arranged on the left side.

The rotary chute 10 is mounted horizontally on a pedestal 32 so that the input port 31 is located slightly below the slide 30.
It is rotatably mounted on the The discharge port 34 of the rotary chute 10 is positioned at a predetermined angle θ with respect to the axis of rotation. Further, a gear 36 is attached to the outer periphery of the central portion of the rotary chute 10, and a pinion 36 is attached to the gear 36.
3 are engaged. This pinion 33 is the driving part 1
It is attached to a reversibly rotatable motor.

The reservoir hoppers 14a to 14h are arranged annularly at predetermined intervals below the rotary chute 10, as shown in FIG. These reservoir hoppers 14a
The input ports 35 through 14h are arranged so that the discharge port 34 of the rotary chute 10 is located on the circumference drawn by its rotation. These Tame Hopper 1
An opening/closing gate 40 is attached to each of the discharge ports 4a to 14h, and these discharge ports 38 are located within the input port 44 of the collecting hopper 42. These reservoir hoppers 14a to 14h are provided with charging end detectors 45a to 45h shown in FIG. 4. An opening/closing gate 48 is also attached to the discharge port 46 of the collecting hopper 42.

Micro switches 50a to 50h are provided below the gear 36 at predetermined intervals. Further, a cam 52 is attached to the lower surface of the gear 36. As shown in FIG. 3, when the discharge port 34 of the rotary chute 10 is positioned above each reservoir hopper 14a to 14h, the cam 52 switches the micro switch 50a.
The cam 52 and the micro switches 50a to 50h are arranged so as to come into contact with the microswitches 50a to 50h.

54 is a control unit, which includes the bucket conveyor 28, the feeding mechanism 18, the drive unit 12, and the opening/closing gates 40, 48.
FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration for controlling the opening/closing gate 40 and the drive section 12 of this control section.

The combination weigher configured in this way operates as follows. Now, as shown in Figure 2, rotate chute 1.
The discharge port 34 of No. 0 is the input port 35 of the reservoir hopper 14a.
The opening/closing gates 40 of the storage hoppers 14a to 14h and the opening/closing gates 4 of the collection hoppers 42 are located above.
8 is assumed to be closed. In this state, as shown in FIG.
When the article to be weighed is fed to the receiving tray 20, the control section 54 rotates the drums 24 and 26, and the arm 22
is inserted into the space between the receiving trays 20 and the article to be weighed is fed onto the mounting tray 16. At this time, the weighing device 8 issues a weighing signal, and the weighing signal is held in a holding circuit 56a shown in FIG. 4. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the cam 52 is in contact with the micro switch 50a, so the drive control circuit 57
is stopped, and the rotary chute 10 remains stopped. Next, when the next article to be weighed is supplied from the bucket conveyor 28 to the receiving tray 20, the feeding mechanism 18 feeds the previous article to be weighed from the top of the tray 16 onto the sliding table 30, and at the same time the next article on the receiving tray 20. The articles to be weighed are fed onto the tray 16. At the same time, the articles to be weighed on the slide 30 are stored in the storage hopper 14a through the rotary chute 10. At this time, the input detection device 45a emits an output, and the drive unit control circuit 5
7 operates the drive unit 12, and the rotary chute 10 rotates in the direction of arrow B. When the cam 52 eventually comes into contact with the micro switch 50b, the drive control circuit 5
7 stops the rotary chute 10 above the inlet of the storage hopper 1b. At this time, the weighing signal of the next article to be weighed is stored in the holding circuit 56b. Thereafter, articles to be weighed are sequentially loaded into the storage hopper 14h in the same manner, and the weighing signals of the respective articles to be weighed are held in the holding circuits 56c to 56h. When the loading of the articles to be weighed into the sump hopper 14h is completed, the rotary chute is stopped above the sump hopper 14h.

When the weighing signals are stored in all of the holding circuits 56a to 56h, the AND circuit 58 outputs the combination generator 6.
Activate 0. The combination generator 60 changes from the case where only the normally open switch 62a is closed to the case where only the normally open switch 62a is closed.
255 combinations from 2a to 62h are sequentially generated. Accordingly, the addition/subtraction circuit 64 sequentially calculates the difference between the sum of the weighing signals supplied via the closed normally open switch and the value stored in the reference weight storage circuit 66. This addition/subtraction circuit 64
The output of is input to the upper limit comparison circuit 68, and the upper limit comparison circuit 68 issues an output when the output of the addition/subtraction circuit 64 is smaller than the value stored in the allowable upper limit value storage circuit 70. Similarly, the lower limit comparison circuit 72 is connected to the addition/subtraction circuit 6.
An output is generated when the output of No. 4 is larger than the value stored in the allowable lower limit value storage circuit 74. Both comparison circuits 68,
72 respectively output an output, the AND circuit 76
outputs an output to cause the combination memory 78 to store the combination at that time. For example, the normally open switch 62
If the AND circuit 76 outputs an output for the first time when 62c, 62e, and 62t are closed, the combination memory 78 controls the opening/closing gates 40 of the reservoir hoppers 14b, 14c, 14e, and 14f based on the stored values. are opened, respectively, and at the same time, the stored values of holding circuits 56b, 56c, 56e, and 56f are erased. The objects to be weighed that have been stored in the collection hoppers 14b, 14c, 14e, and 14f are stored in the collection hopper 42. The control unit 54 opens the opening/closing gate 48, and the articles to be weighed in the collecting hopper 42 are packed into one bag by a bagging machine (not shown). Note that once the opening/closing gates 40 and 48 are opened, they are configured to automatically close the discharge ports 38 and 46 again.

When the opening/closing gate 40 is opened, the drive control circuit 5
7 rotates the drive unit 2 in the opposite direction to the arrow B so that the discharge port 34 of the rotary chute moves from its current position (above the sump hopper 14h) to the nearest empty sump hopper 14f, and the cam 52 When it comes into contact with the switch 50f, the drive section 12 is stopped. At this time, a new article to be weighed is fed into the weighing device 8 via the bucket conveyor 28 and the feeding mechanism 18 in the same way as the previous time, and the weighing signal is stored in the holding circuit 56f. At the same time as the next article to be weighed is fed into the weighing device, the article to be weighed on the weighing device 8 is stored in the reservoir hopper 14f, and the discharge port 34 of the rotary chute 10 moves onto the reservoir hopper 14e. Hereinafter, the holding circuits 56e, 56
The weighing signal is stored in c, 56b, and the storage hopper 1
Articles to be weighed are stored in 4e, 14c, and 14b. In this way, the empty reservoir hoppers 14b, 14
When a new article to be weighed is placed in the weighing circuits 56b, 56c, 56e, and 56f and the weighing signals are stored in the holding circuits 56b, 56c, 56e, and 56f, a combination within the allowable range of the reference weight value is selected as in the previous case. , the gate 40 of the storage hopper in which the articles to be weighed making up the combination are stored is opened, and the gate 48 of the collecting hopper 42 is opened and the articles are packed into bags. The following operations operate in the same manner.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment, which has the same structure as the first embodiment except for the way in which the articles to be weighed are supplied to the weighing device 8. Equivalent parts are given the same reference numerals and their explanations will be omitted. 80 is a vibrating conveyor, and 82 is a rotary take-out device. The articles to be weighed conveyed by the vibrating conveyor 80 are accommodated in approximately predetermined amounts between the blades of the rotary take-out device 82 and placed into the weighing hopper 84 of the weighing device 8 . After the measurement is completed, the weighing hopper 8
The opening/closing gate 86 of No. 4 is opened, and the rotary chute 1
It is accommodated in 0. Thereafter, it operates in the same manner as the first embodiment.

Further, the feeding mechanism to the measuring device 8 may be of a shape other than that shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and in short, it may be of a batch type. Further, instead of the feeding mechanism 18 and the weighing device 8, a weighing conveyor may be provided to perform feeding and weighing at the same time.

Furthermore, for the combination calculation in the control section 54, various known methods can be used in addition to those shown in the above embodiments. In addition, each reservoir hopper 14a
Although 14h to 14h are arranged in an annular shape, they may be arranged in an arc shape. In short, each reservoir hopper can be arranged in any desired shape.

(Actions and Effects of the Invention) The combination scale of the present invention requires only one expensive weighing device and supply conveyor, which are relatively expensive in combination scales.

For this reason, the price of the entire scale is significantly reduced, and the structure is simple, so adjustments can be made in a short time and reliability is improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a conventional combination weigher, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a first embodiment of a combination weigher according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a partially omitted plan view of the first embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a control section used in the embodiment of FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention. 8...Measuring device, 10...Rotating chute (distribution device), 14a to 14h...Sump hopper, 30
... Slide, 42 ... Collection hopper, 45a to 45h ... Insertion end detector, 54 ... Control unit, 5
6a to 56h...holding circuit, 60...combination generator, 64...addition circuit, 66...reference weight storage circuit, 68...upper limit comparison circuit, 70...permissible upper limit value storage circuit, 72...lower limit comparison Circuit, 74... Allowable lower limit value storage circuit, 76... AND circuit, 78...
...combinatorial memory.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. One weighing device for weighing articles, a feeding device for feeding articles one section at a time to this weighing device, and one fixed hopper for emptying articles weighed by said weighing device. a plurality of reservoir hoppers for storing the weighed articles; a weighed value holding means for storing weighed values of the dispensed articles stored in the dispensed hoppers; combination generating means for selecting a combination within an allowable range of a predetermined target weight value by combining various weighing values.