JPH0140387B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Technical Field of the Invention> The present invention provides a counting method for accurately and efficiently counting and discharging a preset quantity of objects to be counted, such as pipe fittings, for packaging in carton boxes or the like. It is related to.

<Conventional examples and their problems> For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 74416/1987 discloses an alignment conveyor that is elastically supported horizontally and is excited by a vibrator, and a device that passes through the conveyor and reaches the end of the alignment conveyor. A quantity counting control device is shown that includes a shutter equipped with a sensor for detecting the number of shutters, and is configured to open and close the shutter a number of times corresponding to a set numerical value.

However, in the above quantity counting control device,
Since the opening/closing operation must be performed a number of times corresponding to a preset count value based on the AND of the signals from the sensor, it is impossible to continuously process a large number of conveyed objects, for example, and there is a limit to the processing capacity.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The present invention solves the above problems and provides a counting method in which continuously flowing conveyed objects are accurately counted by sensors for each preset number using a plurality of lanes. The gist of this is to use all of the plurality of lanes to count passing objects until the number of objects to be counted is at most A (however, A = set quantity - number of lanes). , after reaching the A count, stop the movement of the objects to be counted in lanes other than the first row of lanes to finish counting, and slow down the movement speed of the objects to be counted in the remaining lanes to reach the set quantity. This counting is characterized by counting until it reaches .

<Operation> Since the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, it efficiently processes the counting until the set count value is reached, and moreover, when it approaches the set count value, the set count value is exceeded due to the inertial force caused by the movement of the counting object. Prevent false counting. Therefore, accurate and high-capacity counting processing can be performed efficiently.

<Embodiment> FIGS. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of a counting device using the counting method of the present invention. A large amount of objects to be counted, which in this embodiment are pipe joint elbows, are fed into the hopper 1 and are cut out in appropriate amounts by a cutting feeder 2 located at the bottom of the hopper and fed onto a cutting conveyor 3.
An appropriate amount of cut-out material is fed onto a flat feeder 4 by intermittent belt driving of the cut-out conveyor 3. The flat feeder 4 has two systems of vibrators 44 and 4.
5 and the partition plate 43, one system is provided so that it can be driven as a feeder 41 for large-capacity cutting, and the other system can be driven as a feeder 42 for large-capacity cutting and fraction adjustment. This flat feeder 4
feeds the object onto the channel feeder 5 with intermittent feeding. In this embodiment, the groove feeder 5 has three rows of cross sections V.
Consisting of glyph lanes 51, 52, 53,
2 with one vibrator 54 installed at the bottom of the lane
It is divided into two systems: large-capacity cutting lanes 51 and 52, in which the object is moved by vibrating the lanes, and large-capacity cutting and fraction adjustment lanes 53, in which one vibrator 55 vibrates the remaining row. It is composed of The cross section of each lane of this groove feeder 5 is V-shaped, and an appropriate number of blocks 56 for arranging the counted products are arranged on the side of each lane 51, 52, 53. Contact pipe fittings stacked in two or three tiers to align them all in one tier. The pipe fittings that are aligned while moving forward by the counting item alignment block are placed in each lane 5.
1, 52, and 53, and move to the inclined shooter 6, and fall by gravity down the lanes 61, 62, and 63 of the inclined shooter corresponding to each lane of the channel feeder.
The speed at this time is sufficiently faster than the speed at which the groove feeder 5 is moved in the previous process, so the movement speed on the tilt shooter 6 ensures that the joints that move continuously in the lane of the groove feeder are also To separate.
Therefore, the lanes 61, 62 of each tilt shooter 6,
The number of transmission photoelectric sensors 7 installed across 63 is accurately counted one by one. Note that the counting by the photoelectric sensors 7 of each lane 61, 62, and 63 is designed to be integrated even if they work simultaneously. In addition, the operation of each lane is preset in two stages according to the preset number, and first, large-capacity counting processing up to the set number minus α is performed at high speed by the groove feeders of all lanes 51, 52, and 53. It is done at high speed by vibration. It has been found from experimental results that it is generally preferable for α at this time to be at least the number of lanes. This is because even when the number A has been reached and the vibration of the feeder stops, articles that have already fallen from the groove feeder to the inclined shooter will continue to fall and be counted by the sensor even if the vibrations have stopped. When the set number minus α number is reached, next lanes 51 and 52 of the groove feeder stop vibrating, and the movement of the counting object on lanes 51 and 52 is also stopped, and at the same time, the vibration speed of 53 on lane is The shortfall to the set number remaining after weakening is counted at a slow speed. In this way, the counting process up to the set number is completed, and if necessary, for example, the next empty carton box is prepared and the process moves on to the next counting process.

In this way, the counting process is divided into two stages: large-capacity counting process and rounding adjustment counting process, so counting up to the set count value is fast, and moreover, the set count value can be exceeded due to the inertial force caused by the movement of the counting object. Therefore, it is possible to perform accurate and large-capacity counting processing per unit time. In addition, protrusions of blocks 56 for arranging counting objects are appropriately provided on the sides of each lane of the V-shaped cross section of the groove feeder, so that it is possible to align objects to be counted when they flow in two or three layers on the groove feeder. To prevent erroneous counting by preventing blocks from moving to an inclined shooter in a state where they are always aligned in one row and overlapped. Furthermore, a tip block 57 of an appropriate height provided at the bottom of the end of the channel feeder prevents the objects to be counted from simultaneously and continuously flowing into the inclined shooter, and once the objects reach the tip block, there is a time interval. Since the object moves to the tilted shutter by opening and climbing over it, objects flowing through the tilted shutter are reliably separated, and erroneous counting at the photoelectric sensor section is prevented.

Shutters 91, 92, and 93 will be closed, including lane 53, once all counting has been completed up to the set number, in order to prevent objects from accidentally falling from lanes 51 and 52 after the large-capacity counting process is completed. death,
Sensor 7 of the tilt shooter to prevent objects from passing through
This device is located in a more forward position. Furthermore, in order to prevent erroneous counting, a hopper gate 81 is provided at the hopper 8 to prevent objects from falling into the carton after counting is completed, thereby increasing safety. In addition, a through hole 11 of an appropriate size is provided in the bottom of the V-shaped cross section of each lane 51, 52, 53 of the groove feeder and at the end of the flat feeder 4 in the direction of movement, so that foreign matter can be removed at the same time as the object to be counted. When mixed and flowing, only the foreign matter is dropped to the bottom and removed, and consideration is also given to prevent foreign matter from passing over the inclined feeder and erroneously counting by the sensor. In this embodiment, a transmission type photoelectric switch is used as a sensor for detecting an object passing through the tilt shutter, but a proximity switch or a touch switch may also be used.

As explained above, the counting method according to the present invention is accurate and can process a large amount of objects to be counted per unit time, and is very useful for unmanned and automated packaging lines.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view of the same. 4...Flat feeder, 5...Groove feeder, 5
1, 52, 53...lane, 6...tilt shooter, 7
...Photoelectric sensor, 8...Hopper, 81...Hopper gate, 91,92,93...Shutter, 10...
Carton box, 12... mount, 13... carton transport platform.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method in which a plurality of lanes are used, and a sensor detects objects to be counted passing through the lanes to count a predetermined set quantity, where A = set quantity - number of lanes. ) In the initial stage until the number of counted objects is reached, all of the plurality of lanes are used to count the passing objects to be counted, and after the number of counted objects is reached, the movement of the objects to be counted is stopped in lanes other than the lane in the first row. The counting method is characterized in that the counting is completed in one lane, and the moving speed of the counting object is slowed down in the remaining one row of lanes, and counting is continued until a set quantity is reached. 2. In the method according to claim 1, in the lane where counting ends after the A count, the lane is closed by a shutter in front of the sensor immediately after counting, and counting continues up to the set quantity even after the A count. A counting method characterized in that the lane in the row is closed by a shutter in front of the sensor immediately after counting the set quantity.