JPH0379073B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a flower sorting machine, and relates to a means for preliminarily selecting and excluding flowers that are smaller than a set size, prior to weighing and sorting the flowers.

(Prior Art) As a sorting machine for bulk agricultural products such as apples, tangerines, and potatoes, there is a known machine that sorts the agricultural products by weight using a weighing means while the agricultural products are placed on a carrier and transported.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Generally speaking, the heavier a flower such as a chrysanthemum, the better the quality, and prior to shipping, weight sorting is performed. Therefore, it is conceivable to configure a weight sorting machine for flowers by applying the above-described weight sorting machine for bulk agricultural products. However, in the case of flowers, even if they have a predetermined weight, if the length is shorter than a predetermined dimension, it is not necessarily a good product, and such flowers that are not sufficient must be separately sorted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a flower sorting machine having a means for sorting out and excluding flowers that are insufficient.

(Means for Solving the Problems) For this purpose, the present invention provides a pair of left and right endless rotation chains 7, 7, a rotary rod 10 rotatably installed between these endless rotation chains 7, 7, and , a support arm 12 that is arranged in parallel with this rotating rod 10 and supports the flowers 17 in a horizontal manner; and a slider 14 that is arranged in parallel with the endless rotation chains 7, 7 and protrudes from the rotating rod 10 side. Guide rail 13 that slides and guides
, a weighing machine 3 for weighing the flowers 17 suspended horizontally on the support arm 12, and a supply section 1 for the flowers 17 installed at the starting end of the endless rotary chains 7, 7.
5, a complementary body 41 that is located on the front side of the weighing machine 3 and complements the notch 20 formed in the guide rail 13, and an actuating part 42 that operates the complementary body 41 to a non-complementary position and a complementary position. The flower sorting machine is equipped with a complementary device 4 consisting of a sensor 2 for detecting the length of the flowers 17 supplied from the supply section 15 on the starting end side of the endless rotary chains 7, 7. When the length of the flower 17 is shorter than the set dimension, the actuating section 42 is driven by the signal from the sensor 2, and the complementary body 41 is moved to the notch 20.
Flowers 17 are moved from the complementary position to the non-complementary position.
It is designed to cause the objects to fall.

(Function) In the above configuration, the flowers 17 are attached to the support arm 1
2 and transported by endless rotating chains 7, 7. Flowers 17 passing through sensor 2
If the length is shorter than the set dimension, the actuating part 42 is driven by the signal from this sensor 2, and the complementary body 41
is moved from the complementary position of the notch 20 to the non-complementary position and the flower 17 is dropped. Further, when the flowers 17 have the set dimensions, the complementing body 41 is operated to the complementing position, so the flowers 17 are directly conveyed to the endless rotary chains 7, 7 and sorted by the weighing machine 3.

(Example) Next, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the flower sorting machine, and FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view. Reference numeral 7 designates a pair of left and right endless rotating chains, which are adjusted by drive sprockets 8, 8.
A large number of rod-shaped support members 9 are installed at intervals between these endless rotation chains 7, 7, and support portions 11 are erected at both ends of the support members 9.
A rotary rod 10 is rotatably supported on a shaft, and a plurality of support arms 12 are arranged side by side on this rotary rod 10 to horizontally support flowers 17. The support arm 12 circulates along the conveyance path.

As shown in FIG. 3, the distal end of the support arm 12 is attached to the rotary rod 10, and is bent rearward (in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction) from this attached portion into a substantially V-shape. The stems of the flowers 17 are positioned at the deepest part 12c of the downward slope 12a and upward slope 12b forming the substantially V-shaped recess so as not to shake. Reference numeral 13 denotes a guide rail disposed parallel to the endless rotary chains 7, 7 and attached to the support frame 6, which slides and guides the slider 14 protruding from one end side of the rotary rod 10. It is.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 15 denotes a supply stand as a supply section for the flowers 17, which is adjacent to the starting end of the endless rotary chains 7, 7, and on one side thereof, the flowers 17 are placed.
A plate-shaped positioning portion 16 is provided for positioning the tip of the holder. A plurality of weighing machines 3 are disposed at intervals on the side of the conveyance path, and are used to weigh the weight of the flowers 17 suspended horizontally on the support arm 12. Reference numeral 4 denotes a complementary device disposed on the front side of the weighing machine 3, and a complementary body 4 that complements the notch 20 formed in the guide rail 13.
1, and a solenoid 42 as an actuating section that operates the complementary body 41 to a non-complementary position and a complementary position. This complementary body 41 is formed by bending a thin rod into a substantially F-shape, and its tip 41a serves as a complementary part that complements the notch 20 (see also FIG. 3). Further, the rear end portion is connected to the solenoid 42 described above.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, a cutter 1 is installed on the side of the conveyance path, and cuts the base end of the stem of a flower 17 that is suspended horizontally on a support arm 12 and rotated. 17 lengths are made the same. 2
is a sensor disposed on the starting end side of the endless rotary chain 7, which detects the length of the flowers 17 supplied from the supply table 15. In this embodiment, an optical sensor is used as the sensor 2, but a touch sensor or other sensor may also be used.

FIG. 5 shows an electric circuit, in which 2' is a passage detection switch that closes when the rotating rod 10 passes over it, and a is a horizontal support arm 12 attached to the rotating rod 10. It is a contact that closes when the length of the flower 17 that has been placed has a set dimension. 18 is a power source, and 19 is an operation timer for the solenoid 42.

Therefore, when the length of the flower 17 passing through the sensor 2 has a set dimension, both the a-contact and the passage sensing switch 2' close, and the sensor 2 sends its signal to the solenoid 42. Then, the solenoid 42 is driven, and the complementary body 41 is moved from the non-complementary position (the chain line position in FIG. 4) to the complementary position (the solid line position in the same figure) in the notch 20, thereby making it horizontal. In this state, the slider 14 is transferred from the guide rail 13 to the complementary part 41a of the complementary body 41, and the flowers 17 suspended horizontally on the support arm 12 are conveyed as they are to the cutter 1 by the endless rotation chains 7, 7. Ru. The flowers 17 are cut to have the same length by the cutter 1, and then weighed by the weighing machine 3.

Also, the length of the flower 17 passing through the sensor 2 is
If it is shorter than the set size, only the passage detection switch 2' is closed and the a contact is opened, so the signal is not sent to the solenoid 42, and therefore the solenoid 42 is not driven, so the complement body 41 is notched. Part 2
It remains stopped at the non-complementary position of 0 (the position indicated by the chain line in FIG. 4). Therefore, the slider 14 cannot be transferred from the guide rail 13 to the complementary part 41a, the support arm 12 rotates downward, and the flowers 17 suspended horizontally thereon fall.

FIG. 6 shows an electric circuit when a contact other than the above-mentioned contact a is used, and b shows the support arm 1.
This is a contact that opens when the length of the flower 17 suspended horizontally on 2 has a set dimension. When using this b contact, when the flower 17 passes the sensor 2, the b contact is opened, the solenoid 42 is demagnetized, and the solenoid 42 is actuated by the spring force, and the complementary part 41
a can be raised to the position shown by the solid line in FIG.

This flower sorting machine has the above-mentioned configuration, and the overall operation will be briefly explained next.

After the tips of the flowers 17 are positioned on the supply stand 15 by the positioning section 16, they are supplied to each support arm 12 one by one,
It is correctly positioned at the deepest part 12c of b. These support arms 12 are connected to an endless rotation chain 7,
If the length of the flower 17 conveyed by 7 and passing the sensor 2 has a set dimension, the sensor 2 sends its signal to the solenoid 42, which activates and deactivates the complement 41. Operate from complementary position to complementary position. In this state, the rotating rod 10
The slider 14 protruding from one end side is transferred from the guide rail 13 to the complementary part 41a of the complementary body 41, and the flowers 17 are moved as they are to the endless rotation chains 7, 7.
is conveyed to the cutter 1. Then, the cutter 1 cuts the base end of the stem to make the length of the flowers 17 uniform, and the weighing machine 3 weighs and sorts them.

Further, if the length of the flower 17 passing through the sensor 2 is shorter than the set dimension, the circuit is opened and the solenoid 42 is not driven, so the complementary part 41a of the complementary body 4
remains stopped at the non-complemented position. Therefore, the slider 14 is moved from the guide rail 13 to the complementary portion 41a.
The support arm 12 rotates downward,
The flowers 17 suspended horizontally on this fall.

In this way, according to this device, the flowers 17 that are smaller than the set size are not sent to the weighing machine 3 but are removed from the line before being sent to the weighing machine 3, and only the flowers 17 having the set size to be sorted are sent to the weighing machine 3. are sent to be sorted.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, the present invention includes disposing the sensor 2 on the starting end side of the endless rotary chains 7, 7 to detect the length of the flowers 17 supplied from the supply section 15, and When the length of the flower 17 is shorter than the set dimension, the actuating part 42 is driven by a signal from the sensor 2, and the complementary body 41 is moved from the complementary position of the notch 20 to the non-complementary position, and the flower 17 is caused to fall. Therefore, before the flowers 17 are sorted by the weighing machine 3, the flowers 1 that are smaller than the preset size are pre-sorted.
7 are removed as not to be sorted by the weighing machine 3, and only the flowers 17 having a length longer than the set size can be transported to the weighing machine 3 for sorting.

In addition, if short objects are mixed in the flowers supplied to the flower sorting machine, they can be automatically sorted and removed in advance and only the flowers that have a set size can be weighted, which improves the accuracy of weight sorting. Not only is this possible, but it also eliminates the need to manually sort short items, reducing labor and work time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figure shows an embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is a plan view of the flower sorting machine, the second figure is a partial side view, and the third figure is a partial side view.
The figure is a partial perspective view, FIG. 4 is a side view of the complementary device, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are electrical circuit diagrams. 2...Sensor, 3...Weighing machine, 4...Complementary device, 7
...Endless rotation chain, 10...Rotating rod, 12...Support arm, 13...Guide rail, 14...Slider, 1
5... Supply part, 17... Flowers, 20... Notch part, 41...
Complement body, 42...actuating part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of left and right endless rotating chains, a rotating rod rotatably installed between these endless rotating chains, a support arm that is arranged in parallel to the rotating rod and supports the flowers horizontally, and the above-mentioned a guide rail disposed parallel to the endless rotary chain and slidingly guiding a slider protruding from the rotary rod side; a weighing machine for weighing the flowers horizontally suspended on the support arm; A flower supply section installed at the starting end of the dynamic chain, a complementary body located on the front side of the weighing machine that complements the notch formed in the guide rail, and this complementary body complemented with a non-complementary position. The flower sorting machine is equipped with a complementary device consisting of an actuating part that is actuated to a position, and a sensor is disposed on the starting end side of the endless rotary chain to detect the length of the flowers supplied from the supplying part. At the same time, when the length of the flower is shorter than the set dimension, the actuating section is driven by a signal from this sensor, and the complementary body is moved from the complementary position of the notch to the non-complementary position and the flower is dropped. This flower sorting machine is characterized by: