JPH038837B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a method for sorting solid materials such as agricultural products such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, green peppers, and carrots, and fruits such as citrus fruits and chestnuts, and transporting them in predetermined weight units. In particular, several sorting belt conveyors and a delivery belt conveyor perpendicular to these and located at a lower position than these are provided, and the solids, that is, to be sorted, conveyed on each sorting belt conveyor are provided. At the intersection with each delivery belt conveyor, the objects are sorted by a sorting and sorting device into classes specific to that delivery belt conveyor, and the objects to be sorted are placed onto the delivery belt conveyor from above the sorting belt conveyor. This relates to the method of transporting the materials.

<Prior Art and Problems> In the conventional known sorting method of this type, the sorted items at the intersection of the two types of belt conveyors are sequentially discharged or thrown onto a delivery belt conveyor, and then transferred to another sorting belt conveyor. 10Kg, 20Kg and 20Kg are conveyed in a mixed state on the same delivery belt conveyor, and at the conveying end of this delivery belt conveyor, 10Kg, 20Kg
Weighed in kg and packaged.

In addition, in recent years, when carrying out weight sorting, the weight of the objects to be measured is measured sequentially as they are carried into each sorting belt conveyor, and these are accumulated sequentially by class, and at the intersection of each sorting belt conveyor and transport conveyor,
A method is adopted in which the objects are simply mechanically sorted into classes by weight, and when such a method is adopted, the objects to be measured are sorted onto a common delivery belt conveyor and then fed from several series sorting belt conveyors. If they are mixed, the cumulative calculation for each sorting belt conveyor will be completely wasted, and it will have to be weighed again when feeding from each conveyor belt into each packaging box (cardboard box).
Doing such work twice increases labor and equipment costs,
It is uneconomical.

In addition, in the case of potatoes, which are weak against impacts and easily damaged, for example, when the objects to be sorted are dropped from the sorting belt conveyor to the delivery belt conveyor and from the delivery belt conveyor to the cardboard box for packaging, there is a large drop when the objects are introduced one by one. The impact causes scratches and degrades quality.

In this way, in the conventional method, the applicant company has developed a method that reduces the number of work steps, simplifies the equipment, and prevents the objects to be sorted from being damaged during sorting and conveyance. death,
This was previously filed as Japanese Patent Application No. 1982-62537, but we have further improved this and developed a method that allows easier control.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The present invention utilizes several parallel sorting belt conveyors and a plurality of parallel delivery belt conveyors that are perpendicular to these conveyors, are located below these conveyors, and convey by class. The objects to be sorted conveyed on the sorting belt conveyor are sorted at a position outside the sorting belt conveyor at the intersection with each sending-out belt conveyor, and items of a class specific to that sending-out belt conveyor are sorted, and then the objects are sorted from the sorting belt conveyor. In the method of feeding objects to be sorted onto a delivery belt conveyor, outside of the sorting belt conveyor at each of the intersections, the objects to be sorted that have arrived one after another and have been sorted according to weight until they reach a set weight are stored, and the objects to be sorted are stored on the same delivery belt conveyor. A minimum separation dimension is provided so that the items to be sorted stored in other sorting belt conveyor sections do not mix on the same delivery belt conveyor, and each set weight is placed on the delivery belt conveyor. In this system, only a group of objects to be measured is input at a time, and the objects to be sorted, which are grouped according to a set weight, are conveyed to the output end by a delivery belt conveyor, and then the objects are placed in a packaging container as a unit. This is a distinctive sorting and conveying method.

<Example> The invention will now be described on the basis of an example of an apparatus capable of carrying out the illustrated method.

In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes several parallel sorting belt conveyors, and a delivery belt conveyor 11 consisting of several flat belts perpendicular to these belts is provided at a lower position than these. A sorting and sorting device 20 is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the typical structure of this sorting and sorting device 20 is that a motor 21 is attached to a part of the machine frame 12 that supports the sorting belt conveyor 10. The shaft 22 of 21 is directly above the sorting belt conveyor 10, and
Four blade plates 23 of the same size are radially fixed to the shaft 22, and the locus of the tips of these blade plates 23 approaches the upper surface of the sorting belt conveyor 10. It is provided so that it passes through the point where the
The blade plate interval angle is provided to operate and stop, and when the blade plates 23 of the sorting and sorting device 20 are stopped, the objects to be sorted A on the sorting belt conveyor 10 hit the blade plates 23. Furthermore, when the object A to be sorted passes the position of the blade plate 23, if it makes one movement, that is, if there are four blade plates 23, it will rotate 1/4, thereby causing the object to be sorted to The sorted material A is sorted on the sorting belt conveyor 10.
It is brushed off from above.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a storage box, which is used to temporarily store the objects A that have been sorted and brushed off by the sorting and sorting device 20 provided at each intersection.
It is installed at a position outside the sorting belt conveyor 10 at each of the intersections, and this storage box 30 has a two-tier structure, upper and lower, with a double-opening partition door 31 and a bottom door 32 in the middle and bottom. For example, air cylinder devices 33 and 34 are used to open and close the container, and the upper and lower storage volumes are large enough to store, for example, 10 kg or 20 kg of objects to be sorted. In addition, the inner surface of the storage box 30 and the surfaces of the partition door 31 and the bottom door 32 are lined with a cushion material 37 to prevent damage to the objects A, and is usually made of cushion material such as soft polyurethane foam or mesh. It is made of wood. The bottom door 32 is connected to the delivery belt conveyor 1, respectively.
It is located directly above 1.

<Function> Next, the method invention of this application will be specifically explained along with the operation of the partition door 31 and bottom door 32 in this position by the driving device.

First, a material to be sorted A consisting of a large number of solid matter groups, for example, potatoes, is transferred to each sorting belt conveyor 1.
0 at predetermined intervals. Normally, the weight of each potato is measured by a weighing device B before each potato is sent to the sorting belt conveyor 10, and the measured values are classified into several classes according to weight value and cumulatively calculated for each class. After having their weights measured, the unsorted objects A are transferred onto the sorting belt conveyor 10 according to their weight.
It is designed so that large items are sorted, medium items are medium items, and items furthest from the transport side are sorted, and when the item A to be sorted reaches the place corresponding to the sorting and sorting device 20 corresponding to each weight. , an operation command signal acts on the sorting and sorting device 20, and the motor 2
1 to rotate the blade plate 23 by one angle, and the blade plate 23 blows off the objects A to be sorted into the storage boxes 30 provided at the respective positions. In this case, in principle, the partition door 31 is in an open state (the rightmost storage box 30 in FIG.
reference).

In the illustration, the sorting belt conveyor 10 is the first
In the figure, there is one belt conveyor for each system, and in the ones in FIGS. 2 and 3, a pair is provided for each system, and the pair of sorting belt conveyors 10 and At the intersection of the belt conveyors 11, a common storage box 30 is provided between the pair of sorting belt conveyors 10.

As described above, when the objects A to be sorted stored in each storage box 30 reach a predetermined weight, the partition door 31 is closed, and then the bottom door 32 of the other storage box 30 is closed. After a predetermined amount of time has passed after opening,
Bottom door 3 of the storage box 30 with the partition door 31 closed
2 is opened, and the objects A to be sorted in the lower storage box 36 of the storage box 30 are sent out at once to the belt conveyor 11.
Release it upward, close the bottom door 32 again, and open the middle partition door 3.
1 and continue with the next storage.

Thereafter, similar operations are repeated for each storage box 30 of each delivery belt conveyor 11 (see the flowchart in FIG. 5).

The sorted materials A discharged onto each delivery belt conveyor 11 are slightly spread in the conveyance direction, but are conveyed as a group and placed at the discharge end into a packaging container C such as a cardboard box all at once. Item to be sorted A
The packaging container C into which it has been placed is replaced with an empty container.

In the above-described embodiment, the signal for confirming that the object A to be sorted stored in each storage box 30 has reached a predetermined weight is given to each storage box 30, especially the lower storage chamber 36.
is a weight measuring device, and the signal may be a signal indicating that a predetermined weight value of this scale has been reached, but in an example of a device for carrying out this method, the value measured by the weight measuring device B on the input side of each sorting belt conveyor 10 is used. The measured value is divided into classes according to weight, and cumulatively calculated for each class independently.If this value reaches a predetermined set value, for example, 10Kg or 20Kg, and the last object A that reaches the predetermined value is sorted. A signal input into the storage box 30 by the dispensing device 20 serves as a signal to confirm that the predetermined weight has been reached. The control device that sends and receives these signals and performs calculations is performed by each sorting belt conveyor 10, and upon receiving various signals from this computer, the partition door 31
and actuates the drive unit that operates the bottom door 32.

In addition, the timing of opening the bottom door 32 of each storage box 30 on each delivery belt conveyor 11 is determined in advance based on the arrangement of the storage boxes 30 and the delivery belt so that the bottom door 32 of each storage box 30 on each delivery belt conveyor 11 is opened so as not to mix with the contents discharged from other storage boxes 30. A control device is provided which operates based on a program corresponding to the conveyance speed of the conveyor 11, and these control devices are operated by a computer provided for each delivery belt conveyor 11. In the example of FIG. 5, the timing of the bottom door 32 is shown as a timer signal for convenience of explanation, but the point is that it is sufficient to provide an interval equal to or more than a predetermined time difference, and the timing is not limited to the numbers in the figure. do not have.

A small, small-capacity computer was used for each sorting belt conveyor 10 and delivery belt conveyor 11 as the computer constituting the above-mentioned control device, but if a medium-sized computer is used, the transmission and reception of these signals and calculations can be done on one computer. This is fully possible with a computer. Moreover, there is no substitute for this invention even if the control is performed by an electric or electronic sequence control device instead of a computer.

<Effects> In the method of the present invention, at each intersection position of several sorting belt conveyors 10 and several sending belt conveyors 11, objects of the same class are placed outside the sorting belt conveyor 10 to reach a predetermined weight. Since this is a method of sequentially temporarily storing materials up to 10, even during this storage, objects of classes that are not subject to sorting at the intersection can pass sequentially on the sorting belt conveyor 10, and this will not interfere with the sorting of other classes. do not have.

Furthermore, the discharge of the sorted materials A from the storage box 30 to the delivery belt conveyor 11 and the charging of the materials A into the packaging container C by the delivery belt conveyor 11 are carried out in one go at a set weight. At the same time, there is no need to measure the weight again, and each object to be sorted A exerts a mutual buffering effect during these discharges or inputs, and the extent and rate of damage to these items is reduced compared to the method of sequentially discharging or inputting them. few.

Also, the timing of discharging from the storage box 30 to the delivery belt conveyor 11 is set such that the material to be sorted A is delivered to the delivery belt on the same delivery belt conveyor 11, and the separation dimension from that released from other storage boxes 30 is taken, and the set weight is set as a unit. Since the method of feeding onto the conveyor 11 is used, on the delivery belt conveyor 11, each portion is divided into pieces each with a predetermined weight as a unit, and if this is packaged as a unit, it is possible to make packages of predetermined weights each. .

In this invention, the transfer speed of the sorting belt conveyor 10 and the delivery belt conveyor 11 and the blade plate 23 of the sorting and sorting device 20 may vary depending on the type, shape, or size of the objects A to be sorted.
For example, in the case of potatoes, the limit is about 40 m/min, and the maximum head when dropping is about 90 cm, so normally the speed is about 10 to 30% less than this. It is safer.

In addition, if there is a possibility that the class distribution of the objects to be sorted A may be concentrated in a specific class, a program may be programmed and controlled in advance so that objects of the same class are conveyed by two or more delivery belt conveyors 11. The objects A to be sorted are concentrated in the class, a predetermined weight of objects A are stored in the lower storage box 36 of the storage box 30, and after the partition door 31 is closed and the bottom door 32 is opened, the objects A are concentrated in the upper storage box 30. When there is a possibility that the next sorted material A in the box 35 will reach a predetermined amount on the partition door 31, the sorting belt conveyor 1 of that line
0. A control device that temporarily stops the weight measuring device and other conveyance means until the bottom door opens, the lower storage box 36 is emptied, and the bottom door 32 closes again and the middle partition door 31 opens. It is controlled by

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show things related to this invention, and show typical embodiments for carrying out the method invention.
The figure is a cutaway sectional view of the section taken along the line 2-2 in Figure 2.
4 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the storage box section, FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional front view of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of signals of the control device. Main symbols in the figure: A...Object to be sorted, B...Weighing device, C...Packaging container, 10...Sorting belt conveyor, 11...Delivery belt conveyor, 20...Sorting and sorting device, 30 ...Storage box, 3
1... Middle partition door, 32... Bottom door.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Conveying on each sorting belt conveyor by using several parallel sorting belt conveyors and a plurality of parallel delivery belt conveyors which are perpendicular to these conveyors and located below these conveyors and convey by class. At a position outside the sorting belt conveyor at the intersection with each delivery belt conveyor, the objects to be sorted are sorted into classes specific to that delivery belt conveyor, and then transferred from the sorting belt conveyor to the delivery belt conveyor to be sorted. In the method of inputting objects, outside of the sorting belt conveyor at each intersection, the objects to be sorted that arrive in sequence until the set weight is reached and are sorted according to weight are stored, and then transferred to other sorting belt conveyors of the same delivery belt conveyor. A minimum separation dimension is provided to ensure that the objects to be sorted stored in the above are not mixed together on the same delivery belt conveyor, and only a group of objects to be measured are placed together on the delivery belt conveyor, with each set weight as a unit. A sorting and conveying method characterized in that the articles to be sorted are loaded into a container at a time, and the articles to be sorted are grouped into units of a set weight by a delivery belt conveyor, and the articles are conveyed to the discharge end, and the articles are placed in a packaging container as a unit.