JPH0636905B2 - Gem classifier - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a gem classification device that classifies gems according to weight prior to inventory management of gems such as diamonds.

(Prior art) Conventionally, when a jeweler purchases a large number of jewels of the same type and manages them in inventory, each jewel is manually placed on a weight scale and weighed prior to inventory management. When the measurement was completed, the gemstones were sorted according to the measured values by putting them in a box prepared by weight in advance.
Therefore, each of these tasks relied on manpower.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the past, the classification work of gemstones was entirely dependent on manpower, and thus labor saving was desired. In particular, among jewels, decorative diamonds are small and light weight (for example, less than 1 carat = 0.2 g), so the handling work is extremely complicated when placing or removing them one by one on the scale. Therefore, the demand for labor saving was great.

Further, since the above-mentioned work is monotonous, there is a drawback that when a large amount of gemstones are collectively processed, the weighing scale is apt to be misread and misplaced in a box, and the classification work is unreliable.

In view of these points, it is an object of the present invention to save labor in jewel classification work and to improve its reliability.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve this object, the present invention has the following configuration.

That is, the present invention is a weighing scale for measuring the weight of a gemstone,
A gem supply means for supplying one gem to the weighing section of the weighing scale, a plurality of gem storage boxes for storing the gems by weight, a sorting shelf in which a plurality of gem storage boxes are arranged vertically and horizontally, and the weight. Gem sorting means for taking out the gems already measured with a meter from the measuring part, and carrying the gems taken out by air to the corresponding gem accommodating boxes according to the measured value of the weighing scale, and sorting the gems. .

(Operation) In the present invention thus configured, the gemstone supplying means supplies gemstones such as diamond one by one to the weighing unit of the weighing scale. The weighing scale measures the weight of the supplied gems one by one.

When the weight measurement of the weighing scale is completed, the gem sorting means takes out the gems already measured by the weighing scale from the weighing unit, and conveys the taken out gems to the corresponding gem storage box according to the measured value of the weighing scale. .

Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a jewel supply device for supplying jewels such as diamond to the weighing hopper 3 of the weighing scale 1 one by one.

This jewel supply device 1 includes a vibrating transfer device 4 for arranging and transferring jewels using vibration, a slant plate 5 for sliding gems discharged from the vibrating transfer device 4, and horizontally moving the gems that have slid at a relatively high speed. It is composed of a belt conveyor 6 to be conveyed and a dropping tube 7 for dropping the jewels discharged from the end of the belt conveyor 6 toward the weighing hopper 3 of the weighing scale 2.

At the end of the belt conveyor 6, a supply completion sensor 8 that detects whether or not the jewel has reached the end and dropped into the weighing hopper 3 of the weighing scale 2 is arranged.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a sorting shelf, and a large number of gem storage boxes 10 for storing the gems measured by the weight scale 2 by weight are arranged in the vertical and horizontal directions.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a jewel sorting device, which takes out the jewels measured by the weight scale 2 from the weighing hopper 3 and sorts the taken jewels into the jewel storage box 10 of the sorting shelf.

This jewel sorting device 11 is. Conveying tube 12 for taking out gems from the weight hopper 3 of the weight scale 2 and conveying them by air
And a transfer tube moving device 1 for guiding the discharge port of the transfer tube 12 to above the jewelry storage box 10 in the sorting shelf 9.
3 and 3.

The transfer tube moving device 13 includes an x traverse moving rod 15 that is movable in the left-right direction (x direction) along horizontal members 14 that are arranged parallel to the front and bottom of the sorting shelf 9, and the x-direction moving rod 15 thereof. Y that can move freely in the vertical direction (y direction)
The direction moving table 16 and the z-direction moving table 17 mounted on the y-direction moving table 16 and movable in the front-rear direction (z direction) toward the jewelry container 10 with the outlet of the transfer tube 12 are provided. The x-direction moving rod 15, the y-direction moving table 16, and the z-direction moving table 17 are configured to be moved by a stepping motor or the like (not shown), but detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The discharge port side of the transfer tube 12 is attached to a z-direction moving table 17 as shown in FIG. 2, and an open / close valve 18 that can be opened and closed is provided at the discharge port. Then, a detection cylinder 19 is provided from around the opening / closing valve 18 to the lower side, and a drop detection sensor 20 for detecting whether or not the jewel at the outlet of the detection cylinder 19 has fallen into the jewel storage box 10.

Further, a suction / exhaust hole 21 is formed in the vicinity of the discharge port of the transport tube 12, and the suction hole 21 is closed by a porous net 22 through which jewels cannot pass. A suction / exhaust tube 23 is connected to the suction / exhaust hole 21, and the end of the tube 23 is suction / exhaust pump 2 serving as suction / exhaust means.
Connect to 4.

Next, a block diagram of the electric system of the embodiment of the present invention thus constructed will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 30 denotes a control microcomputer, which controls each unit according to a predetermined procedure as described above. This control microcomputer 30
The weighing scale 2, the supply completion sensor 8, and the drop detection sensor 20 are connected to the input side of. Further, the vibration transfer device 4, the belt conveyor 6, the pump 24, the transfer tube moving device 13, and the opening / closing valve 18, which are control targets, are connected to the output side of the control microcomputer.

Next, an example of operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described.

First, a large amount of jewels having substantially the same size, such as diamond, which is a classification target, is supplied to the vibration transfer device 4, and the operation of the vibration transfer device 4 and the bellco conveyer 6 is started.

When the gemstone is discharged from the vibration transfer device 4, the gemstone slides on the inclined plate 5, and then is horizontally transferred at a relatively high speed toward the end thereof by the belt conveyor 6. Although the gemstones are continuously discharged one by one from the vibration transfer device 4, after the discharge, the gemstones are conveyed at a relatively high speed by the belt conveyor 6 via the inclined plate 5, so that the gemstones have a long distance before and after. Become.

The jewels thus reaching the end of the belt conveyor 6 fall through the dropping tube 7 into the weighing hopper 3 of the weighing scale 2. At this time, the supply completion sensor 8 detects that fact, and the vibration transfer device 4 and the belt conveyor 6 stop their operations simultaneously based on the detection signal.

Next, the weigh scale 2 measures the weight of the jewel, and the control microcomputer 30 reads the measured value. At this time, since the vibration transfer device 4 and the belt conveyor 6 are not in operation and are not affected by the operation, the weighing scale 2 can perform highly accurate measurement.

Then, when the control microcomputer 30 reads the measured value of the jewel, the discharge port of the transfer tube 12 is positioned just above the jewel storage box 10 of the sorting shelf 9 which is predetermined according to the measured value. The transfer tube moving device 13 moves the transfer tube 12 and positions its discharge port.

Then, when the positioning is completed, the suction exhaust pump 2
4 starts the operation, and the air in the transfer tube 12 is sucked and exhausted. Then, along with this, the measured gems in the weighing hopper 3 are carried to the net 22 near the discharge by the flow of air in the carrying tube 12.

Next, the operation of the suction exhaust pump 24 is stopped, and the opening / closing valve 18
When opened, the gemstones will correspond to the weight readings in the gemstone storage box 10
Fall inside.

At this time, the fall detection sensor 20 detects that it has fallen, and based on this detection signal, the vibration transfer device 4 and the belt conveyor 6 restart their operation, and restart the classification operation of the next jewel.

By repeating such an operation, all the jewels in the vibration transfer device 4 are weighed one by one, and the jewels are dropped into the corresponding jewel storage box 10 according to the measured value.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, for example, diamonds having substantially the same size can be subdivided in units of 1/100 carat, and appropriate inventory management can be performed.

Further, since a large number of gem storage boxes are arranged on the sorting shelves vertically and horizontally, gems can be subdivided in a small area. And, by the air conveyance, there is an effect that the jewel can be smoothly conveyed even if the conveyance direction changes from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, in the present invention, since gemstones can be automatically classified according to weight without manual work as described above, labor saving of gemstone classification work can be achieved.

Further, according to the present invention, when a large number of jewels are classified at one time, there is no misreading of the weighing scale or misplacement in the box as in the conventional case, and the reliability of the classification work is significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration in the vicinity of a discharge port of a carrying tube, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an electric system of the embodiment of the present invention. 1 ... Jewel supply device, 2 ... Weighing scale, 3 ... Weighing hopper, 9 ... Sorting shelf, 10 ... Jewel storage box, 11 ... Jewel sorting device, 12 ... Transport tube, 13 ... Transport Tube moving device, 30 ... Control microcomputer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A weight scale for measuring the weight of gems, a gem supply means for supplying one gem to the weighing section of the weigh scale, a plurality of gem storage boxes for storing the gems by weight, and the gems. Sorting shelves in which a large number of storage boxes are arranged vertically and horizontally, and gems that have been measured with the weight scale are taken out from the weighing unit,
A gem classifying device comprising: a gem sorting unit that sorts the gems that have been taken out by air-transporting the gems to the corresponding gem accommodating boxes according to the measurement value of the weighing scale.