JPH07102848B2 - Fruit and vegetable box packing equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a fruit and vegetable packing device for packing fruit and vegetable products such as apples, mandarin oranges, tomatoes, and persimmons in a predetermined boxed state.

[0002]

PRIOR ART When the above-mentioned fruits and vegetables are packed into boxes using an automatic device, the fruits and vegetables are placed in each cup of a fruit and vegetable conveyor belt as shown in Figure 5 and transported. The cups are separated during transport to correct the orientation of the fruits and vegetables, and then the cups are brought close together at the rear of the conveyor side, the fruits and vegetables are sucked up by the suction elements of a suction unit installed above, and then they are moved onto a box placed at the packing position and packed.

[0003]

However, if the above-mentioned fruit or vegetable is larger than the cup's loading area, when the cup is brought close to the rear of the conveying side, the part protruding from the cup will come into contact with the adjacent fruit or vegetable, causing it to change orientation.Furthermore, since the spacing between each cup is variably driven back and forth and left and right during conveyance, the vibrations caused by the drive will cause the orientation of the fruit or vegetable to change.

This causes a problem that the suction element of the suction unit and the smooth surface onto which the fruit or vegetable can be attracted are misaligned, making it impossible to attract the fruit or vegetable and to pack the fruit or vegetable smoothly.

[0005] The object of this invention is to provide a fruit and vegetable packing device which, after suctioning the fruit and vegetable, variably drives the spacing between the suction elements of the suction unit to change the spacing between the fruit and vegetable to a predetermined packing interval, thereby enabling the fruit and vegetable to be packed while maintaining the corrected orientation, thereby enabling smooth packing operations without damaging the commercial value of the fruit and vegetable.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a stretched fruit
Place the fruit and vegetable on the placement section of the vegetable conveyor belt and
The fruit and vegetable conveyor belt is then transported to the suction unit installed above it.
After the fruit and vegetables are absorbed by the suction unit, the fruit and vegetables are packed into boxes.
A fruit and vegetable boxing device that moves to a position and boxes the fruit and vegetable,
The suction units are located on both sides of the bottom of the unit body.
A vertical shaft is installed, and multiple horizontal shafts are slidable perpendicular to the vertical shaft.
On each of these horizontal axes, multiple sliders are installed.
The horizontal shaft is supported so as to be slidable in the axial direction.
The suction elements are installed vertically and horizontally at predetermined intervals.
A spring is provided to hold the slider.
Left and right spacing adjustment to regulate the left and right spacing of the slider to the packing spacing
A screw is provided on each of the horizontal shafts, and the slide is connected to the horizontal shaft.
A front-to-back spacing adjustment screw is provided to regulate the front-to-back spacing of the
A fruit and vegetable feeder equipped with a drive means for sliding the horizontal shaft and slider
It is characterized by being a box packing device .

[0007]

According to the present invention, while each fruit or vegetable product that has been attracted to the fruit or vegetable suction position of the fruit or vegetable conveying belt is being moved to the fruit or vegetable boxing position, the orientation of each fruit or vegetable product is maintained in a corrected state.
The spacing between sliders on which the suction elements of the suction unit are hung is varied from a predetermined spacing in the front-rear and left-right directions, and the suction elements are packed at a predetermined packing spacing.

[0008]

[Effects of the Invention] In this way, with this invention, the orientation of each of the picked up fruits and vegetables can be adjusted to the specified packing interval while the orientation is corrected, so even if vibrations are applied while the suction unit is moving, the orientation of the fruits and vegetables will not change and they can be packed in the specified alignment.

[0009] Furthermore, since the spacing between each fruit or vegetable can be changed on the suction unit side, there is no need for a structure or device that variably drives the spacing between each loading section, as in conventional packing devices.By tensioning each loading section in advance and spacing them apart in the front, back, left and right directions along the entire length of the fruit or vegetable conveying belt, it is possible to prevent the suction positions of the fruit or vegetable and the suction element from shifting before suction, allowing smooth packing work to be carried out without compromising the commercial value of the fruit or vegetable.

Furthermore, the spacing between each slider of each suction element is maintained by a spring, and the packing spacing is regulated by left-right spacing adjustment screws and front-to-back spacing adjustment screws , so the spacing is accurate and does not become out of alignment.As a result, each suction element can be moved accurately to its designated position, allowing for accurate suction and packing operations, and also reducing noise during operation.
Furthermore, by adjusting the protrusion amount of each of the adjusting screws, the arrangement of the suction elements can be easily changed to a grid or staggered pattern.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0012] The drawings show a fruit and vegetable packing device which packs fruit and vegetable items at a predetermined packing interval. In Figures 5 to 8 , this fruit and vegetable packing device 1 places each fruit and vegetable item 3 supplied from a conveyor belt 2 on an alignment feeder 4 at the front of the device, and vibrates this alignment feeder 4 with a vibration generator 5 so that the smooth, suction-capable surface of each fruit and vegetable item 3 faces upward. At the same time, the fruit and vegetable items 3 are aligned in an alignment corresponding to each cup 7 of the stretched fruit and vegetable conveying belt 6. At fruit and vegetable loading position II, each fruit and vegetable item 3 is placed in each cup 7 of the fruit and vegetable conveying belt 6. After correcting the orientation of each fruit and vegetable item 3 at fruit and vegetable orientation correction position III, the suction unit 8 is raised and lowered at fruit and vegetable suction position IV to suction each fruit and vegetable item 3 with each suction element 9 hanging from the bottom, and the suction unit 8 is then moved to pack the fruit and vegetable items into boxes 10 placed at fruit and vegetable boxing position V at the rear of the device.

As shown in Figure 8 , the above-mentioned alignment feeder 4 is integrally formed with soft protrusions 4a for aligning fruit and vegetable products, which protrude slightly upward at the tip of the conveying side, and the fruit and vegetable products 3 are aligned between these protrusions 4a, so that the cups 7 described below correspond to the fruit and vegetable products 3.

As shown in FIG . 6 , the vibration generator 5 comprises support rods 5a...
is pivotally mounted at an eccentric position on the shaft of the drive motor 5b, and supports the alignment feeder 4 in a state in which it is slightly inclined toward the fruit and vegetable conveying belt 6 side.

The above-mentioned fruit and vegetable conveying belt 6 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 8 , six cups 7 made of soft synthetic resin are arranged at equal intervals in the width direction, and two support shafts 11, 12 are attached to the bottom of each of the cups 7.
1 are inserted parallel to the arrangement direction and fixed in position, and the support shafts 11, 11 are installed between the chains 12, 12 stretched on both sides of the device.
The chains 12, 12 are arranged in pairs and are installed at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction of the chains 12, 12.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 , the chain 12 is provided with a first sprocket 13 pivotally attached to the bottom of the fruit and vegetable placement position II and a second sprocket 14 pivotally attached to the bottom of the fruit and vegetable suction position IV.
sprocket 14 and a third sprocket 15 at the bottom of the device
The pair of front and rear support shafts 11, 11 are tensioned between the first sprocket 13 and the second sprocket 14 so that the spacing between them can be varied, and the first sprocket 13 is rotated by the driving force of the drive motor 16, causing the fruit and vegetable conveying belt 6 to rotate in the conveying direction (direction of the arrow).

The chain 12 has guide rollers 12a pivotally attached to the side thereof, which are supported by a guide rail 17 installed above the chain 12 at the fruit and vegetable placement position II.
By restricting the rolling position to below the insertion position,
The cups 7 in the front and rear rows are bent forward and backward to approach each other in the conveying direction, and the fruit and vegetable direction correcting position III is moved to the fruit and vegetable suction position IV.
On a guide plate 18 installed at the bottom of the conveying side of the fruit and vegetable conveying belt 6, the chain 12 extends in a straight line, separating the front and rear rows of cups 7 at equal intervals in the conveying direction.

The base end of the suction pipe 19 from which the suction element 9 of the suction unit 8 is suspended is provided with a vacuum (negative pressure suction means).
The suction unit 8 described above is moved horizontally between a fruit and vegetable suction position IV and a fruit and vegetable boxing position V at the rear of the device by a first hydraulic cylinder 31 fixed horizontally to the top of the device, together with a second hydraulic cylinder 32 fixed to the top of the suction unit 8, and at the same time, the second hydraulic cylinder 32 raises and lowers the entire unit when it moves between the fruit and vegetable suction position IV and the fruit and vegetable boxing position V.

The overall operation of the fruit and vegetable packing device 1 constructed as above will be explained first. As shown in Figures 5 and 6 , the fruit and vegetable products 3 supplied from the conveyor belt 2 are fed to the aligning feeder 4.
At the same time as placing the fruits and vegetables 3 on the conveying belt 6, the vibration generator 5 is started to vibrate the fruits and vegetables 3, aligning them with the cups 7 on the conveying belt 6, and placing the fruits and vegetables 3 on the cups 7 in the first row on the conveying belt 6 at the fruit and vegetable placing position II.

In the initial operation, a sensor (not shown) detects that each fruit or vegetable 3 has been placed in each cup 7 in the first row, and the fruit or vegetable conveyor belt 6 is automatically rotated.
The fruits and vegetables 3 are placed in the cups 7 in the next row in turn, and the fruit and vegetable conveyor belt 6 is rotated and stopped until the fruits and vegetables 3 in the first row reach the rear stage of the fruit and vegetable orientation correction position III.

[0021] In this fruit and vegetable orientation correction position III, the chain 12 extends in a straight line, separating the cups 7 in the front and rear rows in the conveying direction, and at the same time, since the cups 7 are spaced apart at a predetermined interval in the width direction, the orientation of each adjacent fruit or vegetable 3 can be corrected by inserting a finger between each adjacent fruit or vegetable 3.

[0022] After this, when the operator confirms that the specified number of boxes, i.e., 24 pieces of each fruit or vegetable 3... have been placed on each of the four rows of cups 7..., he presses a boxing switch (not shown) attached to the side of the device, which causes the fruit or vegetable conveying belt 6 to rotate further, moving each of the first row of fruit or vegetable 3... to the rear of fruit or vegetable suction position IV, and this is detected by a sensor (not shown), which stops the rotation of the fruit or vegetable conveying belt 6.

At the same time, at this fruit and vegetable adsorption position IV,
The hydraulic cylinder 32 is actuated to lower the entire suction unit 8, and the intervals between the suction pipes 19 are widened, so that the suction elements 9 attached to the suction pipes 19 are positioned at the fruit and vegetable suction position IV.
The suction units 8 are spaced apart at intervals corresponding to the fruits and vegetables 3 arranged in the tray, and in this state, the suction elements 9 are brought into close contact with the fruits and vegetables 3, and one box's worth of fruits and vegetables 3 is sucked by the suction force of the vacuum, and then the suction units 8 are raised and stopped at a fixed position.

[0024] At the same time as this stop, while maintaining the orientation of each fruit or vegetable 3... after correction, the first hydraulic cylinder 31 is activated to move the entire suction unit 8 to the fruit or vegetable boxing position V, causing each suction element 9... of each suction pipe 19... of the unit main body 8a to converge to the center, and each fruit or vegetable 3... to approach the specified boxing state.

Next, the second hydraulic cylinder 32 is operated to lower the suction unit 8, and the picked up fruits and vegetables 3 are placed in the boxes 1.
After the fruits and vegetables 3 are stored in the box 10, the suction of each of the suction elements 9 is automatically switched off, and the fruit and vegetable products 3 are released from the suction elements 9, completing the boxing process. After this, the box 10 containing the fruits and vegetables 3 is transported to the next processing step by the conveyor belt 34, and at the same time, the suction unit 8 returns to above the fruit and vegetable suction position IV, and when the boxing switch is pressed again, the boxing operation is continuously repeated.

Next, the structure of the aforementioned suction unit 8 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the suction unit 8 includes:
A plurality of, for example, four horizontal shafts 36 are installed perpendicularly between two vertical shafts 35, 35 installed on both sides of the lower surface of the unit body 8a, and are slidable on these horizontal shafts 36.
The sliders 37 arranged on the sliders 37 are moved in two axial directions, vertically and horizontally, and the suction elements 9 suspended from the sliders 37 via the suction pipes 19 are adjusted to the suction intervals and the packing intervals.

The vertical shafts 35, 35 are connected to the two guide rails 3 installed at the front and rear portions of the underside of the unit body 8a.
Two sliders 39 are slidably engaged with the sliders 8 and 38, respectively , and vertical shafts 35 are installed in parallel between the sliders 39 at opposing positions.

Four sliders 40 are slidably engaged on the vertical shafts 35, 35, and the sliders 40 are spaced apart from each other by a distance between the sliders 40 and the sliders 3 on the front side.
A plurality of coil springs 41 are wound around the shafts between the vertical shafts 35 and 39, and the sliders 40 are fixed to the shafts 35 and 39.
5. Each of the sliders 40...
On the front side of the vertical shaft 35, longitudinal spacing adjustment screws 42 are attached to set the longitudinal spacing of the suction elements 9 suspended from the sliders 37 to the size of the fruit or vegetable 3 and the predetermined packing spacing.
It is screwed in the direction.

Furthermore, the aforementioned rear sliders 39,
The piston rod ends of the air cylinders 43, 43 fixed to the base 39 are connected to the sliders 40, 40 on the rear side, and the operation of the air cylinders 43, 43 causes the sliders 40 to slide horizontally in the direction of the vertical shaft 35 against the biasing force of the coil springs 41. The horizontal shafts 36 are connected to two horizontal shafts 36 that are bridged on both sides of the underside of the unit body 8a.
Each guide rail 44, 44 has two sliders 45.
The horizontal shafts 36 are arranged parallel to each other between the sliders 45 at the opposing positions.

A plurality of sliders 37, each having an attracting element 9 suspended therefrom, are slidably engaged on the horizontal shafts 36, and a plurality of coil springs 41 are wound between the sliders 37 and on the shafts at both ends.
. . . , the sliders 37 are spaced apart at equal intervals along the respective horizontal axes 36 .

Left-right spacing adjustment screws 46 are threaded in the direction of the horizontal shaft 36 onto the left side surface of each of the sliders 37 for setting the left-right spacing of the suckers 9 to the size of the fruit or vegetable 3 and the desired packing interval. On the other hand, as shown in Figure 2, left-right spacing adjustment screws 46 are also threaded onto the left side surface of each of the sliders 40 engaged on the vertical shaft 35 on the right side of the drawing.

Furthermore, the sliders 45 on both sides described above...
The piston rod ends of the air cylinders 47 fixed to the vertical shafts 35, 35 are alternately connected to the left and right sliders 40 engaged on the vertical shafts 35, 35, and the operation of the air cylinders 47 causes the coil springs 41 to
Each slider 37 slides horizontally in the direction of the horizontal shaft 36 against the biasing force.

The operation of the suction unit 8 thus constructed will be described below. As shown in Figures 1 and 2 , the air cylinders 43, 43 disposed at the rear side of the suction unit 8 are operated to slide the horizontal shafts 36 along the vertical shafts 35, 35, and the sliders 4 engaged on the vertical shafts 35, 35 move.
The front-rear spacing of the 0 is regulated by the contact of the front-rear spacing adjusting screws 42 .

In conjunction with this, the air cylinders 47 on both sides are operated to slide the vertical shafts 35, 35 along the horizontal shafts 36, and the sliders 3 engaged on the horizontal shafts 36 are moved.
7 and the sliders 40 engaged on the vertical shafts 35, 35.
The left-right spacing between the attractors 9 is regulated by the contact of the left-right spacing adjustment screws 46, and the attractors 9 are stopped at equal intervals in the front, back, left and right directions corresponding to the packing intervals. This allows the fruit and vegetable products 3 attracted by the attractors 9 to be gathered into the grid pattern shown in Figure 3, making it possible to pack them into boxes.

As shown in FIG. 4, the left and right spacing adjustment screws 46... threadedly engaged with the sliders 40... on the right side of the drawing.
By alternately adjusting the protruding lengths of the left and right spacing adjustment screws 46 that are screwed into the sliders 37 on the left side of the figure, the fruits and vegetables 3 that are attracted by the attractors 9 are arranged in a staggered manner.
...can be focused.

Furthermore, on the underside of the above-mentioned suction unit 8,
A plurality of suction elements 9 corresponding to the number of boxes are arranged in a row or six rows.
It is also possible to install it vertically.

In this way, the orientation of the fruits and vegetables 3 after correction can be adjusted to the specified packing interval while still being sucked by the suction element 9, so that the orientation of the fruits and vegetables 3 does not change while the suction unit 8 is moving, and they can be packed in a specified alignment.

Moreover, on the suction unit 8 side, each fruit or vegetable 3...
Since the interval between the cups 7 can be changed, by tensioning the cups 7 at a predetermined distance in the front, rear, left and right directions along the entire length of the fruit and vegetable conveying belt 6, it is possible to prevent the suction positions of the fruit and vegetable 3 and the suction elements 9 from shifting before suction, and the fruit and vegetable 3 can be reliably sucked, allowing for smooth packing work and reducing noise during operation.

In addition, the fruit and vegetable placement position of the fruit and vegetable conveying belt 6
Since the cups 7 are spaced apart at equal intervals in the width direction and the conveying direction over the entire length from II to the fruit and vegetable suction position IV, the orientation of the fruit and vegetable 3 can be easily corrected during conveyance, and the efficiency of the boxing work can be improved.

Furthermore, each of the suction elements 9 is attached to each of the sliders 3.
The spacing between the boxes 7 and 40 is maintained by springs 41, and the packing spacing is adjusted by the front-rear spacing adjustment screw 42 and the left-right spacing adjustment screw 46.
Since it is regulated by, the interval is accurate and does not go out of alignment.
Therefore, each suction element 9 can be accurately moved to a predetermined position, allowing accurate suction and packing operations, and also reducing noise during operation.

Furthermore, the arrangement of the suction elements 9 can be easily changed to a grid or staggered pattern using the adjustment screws 42, 46. When the cups 7 of the fruit or vegetable conveying belt 6 are converged at the fruit or vegetable suction position IV to bring the fruit or vegetable 3 into close proximity, the suction elements 9 of the suction unit 8 may be spaced apart at predetermined packing intervals in the front, back, left and right directions to pack the fruit or vegetable 3 into boxes.

The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment.

[Brief explanation of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a rear view of a suction unit in a fruit and vegetable boxing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the suction unit showing the suction element in a vertically installed state.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of concentrating the adsorbents into a grid shape.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the operation of concentrating adsorbates in a staggered pattern.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the fruit and vegetable boxing device.

6 is a side view of the fruit and vegetable boxing device connected to FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the fruit and vegetable boxing device.

8 is a plan view of the fruit and vegetable boxing device connected to FIG. 7. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

IV... Fruit and vegetable suction position V... Fruit and vegetable boxing position 1... Fruit and vegetable boxing device 3... Fruit and vegetable 6... Fruit and vegetable conveying belt 7... Cup 8... Suction unit 8a... Unit body 9... Suction element 10... Box 19... Suction pipe 35... Vertical shaft 36... Horizontal shaft 37... Slider 41... Coil spring 42 ... Front-to-back spacing adjustment screw 43... Air cylinder 46... Left-to-right spacing adjustment screw

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A tensioned fruit and vegetable conveyor belt(6)The mounting part
Vegetables(3)The fruit and vegetable is placed on the tray and transported to the fruit and vegetable adsorption position.
Vegetable conveyor belt(6)The suction unit installed on top of(8)
Fruits and vegetables(3)After absorbing the(8)Achieve
It is a fruit and vegetable boxing device that moves to the vegetable boxing position and boxes the fruit and vegetable.
and the above suction unit(8) is, unit body(8a)Under
Vertical axis on both sides of the face(35)and erect the vertical shaft(35)Multiple horizontal axes(36)Sliding perpendicularly
These horizontal axes can be erected as possible.(36)Above, several sliders(37)
ofIn the axial direction of the horizontal axis (36)Slidably supportedhand, Each of the above sliders(37)Adsorbent(9)is installed vertically, and the slider(37)Maintain a specified vertical and horizontal spacing
Spring(41)and the slider(37) has the slider (37)ofleft
rightRestrict spacing to carton spacingLeft and right spacingAdjustment screw(46)
ofEstablished,The horizontal shafts (36) are connected to the horizontal shafts (36).
A front-rear distance adjustment screw that regulates the front-rear distance of the rider (37)
(42) is provided, Drive means for sliding the horizontal shaft and slider(43)
(47)ofPreparedFruit and vegetable box packing equipment.