JP2002019953A - Sorting conveyor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sorting conveyor device capable of visually confirming an object to be measured from a lower part of a loading part. SOLUTION: Plural conveyor units 17 are connected at equal intervals on a conveyor chain 5, each conveyor unit 7 is mounted oscillatably through a shaft 9, on a bracket 8 fixed to the conveyor chain 5, the loading part 10 is projected to one side with respect to the shaft 9 as a center, and a roller 11 is mounted at the other side. The loading part 10 is provided with two metallic wires 10a and 10b arranged in parallel to be visually confirmed from a lower part, and slightly upwardly bent to prevent fruits W or the like placed on the loading part from rolling and dropping from the same.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sorting conveyor device for transferring fruits and vegetables on a carrier unit connected to a conveyor chain, and sorting and discharging the fruits and vegetables at a part of a conveying path.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a sorting conveyor device for transporting articles on a carrier unit attached to a conveyor, and sorting and discharging the articles at a part of a transport path, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-6110 discloses a sorting apparatus.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5 (1999) -2005 is known. In the conventional sorting conveyor apparatus including the above-described prior art, the placement unit of the carrier unit is formed of a container or a flat plate, and the container or the flat plate transfer unit is rotatably supported on a conveyor chain, and the transfer path is In general, the article is inclined at a predetermined angle to the left or right of the moving direction and slides the article diagonally downward.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional sorting conveyor device, since the placing portion is a container or a structure in which plate materials are arranged, the receiving portion such as fruits and vegetables can be covered from below the transport path. It is not possible to inspect the shape and color of the measured object, and equipment for that purpose must be placed above or beside the transport path, which requires extra space and the shape of the measured object For example, when measuring the sugar acidity, there is a disadvantage that the distance between the light source (measuring device) and the object to be measured varies.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and has as its object to provide a sorting conveyor device which enables inspection from below and can surely sort and discharge at a predetermined position.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a sorting conveyor device according to the present invention places articles on a carrier unit connected to a conveyor chain at a predetermined interval, transports the articles, and rotates the transport unit. An article placement section was provided in the transport unit of the sorting conveyor apparatus for sorting articles by moving and dropping the articles, and the placement section was made of a wire so that the article could be seen through or inspected from below. With such a configuration, an optical device for inspecting the shape, color, sugar content (acidity), and the like can be arranged below the traveling route.

[0006] The mounting portion is formed by, for example, arranging two metal wires in parallel or forming a frame. By bending the tip part upward, a slip-preventing effect is exhibited, and it is possible to prevent a plurality of articles from being placed on the placement part.

[0007] Further, as a specific structure of the sorting conveyor device, a roller is provided on the opposite side of the loading portion with respect to the rotation axis of the carrier unit, and the roller is engaged along the traveling path of the conveyor chain. A fixed guide that keeps the mounting portion in a horizontal state by engaging the roller, and a guide that rotates down the mounting portion by releasing the engagement with the roller. It is conceivable to configure the movable guide with a movable guide that allows movement. With such a configuration, it is possible to reliably pay out the measured object at a predetermined position.

[0008]

1 is an overall top view of a sorting conveyor device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the entire sorting conveyor device, FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a top view of the unit, FIG. 5 is a front view of the carrier unit, and FIG. 6 is a side view of the carrier unit.

The sorting conveyor device 1 combines a plurality of metal pipes and joins them at their ends to form an entire frame 2.
Is configured. A motor 4 is fixed to a support portion 3 provided at an end of the frame 2, and the motor 4 drives an endless conveyor chain 5. The conveyor chain 5 is stretched between a driving sprocket 4a fixed to the rotating shaft of the motor 4 and a driven sprocket 4b arranged at the other end of the frame 2, and chain rails 6a and 6b fixed to the frame 2 (FIG. 3, see FIG. 6) in the direction of the arrow.

In the conveyor chain 5, a plurality of transport units 7 are connected at equal intervals. The carrier unit 7 is swingably attached to a bracket 8 fixed to the conveyor chain 5 via a shaft 9. A mounting portion 10 projects on one side around the shaft 9, and a roller 11 extends on the other side. have.

The mounting section 10 is provided with two metal wires 10a, 1
0b are arranged in parallel, and the tip is bent slightly upward so that the placed fruit W or the like does not roll and fall. In addition, as the mounting part 10, one wire may be formed in a loop shape (frame shape).

On the other hand, although the roller 11 is heavier than the mounting portion 10, when the fruit W or the like is mounted on the mounting portion 10, the mounting portion 10 becomes heavier. Therefore, the mounting portion 10 is in a horizontal state due to the weight of the roller 11 on the upper traveling path, and the roller 11 rotates downward on the lower traveling path.
In addition, when the fruits W are placed on the placement unit 10 in the upper traveling path, the placement unit 10 becomes heavier, and the placement unit 10 tries to rotate downward. Is prevented from rotating.

On the upper traveling path, the rollers 11
And a guide that engages with and prevents rotation of the mounting portion 10. The guide includes a fixed guide 12 and a movable guide 13 provided at a sorting position between the fixed guides 12. The movable guide 13 moves forward and backward by a solenoid,
By moving to the right in FIG. 6, the engagement with the roller 11 is released, and the placing unit 10 rotates around the shaft 9 in the counterclockwise direction in the figure to remove the fruit W placed on the placing unit 10. Pay out.

In this embodiment, a measuring device 20 for non-destructively measuring the sugar content and the acidity of the fruit W is disposed below the path through which the placing section 10 passes upstream of the payout position. A window 21 for irradiating near-infrared light from the light source to the fruit W and a window 22 for receiving transmitted light or scattered light from the fruit W are formed on the upper surface of the measuring device 20. A display plate 23 indicating the sugar content and acidity of the fruit W is provided.

A light source 24 such as a light emitting diode or a halogen lamp for emitting near-infrared light is provided inside the measuring device 20, and the light from the light source 24 is applied to a fruit W as an object to be measured for a predetermined time. A shutter 25 for irradiating and taking in the measuring light for the same time is provided in the window 21,
The operation of the shutter 25 is synchronized by a synchronization circuit 26.

The transmitted light and the scattered light from the fruit W are guided to an optical grating 29 via a condenser lens 27 and a reflecting mirror 28.
At 9, for example, wavelengths 1032 nm, 1100 nm, 11
The light is split into lights of 38 nm and 1242 nm. These spectral intensities are determined by photosensors 30, 31, 32, 33
The signals of the photosensors 30 to 33 are collectively synthesized by a multiplexer 34 and sent to a computer 36 via a sensor amplifier 35. The computer 36 determines the sugar content and acidity of the fruit W by the following processing. Is detected by Note that the above wavelength has an optimum value different for each object to be measured.

The sugar content and acidity of an actual fruit are measured in advance by a sugar acidity meter using grades, and at the same time, near-infrared light is projected on the fruit to obtain transmitted and scattered light therefrom. Two sets of two spectral ratios showing characteristic changes in the sugar content and the acid content are obtained, that is, intensity changes are obtained for four spectra, and the changes for each concentration are obtained as a distribution function.

On the other hand, at the time of measurement, the same two sets of spectral ratios are obtained from the fruit, and these are applied to the previously prepared distribution function to accurately measure the sugar content and the acid content.

The two spectral ratios showing the above characteristic changes differ depending on the object to be measured. For example, when measurement was performed on oranges, λ1 nm (eg, 1138 nm) was used as a reference, and λ2 nm with respect to its near-infrared light absorption intensity
(For example, 1272 nm) (the ratio of
) And λ4 (for example, 1100 n) with respect to the light absorption intensity of λ3 nm (for example, 1032 nm) as a reference.
m) The ratio of the light absorption intensity at nm (referred to as ratio b) shows a remarkable change in the sugar content and acidity of the sugar acidity meter used for each grade, and the ratio a and the ratio b are the sugar acidity, respectively. A plane (X-
Distribution on the Y plane (a distribution for ratio a is distribution A, and a distribution for ratio b is distribution B).

Therefore, the sugar content and the acid content of N citrus fruits of the same variety classified into various grades are measured by a saccharimeter and an alkali measurement method, and are measured on the coordinate axis X of the sugar content and the coordinate axis Y of the acidity.
When the ratio a of the transmitted near-infrared light from the orange is plotted on the intersection on the two-dimensional coordinates as the vertical axis Z of the three-dimensional graph, a distribution A consisting of N point groups is obtained.
Is obtained (see FIG. 8).

Similarly, the ratio b is measured in parallel with the measurement of the ratio a for the same mandarin orange, and these are set as numerical values on the coordinate axis X of the sugar content and the coordinate axis Y of the acidity. On the intersection, the ratio b of the transmitted near-infrared light from the orange is plotted as the vertical axis Z of the three-dimensional graph.
A curved surface Fb of the distribution B composed of the point groups is obtained. In FIG. 8, the curved surface Fb of the distribution B is overlapped with the curved surface Fa of the distribution A, but the curved surface Fb and the curved surface Fa are actually different.

In this way, the distribution A and the distribution B are obtained in advance before measuring the sugar content of the test orange, and the sugar content of the test orange is measured simultaneously using these distributions. That is, a curve La is formed from the intersection of the plane F represented by values on the three-dimensional graph and the curved surface Fa representing the distribution A. Similarly, when the ratio b is superimposed on the distribution B for the same test orange, a curve Lb is obtained. The line La and the line Lb obtained in this manner are compared with the ratio a or the ratio b in FIG.
When viewed from the vertical direction of the coordinate axis Z representing
When projected onto a two-dimensional plane composed of the coordinate axis Y of the acidity, the lines La ′ and Lb ′ are represented on the two-dimensional coordinate composed of the coordinate axis X of the sugar content and the coordinate axis Y of the acidity as shown in FIG.
Can be drawn.

The intersection P of the two lines La 'and Lb'
Is a common characteristic value of the distribution A and the distribution B of the oranges to be measured, and consequently, the values X1 and Y1 of the coordinate axes X and Y at the intersection indicate the sugar content and the acidity of the orange. . That is, the sugar content of the test mandarin orange is obtained from the value X1 of the sugar content coordinate axis X with respect to the intersection, and the acidity of the measurement target orange is obtained from the value Y1 of the acidity coordinate axis Y.

Although the sugar content and the acidity are important factors for determining the grade of tangerine or the like, it is difficult to measure the acidity. In many cases, only the sugar content is measured as described above. Although the measurement is not performed, the classification can be accurately performed by measuring both at the same time as in this embodiment.

In the embodiment, the sugar and acidity measuring devices are arranged below the traveling route of the mounting portion 10. However, in addition to this, a color grader for judging the color and shape of fruits and the like, presence or absence of scratches, etc. An image sensor (image processing device) may be provided.

[0026]

As described above, according to the sorting conveyor device of the present invention, the mounting portion of the carrier unit is made of a wire material and can be viewed from below, so that the space can be effectively used. Thus, various image sensors and measuring devices can be arranged directly below the mounting section. In addition, if the fruits and vegetables placed on the receiver are inspected from below, the distance between the fruits and vegetables and the measuring device will be constant. The accuracy of the result is also higher.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall top view of a sorting conveyor device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall front view of the sorting conveyor device.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the carrier unit.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the carrier unit.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the carrier unit.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating components of a sugar / acidity measuring device.

FIG. 8 is a three-dimensional graph in which the X axis is a sugar content, the Y axis is an acidity, and the Z axis is a light absorption intensity ratio.

FIG. 9 is a two-dimensional graph showing the sugar content and the acid content of the measured object.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Sorting conveyor apparatus, 2 ... Frame, 3 ... Support part,
4 motor, 4a driven sprocket, 4b driven sprocket, 5 conveyor chain, 6a, 6b chain rail, 7 carrier unit, 8 bracket, 9 ...
Shaft, 10 mounting section, 10a, 10b wire, 11 roller, 12 fixed guide, 13 movable guide, 20 sugar and acidity measuring device 21, 22 window, 23 display plate, 24 light source , 25 shutter, 26 synchronization circuit, 27 lens, 28 reflecting mirror, 29 optical grating, W fruit (measurement object).

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G01N 21/85 G01N 21/85 A F term (Reference) 2G051 AA05 AB02 AB20 BA06 BC03 CA02 CA07 CB02 CB05 DA01 DA06 EC01 EC02 FA10 2G059 AA01 BB11 CC20 DD12 EE01 EE02 EE12 GG02 GG10 HH01 HH06 JJ05 JJ11 JJ13 JJ23 KK01 KK03 MM02 PP04 3F015 AA07 DA02 FA01 GA01 3F079 AC21 CA34 CB25 CB29 DA18 CC18

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A sorting conveyor device for placing articles on a carrier unit connected at a predetermined interval to a conveyor chain, transporting the articles, turning the carrier unit to drop the articles, and sorting the articles. The unit is provided with a placement section for articles, and the placement section is made of a wire so as to enable see-through or inspection of the article from below. 2. The sorting conveyor device according to claim 1, wherein the carrier unit includes a roller on a side opposite to the mounting portion about a rotation axis, and the roller is arranged along a traveling path of the conveyor chain. An engaging guide is provided,
This guide includes a fixed guide that keeps the mounting portion horizontal by engaging the roller, and a movable guide that allows the mounting portion to rotate downward by releasing the engagement with the roller. A sorting conveyor device comprising: 3. The sorting conveyor device according to claim 1, wherein an optical sugar acidity measuring device is arranged below a passage of the carrier unit.