JPH07228334A - Sorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Items such as glass bottles that are easily damaged and easily rolled can be sorted without damage, and
(EN) Provided is a sorting device in which a hook can be easily detached even when an article is heavy and a small driving device is sufficient for releasing the hook. [Structure] A chain conveyor 12 which horizontally rotates endlessly, a plurality of holding pieces 14 attached to links 12a constituting the chain conveyor, and a central portion pivotally attached to each holding piece from a support position L to a carry-out position H. A V-shaped swinging piece 16 that is biased and swings, a hook 18 that is pivotally attached to each holding piece and that engages with the swinging piece to lock the swinging piece in a supporting position, and a hook that is supported by each holding piece. The upper surface 20a is composed of a support piece 20 protruding upward on one side from the central portion of the holding piece at the support position, and the article 1 is placed on the V-shaped rocking piece at the support position and conveyed, and the hook is removed to perform the V-shaped rocking. The moving piece is swung to the carry-out position to roll the article laterally.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sorting device,
More specifically, the present invention relates to a sorting conveyor that conveys articles such as glass bottles in a row at intervals and sorts them by color or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Sorting apparatuses for transporting relatively light and small articles such as fruits and vegetables in a row at a distance on a conveyor and sorting the articles into a plurality of unloading sections have been conventionally known (for example, JP-A-61-295920, JP-A-64-22388). In such a conventional sorting apparatus, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a plurality of horizontal receiving plates 4 are attached to an endlessly rotating chain conveyor 2 via an attack 3, and the receiving plates 4 are support pins at one end of a lower surface. It is rotatably supported by 5, and by removing the hook 6,
The receiving plate 4 is rotated substantially vertically downward around the support pin 5 to drop the article 1 placed on it.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional sorting device, since the receiving plate 4 rotates substantially vertically downward around the support pin 5, when applied to an article such as a glass bottle, the article is easily damaged. There was a point. Therefore, there has been a demand for a sorting device suitable for articles that are easily broken and easily rolled, such as glass bottles. Further, in the conventional sorting device, when the article is heavy, the hook is hard to come off,
There has been a problem that it is necessary to increase the size of the drive device (solenoid, etc.) for releasing the hook.

Further, when the conventional sorting device is applied to a glass bottle having a neck, etc., there is a problem that the position of the end of the neck cannot be detected because the height of the neck is different.
That is, as illustrated in FIG. 5, in the transmission type position sensor, the receiving plate 4 itself cannot block the light because it blocks light, and when the sensor 7 is arranged horizontally (FIG. 5A), the neck 1
There is a case where a and the height of the sensor are deviated, and there is a problem that the position of the neck end cannot be detected. Further, in the reflection type position sensor (FIG. 5B), the position of the neck end can be detected by arranging the sensor 7 downward in the central portion, but there is a problem that malfunction may occur due to reflection from the receiving plate 4. there were. Therefore, when the position of the glass bottle or the like is displaced due to slipping or catching, etc., when the device is placed on the upstream side (for example, the color identification conveyor) and transferred to the sorting device,
There is a problem that the article cannot be carried out at the desired position.

The present invention was devised to solve the above-mentioned problems. That is, the object of the present invention is to
An object of the present invention is to provide a sorting device capable of surely sorting an article, such as a glass bottle, which is easily broken and easily rolled without damage. Another object of the present invention is to provide a sorting device in which a hook can be easily removed even when an article is heavy and a small drive device is sufficient for releasing the hook.

Further, another object of the present invention is to accurately detect the end face of a glass bottle or the like having a neck portion having a different height, which allows the device to be moved from an apparatus located upstream. An object of the present invention is to provide a sorting device that can accurately carry out articles at a predetermined position even if the positions are displaced when they are placed.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a chain conveyor which horizontally and endlessly rotates, a plurality of holding pieces attached to links constituting the chain conveyor, and a central portion of each holding piece are provided. A V-shaped swing piece that is pivotally attached and swings by being biased from the support position to the carry-out position, and a hook that is pivotally attached to each holding piece and engages the swing piece to lock the swing piece at the support position. And a support piece that is supported by each holding piece and has an upper surface that protrudes upward from one side of the central portion of the holding piece at the supporting position. The article is placed on the V-shaped swinging piece at the supporting position, conveyed, and hooked. Is provided to swing the V-shaped swinging piece to the carry-out position to roll the articles laterally.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is further provided a hook releasing device for rocking the hook to disengage from the rocking piece. Further, a return member provided on the return side of the chain conveyor and having an inclined surface that engages the swing piece so as to return the swing piece from the carry-out position to the support position is further provided. Further, a reflection type first sensor and a second sensor provided in the same row in the vicinity of the supply section of the chain conveyor, and a control device for detecting the presence or absence of an article by the output of the first sensor and the second sensor, The first sensor is provided downward above the central portion of the swing piece through which the central portion of the article passes, and the second sensor is provided downward above the end portion of the swing piece through which the article does not pass. Due to
When the second sensor detects the swing piece and the first sensor detects other than the swing piece, it is determined that the article is detected.

[0009]

According to the above-described structure of the present invention, the central portion of the V-shaped swinging piece is pivotally attached to the holding piece and is biased from the supporting position to the carry-out position by a spring or the like, and the hook is disengaged and the biasing force of the spring is exerted. And the weight of the article causes the swinging piece to swing from the supporting position to the unloading position, so that the article placed on the oscillating piece rolls laterally and is carried out, so that the article is easily damaged like a glass bottle and easily rolled. Items can be reliably sorted without damage.

Further, since the supporting piece is provided on one side of the central portion of the holding piece at the supporting position and the upper surface thereof projects upward, the weight of the article is supported by the swinging piece and the supporting piece even when the article is heavy. can do. Further, since the central portion of the V-shaped swinging piece is pivotally attached to the holding piece and is biased from the supporting position to the carry-out position by a spring or the like, a spring acting on the swinging piece is attached to the engaging portion of the hook. Only the force acts, and the hook can be easily removed with a comparatively small force comparable to the biasing force, so that the hook can be released by the small drive device.

Further, a reflection type first sensor and a second sensor are provided in the same row in the vicinity of the supply section of the chain conveyor, and the first sensor is directed downward above the central portion of the swing piece through which the central portion of the article passes. Since the second sensor is provided downwardly above the end of the rocking piece through which the article does not pass, the control device causes the second sensor to detect the rocking piece and the first sensor to move the rocking piece. By determining that the article is detected when other than the above, the glass bottle or the like having a neck portion having a different height without malfunction due to the swinging piece,
The end face can be accurately detected.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, common parts are designated by the same reference numerals and used. FIG. 1A is an overall side view of the sorting apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a plan view thereof. In this figure, the sorting apparatus 10 of the present invention is shown.
Is a sorting conveyor that conveys the articles 1 (glass bottles in this example) to be conveyed in a row at a distance and sorts them according to color or the like, and rolls the glass bottles 1 in the lateral direction to carry out laterally from the plurality of unloading portions 8. It is supposed to do. A color identification conveyor 9 is provided on the upstream side of this apparatus, and the glass bottle 1 is supplied to the sorting apparatus 10 of the present invention after the color is identified by the color identification conveyor 9. A position detection device 30 that detects the end surface of the glass bottle 1 is provided near the supply portion (the left end portion in the drawing) of the sorting device 10.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2A shows the carrying side (upper side) for carrying the glass bottle 1. In this figure, a sorting device 10 of the present invention comprises a chain conveyor 12 which horizontally and endlessly rotates, a plurality of holding pieces 14 attached to links 12 a constituting the chain conveyor 12, and each holding piece 1.
4, the central portion is pivotally attached via a support piece 20 to a support position L
The V-shaped swing piece 16 which is biased from the (solid line) to the carry-out position H (two-dot chain line) and swings, and the swing piece 16 which is pivotally attached to each holding piece 14 and engages with the swing piece 16. The hook 18 that is locked at the support position, and the support piece 20 that is supported by each holding piece 14 and has an upper surface 20a that projects upward on one side from the center of the holding piece at the support position L.
And consists of.

The chain conveyor 12 is composed of, for example, two roller chains having a pitch of about 20 mm, and is designed to move horizontally in the vertical direction in the figure in synchronization with a sprocket (not shown). The chain conveyor 12 is horizontally guided along the upper surface of a horizontal guide plate 11a provided on the frame of the apparatus. Both ends (right and left in the figure) of the holding piece 14 are two links 12a of the chain conveyor 12.
It is fixed to each. The width of the holding piece 14 is
It is narrower than the pitch (for example, 20 mm) of the roller chains forming the chain conveyor 12. With this configuration, the holding piece 14 can be horizontally and endlessly rotated together with the chain conveyor 12.

The oscillating piece 16 is a thin V-shaped flat plate (for example, about 3 mm thick) whose upper part is wide open, and is oscillatably attached to the supporting piece 20 by an oscillating pin 16a passing through the central portion thereof. . The rocking piece 16 is provided with a projection shaft 16b at a position slightly separated from the rocking pin 16a, and the rocking piece 16 is provided between the projection shaft 16b and the projection shaft 20a provided on the support piece 20. A spring 17 is incorporated so as to rotate to the right in the figure, whereby the rocking piece 16 is biased from the support position L to the carry-out position H. On the rocking piece 16, the glass bottle 1 has its axis aligned with the chain conveyor 12
Are placed and conveyed in the moving direction of. The rocking piece 16 is
At the support position L, the glass bottle 1 does not roll off due to vibration or the like and is not separated from the swing piece, and at the carry-out position H, the upper surface on the right side of the swing pin 16a is an inclined surface inclined to the right. There is.

The hook 18 is an L-shaped member having substantially the same thickness as the oscillating plate 16 (for example, about 3 mm), and the pin 1 is provided at the center thereof.
It is rotatably supported by a support metal fitting 15 fixed to the holding piece 14 by 8a, and is rotated rightward in the figure by a spring like the swing piece 16. One end of the hook 18 has a swing piece 1
A protrusion that hooks on one end (left end in the figure) of 6 is provided,
At the other end of the hook 18, a wide horizontal push portion formed by bending a plate is provided.

The support piece 20 is composed of a plate thicker than the rocking plate 16 (for example, 4.5 mm), its lower end is fixed to the holding piece 14, and its upper surface 20a is at the center of the holding piece at the supporting position L and the hook 18. And a small amount of the weight of the glass bottle 1 placed on the swinging piece 16 at the supporting position L.

Further, in FIG. 2A, the hook releasing device 2 for swinging the hook 18 to disengage the swing piece 16 from the hook 18 is released.
Equipped with 2. This hook release device 22 is used for the hook 1
The striker 22a comes into contact with the push portion of the No. 8 and pushes the push portion downward, and the cylinder device 22b that moves the striker 22a up and down. Hook release device 22
Are provided in the plurality of carry-out sections 8 for carrying out the glass bottle 1, respectively, and are fixed to a part 11b of the frame of the apparatus. The striker 22a has a conical or curved lower end (tip) so that the striker 22a can be operated without being caught by the push portion of the moving hook 18.

With the above-described structure, the hook releasing device 22
And the pusher portion of the hook 18 is once pushed down by the striker 22a, the hook 18 moves to the pin 1
It swings to the left in the figure around 8a, and the protrusion of the hook 18 comes off the left end of the swing plate 16. The central portion of the V-shaped swinging piece 16 is pivotally attached to the holding piece 14 and is moved from the supporting position L to the carry-out position H.
Since the spring 18 is biased by the spring 17, the hook 18 is disengaged, and the swinging piece 16 swings from the supporting position L to the carry-out position H by the biasing force of the spring 17 and the weight of the article (glass bottle 1). The loaded article 1 is laterally rolled and carried out. Therefore, it is possible to surely sort the articles 1 such as a glass bottle which are easily damaged and easily rolled without damage.

Further, since the upper surface 20a of the supporting piece 20 projects upward on one side from the central portion of the holding piece 16 at the supporting position L, the weight of the swing piece 16 and the supporting piece 20 is reduced even when the article 1 is heavy. Can be shared and supported by. Furthermore, V
The center of the mold swing piece 16 is pivotally attached to the holding piece 12 via the support piece 20, and the spring 17 moves the support position L to the carry-out position H.
Since only the biasing force of the spring acting on the rocking piece 16 acts on the engaging portion of the hook 20, the hook 20 can be easily hooked with a comparatively small force comparable to this biasing force. 20 can be removed and the hook can be released with a small drive.

FIG. 2B is a partial sectional view similar to FIG. 1A taken along the line AA of FIG.
2 shows the return side. In this figure, the sorting apparatus 10 of the present invention is shown in FIG.
(Refer to FIG. 3), a return member 24 having an inclined surface 24a that engages with the swing piece 16 so as to return the swing piece 16 from the carry-out position H to the support position L is provided. Return member 2
4 is fixed to a frame of an apparatus (not shown), the movement of the chain conveyor 12 itself causes the inclined surface 24a to contact one end of the V-shaped rocking piece 16 at the carry-out position H, and the inclined surface 24
By moving one end of the V-shaped swing piece 16 along a, the swing piece 16 returns from the carry-out position H to the support position L, and
The hook 18 is rotated to the right in the figure by the end surface of the mold swing piece 16, and the protrusion of the hook 18 is moved by the spring 15a.
You can get caught in. With this configuration, FIG.
The V-shaped rocking piece 16 moved to the carry-out position H on the carrying side of (A)
Can be returned to the original support position L.

FIG. 3A is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3B is a plan view thereof. Figure 3
At the position detecting device 30,
Of the reflection type first sensor 32 and the second sensor 34 provided in the same row (that is, in the horizontal direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the chain conveyor 12) near the supply section of And a control device 36 for detecting the presence or absence of the article (glass bottle 1). The first sensor 32 is provided downward above the central portion of the rocking piece 16 through which the central portion of the article 1 passes, and the second sensor 34 is
It is provided downward above the end of the swinging piece 16 through which the article 1 does not pass. First sensor 32 and second sensor 34
Is a laser sensor that emits a laser beam and receives reflected light reflected at a predetermined reference height to detect the presence or absence of an article. In the present invention, the upper surface of the rocking piece 16 is a reference height (reference point).
Set to. In this case, the first sensor 32 and the second sensor 34 have a characteristic that they are turned off at the reference point and turned on both near and far from the reference point.

The control device 36 is configured to judge that the article is detected when the second sensor 34 detects the swing piece 16 and the first sensor 32 detects other than the swing piece.
That is, since the first sensor 32 is turned on both when the article (glass bottle 1) passes under the first sensor 32 and when the gap of the swinging piece 16 passes, the second sensor 34 is turned off, that is, swinging. If the first sensor 32 is ON when the piece 16 is detected, the article can be accurately detected by determining that the article is on the swing piece 16. If the second sensor 34 is OFF (detection of the swing piece 16) and the first sensor 32 is also OFF, it is determined that there is no article. Further, when the second sensor 34 is ON (detects the gap), it is preferable not to detect the article regardless of ON / OFF of the first sensor 32.

With this structure, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the second sensor 34 detects the swinging piece 16 and the first sensor 32 detects other than the swinging piece, it is determined that the article is detected. By doing so, it is possible to avoid a malfunction due to the swinging piece 16, and it is possible to accurately detect the end surface of a glass bottle or the like having the neck portions 1a having different heights.

As described above, according to the configuration of the present invention,
The central portion of the V-shaped swinging piece 16 is pivotally attached to the holding piece 14 via the support piece 20, and is biased from the support position L to the carry-out position H by a spring or the like. The oscillating piece 16 oscillates from the supporting position L to the carry-out position H by the force and the self-weight of the article 1, and the article 1 placed on it
Since they are rolled out in the lateral direction to be carried out, articles that are likely to be damaged such as glass bottles and easily rolled can be reliably sorted without damage.

Further, since the upper surface 20a is provided with the supporting piece 20 protruding upward on one side from the central portion of the holding piece at the supporting position L, the weight of the swing piece 16 and the supporting piece 20 can be reduced even when the article 1 is heavy. You can share it with and support it. Furthermore,
Since the central portion of the V-shaped swinging piece 16 is pivotally attached to the holding piece and is biased from the supporting position to the carry-out position, only the biasing force acting on the swinging piece acts on the engaging portion of the hook. However, the hook can be easily removed with a comparatively small force comparable to this biasing force, and therefore the hook can be released with a small drive device.

Further, a reflection type first sensor and a second sensor are provided in the same row in the vicinity of the supply section of the chain conveyor, and the first sensor is directed downward above the central portion of the swing piece through which the central portion of the article passes. Since the second sensor is provided downward above the end of the rocking piece through which the article does not pass, the second sensor detects the rocking piece and the first sensor detects other than the rocking piece. In this case, by determining that the article is detected, the end surface of the glass bottle or the like having a neck portion having a different height can be accurately detected without malfunction due to the swinging piece.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0029]

As described above, according to the sorting apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to sort articles such as glass bottles which are easily broken and easily rolled without being damaged, and the hooks can be easily removed even when the articles are heavy. Even if a small driving device is sufficient to release the hook and the glass bottle has necks of different heights, its end face can be accurately detected. Even if the position is shifted when it is placed, it has an excellent effect that the article can be accurately carried out at a predetermined position.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a sorting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 1 and a plan view thereof.

FIG. 4 is a partial configuration diagram of a conventional sorting device.

FIG. 5 is a configuration example of a conventional position detection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Items (Glass Bottle) 2 Churn Conveyor 3 Attachment 4 Support Plate 5 Support Pin 6 Hook 7 Sensor 8 Outgoing Part 9 Color Identification Conveyor 10 Sorting Device 12 Chain Conveyor 14 Holding Piece 16 Swinging Piece 18 Hook 20 Supporting Piece 22 Hook Release Device 24a Inclined surface 24 Return member 30 Position detection device 32 First sensor 34 Second sensor 36 Control device

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Bunichi Iwamoto 3-15-15 Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Toji Technical Center (72) Inventor Akio Suzuki Sanyo Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo 1-15 Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Toji Technical Center (72) Inventor Yuji Ohara 3-15-15 Toyosu Koto-ku, Tokyo Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Toji Technical Center (72) Inventor Masakatsu Shimamura 3-15-15 Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Toni Technical Center

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A chain conveyor which horizontally and endlessly rotates, a plurality of holding pieces attached to links constituting the chain conveyor, and a central portion pivotally attached to each of the holding pieces so as to be attached from a supporting position to a carrying-out position. A V-shaped swing piece that is urged to swing, a hook that is pivotally attached to each holding piece and engages with the swing piece to lock the swing piece at a support position, and an upper surface supported by each holding piece The holding piece at the supporting position consists of a supporting piece protruding upward from one side of the central portion of the holding piece, and the article is placed on the V-shaped swinging piece at the supporting position for conveyance, the hook is removed, and the V-shaped swinging piece is at the carry-out position. A sorting device, characterized in that the article is oscillated to roll laterally. 2. The sorting device according to claim 1, further comprising a hook releasing device that swings the hook to disengage from the swing piece. 3. A return member provided on the return side of the chain conveyor, the return member having an inclined surface for engaging the rocking piece so as to return the rocking piece from the carry-out position to the supporting position. The sorting device according to claim 1. 4. A reflective first sensor and a second sensor which are provided in the same row in the vicinity of the supply section of the chain conveyor, and a control device which detects the presence or absence of an article by the output of the first sensor and the second sensor. The first sensor is provided downward above the central portion of the swing piece through which the central portion of the article passes, and the second sensor is provided downward above the end portion of the swing piece through which the article does not pass. The sorting device according to claim 1, wherein the control device determines that the article is detected when the second sensor detects the swing piece and the first sensor detects a piece other than the swing piece.