JPH08108930A - Selecting device for long vegetable - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a selecting device for long vegetables which is equipped, in a condition to function securely without causing any troubles, with a space widening measure that widens a space between elongate-shaped vegetables supplied at close intervals in order to make a space appropriate for shape recognition, by reviewing its structure starting from a designing stage therefor. CONSTITUTION: A device equipped with a carrying conveyor 3 for trays 7, a receiving part which supplies cucumbers to the trays 7, a shape recognition part 5 which recognizes the shape of a cucumber on the carrying conveyor 3 by means of a CCD- camera 13, a selecting part 6 which selects and sorts cucumbers based on the shape recognition information, and a space widening measure D which widens a space between neighboring elongate-shaped vegetables so that the space may become an appropriate space in the carrying direction for recognition operation carried out by the shape recognition part 5. The space widening measure D is composed of many rods 9 attached to a chain making turning motion in an elongated circle and arranged relatively so that supplied cucumbers may be received in a straightened track part of the chain and that the cucumbers may be dropped and supplied, by a motion widening a space between neighboring rods 9, 9 in a circular track part, from the circular track part onto the carrying conveyor 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

The present invention relates to long vegetables such as cucumber (cucumber), loofah (melon), carrot or radish.
The present invention relates to a sorting device that sorts and sorts according to shape and size.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As the above-mentioned sorting apparatus, in Japanese Patent Application No. 6-155604 filed previously, the cucumber fed by the feeding means is conveyed by a belt conveyor, the shape is recognized in the conveyed state, and then the shape is detected. There has been proposed a sorting device that sorts by size.

[0003]

In the sorting apparatus according to the proposed technique, the cucumbers housed in the container in an aligned state are adsorbed in the arrayed state, that is, the cucumbers adjacent to each other are adsorbed at a very narrow interval. However, since it is difficult to recognize the shape if the intervals are close, it is difficult to recognize the shape. I am trying to spread to the pitch of. However, with a means for arranging belt conveyors having different speeds in series on the same plane, there is a possibility that the gap expansion function may be impaired due to the cucumber drop on the rotating surface of the belt end, and there is room for improvement in ensuring reliable function. It was It is an object of the present invention to provide a space enlargement means for expanding long vegetables supplied at a close space to a space suitable for shape recognition by a structure review from the design stage, in a state of functioning reliably and without inconvenience. The point is to provide a vegetable selection device.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a conveyor for conveying long vegetables and a plurality of long vegetables stored in a container in a state of being aligned in the longitudinal direction. Means for transporting the vegetables to the transport conveyor in the array state, a sorting section for sorting and sorting long vegetables sent by the transport conveyor, and a spacing in the transport direction between adjacent long vegetables in the sorting section. So as to have an interval suitable for the sorting operation, and an interval expanding means for expanding the interval in the transfer direction between adjacent long vegetables in an array state supplied by the supply means and supplying the interval to the conveyor, The expanding means is configured by attaching a large number of rod members to an endless rotation band that rotates on an oval orbit along the outer diameter direction of the circular orbits at both ends thereof, and is supplied from the supply means. The long vegetable coming from the circular orbital part is received by the linear orbital part of the endless rotation zone, and the interval between the adjacent bar members spreads out in the circular orbital part of the endless rotation zone. The present invention is characterized in that the supply means, the interval increasing means, and the transfer conveyor are arranged relative to each other so that they can be dropped and supplied to the transfer conveyor below.

It is convenient that the rotation fulcrum of the endless rotation band in the space expanding means is arranged at a position distant laterally outward from the lateral side end of the conveyor. Then, a regulating member is attached to an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of each rod member, and the spacing pitch at the regulating member attachment portion of the adjacent rod members in the state where the adjacent regulating members contact each other is determined by the endless rotation of the adjacent rod members. It is more convenient to set the size of the regulating member so as to be equal to the mounting pitch to the dynamic band, and to provide a tensioning mechanism for urging the linear track portion of the endless rotary band toward the inside of the loop. .

Further, the rod member is attached to the endless rotation band so as to be vertically swingable, and the rod member is received and guided from below at the tip end side portion of the end portion of the rod member attached to the endless rotation band. A guide rail is provided, and the upper surface of the guide rail in the linear track portion is formed in a substantially corrugated shape so that the bar member vibrates vertically in the range where the regulating members abut on the linear track portion. It is also good to have

[0007]

According to the structure of the first aspect, as shown in FIG. 10, since the chain 8 rotates on an elliptical orbit, the distance between the adjacent rod members 9 attached to the chain 8 is a straight line. The orbital portion can be set in a parallel and narrow state in which a cucumber can be placed, and the circular orbital portion can be set in an arcuately enlarged state to drop the placed cucumber. That is,
Since it becomes possible to sequentially feed the long vegetables in the closely-spaced state received in the straight track portion one by one in the circular track portion, the transport speed of the spacing expanding means is set to be lower than the transport speed of the transport conveyor. By also slowing down, the interval between long vegetables on the conveyor can be expanded to one suitable for shape recognition. Since this means drops long vegetables and supplies them to the conveyor, it does not cause a malfunction due to the drop at the conveyor end as in the conventional method, and ensures that the interval expansion function can be revealed. In addition, since the principle of widening the interval between the rod members in the circular orbit is utilized, it is possible to construct a cucumber that can be sequentially dropped with a simple structure in which the endless rotation band is rotated.

When shifting from a straight orbit to a circular orbit, the distance between the bar members does not spread in parallel, but spreads asymmetrically due to the circular arc movement, so that long vegetables start to slip from the outer part of the diameter. Therefore, it is considered that the time required from the start of opening and movement of the bar member until the bar member actually drops may vary depending on the length of the long vegetables and the shape of the long vegetables. Therefore, in the configuration of claim 2, since the rotation fulcrum of the endless rotation band is set at a position laterally outward from the conveyor, the distance from each end of the long vegetable to the rotation fulcrum. It is possible to reduce the ratio of difference. In other words, since the difference in the spreading speed of the bar member at the inner end and the outer end of the long vegetable in the circular orbit is small and it is possible to approach the state of spreading in parallel, it is possible to quickly drop in a state where the slipping is as short as possible. As a result, the drop supply operation to the conveyor can be made as close as possible to a constant interval regardless of changes in length and shape.

According to the third aspect of the invention, it is possible to maintain the distance between the adjacent bar members in the straight line portion in a parallel state. That is, since the positions of the adjacent bar members are determined by the attachment in the endless rotation band and the two-point support by the restricting member, the ends of the bar members are not closed or opened, and long vegetables can be prevented without accidental drop. It becomes possible to surely mount at a constant height position. However, if the linear track part of the endless rotation zone expands outward and may be displaced, the restriction members may separate and the tip of the bar member may open, but the tension mechanism causes the linear track part to move inside the loop. Due to the tension, the restriction members always come into contact with each other, and the adjacent bar members can be kept parallel to each other in the straight track portion.

By the way, since it is difficult to positionally fix the rod member in the vertical direction by the cantilever support structure only by mounting the rod member in the endless rotation band, it is desirable to support the tip end side of the rod member from below. According to the structure of claim 4, since the tip end side of the rod member is supported by the guide rail, the rod member can be maintained in a predetermined posture such as horizontal without the inconvenience of hanging. Further, since the guide rail is formed in a corrugated shape in the receiving portion, the bar member vibrates vertically as it moves. Therefore, even if long vegetables are supplied in an oblique posture across three or more bar members, the vibration causes the long vegetables to be placed between the adjacent bar members. A posture correction action is generated so that the posture becomes the receiving posture.

[0011]

As a result, in the long vegetable sorter according to the first aspect of the invention, the interval expanding means for expanding the interval between long vegetables can be configured to have a simple structure but surely function, and can be economically selected. It contributed to the improvement of the reliability of the device. In the long vegetable sorter according to claim 2, by devising the arrangement of the rotation fulcrum, the interval of dropping long vegetables onto the conveyor can be made as constant as possible, which is rational with a high function for the cost. The space expansion means was realized. In the long vegetable sorter according to the third aspect, the interval of the bar members can be maintained in a parallel state suitable for receiving vegetables in the straight track portion in the receiving part, and the interval expanding means can be made to function well. In the long vegetable sorter according to claim 4, the guide rail for making the interval expanding means function properly can also have the posture correcting function of the vegetables of the long feed, and can be provided as a higher added value. There are advantages.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A cucumber sorter is shown in FIGS.
In this sorting machine, a container 1 containing cucumbers is continuously conveyed by a roller conveyor 2, and a cucumber supplied from the conveyor A is conveyed by an oval-shaped conveyor conveyor 3 which circulates in a plane. It is composed of a sorting device B that sorts and sorts, and a supply device C that transfers the cucumber in the transport device A to the receiving portion 4 of the sorting device B.

The transporting device A is constructed by arranging the roller conveyors 2 in a straight line, and the cucumbers transported by the transporting device A are arranged in two rows with their longitudinal directions aligned with the transporting direction of the roller conveyors 2. The sorting device B is housed in the container 1 and arranged laterally laterally of the roller conveyor 2.

The sorting device B comprises a conveyor 3, a receiving section 4 for receiving cucumber from the container 1, a shape recognizing section 5 for recognizing the shape and length of the cucumber sent from the receiving section 4, and The cucumber sent from the shape recognition section 5 is selected based on the shape recognition information of the shape recognition section 5, and is sorted into a plurality of locations. The sorting unit 6 is arranged laterally of the shape recognition unit 5 in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the vegetables are conveyed from the receiving unit 4 to the shape recognition unit 5, and the transport conveyor 3 is provided with a tray 7 on which a cucumber can be placed. Is formed into an elliptical plane circulation transport mechanism that returns from the receiving section 4 to the shape recognizing section 5 and the selecting section 6 in this order and returns to the receiving section 4.

The transport conveyor 3 has a large number of trays 7 mounted in a cantilevered state on a chain 10 which moves oval about a pair of shaft centers P1 and P2, and a rolling roller 7A supported on the tip of the trays 7. A support rail R for rolling movement is provided. Therefore, the trays 7 are circulated and moved in the horizontal posture, and the trays 7 are arranged in a straight line in a state where they are lined up without a gap. As shown in FIG. 4, the tray 7 has an open / close structure in which a cucumber is placed on two inclined bottom surfaces 7b and 7c having different lengths that can be opened downward. The bottom surface 7 of the sorting unit 6
By opening b and 7c, the cucumber can be dropped and supplied to the predetermined collection box 12.

The receiving section 4 corresponds to the starting end of the linear movement path of the tray 7 on the side of the transfer conveyor 3 facing the roller conveyor 2. The shape recognition unit 5 is composed of an image processing device 13 with a CCD camera arranged above the transport conveyor 3, and has a shape such as a bending state of each cucumber placed on the tray 7 and a length and a width. Etc. Measure the dimensions.

The sorting section 6 arranges a plurality of collection boxes 12 below the linear movement path portion of the transport conveyor 3 on the side far from the roller conveyor 2 and makes a predetermined collection based on the information from the shape recognition section 5. An opening / closing operation mechanism E for opening and operating the tray 7 on the box 12 is provided. For example, the image processing device 13, the opening / closing operation mechanism E, and the transport conveyor 3 are linkedly controlled by dropping a straight and long cucumber into the collection box 12 on the most upstream side in the transport direction.

The structures of the tray 7 and the sorting section 6 will be described in detail. As shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, the tray 7 includes a first long side wall between the inner side wall 7d and the outer side wall 7e.
The bottom surface 7b and the second bottom surface 7c having a short length are provided so as to be swingable around the axis Q, respectively. A cam roller 37 for interlockingly opening and closing the second bottom surface 7c is provided at the tip of the first bottom surface 7b, and an operation roller rolling on the guide rail 11 arranged inside the loop of the conveyor 3 is provided at the middle portion. 7a are provided respectively. An opening / closing operation mechanism E that acts on the operation roller 7a to open and operate the tray 7 at a predetermined position in the sorting unit 6 is arranged in the space inside the loop of the transport conveyor 3 which is a plane circulation transport mechanism.

In the sorting section 6, six collection boxes 12 are arranged below the transport conveyor 3 in order to sort the collection boxes 12 in six ways according to length and shape, and a movable guide rail 39 corresponding to each of the collection boxes 12 is arranged. , Guide rail 11
Prepared inside. That is, each movable guide rail 39 is formed in a hook shape so that the operation roller 7a rolls on the upper surface 39a thereof, and the operation roller 7a is mounted on the tray by swinging the lower end around the fulcrum X. It is possible to change the working posture in which the bottom surface of 7 is closed, and the retracted posture in which the working posture is moved to the inner side of the loop of the conveyor 3 so as not to make sliding contact with the operation roller 7a.

The movable guide rail 39 pivotally supported by the support frame 40 can be switched between the working posture and the retracted posture by the solenoid 41 and the return spring 42 supported by the support frame 40, whereby the opening / closing mechanism E is opened. Is configured. That is, when the solenoid 41 is in the non-operating state, the movable guide rail 39 is maintained in the working posture (state of FIG. 6A) by the return spring 42, and when the solenoid 41 is activated by energization, the urging force of the return spring 42 is resisted. The movable guide rails 39 are switched to the retracted posture [state of FIG. 6B] by moving the movable guide rails 39 corresponding to the collection boxes 12 to be sorted to the retracted posture, so that the cucumbers placed on the tray 7 can be removed. It can be recovered.

The lateral side surface of the operation roller 7a inward of the loop and the lateral side surface of the tray of the movable guide rail 39 are both formed in a laterally pointed shape.
That is, a conical relief member 44 having a maximum outer diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the operation roller 7a is attached to the support shaft 43 of the operation roller 7a, and the movable guide rail 39 is provided.
Is formed at the stop portion 45 having a ← shape.

That is, even if the movable guide rail 39, which has begun to move toward the retracted posture, suddenly returns to the working posture due to a failure of the solenoid 41 or the like, due to the sharpness of the stop portion 45 and the escape member 44, The operation roller 7a can be smoothly escaped to the upper or lower side of the movable guide rail 39 so that the operation roller 7a and the movable guide rail 39 are locked in the abutting state without causing a defective state. On the contrary, even if the solenoid 41 is operated while the operation roller 7a is rolling on the movable guide rail 39, the stop portion 45 catches on the operation roller 7a because of its ← shape and moves. The retracting swing of the guide rail 39 is restrained.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, in the shape recognition section 5, both the first and second bottom surfaces 7b and 7c are moved so that the first and second bottom surfaces 7b and 7c move to the photographing position which is higher than the vegetable receiving position in the receiving section 4. A mounting height operating means F for swinging the bottom surfaces 7b and 7c is provided. That is, the guide rail 11 in the shape recognition unit 5 is set to the raised guide unit 11a that is lifted to a slightly higher position only in the image processing apparatus 13 part, and the rolling position of the operation roller 7a is raised to the first position.
The bottom surface 7b is configured to swing upward. By the way, Fig. 9
As shown in FIG. 1, the guide rail 11 includes a receiving section 4 and a sorting section 6.
It is formed in a U shape lacking a turning portion between and, and a starting end portion of the receiving portion 4 is an upslope 11b. Due to this ascending inclination, the operation roller 7a in the state where it is opened and oscillated and hung down in the sorting section 6 functions to lift it to a specified height position where the tray 7 is closed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the sorting apparatus B, a plurality of cucumbers fed from the feeding apparatus C in a dense pitch state are spread to the spacing pitch of the tray 7 and then moved to the tray 7. Enlarging means D is provided at the receiving portion 4 site. That is, a large number of mounting rods (corresponding to rod members) 9 are attached to the chain 8 which rotates on an elliptical orbit in a cantilevered state extending in the outer diameter direction, thereby forming the interval enlarging means D. The cucumber can be placed with a narrow gap between the corresponding mounting bars 9 and 9, and the cucumber drops due to an increase in the spacing between the adjacent mounting bars 9 and 9 in the rotational movement portions at both ends. It is a thing. Therefore, the linearly moving part of the chain 8 is arranged in the receiving part 4, and the rotationally moving part is arranged in the receiving part 4.
It is set so as to be placed between the shape recognition unit 5 and the shape recognition unit 5.

Next, the interval expanding means D will be described in detail.
As shown in FIGS. 10 to 13, front and rear sprockets 5
The outer chain link 8a of the chain 8 wound around 3, 54 is formed into an L-shaped bent plate, and the mounting plate 9a is welded to the base end of the pipe mounting rod 9 to form the upper and lower outer chain links. The mounting rod 9 is attached to the chain 8 by connecting and integrating the 8a, 8a and the mounting plate 9a with a countersunk screw. In order to keep the loading rod 9 in a horizontal posture, the tip side of the loading rod 9 is slidably moved on a guide rail (corresponding to a guide rail) 48, and a cucumber tray 7 is provided between the receiving portion 4 and the shape recognition portion 5. The guide rail is composed of a notched loop-shaped outer rail 48A lacking a portion to be dropped to the inner rail 48B and an inner rail 48B that supports and guides the root side portion of the mounting rod 9 in the lacking portion (in claim 4). (Corresponding to a guide rail) 48 is configured. This guide rail 48
It is mounted and supported on the support frame 40 by a plurality of support members 49.

The receiving portion 4 portion of the outer rail 48A is
Even if the posture of the cucumber dropped from the suction pad 14 is diagonal, it is vertically displaced continuously in a wavy shape when viewed from the side, and the mounting bar 9 vibrates vertically to move, It is arranged so that it can be accommodated between two adjacent mounting bars 9, 9. Further, a substantially U-shaped contact plate (corresponding to a restricting member) 50 is penetratingly supported at the rod intermediate portion near the root so that the pitch of the cantilevered mounting rods 9 arranged side by side does not change. . That is, the mounting pitch of the chain 8 is set to be equal to the pitch of the mounting rods 9 when the contact plates 50, 50 adjacent to each other are in contact with each other. However, the pitch as set is revealed. Further, a chain tensioner (corresponding to a tensioning mechanism) 51 that acts on the attachment plate 9a to tension the chain 8 is provided so that the state where the contacting plates 50, 50 are reliably brought into contact with each other appears. The chain tensioner 51 has a structure in which a roller 51b is supported at the tip of an arm 51a swingable about an axis P1 and is urged by a spring 51c.

The transmission system of the space expanding means D inputs the rotational force of the conveyor 3. That is, the transport conveyor 3
Of the driven sprocket 52 around which the chain 10 of
A drive sprocket 53 that is configured as an integrated product including a large-diameter sorting sprocket 52a and a small-diameter transmission sprocket 52b and is chain-linked with the transmission sprocket 52b.
Is configured as an integrated product including a large diameter input sprocket 53a and a medium diameter guide drive sprocket 53b. Then, a chain 8 having a mounting rod 9 is wound around a driven follower sprocket 54 for guide and a guide drive sprocket 53b which are loosely fitted around a rotary shaft having an axis P1. That is, the rotation fulcrums Y, Y of the chain 8 are set at positions distant inward from the transport conveyor 3, and one of the rotation fulcrums Y is one of the chains 1 of the transport conveyor 3.
It is made to coincide with the rotation fulcrum P1 of 0.

Incidentally, the number of teeth of each sprocket is set to a selection sprocket 52a: 48T transmission sprocket 52b: 12T input sprocket 53a: 36T guide drive sprocket 53b: 24T guide driven sprocket 54: 24T. The difference in speed at which the tray 7 moves at a speed that is six times the moving speed of the rod 9 is shown. As a result, regardless of the juxtaposed pitch of the trays 7 which is 6 times the juxtaposed pitch of the mounting rods 9, the trays 7 are placed in the tray 7 from the space expanding means D.
Only the cucumbers in the books are supplied.

As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 and FIG. 14, the feeding device C is of a suction moving type that sucks and lifts a plurality of cucumbers and transfers them to the transport conveyor 3, and is provided with a plurality of suction pads 14. Suction unit 15, a composite moving mechanism 16 that can move the suction unit 15 up and down and left and right, a suction pump 17, a second reciprocating moving mechanism 18 that can move the composite moving mechanism 16 left and right, and a sucked cucumber. And a rotation mechanism (corresponding to rotation supply means) 19 for rotating the direction of 90 degrees.

As shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the suction portion 15
Is configured by supporting a suction pad 14 composed of a flexible bellows tube such as rubber on a suction frame 20. The suction pad 14 has two suction pads 14 so that a plurality (five) of cucumbers can be sucked at one time. They are arranged in rows and equipped. The composite moving mechanism 16 is a left-right moving mechanism (corresponding to a first reciprocating moving mechanism) 16
It is composed of A and a vertical movement mechanism 16B. That is, a support frame 24 slidably fitted to the left and right long horizontal shafts 22 supported by the underframe 21 surrounding the suction pump 17 and connected to the piston rods 23a of the left and right cylinders 23 is provided. The suction frame 20 is attached to the lower end of a vertical axis 25 that is vertically slidable and rotatable with respect to 24, and the vertical axis 25 can be moved up and down by an upper and lower cylinder 26 supported by the support frame 24. The left and right cylinders 23 and the upper and lower cylinders 26 are both air cylinders.

In the second reciprocating mechanism 18, the left and right cylinders 23 are slidably mounted on the slide shaft 27 mounted on the underframe 21, and the geared motor 28 for driving the projecting plate 23b integral with the left and right cylinders 23. It is configured with. That is, by sequentially rotating the output arm 28a of the geared motor 28 by 180 degrees, the left and right cylinders 23 are switched between two positions, a first position near the roller conveyor 2 side and a second position near the opposite side. There is.

The width of the container 1 is such that ten cucumbers are lined up on the left and right sides of the container 1 so that one row (10) of cucumbers can be taken out by performing the operation twice just by shifting the suction portion 15 right and left. Is set to, geared motor 28
The swing width of the left and right cylinders 23 is approximately half the inner lateral width (300 mm) of the container 1 (150 m
m). Also, the stroke of the left and right cylinders 23 themselves is determined by the roller conveyor 2 in the container 1.
It is made to correspond to the distance between the position where five cucumbers on the side are adsorbed and the cucumber drop position in the receiving unit 4.

Therefore, first, as shown in FIG.
When the five cucumbers on the side far from the roller conveyor 2 are adsorbed, the left and right cylinders 23 are in the second position, and it is detected by the first limit switch 34 that operates by contacting the protruding plate 23b. ing. Then, when the upper and lower cylinders 26 operate and the suction frame 20 rises after suction, the geared motor 28 is driven and the left and right cylinders 23 are extended and driven, and the output arm 28a of the geared motor 28 rotates 180 degrees. Left and right cylinder 23
When reaches the first position, the second limit switch 35 operates to stop the geared motor 28, and the suction frame 20 reaches the predetermined position of the receiving portion 4 as shown in FIG. Then, the member protruding from the support frame 24 (no reference numeral)
Contacts the third limit switch 36 on the sorting device B side,
The left and right cylinders 23 stop and the suction pump 17
Then, the suction operation is stopped and the adsorbed cucumber drops and is supplied onto the mounting rod 9 of the interval expanding means D.

Next, as shown in FIG. 15C, only the left and right cylinders 23 are shortened to return the suction frame 20 to the first position, and the five cucumbers on the side closer to the roller conveyor 2 are suctioned. Become. Then, after supplying onto the mounting rod 9 in the same manner as described above, this time the right and left cylinders 23
And the geared motor 28 are both driven to return the suction frame 20 to the second position. In other words, the geared motor 28 moves 1
It is driven so as to rotate by 80 degrees, so that, out of the two rows of cucumbers in the container 1, it is taken out from the row on the lower side of the roller conveyor 2 in the conveying direction, and when the row is finished, the roller conveyor 2 is removed. The container 1 is moved by the length of the cucumber, and the cucumber is supplied in the same operation sequence as above.

The rotating mechanism 19 has a structure in which the suction frame 20 is rotated by utilizing the expansion and contraction of the left and right cylinders 23. That is, the base plate 29 is attached to the tip of the piston rod of the upper and lower cylinders 26, and is attached to the upper end of the vertical axis 25 so that the arm 2
A return spring 30 is installed so as to extend across 5a and the substrate 29. Then, the stopper 31 that receives the arm 25a is fixed to the substrate 29 in order to keep the suction frame 20 biased in a take-out posture in which the longitudinal direction of the cucumber sucked on the suction pad 14 and the longitudinal direction of the cucumber in the container 1 coincide with each other. There is. Further, the turning arm 32 is attached to the vertical axis 25 in an integrally turning state, and a vertical support column 33 capable of contacting the turning arm 32 is provided in the underframe 21 in the middle of the moving path of the left and right cylinders 23. It has been installed from above.

That is, in the state where the left and right cylinders 23 are retracted to return the suction frame 20 to the container 1, FIG.
As shown in (a), there is no interference between the rotating arm 32 and the support column 33, and the return spring 30 prevents the suction frame 20
Is in a take-out posture. Then, when the left and right cylinders 23 are moved to project so as to be supplied to the sorting apparatus B, the rotating arm 32 comes into contact with the support column 33 during the movement, and the vertical axis is relatively moved against the biasing force of the return spring 30. When 25 is rotated in the clockwise direction and is maximally protruded, as shown in FIG. 16C, the suction frame 20 is switched to the supply posture in which it is rotated by 90 degrees, and the length of the cucumber extends in the longitudinal direction of the tray 7. The directions match. When the left and right cylinders 23 are moved back and forth again, as shown in FIG.
Thereby, the suction frame 20 returns to the take-out posture.

[Other Embodiments] As shown in FIG. 19, an arcuate partition plate 55 is attached to the mounting bar 9 so that the posture of the cucumber dropped from the supply means C can be corrected to a horizontally aligned posture. The interval increasing means D may be used.

Incidentally, reference numerals are written in the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the attached drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

[Figure 1] Overall plan view of cucumber sorter

[Fig. 2] Exploded view of the sorting device

[Figure 3] Side view of the cucumber sorter with some cutaways

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the structure of the tray.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state of the tray in the shape recognition unit.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing the structure of a tray opening / closing operation mechanism.

FIG. 7 is an operation diagram showing the opening / closing operation of the tray in the sorting unit.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a change in the height of the tray in the shape recognition unit.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a guide rail inside the loop.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged plan view showing the structure of the space expanding means.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing a supporting structure of a mounting rod.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a state of a guide rail in a receiving portion.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a transmission system of the space expanding means.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing the structure of a supply device.

FIG. 15 is an operation diagram showing a cucumber supply operation from the container to the sorting device.

FIG. 16 is an operation diagram showing an operating state of the rotating mechanism.

FIG. 17 is an action diagram showing the adsorption operation of cucumber.

FIG. 18 is a bottom view of the suction frame.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing another structure of the mounting bar.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Container 3 Conveyor 6 Sorting part 8 Endless rotation band 9 Bar member 48 Guide rail 50 Regulation member 51 Tension mechanism C Supply means D Interval expansion means Y Rotation fulcrum

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A conveyor (3) for transporting long vegetables, and a plurality of long vegetables stored in a container (1) in an array state in which the longitudinal direction is aligned, in the array state. Supply means (C) to be transferred onto the transfer conveyor (3), a selection section (6) for selecting and assorting long vegetables sent by the transfer conveyor (3), and next to the selection section (6) In order that the interval between the long vegetables that fit each other becomes a suitable interval for the sorting operation, the interval between the adjacent long vegetables that are arranged by the supply means (C) and are adjacent to each other is widened to increase the interval. A space expanding means (D) for supplying to the transfer conveyor (3) is provided, and the space expanding means (D) is provided on an endless rotation zone (8) which rotates on an elliptical orbit, in a circular orbit at both ends thereof. Many bars along the outer diameter (9) is attached and configured, and the long vegetables supplied from the supply means (C) are received by the linear track portion of the endless rotation zone (8), and the adjacent bar members (9). ), (9) The distance between the endless rotation zone (8) spreads out in the circular orbital portion so that long vegetables can be dropped and supplied from the circular orbital portion to the lower conveyor (3). A long vegetable sorter in which the supply means (C), the interval expansion means (D), and the transfer conveyor (3) are arranged relative to each other. 2. The rotation fulcrum (Y) of the endless rotation band (8) in the space widening means (D) is located at a position separated laterally outward from the lateral side end of the transfer conveyor (3). The long vegetable sorter according to claim 1, which is provided. 3. A regulating member (50) is attached to an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of each of the rod members (9), and the regulating members (5) are adjacent to each other.
0) and (50) are in contact with each other, the spacing between the adjacent rod members (9) and (9) at the mounting portion of the restriction member (50) is such that the adjacent rod members (9) and
The dimension of the regulating member (50) is set so as to be equal to the mounting pitch of (9) to the endless rotation band (8), and the linear track portion of the endless rotation band (8) is The long vegetable sorter according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a tensioning mechanism (51) for biasing the inside of the loop. 4. The rod member (9) is attached to the endless rotation belt (8) so as to be vertically swingable, and the attachment portion of the rod member (9) to the endless rotation belt (8). A guide rail (48) that receives and guides the rod member (9) from below is provided at the tip end side portion thereof, and within the range where the regulating members (50) and (50) abut against each other in the straight track portion. 4. The length according to claim 3, wherein the upper surface of the guide rail (48) in the straight track portion is formed in a substantially corrugated shape so as to vertically move so that the rod member (9) moves up and down vibratingly. A vegetable sorter.