JPH1111425A - Field crop-feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable accurately detecting the position of a globe-shaped field crop-holding part formed on the carrier surface of an endless conveyor. SOLUTION: This feeding device is provided with an endless conveyor 5 having a holding part 19 which holds a globe-shaped field crop and sends it sideways, with a position detective means 27 which detects arrival of the holding part 19 at a prescribed position A in the forwarding path, and with a feeding mechanism which takes out the globe-shaped field crop brought to the prescribed position A and sends it into a processing device 1. The position detective means 27 is provided in its constitution with a part to be detected 26 which, when the holding part 19 has arrived at the prescribed position A, is positioned in a downwardly looking attitude at a prescribed position C in the return path of the endless conveyor 5 and with a position sensor 25 which detects the positioning of the part to be detected 26 at the prescribed position C. An endless body-receiving member 7 which holds an endless body part around the prescribed position C and is capable of vertically setting and maintaining the position of the endless body part is provided above the position sensor 25.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endless conveyor of a revolving and rotating type, in which a plurality of spherical crops are separately held by a plurality of holding portions formed on a conveying surface and fed in a horizontal direction, and the holding portion is located on an outgoing path. The present invention relates to a crop supply apparatus provided with a position detection means for detecting that a predetermined position has been reached, and a feeding mechanism for taking out the spherical crop sent to the predetermined position by the endless conveyor and sending it to a processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the position detecting means in the above-mentioned crop supplying apparatus is provided for each of the holding sections with a detection section moving in an upward posture on the outward path of the endless conveyor, and the holding section is located at the predetermined position. When the vehicle arrives, a position sensor is provided which detects a detected part positioned in an upward posture at a set position on the outward path of the endless conveyor.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional configuration,
The to-be-detected part which is moving upward on the outward path of the endless conveyor toward the set position may be hit by cut leaves or foreign matter of spherical crops falling from above. In the case where the position sensor is configured by an optical sensor or the like that detects that the detected portion is blocked by the light beam to the detected portion, before the detected portion reaches the set position, that is, the holding portion is in the forward path. Before reaching the predetermined position, the light beam is blocked by cut leaves of the spherical crops protruding from the detected portion to the set position side, and the optical sensor detects and operates, and the accurate position detection of the holding portion can be performed. Sometimes disappeared.

An object of the present invention is to enable accurate position detection of a holding portion of a spherical crop formed on a conveying surface of an endless conveyor.

[0005]

The constitution, operation and effect of the invention according to claim 1 are as follows.

[Structure] In the crop supplying apparatus described at the beginning, the position detecting means is configured to detect a position of the endless conveyor in a downward position at a set position on the return path of the endless conveyor when the holding portion reaches the predetermined position. Is provided on the endless conveyor corresponding to each holding unit, and a position sensor for detecting that the detected part is located at the set position is provided, and the endless conveyor of the endless conveyor is provided around the set position. The body part is received from below while slidingly guiding the body part in the moving direction, and the position of the endless body part in the vertical direction is
An endless body receiving member which is set and maintained above the position sensor is provided.

[A] The detected part is located in the downward position at the set position during the return path of the endless conveyor when the holding part reaches the predetermined position. There are no spherical crops or foreign matter on the detection unit, and as a result, for example, light that detects that the detected unit is located at the set position by blocking the light beam at the detected unit In the case where the position sensor is configured by a sensor, there is no longer a case where a cut leaf or the like of the spherical crop blocks the light beam as in the related art.

[B] In an endless conveyor, the endless body may elongate and hang down due to long-term use or the like. In such a case, the hanging portion of the endless body is required before the detected portion reaches the set position. However, according to the configuration of the first aspect, the endless body receiving member slides the endless body portion around the set position of the endless conveyor in the moving direction. Since the position of the endless body portion in the up-down direction is set and maintained above the position sensor while receiving the moving guide, the above-described problem can be avoided.

[Effect] Therefore, according to the above items (a) and (b), it is possible to prevent an object other than the detected portion from blocking the light beam, and the spherical crop holding portion formed on the conveying surface of the endless conveyor. Can be accurately located. The same effect can be obtained when the position sensor is constituted by an ultrasonic sensor that emits an ultrasonic wave to the detected part.

The construction, operation and effect of the invention according to claim 2 are as follows.

[Structure] In the invention according to claim 1,
The position sensor is attached to the endless body receiving member.

[Operation] In addition to the same operation as the operation according to the first aspect, the following operation can be obtained. In order for the endless body receiving member to be able to set and maintain the vertical position of the endless body portion of the endless conveyor above the position sensor, a vertical positional relationship between the position sensor and the endless body receiving member is required. It is necessary to accurately set the position sensor. As a positioning means of the position sensor, for example, there is a means for supporting the position sensor with a support bracket provided on the transport frame of the endless conveyor, and in this means, a new support bracket is provided. This increases the number of components, but in the configuration of claim 1, since the position sensor is attached to the endless body receiving member, the above-described support bracket dedicated to the position sensor is not required, and the number of components is reduced. As shown in FIG. 3, for example, by attaching the position sensor 25 to the lower surface of the endless body receiving member 7, Receiving the vertical positional relationship between the members can be accurately set.

[Effect] Accordingly, the position of the holding portion of the spherical crop formed on the conveying surface of the endless conveyor can be detected more accurately while the structure is simplified.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, lettuce packaging apparatus 1 (corresponding to a processing apparatus, hereinafter abbreviated as packaging apparatus)
And a lettuce supply device 2 for supplying lettuce (corresponding to spherical crops) to the packaging device 1, are placed on the floor independently of each other, and a control device 3 for controlling both devices 1 and 2 is provided. A lettuce packaging facility is configured.

The packaging apparatus 1 receives the lettuce from the lettuce insertion port 14 formed in the lettuce receiving portion 8 at the center of the upper surface, wraps it with a transparent wrapping sheet 15, and finishes the wrapping from an opening 17 provided on one side. It is a device for discharging lettuce.

As shown in FIG. 2, the lettuce supply device 2
Is provided with a portal-shaped main frame 4 made of a round pipe standing upright in a state facing the front wall of the packaging device 1 and having a height higher than that of the packaging device 1, and letting the lettuce supplied by an operator be laterally placed on the side of the packaging device 1. The conveyor end of the belt conveyor 5 (corresponding to a revolving endless conveyor) which is fed to the first horizontal support frame 6 made of a round pipe provided on the side of the main frame 4 opposite to the packaging device 1. While supporting, belt conveyor 5
A leg portion 5A is provided on the transport start end side, and the lettuce sent to a predetermined take-out position A on the outward path by the belt conveyor 5 is
The packaging device 1 is grasped and taken out by a plurality of finger portions 16 and taken out.
The robot hand 9 (corresponding to a feed mechanism) for feeding the lettuce receiving portion 8 of the main frame 4 is supported by a second lateral support frame 10 (see FIG. 2) provided on the side of the main frame 4 on the side of the packaging device 1. is there.

The belt conveyor 5 is provided with a plurality of lettuce support portions 19 (corresponding to holding portions) at a constant pitch on a transport surface. The lettuce support portions 19 are configured as shown in FIG. A plurality of lettuce receiving projections 20 are dispersedly arranged around the longitudinal axis Q on the transport surface via a circular seat plate 21 so that the lettuce can be fitted in an upside down posture. 20 is formed in a hollow shape by a rubber material, and the lettuce receiving surface portion 22 on the upper end side is formed on an inclined surface located on the back side toward the upper end side, and the longitudinal axis Q of the lettuce receiving projection 20 is formed. Both sides 2 facing in the circumferential direction
3 is opened so that the side portions 23a made of the rubber material are left around the peripheral portions of the both side surfaces 23. The circular seat plate 21 is also made of a rubber material, and is integrally formed with the lettuce receiving projection 20. At the center of the circular seat plate 21, an annular projection 24 for supporting the head of the lettuce is formed integrally. Affixed to the transport surface.

As shown in FIG. 3, with the above-described configuration, when a lettuce whose leaves are slightly opened is fitted into a space surrounded by a plurality of lettuce receiving projections 20 while being narrowed down by an operator, each lettuce is formed. While the lettuce receiving surface portion 22 of the receiving projection 20 is elastically deformed along the outer peripheral surface of the lettuce, each vegetable receiving projection 20 is elastically deformed to the back side,
The lettuce is compressed and held from the side by the elastic restoring force.
As a result, the lettuce is conveyed while being held by the lettuce receiving projections 20 with the leaves narrowed down.

In the group of lettuce receiving projections 20 of the lettuce supporting portion 19, the lettuce receiving projections 20 located on the front end side of the lettuce supporting portion 19 (on the lower side in the conveying direction of the belt conveyor 5) are located inside the hollow. Is provided with a light shielding wall 26 (corresponding to a detected portion) for a first optical sensor 25 (corresponding to a position sensor) described later.

The belt conveyor 5 having the above-described structure is of an intermittent operation type in which the belt conveyor 5 moves by one pitch of the constant pitch and then repeatedly stops at a set time.

When each of the lettuce supports 19 is located at the take-out position A, the next lettuce support 19 is positioned adjacent to the preceding lettuce support 19.
Are arranged in the downward position at the set position C on the start end side of the belt conveyor 5 during the return path, and the light is blocked by the light shielding wall 26 of the lettuce support portion 19 in the downward position, whereby the A first optical sensor 25 for detecting that the lettuce support 19 is located at the set position C;
Based on the detection result of the first optical sensor 25, it is configured to detect that the next lettuce support portion 19 following the lettuce support portion 19 in the downward posture has reached the take-out position A. The first light sensor 25 and the structure in which the light shielding wall 26 is provided on the lettuce support 19 are used to detect position detection means 2.
7 is constituted.

Further, both ends in the width direction of the belt portion (corresponding to the endless portion) around the set position C of the belt conveyor 5 are separately received while slidingly guiding in the moving direction, and the upper and lower portions of the belt portion are vertically moved. A pair of left and right sled-shaped belt receiving members 7 (corresponding to endless body receiving members) that set and maintain the position in the direction above the light beam from the first optical sensor 25 are:
A pair of left and right support side walls 13 fixed to the transfer frame 12 of the belt conveyor 5 are separately supported. The first optical sensor 25 is fixed to the lower surface of the belt receiving member 7.

A second optical sensor 18 is provided for detecting whether or not a lettuce is present in the lettuce support 19 at the take-out position A by blocking the light beam (see FIG. 1).
9 has reached the take-out position A.
5 and the presence of lettuce is detected by the second optical sensor 18
Is detected by the control device 3 based on the detection results of the first and second optical sensors 25 and 18.
Is controlled to stop, and the robot hand 9 is controlled so as to be taken out and operated by the finger portion 16. The belt conveyor 5 resumes the conveyance when the lettuce is taken out.

On the transport start end side of the belt conveyor 5,
A pair of shelves 11 are formed on both ends in the width direction so as to extend,
It is configured such that a knife for root cutting of lettuce and a towel for wiping the juice of lettuce after root cutting can be placed.

[Another Embodiment] The spherical crop is not limited to lettuce, but may be cabbage or the like.

The processing device may be, for example, a grade discriminating device for discriminating the grade of the spherical crop.

The endless conveyor may be of a chain type.

The position sensor 25 may be constituted by an ultrasonic sensor which emits an ultrasonic wave to the part to be detected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a lettuce packaging facility.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the lettuce packaging equipment.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the belt conveyor.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a belt conveyor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Processing apparatus 5 Endless conveyor 7 Endless body receiving member 9 Agricultural product feeding mechanism 19 Agricultural product holding part 25 Position sensor 26 Detected part 27 Position detecting means A Predetermined position C Setting position

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A circulation-rotating endless conveyor for holding a plurality of spherical crops separately in a plurality of holding portions formed on a conveying surface and sending the crops in a lateral direction, and the holding portion reaches a predetermined position in an outward path. Position detecting means for detecting that, the crop feeding device provided with a feeding mechanism to take out the spherical crops sent to the predetermined position by the endless conveyor and send it to the processing device, wherein the position detecting means, When the holding unit reaches the predetermined position, a detected part positioned in a downward position at a set position during the return path of the endless conveyor is provided on the endless conveyor corresponding to each holding part, and the detected part Is provided with a position sensor for detecting that the endless conveyor is located at the set position, and receives from below while slidingly guiding the endless body portion of the endless conveyor in the moving direction around the set position. Te, wherein the position in the vertical direction of the free Tantai parts, agricultural supply apparatus is provided with an endless body receiving member for setting maintained above the said position sensor. 2. The crop supplying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position sensor is attached to the endless body receiving member.