JP2002039849A - Combined weighing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce collision damage of weighed articles, discharged from hoppers arranged circularly, in the central part of a collecting chute. SOLUTION: In this combined weighing equipment wherein the plural hoppers 43 are arranged circularly and wherein the weighed articles discharged from the hoppers 43 are received to be collected by a circular collecting chute, an inclined guide chute 80 for receiving the weighted articles discharged from the each hopper to guide them to the collecting chute is provided in the each hopper 43, and an off-set amount to the center of the circular collecting chute is made regulatable by shifting a position of a lower end part of the guide chute 80.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a combination weighing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Combined weighing apparatuses have been used to pack non-uniform articles into a predetermined mass or a mass close to the predetermined mass.

Generally, in this combination weighing device, a radial feeder is provided radially around a central dispersion table, and stock hoppers, weighing hoppers and the like are provided vertically below a tip of each radiant feeder, and a circular funnel-like shape is provided below the hopper. Is provided to collect the objects to be weighed discharged from a plurality of circularly arranged weighing hoppers.The objects to be weighed are supplied to the dispersion table by a conveyor or the like, and are supplied from the dispersion table. The objects to be weighed are supplied to each stock hopper by a number of radiation feeders, and the mass of the objects to be weighed supplied from each stock hopper is weighed for each weighing hopper.
Then, the masses of the objects to be weighed in the plurality of weighing hoppers are combined and added, and a predetermined mass or a combination close to the predetermined mass is selected, dropped on a collecting chute to collectively, and sent to the next process such as a packaging machine.

However, in the combination weighing apparatus having such a configuration, the hoppers are arranged in a circle in which the hoppers are arranged in order to supply the objects to be weighed from the central distribution table to the hopper on the tip side of the radiation feeder via the radial radiation feeder. Must have a large diameter.

[0005] As a result, the outer diameter of the circular funnel-shaped collecting chute, which receives the objects to be weighed discharged from the hopper at the lower side, naturally increases, and after the objects to be weighed fall into the funnel-shaped collecting chutes. The traveling distance to the discharge port at the lower center of the collecting chute also increases, and the object to be weighed travels along the inclined surface of the collecting chute to the discharging port at high speed.

For this reason, the objects to be weighed from a plurality of weighing hoppers flood the vicinity of the discharge port of the collecting chute from multiple directions and collide violently with each other, so that the objects to be weighed may be damaged.

For this reason, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-114492 discloses
In each of the weighing hoppers, a guide chute is provided between the weighing hopper and the collecting chute, and an opening / closing gate is provided at an intermediate portion of the guide chute, and an object discharged from the weighing hopper is opened / closed at an intermediate portion of the guide chute. After closing and temporarily stopping, the traveling speed of the weighing object is reduced by opening and closing the opening / closing gate to reduce the impact due to the collision of the weighing object from the other direction near the discharge port of the collecting chute. Has been proposed.

Conventionally, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-19647, similarly, a guide chute capable of changing the degree of inclination is provided between a weighing hopper and a collecting chute for each weighing hopper. In
It has been proposed to reduce the degree of inclination of the guide chute to reduce the impact due to the collision of the objects to be weighed from other directions near the outlet of the collecting chute.

[0009]

However, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. Hei 8-114492 and Hei 10-19647 mentioned above disclose.
In any of the above, since all the guide chutes for each weighing hopper are provided in the radial direction toward the center of the circle of the circular funnel-shaped collecting chute, 180 g of the circularly arranged weighing hoppers are arranged in the circumferential direction. When the objects to be weighed are simultaneously discharged from two opposite weighing hoppers separated by two degrees, the objects to be weighed that fall along the two opposed guide chutes separated by 180 degrees may collide head-on near the outlet of the collecting chute. Inevitably, for this reason, the object to be weighed may be damaged even if the traveling speed is reduced.

In the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-114492, an opening / closing gate device for temporarily stopping the object to be weighed down at the intermediate portion of the guide chute is provided for each guide chute, so that the structure becomes extremely complicated. In addition, since the guide chutes are fixed to the main frame of the combination weighing device and cannot be removed, when the weighing object is a confectionery or food, fine powder or the like adheres and accumulates on the guide chutes or the opening / closing gate. And it is difficult to clean, and there is a risk of causing a problem in food hygiene such as putrefaction.

In the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-19647, the inclination of each guide chute is changed by the vertical movement of the collective chute, and a support leg is provided on the main body frame of the combination weighing device for each guide chute. Because of the structure that supports each guide chute,
Not only was the structure complicated and the cost was increased, but also the fine powder of the object to be weighed was liable to adhere and accumulate on each of the legs, possibly causing a problem in food sanitation such as decay. An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem, and to provide a combination weighing device which can prevent a frontal collision of an object to be weighed and has a simplified structure.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a combination weighing apparatus, wherein a plurality of hoppers are arranged in a circle, and the objects to be weighed discharged from the hopper are collected in a circular form. In a combination weighing device that receives and collects by a chute, an inclined guide chute is provided for each of the hoppers to receive an object to be weighed discharged from the hopper and guide the same to the collecting chute, and a position of a lower end portion of the guide chute is provided. , The amount of offset with respect to the center of the circular collecting chute can be adjusted.

Since the offset amount with respect to the center of the circular collecting chute can be adjusted by shifting the position of the lower end of the guide chute in this way, two opposite hoppers among the circularly arranged hoppers can be adjusted. Even if the objects to be weighed are discharged at the same time, the objects to be weighed collide head-on because they are released from the lower end of each guide chute in a direction shifted by the offset amount, not in the radial direction, with respect to the center of the circle of the collecting chute. And damage is less likely to occur.

Further, when the object to be weighed is shifted from the center of the discharge port and discharged from the lower end of the guide chute, the object to be weighed slides down the inclined surface of the circular funnel-shaped collecting chute. Due to weight and friction, a curve is drawn downward from the linear direction of the discharge and proceeds to the discharge port.However, the degree of curvature of this curve differs depending on the magnitude of the mass of the object, the magnitude of the frictional force, the adhesiveness, etc. By adjusting the offset amount according to the type, the object to be weighed can avoid a frontal collision and can reach the discharge port without making useless detours as much as possible.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a combination weighing apparatus in which a plurality of hoppers are arranged in a circle, and objects to be weighed discharged from the hoppers are received by a circular collecting chute and assembled. An inclined guide chute is provided for each of the hoppers to receive the objects to be weighed discharged from the hopper and guide the chutes to the collecting chute, and a lower end of the guiding chute is supported, and a circumferential direction of the circular collecting chute is provided. And an adjusting body for adjusting the offset amount with respect to the center of the circular collecting chute by rotating the guide chute to shift the position of the lower end of the guide chute.

For this reason, the offset amount can be easily adjusted by shifting the lower end of the guide chute by rotating the base plate.

Further, in the combination weighing device according to a third aspect of the present invention, the upper end of the guide chute is detachably locked to the hopper. For this reason, the guide chute is locked by the hopper, and the guide chute can rotate around the locking portion to shift the position of the lower end. In addition, the guide chute is simply locked at its upper end by the hopper, so its mounting structure is simple and there are no extra components on which the fine powder of the object to be weighed easily adheres and accumulates. This is also easy, and food sanitation such as spoilage when the object to be weighed is food is improved.

Further, in the combination weighing device according to claim 4 of the present invention, the adjusting body has a notch, and the notch is constituted by a plurality of supporting edges for supporting lower end portions of the plurality of guide chutes. Therefore, the direction of the guide chute can be easily adjusted by rotating the adjustment body.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show a combination weighing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a housing 10 has a polygonal cylindrical main body 11 corresponding to the number of heads which is opened vertically and has a slightly smaller diameter on the lower side, and is detachable by covering the upper opening of the main body 11. Upper lid 12 fixed to
And a bottom plate 13 in the shape of a polygonal dish with an open upper surface, which is detachably fixed with the upper end slightly inserted from the lower surface opening of the main body 11.

The main body 11 is composed of a plurality of flat side walls 11a, 11a,... Having a narrow lower side constituting a polygon, and the bottom plate 13 has a lower side constituting a polygon having a narrow width. , And a polygonal flat bottom plate 13b.

As shown in FIG. 2, four vertical columns 2
The upper horizontal portions 20a, 20a,... Penetrate the side wall 11a of the main body 11 of the housing 10, and are fixed by the penetrating portions, so that the four pillars 20, 20,. 11 are supported. The four horizontal portions 20a, 2
Are connected and fixed to each other at right angles to each other in the shape of a girder at the center of the main body 11. The lower portions of the four columns 20, 20,... Are connected and fixed to each other by four horizontal frames 21, 21,.

A bulging portion 12a at the center of the upper lid 12 of the housing 10
Are provided at the upper part of the table, and as shown in FIG. 4, a large number of radial feeders 31, 31,... Are radially provided around the dispersion table 30 as shown in FIG. In the figure, only the radiation feeders, support arms, and hoppers at the left and right ends are shown, and the others are omitted.)

In the side walls 11a, 11a,... Of the main body 11, circular arm insertion holes 32, 33 arranged corresponding to the radiation feeders 31, 31,. . Furthermore, each side wall 13a, 13 of the bottom plate 13
are also provided with arm insertion holes 34.

Each of the support arms 35, 3 and 3 protrudes radially outward from each of the arm insertion holes 32, 33, 34.
6, 37 are provided. And each support arm 3
The stock hopper 41, the weighing hopper 42, and the memory hopper 43 are detachably attached to 5, 36, and 37, respectively, and the objects to be weighed falling from the tip of the radiation feeder 31 are supplied to the stock hopper 41, and weighed from the stock hopper 41. It is supplied to the hopper 42 and supplied to the measuring hopper 43.

The hoppers 41, 42, 43 are respectively
An approximately quadrangular pyramid-shaped hopper body 41a, 42a, 43a having an opening at the upper and lower ends and an opening (discharge port) lower than the upper opening having a gradually decreasing diameter, and hopper bodies 41a, 42
opening and closing lids 41b, 42b, 43b rotatably attached to the hopper body so as to open and close the discharge ports of the a, 43a;
The hopper main bodies 41a, 42a, 43 are put on and engaged with the respective support arms 35, 36, 37 from above.
a, the hopper bodies 41a, 42a, 4
Hook 41 projecting outward from the side of 3a
c, 42c and 43c.

The support arms 35, 36 and 37 are hollow cylindrical and have an operation bar (not shown) driven by a drive motor (not shown) installed in the housing 10.
When the hooks 41c, 42c, and 43c are put on and engaged with the support arms 35, 36, and 37, the lever (not shown) that rotates by a predetermined angle by the operation bar opens and closes the open / close lids 41b and 42b. , 43b, respectively, and the opening and closing covers 41b, 42
b and 43b are driven to open and close.

Two parallel horizontal frames 21, 2
1, mounting angles 50 and 51 are fixed respectively as shown in FIG.

The collecting chute 53 has a large-diameter circular upper opening 53a at the upper end and a small-diameter circular outlet 53 at the lower end.
The edge plate 54 has a circular funnel shape having an upper end b and is protruded horizontally at the upper end thereof, and is supported by the mounting angles 50 and 51.

The upper opening 53a of the collecting chute 53
A plate-shaped base plate 60 having a slightly larger diameter circular hole 60a at the center is formed by a top opening 53a of the collecting chute 53.
And this hole 60a is attached to the upper part of the collecting chute 53 so that it concentrically overlaps. That is, on both sides of the base plate 60, there are provided engagement edge plates 61, 61 bent downward at right angles, and the base plate 60 is covered from above, and the engagement edge plates 61, 61 are attached to the mounting angle. 50,
It is attached by engaging the outside of both sides of 51.

The upper surface of the base plate 60 is provided with an annular recess 60b concentric with the hole 60a.
An adjusting body 70 for adjusting the amount of offset (offset) in the direction from the center of the collecting chute 53 by shifting the position of the lower end of the zero is rotatably accommodated in the annular recess 60b.

That is, the adjusting body 70 has a disk shape, is provided with a notch 71 at the center, and is provided with a plurality of arcuate engaging slits 72 at the peripheral edge thereof. The plurality of engaging pins 62 are engaged with the engaging slits 72, so that the adjusting body 70 can be rotated with respect to the base plate 60 concentrically with the circle of the upper opening 53 a of the collecting chute 53.

The notch 71 of the adjusting body 70 has bottom plates 81 of guide chutes 80, 80,... Attached to a plurality of memory hoppers 43, 43,.
Are formed by a plurality of support edges 73, 73,... That respectively support the lower ends 81a, 81a,. The supporting edges 73, 73,...
0 is a straight line in a direction inclined with respect to the tangent of the circle,
The two ends of the lower end portion 81a of the bottom plate 81 of the guide chute 80 are circumferentially displaced between two adjacent supporting edges 73, 73 which are arranged in a circle along the upper surface opening 53a of the collecting chute 53. A locking edge 74 bulging to the center is provided for locking so as not to be locked.

An inclined guide chute 80 is provided between the memory hopper 43 and the collecting chute 53 for receiving an object to be weighed discharged from the memory hopper 43 and guiding it to the collecting chute 53.

That is, the hopper body 43 of the memory hopper 43
a is a substantially quadrangular pyramid having a small diameter on the lower side as shown in FIG. 4, and has an inner wall portion 45 on the housing 10 side, a side wall portion 46 on the hook 43c side, and an outer wall portion on the opposite side of the housing 10. 1 and a side wall portion 48 opposite to the side wall portion 46. The length of the outer side wall portion 47 in the vertical direction is larger than that of the inner side wall portion 45, as shown in FIG. Since the support arm 37 that supports the memory hopper 43 projects obliquely downward from the bottom plate 13 of the housing 10, the outer wall 47 of the hopper main body 43 a moves in the direction of the collecting chute 53 in the lower center of the housing 10. It is in a state of being inclined diagonally toward.

On the outer surface near the lower end of the outer wall portion 47 of the hopper body 43a, two hooking projections 48, 48 are provided side by side.

The guide chute 80 is, as shown in FIG.
The bottom plate 81 has a bottom plate 81 whose width is gradually reduced, and side plates 82 and 83 on both sides of the bottom plate 81. At the upper end of the bottom plate 81, there are provided two projecting outwards from an outer wall portion 47 of the memory hopper 43. The latching projections 48, 48 can be inserted with play, 2
An L-shaped hooking plate 84 having two hooking holes 84a, 84a protrudes.

Therefore, by inserting the hooking projections 48, 48 into the hooking holes 84a, 84a, the upper portion of the guide chute 80 can be removably attached to the lower portion of the memory hopper 43. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the lower end 81a of the
It can be supported on the one supporting edge 73.

Thus, a plurality of guide chutes 80, 80,... Are provided between the plurality of memory hoppers 43, 43,. In this manner, the lower ends of the guide chutes 80, 80,... Are supported by the supporting edges 73, 73,. Since the adjusting body 70 is rotated by the projection 48, the guide chute 8 is rotated.
The directions (offset amounts) of 0, 80,... Can be changed simultaneously.

Next, the operation of the combination weighing device of this embodiment will be described. An object to be weighed is supplied to the dispersion table 30 at the upper center of the housing 10 from above by a conveyor or the like. Radiation feeder 3 from the dispersion table 30 around it
The objects to be weighed are supplied to 1, 31,..., And are oscillated by the radiating feeders 31, 31,. , 31, ... fall from the outer end,
Each of them is supplied to a corresponding one of stock hoppers 41, 41,.

Opening / closing lid 41 of the outlet of the stock hopper 41
When b is opened, the object to be weighed is supplied to the corresponding weighing hopper 42 provided therebelow and weighed.
When the opening / closing lid 42b of the discharge port is opened, the object to be weighed is supplied to the corresponding memory hopper 43 provided below.
A combination operation is performed based on the measured values of the respective weighing hoppers 42, a combination equal to or close to the target mass is selected, and a plurality of memory hoppers 43, 4 are selected in the selected combination.
The open / close lids 43b, 43b,... Are opened, the objects to be measured fall into the guide chutes 80, 80,..., And slide down along the bottom plates 81, 81,.
It falls from the notch 71 of the adjustment body 70 to the funnel-shaped inclined surface 53c of the collecting chute 53, is discharged from the lower discharge port 53b, and is installed under the packing device (not shown).
Packaged in.

Since the directions of the guide chutes 80, 80,... Can be offset from the direction toward the discharge port 53b at the center of the collecting chute 53 by rotating the adjusting body 70, they are opposed in the diameter direction of the circle. Even when the objects to be weighed are simultaneously discharged from the pair of memory hoppers 43, 43, they slide down in the directions deviated from the center as shown by arrows A and B in FIG. The objects to be weighed are prevented from colliding head-on near the exit 53b, and damage to the objects to be weighed is reduced.

If the sliding direction is offset in this way, the object to be weighed is moved toward the center of the discharge port 53b of the collecting funnel 53 having a circular funnel shape.
Instead of sliding down 3c in a straight line, as shown by an arrow C in FIG. 6, it reaches the outlet 53b while curving along the inclined surface 53c of the collecting chute 53, so that the sliding down speed is reduced, and therefore, Damage due to collision between objects to be weighed is reduced.

The offset amount is adjusted by rotating the adjusting body 70 in accordance with the type of the object to be weighed. That is, the direction and speed of the sliding of the collecting chute 53 on the inclined surface 53c are adjusted by changing the offset amount according to the mass, frictional force, hardness and the like of the object to be weighed.

For example, when the object to be weighed has a small frictional force such as an ice block and has a large mass, and when the offset amount is increased, the object to be weighed is inclined on the inclined surface 53c of the collecting chute 53 as shown by an arrow D in FIG. Since it slips down while being swirled, the time required to reach the discharge port 53b increases and the operating efficiency decreases, so the offset amount is adjusted so as not to be swirled.

In the above embodiment, the guide chute 8
Although the case where the direction of the guide chute 80 is changed in a state where the lower end of the zero is supported by the support edge 73 of the adjusting body 70 has been exemplified, the present invention is not limited to this. The direction of the guide chute may be changed by any other method, such as locking the lower end of the chute 80.

[0046]

As described above, in the combination weighing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of hoppers are arranged in a circle, and the objects to be weighed discharged from the hoppers are received and collected by the circular collecting chute. In the combination weighing device, an inclined guide chute that receives an object to be weighed discharged from the hopper and guides it to the collecting chute is provided for each of the hoppers, and the position of the lower end portion of the guide chute is shifted to form the circular shape. The amount of offset with respect to the center of the collective chute can be adjusted.

By shifting the position of the lower end portion of the guide chute in this manner, the offset amount with respect to the center of the circular collecting chute can be adjusted, so that the two opposing hoppers among the circularly arranged hoppers can be adjusted. Even if the objects to be weighed are discharged at the same time, the objects to be weighed collide head-on because they are released from the lower end of each guide chute in a direction shifted by the offset amount, not in the radial direction, with respect to the center of the circle of the collecting chute. And damage is less likely to occur.

When the object to be weighed is shifted from the center of the discharge port and discharged from the lower end of the guide chute, the object to be weighed slides down the inclined surface of the circular funnel-shaped collecting chute. Due to weight and friction, a curve is drawn downward from the linear direction of the discharge and proceeds to the discharge port.However, the degree of curvature of this curve differs depending on the magnitude of the mass of the object, the magnitude of the frictional force, the adhesiveness, etc. By adjusting the offset amount according to the type, the object to be weighed can avoid a frontal collision and can reach the discharge port without making useless detours as much as possible.

According to the combination weighing device of the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a combination weighing device for arranging a plurality of hoppers in a circular shape, receiving the objects discharged from the hoppers by a circular collecting chute, and collecting them. An inclined guide chute is provided for each of the hoppers to receive the objects to be weighed discharged from the hopper and guide the chutes to the collecting chute, and a lower end of the guiding chute is supported, and a circumferential direction of the circular collecting chute is provided. And an adjusting body for adjusting the offset amount with respect to the center of the circular collecting chute by rotating the guide chute to shift the position of the lower end of the guide chute. Therefore, the offset amount can be easily adjusted by shifting the lower end of the guide chute by rotating the base plate.

Further, in the combination weighing device according to the third aspect of the present invention, the upper end of the guide chute is detachably locked to the hopper. For this reason, the guide chute is locked by the hopper, and the guide chute can rotate around the locking portion to shift the position of the lower end. In addition, since the guide chute is only locked at the upper end by the hopper, its mounting structure is simple and there is no extra component on which the fine powder of the object to be weighed easily adheres and accumulates. This is also easy, and food sanitation such as spoilage when the object to be weighed is food is improved.

Further, in the combination weighing device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the adjusting body has a notch, and the notch is constituted by a plurality of supporting edges for supporting lower end portions of the plurality of guide chutes. Therefore, the direction of the guide chute can be easily adjusted by rotating the adjustment body.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Case 11 Main body 12 Top lid 13 Bottom plate 20 Support 30 Distribution table 31 Radiation feeder 41 Stock hopper 42 Weighing hopper 43 Memory hopper 53 Collecting chute 53a Top opening 53b Discharge port 60 Base plate 70 Adjuster 73 Supporting edge 74 Toe edge 80 Guide chute 81 Bottom plate 84 Hook plate

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary plan view showing a support structure of the housing according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a base plate and an adjusting body of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a guide chute and an adjusting body of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the relationship between the guide chute and the adjusting body of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing the movement of an object to be weighed that has fallen from a guide chute to a collecting chute.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A combination weighing device for arranging a plurality of hoppers in a circular shape and receiving and weighing the objects discharged from the hoppers with a circular collecting chute. An inclined guide chute for guiding to the collective chute is provided for each of the hoppers, and an offset amount with respect to the center of the circular collective chute can be adjusted by shifting a position of a lower end portion of the guide chute. Combination weighing device. 2. A combination weighing device for arranging a plurality of hoppers in a circular shape and receiving the objects to be weighed discharged from the hoppers by a circular collecting chute and collecting the weighed objects discharged from the hoppers. An inclined guide chute for guiding to the collective chute is provided for each of the hoppers, and a lower end of the guide chute is supported, and the lower end of the guide chute is rotated by rotating in a circumferential direction of the circular collective chute. A combination weighing device, characterized in that an adjustment body is provided which makes it possible to adjust the amount of offset with respect to the center of the circular collecting chute by shifting the mass. 3. The combination weighing device according to claim 2, wherein an upper end of said guide chute is detachably locked to said hopper. 4. The combination weighing device according to claim 2, wherein said adjusting body has a notch, and said notch is constituted by a plurality of supporting edges for supporting lower end portions of said plurality of guide chutes.