Vegetable corer

Abstract

To provide a vegetable core-removing machine 10 capable of rapidly performing a core-removing operation and having no fear of breakage of a core-removing blade.SOLUTION: Two half-face side walls constituting a corer blade side 14d are advanced to a stroke end by an actuating side 14a for a corer blade to partition and form a cone-shaped hollow side 14a, the hollow side 14h is plunged into a core side 14h of a lettuce 70a to pack the core side 70a of the lettuce 14h into the hollow side 70a, and then the hollow side is lowered by the actuating side for a corer blade to tear and remove the core side packed into the hollow side from a lettuce main body. 70a 70a 70a 14d 14h 14h. When the centering blade is advanced to a stroke end by an actuating 14d for the centering blade to partition and form a conical hollow part 14h, both the centering blade 14a are opposed to each other while keeping a prescribed minute clearance S, and both the centering blade 14a do not interfere with each other.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vegetable corer for removing the cores of vegetables such as cabbage, lettuce, and Chinese cabbage. [Background technology]

[0002] As an example of this type of vegetable corer, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-115953 discloses a vegetable corer equipped with a conveying mechanism that intermittently transports vegetables from a loading station, where an operator places vegetables on a loading plate, to a coring station, where the cores of the vegetables placed on the loading plate are automatically removed with a coring blade, and a coring blade assembly that removes the cores of the vegetables placed by the operator at the loading station so that the cores cover a cutout formed in the center of the loading plate.

[0003] In this vegetable core remover, a trough-shaped core removal blade is advanced toward the core of a vegetable placed on a loading plate from diagonally downward to the left and right, or diagonally upward to the left and right, and the core removal blade is thrust into the vegetable to cut out the core. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-115953 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the conventional vegetable core removal machine described above, if the coring blades simultaneously penetrate the vegetable core from diagonally downward on the left and right or diagonally upward on the left and right, there is a risk of the left and right coring blades interfering with each other and being damaged. To prevent interference between the left and right coring blades, it is necessary to set a time difference between the insertion of the left and right coring blades, which makes the core removal operation time-consuming and reduces productivity.

[0006] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a vegetable core remover that can quickly perform the core removal operation and that does not pose a risk of damage to the core removal blade. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] a conveying mechanism that intermittently transports vegetables from a loading station where an operator places the vegetables on a loading plate to a core removing station where the cores of the vegetables placed on the loading plate are automatically removed with a core removing blade; A vegetable corer including a corer blade assembly that removes cores from vegetables placed by an operator at a placement station so as to cover a cutout portion formed in a center of a placement plate, with the corer blade rising from below the cutout portion, As a centering blade assembly, a pressing plate that is attached to the core removal station so as to be able to rise and fall and presses the vegetables placed on the placing plate onto the placing plate from above; a centering blade consisting of a pair of half-faces formed by dividing a cone in half at a vertical cross section including the apex of the cone, with cutting edges formed along the side edges of the divided faces of each half-face; a centering blade frame having pneumatic actuators for the centering blade at both ends for moving the centering blade forward and backward; an actuator for the centering blade frame, which is fixed to the machine frame and raises and lowers the centering blade frame; the centering blades are arranged in the centering blade frame so that when the centering blades are advanced to the stroke end by the actuator for the centering blades, the centering blades face each other with a predetermined minute gap maintained, and a hollow portion having substantially the same shape as the cone is defined by the centering blades; The loading plate is stopped at a predetermined position in the core removal station, and the vegetable is pressed down onto the loading plate by the pressure plate. The actuator for the centering blade frame raises the centering blade frame to the end of the stroke, The actuator for the core removing blades advances both core removing blades to the stroke ends to define and form a hollow portion, and the hollow portion is inserted into the core of the vegetable through the notch to pack the core of the vegetable into the hollow portion; Then, the hollow part is lowered to tear the core part packed in the hollow part from the vegetable body, The actuator for the core removing blade retracts the core removing blade to open the hollow portion, and the core portion is dropped from the hollow portion.

[0008] The vegetable core remover according to claim 1 is characterized in that the conveying plate is made of a thin stainless steel plate. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] In the vegetable core remover of the present invention, the actuator for the core remover blade advances the core remover blade to the stroke end to define and form a cone-shaped hollow portion, and this hollow portion is then thrust into the core of the vegetable to fill the hollow portion, and then the actuator for the core remover blade lowers the hollow portion to pull and remove the core filled in the hollow portion from the main body of the vegetable.

[0010] In the vegetable corer of the present invention, when the actuator for the corer blade advances the corer blade to the stroke end to define the cone-shaped hollow portion, the two corer blades face each other with a predetermined small gap between them, preventing interference between them. Therefore, the corer blades can be operated simultaneously, allowing for rapid core removal without risk of damage to the corer blades.

[0011] Furthermore, if the conveying plate is made of resin, interference between the corer blade and the conveying plate can cause tiny resin fragments to form and adhere to the vegetables as foreign matter. However, by using a thin stainless steel plate for the conveying plate, even if the corer blade and the conveying plate interfere with each other, the risk of tiny fragments being generated is reduced, improving safety. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a vegetable core removing device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a side view showing the inside of the vegetable core removing machine. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a side view showing the conveying mechanism of the vegetable core removing device. [Figure 4] FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view showing a drive pulley and a conveyor of the transport mechanism. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a drive pulley of the transport mechanism. [Figure 7] 10 is a partial perspective view showing a lower housing of the vegetable core removing device and a drive pulley of a conveying mechanism in the lower housing. FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 4 is a side view showing a drive pulley of the transport mechanism. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a vegetable pressing plate and a vegetable splitting blade of the vegetable core removing machine. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a corer blade assembly of the vegetable corer; [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a corer blade assembly of the vegetable corer; [Figure 12] FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view showing the core blade of the vegetable core removing machine. [Figure 13] FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view showing the core of a vegetable in the vegetable core removing machine. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 is a side view showing a drive pulley of the conveying mechanism of the vegetable core removing machine. [Figure 15] FIG. 2 is a side view showing a drive pulley of the conveying mechanism of the vegetable core removing machine. [Figure 16] FIG. 2 is a side view showing a drive pulley of the conveying mechanism of the vegetable core removing machine. [Figure 17] FIG. 2 is a side view showing a drive pulley of the conveying mechanism of the vegetable core removing machine. [Figure 18] 10 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the core removing blade of the vegetable core removing machine. FIG. [Figure 19] 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of the core blade assembly of the vegetable corer. FIG. [Figure 20] 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of the core blade assembly of the vegetable corer. FIG. [Example]

[0013] The present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Figures 1 and 2 show a vegetable corer 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. This corer 10 includes a conveyor 11, a drive pulley 12, and a driven pulley 13. A loading station 10A, a coring station 10B, and a dividing station 10C are provided along the direction of travel of the conveyor 11 from the driven pulley 13 to the drive pulley 12. A coring blade assembly 14 and a vegetable pressing plate 15 are provided in the coring station 10B, and a vegetable splitting blade 16 is provided in the dividing station 10C.

[0014] The corer blade assembly 14, drive pulley 12, driven pulley 13, and conveyor 11 are installed in a lower housing 19, and the vegetable pressing plate 15 and vegetable splitting blade 16 are installed in an upper housing 20. A front shutter 17 is provided at the entrance of the upper housing 20, and a rear shutter 18 is provided at the exit. A pneumatic actuator 17a that raises and lowers the front shutter 17 and a pneumatic actuator 18a that raises and lowers the rear shutter 18 are provided upright on the top surface of the upper housing 20. An opening 10A is defined as a loading station 10A on the top surface of the lower housing 19, and the conveyor 11 is exposed from opening 10A.

[0015] 3, 4, and 5 show the details of the conveyor 11. The conveyor 11 is composed of multiple directly connected loading plates 21 on which vegetables are placed. The loading plates 21 are made of a roughly square thin stainless steel plate, with a rectangular cutout 21a in the center and four slits 21b extending from the four corners of the cutout 21a in the diagonal direction of the cutout 21a, and a trapezoidal portion 21c surrounded by the slits 21b is bent so as to slope downward toward the cutout 21a.

[0016] Brackets 22 are fixed to the four corners of the mounting plate 21 with screws 22a. A through hole 22b is formed at one end of the bracket 22. The conveyor 11 is configured by directly connecting multiple mounting plates 21 with a plate connecting rod 23. The two front and rear mounting plates 21 are rotatably connected by passing the plate connecting rod 23 through the through hole 22b of the bracket 22 fixed to the rear end of one mounting plate 21 and the through hole 22b of the bracket 22 fixed to the front end of the other adjacent mounting plate 21 and preventing it from coming loose with a nut 24a.

[0017] The conveyor 11 is wound around a pair of left and right drive pulleys 12 and a pair of left and right driven pulleys 13. The pair of drive pulleys 12 are connected by a pulley connecting rod 32 (see Figure 4) so ​​that they rotate together. Brackets 33 are fixed to both ends of the pulley connecting rod 32, and the brackets 33 are fixed to the outer circumferential end of the drive pulley 12 with screws 34. A mating step 33a is formed on the outer end of the bracket 33. There are six pulley connecting rods 32 arranged at equal angular intervals of 60 degrees. The pair of driven pulleys 13 are also connected by six pulley connecting rods 32 arranged at equal angular intervals of 60 degrees, like the drive pulleys 12, so that they rotate together. The conveyor 11 wound around the drive pulley 12 and the driven pulley 13 is attached to the drive pulley 12 and the driven pulley 13 so that the inner rings 24 of the nuts 24a screwed onto both ends of the plate connecting rod 23 engage with the engaging steps 33a of the brackets 33 at both ends of the pulley connecting rod 32. The conveyor 11 wound around the drive pulley 12 and the driven pulley 13 is supported by support frames 35 and 36 attached to the machine frame that constitutes the lower housing 19 so as not to move up and down during travel.

[0018] As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the rotary shaft 37 of the drive pulley 12 is rotatably mounted to the frame of the lower housing 19 via a bearing 38. A slide block 52 is fixed to the end of the rotary shaft 51 of the driven pulley 13. Two upper and lower guide frames 53, 54 are fixed to the frame of the lower housing 19, and the slide block 52 is slidably fitted into the guide frames 53, 54. The slide block 52 is biased by a spring in a direction away from the rotary shaft 37. The biasing force of this spring can be adjusted by rotating a knob 56.

[0019] 6, 7, and 8, a bearing 39 of the other drive pulley 12 is rotatably mounted on a pulley shaft 40 in the machine frame of the lower housing 19. A ratchet gear 41, a circular plate 42, and an arm 43 are rotatably mounted on this bearing 39. Teeth 41a are formed at equal 60-degree intervals on the outer periphery of ratchet gear 41. Locking steps 42a are formed at equal 60-degree intervals on the outer periphery of circular plate 42. Ratchet gear 41 and circular plate 42 are connected with screws 44 so as to rotate integrally with drive pulley 12. The arm 43 is connected to a piston rod 47a of a pneumatic first actuator 47 attached to the lower housing 19, and swings about the pulley shaft 40 as the piston rod 47a moves forward and backward. Two pawls 45 are attached to the arm 43 with bolts 45a so that they can swing. When the piston rod 47a of the first actuator 47 moves forward, the tip of the pawl 45 engages with the teeth 41a of the ratchet gear 41, causing the ratchet gear 41 to rotate clockwise (FIG. 8). When the piston rod 47a moves forward to the stroke end, the ratchet gear 41 rotates 60 degrees. Accordingly, the circular plate 42 and the drive pulley 12 also rotate 60 degrees.

[0020] A stopper lever 48 is swingably mounted on a shaft 49 to the machine frame of the lower housing 19. One end of this stopper lever 48 is formed with a locking pawl 48a that releasably locks onto the locking step 42a of the circular plate 42. The other end of the stopper lever 48 is connected to a piston rod 50a of a pneumatic second actuator 50. When the piston rod 50a moves forward, the locking pawl 48a locks onto the locking step 42a, preventing the ratchet gear 41 from returning, and at the same time, the drive pulley 12 is positioned and fixed in a predetermined position.

[0021] The vegetable splitting blade 16 installed inside the upper housing 20 is connected to the piston rod of a pneumatic third actuator 60 erected on the top surface of the upper housing 20, and is moved up and down by the third actuator 60. As shown in Figure 9, the vegetable splitting blade 16 has four blades 16a arranged in a cross shape so as to vertically split vegetables such as lettuce into four pieces. As shown in Figure 9, the vegetable pressing plate 15 has four rods 15a extending upward from the center, and auxiliary plates 15c are fixed to the upper ends of the rods 15a. Meanwhile, the vegetable splitting blade 16 has two rods 16b extending laterally from its upper end, and auxiliary plates 15c engage with the two rods 16b. When the vegetable splitting blade 16 is at the end of its upward stroke, the rods 16b extending laterally from the splitting blade 16 are also at the end of their upward stroke, and the auxiliary plates 15c engaging with the rods 16b also rise, causing the vegetable pressing plate 15 to rise. When the vegetable splitting blade 16 descends, the vegetable pressing plate 15 also descends in conjunction with it, pressing down the vegetables placed on the placing plate 21 against the placing plate 21 from above, but stops when it hits the vegetables on the placing plate 21.

[0022] Details of the centering blade assembly 14 are shown in Figures 10, 11, 12, and 13. The centering blade assembly 14 includes triangular pyramidal half bodies 14a formed by dividing an open-bottomed square pyramid in half at a vertical cross section including the apex. Each half body 14a has cutting edges 14b attached along both side surfaces of the divided surface, forming the centering blades 14a. Each centering blade 14a is fixed to the tip of a piston rod 14e of a centering blade actuator 14d attached to the end of a centering blade frame 14c, and is arranged to face each other. When each centering blade 14a is advanced to the stroke end by the centering blade actuator 14d, as shown in Figure 12, the two centering blades 14a face each other with a predetermined small gap S maintained between them, and the two centering blades 14a define a hollow portion 14h (see Figure 13) that is approximately the same shape as the square pyramid before it was divided into two. This centering blade frame 14c is connected to a piston rod 14g of a pneumatic centering blade frame actuator 14f attached to the machine frame of the lower housing 19 so as to be able to move up and down.

[0023] The structure of the vegetable corer 10 according to this embodiment is as described above, and its operation will be described below. As shown in FIG. 2, an operator manually places lettuces 70A, 70B, and 70C in order on the conveyor 11 at the placement station 10A. The operator places the lettuces 70A, 70B, and 70C so that the cores of the lettuces 70A, 70B, and 70C cover the notches 21a formed in the center of the placement plate 21. After the lettuces 70A, 70B, and 70C are placed on the conveyor 11, the operator places their hand over the touchless switch 20a (see FIG. 1) provided on the front of the upper housing 20. This opens the front shutter 17, moves the piston rod 50a of the second actuator 50 back, and disengages the locking claw 48a of the stopper lever 48 from the locking step 42a of the circular plate 42, as shown in FIG. 14, allowing the ratchet gear 41 to rotate. 15, the piston rod 47a of the first actuator 47 advances, causing the arm 43 to rotate clockwise. Accordingly, the tip of the pawl 45 of the arm 43 engages with the teeth 41a of the ratchet gear 41, causing the ratchet gear 41 to rotate clockwise. When the piston rod 47a advances to the stroke end, the ratchet gear 41 rotates 60 degrees, and the circular plate 42 and the drive pulley 12 also rotate 60 degrees.

[0024] When the ratchet gear 41 rotates 60 degrees, the conveyor 11 starts moving, and the leading lettuce 70A is transferred from the loading station 10A to the core removal station 10B as shown in Fig. 2. At the same time, as shown in Fig. 17, the piston rod 50a of the second actuator 50 advances, and the locking claw 48a of the stopper lever 48 engages with the locking step 42a of the circular plate 42, locking the ratchet gear 41 and disabling the drive pulley 12 to rotate. The loading plate 21 of the conveyor 11 carrying the lettuce 70A is positioned at the predetermined core removal position, and the open front shutter 17 closes. Next, as shown in Fig. 18, the piston rod 47a of the first actuator 47 retracts, and the arm 43 returns to its initial position.

[0025] When the front shutter 17 closes, the piston rod of the third actuator 60 descends, and the vegetable splitting blade 16 descends. In conjunction with this, the vegetable pressing plate 15 also descends under its own weight, and as shown in Figure 18(A), the core 70a of the lettuce 70A on the loading plate 21 is exposed from the cutout portion 21a. When the piston rod of the third actuator 60 descends to the stroke end, as shown in FIG. 18(B), The piston rod 14g of the actuator 14f for the corer blade frame rises, and at the end of the upward stroke, the top of the corer blade 14a hits the bottom of the lettuce 70A. Next, the piston rod 14e of the actuator 14d for the corer blade advances. When it reaches the end of its stroke as shown in Figure 18(C), the two corer blades 14a face each other with a predetermined small gap S, as shown in Figure 12. As shown in Figure 13, the two corer blades 14a define a hollow portion 14h having substantially the same shape as the square pyramid before it was divided into two, and the hollow portion 14h penetrates the lettuce 70A from the bottom. The core 70a of the lettuce 70A is then packed into the hollow portion 14h. Then, the piston rod 14g of the actuator 14f for the corer blade frame retracts, and the core 70a packed in the hollow portion 14h is torn from the body of the lettuce 70A along the gap S of the hollow portion 14h and falls into the discharge trough 14i.

[0026] When the core removal process for lettuce 70A is completed, as shown in Fig. 19, the front shutter 17 opens, the conveyor 11 starts running, and the next lettuce 70B is sent to the coring station 10B, and the cored lettuce 70A is sent to the dividing station 10C. Then, as shown in Fig. 20, the lettuce 70A is vertically divided into four pieces by the vegetable splitting blade 16, which is moved up and down by the third actuator 60. Meanwhile, the core removal process for the next lettuce 70B proceeds in the coring station 10B.

[0027] In the vegetable core remover 10 of this embodiment, the actuator 14d for the core remover blade advances the two half bodies 14a that make up the core remover blade 14a to the stroke end to define and form a cone-shaped hollow portion 14h, and the hollow portion 14h is thrust into the core portion 70a of the lettuce 70A to pack the core portion 70a of the lettuce 70A into the hollow portion 14h, and then the actuator 14d for the core remover blade lowers the hollow portion 14h to pull and remove the core portion 70a packed into the hollow portion 14h from the main body of the lettuce 70A.

[0028] Thus, when the centering blade actuator 14d advances the centering blade to the stroke end to define and form the cone-shaped hollow portion 14h, the centering blades 14a face each other with a predetermined minute gap S maintained between them, and the centering blades 14a do not interfere with each other. Therefore, both centering blades 14a can be operated simultaneously, allowing the centering operation to be carried out quickly and without risk of damage to the centering blades 14a.

[0029] Furthermore, if the transport plate 21 is made of resin, interference between the core removing blade 14a and the transport plate 21 may cause minute resin fragments to be generated and adhere to the vegetables as foreign matter. However, by using a thin stainless steel plate as the material for the transport plate 21, even if interference occurs between the core removing blade 14a and the transport plate 21, the risk of minute fragments being generated is reduced, improving safety. [Explanation of symbols]

[0030] 10...Vegetable corer 10A...Placement station 10B...Core removal station 10C…Division Station 11...Conveyor 12...Drive pulley 13...Driven pulley 14...Core blade assembly 14a...Core cutting blade (half face) 14b...Cutting edge 14c...Core cutting frame 14d...Actuator for centering blade 14e...Piston rod 14f...Actuator for centering blade frame 14g...piston rod 14h…Hollow part 14i...Discharge gutter 15...Vegetable holder plate 15a...Rod 15c...Auxiliary plate 16...Vegetable splitter 16a...blade 17...Front shutter 17a...Actuator 18...Rear shutter 18a...Actuator 19...Lower housing 20...Upper housing 20a...Touchless switch 21...Placement plate 21a...Notch 21b...Slit 21c...Trapezoidal section 22...Bracket 22a...bis 22b...Through hole 23...Plate connecting rod 24...Ring 24a...Nut 2...Pulley connecting rod 33...Bracket 33a…Interlocking step part 34...bis 35, 36...Support frame 37...Rotation axis 38...Bearing 39...Bearing 40...Pulley shaft 41...Ratchet gear 41a...tooth 42...Circular plate 42a...Latching step 43...Arm 44...bis 45...nail fragment 45a...Bolt 47...First actuator 47a...Piston rod 48...Stopper lever 48a...Latching claw 49...Axis 50...Second actuator 50a...Piston rod 51...Rotation axis 52...Slide block 53, 54...Guide frame 55...Spring 56...Knob 60...Third actuator 70A, 70B, 70C...Lettuce 70a...Lettuce core

Claims

1. a conveying mechanism that intermittently transports vegetables from a loading station where an operator places the vegetables on a loading plate to a core removing station where the cores of the vegetables placed on the loading plate are automatically removed with a core removing blade; A vegetable corer including a corer blade assembly that removes cores from vegetables placed by an operator at a placement station so as to cover a cutout portion formed in a center of a placement plate, with the corer blade rising from below the cutout portion, As a centering blade assembly, a pressing plate that is attached to the core removal station so as to be able to rise and fall and presses the vegetables placed on the placing plate onto the placing plate from above; a centering blade consisting of a pair of half bodies formed by dividing a cone in half at a vertical cross section including the apex of the cone, the cutting edge being formed along the side edge of each divided face of the half body; a centering blade frame having pneumatic actuators for the centering blade at both ends for moving the centering blade forward and backward; an actuator for the centering blade frame, which is fixed to the machine frame and raises and lowers the centering blade frame; the centering blades are arranged in the centering blade frame so that when the centering blades are advanced to the stroke end by the actuator for the centering blades, the centering blades face each other with a predetermined minute gap maintained, and a hollow portion having substantially the same shape as the cone is defined by the centering blades; The loading plate is stopped at a predetermined position in the core removal station, and the vegetable is pressed down onto the loading plate by the pressure plate. The actuator for the centering blade frame raises the centering blade frame to the end of the stroke, The actuator for the core removing blades advances both core removing blades to the stroke ends to define and form a hollow portion, and the hollow portion is inserted into the core of the vegetable through the notch to pack the core of the vegetable into the hollow portion; Then, the hollow part is lowered to tear the core part packed in the hollow part from the vegetable body, This vegetable core remover is characterized in that an actuator for the core remover retracts the core remover blade to open the hollow portion, and the core portion falls from the hollow portion.

2. 2. The vegetable core remover according to claim 1, wherein the conveying plate is made of a thin stainless steel plate.

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