Supply device and weighing system

Abstract

To provide a supply device capable of improving productivity by smoothly supplying a soft long article which is difficult to be automatically supplied, and a weighing system including the supply device.SOLUTION: A plurality of article supply mechanisms 20 each including a gripping mechanism 21 disposed above a conveyor 11 and configured to grip and pull up an article W on the conveyor 11, and a guide mechanism 22 having a chute 41 swingably supported on a side of the gripping mechanism 21, wherein when the gripping mechanism 21 grips and pulls up the article W, the guide mechanism 22 causes the chute 41 to be disposed obliquely between the article W gripped by the gripping mechanism 21 and the input section 12 by swinging the chute 41; By releasing the gripping of the article W by the gripping mechanism 21, the article W is slid down and loaded into the loading unit 12 by the chute 41.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a feeding device and a weighing system. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a weighing device that includes a combination weighing section with multiple rows of multiple cups lined up vertically, and a collecting conveyor that is positioned below the combination weighing section and transports the objects to be weighed that are supplied so as to form a combination within a target weight range, and that discharges the objects to be weighed from one end of the collecting conveyor to a destination for genuine products or a destination for non-genuine products. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-12760 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the above-mentioned weighing device, the items to be weighed are transported by a conveyor and are manually distributed and supplied to the top cup of the combination weighing section by multiple workers (for example, about three people). However, due to the labor shortage in recent years, there is a strong demand for automation of the supply of items.

[0005] However, a mechanism that simply grasps items on a conveyor using a gripping mechanism or the like and places them into a cup makes it difficult to smoothly automatically supply long, tangled items such as various types of noodles, shirataki noodles, or sliced ​​meat.

[0006] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a feeding device that can smoothly feed soft, long articles that are difficult to feed automatically, thereby improving productivity, and a weighing system equipped with the same. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention comprises the following configurations. (1) A supply device that supplies articles conveyed by a transport conveyor to a plurality of input ports arranged along the transport conveyor, a plurality of article supply mechanisms that perform a gripping and inserting operation to grip articles on the transport conveyor and insert them into the inserting section; The article supply mechanism includes: a gripping mechanism disposed above the transport conveyor for gripping and lifting an article on the transport conveyor; a guide mechanism having a chute swingably supported on a side of the gripping mechanism; and When the gripping mechanism grips and lifts the item, the guide mechanism swings the chute to position the chute obliquely between the item gripped by the gripping mechanism and the input section, thereby releasing the grip of the item by the gripping mechanism, and allowing the item to slide down the chute into the input section and be input. Feeding device. (2) The supply device according to (1) above; a weighing device to which the article is supplied from the input portion by the supply device; Equipped with Weighing system. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a feeding device that can smoothly feed soft, long items that are difficult to feed automatically, thereby improving productivity, and a weighing system equipped with the same. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a weighing system including a supply device according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a weighing system including a supply device according to this embodiment. [Figure 3]FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing the structure and operation of a conveying device provided in the weighing system. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic front view of a part of the supplying device, illustrating the configuration of the supplying device and the gripping and inserting operation. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of a part of the supplying device, illustrating the configuration of the supplying device and the gripping and inserting operation. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a part of the supplying device, illustrating the configuration of the supplying device and the gripping and inserting operation. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a schematic side view of a weighing system according to a modified example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic front view of a weighing system 100 including a supply device 10 according to this embodiment. Fig. 2 is a schematic side view of the weighing system 100 including a supply device 10 according to this embodiment.

[0011] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , a supply device 10 according to this embodiment is installed, for example, above a weighing device 50 to constitute a weighing system 100. The supply device 10 is a device that automatically supplies items W conveyed along a horizontal conveying direction A by a transport conveyor 11 to the weighing device 50. In this example, the items W that the supply device 10 supplies to the weighing device 50 are mainly slender and soft food ingredients, such as various types of noodles, shirataki noodles, or sliced ​​meat, which are long and tangled. A cylindrical input section 12 that is open at the top and bottom is provided on one side of the transport conveyor 11. A plurality of input sections 12 are arranged along the transport conveyor 11, and the supply device 10 inputs the items W into these input sections 12.

[0012] The weighing device 50 includes a combination weighing section 51 and an article discharge section 55 provided below the combination weighing section 51.

[0013] The combination weighing unit 51 is equipped with a plurality of cups 52. Each cup 52 is hollow and open at the top and bottom. An opening-closing plate 53 is provided at the bottom opening of each cup 52, and the opening at the bottom of each cup 52 is opened and closed by sliding the opening-closing plate 53 by a driving means (not shown). The cups 52 are arranged in a row of three cups in the vertical direction, and in this example, the rows of cups 52 are arranged in six rows in the horizontal direction. The top row of each cup 52 is a pool cup 52a, the middle row is a measuring cup 52b, and the bottom row is a memory cup 52c. Each of the cups 52a, 52b, and 52c drops and discharges the articles W into the row below by opening and closing the opening-closing plate 53 by the driving means.

[0014] The pool cup 52a stores a predetermined amount of unweighed articles W and then discharges them. The measuring cup 52b measures the weight of the stored articles W using weighing means such as a load cell. The memory cup 52c temporarily stores the articles W after they have been weighed.

[0015] The combination weighing unit 51 selects the memory cup 52c and the measuring cup 52b so that the combined weight of the article W stored in the memory cup 52c and the measuring cup 52b falls within a desired target weight range, and performs combination weighing.

[0016] The article discharge section 55 includes a pair of collecting conveyors 56 provided below the plurality of memory cups 52c, and a discharge chute 57 located below and between these collecting conveyors 56. In the article discharge section 55, the articles W discharged from the memory cups 52c are transported to the center by the collecting conveyor 56 and fed into the discharge chute 57.

[0017] The weighing system 100 includes a transport device 60 above the weighing device 50. The transport device 60 includes a plurality of supply conveyors 61 that supply articles W to the weighing device 50. The supply conveyors 61 are arranged above each pool cup 52a for each of the three cups 52 (52a, 52b, 52c) aligned vertically in the weighing device 50, and are spaced apart in the width direction of the weighing device 50 (the left-right direction parallel to the plane of the paper in FIG. 1).

[0018] FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing the structure and operation of the transport device 60. As shown in FIG. 3, the supply conveyor 61 of the transport device 60 is composed of a drive roller 62, a driven roller 63, and a belt 64 wound around the drive roller 62 and the driven roller 63. The supply conveyor 61 transports the article W along a horizontal transport direction B that is perpendicular to the transport direction A of the transport conveyor 11.

[0019] The supply conveyor 61 has an input section 12 disposed above the upstream end in the conveying direction B (see FIG. 2). The items W input into the input section 12 are supplied to the upstream end of the supply conveyor 61. The downstream end of the supply conveyor 61 is disposed above the opening of the pool cup 52a of the combination weighing section 51, and the items W conveyed by the supply conveyor 61 drop from the downstream end of the supply conveyor 61 in the conveying direction B and enter the pool cup 52a (see FIG. 2).

[0020] The supply conveyor 61 is provided with a first shutter 65 and a second shutter 66 at the downstream end in the conveying direction B and above the middle part in the conveying direction B, for opening and closing the conveying path of the articles W by the supply conveyor 61. The first shutter 65 and the second shutter 66 are pivotally supported at their upper ends by a horizontal swing shaft so as to be swingable, and are opened and closed by a drive means (not shown).

[0021] When long objects W are conveyed on the supply conveyor 61 with the second shutter 66 open, the objects W are consolidated into a lump by the first shutter 65 in the closed position. From this state, the second shutter 66 moves to the closed position, and when long objects W are input to the upstream end of the supply conveyor 61 and conveyed, the long objects W are consolidated into a lump by the second shutter 66 in the closed position. Then, when the first shutter 65 opens, the objects W consolidated into a lump by the first shutter 65 are poured into the pool cup 52a of the combination weighing unit 51. Next, when the first shutter 65 moves to the closed position and the second shutter 66 opens, the objects W consolidated into a lump by the second shutter 66 are conveyed to the first shutter closed position, and the pool cup 52a of the combination weighing unit 51 enters a waiting state for input.

[0022] In this way, the transport device 60 equipped with this supply conveyor 61 can smoothly supply the long articles W as a single mass to the combination weighing device 50 at appropriate intervals as needed.

[0023] Fig. 4 is a schematic front view of a portion of the supply device 10, illustrating the configuration and gripping / injecting operation of the supply device 10. Fig. 5 is a schematic side view of a portion of the supply device 10, illustrating the configuration and gripping / injecting operation of the supply device 10. Fig. 6 is a schematic side view of a portion of the supply device 10, illustrating the configuration and gripping / injecting operation of the supply device 10.

[0024] As shown in Figures 4 to 6, the supply device 10 is equipped with multiple article supply mechanisms 20. In this example, six article supply mechanisms 20A to 20F are provided (see Figure 1). Each article supply mechanism 20 is supported above the transport conveyor 11 by a stand 13. Each article supply mechanism 20 is equipped with a gripping mechanism 21 and a guide mechanism 22. Similar to the supply conveyor 61 of the transport device 60, these article supply mechanisms 20 are arranged above each pool cup 52a for each row of three cups 52 (52a, 52b, 52c) aligned vertically in the weighing device 50, and are arranged at intervals in the width direction of the weighing device 50 (the left-right direction parallel to the plane of Figure 1).

[0025] The gripping mechanism 21 includes a lifting cylinder 31, a lifting rod 32, and a gripping part 33. The upper end of the lifting cylinder 31 is fixed to the stand 13 and is supported in the vertical direction. The lifting cylinder 31 is an actuator that moves the lifting rod 32 back and forth by air or electricity. The gripping part 33 is provided at the lower end of the lifting rod 32. The gripping part 33 has multiple claws that are driven by air, and grips the article W with these claws.

[0026] The guide mechanism 22 includes a chute 41, a swing cylinder 42, and a swing rod 43. The chute 41 is formed in a U-shaped cross section with one side open, and is arranged in the vertical direction with the open side facing the gripping mechanism 21. A portion of the chute 41 near its upper end is swingably supported by a horizontal support shaft 41a that is aligned with the arrangement direction of the article supply mechanism 20. The swing cylinder 42 is arranged on the opposite side of the chute 41 from the insertion section 12. The swing cylinder 42 is fixed to the stand 13 and supported in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the transport conveyor 11. The swing cylinder 42 is an actuator that uses air to move the swing rod 43 back and forth, causing the chute 41 to swing.

[0027] In the supply device 10, when a loading command requesting an item W is issued from the weighing device 50, a gripping and loading operation is performed in the item supply mechanism 20 that is the target of the loading command, and the item supply mechanism 20 grasps the item W on the conveyor 11 and loads it into the loading section 12, supplying it to the weighing device 50.

[0028] In the item supply mechanism 20 that is the target of the insertion command, as shown in Figure 5, the lifting rod 32 is extended by the lifting cylinder 31 of the gripping mechanism 21, causing the gripping portion 33 to be lowered to directly above the conveying conveyor 11, and the gripping portion 33 grips the item W on the conveying conveyor 11.

[0029] 6, the lifting rod 32 is retracted by the lifting cylinder 31, and the article W gripped by the gripping unit 33 is pulled up. Then, when the article W is gripped and pulled up by the gripping mechanism 21, the swinging rod 43 is extended by the swinging cylinder 42 of the guide mechanism 22. This pushes the lower end of the chute 41 forward of the supply device 10, and the chute 41 swings around the support shaft 41a. This moves the lower end of the chute 41 to the top of the insertion unit 12, and the chute 41 is positioned obliquely between the article W gripped by the gripping mechanism 21 and the insertion unit 12.

[0030] In this state, the gripping portion 33 of the gripping mechanism 21 releases the gripping of the item W. Then, the item W that was gripped and pulled up by the gripping portion 33 slides down along the chute 41 and is dropped into the input section 12. The item W that has been input into the input section 12 is then transported by the supply conveyor 61 of the transport device 60 and is dropped into the pool cup 52a of the combination weighing section 51 of the weighing device 50.

[0031] The weighing system 100 having the above configuration includes a control unit 70 (see FIG. 2). In the weighing system 100, the control unit 70 controls the driving of the supply device 10, the weighing device 50, and the transport device 60 in an integrated manner.

[0032] Specifically, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the gripping mechanism 21 and guide mechanism 22 of each article supply mechanism 20 in the supply device 10 based on a loading command from the weighing device 50, and controls the selection of a combination of memory cup 52c and measuring cup 52b that falls within the target weight range, the operation of the opening / closing plate 53, and the operation of each of the other parts in the weighing device 50, and further controls the opening and closing operations of the first shutter 65 and the second shutter 66 in the conveying device 60. As a result, in the weighing system 100, articles W are supplied from the supply device 10 to the weighing device 50 via the conveying device 60, and are discharged by the weighing device 50 at a preset target weight.

[0033] As described above, according to the supply device 10 of this embodiment, the multiple item supply mechanisms 20 of the supply device 10 automatically supply items W to multiple input ports 12, thereby reducing or eliminating the number of workers required to perform the supply work of supplying items W to multiple input ports 12.

[0034] Furthermore, each item supply mechanism 20 grasps and lifts the item W on the transport conveyor 11 and slides it down into the input section 12 using the chute 41, so even if the item W to be supplied to the input section 12 is a long, thin, soft food ingredient or other long item that is prone to tangling, this long item W can be smoothly supplied to the input section 12.

[0035] Incidentally, if the items W to be supplied are long items longer than the pitch of adjacent item supply mechanisms 20, when adjacent item supply mechanisms 20 simultaneously perform gripping and inserting operations, the gripping mechanisms 21 of these adjacent item supply mechanisms 20 may grab the same item W on the transport conveyor 11. This may result in poor supply when supplying items W to inserting sections 12, such as items W straddling adjacent inserting sections 12, or damage to the items W, resulting in a deterioration in quality.

[0036] For this reason, in the weighing system 100 according to this embodiment, when a command to insert an article W into adjacent article supply mechanisms 20 is sent to the supply device 10 by the control unit 70, the adjacent article supply mechanisms 20 are controlled so as not to simultaneously perform gripping and inserting operations. A specific example of this control will be described below.

[0037] (When a loading command is sent to two adjacent article supply mechanisms 20) For example, when a throw-in command is sent to two adjacent item supply mechanisms 20A and 20B, one of the item supply mechanisms 20A performs a gripping and throw-in operation, and then the other item supply mechanism 20B performs a gripping and throw-in operation.

[0038] This prevents adjacent article supply mechanisms 20A and 20B from simultaneously performing gripping and inserting operations. Therefore, even if the article W to be supplied is a long article that is longer than the pitch between adjacent article supply mechanisms 20, it is possible to avoid poor supply or deterioration in the quality of the article W caused by adjacent article supply mechanisms 20A and 20B gripping the same article W.

[0039] (When a loading command is sent to four or more adjacent even-numbered article supply mechanisms 20) For example, if a loading command is sent to four adjacent article supply mechanisms 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D in the supply device 10, these article supply mechanisms 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D are classified into two non-adjacent groups G1 and G2. For example, the non-adjacent article supply mechanisms 20A and 20C are classified into group G1, and the non-adjacent article supply mechanisms 20B and 20D are classified into group G2. Then, after the article supply mechanisms 20A and 20C of one group G1 perform a gripping and loading operation, the article supply mechanisms 20B and 20D of the other group G2 perform a gripping and loading operation.

[0040] By controlling the gripping and inserting operation in this manner, it is possible to prevent adjacent article supply mechanisms 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D from simultaneously performing gripping and inserting operations, thereby avoiding supply problems and deterioration in the quality of the articles W that would otherwise occur if adjacent article supply mechanisms 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D were to grip the same articles W.

[0041] Similarly, for example, if a loading command is sent to six adjacent article supply mechanisms 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20E, and 20F in the supply device 10, the article supply mechanisms 20A, 20C, and 20E that are not adjacent to one another are classified into group G1, and the article supply mechanisms 20B, 20D, and 20F that are not adjacent to one another are classified into group G2. Then, after the article supply mechanisms 20A, 20C, and 20E of one group G1 perform a gripping and loading operation, the article supply mechanisms 20B, 20D, and 20F of the other group G2 perform a gripping and loading operation.

[0042] By controlling the gripping and inserting operation in this manner, it is possible to prevent adjacent article supply mechanisms 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20E, and 20F from simultaneously performing gripping and inserting operations, thereby avoiding supply problems and deterioration in the quality of the articles W that would occur if adjacent article supply mechanisms 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20E, and 20F were to grip the same articles W.

[0043] (When a loading command is sent to three or more adjacent odd-numbered article supply mechanisms 20) For example, even when a loading command is sent to three adjacent article supply mechanisms 20A, 20B, and 20C in the supply device 10, these article supply mechanisms 20A, 20B, and 20C are classified into two non-adjacent groups G1 and G2. For example, the non-adjacent article supply mechanisms 20A and 20C are classified into group G1, and article supply mechanism 20B is classified into group G2. Then, of these groups G1 and G2, the article supply mechanisms 20A and 20C of group G1, which has the largest number of articles, perform a gripping and loading operation first, and then the article supply mechanism 20B of group G2, which has the smaller number of articles than group G1, performs a gripping and loading operation.

[0044] By controlling the gripping and inserting operation in this manner, it is possible to prevent adjacent article supply mechanisms 20A, 20B, and 20C from simultaneously performing gripping and inserting operations. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently supply articles W and improve productivity while avoiding supply problems and deterioration in the quality of articles W caused by adjacent article supply mechanisms 20A, 20B, and 20C gripping the same articles W.

[0045] Similarly, for example, if a loading command is sent to five adjacent article supply mechanisms 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, and 20E in the supply device 10, the article supply mechanisms 20A, 20C, and 20E that are not adjacent to one another are classified into group G1, and the article supply mechanisms 20B and 20D that are not adjacent to one another are classified into group G2. Then, of these groups G1 and G2, the article supply mechanisms 20A, 20C, and 20E of group G1, which has the largest number of articles, perform the gripping and loading operation first, and then the article supply mechanisms 20B and 20D of group G2, which has the smaller number of articles than group G1, perform the gripping and loading operation.

[0046] By controlling the gripping and throwing operation in this manner, it is possible to prevent adjacent article supply mechanisms 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, and 20E from simultaneously performing gripping and throwing operations. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently supply articles W and improve productivity while avoiding supply problems and deterioration in the quality of articles W caused by adjacent article supply mechanisms 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, and 20E gripping the same articles W.

[0047] Alternatively, the multiple article supply mechanisms 20 of the supply device 10 may be pre-classified into two groups G1 and G2 that are not adjacent to each other, and the gripping and inserting operation may be alternately performed for each of these groups G1 and G2. For example, the article supply mechanisms 20A, 20C, and 20E that are not adjacent to each other may be classified into group G1, and the article supply mechanisms 20B, 20D, and 20F that are not adjacent to each other may be classified into group G2. The article supply mechanisms 20A, 20C, and 20E of group G1 and the article supply mechanisms 20B, 20D, and 20F of group G2 may then be alternately subjected to gripping and inserting operations. This also avoids supply problems and deterioration in the quality of the articles W that may occur when adjacent article supply mechanisms 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20E, and 20F grip the same articles W. In this case, even if the gripping and inserting operation is executed, the gripping mechanism 21 of only the item supply mechanism 20 to which the inserting command for supplying the item W was sent is released, and the item W is actually inserted into the inserting section 12.

[0048] Furthermore, if the length of the articles W supplied to the weighing device 50 by the supply device 10 is not particularly long and there is little risk of the same article W being gripped by the gripping mechanisms 21 of adjacent article supply mechanisms 20, the gripping and inserting operations by the adjacent article supply mechanisms 20 may be performed simultaneously. In this way, the supply time of the articles W can be shortened and productivity can be improved.

[0049] In addition, if the length of the articles W supplied to the weighing device 50 by the supply device 10 is not particularly long, the lifting height of the articles W by the gripping mechanism 21 of each article supply mechanism 20 may be lowered. In this way, by lowering the lifting height of the gripping mechanism 21, the cycle time of the gripping and inserting operation by the article supply mechanism 20 to supply the articles W to the inserting section 12 can be shortened, thereby further improving productivity.

[0050] Also, different types of articles W may be transported by the transport conveyor 11, and these different types of articles W may be supplied to the weighing device 50 by the supply device 10. In this case, for example, the different articles W may be transported in parallel by the transport conveyor 11, or the articles W may be transported from both the left and right sides of the supply device 10 by two transport conveyors 11 each transporting a different article W.

[0051] In addition, in the above embodiment, an example was given of a case in which a conveying device 60 was provided to transport the item W inserted into the insertion section 12 by the supply device 10 to the pool cup 52a of the weighing device 50, but it is not necessarily necessary to provide a conveying device 60.

[0052] FIG. 7 is a schematic side view of a weighing system 100A according to a modified example. As shown in Fig. 7, the weighing system 100A according to this modification does not include a conveying device 60, and the input section 12 into which the articles W are input by the supply device 10 is disposed above the pool cup 52a. Therefore, in this weighing system 100A, the articles W input into the input section 12 by each article supply mechanism 20 of the supply device 10 are directly supplied to the pool cup 52a. This weighing system 100A is suitable for use when supplying articles W that are relatively less likely to tangle to the weighing device 50, and since the conveying device 60 can be omitted, costs can be reduced.

[0053] As such, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the present invention also contemplates the mutual combination of the various components of the embodiments, as well as modifications and applications by those skilled in the art based on the description in the specification and well-known techniques, and these modifications and applications are included in the scope of protection sought.

[0054] As described above, the present specification discloses the following: (1) A supply device that supplies articles conveyed by a transport conveyor to a plurality of input ports arranged along the transport conveyor, a plurality of article supply mechanisms that perform a gripping and inserting operation to grip articles on the transport conveyor and insert them into the inserting section; The article supply mechanism includes: a gripping mechanism disposed above the transport conveyor for gripping and lifting an article on the transport conveyor; a guide mechanism having a chute swingably supported on a side of the gripping mechanism; and A supply device in which, when the gripping mechanism grips and pulls up the item, the guide mechanism swings the chute to position the chute diagonally between the item gripped by the gripping mechanism and the input section, causing the gripping mechanism to release its grip on the item, thereby allowing the item to slide down the chute into the input section and be input. This supply device is equipped with multiple item supply mechanisms that perform a gripping and inserting operation to insert items into multiple insert ports arranged along the transport conveyor. In this way, the multiple item supply mechanisms of the supply device automatically supply items to the multiple insert ports, so the number of workers required to supply items to the multiple insert ports can be reduced or eliminated. Furthermore, each item supply mechanism grasps and lifts items on the transport conveyor and slides them down a chute into the input section, so even if the items being supplied to the input section are long, slender, soft food ingredients or other long items that tend to get tangled, these long items can be smoothly supplied to the input section.

[0055] (2) A control unit is provided that controls the drive of the article supply mechanism based on a loading command for loading the article into the loading unit, The control unit When a loading command is sent to the adjacent article supply mechanisms, The supply device according to (1), wherein after a gripping and inserting operation is performed by one of the item supply mechanisms, a gripping and inserting operation is performed by the other item supply mechanism. This supply device prevents adjacent item supply mechanisms from simultaneously performing gripping and inserting operations, so even if the items being supplied are long and longer than the pitch between adjacent item supply mechanisms, it is possible to avoid supply problems or deterioration in the quality of the items caused by adjacent item supply mechanisms gripping the same item.

[0056] (3) A control unit is provided that controls the drive of the article supply mechanism based on a loading command for loading the article into the loading unit, The control unit When a loading command is sent to the adjacent article supply mechanisms, classifying the plurality of article supply mechanisms into two non-adjacent groups; The supply device according to (1), wherein after a gripping and inserting operation is performed by the item supply mechanism of one group, a gripping and inserting operation is performed by the item supply mechanism of the other group. This supply device prevents adjacent item supply mechanisms from simultaneously performing gripping and inserting operations, so even if the items being supplied are long and longer than the pitch between adjacent item supply mechanisms, it is possible to avoid supply problems or deterioration in the quality of the items caused by adjacent item supply mechanisms gripping the same item.

[0057] (4) The control unit The supply device according to (3), wherein the gripping and inserting operation is first performed by the item supply mechanisms of the group having the larger number of item supply mechanisms in the two classified groups. According to this supply device, the gripping and inserting operation is performed first by the item supply mechanism of the group with the larger number of item supply mechanisms in the two classified groups, thereby preventing adjacent item supply mechanisms from performing gripping and inserting operations simultaneously, thereby efficiently supplying items and improving productivity.

[0058] (5) A control unit is provided that controls the drive of the article supply mechanism based on a loading command for loading the article into the loading unit, The control unit The supply device according to (1), wherein the plurality of article supply mechanisms are classified into two groups that are not adjacent to each other, and the article supply mechanisms alternately perform gripping and inserting operations for each of the two groups. This supply device prevents adjacent item supply mechanisms from simultaneously performing gripping and inserting operations, so even if the items being supplied are long and longer than the pitch between adjacent item supply mechanisms, it is possible to avoid supply problems or deterioration in the quality of the items caused by adjacent item supply mechanisms gripping the same item.

[0059] (6) A supply device according to any one of (1) to (5), a weighing device to which the article is supplied from the input portion by the supply device; A weighing system comprising: According to this weighing system, the supply device can automatically supply articles to the weighing device, so the number of workers required to supply articles to the weighing device can be reduced or eliminated.

[0060] (7) A conveying device is provided to convey the article inserted into the insertion section to the weighing device, The conveying device is a supply conveyor having the input section disposed upstream; a shutter provided on the supply conveyor downstream of the input portion for opening and closing a path for conveying the articles by the supply conveyor; The weighing system according to (6) above, According to this weighing system, long articles transported by the supply conveyor can be collected by the shutter in the closed state, and can be supplied to the weighing device in the form of a block that is easy to handle.

[0061] (8) The weighing system according to (7), wherein a plurality of the shutters are arranged on the supply conveyor at intervals along the conveying path. According to this weighing system, long articles conveyed by a supply conveyor are collected by a plurality of shutters, and can be supplied to the weighing device in the form of easily handled lumps. [Explanation of symbols]

[0062] 10 Feeding device 11 Transport conveyor 12 Input section 20,20A,20B,20C,20D,20E,20F Goods supply mechanism 21 Gripping mechanism 22 Guide mechanism 41 Shooter 50 Weighing device 60 Conveyor 61 Supply conveyor 65 First shutter (shutter) 66 Second shutter (shutter) 70 Control Unit 100,100A metering system W Goods

Claims

1. A supply device (10) that supplies items (W) conveyed by a conveyor (11) to a plurality of input sections (12) arranged along the conveyor, a plurality of article supply mechanisms (20) that perform a gripping and inserting operation to grip articles on the transport conveyor and insert them into the inserting section; The article supply mechanism includes: a gripping mechanism (21) disposed above the transport conveyor for gripping and lifting up an article on the transport conveyor; a guide mechanism (22) having a chute (41) swingably supported on the side of the gripping mechanism; and When the gripping mechanism grips and lifts the item, the guide mechanism swings the chute to position the chute obliquely between the item gripped by the gripping mechanism and the input section, thereby releasing the grip of the item by the gripping mechanism, and allowing the item to slide down the chute into the input section and be input. Feeding device.

2. a control unit (70) that controls the drive of the article supply mechanism based on a loading command for loading the article into the loading unit; The control unit When a loading command is sent to the adjacent article supply mechanisms, After the gripping and inserting operation is performed by one of the article supply mechanisms, the gripping and inserting operation is performed by the other article supply mechanism.

2. The feeding device of claim 1.

3. a control unit (70) that controls the drive of the article supply mechanism based on a loading command for loading the article into the loading unit; The control unit When a loading command is sent to the adjacent article supply mechanisms, classifying the plurality of article supply mechanisms into two non-adjacent groups; After the gripping and inserting operation is performed by the article supply mechanism of one group, the gripping and inserting operation is performed by the article supply mechanism of the other group.

2. The feeding device of claim 1.

4. The control unit The gripping and inserting operation is first performed by the article supply mechanism of the group having the larger number of article supply mechanisms among the two classified groups.

4. The feeding device of claim 3.

5. a control unit (70) that controls the drive of the article supply mechanism based on a loading command for loading the article into the loading unit; The control unit The plurality of article supply mechanisms are classified into two groups that are not adjacent to each other, and the article supply mechanisms alternately perform gripping and inserting operations for each of the two groups.

2. The feeding device of claim 1.

6. A supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 5; a weighing device (50) to which the article is supplied from the input portion by the supply device; Equipped with Weighing system.

7. a conveying device (60) that conveys the items input into the input section to the weighing device; The conveying device is a supply conveyor (61) in which the input portion is disposed upstream; a shutter (65, 66) provided downstream of the input portion of the supply conveyor for opening and closing a path for conveying the articles by the supply conveyor; Equipped with The weighing system of claim 6.

8. A plurality of the shutters are arranged on the supply conveyor at intervals along the conveying path. The weighing system of claim 7.

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