Conveyor

Abstract

To provide conveyors that can easily attach and detach the conveyor body, have good cleaning workability and are suitable for conveying foodstuffs such as ham.SOLUTION: With a main frame 341a held horizontally, a movable sub-frame 343a supporting a discharge side pulley 320 is rotated about an axis 347a so that the discharge side pulley 320 is lower than the main frame 341a, and a conveyor body 30a in an unattached state with a flat belt 330a and a timing belt 351 in a relaxed state is brought into an attached state by: engaging a first engagement projection 344a of the main frame 341a with a first engagement recess 363a of a first mounting plate 362a; and in a state in which a second engagement projection 364a of the movable sub-frame 343a faces a guide portion 367a of a second mounting plate 346a, pushing the vicinity of an axis 34 of the conveyor body 30a downward so that the second engagement projection 364a is guided by the guide portion 367a to engage with the second engagement recess 365a.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a conveyor. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, when producing sliced ​​food by placing sliced ​​ham into pockets formed in a packaging film, a 1-2 m long ham log is sliced ​​to a fixed thickness, and a predetermined number of slices are stacked and then sent onto a conveyor.

[0003] The unpackaged sliced ​​food sent to the conveyor is transported to a packaging machine by a transport device consisting of multiple conveyors, after which it is placed into a pocket in the packaging film and then sealed with a cover film to take the product form.

[0004] When producing sliced ​​foods using the above process, multiple (e.g., four) ham logs are cut with one cutting blade to increase productivity. In this case, the pitch between the sliced ​​ham and the pitch of the pockets formed in the packaging film differ, and the position where the ham falls varies slightly depending on the state of the slices. Therefore, if the sliced ​​food placed on the conveyor is transported to the packaging machine as is, the sliced ​​food cannot be inserted properly into the film pockets.

[0005] In order to solve the above problems, in conventional conveying devices, after the ham log is cut, the position of the sliced ​​food is shifted in the width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction so that the sliced ​​food is accurately placed in the pocket of the packaging film.

[0006] On the other hand, the conveying devices used for the above-mentioned purposes have multiple conveyors (e.g., four) installed at intervals in the width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction for transporting the sliced ​​food, making the device wide and making it difficult to secure space.

[0007] Therefore, the inventor proposed a narrow conveyor that is suitable for adjusting the position of sliced ​​food (see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-11744 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0009] The conveyor described in Patent Document 1 divides a flat belt for transporting sliced ​​food into two with a gear for driving the flat belt placed between them. Because nothing is placed on the sides of the flat belt, the width of the conveyor can be kept to the minimum necessary for transporting sliced ​​food.

[0010] Furthermore, the conveyor device described in Patent Document 1 has the advantage that the flat belt, pulleys, and frame that come into contact with the sliced ​​food can be easily removed from the housing and washed, making maintenance easier.

[0011] However, because the frame supporting the flat belts is exposed between the flat belts, some of the sliced ​​food may droop and come into contact with the frame while being transported. This acts as a brake, delaying the timing of handing over to the next conveyor and causing the food to shift from its planned position.

[0012] Similarly, depending on where the sliced ​​food contacts the frame, it may rotate and become misaligned, thereby defeating the original purpose of accurately depositing the sliced ​​food into the pockets in the packaging film.

[0013] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems in the conventional conveyor, and has an object to provide a conveyor that can prevent the conveyor from slowing down or the sliced ​​food from shifting in position due to contact between the sliced ​​food and the frame. [Means for solving the problem]

[0014] In order to achieve the above object, a conveyor according to the present invention includes an input pulley and an output pulley arranged at a predetermined interval, a pair of long frames that rotatably support the input pulley and the output pulley while sandwiching the input pulley and the output pulley from both sides, a conveyor body having a flat belt stretched between the input pulley and the output pulley, a pair of first attachment plates that support the conveyor body, a pair of second attachment plates that support the conveyor body on the output side relative to the pair of first attachment plates, and a drive motor that applies a driving force to the flat belt stretched between the input pulley and the output pulley, wherein the pair of long frames include a pair of main frames and a pair of movable subframes, the pair of movable subframes support the output pulley and are movable relative to the pair of main frames. and the conveyor body is supported rotatably about an axis within a vertical plane, the main frames each having a first engagement protrusion protruding outward, the movable subframes each having a second engagement protrusion protruding outward, the first attachment plates each having a first engagement recess with which the first engagement protrusion is engaged in a positioned state, the second attachment plates each having a second engagement recess with which the second engagement protrusion is engaged in a positioned state, and a guide portion that guides the second engagement protrusion into the second engagement recess, and the conveyor body rotates the pair of movable subframes about the axis so that the discharge-side pulley is located below the pair of main frames when the pair of main frames are horizontally positioned, and moves the pair of movable subframes to a non-attached state to a position below the pair of main frames in which the flat belt is in a relaxed state, and moves from the non-attached state to a position where the first engagement protrusion is engaged with the first engagement recess. Concave When the shaft is lowered toward the second mounting plate in a state in which the second engagement protrusion is engaged with the guide portion and the second engagement protrusion faces the guide portion, the second engagement protrusion is guided by the guide portion and the second engagement protrusion is guided by the guide portion. Concave The flat belt is engaged with the first attachment plate and the second attachment plate, and the flat belt is stretched in a conveyable state. The conveyor body is configured such that the carry-in side pulley and the carry-out side pulley each include a left and right pulley portion and a gear portion provided between the left and right pulley portions, the flat belt is stretched between the left and right pulley portions of the carry-in side pulley and the carry-out side pulley, and a timing belt is stretched so as to mesh with the gear portions of the carry-in side pulley and the carry-out side pulley and a timing pulley driven by the driving force of the drive motor, and the timing belt is in a slack state together with the flat belt when the conveyor body is in the non-mounted state, and is stretched together with the flat belt when the conveyor body is in the mounted state. It is characterized by the fact that Effect of the Invention

[0015] When the conveyor according to the present invention is used, the conveyor body can be easily removed. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a plan view of a conveyor according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. [Figure 4] 1A to 1C are diagrams illustrating a procedure for assembling a conveyor according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of a conveyor according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view illustrating the function of the sliced ​​food conveying device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A conveyor according to an embodiment of the present invention and a sliced ​​food transport device incorporating the conveyor will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0018] <Configuration and Functions of Sliced ​​Food Conveyor> Before describing the conveyor according to this embodiment, a sliced ​​food conveying device including the conveyor according to this embodiment as a component part will be described with reference to FIG.

[0019] Fig. 6 is a plan view showing the schematic configuration of a sliced ​​food conveying device 10. The sliced ​​food conveying device 10 is composed of a conveyor unit 3 consisting of a first conveyor 1 installed below a slicing device 5, a second conveyor 2 arranged downstream of the first conveyor 1, and a third conveyor 30, which is a conveyor of the present invention, and a fourth conveyor 4.

[0020] The procedure from when the log W is sliced ​​to when it is placed in a pocket of a packaging film arranged in a packaging machine (not shown) will be briefly described with reference to Fig. 6. In the figure, the arrow indicates the conveying direction of the sliced ​​food.

[0021] As described above, four cylindrical logs W of 1 to 2 m in length are prepared, and in the slicing device 5, the logs W are transported at a constant speed and the disc-shaped cutting blade 51 is caused to rotate and revolve around the device, whereby the logs W are sliced ​​successively from the tip to a specified thickness, producing circular slices.

[0022] The log W is transferred to the left by a log transfer mechanism (not shown). The log W is inclined so that the right side is up and the left side is down when viewed from the page surface, and the slices sliced ​​by the cutting blade 51 fall onto the first conveyor 1 for alignment.

[0023] If slicing is repeated with the first conveyor 1 stationary, multiple slices will be stacked on the conveyor in an overlapping state. On the other hand, if slicing is repeated while the first conveyor 1 is moved slightly, the slices will be stacked on the conveyor in a shifted state. The arrangement in which the slices are aligned is determined according to how they will be mounted on the packaging film. Some sliced ​​foods have a single thick slice stored in a pocket in the packaging film.

[0024] The unpackaged sliced ​​food S stacked on the first conveyor 1 is transferred to the second conveyor 2 to clear the conveyor for the next slicing. The first conveyor 1 and the second conveyor 2 have the same conveying speed, are installed adjacent to each other, and have roughly the same height of their conveying surfaces, allowing the sliced ​​food S to be transferred smoothly.

[0025] The sliced ​​food S is then transferred to a third conveyor 3 consisting of four small conveyors 30 to adjust the position of the sliced ​​food S in the width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction. In a packaging machine (not shown) installed downstream, the sliced ​​food S is packaged in four rows perpendicular to the conveying direction. For this reason, the packaging film has four rows of pockets for storing the sliced ​​food S formed at equal intervals with a pitch of P2 in the direction perpendicular to the conveying direction.

[0026] When slicing four logs W with the slicing device 5, due to the constraint of cutting four logs W using a single cutting blade 51, the pitch P1 between the four aligned sliced ​​food S that fall onto the first conveyor 1 is narrower than the pitch P2 of the pockets formed in the packaging film. For this reason, the position adjustment conveyor unit 3 needs to widen the pitch between the sliced ​​food S and align it with the position of the pockets in the film.

[0027] In the sliced ​​food conveying apparatus 10 of Figure 6, the position adjustment conveyor unit 3 is composed of four conveyors 30 of this embodiment installed in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction, and while being conveyed by each conveyor 30, the position of each sliced ​​food S is shifted in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction to match the position of a pocket in the packaging film.

[0028] The four sliced ​​food items S, whose widthwise positions perpendicular to the conveying direction have been adjusted in this manner, are then transferred to a fourth conveyor 4 and transported toward a packaging machine (not shown), where they are then each placed into four pockets in the packaging film and then sealed with a cover film.

[0029] <Configuration and operation of position adjustment conveyor> Next, a conveyor 30 according to the present embodiment, which constitutes the position adjustment conveyor unit 3, will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0030] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a conveyor 30 according to the present embodiment as viewed from above, FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the conveyor 30 as viewed from the front, and FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the conveyor 30 as viewed from the side.

[0031] As shown in Fig. 6 above, this embodiment employs a configuration in which four sliced ​​food items S are simultaneously produced and transported, and the conveyors 30 that transport each of the sliced ​​food items S are arranged side by side downstream of the second conveyor 2. The four conveyors 30 arranged side by side with slight gaps between them have the same configuration.

[0032] FIG. 1 is a top view of one of the conveyors 30. The conveyor 30 includes a conveyor body 30a and a pair of long frames 340a, 340b arranged in parallel. The pair of long frames 340a, 340b support an entrance pulley 310 between one longitudinal end portions thereof, and support an exit pulley 320 between the other longitudinal end portions thereof.

[0033] The carry-in pulley 310 includes a pair of pulley portions 310a, 310b on both sides, and a gear portion 352 in the center. The discharge-side pulley 320 includes a pair of pulley portions 320a, 320b on both sides, and a gear portion 353 in the center.

[0034] A flat belt 330a is wound between the pulley portion 310a and the pulley portion 320a, and a flat belt 330b is wound between the pulley portion 310b and the pulley portion 320b. A timing belt 351 that rotates by transmitting a rotational driving force of a timing pulley 354 (described later) is wound around the gear portion 352 and the gear portion 353 so as to mesh with each other.

[0035] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the long frame 340a (340b) includes a main frame 341a (341b), fixed sub-frames 342a (342b) attached to the front and rear of the main frame, and a movable sub-frame 343a (343b). Of these, main frames 341a, 341b are long metal plates with L-shaped cross sections connected with their sides facing each other by two pins 344 and 345 made of metal rods, and support flat belts 330a, 330b on their upper surfaces. As shown in FIG. 1, the pin 344 protrudes outward from the main frames 341a, 341b so that both ends thereof become first engagement projections 344a, 344b.

[0036] In addition, the main frames 341a, 341b are attached to the housing 370 via a pair of first mounting plates 362a, 362b connected by a support plate 361, as shown in FIG. 3, and the movable subframe 343 is attached to the housing 370 via a pair of second mounting plates 364a, 364b. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the first attachment plate 362a (362b) has a first engagement recess 363a (362b) on its upper portion. The second attachment plates 364a, 364b are provided with guide portions 367a, 367b on the upper portion thereof, and second engagement recesses 365a, 365b provided so as to be continuous with the guide portions 367a, 367b. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the guide portions 367a and 367b are exposed from above the second mounting plates 364a and 364b, and include tapered portions 367c that descend toward the second engagement recesses 365a and 365b.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of fixed sub-frames 342a, 342b made of metal plates are fixed to the entrance ends of main frames 341a, 341b with screws, and a pulley 310 is attached to the tip thereof via a bearing.

[0038] On the other hand, a pair of movable sub-frames 343a, 343b made of metal plate and attached to the unloading end are connected and integrated by pins 346, 347 made of metal rods. The pin 346 has opposite ends which protrude outwardly from the movable sub-frames 343a, 343b to form second engagement protrusions 346a, 346b, respectively. The pin 347 has opposite ends which protrude outwardly from the movable sub-frames 343a and 343b to form axes 347a and 347b, respectively.

[0039] As shown in FIG. 4, the movable sub-frames 343a, 343b are configured to be rotatable in a vertical plane about shafts 347a, 347b relative to the main frames 341a, 341b. Therefore, the conveyor body 30a can be selected between a non-attached state shown in FIG. 4(a) and an attached state shown in FIG. 4(c), as will be described later in detail.

[0040] A stopper 348 is formed on the discharge end of the main frame 341, and when this stopper 348 abuts against the upper part of the movable sub-frames 343a, 343b, the rotation of the movable sub-frames 343a, 343b is stopped and the upper surfaces (transport surfaces) of the flat belts 330a, 330b are maintained in a horizontal state. The method of mounting the conveyor body 30a to the housing 370 will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

[0041] As shown in FIG. 2, the carry-in pulley 310 is rotatably supported on the side surfaces of the fixed sub-frames 342a and 342b via bearings, and shares a common rotation axis as shown in FIG.

[0042] Meanwhile, movable sub-frames 343a, 343b are rotatably attached by shafts 347a, 347b to the end side surface on the unloading side of main frame 341. As described above, the pair of movable sub-frames 343a, 343b are connected by pins 346, 347 and integrated.

[0043] The unloading pulley 320 is supported on the tips of the sub-frames 343a and 343b via bearings, and like the loading pulley 310, shares a rotation axis.

[0044] 1, a timing belt 351 for driving the flat belts is disposed between the left and right flat belts 330a, 330b. The timing belt 351 is wound around a gear portion 352 of the carry-in pulley 310, a gear portion 353 of the carry-out pulley 320, and a timing pulley 354 attached to the housing 370 via a mounting plate 366.

[0045] As described below, the rotational driving force of a motor 381 installed inside the housing 370 is transmitted to the timing belt 351 via a rotation transmission mechanism attached inside the housing and on the outer surface of the housing 370, and drives the left and right flat belts 330a, 330b.

[0046] The rotation transmission mechanism of the flat belts 330a, 330b will be described with reference to Figures 2 and 3. A motor 381 that rotates the carry-in pulley 310 and the carry-out pulley 320 to drive the flat belts 330a, 330b and the rotation transmission mechanism are housed in the internal space of the housing 370. Note that although the figures show fastening members such as bolts and nuts, and bearings, their respective functions are well known and therefore will not be described here.

[0047] In the hollow portion of the housing 370 , a gear box 382 integrated with a motor 381 is attached to the wall surface via a mounting bracket 371 , and further, a pulley 385 is attached to the wall surface via a mounting bracket 372 .

[0048] The rotational force of motor 381 is transmitted to timing pulley 389 attached to mounting plate 366 via gear box 382, ​​timing pulley 383, timing belt 384, timing pulley 385, rotating shaft 386, timing pulley 387 and timing belt 388, and is further transmitted to gear sections 352 and 353 via timing pulley 354 and timing belt 351 which rotate coaxially with timing pulley 389.

[0049] As described above, the two flat belts 330a, 330b are separated and arranged on the left and right sides with the timing belt 351 in between. The left flat belt 330a is rotated by the pulleys 310a, 320a, and the right flat belt 330b is rotated by the pulleys 310b, 320b.

[0050] Gear sections 352, 353, which are rotated by timing belt 351, are coaxial with pulley sections 310a, 310b and pulley sections 320a, 320b. Therefore, when gear sections 352, 353 rotate, pulley sections 310a, 310b and pulley sections 320a, 320b rotate at the same speed, and sliced ​​food S placed on flat belts 330a and 330b is transported from the second conveyor 2 side to the fourth conveyor 4 side.

[0051] A driving timing belt 351 disposed between the flat belts 330a, 330b moves at the same speed as the flat belts 330a, 330b. Therefore, even if part of the sliced ​​food S drips down and touches the timing belt 351 while being conveyed, this acts as a brake and does not delay the timing of transfer to the next conveyor. Similarly, the sliced ​​food S does not rotate or shift sideways during conveyance.

[0052] Furthermore, the width of both the left and right ends of the flat belts 330a, 330b can be set to a minimum value taking into consideration the possibility that the sliced ​​food S may be slightly misaligned from the center, so that the space required to install multiple conveyors side by side can be reduced.

[0053] In addition to the above-mentioned rotation transmission mechanism, a rotation transmission mechanism for rotating the conveyor 30 in a horizontal plane is installed in the hollow portion of the housing 370. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the housing 370 is attached to a base (not shown) via a cylindrical support 390, and is configured to be rotatable in a horizontal plane around the axis of the support 390.

[0054] Specifically, a gear box 391 composed of multiple gears is attached to the upper end of the support 390, and the rotation of a motor 392 installed adjacent to the gear box 391 is transmitted to the housing 370, causing the housing 370 to rotate around the axis of the support 390. The control of the motor 392 will be described later with reference to FIG.

[0055] Next, the procedure for attaching the conveyor unit 30a to the housing 370 will be described with reference to Fig. 4. From a hygienic standpoint, the conveyor 30 needs to be cleaned every time it conveys sliced ​​food. For this reason, the conveyor 30 is constructed so that the conveyor unit 30a can be easily disassembled and assembled.

[0056] As described above, the conveyor section 30a is attached to the housing 370 via the first mounting plates 362a, 362b and the second mounting plates 364a, 364b. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the first engagement protrusions 344a, 344b of the main frames 341a, 341b engage with the first engagement recesses 363a, 363b, and the second engagement protrusions 364a, 364b of the movable sub-frames 343a, 343b engage with the second engagement recesses 365a, 365b, resulting in the attached state as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0057] When the conveyor unit 30a is attached to the housing 370, first, a pair of flat belts 330a and 330b are placed between a pair of pulleys 310 and 320. As shown in FIG. 4(a), in this state, the tips of the movable subframes 343a and 343b hang down under their own weight, and the flat belts 330a and 330b have a sufficient length, so that they can be easily placed between the pulley unit 310a (310b) and the pulley unit 320a (320b). In addition, the timing belt 351 is placed between the two gear units 352 and 353. In this state, the timing belt 351 is in a slack state as shown in FIG. 4(a).

[0058] That is, as shown in FIG. 4(a), the first engagement protrusion 344a (344b) protruding from the side of the main frame 341 is engaged with the first engagement recesses 363a, 363b formed in the upper part of the first mounting plate 364a (364b), and as shown in FIG. 4(b), the second engagement protrusions 364a, 364b of the movable sub-frames 343a, 343b are brought into contact with the guide portions 367a (367b), and the pin 346 is lowered in the direction of 364a, 364b as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4(b). This descent causes the tips of the movable sub-frames 343a, 343b to rotate about the shaft 47a (347b) as shown by the arrows, and the second engagement protrusions 364a, 364b are guided by the guide portions 367a (367b) toward the second engagement recesses 365a, 365b.

[0059] 4(c), the second engagement protrusions 364a, 364b are completely engaged with the second engagement recesses 365a, 365b, and the conveyor body 30a is in the mounted state. In this mounted state, the upper surface of the movable subframe 343a (343b) abuts against the stopper 348a (348b) of the main frame 341a (341b), the rotation of the movable subframe 343a (343b) stops, and then the main frame 341a (341b) and the movable subframe 343a (343b) are arranged in a straight line and maintain a horizontal state. In addition, the flat belt 330a (330b) and the timing belt 351 are in a tensioned state. In this state, a force acts to rotate the movable subframe 343a (343b) upward around the shaft 347a (347b) due to the tension of the flat belt 330a (330b) wound between the pulley portion 310a (310b) and the pulley portion 320a (320b), but the rotation of the movable subframe 343a (343b) is prevented by the stopper 348. As a result, the main frame 341a (341b) and the movable subframe 343a (343b) are maintained in a linear arrangement and held horizontally without being fixed to each other using a fastener.

[0060] 4(c), when the main frame 341a (341b) is held horizontally, the timing belt 351 is stretched between the gears 352, 353 and the timing pulley 354, and preparations are complete for conveying the sliced ​​food S by the flat belt 330a (330b). Thereafter, conveyance of the sliced ​​food S is started in response to a command from the controller 6.

[0061] When removing the conveyor body 30a from the housing 370 for cleaning after the conveying operation is completed, the steps shown in Figures 4(a) to (c) are carried out in reverse order, so that the conveyor body 30a is in the unattached state with the flat belts 330a, 330b and timing belt 351 as shown in Figure 4(a) in a slack state, and each component can be easily removed from the housing 370.

[0062] Next, the control system of the conveyor 30 will be described with reference to Fig. 5. It is sufficient to explain the control of the conveyor 30 using the controller 6, one drive motor 381, and one turning motor 392, but as mentioned above, the four conveyors 30 work together to adjust the position of the sliced ​​food S, so here, the configuration for controlling the four conveyors 30 will be described.

[0063] The control system of the conveyor 30 is made up of a controller 66, a camera 7, and motors 81 to 88, and each member is connected by cables (not shown) for signal transmission and power supply.

[0064] Specifically, the housing 70 of the conveyor 30 arranged on the right side of the conveying direction houses motors 81 and 82, the housing 70 of the next conveyor 30 houses motors 83 and 84, the housing 70 of the next conveyor 30 houses motors 85 and 86, and the housing 70 of the conveyor 30 arranged on the far left side of the conveying direction houses motors 87 and 88.

[0065] Of the components of the conveyor 30 shown in FIG. 2, a motor 381 corresponds to the motors 81, 83, 85 and 87, and a motor 392 corresponds to the motors 82, 84, 86 and 88.

[0066] A camera 7 is installed above the multiple conveyors 30 to capture images of the sliced ​​food S transferred from the second conveyor 2 to the conveyor 30. An area 7R surrounded by a two-dot chain line in Fig. 6 indicates the capture area of ​​the camera 7. Image data of the sliced ​​food S captured by the camera 7 is input to the controller 6.

[0067] As shown in FIG. 5, the controller 6 is composed of an image recognition unit 61, a control unit 72, a storage unit 63, an input unit 64, and a display unit 65, and is realized by a general personal computer.

[0068] The functions of the image recognition unit 61 and the control unit 62 are realized by software stored in the storage unit 63. The image recognition unit 61 extracts an image of the sliced ​​food S from the images captured by the camera 7, and calculates position data of the center of the circle in the width direction. Furthermore, the calculated position data is compared with position data previously stored in the storage unit 63, specifically, with the position data of the centers of the above-mentioned four sliced ​​food S, and the difference is calculated.

[0069] The control unit 62 controls the rotating motors 82, 84, 86 and 88 of each conveyor 30 based on the differential position data calculated by the image recognition unit 61, and rotates each conveyor 30 so that the widthwise position of the sliced ​​food S after being transported by the conveyor 30 and handed over to the fourth conveyor 4 is at a planned position.

[0070] The input unit 64 is composed of a keyboard and a mouse, and is used to input reference position data, etc. The display unit 65 is composed of a liquid crystal display, etc., and is used to display the image of the sliced ​​food S photographed by the camera 7 and the calculated position data.

[0071] The operation of the conveyor 30 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0072] The slicing operation is repeated by the slicing device 5, and the unpackaged sliced ​​food S placed on the first conveying means 1 in a stacked state of a predetermined number of sheets is transferred to the conveyor 30 by driving the first conveyor 1 and the second conveyor 2 at the same speed.

[0073] The sliced ​​food S conveyed to the position shown in Fig. 6 on the conveyor 30 is photographed by the camera 7, and the image data is sent to the controller 6. The image recognition unit 61 of the controller 6 extracts an image of the sliced ​​food S from the received image data, and calculates position data (Y coordinate) of the center of the sliced ​​food S. Furthermore, the calculated position data is compared with the position data stored in the memory unit 63, and difference data is calculated.

[0074] The control unit 62 of the controller 6 drives the rotating motors 82, 84, 86, 88 of each conveyor 30 based on the position data calculated by the image recognition unit 61, thereby rotating the conveyor 30 and adjusting the widthwise position (Y coordinate) of the sliced ​​food S delivered to the conveyor 4 so that it matches the position stored in the memory unit 63.

[0075] As described above, the position at which the food S sliced ​​by the slicing device 5 falls onto the first conveyor 1 varies slightly depending on the state of cutting by the cutting blade, but each time the food is transported by the conveyor 30, the position in the width direction (Y coordinate) is adjusted according to the degree of deviation.

[0076] On the other hand, the position in the conveying direction (X coordinate) is adjusted by four small conveyors (not shown) arranged downstream of the fourth conveyor 4 so that the positions of the four sliced ​​food items S in the conveying direction are aligned and equidistant from front to back; however, this function is one of the basic functions of existing sliced ​​food conveying devices, so a description of it will not be given here.

[0077] With the above-described process, when sliced ​​food S is placed into a pocket in the packaging film in the packaging machine, its position in the conveying direction (X-axis) and width direction (Y-axis) coincides with the position of the pocket, so that the sliced ​​food can be reliably placed into the pocket.

[0078] As described above, the conveyor of this embodiment can prevent the flat belt from slowing down due to the sliced ​​food coming into contact with the frame, and can prevent the sliced ​​food from shifting position relative to the flat belt, allowing the sliced ​​food to be accurately placed into the pockets of the packaging film.

[0079] -2In addition, the flat belt, pulleys and frame that come into contact with the sliced ​​food can be easily removed from the housing and washed, making maintenance of the conveying device easier.

[0080] In the above embodiment, the conveyor unit 3 is configured with four conveyors 30 to accommodate a slicing device that slices four food logs simultaneously, but the number of conveyors 30 is not limited to four. When slicing more than four food logs simultaneously, it is sufficient to configure the conveyor unit with a number of small conveyors corresponding to the number of logs.

[0081] In the above embodiment, a camera is used as a means for acquiring position data of sliced ​​food placed on the fourth conveyor, but this is not limited to this. For example, photoelectric sensors arranged in a line may be placed between the small conveyor and the second conveyor, and position data of the sliced ​​food may be acquired based on the position where light is blocked by the sliced ​​food.

[0082] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case of transporting circular sliced ​​foods has been described, but it goes without saying that the transport device of the present invention is not limited to circular sliced ​​foods, and can also be applied to the transport of oval or rectangular sliced ​​foods. [Explanation of symbols]

[0083] S sliced ​​food W Food Log 1, 2, 4, 30 Conveyor 3 Conveyor Unit 5 Slicing device 6 Controller 7. Camera 10 Slice Food Conveyor 61 Image Recognition Unit 62 Control section 63 Storage section 64 Input section 65 Display section 81, 83, 85, 87 Driving motor 82, 84, 86, 88 Swing motor 30 Conveyor 30a Conveyor body 310 Loading side pulley 310a, 310b Pulley parts 320 Discharge pulley 320a, 320b Pulley section 330a, 330b flat belt 340a, 340b long frame 341a, 341b Mainframe 342a, 342b Fixed subframe 343a, 343b Movable subframe 344, 345, 346,347 Pin 344a, 344b 1st engagement protrusion 346a, 346b 2nd engagement protrusion 348 Stopper 351, 384, 388 Timing belt 352, 353 Gear section 354, 385, 389 Timing pulley 362a, 362b First mounting plate 364a, 364b Second mounting plate 363a, 363b First engagement recess 365a, 365b Second engagement recess 367a, 367b Guide section 367c Tapered section 368a, 367b Stopper 370 Case 381, 392 Motor 390 Post

Claims

1. The conveyor includes an inlet pulley and an outlet pulley that are disposed at a predetermined interval, a pair of long frames that rotatably support the carry-in pulley and the carry-out pulley in a state in which the carry-in pulley and the carry-out pulley are sandwiched between the pair of long frames; a conveyor body having a flat belt stretched between the inlet pulley and the outlet pulley; A pair of first mounting plates supporting the conveyor body; a pair of second mounting plates that support the conveyor body on the discharge side of the pair of first mounting plates; A conveyor including a drive motor that applies a driving force to a flat belt stretched between the inlet pulley and the outlet pulley, The pair of long frames includes a pair of main frames and a pair of movable sub-frames, The pair of movable subframes support the discharge-side pulley and are supported by the pair of main frames so as to be rotatable about an axis within a vertical plane, The main frame includes first engagement projections each protruding outwardly, The movable subframe includes second engagement projections each protruding outwardly, the first mounting plate includes a first engagement recess with which the first engagement projection is engaged in a positioned state, the second mounting plate includes a second engagement recess with which the second engagement projection is engaged in a positioned state, and a guide portion that guides the second engagement projection into the second engagement recess, the conveyor body is in a state where the pair of movable subframes are rotated about the axis so that the discharge-side pulley is located below the pair of main frames when the pair of main frames are horizontally positioned, and the flat belt is in a relaxed state and is not attached to the first attachment plate and the second attachment plate; From this non-attached state, the first engagement projection is engaged with the first engagement recess, and by lowering the shaft toward the second attachment plate with the second engagement projection facing the guide portion, the second engagement projection is guided by the guide portion and engaged with the second engagement recess, and the flat belt is stretched in a conveyable state, thereby making it possible to select an attachment state to the first attachment plate and the second attachment plate, The conveyor body includes a left and right pulley and a gear portion provided between the left and right pulley portions, and the conveyor body includes a right and left pulley and a gear portion provided between the left and right pulley portions, The flat belt is stretched between the left and right pulley portions of the carry-in side pulley and the carry-out side pulley, a timing belt is stretched so as to mesh with gear portions of the carry-in pulley and the carry-out pulley and a timing pulley driven by the driving force of the drive motor; The conveyor is characterized in that the timing belt is configured to be in a slack state together with the flat belt when the conveyor body is in the non-attached state, and to be in tension together with the flat belt when the conveyor body is in the attached state.

2. A conveyor as described in claim 1, wherein the timing pulley is provided below the conveyor body.

3. A conveyor as described in claim 1, wherein the guide portion can be viewed from above the second mounting plate and has a tapered portion that descends toward the second engagement recess.

4. A conveyor as described in claim 1, wherein the main frame is provided with a stopper to prevent the movable subframe from rotating when the conveyor body is in an attached state and abuts against the movable subframe.

Images