Crop sorting equipment

Abstract

To provide an agricultural product selecting device that can prevent a plurality of agricultural products from overlapping with each other at front and back sides in a conveying direction in the course of conveying the plurality of agricultural products, so as to accurately select respective qualities of the agricultural products.SOLUTION: An agricultural product selecting device 1 comprises conveying means 4 that conveys a plurality of agricultural products 2 and selecting means 6 that selects respective qualities of the agricultural products 2 in the course of conveying the agricultural products 2 by the conveying means 4. The conveying means 4 is a roller conveyor, where aligning means 5, which is mounted on the conveying means 4 so as to separate the agricultural products 2 from each other in the conveying direction and align the products in line in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction when the plurality of agricultural products 2 are supplied onto the roller conveyor as the conveying means 4, is arranged at an upstream side in the conveying direction in the conveying means 4.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a crop sorting device. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, Patent Document 1 describes "a conveying device that conveys long crops P supplied from an inlet 11a provided at the bottom of a storage hopper 11 one by one in a predetermined position."

[0003] Furthermore, in Patent Document 1, transport protrusions are attached at regular intervals to the transport surface of the transport conveyor, and long crops are stored one by one between adjacent transport protrusions. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 3691541 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the above Patent Document 1, when many long crops are densely supplied onto the transport conveyor, multiple long crops may end up stacked vertically between adjacent transport protrusions on the transport conveyor.

[0006] If this happens, there is a concern that accurate assessment will not be possible in the process of assessing the quality (appearance and internal appearance) of the long crops downstream in the conveying direction.

[0007] In view of these circumstances, the present invention aims to provide a crop sorting device that prevents multiple crops from overlapping at the front and rear of the transport direction during the transport process of the multiple crops, thereby enabling accurate selection of the quality of each of the crops. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present invention provides a crop sorting device comprising a conveying means for conveying a plurality of crops and a selecting means for selecting the quality of each of the crops during the process of conveying the crops by the conveying means, wherein the conveying means is a roller conveyor, and a separating means is provided on the upstream side of the conveying means in the conveying direction for separating each of the crops in the conveying direction when the plurality of crops are supplied onto the roller conveyor as the conveying means and for arranging the crops in a line in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction. The partition means includes a partition member disposed between two adjacent rollers of the roller conveyor. It is characterized by the presence of

[0009] According to this configuration, a plurality of agricultural products can be loaded onto the roller conveyor as the transport means in a state in which they are prevented from overlapping with each other in the front and rear in the transport direction.

[0010] This allows the selection means to accurately select the quality of each of the agricultural products during the transport process.

[0012] Furthermore, the above This configuration makes it possible to place one or more agricultural products between the virtual pair of rollers in a line in the direction of the central axes of the rollers.

[0013] This makes it possible to reliably prevent multiple agricultural products from overlapping with each other in the front and rear of the conveying direction.

[0014] Also, The present invention provides a crop sorting device comprising conveying means for conveying a plurality of crops, and selecting means for selecting the quality of each of the crops as the crops are being conveyed by the conveying means, wherein the conveying means is a roller conveyor, and an alignment means is provided on the conveying means upstream in the conveying direction, the alignment means being mounted on the conveying means so that when the plurality of crops are supplied onto the roller conveyor as the conveying means, the alignment means separates the individual crops in the conveying direction and aligns them in a line in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction, and the alignment means comprises a spreading roller conveyor that sends the plurality of crops towards the conveying means while scattering them back and forth and left and right, and partition means that arranges the crops sent from the spreading roller conveyor between two adjacent rollers on the roller conveyor as the conveying means, The partition means can be configured to include an upstream sprocket and a downstream sprocket spaced apart and arranged opposite to each other in the conveying direction, a ring-shaped member wrapped around the upstream sprocket and the downstream sprocket and driven to rotate in the same direction as the conveying direction at the same speed as the conveying speed of the conveying means, and a plurality of partition members attached to a plurality of circumferentially spaced locations on the ring-shaped member so as to protrude radially outward, and the spacing between each of the partition members can be set to a dimension that sandwiches two adjacent rollers in a roller conveyor serving as the conveying means.

[0015] According to this configuration, it is clear that the configuration of the partition means is relatively simple, and the equipment cost can be reduced.

[0016] In the above-described farm product sorting device, the partition means may be configured to be provided above a conveying surface of the conveying means.

[0017] This configuration makes it clear that the installation of the partition means is relatively easy, and the installation cost can be reduced. [Effects of the Invention]

[0018] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a crop sorting device that prevents multiple crops from overlapping at the front and rear of the transport direction during the transport process of multiple crops, and enables the quality of each of the crops to be accurately selected. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of an embodiment of a crop sorting device according to the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 4 is a side view schematically showing the configuration of an alignment unit. [Figure 3] 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an exterior photographing means and an interior photographing means; FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a timing chart for explaining the drive timing of the exterior photographing means and the interior photographing means. [Figure 5] 10A and 10B are diagrams for explaining the indication form of an indication means. [Figure 6] 3 is an enlarged view of the area surrounded by the dashed line in FIG. 2. FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically illustrating another configuration of the alignment means. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0020] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0021] An embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figures 1 to 6. In the figures, reference numeral 1 denotes the entirety of the agricultural product sorting device.

[0022] This agricultural product sorting device 1 is configured to determine the quality (e.g., color, size, presence or absence of scratches and decay, and state of scratches and decay) of agricultural products 2, such as potatoes and mandarin oranges, and to remove agricultural products 2 that are determined to be of substandard quality.

[0023] This farm product sorting device 1 is equipped with a supplying means 3, a conveying means 4, an aligning means 5, a selecting means 6, a taking-out means 7, an indicating means 8, an adjusting means 9, etc. These are controlled by a control means (not shown).

[0024] Supply means 3 is provided in supply section 201 upstream of conveying means 4, and stores, for example, agricultural products 2 before sorting. Supply means 3 is, for example, a container.

[0025] Conveying means 4 conveys the plurality of crops 2 supplied from supplying means 3, and is, for example, a roller conveyor.

[0026] The conveying means 4 includes a pair of left and right drive sprockets 41, a pair of left and right driven sprockets 42, a pair of left and right chains 43, a plurality of rollers 44, a motor 45, and the like.

[0027] The pair of left and right drive sprockets 41 are provided downstream in the conveying direction of crops 2. The pair of left and right driven sprockets 42 are provided upstream in the conveying direction of crops 2.

[0028] A pair of left and right chains 43 are wound around a drive sprocket 41 and a driven sprocket 42, and are arranged to face each other in parallel and spaced apart in the lateral direction.

[0029] The rollers 44 are rotatably provided between the pair of opposing left and right chains 43, and the longitudinal direction of each roller 44 is aligned along a direction (width direction) perpendicular to the conveying direction.

[0030] The motor 45 rotates the chain 43 by rotating the drive sprocket 41 fixed to its output shaft (not shown).

[0031] On rollers 44 of such conveying means 4, a supply section 201, an alignment section 202, a rotation direction switching section 203, a measurement section 204, and a removal section 205 are allocated from upstream to downstream in the conveying direction of crop 2.

[0032] The alignment means 5 is provided in the alignment section 202 upstream of the conveying means 4, and separates the crops 2 supplied randomly from the supply means 3 in the conveying direction and aligns them in a line in a direction (horizontal direction) perpendicular to the conveying direction.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 2, the aligning means 5 includes a spreading roller conveyor 51 and a partitioning means 52.

[0034] The spreading roller conveyor 51 receives a plurality of agricultural products 2 from the supply means 3 and sends the plurality of agricultural products 2 toward the conveying means 4 while scattering them back and forth and left and right, and has basically the same configuration as the roller conveyor as the conveying means 4.

[0035] The outer size of the chain 511 of this spreading roller conveyor 51 is significantly shorter than that of the roller conveyor as the conveying means 4, but the outer size of the rollers 512 of the spreading roller conveyor 51 and the spacing between each roller 512 are the same as those of the roller conveyor as the conveying means 4.

[0036] This spreading roller conveyor 51 is adjusted so as to send the plurality of crops 2 toward the conveying means 4 at half the conveying speed of the roller conveyor serving as the conveying means 4. Note that the speed of spreading roller conveyor 51 is not limited to half the conveying speed of the roller conveyor serving as the conveying means 4, and can be set arbitrarily, for example, to 1 / 4, 1 / 8, or the like.

[0037] The partition means 52 is provided above the conveying surface of the conveying means 4 and is used to arrange the agricultural products 2 conveyed from the spreading roller conveyor 51 between the rollers 44 of each virtual pair when two adjacent rollers 44 are considered as a virtual pair on the roller conveyor serving as the conveying means 4.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 2, the partitioning means 52 includes a pair of left and right upstream sprockets 521, a pair of left and right downstream sprockets 522, a pair of left and right chains 523 as ring-shaped members, a partitioning member 524, and the like.

[0039] The pair of left and right upstream sprockets 521 and the pair of left and right downstream sprockets 522 are arranged to face each other and spaced apart in the conveying direction. The upstream sprockets 521 or the downstream sprockets 522 are rotated by a motor (not shown).

[0040] A pair of left and right chains 523 are wound around a pair of left and right upstream sprockets 521 and a pair of left and right downstream sprockets 522, and are arranged to face each other in parallel and spaced apart in the lateral direction.

[0041] The partition members 524 are attached to the chain 523 at a plurality of locations spaced apart in the circumferential direction so as to protrude radially outward, and brushes 525 are provided on the tip sides thereof.

[0042] The spacing between the partition members 524 is set to a dimension that sandwiches two adjacent rollers 44 in the roller conveyor serving as the transport means 4.

[0043] 2 and 6, the partition member 524 is supported so as to be tiltable at a predetermined angle relative to the chain 523.

[0044] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the partition member 524 is attached to a chain 523 via a hinge 526, and is prevented from tilting in the opposite direction to the tilting direction by a stopper 527.

[0045] The selection means 6 is provided in the measurement section 204 above the transport means 4, and determines whether the quality of the crops 2 transported by the transport means 4 is substandard, and recognizes the location of the substandard crops 2.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 3, the selection means 6 includes an exterior photographing means 61, an interior photographing means 62, a determination means 63, a recognition means 64, and the like.

[0047] The exterior photographing means 61 is composed of a first light source 61a and a first light receiving unit 61b. The first light source 61a may be, for example, a known white LED that emits visible light. The first light receiving unit 61b photographs the visible light emitted from the first light source 61a and reflected from the conveying means 4, and may be, for example, a known CCD camera or CMOS camera.

[0048] This external photographing means 61 is positioned on the upstream side of the conveying direction (also called the external quality judgment section) in the measurement section 204 above the conveying means 4, and photographs the entire upstream area of ​​the measurement section 204 to photograph the external appearance of the agricultural products 2 being conveyed by the conveying means 4, and transmits the photographed image to the judgment means 63.

[0049] The internal imaging means 62 is composed of second and third light sources 62a and 62c, and second and third light receiving sections 62b and 62d.

[0050] The second and third light sources 62a and 62c may be, for example, known near-infrared LEDs that emit near-infrared light. The second and third light receiving units 62b and 62d may be, for example, known CCD cameras or CMOS cameras. The second light receiving unit 62b captures light transmitted through the agricultural produce 2 directly above the second light source 62a (see the dashed line in Figure 3) and near-infrared light reflected by the conveying means 4 or other agricultural produce 2 placed upstream or downstream (see the dashed line in Figure 3). The third light receiving unit 62d, like the second light receiving unit 62b, captures light transmitted through the agricultural produce 2 directly above the third light source 62c and near-infrared light reflected by the conveying means 4 or other agricultural produce 2 placed upstream or downstream.

[0051] This internal photographing means 62 is positioned downstream in the conveying direction (also called the internal quality judgment section) in the measurement section 204 above the conveying means 4, and photographs the entire downstream area of ​​the measurement section 204 to photograph the inside of the agricultural product 2 being conveyed by the conveying means 4, and transmits the photographed image to the judgment means 63.

[0052] The entire area includes the entire length range in the conveying direction (X direction) on the upstream and downstream sides of the measurement section 204, and the entire width range in the direction (Y direction) perpendicular to the conveying direction.

[0053] Determination means 63 determines whether the quality of crop 2 is below standard based on the images taken by exterior photographing means 61 and interior photographing means 62.

[0054] Specifically, the judgment means 63 judges whether the quality (color, size, presence or absence of scratches, size of scratches, etc.) of the photographed agricultural product 2 is substandard based on the image taken by the exterior photographing means 61, and also judges whether the quality (state of decay) is substandard based on the image taken by the internal photographing means 62.

[0055] As for the method for determining whether the quality of the crop 2 is out of standard, a known method can be used, and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0056] The recognition means 64 is positioned downstream in the conveying direction (internal quality judgment section) in the measurement section 204 above the conveying means 4, and by photographing the entire downstream area of ​​the measurement section 204, it recognizes the position (XY coordinates) of the crop 2 that has been judged to be out of standard by the judgment means 63 and tracks the crop 2.

[0057] The recognition means 64 is composed of a fourth light source 64a and a fourth light receiving unit 64b. The fourth light source 64a may be, for example, a known white LED that emits visible light. The fourth light receiving unit 64b photographs the visible light emitted from the fourth light source 64a and reflected from the conveying means 4, and may be, for example, a known CCD camera or CMOS camera.

[0058] The first to fourth light sources 61a, 62a, 62c, 64a and the first to fourth light receiving units 61b, 62b, 62d, 64b are attached to a frame 65. The emission timings of the first to fourth light sources 61a, 62a, 62c, 64a are set to be offset from one another to prevent mutual interference, as shown in Figures 4(a) to 4(d), for example.

[0059] The removal means 7 is located upstream in the conveying direction (also called the automatic removal section) in the removal section 205 above the conveying means 4, and automatically removes non-standard agricultural products 2 from the conveying means 4, and can be constituted by, for example, a robot.

[0060] The removal means 7 is configured to receive information regarding the position (XY coordinates) of the non-standard produce 2, and remove the non-standard produce 2 transported by the transport means 4 based on the received information.

[0061] The removed non-standard agricultural produce 2 can be stored in, for example, a collection box (not shown). The robot can be, for example, a parallel link robot, a scalar robot, or an articulated robot.

[0062] The indication means 8 is arranged downstream in the conveying direction in the removal section 205 above the conveying means 4 (also called the indication section or manual removal section), and indicates non-standard agricultural products 2, and can be, for example, a projector.

[0063] This indication means 8 receives information regarding the position (XY coordinates) of the non-standard crop 2 from the recognition means 64, and based on this received information, as shown in Figure 5, for example, it irradiates visible light onto the non-standard crop 2 being transported by the transport means 4, and by sequentially shifting the irradiation position of the visible light in accordance with the movement of the crop 2, it is possible to track the crop 2.

[0064] Incidentally, whether the non-standard agricultural products 2 selected by the selection means 6 are to be removed by the removal means 7 or instructed by the instruction means 8 can be determined by a control means (measured as a determination means in the claims) not shown.

[0065] Further, downstream of removal section 205 where indication means 8 is provided, visible light is irradiated onto non-standard crops 2, so that workers can manually remove non-standard crops 2.

[0066] The adjusting means 9 adjusts the conveying speed of the conveying means 4 taking into consideration the number of non-standard crops 2 selected by the selecting means 6 and the removal capacity of the removing means 7 .

[0067] Specifically, adjustment means 9 adjusts the conveying speed of chain 43 by controlling the driving force of motor 45 of conveying means 4, thereby adjusting the conveying speed of crop 2. The conveying speed of chain 43 is recognized by an encoder (not shown) provided on drive sprocket 41.

[0068] The adjusting means 9 slows down the conveying speed of the conveying means 4 when there is a large number of non-standard crops 2 .

[0069] Next, the operation of the above-described farm product selection device 1 will be described.

[0070] First, in the supply section 201, unsorted agricultural products 2 contained in a container serving as a supply means 3 are randomly supplied onto the diffusion roller conveyor 51 of the alignment means 5 located upstream of the alignment section 202 (first diffusion section).

[0071] On spreading roller conveyor 51, crops 2 supplied in the random state are sent downstream of alignment section 202 (second spreading section) while being scattered back and forth and left and right.

[0072] When crops 2 sent downstream of alignment section 202 are fed onto a roller conveyor serving as transport means 4 , each crop 2 is aligned by partition means 52 of alignment means 5 .

[0073] At this time, even if crop 2 comes into contact with partition member 524, crop 2 comes into contact with brush 525 provided on the tip side of partition member 524, and crop 2 is not damaged.

[0074] Specifically, downstream of the alignment section 202, when two adjacent rollers 44 in the roller conveyor serving as the conveying means 4 are considered as a virtual pair, one crop 2 or multiple crops 2 are arranged in a row in the direction of the central axis of the rollers 44 between the rollers 44 of each virtual pair, and the two rollers 44 that make up the virtual pair are sandwiched by a partition member 524.

[0075] Therefore, crop 2 placed between these two rollers 44 is held immobile so that it does not roll in the conveying direction and become displaced. Even if crop 2 comes into contact with partition member 524, crop 2 comes into contact with brush 525 provided on the tip side of partition member 524, and therefore crop 2 is not damaged.

[0076] Furthermore, if crop 2 is long, such as oval, crop 2 will be changed between the two rollers 44 to a position where its longitudinal direction is aligned with the central axis of rollers 44 (called a horizontal position).

[0077] This makes it possible to prevent multiple crops 2 from overlapping at the front and rear in the conveying direction.

[0078] Then, during the process in which crop 2 passes through rotation direction switching section 203 and then through the upstream side of measurement section 204 (appearance quality determination section), appearance photographing means 61 photographs the appearance of crop 2 .

[0079] On the upstream side of this measurement section 204 (appearance quality judgment section), as shown in Figure 3, each roller 44 is rotated, causing the crop 2 to rotate in the opposite direction to the rotation direction of each roller 44, so that the entire circumference of the crop 2 can be continuously photographed by the appearance photographing means 61.

[0080] Based on the image captured by this appearance photographing means 61, the judgment means 63 judges whether the quality of the crop 2 (color, size, presence or absence of scratches, size of scratches, etc.) is substandard, and counts the number of such substandard crops 2 present upstream of the measurement section 204 (appearance quality judgment section).Furthermore, the recognition means 64 recognizes the position (XY coordinates) of the crop 2 judged to be substandard, and tracks the crop 2.

[0081] Thereafter, while crop 2 passes through the downstream side of measurement section 204 (internal quality determination section), internal photographing means 62 photographs the inside of crop 2 .

[0082] On the downstream side of measurement section 204 (internal quality determination section), rollers 44 are kept non-rotating, so that the internal condition of crop 2 can be clearly photographed by internal photographing means 62.

[0083] Based on this internally captured image, the judgment means 63 judges whether the quality (state of decay) of the crop 2 is substandard, and the recognition means 64 recognizes the position (XY coordinates) of the crop 2 that has been judged to be substandard, and tracks the crop 2.

[0084] Next, upstream of the removal section 205 (automatic removal section), the removal means 7 receives information regarding the position (XY coordinates) of the non-standard agricultural produce 2 from the recognition means 64, and automatically removes the non-standard agricultural produce 2 based on this received information and stores it in a collection box not shown.

[0085] Then, downstream of the removal section 205 (manual removal section), the instruction means 8 receives information regarding the position (XY coordinates) of the non-standard agricultural product 2 from the recognition means 64, and based on this received information, irradiates visible light onto the non-standard agricultural product 2 being transported by the transport means 4, and tracks the agricultural product 2 by sequentially shifting the irradiation position of the visible light in accordance with the movement of the agricultural product 2, for example, as shown in Figure 5.

[0086] As a result, visible light is irradiated onto non-standard produce 2 downstream of removal section 205 where indication means 8 is provided, making it easier for workers to manually remove non-standard produce 2.

[0087] In other words, downstream of this removal section 205, in the event that a non-standard agricultural product is missed being removed upstream, a worker can manually remove the non-standard agricultural product 2 that was missed.

[0088] As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, in the alignment section 202 where multiple agricultural products 2 are loaded from the spreading roller conveyor 51 onto a roller conveyor serving as the conveying means 4, the alignment means 5 prevents the multiple agricultural products 2 from overlapping at the front and rear in the conveying direction, and the crops can be arranged between two rollers 44 that form a virtual pair on the roller conveyor serving as the conveying means 4.

[0089] This enables selection means 6 to accurately select the quality of each of crops 2 in measurement section 204. As a result, this can contribute to improving the reliability of crop selection device 1.

[0090] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the claims and the equivalents thereof.

[0091] (1) The configuration of the farm product sorting device 1 described in the above embodiment is not particularly limited except for the configuration related to the features of the present invention, and can be modified as appropriate.

[0092] (2) For example, Fig. 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment differs from the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 6 in that the location of the partition means 52 of the alignment means 5 shown in Fig. 2 is changed.

[0093] This partition means 52 has basically the same configuration as the partition means 52 of the embodiment shown in Figures 2 and 6, but the partition member 524 of the partition means 52 does not have the brush 525 shown in Figure 6, and the hinge 526 and stopper 527 shown in Figure 6 are also eliminated, so that the partition member 524 is attached so that it cannot tilt.

[0094] In this embodiment, the partition means 52 is provided between a pair of opposing left and right chains 43 on the upstream side of the conveying direction of the roller conveyor serving as the conveying means 4 so that its vertical position is the same as that of the roller conveyor serving as the conveying means 4.

[0095] In operation, as the chain 523 of the partitioning means 52 rotates, the partitioning member 524 enters between two adjacent rollers 44 in the roller conveyor serving as the transporting means 4.

[0096] Furthermore, as the chain 523 rotates, the partition member 524 is guided to gradually move away from the adjacent two rollers 44 as it moves from the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveying direction, and is guided to gradually move closer to the adjacent two rollers 44 as it returns to the upstream side in the conveying direction.

[0097] In this embodiment, the same functions and effects as those of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 can be obtained. [Industrial Applicability]

[0098] The present invention can be suitably used in a crop sorting device. [Explanation of symbols]

[0099] 1. Crop sorting device 2. Crops 3 Supply means 4. Means of transportation 41 Drive sprocket 42 driven sprocket 43 Chain 44 Laura 45 motor 5 Alignment Method 51 Diffusion roller conveyor 511 Chain 512 Laura 52 Partitioning means 521 Upstream sprocket 522 downstream sprocket 523 Chain (ring-shaped member) 524 Partition members 525 Brush 526 Hinge 527 Stopper 6 Selection method 61 Exterior photography methods 62 Internal photography means 63 Judgment means 64 Recognition means 65 frames 7 Retrieval means 201 Supply Section 202 Alignment Section 203 Rotation direction change section 204 Measurement Section 205 Extraction Section

Claims

1. A crop sorting device comprising: a conveying means for conveying a plurality of crops; and a selecting means for selecting the quality of each of the crops during the process of conveying the crops by the conveying means, The conveying means is a roller conveyor, The conveying means is provided with a partition means on the upstream side in the conveying direction for separating the agricultural products in the conveying direction and arranging them in a line in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction when a plurality of agricultural products are supplied onto the roller conveyor serving as the conveying means, The agricultural product sorting device is characterized in that the partition means includes a partition member disposed between two adjacent rollers of the roller conveyor.

2. A crop sorting device comprising: a conveying means for conveying a plurality of crops; and a selecting means for selecting the quality of each of the crops during the process of conveying the crops by the conveying means, The conveying means is a roller conveyor, An alignment means is provided on the upstream side of the conveying means in the conveying direction for loading a plurality of agricultural products onto the roller conveyor serving as the conveying means so that the agricultural products are spaced apart in the conveying direction and aligned in a line in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction, The aligning means includes a spreading roller conveyor that scatters the plurality of agricultural products back and forth and left and right while sending them toward the conveying means; and a partition means for disposing the agricultural products sent from the spreading roller conveyor between two adjacent rollers of the roller conveyor as the transport means, the partitioning means comprises an upstream sprocket and a downstream sprocket arranged at a distance to face each other in the conveying direction, a ring-shaped member wrapped around the upstream sprocket and the downstream sprocket and driven to rotate in the same direction as the conveying direction at the same speed as the conveying speed of the conveying means, and a plurality of partitioning members attached to a plurality of locations spaced apart in the circumferential direction of the ring-shaped member so as to protrude radially outward; The agricultural product sorting device is characterized in that the spacing between the partition members is set to a dimension that sandwiches two adjacent rollers in a roller conveyor serving as the transport means.

3. In the crop sorting device according to claim 1 or 2, The agricultural product sorting device is characterized in that the partition means is provided above a conveying surface of the conveying means.

Images