Position: The present invention relates to a mixing-weighing combination weigher which mixes objects to be weighed of plural different kinds and weighs the mixed objects to be weighed so that the mixed objects to be weighed has a substantially specified weight, i.e., performs mixing and weighing.
BACKGROUND ART
In a conventional mixing-weighing combination weigher, for example, a plurality of weighing hoppers are divided into groups to respectively correspond to kinds, combination weighing of weights of objects to be weighed is performed for each group (for each kind), and combination weighing of a total weight of all kinds is performed, to determine a combination of discharge weighing hoppers for each of all kinds, gates of weighing hoppers selected to make up of combinations for all kinds are opened and closed simultaneously to discharge the objects to be weighed simultaneously and feed them into, for example, a packaging machine shown in FIG. 13 or into resin-made containers shown in FIG. 14.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. Hei. 7-198466 Patent Document 2: Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. Hei. 6-56313
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
In the above-described conventional mixing-weighing combination weigher, the objects to be weighed of all kinds are discharged simultaneously and fed into one bag (package bag) manufactured by the packaging machine, or the container. Therefore, the objects to be weighed of all kinds are accommodated in a mixed state.
When the objects to be weighed of all kinds are accommodated in the mixed state as described above, tastes of the objects to be weighed of different kinds may be blended and thereby their tastes may be changed into unwanted ones. For example, snacks are in many cases made of the same material and have different tastes because of different flavoring agents (flavors) adhering to their outer surfaces. When the snacks of different tastes (objects to be weighed of different kinds) are fed into one package bag or into one container, their flavors may be blended, and their tastes may be changed into unwanted ones. To avoid this, there is a method, in which the objects to be weighed are packaged for each of the kinds of different tastes, and these packaged objects to be weighed of plural kinds are mixed and packaged into one bag. In this method, however, packaging materials are consumed in larger quantities, and a cost increases. In addition, the package bag accommodating mixed products becomes large and bulky.
Moreover, when the objects to be weighed of all kinds are accommodated into one package bag or into one container in the mixed state, a mixing ratio of the respective kinds cannot be checked at a glance and the amount of the objects to be weighed cannot be judged for each kind. For this reason, consumers cannot recognize the amount of objects to be weighed of their favorite tastes, making it difficult to raise their motivation to buy products.
The present invention has been made to solve the above described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mixing-weighing combination weigher which is configured to stack objects to be weighed of different kinds in different layers into one package bag or into one container to suppress the change of tastes of the objects to be weighed of the respective kinds to unwanted ones and to allow an amount of the objects to be weighed of each kind to be visually checked from outside.
Means for Solving the Problems
To achieve the above described object, a mixing-weighing combination weigher of the present invention comprises a plurality of kind-based groups each of which is made up of a plurality of combination hoppers fed with objects to be weighed, the kind-based groups being fed with objects to be weighed of different kinds; a discharge means that feeds the objects to be weighed from the combination hoppers to a package bag or a container which is externally disposed; and a control means; wherein the control means is configured to perform: a combination process in which a predetermined calculation is performed based on weight values of the objects to be weighed that have been fed into the combination hoppers to determine a combination of the combination hoppers which discharge the objects to be weighed for each of the kind-based groups; and a discharge process in which the objects to be weighed inside the combination hoppers making up of combinations in respective kind-based groups determined in the combination process are fed into the package bag or into the container via the discharge means in such a manner that the objects to be weighed of the different kinds are fed into the package bag or into the container at timings made different from each other, to cause the objects to be weighed of the different kinds are stacked in different layers respectively corresponding to the different kinds.
In accordance with this configuration, since the objects to be weighed of the respective kinds are accommodated into one package bag or into one container in a state in which the objects to be weighed of the respective kinds are stacked in different layers respectively corresponding to the kinds, it becomes possible to suppress mixing of the objects to be weighed of different tastes which will cause their tastes to be changed into unwanted ones. In addition, since the objects to be weighed are stacked for each kind, the amount of the objects to be weighed of each kind can be visually checked from outside. Therefore, the consumers can check whether or not the objects to be weighed of their desired tastes are accommodated in desired amount when they buy the products (package bag or container into which the objects to be weighed are accommodated).
The discharge means may be a collecting chute which is disposed below the combination hoppers making up of the plurality of kind-based groups to gather the objects to be weighed discharged from the combination hoppers and to externally discharge the objects to be weighed from an outlet provided at a lower part thereof, and the control means may be configured to perform the discharge process in which the objects to be weighed are discharged from the combination hoppers at the timings made different from each other between the kind-based groups, to cause the objects to be weighed of the different kinds to be fed into the package bag or into the container at the different timings.
In this case, the control means may be configured to discharge the objects to be weighed from the combination hoppers making up of the respective kind-based groups at the timings made different from each other, based on a discharge order and time intervals of start of discharging the objects to be weighed that are predetermined for the respective kinds.
Or, the control means may be configured to discharge the objects to be weighed from the combination hoppers making up of the respective kind-based groups at the timings made different from each other, based on a predetermined time from a specified timing to start of discharging the objects to be weighed of the respective kinds.
The discharge means may includes a plurality of collecting chutes that are disposed below the kind-based groups so as to respectively correspond to the kind-based groups, to gather the objects to be weighed discharged from the combination hoppers within corresponding kind-based groups and to discharge the objects to be weighed from outlets provided at lower parts of the collecting chutes; and a plurality of collecting hoppers that are provided at the outlets of the collecting chutes to respectively correspond to the kind-based groups and the collecting chutes to hold the objects to be weighed discharged from the outlets of the collecting chutes and to then externally discharge the objects to be weighed. The weighing control means may be configured to perform the discharge process in which the objects to be weighed are discharged from the collecting hoppers at the timings made different from each other between the collecting hoppers respectively corresponding to the kind-based groups, to cause the objects to be weighed of the different kinds to be fed into the package bag or into the container at the different timings.
In this configuration, since the objects to be weighed discharged from the combination hoppers making up of the kind-based groups pass through the corresponding collecting chutes, are held in the corresponding hoppers, and then are discharged from the collecting hoppers in a state in which the objects to be weighed gather together well, the batch length of the objects to be weighed discharged from the collecting hoppers is shortened and a discharge time therefore is shortened. This makes it possible to shorten the time taken for the discharge process for discharging the objects to be weighed of all kinds.
In this case, the control means may be configured to discharge the objects to be weighed from the collecting hoppers at the timings made different from each other, based on a discharge order and time intervals of start of discharging the objects to be weighed that are predetermined for the respective kinds.USPTO Application #: 20080283307
