Combinational weigher
First Claim
1. A combinational weigher comprising:
- a plurality of supplying means for supplying articles;
a plurality of measuring means for receiving articles individually from said supplying means and measuring said received articles;
a combination calculating means for combining measured values obtained individually by said measuring means and selecting a combination of articles having a total measurement within an allowable range;
means for collecting and discharging said selected articles;
image receiving means for taking in images;
image processing means for obtaining from said images information on conditions of article movements on said supplying means;
a predicting means for making predictions on changes in the supply rates of articles from said supplying means at least on the basis of said obtained conditions of article movements; and
parameter control means for changing operating conditions of said supplying means to thereby control changes in the supply rates of articles from said supplying means on the basis of said predictions.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A combinational weigher measures articles with a plurality of measuring devices and selects a combination of the articles with a total weight within an allowable range. The weigher has a device for supplying the articles, cameras for taking pictures of at least either this article supplying device or the articles thereon, an image processing device for determining the condition of the article supply on the basis of image signals from the cameras, a predicting device for predicting the change in the amount of the supplied articles on the basis at least of the condition thus determined, and a control device for changing the operating conditions of the supplying device on the basis of this prediction so as to control changes in the supply rates of articles to the measuring devices.
62 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A combinational weigher comprising:
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a plurality of supplying means for supplying articles; a plurality of measuring means for receiving articles individually from said supplying means and measuring said received articles; a combination calculating means for combining measured values obtained individually by said measuring means and selecting a combination of articles having a total measurement within an allowable range; means for collecting and discharging said selected articles; image receiving means for taking in images; image processing means for obtaining from said images information on conditions of article movements on said supplying means; a predicting means for making predictions on changes in the supply rates of articles from said supplying means at least on the basis of said obtained conditions of article movements; and parameter control means for changing operating conditions of said supplying means to thereby control changes in the supply rates of articles from said supplying means on the basis of said predictions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A combinational weigher comprising:
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a plurality of supplying means for supplying articles; a plurality of measuring means for receiving articles individually from said supplying means and measuring said received articles; a combination calculating means for combining measured values obtained individually by said measuring means and selecting a combination of articles having a total measurement within an allowable range; means for collecting and discharging said selected articles; image receiving means for taking in images; image processing means for obtaining from said images information on conditions of article movements on said supplying means; a predicting means for making predictions on changes in the supply rates of articles from said supplying means at least on the basis of said obtained conditions of article movements; and combination control means for changing the amount of articles discharged per unit time from selected combinations of said measuring means on the basis of said predictions such that changes in supply rate of articles from said supplying means are controlled. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A combinational weigher comprising:
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a plurality of supplying means for supplying articles; a plurality of measuring means for receiving articles individually from said supplying means and measuring said received articles; a combination calculating means for combining measured values obtained individually by said measuring means and selecting a combination of articles having a total measurement within an allowable range; means for collecting and discharging said selected articles; image receiving means for taking in images; image processing means for processing signals based on said images and thereby detecting abnormal conditions in article movement on said supplying means; and parameter control means for changing operating conditions of any of said supplying means on which said abnormal conditions were detected such that said abnormal conditions are eliminated. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. A combinational weigher comprising:
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a plurality of supplying means for supplying articles; a plurality of measuring means for receiving articles individually from said supplying means and measuring said received articles; a combination calculating means for combining measured values obtained individually by said measuring means and selecting a combination of articles having a total measurement within an allowable range; means for collecting and discharging said selected articles; image receiving means for taking in images; image processing means for processing signals based on said images and thereby detecting abnormal conditions in article movement on said supplying means; and combination control means for changing the amount of articles discharged per unit time from selected combinations of said measuring means such that said abnormal conditions are eliminated. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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13. A combinational weigher comprising:
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a plurality of supplying means for supplying articles; a plurality of measuring means for receiving articles individually from said supplying means and measuring said received articles; a combination calculating means for combining measured values obtained individually by said measuring means and selecting a combination of articles having a total measurement within an allowable range; means for collecting and discharging said selected articles; image receiving means for taking in images; image processing means for detecting densities of articles on said supplying means on the basis of image signals from said image receiving means; and combination control means for changing operating conditions of said supplying means on the basis of said detected densities. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. A combinational weigher comprising:
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a plurality of supplying means for supplying articles; a plurality of measuring means for receiving articles individually from said supplying means and measuring said received articles; a combination calculating means for combining measured values obtained individually by said measuring means and selecting a combination of articles having a total measurement within an allowable range; means for collecting and discharging said selected articles; image receiving means for taking in images; image processing means for detecting densities of articles on said supplying means on the basis of image signals from said image receiving means; and combination control means for changing the amount of articles discharged per unit time from selected combinations of said measuring means corresponding to said supplying means on the basis of said detected densities. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. A combinational weigher comprising:
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a dispersion feeder for having articles dropped thereonto from a supplying means and dispersing said dropped articles radially; a plurality of measuring means disposed in a circle for measuring said articles received thereby; a plurality of vibratory feeders disposed radially corresponding to said measuring means for delivering said articles from said dispersion feeder individually to said measuring means; a combination calculating means for combining measured values obtained individually by said measuring means and selecting a combination of articles having a total measurement within an allowable range; image receiving means for taking in images of at least either said dispersion feeder or the articles on said dispersion feeder; image processing means for receiving said images from said image receiving means and thereby obtaining information on unevenness of said articles on said dispersion feeder; and dropping point control means for adjusting, on the basis of said obtained information on unevenness, the dropping position at which said articles are dropped on said dispersion feeder. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification