Patent ID: 9656770
Date: 2017-05-23
CPC Classifications: B65B

Claim:
1. A method of filling a container with animal litter, wherein animal litter including large-sized granules having predetermined particle diameters and small-sized granules having particle diameters smaller than the large-sized granules is supplied to a storage hopper having a storage space extending in one horizontal direction, and the animal litter stored in the storage space is delivered from a plurality of delivery holes including one or more first region delivery holes provided in a first region formed in the storage space and one or more second region delivery holes provided in a second region formed in the storage space, the plurality of delivery holes being provided along a lengthwise direction of the storage space on a bottom edge side of the hopper, and filled into containers that are to be filled, the method comprising a supply step in which the animal litter is supplied into the storage space of the hopper, a measuring step in which the animal litter in the storage space is delivered from each of the plurality of delivery holes and blending ratios of the large-sized granules and the small-sized granules per a predetermined unit amount of the animal litter delivered from each of the plurality of delivery holes is measured, and a filling step in which the animal litter is filled into the containers through a delivery hole selected from the plurality of delivery holes based on measurement results obtained in the measuring step, wherein in the supply step, the animal litter is freely dropped from above the storage space of the hopper, so that the first region and the second region are formed in the storage space aligning in the lengthwise direction of the storage space, and the animal litter in the first region has a first blending ratio of the small-sized granules with respect to the large-sized granules per the predetermined unit amount of the animal litter which is equal to or less than a predetermined blending ratio, and the animal litter in the second region has a second blending ratio of the small-sized granules with respect to the large-sized granules per the predetermined unit amount of the animal litter which is greater than the predetermined blending ratio, and in the filling step, the one or more first region delivery holes among the plurality of delivery holes that deliver the animal litter from the first region and the one or more second region delivery holes among the plurality of delivery holes that deliver the animal litter from the second region are selected based on the measurement results obtained in the measuring step, and the animal litter is delivered by a predetermined amount from each of the selected delivery holes at least once each and filled into the containers, so that each of the containers has the large-sized granules and small-sized granules in a predetermined target blending ratio per the predetermined unit amount of the animal litter.