Patent ID: 8525048

Claim:
A combination weigher comprising: plural weighing units each of which includes: a combination hopper group including plural combination hoppers which are arranged annularly and fed with objects to be weighed; an upper collecting chute which is disposed below the combination hopper group and configured to collect the objects to be weighed which have been discharged from the combination hoppers and to discharge the objects to be weighed from a discharge outlet at a bottom part thereof; and an upper collecting hopper which is provided at the discharge outlet of the upper collecting chute and configured to hold the objects to be weighed which have been discharged from the discharge outlet of the upper collecting chute, and to then discharge the objects to be weighed; a collecting and discharge means which is configured to collect the objects to be weighed which have been discharged from upper collecting hoppers of the plural weighing units and to discharge the objects to be weighed; and a control means which is configured to repetitively perform: a combination process in which combination calculation is performed based on weights of the objects to be weighed which are held in the combination hoppers in combination hopper groups of all of the weighing units to determine a combination of combination hoppers holding the objects to be weighed whose total weight falls within a predetermined weight range and the combination is determined as a discharge combination; a first discharge process for causing the combination hoppers making up the discharge combination determined in the combination process to discharge the objects to be weighed; and a second discharge process for causing the upper collecting hoppers to discharge all of the objects to be weighed which have been discharged from the combination hoppers and are held in the upper collecting hoppers; wherein the combination hopper groups in the respective weighing units include plural combination hoppers arranged along inner sides of circumferences of plural different imaginary circles; wherein the combination hopper groups are configured such that the plural different imaginary circles partially overlap with one another to form at least one circular-arc shaped overlapping region; and wherein no combination hopper is disposed in the circular-arc shaped overlapping region.