JP2003062780A - Workpiece conveying positioning method and workpiece conveying positioning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a conveying positioning method and a conveying positioning device that can position a workpiece to a disposing position with high accuracy even if it is difficult to detect positioning accuracy at the supplied position or disposing position of the workpiece. SOLUTION: A board 10 is carried to a detecting part when it is held in a clamp 32, and edges 10a, 10c are detected by sensors 50, 52 and 54, by being moved along a horizontal plane in the detecting part. After the actual position and attitude of the clamp 32 at a printing device 16 are determined based on the difference between the number of revolutions of a motor corresponding to the moving quantity of the clamp 32 from the reference position to the detected position and the reference value, the board 10 is positioned at the specified position by being released from the clamp 32 on a rail 106 with the determined position and attitude.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carrying method and apparatus for carrying a work and positioning and arranging it with a predetermined accuracy.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various industrial machines are known in which a work is held and conveyed or assembled by a robot.
When a work is conveyed by such a machine and positioned with high accuracy, it is necessary to correct the holding position of the work when holding it by the robot or correct the placement position of the work when arranging it at the destination. There is. Therefore, in these machines, the position, orientation, and the like of the workpiece are detected at the supply position or the arrangement position for the correction by using image recognition, an optical sensor, or the like. When correcting these positions, it is desirable to detect the work in a non-contact manner in order to improve the position accuracy as much as possible and prevent the work from being damaged. It is difficult to adopt a proper positioning method.

[0003]

However, the work is detected at the supply position in such a supply mode that there are obstacles that obstruct the detection path such as the optical path of an optical sensor or the field of view of the image recognition image pickup device. However, it is difficult to apply, for example, in the case where a plurality of flat plate-shaped works accommodated in a magazine or the like so as to be overlapped with each other are supplied. Further, in the case of mechanical holding, there is a problem that the relative position between the holding device and the work may change after the detection. On the other hand, in the method of detecting the work at the arrangement position, the time spent for the positioning may directly increase the work time, which may lead to a decrease in efficiency. Further, various mechanisms provided at the supply position and the arrangement position may hinder the arrangement of the sensor, the image pickup device, and the like at appropriate positions. This tendency becomes remarkable as the processing in the industrial machine becomes complicated and a large number of devices are closely arranged, or the robot becomes complicated because of complicated operation. Further, in the case of grasping the posture of the work by image recognition, there is a problem that an expensive imaging device and a complicated control program are required and the equipment cost becomes high.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. An object of the present invention is to arrange a workpiece even if it is difficult to detect its position accuracy at the supply position or the arrangement position. Another object of the present invention is to provide a transfer positioning method and a transfer positioning device capable of accurately positioning a work.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problem] The gist of the transport positioning method of the first invention for achieving such an object is that it is a plane viewed from a direction perpendicular to a predetermined reference plane. A work having a predetermined first end edge and a second end edge on the outer peripheral edge in the visual sense is held by a holding device, conveyed from a predetermined supply section to a predetermined arrangement section, and positioned at a predetermined position by the arrangement section. The method of transport positioning of
(a) A first sensor, a second sensor, which holds the work supplied to the supply unit by the holding device and detects the presence or absence of the work in a non-contact manner from a direction perpendicular to the reference plane, and A step of moving the third sensor to a predetermined detection part provided at a position separated from each other; and (b) moving the workpiece along the reference plane in the detection part while maintaining the holding state. According to the above, an edge detection step of detecting the first edge by the first sensor and the second sensor and detecting the second edge by the third sensor, and (c) from a predetermined reference position Based on a difference between a value corresponding to the amount of movement of the holding device until the first edge and the second edge are detected and a reference value stored in advance, the value is determined corresponding to the reference value. A holding device for the arrangement section By correcting the position and orientation, position and orientation determination step of substantially determining the actual position and orientation of the holding device in the arrangement unit,
(d) a positioning step of moving the holding device from the detection part to the placement part while maintaining the holding state and positioning the work at the predetermined position by releasing the work at the determined position and posture; To include.

[0006]

A second aspect of the present invention for attaining the above-mentioned object is that the conveying and positioning apparatus of the present invention is summarized as viewed from a direction perpendicular to a predetermined reference plane. Conveyance positioning of a work for conveying a work having a predetermined first end edge and a second end edge on an outer peripheral edge in a plan view to a predetermined arrangement portion from a predetermined supply portion and positioning the work at a predetermined position in the arrangement portion. An apparatus (a) provided in a predetermined detection unit spaced apart from each other for non-contact detection of the first edge and the second edge of the workpiece from a direction perpendicular to the reference plane. First sensor, second sensor,
And a third sensor, and (b) a holding device for holding the workpiece so as to be capable of translational movement in a direction along the reference plane and rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the reference plane. A transport device for transporting the held work from the supply unit to the placement unit via the detection unit,
(c) Amount of movement of the holding device from a predetermined reference position until the first edge and the second edge are detected by the first sensor, the second sensor, and the third sensor, respectively. On the basis of the difference between the value corresponding to the reference value and the reference value stored in advance, by correcting the position and the posture of the holding device in the placement portion determined corresponding to the reference value, A position and orientation determination device that substantially determines the actual position and orientation of the holding device, and (d) a position and orientation control device that controls the holding device to the determined position and orientation in the placement unit,
To include.

[0007]

[Effects of the first and second inventions] With this configuration, the work supplied to the supply unit is directed to the detection unit when it is held by the holding device, and is moved along the reference plane in the detection unit. As a result, when the first edge and the second edge are detected by the first sensor, the second sensor, and the third sensor, they correspond to the movement amount of the holding device from the reference position to the detection by each sensor. After the actual position and orientation of the holding device in the disposing portion is substantially determined based on the difference between the value of the value and the reference value, and then released from the holding device in the determined position and orientation in the disposing portion. , The work is positioned at a predetermined position. At this time, the difference between the value corresponding to the movement amount from the reference position of the holding device when the first edge and the second edge of the work are respectively detected by the three sensors and the reference value stored in advance are This corresponds to the relative positional relationship between the workpiece and the holding device, that is, the difference between the relative position when the movement amount corresponding value matches the reference value and the actual relative position. Therefore, if the position and the posture of the holding device corresponding to the reference value in the placement unit are corrected based on the difference, the deviation of the relative positional relationship between the work and the holding device is corrected. Since the relative position between the device and the work is kept constant during the transfer process, it is possible to position the work with high accuracy without detecting the position accuracy of the work in either the supply unit or the arrangement unit. Become.

The above-mentioned reference plane is, for example, a horizontal plane, which is determined with reference to the posture of the arrangement part for arranging the work, but is inclined appropriately with respect to the horizontal plane due to the space of the arrangement of the apparatus. The plane with can be used as the reference plane. In such a case, for example, if the holding device is configured to be rotatable about a rotation axis parallel to the horizontal plane and the inclination is corrected by the rotation angle, there is no inconvenience.

Further, although the detecting section is provided with the first sensor, the second sensor and the third sensor, the positional relationship among them is not particularly limited. That is, if the amount of movement until the edge is detected is compared with that when the work is not displaced or tilted, the actual amount of displacement and tilt can be known. It does not affect the detection accuracy.

[0010]

Another aspect of the present invention, preferably, in the edge detecting step, the first edge is detected by the first sensor and the second sensor by moving the work in a predetermined first direction. It includes a first detecting step of detecting and a second detecting step of detecting the second edge by the third sensor by moving the work in a predetermined second direction intersecting with the first direction. With this configuration, since the first edge and the second edge are respectively detected by sequentially moving the work in two directions intersecting with each other, the movement direction setting and the amount of positional deviation for detecting these are detected. The inclination can be calculated easily. That is, the movement direction of the workpiece in the edge detection step is a direction in which both the first edge and the second edge are detected by one movement (for example, the first direction and the second direction).
However, in order to facilitate driving and detection control, the above-mentioned configuration is preferable. In this case, it is preferable that, in the carrying device, at least the first edge is in the first direction toward the first sensor and the second sensor, and the second edge is the third direction.
It is configured to be movable in two directions, that is, a second direction toward the sensor.

Preferably, the edge detecting step is to detect the edge of the work from the change of the work presence / absence signal of each of the first sensor, the second sensor and the third sensor.

[0012] Preferably, the transport positioning method and the transport positioning device move the holding device based on a drive signal provided to or output from a driving device for driving the holding device. The position and orientation determining step and the position and orientation determining device determine the position and orientation from the difference between the drive signal and the drive signal when the holding device is at the reference position. It is a thing. Here, as the drive signal, for example, various signals related to the movement amount of the holding device, such as the drive current value supplied to the drive device and the rotation speed of the drive shaft of the drive device detected by an encoder or the like, are used. obtain. The reference position is, for example, when the holding device has a specific relative positional relationship with the work, the first edge and the second edge of the work are simultaneously detected by the first sensor, the second sensor, and the third sensor. It is set at the detected position. For such a reference position, for example, the movement amount when holding the work arranged by the holding device at the position where the first edge and the second edge are detected by the first to third sensors can be acquired. Is set by.

Further, preferably, the position / orientation determining apparatus detects the edge of the work by the first sensor, the second sensor, and the third sensor by moving from the reference position. And a correction amount calculation for calculating a correction amount of the position and the orientation of the holding device in the arrangement portion based on the difference between the value corresponding to the movement amount of the holding device until the edge is detected and the reference value. And means.

Also, preferably, the first edge and the second edge
The edges are each constituted by a straight line.
Since the relative position of such a workpiece with respect to the holding device is surely reflected in the amount of movement of the holding device until the first edge and the second edge thereof are detected, more accurate positioning is possible. Becomes More preferably, the work is a flat plate having a rectangular planar shape.

Further, preferably, the supply section supplies flat plate-shaped works in a state of being superposed on each other at a predetermined interval. In such a supply mode, it is extremely difficult to detect the positional accuracy of the work in the supply unit, and thus the present invention can be preferably applied.

Preferably, the first sensor, the second sensor, and the third sensor are transmissive sensors each including a light emitter and a light receiver. By doing so, the detection accuracy of the first edge and the second edge of the work can be improved as compared with the case of using the reflective sensor in which the light emitter and the light receiver are integrally provided.

Further, preferably, the positioning and transporting of the work involves reversing the front and back of the work, and the holding device is provided with a clamp for gripping the work.

Further, the moving direction of the sensor member in the edge detecting step may be linear movement, curved movement, rotational movement or the like as long as it includes at least a component in a direction parallel to the reference plane. It only needs to be moved in a direction other than the vertical direction. Whichever movement method is selected, for example, by using a method such as taking out the rotation speed of the motor used for movement using an encoder, the difference from the movement amount when there is no displacement or tilt, In addition, it is easy to know the actual displacement amount and inclination amount.

The transfer positioning method and apparatus of the present invention is preferably implemented by using a computer, but may be performed by sequence control using a relay or the like.
It is also possible for an operator to perform it manually.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are a front view and a plan view, respectively, for explaining a main part of a substrate printing line to which the method for positioning and conveying a work according to the present invention is applied. The transport positioning device provided in the printing line includes a magazine transport line 14 for supplying a magazine 12 accommodating a substrate 10 as a work from the left side, and a printing device 16 for performing a predetermined printing process on the substrate 10. And a robot 18 that conveys the substrate 10 from the magazine 12 or supply section to the printing device 16 or arrangement section. The magazine transport line 14 is omitted in FIG. 1, and the substrate 10 is omitted in FIG.

The robot 18 is a 6-axis articulated robot, and includes a fixed portion 20, a first arm 22, a second arm 24,
The third arm 26, the fourth arm 28, the fifth arm 30, and the clamp 32 are provided. The fixed portion 20 is fixed on a table 34 having a substantially horizontal upper surface, and supports other components of the robot 18. First arm 22
Is supported by the fixed portion 20 so as to be rotatable in the A direction around the first center line that is substantially perpendicular to the upper surface of the table and extends in a direction inclined with respect to the first center line. Is. The second arm 24 is attached to the distal end portion of the first arm 22 so as to be rotatable in the B direction around the second center line along the substantially horizontal direction. Third arm 26
Is attached to the distal end portion of the second arm 24 so as to be rotatable in the C direction around the third centerline along the substantially horizontal direction. The fourth arm 28 is attached to the tip end portion of the third arm 26 so as to be rotatable in the D direction around the fourth center line that extends along the longitudinal direction thereof and is substantially perpendicular to the third center line. The fifth arm 30 is attached to the tip end portion of the fourth arm 28 so as to be rotatable in the E direction around the fifth centerline substantially perpendicular to the fourth centerline. Further, the clamp 32 is attached to the tip portion of the fifth arm 30 so as to be rotatable (spin) in the F direction around the sixth centerline perpendicular to the fifth centerline. The clamp 32 functions as a work holding device that holds and conveys the substrate 10.

The rotation angle range of each of the arms 22 and 24 is, for example, about 130 to 150 degrees in both rotation directions from the position where the first arm 22 is shown in FIG. 1, about 80 to 100 degrees in both directions of rotation from the position shown in FIG. 1, the third arm 26 about 50 to 70 degrees in both directions of rotation from the position shown in FIG. 1, and the fourth arm 28 rotates about its axis about both times. About 180 degrees in the moving direction, about 100 to 120 degrees from the position in which the fifth arm 30 is shown in FIG. 1 in both rotation directions, and the clamp 32 around the axis of the rod 30a provided at the tip of the fifth arm 30. It is about 180 degrees in both rotation directions. Since each joint is configured to be rotatable in a wide angle range in this way,
The clamp 32 provided at the tip of the robot 18 can be positioned at any position in any direction within an extremely wide space from a position relatively close to the fixed portion 20 to a position relatively separated.

Further, the magazine transfer line 14 is
A pair of rails 36, 36 parallel to each other are mounted on a mount 38, and the magazine 12 is placed on the rail 36. On one side surface of the rail 36, three magazine sensors 40 are provided. For example, the magazine 12 which is moved in the left-right direction in FIG. 2 according to the operation of a drive motor (not shown) is detected by the magazine sensor 40. By doing so, it is stopped at a fixed position.

As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 3 (a), the magazine 12 is in the form of a box having two open front and rear sides in the figure, and a pair of side plates located in the left and right sides in the figure. A plurality of substrate receivers 44 protruding in directions approaching each other are provided on the inner surfaces 42a of the 42, 42 at equal intervals in the height direction. The board receiver 44 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), it has a longitudinal shape extending from one open surface toward the other open surface. The substrates 10 are flat plates (plate-like bodies) having a substantially rectangular shape, and are housed in the magazine 12 while being supported by the substrate receivers 44 one by one at a pair of substantially parallel ends thereof. Since the height positions of the pair of substrate receivers 44, 44 supporting both ends of one substrate 10 are set to be the same, the plane directions of the plurality of substrates 10 accommodated in the magazine 12 are horizontal. The directions are parallel to each other. However, the length of one side of the substrate 10 is, for example, about LB = 123 (mm), while the side plates 42, 4
The distance between the inner surfaces of No. 2 is about LH = 126 (mm). Therefore, since there is a gap of about 2G = 3 (mm) on both sides between the substrate ends 10a, 10b and the side plate inner surface 42a, the substrate 10 is not necessarily indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 3 (b). It is not located in the position shown and its edges 10a, 10b are not necessarily parallel to the side plate inner surface 42a. The substrate 10 is supplied in such a state that the position and orientation in the plane parallel to the surface thereof are varied. In this embodiment, the horizontal plane corresponds to the reference plane.

Further, on the side surface of the gantry 38, there is provided a column 46 which projects toward the printing device 16 in the vicinity of the magazine sensor 40 and extends upward in the vicinity thereof, that is, extends upward in FIG. The sensor member 48, which is L-shaped in plan view, is provided on the upper end of the printer 16 side.
Is attached.

As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 4, the sensor member 48 is provided with a first sensor 50 and a second sensor 52 at the base end and the tip of one L-shaped branch 48a. The tip of the other branch portion 48b, which is substantially perpendicular to the portion 48a, has a third
The sensor 54 is provided. First sensor 50 and second
The sensor 52 is separated from the sensor 52 by a predetermined dimension that is sufficiently smaller than the length dimension of one side of the substrate 10.
The sensor 54 is located apart from a straight line connecting the first sensor 50 and the second sensor 52 by a predetermined dimension that is sufficiently smaller than the length dimension of one side of the substrate 10.
The predetermined size is, for example, about 1/2 of the length of one side of the substrate 10.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5 which is a side view of the sensor member 48 as viewed from the lower end side in FIG. 4, a range S excluding a base end portion fixedly mounted on the support column 46 is vertically arranged. It is composed of a pair of upper member 48a and lower member 48b which are separated from each other. The above-mentioned first sensor 50, second sensor 52, and third sensor 54 are respectively the upper member 48.
light emitters 50a, 52a, 54a attached to a,
The lower member 4 at a position facing it, that is, on the optical axis
It is a transmission type photoelectric sensor composed of light receivers 50b, 52b, 54b attached to 8b, and is attached by a bolt or the like not shown. Therefore, the upper member 48
Substrate 1 inserted between a and the lower member 48b
When 0 is positioned on the optical path between the light emitters 50a and the like and the light receivers 50b and the like, the presence or absence of the substrate 10 is detected by the interference of the light reception, to be precise, the edges thereof are detected in a non-contact manner. become. In this way, the sensor member 48
The first sensor 50 and the second sensor 52 are provided at positions sufficiently distant from the base end of the sensor member 48 for the purpose of detecting the substrate 10 inserted in the.

Further, the clamp 32 is the same as that shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the fifth arm 30 is provided with a mounting portion 56 mounted on the tip of the rod 30a and a holding portion 58 for holding the substrate 10 from both sides thereof.
As shown in FIG. 1, the sandwiching portion 58 is composed of a pair of openable and closable members located on the front surface side and the back surface side of the substrate 10, respectively, for holding the substrate 10 or arranging it at a predetermined position. A pair of members can be opened and closed. Each of the pair of members is a thin plate-shaped member having the planar shape shown in FIG. 4, and the mutual distance between them changes within a range of a value sufficiently smaller than the thickness dimension of the substrate 10 and a value sufficiently large. To be made. The pair of sensors 62 provided at the tip of the L-shaped metal fitting 60 attached to the middle portion of the clamp 32 are for counting the fraction of the magazine 12.

Although the wiring and the like are omitted in FIG. 1, the robot 18 is provided with the control circuit shown in FIG. 6, and the first arm 22 has the first motor 6
While being rotated around the first center line by 4,
The rotary position is detected by the rotary encoder 66, the second arm 24 is rotated about the second centerline by the second motor 68, and the rotary position is detected by the rotary encoder 70, and the third arm 26 is rotated.
Is rotated about the third center line by the third motor 72, the rotational position thereof is detected by the rotary encoder 74, and the fourth arm 28 is rotated about the fourth center line by the fourth motor 76. The rotational position is detected by the rotary encoder 78, the fifth arm 30 is rotated about the fifth center line by the fifth motor 80, and the rotational position is determined by the rotary encoder 8.
2, the clamp 32 is rotated about the sixth center line by the sixth motor 84, and the rotational position thereof is detected by the rotary encoder 86. A transport device for transporting the work (substrate 10) is configured including the first motor 64 to the sixth motor 84, and the held substrate 10 is provided between the magazine transport line 14 and the printing device 16. It can be moved relatively freely. Further, the rotary encoders 66 to 86 for detecting the rotational positions of the motors 64 to 84 constitute holding device position detecting means for detecting the movement amount of the clamp 32, which is a holding device, and the position thereof.

The motors 64, 68, 72, 76, 8
The operation of 0, 84 is controlled by the robot controller 88 and is controlled by the rotary encoders 66, 70, 74, 7
The output signals of 8, 82, 86 are robot controller 8
8 and the attitude control controller 90. Further, the work presence / absence signal output from the sensors 50, 52, 54 indicating the presence / absence of the substrate 10 is supplied to the attitude control controller 90. The attitude control controller 90 is C
A portable personal computer having a PU 92, a RAM 94, a ROM 96, and the like, which is used by being connected to the robot controller 88 of the existing robot 18 as necessary, while using the temporary storage function of the RAM 94. Signal processing is performed according to a program stored in advance in the ROM 96, and the robot 18 is operated according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 7, for example. robot·
Similarly, the controller 88 also has a CPU 98, a RAM 100,
It is configured by a computer having a ROM 102 and the like, and uses the temporary storage function of the RAM 100 to perform signal processing according to a program previously stored in the ROM 102 to control the operation of the robot 18. Necessary signals are exchanged between these controllers 88 and 90, and the robot controller 88 controls the operation of the robot 18 according to the robot control signals supplied from the attitude control controller 90.

Further, the printing device 16 has a printing mechanism section 104 having a screen printing plate, a squeegee and the like (not shown).
And a transport mechanism section having a pair of rails 106, 106 for sequentially supplying the substrate 10 toward the printing mechanism section 104, are provided on a frame 108, and the substrate 10 taken out from the magazine 12 is provided. Is this rail 106
It is placed with a certain degree of accuracy so that it has a predetermined posture (position and orientation). The operation of this embodiment for such positioning will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7, FIGS. 8A to 8D showing the main steps of the positioning operation, and FIG.

A magazine 12 containing a plurality of substrates 10
Is located at the position shown in FIGS.
When a start switch (not shown) is turned on, the clamp 32 of the robot 18 is directed to the magazine 12 in step S1 of FIG. 7, and the substrate 10 is gripped by the clamp 32. At this time, the clamp 32 is moved to a predetermined position in relation to the magazine 12, and the variation in the position of the substrate 10 in the magazine 12 is not considered at all. Therefore, the substrate 10 is held by the clamp 32 in the positional relationship shown by the solid line in FIG.
Next, in step S2, the clamp 32 is moved to a predetermined position near the sensor member 48, that is, to the detection unit. FIG. 8 (a) shows this stage. In addition, when it is necessary to reverse the front and back of the substrate 10 when forming a print pattern on both sides, for example, the clamp 32 is moved around the sixth center line by the operation of the motor 84 during this movement.
It can be rotated only once. In this embodiment, this step S2 corresponds to the moving process.

The position of the clamp 32 after the movement in the above step 2 is determined by the three sensors 50, 52, 54.
At a position where the substrate 10 cannot be detected in any of the above, when the clamp 32 is moved in the A direction and the B direction in steps S3 and S6, which will be described later, the three sensors 50, 52 and 54 are provided with the substrate 10. Is set at a position at which is reliably detected in consideration of the positional variation of the substrate 10 in the magazine 12. Further, the height position of the substrate 10 at this time is a height position having the positional relationship shown in FIG.

In the following step S3, the clamp 32 holding the substrate 10 is linearly translated from the original position in FIG. 8A in the direction A indicated by the arrow in the figure. The direction A is in a horizontal plane, that is, a direction parallel to the surface of the substrate 10, and the branch portion 48 a of the sensor member 48.
Is a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of. The moving direction A is such that the edge 10 of the substrate 10 is formed on the inner wall surface 42a thereof in the magazine 12.
If a and 10b are parallel, the edge 10
edge 10c parallel to a and 10b and perpendicular to them
It is also the direction perpendicular to.

In step S4, it is determined whether or not the work presence / absence signal supplied from the first sensor 50 and the second sensor 52 has changed to the work presence (ON), in other words, the one edge 10c of the substrate 10 has the first sensor 50 and the first sensor 50 and the second sensor 52. It is determined whether or not it has moved to a position detected by any of the two sensors 52, and when any of them has changed to the presence of work (ON), the movement of the clamp 32 is stopped in step S5. At this time, if the substrate 10 is tilted by the angle θ as shown in FIG.
Are not detected by the first sensor 50 and the second sensor 52 at the same time. In such a case, the amount of movement of the clamp 32 until one of them is detected first is stored at the time of the detection, and the movement in the A direction is continued. FIG. 8B shows the second
The time when the substrate edge 10c is detected by the sensor 52 is (c)
Indicate the time points when the first sensor 50 detects the substrate edge 10c, respectively. In this example, first the second sensor 5
2 work presence / absence signal changes from no work to work present,
Next, the work presence / absence signal of the first sensor 50 changes from the absence of work to the presence of work. In this embodiment, the edge 10c corresponds to the first edge. It should be noted that the detection operation of steps S3 and S4 can be enhanced, for example, by repeating the detection operation twice, depending on the required positioning accuracy, and by extension, the positioning accuracy.

After stopping the movement in the A direction, step S
In 6, the clamp 32 holding the substrate 10 is linearly moved in the B direction. The B direction is a direction in a horizontal plane, that is, a direction parallel to the surface of the substrate 10, and a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the branch portion 48b of the sensor member 48. In step S7, it is determined whether or not the work presence / absence signal supplied from the third sensor 54 has changed to work presence (ON), in other words, the substrate edge 10a located on the lower side in FIG. It is determined whether or not it has moved to the position detected by the sensor 54, and when the signal becomes a work presence (ON) signal, the movement of the clamp 32 is stopped in step 8. FIG. 8D shows this stage. In this embodiment, steps S3 and S
4 corresponds to the first detection process, steps S6 and S7 correspond to the second detection process, and the first detection process and the second detection process correspond to the edge detection process. In addition, steps S2 to S8 in the series of signal processing by the attitude control controller 90.
The portion that executes is functioning as the edge detecting means, and the edge 10a corresponds to the second edge.

In step S9, the correction amount of the position and orientation of the clamp 32 in the printing device 16 is calculated based on the detection data in the above-mentioned edge detection step. The amount of movement when moving in the A direction and moving in the B direction is
When the substrate 10 is not displaced in the magazine 12 at all, the amount of displacement (the amount of displacement from the standard position) when the substrate 10 is moved is different from the amount of displacement in accordance with the amount of displacement. That is, if the substrate 10 is tilted by θ, the end edge 10c is not parallel to the branch portion 48a provided with the sensors 50 and 52, and thus there is a time lag in the detection timing, but the lag is θ. Since the value corresponds to, the inclination θ can be immediately known. On the other hand, the amount of movement from the reference position to the detection by the sensor 54 is determined by the displacement of the end edge 10a from the standard position in the y direction (vertical direction in FIG. 8) and the inclination θ.
The displacement dy in the y direction can be known from the difference between the above-obtained θ and the value corresponding to the standard position of the movement amount until it is detected by the sensor 54. Therefore, the magnitude of the positional deviation, specifically, the positional deviation dy in the left-right direction with respect to the clamp 32, the magnitude θ of the inclination, and the like can be obtained from the difference in the movement amount. Further, if necessary, the positional deviation amount dx in the A direction is also obtained.

The amount of movement of the clamp 32 is, for example, the motors 64, 68, 72, 76, 80, 8 detected by the encoders 66, 70, 74, 78, 82, 86, respectively.
It is calculated based on the rotation speed of 4. Also, the clamp 32
Is provided at the tip of the six-axis robot 18, so that the movement amount of the first arm to the fifth arm is corrected by an amount necessary for correcting the positional deviation dy and the inclination θ. Thus, the arrangement position of the substrate 10, that is, the position and orientation of the clamp 32 in the printing device 16 are determined. In the present embodiment, this step S9 corresponds to the position / orientation determining step, and the part that executes step S9 in the series of signal processing by the attitude control controller 90 functions as the position / orientation determining device, particularly as the correction amount calculating means. .

The amount of movement from the reference position, that is, the number of revolutions of each of the motors 64, 68, etc., is stored in advance in the RAM 94, and a value obtained by desk calculation may be set numerically. You can also make them learn. That is, for example, the rail 1 of the printing device 16 at the arrangement position
The substrate 10 is positioned and placed on the 06 with high precision by manual work or the like, and is clamped by the clamp 32 and carried to the detection portion, where the detection operation of steps S2 to S8 is performed. By doing so, the initial position of the substrate 10 in the detection unit (the position corresponding to FIG. 8A) corresponds to the case where there is no displacement or inclination in the magazine 12, so the movement amount at this time is It can be stored in the RAM 94 and used as a reference value.

As described above, the positional deviation dy of the substrate 10
After the inclination .theta. Is detected and the correction amount is calculated, in step S10, the clamp 32 is moved to the arrangement unit that arranges the substrate 10, that is, the printing device 16. At this time, the position of the clamp 32 is, for example, the position shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 9, that is, the rail 1 on which the substrate 10 is placed.
Before 06, the lower surface of the substrate 10 is set sufficiently higher than the upper surface of the rail 106. In step S11, the position and the orientation of the clamp 32 and thus the substrate 10 are corrected. That is, the substrate 10 is rotated in the opposite direction by the inclination θ and moved in the vertical direction in FIG. 9 by the displacement amount dy, so that the pair of reference lines C and C shown in FIG. A pair of parallel edges 10a and 10b are aligned. In addition,
These steps S10 and S11 may be collectively performed. That is, if the position and orientation are corrected in the process of being moved to the vicinity of the rail 106 after the edge detection, the processing efficiency can be further improved.

Then, in step S12, the clamp 32 is moved in the direction of arrow D parallel to the rails 106, 106, and lowered at that position to place the substrate 10 on the rail 106, and the pair of clamping portions of the clamp 32 are held. Opening 58 places the substrate 10 on its rails 106. 9 and 10 show this stage. The mutual spacing of the rails 106 is, for example, Wr = 124 to 125
(mm), that is, about 1 to 2 (mm) larger than the width of the substrate 10, the edge 10 of the substrate 10
a, 10b and the mutual interval Gr between the inner peripheral edge of the rail 106,
Although the total Gr is about 1 to 2 (mm), the substrate 10 has a center between the rails 106 and 106 so that the gaps Gr and Gr on both sides have substantially the same size, for example, about ± 0.5 (mm). It is located in. The reference lines C, C are located on the extension lines of the edges 10a, 10b of the substrate 10 thus placed. Since the mutual spacing Ws of the rails 106 supporting the substrate 10 is a value slightly smaller than the width dimension LB of the substrate 10, the substrate 10 and the rail 1 supporting the same.
The overlapping width with 06 is only about 6 to 7 (mm) on both sides. In the printing device 16, the rail interval Ws is large in order to provide the vertical mechanism such as the substrate suction chamber. Therefore, the gap Gr is small in order to prevent the substrate 10 from dropping during transportation. Incidentally, since such a high placement accuracy is required, in this embodiment, positioning after mounting the substrate 10 on the rail 106 is impossible.

Here, according to the present embodiment, the substrate 10 supplied to the magazine transport line 14 is held by the clamp 32, and then directed to the detection section provided with the sensors 50, 52, 54, and its When the edge portions 10a, 10c are detected by the sensors 50, 52, 54 by being moved along the horizontal plane in the detection portion, they correspond to the movement amount of the clamp 32 from the reference position to the detection by the sensors. After the actual position and orientation of the clamp 32 in the printing device 16 is determined based on the difference between the motor rotation speed and the reference value, the clamp 32 is released from the clamp 32 at the determined position and orientation on the rail 106. The substrate 10 is positioned at a predetermined position. At this time, the substrate 10
Edges 10c, 10a of the three sensors 50, 52, 54
The difference between the value corresponding to the amount of movement of the clamp 32 from the reference position and the reference value stored in advance when they are respectively detected by is the relative positional relationship between the substrate 10 and the clamp 32, that is, the amount of movement corresponding value. It corresponds to the difference between the relative position when it matches the reference value and the actual relative position. Therefore, if the position and orientation of the clamp 32 corresponding to the reference value in the printing device 16 are corrected based on the difference, the deviation of the relative positional relationship between the substrate 10 and the clamp 32 will be corrected. Since the relative position between the clamp 32 and the substrate 10 is kept constant during the transportation process, the substrate 10 is moved to a high position without detecting the positional accuracy of the substrate 10 in either the magazine transportation line 14 or the printing device 16. Positioning can be performed with high accuracy.

In the present embodiment, the substrate 10 has a rectangular shape in plan view, and the sensors 50, 52, 54 detect the edges 10a, 10c formed by the straight lines, so that the sensor 50, There is an advantage that the inclination θ can be easily known from the difference in the detection timing of 52 and that the positional deviation in the y direction can be easily known based on the detection timing of the sensor 54.

In this embodiment, the posture controller 90 automatically determines the posture and position of the substrate 10 held by the clamp 32 according to a predetermined program, and the posture and position are determined. The position and the orientation of the clamp 32 are corrected according to the above, and the substrate 10 is placed in the printing device 16. Therefore, an operator manually moves or rotates the clamp 32 and indicates the posture of the clamp 32. Indicators, eg sensors 50, 5
The burden on the operator is reduced and the posture and position of the substrate 10 are always recognized with high accuracy as compared with the case of visually observing lamps or the like indicating ON / OFF of the work presence / absence signals 2 and 54. Thus, the substrate 10 can be securely held by the clamp 32 and can be placed on the rail 106 with high positional accuracy.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the substrates 10 are supplied in the form of being stacked in the magazine 12.
In the supply unit, that is, the magazine transfer line 14, the substrate 10
The position accuracy is not detected, and the position accuracy is detected by a separately provided detection unit. Therefore, the position accuracy is detected without any influence of the supply form, and the printing apparatus 1 which is the destination of conveyance.
6 has an advantage that positioning can be performed with high accuracy.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, these are merely embodiments, and the function of the attitude control controller 90 may be incorporated in the robot controller 88, for example. The present invention is made such that by disposing four or more sensors in the detection unit and selectively using them according to the shape of the work, the postures of a plurality of types of works having different shapes can be recognized. It can be implemented in various modified and improved modes based on the knowledge of the trader.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing an example of a device for carrying and positioning a work according to a work carrying and positioning method of the present invention.

2 is a plan view of the device of FIG. 1. FIG.

3 (a) is an enlarged front view showing a magazine provided in the apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 (b) is a view for explaining a substrate supply state in a cross section taken along line bb in FIG. 3 (a). Is.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view for explaining a sensor member, a clamp, and the like included in the device of FIG.

5 is a side view of the sensor member viewed from below in FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a control system provided in the apparatus of FIG.

7 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the apparatus of FIG.

8A to 8D are diagrams for explaining an example of a movement mode of the clamp and the substrate when determining the positional deviation and the inclination of the substrate according to the flowchart of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the movement when the substrate is placed in the placement unit according to the flowchart of FIG.

10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: Robot (workpiece posture recognition device) 12: Work 24: Vertical axis (rotation axis) 26, 70: Sensor member 28, 32: Motor (moving means, two-dimensional moving device) 36: Motor (rotating means) 46: First sensor 48: Second sensor 50: Third sensor 56: Controller for attitude control 62: ROM (recording medium) Steps S1 to S3: Edge detection step, edge detection means Steps S4 to S9: Posture determination step, posture determination means Steps S10 to S12: Position determination step Position determination means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A holding device holds a work having a predetermined first edge and a second edge on an outer peripheral edge in a plan view seen from a direction perpendicular to a predetermined reference plane, and a predetermined supply. A method of transporting and positioning a work, which is transported from a unit to a predetermined placement unit and positioned at a predetermined position in the placement unit, wherein the work supplied to the supply unit is held by the holding device and the reference plane. A first sensor, a second sensor, which detects the presence or absence of the workpiece in a direction perpendicular to
And a moving step of moving the third sensor to a predetermined detection unit provided at a position separated from each other, and moving the work along the reference plane in the detection unit while maintaining the holding state, An edge detection step of detecting the first edge by the first sensor and the second sensor and detecting the second edge by the third sensor, and the first edge from a predetermined reference position On the basis of the difference between the value corresponding to the movement amount of the holding device and the reference value stored in advance until the second edge is detected and the reference value stored in advance, the arranging section determined corresponding to the reference value. A position / orientation determining step of substantially determining the actual position and orientation of the holding device in the arrangement portion by correcting the position and orientation of the holding device; Workpiece transfer positioning method characterized by a positioning step of positioning in the predetermined position, comprising by releasing the workpiece at the determined position and orientation moves the holding device into the arrangement portion from the detection unit. 2. The edge detection step includes a first detection step of detecting the first edge by the first sensor and the second sensor by moving the work in a predetermined first direction, The work transfer positioning method according to claim 1, further comprising: a second detection step of detecting the second edge by the third sensor by moving the work in a predetermined second direction intersecting with the first direction. 3. A work having a predetermined first end edge and a predetermined second end edge on a peripheral edge in a plan view seen from a direction perpendicular to a predetermined reference plane is arranged in a predetermined manner from a predetermined supply section. A work transfer / positioning device for transferring the work to a predetermined position and positioning the work at a predetermined position in the arrangement part, the first work of the work from a direction perpendicular to the reference plane.
A first sensor, a second sensor, and a third sensor, which are provided in a predetermined detection unit so as to be separated from each other for non-contact detection of the edge and the second edge, and the work along the reference plane. A holding device that holds the workpiece held by the holding device so that it can be moved in parallel with respect to the reference plane and rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the reference plane from the supply unit to the arrangement unit via the detection unit. A transporting device for transporting, and the above-mentioned processes from a predetermined reference position until the first edge and the second edge are detected by the first sensor, the second sensor, and the third sensor, respectively. Based on the difference between the value corresponding to the amount of movement of the holding device and the reference value stored in advance, by correcting the position and the posture of the holding device in the arrangement portion defined corresponding to the reference value, Its placement A position / orientation determining device that substantially determines the actual position and orientation of the holding device, and a position / orientation control device that controls the holding device to the determined position and orientation in the placement unit. Characteristic work transfer positioning device.