JP2004131235A - Depalletizing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a structure for panel parts of a three-dimensional form that are palletized in a flat state in which the panel parts can be taken out in order from the one at the bottom on while supporting the panel parts at their underside surface. <P>SOLUTION: In the pallet 1, a mounting hand 3 is projected into the underside of a back door W at the lowest stage in a pallet 1 to lift it up, and the back door W is supported to be positioned by locating pins 24 and pads 22. When the back door W is taken out to be retracted, fingers 9 supporting the back door W are pushed by a guide bar 26 attached to the mounting hand 3. The mounting hand 3 is then guided by the fingers 9 through the guide bar 26, so that the back door W is taken out. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, three-dimensional panel components are arranged and laminated in a plurality of stages in a pallet such that the panel components are placed in a flat state and the panel components do not come into contact with each other. More particularly, the present invention relates to a depalletizing apparatus suitable for aligning and laminating a back door of an automobile incorporating a rear window glass.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a means for aligning and transporting panel parts of automobiles, besides the type in which three-dimensional panel parts are arranged vertically in a pallet, the three-dimensional panel parts are placed flat in the pallet and There is known a palletizing technique in which a plurality of layers are aligned and laminated without contacting each other (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2). In such a conventional technique, when so-called depalletizing, in which palletized panel parts are taken out from a pallet, it is basically taken out in order from the top panel part, and taking out in order from the bottom panel part is completely considered. Therefore, it is substantially impossible to take out the panel components from below.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-58-212528 (FIGS. 1 and 2)
[0004]
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-60-64923 (FIGS. 2 and 4)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
On the other hand, for example, when assembling a depalletized panel component as it is to a counterpart member, a panel component that is aligned and laminated in a plurality of stages in a flat state in a pallet and so that the components do not contact each other, If the lower surface of the panel component is used as a support surface and is taken out in order from the lowermost one, the workability of the assembling work may be excellent.
[0006]
For example, when assembling the back door of an automobile to the opening on the vehicle body side, the back door must be opened and the door hinge must be fastened to the vehicle body with bolts and nuts. The rear doors (assuming that door hinges are pre-installed on the rear doors) are arranged and stacked in multiple stages so that the parts do not come into contact with each other in a flat state on the pallet, and the back door is assembled. On the other hand, in the back door assembling process, the back door is taken out of the pallet with the mounting hand in the palletizing state, that is, in the state close to the open state of the back door, and the posture is If it is applied to the opening of the back door as it is, the fastening operation of the door hinge can be performed more efficiently.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in response to such a demand, and in particular, a plurality of three-dimensionally shaped panel parts such as a back door of an automobile are placed in a pallet in a flat state and the panel parts do not come into contact with each other. It is an object of the present invention to provide a depalletizing apparatus that can smoothly take out components from the lowest panel component in order without causing mutual interference when the components are arranged and laminated over the columns.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention according to claim 1 provides a pallet in which three-dimensional panel components are arranged and stacked in a plurality of stages so that the panel components are placed flat and the components do not contact each other, and a hand for taking out the panel components in the pallet. A depalletizing device in which the hand is made to enter the lower side of the corresponding panel part so that the panel parts in the pallet are taken out in order from the bottom one with the lower surface of the panel part as a support surface. It is assumed. In addition, the pallet is provided with a plurality of fingers that can move up and down and rotate in a horizontal plane. In a panel stacking state, each panel component is positioned and supported by the plurality of fingers extending to the panel stacking area side. At the same time, the hand is provided with a guide member for guiding at least the evacuation operation from the pallet, and when taking out the panel component, the hand enters the lower side of the corresponding panel component, and When the panel component is lifted up by a predetermined amount and positioned and supported, the guide member on the hand side lifts the empty loaded finger, which previously supported the panel component, to a position where it does not interfere with the panel component. The guide member is empty when the is retracted with the hand in the direction opposite to the approach direction. The finger of the hand is retracted to a position where it does not interfere with the panel components on the hand, and the finger located at the retracted position guides the subsequent retreat operation of the hand via the guide member. It is characterized by.
[0009]
The panel component is assumed to be, for example, a back door of an automobile incorporating the rear window glass as exemplified above. In addition, a gap is secured in advance between the aligned and stacked panel components so that even if the panel component to be removed is lifted up by a predetermined amount with a hand, the panel component does not interfere with the upper panel component. Needless to say.
[0010]
Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when removing the panel components arranged and stacked one by one from the pallet one by one in a flat state, the hand is moved under the lowermost panel component and lifted by a predetermined amount. If the hand is retracted as it is raised, the guide member attached to the hand will autonomously push the finger that previously supported the panel parts to a position that does not interfere with the panel parts, so the hand is extremely simple With this operation, it is possible to take out the panel components smoothly while keeping the package state at the time of palletizing.
[0011]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the panel components arranged and stacked in a flat state can be taken out in order from the lowermost one while keeping the packing state at the time of palletizing. Therefore, particularly, the back door of the automobile is palletizing. It is possible to take it out in the package at the time and mount it on the vehicle body as it is, which can contribute to the improvement of assembly workability. In addition, since the lift-up operation and the retreat operation of the finger supporting the panel component are performed following the movement of the guide member attached to the hand, not only does not require any actuator or the like, but also depends on manual work. There is no need, and the structure can be simplified and labor can be saved. In addition, the finger located at the retracted position serves to guide the subsequent retracting operation of the hand, so that interference between the panel components and between the panel components and the pallet does not occur, so that the panel components are not damaged. Deformation can be prevented beforehand.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
1 and subsequent drawings are views showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the entire depalletizing apparatus, FIGS. 2 and 3 show details of the pallet in FIG. 1, and FIG. 1 shows details of the mounting hand. In this embodiment, as an example of a three-dimensional panel component to be palletized and depalletized, a resin-made back door (hereinafter, referred to as a work) for an automobile in which a rear window glass is incorporated in advance is shown.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 1, the depalletizing apparatus includes a substantially rectangular pallet 1 capable of aligning and stacking works W in, for example, three stages, and a tip of a robot arm 2 (see FIG. 4) of a handling robot (not shown). And a mounting hand 3 for taking out the work W in the pallet 1 in order from the lowest one. The mounting hand 3 applies the work W taken out of the pallet 1 to the opening on the vehicle body side in its posture, and fastens a door hinge H attached to the work W to the vehicle body side as described later. Play a role in preparing for
[0014]
The pallet 1 has a shape that combines a box type and a post type with the pedestal portion 1a as a center. In addition to FIG. 1, as shown in FIGS. Each of the side plates 4 has a bent side plate 4, and a backing plate 5 projecting further inward than the inner surface of the side plate 4 is disposed on the back side of each side plate 4 in a vertical posture. The post 6 on the rear side of the pallet 1 is provided with three fixed-position gauges 7 for positioning and supporting the work W, and a support shaft 8 disposed outside the left and right side plates 4. Is provided with movable fingers 9 in three stages. Therefore, the work W in the pallet 1 is kept in the back door open state so that the works W and W do not interfere with each other in a substantially three-point support form by the gauge 7 and the finger 9. It is positioned and supported by being arranged in a similar flat package.
[0015]
Since the side plate 4 is bent in a substantially U-shape in plan view, the span formed between the side plates 4 and 4 has a tapered shape at the entrance side and the span between the side plates 4 and 4 is The span on the back side to be formed is set to be equal to or slightly larger than the lateral width of a guide bar 26 attached to the mounting hand 3 to be described later. It functions as a guide surface that controls relative positioning when entering and retreating from the vehicle. At the same time, when the mounting hand 3 enters the pallet 1 by a predetermined amount, the left and right abutment plates 5 come into contact with the tips of the guide bars 26 to serve as abutment surfaces for regulating the amount of the mounting hand 3 entering the pallet 1. Play a role.
[0016]
Here, as shown in FIG. 5, a door hinge H is mounted on the work W in advance, so that each gauge 7 projecting toward the work lamination region side positions and supports the work W using the door hinge H as a positioning reference portion. On the other hand, the fingers 9 projecting to the work lamination region side also position and support the side edges of the work W as positioning reference portions.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 6, each finger 9 has a small-diameter shaft portion 10 of the support shaft 8 and a sleeve 11 having the same diameter as the outer diameter of the general portion of the support shaft 8 rotatably and vertically movable. A horizontal finger arm 12 having an angled cross section is integrally formed from the sleeve 11, and a finger piece 13 is attached to the tip of the finger arm 12. Further, a stopper is provided in a direction opposite to the finger arm 12. The arm 14 is also integrally extended. Thus, the entire finger 9 is rotatable around the support shaft 8 within a range of about 90 ° in a horizontal plane, that is, between the work support position P1 and the retreat position P2 (see FIG. 9). At the same time, since the height of the small-diameter shaft portion 10 is set to be larger than the height of the sleeve 11, the finger 9 can be moved up and down or up and down within the height range of the small-diameter shaft portion 10. The upper limit position and the lower limit position are regulated by upper and lower steps 15a and 15b formed by the small diameter shaft portion 10 and the general portion of the support shaft 8.
[0018]
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a window 16 is formed in the side plate 4 in order to avoid interference with each finger 9, and a stopper arm 14 is exposed through the window 16. The span formed between the left and right support shafts 8 and 8 is set to be substantially the same as the span formed between the side plates 4 and 4 on the back side. As shown in FIG. 6 in addition to FIGS. 1 to 3, a post 17 parallel to the support shaft is vertically provided on the back side of each side plate 4, and the fingers 9 are moved to the retracted position P2 (see FIG. 9) as described later. ), The finger arms 12 are respectively brought into contact with the posts 17 so as to regulate the positions of the fingers 9 at the retracted position P2.
[0019]
In addition, a single claw portion 18 is projected from the lower step portion 15b shown in FIG. 6, and the lower edge of the sleeve 11 is shifted from the lower edge of the sleeve 11 by approximately 90 ° so as to correspond to this. Notches 19 and 20 are formed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, when the claw portion 18 and one of the notches 19 match while the finger 9 is at the work support position P1, the finger 9 is restrained by the work support position P1 so as not to rotate, while As shown in FIG. 9, when the claw portion 18 and the other cutout portion 20 match while the finger 9 is at the retracted position P2, the finger 9 can be restrained at the retracted position P2 so that it cannot rotate. I have.
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 4 in addition to FIG. 1, the mounting hand 3 mounts a pair of left and right pads 22 on a frame 21 having a substantially rectangular frame shape as a base, and a pair of left and right locating pins 24 with a pair of left and right pedestals 23. The support block 25 of FIG. Then, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, when the work W is taken out, the mounting hand 3 is advanced to the lower side of the work W and hits the lower surface of the work W, the work W corresponds to the license plate mounting position. Each of the locate pins 24 engages with a pair of left and right locate holes Q set in the concave portion E to be positioned relative to each other, and at the same time, the pad 22 contacts the rear window glass G and the support block 25 contacts the edge of the workpiece W. The work W is supported from below by contacting the work W.
[0021]
A pair of left and right guide bars 26 as guide members bent in a substantially L-shape are mounted on the frame 21 of the mounting hand 3 symmetrically in a horizontal posture, and the two guide bars 26, 26 are connected to each other. The span is set to be equal to or slightly smaller than the span between the side plates 4 and 4 on the back side and the span between the left and right support shafts 8 and 8.
[0022]
According to the depalletizing apparatus configured as described above, before the work W is applied to the back door opening on the vehicle body side to fasten the door hinge H, the handling (not shown) is performed as described above. The robot is activated to take out the works W in the pallet 1 in order from the lowest one.
[0023]
When the handling robot is started, the left and right guide bars 26 are arranged along the side plate 4 as shown in FIGS. Enter gradually. At this time, the guide bar 26 of the mounting hand 3 passes below the lowermost finger 9 without interfering with the finger 9 or the like. When the mounting hand 3 enters by a predetermined amount, the leading end of the guide bar 26 comes into contact with the backing plate 5, so that the mounting operation of the mounting hand 3 stops at that position. Instead, when the mounting hand 3 moves upward by a predetermined amount at that position, the locating pin 24 engages with the locating hole Q on the workpiece W side, and the relative positioning between the mounting hand 3 and the workpiece W is performed. The support blocks 25 are applied to the window glass G at the edges of the workpiece W, respectively. As a result, the work W supported by the gauge 7 and the finger 9 is transferred to the mounting hand 3 side, and the work W floats from the gauge 7 and the finger 9. Then, when the mounted work W has risen to such an extent that the transferred work W does not interfere with the work W on the upper stage, the lifting operation stops at that position.
[0024]
In the process of raising the mounting hand 3, the right and left guide bars 26 abut against the lower surface of the finger arm 12 of the finger 9 that has supported the work W as shown in FIG. 8 is lifted up in the direction of the arrow a1. Note that the arrow a2 in the figure indicates the approach direction of the mounting hand 3. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, the sleeve 11 of the finger 9 comes into contact with the upper step 15a before the mounting hand 3 reaches the ascending limit position, and the further lift-up operation of the finger 9 is restricted. Therefore, the work W eventually slightly floats from the finger piece 13 as shown in FIG. The difference between the lift-up amount of the work W itself and the lift-up amount of the finger 9 is absorbed by the self-elastic force of the guide bar 26.
[0025]
After receiving the work W, the mounting hand 3 that has stopped moving up starts the retreating operation in the direction opposite to the preceding approach direction a2, that is, the direction of the arrow a3 in FIG. 8, in order to take out the work W from the pallet 1. When the mounting hand 3 retreats, the corner portions 26a of the left and right guide bars 26 abut against and push the fingers 9 in the empty loading state as shown in FIG. (See FIG. 9). When the corner 26a of the guide bar 26 has completely passed through the finger 9, the finger 9 becomes parallel to the guide bar 26 and abuts the post 17, as shown in FIG. It is positioned at position P2. Therefore, the fingers 9 in an empty state are allowed to pass through the guide bar 26 thereafter, and the mounting hand 3 on which the work W is mounted is guided by the left and right fingers 9 via the guide bar 26. The workpiece W is retracted from the pallet 1 and the workpiece W is smoothly taken out of the pallet 1 while keeping the package at the time of palletizing. That is, the finger 9 serves to restrict unnecessary movement of the mounting hand 3 in the horizontal direction (the direction of the arrow b1 in FIG. 9) and upward (also in the direction of the arrow b2) in the process of taking out the work W by the mounting hand 3. become. Note that the finger 9 in FIG. 9 descends by its own weight when the guide bar 26 has completely passed, and is restrained at that position by the engagement between the claw 19 and the notch 20.
[0026]
More specifically, when the work W is transferred from the finger 9 to the mounting hand 3 side, the finger 9 which has supported the work W until then when the mounting hand 3 retreats from the pallet 1 hinders the removal of the work W. While the finger 9 pushed to the retreat position P2 autonomously pushes to the retreat position P2 where there is no space, the finger 9 pushed to the retreat position P2 serves to guide the subsequent movement of the mounting hand 3, so that the workpieces W, W palletized in the pallet 1 Can be smoothly taken out of the pallet 1 one by one without inducing interference between the works W, W.
[0027]
When one work W is taken out from the pallet 1 in this manner, the mounting hand 3 holds the work W in its posture in a vehicle-body-side opening (not shown), and the body of the door hinge H attached to the work W in advance. It serves to support the work W until the fastening work with the bolts and nuts to the side is completed.
[0028]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, at the time of depalletizing the work W palletized over a plurality of stages in the flat state, it is possible to take out the work W from the lowermost work W while supporting the lower surface of the work W. Since the evacuation operation of each finger 9 that becomes an obstacle when taking out W is performed autonomously following the movement of the mounting hand 3, no actuator or the like for evacuation of the finger 9 is required at all.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of an entire depalletizing apparatus as a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part showing a relative positional relationship when the mounting hand enters the pallet of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a view in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a relative positional relationship between a mounting hand and a back door as a work.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 3;
6 is an operation explanatory view of the finger shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and is an enlarged view of a main part as viewed in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the finger from the state of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the finger from the state of FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the finger from the state of FIG. 8;
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Pallet 3 Mounting hand 4 Side plate (guide surface)
5 ... Patch plate (contact surface)
9 Finger 12 Finger arm 13 Finger piece 14 Stopper arm 22 Pad 24 Locate pin 25 Support block 26 Guide bar (guide member)
G: Rear window glass P1: Work support position P2: Retreat position Q: Locate hole W: Back door (work)

Claims (4)

A pallet in which three-dimensional panel components are arranged and stacked in a plurality of stages so that the three-dimensional panel components are placed in a flat state and the components do not contact each other, and a hand for taking out the panel components in the pallet are provided. A depalletizing apparatus in which the panel components in the pallet are taken out in order from the bottom one by using the lower surface of the panel components as a support surface by entering the lower side of the panel components,
The pallet is provided with a plurality of fingers that can be raised and lowered and rotatable in a horizontal plane, and in a panel stacked state, each panel component is positioned and supported by a plurality of fingers that protrude to the panel stacking area side,
The hand is provided with a guide member for guiding at least the evacuation operation from the pallet,
When taking out a panel component, the hand enters the lower side of the corresponding panel component, and when the panel component is lifted up by a predetermined amount with the hand and positioned and supported, the guide member on the hand side holds the panel component until then. While lifting the supporting empty finger to a position where it does not interfere with the panel parts,
When the panel component is retracted together with the hand in the direction opposite to the approaching direction, the guide member rotates the empty loaded finger to retract to a position where it does not interfere with the panel component on the hand, and is located at the retracted position. A depalletizing device, wherein the finger guides a subsequent retreat operation of the hand via a guide member. The guide member has a function of guiding the hand when entering and retracting the pallet,
The pallet is provided with a guide surface which comes into contact with the guide member when the hand enters and exits and controls the relative positioning in the lateral direction, and a contact surface which also comes into contact with the guide member and regulates the limit position of the hand. The depalletizing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The depalletizing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lift amount of the finger by the guide member is set smaller than the lift amount of the panel component by the hand. The depalletizing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the panel component is a back door of an automobile in which a rear window glass is incorporated.

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