JP2005162422A - Locating method for object transported on conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a locating method for an object to be transported on a conveyor capable of performing the automatic positional adjustment whereby the predetermined part of the object transported is put identical to the virtual center line of the transport path. <P>SOLUTION: The inclination of the front end face of the object transported relative to the virtual center line is sensed by a sensing means while the object is transported from the second conveyor to the first conveyor, and the object condition is corrected into free of inclination by conducting an inclination control of the conveying part of the second conveyor to the left or right on the basis of the obtained data from sensing, and the conveying part of a third conveyor is moved in the perpendicular direction to the virtual center line to put one-side end face of the object in the specified position, and the object transported on a fourth conveyor is abutted to a stopper member to re-correct the inclination, and the mark provided in the predetermined position on the object is sensed while the conveying part of a fifth conveyor is moved in the direction opposite the moving direction of the the conveying part of the third conveyor, and on the basis of the obtained signal from sensing, the moving amount of the conveying part is controlled to put the predetermined part of the object identical to the virtual center line of the transport path. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention corrects a substantially rectangular transport object viewed from a plane such as an infusion bag transported by a conveyor so that the transport object is not inclined with respect to a virtual center line of the transport path, and sets a predetermined part of the transport object to the virtual site. The present invention relates to a positioning method for automatically performing an operation for matching a center line.

  In packaging lines, parts processing lines, and assembly lines for various products that use conveyor systems, articles that have been processed or worked by automatic machinery or robots are placed on the conveyor or conveyed by the conveyor. It is generally performed that a (conveyed object) is automatically taken out by an automatic machine device or a robot and subjected to various processing and operations. However, if the conveyed product placed on the conveyor is in an irregular posture or position, the work in the subsequent process is hindered, so that the regular posture or position is corrected and aligned.

  In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-338034, the lateral position of a cylindrical conveyance object such as a tire conveyed by a roller conveyor is detected, and the conveyance object is stopped by a cross-shaped support part and placed on the support part. By lifting and rotating the conveyed product, the lateral position of the conveyed product is matched with the center of the roller conveyor in the transfer direction, and then the conveyed product is lowered and returned to the roller conveyor and conveyed downstream. Methods and apparatus "are disclosed.

  In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-26319, a predetermined part of an article sent on the conveyance path is gripped by a chuck of the robot, the article is moved to the center line of the conveyance path, and then the direction of the article is determined by the robot. “Article Placement Device and Article Placement Method” is disclosed in which correction is performed so that is substantially parallel to the center line.

However, the two-chamber type infusion bag that is folded in two in the subsequent process is corrected so as not to be inclined with respect to the virtual center line of the transport path, and the partition wall portion in the width direction that becomes the bent portion of the infusion bag is It is difficult to deal with positioning according to the virtual center line by a method according to the prior art.
JP 2002-338034 A JP 2001-26319 A

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a method for positioning a conveyed product on a conveyor that can automatically align a predetermined portion of a substantially rectangular conveyed product as viewed from above with a virtual center line of a conveying path. It is in.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for positioning a conveyed product in a conveyor. While transferring the conveyed product on the first conveyor to the second conveyor capable of controlling the tilting of the conveyor part in the left or right direction with respect to the virtual center line, the front end on the downstream side of the conveyed product with respect to the virtual center line By detecting the tilt of the surface by the detecting means and performing position control for tilting the conveyor portion of the second conveyor in the left or right direction based on the data detected by the detecting means, the transported object is brought into a state without tilting. Corrected and the transported object subjected to the correction is transferred to the third conveyor by the second conveyor, and the conveyor portion of the third conveyor is one of the directions orthogonal to the virtual center line. And the one side end face of the conveyed product on the conveyor section is aligned at a certain position, and the conveyed object aligned at the certain position is transferred to the fourth conveyor by the third conveyor, The carrier to be moved is brought into contact with the stopper member so that the inclination of the conveyed object is re-corrected, and the conveyed object corrected to the state without the inclination is transferred to the fifth conveyor by the fourth conveyor. The mark attached to the predetermined part of the conveyed product on the conveyor unit is detected by the mark sensor while moving the conveyor unit of the fifth conveyor in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the conveyor unit of the third conveyor, and the mark The position of the amount of movement of the conveyor unit is controlled based on the detection signal, so that the predetermined part of the transported object is automatically matched with the virtual center line of the transport path. To.

  In order to achieve the same object, the invention described in claim 2 is the positioning method of the conveyed product in the conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the third conveyor is the fourth conveyor and the fourth conveyor is the third conveyor. It is characterized by being replaced respectively.

  In order to achieve the same object, the method for positioning a conveyed product in the conveyor according to the third aspect of the present invention receives a substantially rectangular shaped conveyed product from the front surface as viewed from the plane, and conveys it to the first conveyor. While the transported object on the first conveyor is transferred to the second conveyor that can be tilted and controlled in the left and right directions with respect to the virtual center line of the path, the downstream side of the transported object with respect to the virtual center line A state in which the transported object is not tilted by detecting the tilt of the front end surface by the detecting means and performing position control for tilting the conveyor portion of the second conveyor in the left or right direction based on the data detected by the detecting means. In addition, the transported material subjected to the correction is transferred to the third conveyor by the second conveyor, and the conveyor portion of the third conveyor is moved in the direction perpendicular to the virtual center line. The side end face of the conveyed product on the conveyor section is aligned at a certain position, and the conveyed material aligned at the certain position is transferred to the fourth conveyor by the third conveyor, and the fourth conveyor The mark attached to a predetermined part of the conveyed product on the conveyor unit is detected by a mark sensor while moving the conveyor unit in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the conveyor unit of the third conveyor, and based on the detection signal of the mark Thus, by performing position control of the movement amount of the conveyor unit, an operation of automatically matching a predetermined portion of the transported object with a virtual center line of the transport path is performed.

  In order to achieve the same object, the invention described in claim 4 is the positioning method of the conveyed product in the conveyor according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the detection means is located on the outlet side of the first conveyor. The sensors are respectively arranged on both sides of the virtual center line, the passage of the front end surface of the transported object transferred from the first conveyor to the second conveyor is detected by the sensor, and the passage confirmation is detected first. The number of clock pulses within the detection time difference between the sensor that detects the passage confirmation and the sensor that detects passage confirmation later is measured, and the front end face of the transported object is measured based on a numerical value set in advance so as to correspond to the measured pulse number. The inclination is determined.

  According to the positioning method of the conveyed product in this conveyor, the substantially rectangular conveyed product as viewed from above is corrected so that there is no inclination with respect to the virtual center line of the conveying path, and the predetermined part of the conveyed product is corrected to the virtual center line. It is possible to automatically and reliably perform the work to match the above. In addition, since the conveyed product is aligned in a constant posture, it contributes to performing the work in the subsequent process smoothly and efficiently.

  In the positioning method of the conveyed product in this conveyor, basically five conveyors from the first conveyor to the fifth conveyor are used. In the invention method of claim 3, the fourth conveyor in claim 1 is used. And the fifth conveyor of the same claim is arranged as a fourth conveyor. The invention method of claim 3 is suitable for simple positioning work, although the accuracy of posture correction of the conveyed product is slightly lower than that of the invention method of other claims.

  The best mode of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a conveyor apparatus to which the method of the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the correction operation of the inclination of an infusion bag (conveyed material) in the first conveyor and the second conveyor, and FIG. 3 is a third conveyor. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the alignment operation of the infusion bag in the fifth conveyor, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining the alignment operation of the infusion bag in the fifth conveyor, and FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state positioned on the line.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a conveyor apparatus A to which the method of the present invention is applied is used for a part of a packaging line for infusion bags, and includes a first conveyor 10, a second conveyor 20, a third conveyor 30, It is composed of five belt type conveyors, a fourth conveyor 40 and a fifth conveyor 50. In the figure, C represents a virtual center line of the transport path.

  About the conveyed product handled by the method of this invention, it is a substantially rectangular shape seeing from the plane, and is the two-chamber type infusion bag 1 in this embodiment. This infusion bag 1 is formed into a flat rectangular shape by heat-sealing four sides with a thick synthetic resin film overlapped, and short (width) so that the capacities of the two chambers 1a and 1b are different. It is divided by the partition part 4 extended in the direction. The partition portion 4 subjected to the heat seal corresponds to a predetermined portion of the conveyed product referred to in the present invention, and is colored to facilitate position confirmation detection by a sensor described later. The infusion bag 1 is provided with a plug 7 at the right end 2 in the short direction and a plug 8 at the left end 3.

  The first conveyor 10 is configured such that a flat belt 14 having a predetermined width is stretched between rolls 12 and 13 arranged in parallel with a predetermined interval on a machine base 11 and one roll 13 is driven to rotate by a motor device (not shown). Is provided.

  It is assumed that a separate belt type conveyor is attached to the inlet (upstream) side of the first conveyor 10, and the infusion bag 1 filled with the infusion solution by the automatic machine device in the previous process is placed on the conveyor. Placed. When the infusion bag 1 is placed in the vicinity of the virtual center line C of the transport path, it tends to be in an irregular posture such as a left tilt posture or a right tilt posture due to the influence of vibration or the like during placement or during transport.

  On the outlet (downstream) side of the first conveyor, sensors 17 and 18 as detection means for detecting passage of the front end face 5 of the infusion bag 1 are arranged on both sides of the virtual center line C as a center. ing.

The second conveyor 20 has a function of correcting the inclination α of the front end surface 5 on the downstream side of the infusion bag 1 with respect to the virtual center line C of the transport path.
The conveyor unit 21 is configured such that a flat belt having a predetermined width is wound around a roll (not shown) arranged in parallel with a predetermined interval on a frame (not shown), and one roll is driven to rotate by a motor device (not shown). Is provided. Further, the conveyor unit 21 is provided so as to be able to tilt in either the left direction or the right direction around the support shaft 23 disposed on the outlet side, and the tilt amount is a known servo. It is provided so as to be controllable using a mechanism. Reference numeral 25 denotes a pair of sensors disposed near the outlet side of the conveyor unit 21 in order to confirm the presence of the infusion bag 1.

Here, the tilt correction control work of the infusion bag 1 by the second conveyor 20 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the infusion bag 1 has been conveyed from the previous step to the first conveyor 10 in a right-tilting posture in which the right end portion 2 protrudes forward toward the downstream side, for example. Therefore, immediately before the infusion bag 1 is transferred from the first conveyor 10 to the conveyor portion 21 of the second conveyor 20, the passage of the front end surface 5 of the infusion bag 1 is detected by the right sensor 17 and the left side 18. Since a detection time difference occurs between the sensor 17 that detects passage confirmation first and the sensor 18 that detects passage confirmation later, the number of clock pulses within the detection time difference is determined by the internal clock (0.01 clock pulse) of the control unit. n is measured, and the amount of tilt y to be corrected of the conveyor unit 21 is determined by the control unit based on a numerical value set in advance so as to correspond to the measured number of pulses n. Next, when the infusion bag 1 is confirmed by the sensor 25, position control is performed so that the conveyor unit 21 is tilted about the support shaft 23 by the tilt amount y to be corrected by the servo mechanism. Thereby, the infusion bag 1 is corrected so that there is no inclination α of the front end face 5, and is provided so as to be transferred from the second conveyor 20 toward the third conveyor 30 in the corrected state.

  In this embodiment, the above-described relative relationship between the number of clock pulses n and the correction tilt amount y is set so as to be divided into eight stages on the left and right sides. The classification is shown in Table 1.

The third conveyor 30 has a function of aligning one side end surface of the infusion bag 1, here, the left end portion 3 at a fixed position.
As shown in FIG. 3, the conveyor unit 31 has a flat belt 35 of a predetermined width spanned between rolls 33, 34 arranged in parallel with a predetermined interval on a frame 32, and one of the rolls 33 is not illustrated. It is provided so as to be rotationally driven by the device. Further, the conveyor unit 31 is provided so as to be movable in a direction orthogonal to the virtual center line C, and the amount of movement of the conveyor unit 31 is provided such that the position can be controlled using a known servo mechanism. Yes. Reference numeral 37 denotes a pair of sensors disposed near the outlet side of the conveyor unit 31 in order to confirm the presence of the infusion bag 1, and reference numeral 38 denotes a sensor for detecting the position of the left end 3 of the infusion bag 1.

  Thus, in the third conveyor 30, the infusion bag 1 received from the second conveyor 20 is transferred downstream until it is confirmed by the sensor 37, and the rotation operation of the conveyor unit 31 is stopped by the confirmation detection signal. Next, in this state, the conveyor unit 31 is moved to the left by the servo mechanism, the left end portion 3 of the infusion bag 1 is confirmed by the sensor 38 and aligned to a certain position, and then the conveyor unit 31 is rotated again. Thus, the infusion bag 1 is configured to be transferred toward the fourth conveyor 40.

The fourth conveyor 40 has a function of correcting a slight inclination of the infusion bag 1.
The conveyor unit 41 is configured such that a flat belt having a predetermined width is stretched over a roll (not shown) arranged in parallel with a predetermined interval on a frame (not shown), and one of the rolls is driven to rotate by a motor device (not shown). Is provided. A stopper member 45 is provided on the upper surface of the conveyor unit 41 so as to be movable up and down by a drive mechanism (not shown).

Thus, in the fourth conveyor 40, the infusion bag 1 moving on the conveyor portion 41 is brought into contact with the stopper member 45 waiting at the descending end to correct a slight inclination of the infusion bag 1, and thereafter The infusion bag 1 is moved downstream by moving the stopper member 45 upward.

The fifth conveyor 50 has a function of finally matching the partition wall portion 4 of the infusion bag 1 with the virtual center line C of the transport path. The fifth conveyor 50 has basically the same structure as that of the third conveyor 30 described above.
That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the conveyor 51 includes a flat belt 55 having a predetermined width spanned between rolls 53 and 54 arranged parallel to the frame 52 at a predetermined interval, and one roll 53 is illustrated. It is provided to be driven to rotate by a motor device that does not. Further, the conveyor unit 51 is provided so as to be movable in a direction orthogonal to the virtual center line C, and the amount of movement of the conveyor unit 51 is provided so that the position can be controlled using a known servo mechanism. Yes. Reference numeral 57 denotes a pair of sensors arranged near the outlet side of the conveyor unit 51 in order to confirm the presence of the infusion bag 1. Reference numeral 58 denotes a mark sensor for detecting the position of the partition wall portion 4 of the infusion bag 1. The mark sensor 58 is disposed at a position on the left side from the virtual center line C toward the downstream side by a predetermined dimension, here 10 mm away.

  Therefore, in the fifth conveyor 50, the infusion bag 1 received from the fourth conveyor 40 is transferred downstream until it is confirmed by the sensor 57, and the rotation operation of the conveyor unit 51 is stopped by the confirmation detection signal. Next, in this state, the conveyor unit 51 is moved to the right by the servo mechanism, the partition wall portion 4 of the infusion bag 1 is confirmed by the mark sensor 58, and after the confirmation is detected, the conveyor unit 51 is decelerated and moved by the predetermined dimension. To stop. Thereby, positioning in which the partition part 4 of the infusion bag 1 coincides with the virtual center line C is automatically performed (FIG. 5), and the infusion bag 1 is moved downstream by rotating the conveyor unit 51 again. It is comprised so that it may move toward.

Next, a method for positioning the infusion bag 1 by the conveyor device A having such a configuration will be described.
(1) When the infusion bag 1 conveyed from the previous process is received by the first conveyor 10, the infusion bag 1 is transferred downstream and transferred to the conveyor portion 21 of the second conveyor 20. The passage of the front end face 5 is detected by the right sensor 17 and the left 18.
(2) A detection time difference is generated between the sensor 17 that has detected the passage confirmation first and the sensor 18 that has detected the passage confirmation later, and the number of clock pulses n within the detection time difference is measured by the internal clock of the control unit, The control unit determines a tilt amount y to be corrected of the conveyor unit 21 corresponding to the measured pulse number n.
(3) Next, when the presence of the infusion bag 1 is confirmed by the sensor 25, position control is performed so that the servo section tilts about the support shaft 23 by the tilt amount y to be corrected by the servo mechanism. As a result, the infusion bag 1 is corrected to a state where there is no inclination α of the front end face 5, and is transferred toward the third conveyor 30 in the corrected state.
(4) In the 3rd conveyor 30, the infusion bag 1 received from the 2nd conveyor 20 is transferred downstream until it confirms with the sensor 37, The rotation operation of the conveyor part 31 is stopped with the confirmation detection signal.
(5) Next, in a state where the rotation operation of the conveyor unit 31 is stopped, the conveyor unit 31 is moved to the left by the servo mechanism, the left end portion 3 of the infusion bag 1 is confirmed by the sensor 38, and the infusion bag 1 is removed. Align to a certain position. The infusion bag 1 is transported toward the fourth conveyor 40 by rotating the conveyor unit 31 again.
(6) In the 4th conveyor 40, the infusion bag 1 which moves on the conveyor part 41 is made to contact | abut to the stopper member 45 which waits in a falling end. Thereby, the slight inclination of the infusion bag 1 is corrected, and then the infusion bag 1 is transferred downstream by moving the stopper member 45 upward.
(7) In the 5th conveyor 50, the infusion bag 1 received from the 4th conveyor 40 is transferred downstream until it confirms with the sensor 57, The rotation operation of the conveyor part 51 is stopped with the confirmation detection signal.
(8) Next, with the rotation of the conveyor 51 stopped, the conveyor 51 is moved to the right by the servo mechanism, and the partition wall portion 4 of the infusion bag 1 is confirmed by the mark sensor 58. After the detection, the conveyor 51 is decelerated by a predetermined dimension and stopped. Thereby, the partition portion 4 of the infusion bag 1 is automatically positioned so as to coincide with the virtual center line C of the transport path, and the infusion bag 1 is transported downstream by rotating the conveyor unit 51 again. Is done.

  In the positioning method of the infusion bag 1, it is possible to configure the conveyor device A by replacing the third conveyor 30 with the position of the fourth conveyor 40 and the fourth conveyor 40 with the position of the third conveyor 30, respectively. The case corresponds to the inventive method of claim 2 and the same effect as the inventive method of the above embodiment can be obtained.

  As described above, according to the positioning method of the conveyed product in the conveyor, the substantially rectangular conveyed product as viewed from above is corrected to be in a state in which there is no inclination with respect to the virtual center line of the conveying path, and There is an advantage that the operation of matching the predetermined portion with the virtual center line can be performed automatically and reliably.

Outline plan view of conveyor apparatus to which the method of the present invention is applied The schematic diagram explaining the correction | amendment operation | work of the inclination of the infusion bag (conveyed material) in a 1st conveyor and a 2nd conveyor Schematic diagram explaining the positioning operation of the infusion bag on the third conveyor Schematic explaining the positioning operation of the infusion bag on the fifth conveyor The schematic diagram which shows the state by which the partition part (predetermined site | part) of the infusion bag was positioned on the virtual center line of a conveyance path | route

Explanation of symbols

A ... Conveyor device C ... Virtual center line of transport path 1 ... Infusion bag (conveyed material)
2 ... right end 3 ... left end 4 ... partition wall (predetermined part)
5 ... Front end surface α ... Inclination of the front end surface of the infusion bag 10 ... First conveyors 17 and 18 ... Sensors (detection means)
y ... tilt amount 20 ... second conveyor 21 ... conveyor unit 30 ... third conveyor 31 ... conveyor unit 40 ... fourth conveyor 45 ... stopper member 50 ... first 5 conveyor 51 ... conveyor 58 ... mark sensor

Claims (4)

  A second conveyor that accepts a nearly rectangular object to be transported from the previous process on the first conveyor and that can control the tilting of the conveyor in either direction from the virtual center line of the conveying path. While the conveyed product on the first conveyor is being transferred, the inclination of the front end surface of the downstream side of the conveyed product with respect to the virtual center line is detected by the detecting means, and the second conveyor is based on the data detected by the detecting means. The conveyor part is tilted in the left or right direction to correct the transported object so that there is no tilt, and the corrected transported object is transferred to the third conveyor by the second conveyor. , Moving the conveyor part of the third conveyor to one side in a direction orthogonal to the virtual center line, aligning one side end face of the conveyed product on the conveyor part at a fixed position, and the fixed position The aligned transported material is transferred to the fourth conveyor by the third conveyor, and the tilt of the transported material is corrected again by bringing the transported material moving on the fourth conveyor into contact with the stopper member. The conveyed product corrected in the absence of the condition is transferred to the fifth conveyor by the fourth conveyor, and the conveyor portion of the fifth conveyor is moved in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the conveyor portion of the third conveyor. A mark attached to a predetermined part of the transported object on the part is detected by a mark sensor, and the position of the conveyor part is controlled based on the detection signal of the mark, thereby moving the predetermined part of the transported object to the transport path. A method for positioning a conveyed product on a conveyor, wherein a work for matching with a virtual center line is automatically performed.   The method of positioning a conveyed product in a conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the third conveyor is replaced with a fourth conveyor, and the fourth conveyor is replaced with a third conveyor.   A second conveyor that accepts a nearly rectangular object to be transported from the previous process on the first conveyor and that can control the tilting of the conveyor in either direction from the virtual center line of the conveying path. While the conveyed product on the first conveyor is being transferred, the inclination of the front end surface of the downstream side of the conveyed product with respect to the virtual center line is detected by the detecting means, and the second conveyor is based on the data detected by the detecting means. The position of the conveyor is tilted to the left or right to correct the transported object so that it is not tilted, and the corrected transported object is transferred to the third conveyor by the second conveyor. Then, the conveyor part of the third conveyor is moved to one side in the direction orthogonal to the virtual center line so that one side end surface of the conveyed product on the conveyor part is aligned at a certain position, and the certain position is Transported to the fourth conveyor by the third conveyor, while moving the conveyor part of the fourth conveyor in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the conveyor part of the third conveyor, A mark attached to a predetermined part of the object is detected by a mark sensor, and the amount of movement of the conveyor unit is controlled based on a detection signal of the mark, thereby matching the predetermined part of the conveyed product with the virtual center line of the conveyance path. A method for positioning a conveyed product on a conveyor, wherein the work to be performed is automatically performed. As for the detection means, sensors are arranged on both sides of the first conveyor on the outlet side of the first conveyor, and the passage of the front end surface of the conveyed product transferred from the first conveyor to the second conveyor is detected. The number of clock pulses detected by the sensor and measured within the detection time difference between the sensor that detects passage confirmation first and the sensor that detects passage confirmation later is set in advance to correspond to the measured number of pulses. The method for positioning a conveyed product in a conveyor according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an inclination of a front end surface of the conveyed product is determined on the basis of the numerical value obtained.

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