JP2005333827A - Method and device for gripping and transferring food material - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for gripping and transferring a food material comprising directly gripping the food material with robot hands wherein the food material is surely gripped to exactly transfer the food material to a desired position such as a lunch box or a tray without complicated or expensive control using a simple device: and to provide the device for gripping and transferring the food material. <P>SOLUTION: The device for gripping and transferring the food material is provided with a pressing plate 13 pressing the food material (h) after subjected to elastic deformation so as to have resilience; and a pin (a needle member) 15 as a gripping mechanism transferring the food material (h) while gripping it by the help of the resilience. In the device, the food material is subjected to elastic deformation and pressed with the pressing plate 13 so as to have the resilience, and at the same time or after pressed, the food material is transferred to the desired position while gripping the food material with the pin 15 through the use of the resilience. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention makes it possible to grip any kind of food that can be elastically deformed and has a restoring force when pressed by a pressing plate without controlling the gripping force with a simple structure gripping mechanism. The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for gripping and moving foods that can be accurately moved to a desired place such as a loaded lunch box or tray.

Recently, the work of packing various foods in desired positions such as lunch boxes and trays has been automated and unmanned from the viewpoint of hygiene and cost reduction, eliminating manual work.
However, as the control for automation and unmanned operation has become more sophisticated and precise, the apparatus has become more complex and expensive. In other words, it is difficult to reliably hold non-standard items other than fixed-shaped items such as frozen foods, or soft items with the food-gripping mobile robot hand. There is a problem that the structure becomes complicated and there is a problem that a dedicated hand must be prepared for each food, and the robot system becomes expensive accordingly.

  For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-128002) discloses a food composition robot as a basic configuration suitable as a food placement robot suitable for placing soft foods having a non-constant shape on a serving container such as a lunch box or a dish. A means for gripping the food transport container supplied to the robot in a state where the food is contained by the robot hand, a means for transporting the gripped food transport container above the serving container, and a food transport container. There has been disclosed a food arranging robot provided with a means for arranging stored food from a food transport container to a serving container.

JP 2003-128002 A

However, in the food arranging robot disclosed in Patent Document 1, the food contained in the food carrying container is taken out from the food carrying container, instead of directly holding the food by hand, so that the food is placed in the serving container. In this case, as a specific means of serving, a notch is provided in the food transport container, and the food transport container is tilted to drop the food into the serving container, or the food transport container. An opening / closing port is provided in the door and the food is dropped by opening the opening / closing port, or the food is pushed out or scraped and dropped by an auxiliary member such as a spatula attached to the hand.
Since such a complicated operation is performed, there is still a problem that the control device becomes complicated and expensive.

  In view of the problems of the prior art, the present invention is not a method of placing food in a food container as described in Patent Document 1, but by placing the food in a food container. Adopting a direct gripping method using a robot hand, in which case the food is securely gripped and moved to a desired position such as a lunch box, tray, etc., and control is not complicated and expensive. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for gripping and moving foods that can be achieved with a simple apparatus.

  The present invention achieves such an object, and the means uses the restoring force at the same time as or after the step of elastically deforming and pressing the food so as to have a restoring force with the pressing plate A method for gripping and moving a food, characterized by comprising a step of gripping the food with another gripping mechanism, and a step of moving the food to a predetermined position while gripping the food, and the material is elastic so as to have a restoring force The present invention relates to a food gripping and moving device comprising: a pressing plate that is deformed and pressed; and a gripping mechanism that moves while gripping the food using the restoring force.

In the method of the present invention, the food material is first pressed by a pressing plate to be elastically deformed, and then the food material is securely gripped by a gripping mechanism using a restoring force generated in the food material, thereby reliably moving the food material to a predetermined position. .
Moreover, in this invention apparatus, a foodstuff is reliably hold | gripped and moved to a predetermined position by the holding mechanism using the restoring force of the foodstuff which acts on a pressing board by pressing of the said pressing board and the said pressing board.

A specific aspect of the gripping mechanism is preferably a hole or a recess provided in a surface of the pressing plate that contacts the food, or a needle member that is inserted into the food while the pressing plate is pressing the food. .
By pressing the pressing plate having the hole or the concave portion on the contact surface with the food material against the food material, a restoring force of the food material is generated, whereby a part of the food material enters the hole or the concave portion, thereby the food material and the pressing plate. A frictional force is generated between the two and the food material is prevented from falling and gripped securely.
Alternatively, the needle member is inserted into the food material while the food material is pressed by the pressing plate, and a frictional force is generated between the needle member and the food material using the restoring force of the food material, thereby ensuring the food material. Grip to.

Preferably, the gripping mechanism is a needle member that is inserted into the food material in a state where the pressing plate is pressing the food material, and the needle is lowered again after the moving step of the food material and pressing the food material with the pressing plate. A restraint releasing step of pulling out the member from the food;
By using the pressing plate in this way, the position and posture of the food material at the time of restraint and release can be stabilized.

In addition, when the gripping mechanism is a hole or a recess provided in the contact surface of the pressing plate with the food material, the food material has a certain degree of softness. A part of the food protrudes and can be caught properly. For this reason, it is possible to grip a soft food without controlling the gripping force.
Moreover, it can respond to various foodstuffs by changing the thickness (spring constant) of a pressing board, and the number and size of a hole or a recessed part.

  Preferably, elasticity is imparted to the pressing plate, and a moving stroke with respect to the food is made constant, and the moving stroke extends to a position where the pressing plate is pressed against the food and the food is elastically deformed. Even if the size or shape of the food material changes, the pressing position on the food material does not change, the restoring force generated in the food material can always be used at that time, and the food material can be reliably gripped by the gripping mechanism using this restoring force, The gripping force is not reduced. Further, by making the moving stroke constant, there is an advantage that a complicated control mechanism of the pressing plate is eliminated and the control device is not expensive.

  Preferably, the pressing plate and the gripping mechanism are integrally attached to a tip of an arm whose operation is controlled by a control device, and the arm is moved to move the gripping and moving device of the present invention to food. Operation and control are facilitated, and the features of the present invention can be exhibited more effectively.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to achieve reliable gripping of food and accurate movement to a predetermined place without requiring a simple structure and complicated control. In other words, because it is a gripping mechanism that utilizes the restoring force of the food that is generated against pressing by the pressing plate, regardless of the difficulty due to the variety of foods and the degree of softness that is different from rigid fixed objects. Therefore, the apparatus can be reliably gripped with a simple apparatus without increasing the complexity and cost of the apparatus.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the component parts described in this example are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to specific examples unless otherwise specified. Only.
FIG. 1 is an overall elevation view of a food-gripping mobile robot according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevation view of a hand portion of the first embodiment, and FIG. 3 is the first embodiment. 2 is a bottom view of the pressing plate 13 viewed from the direction A in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is an enlarged elevation view of the hand portion of the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a left side view of the second embodiment. It is.

  In FIG. 1, which is an overall elevation view of a food-gripping mobile robot according to a first embodiment of the present invention, reference numeral 1 denotes a robot stand erected on a base, with an axis “a” at the top of the stand 1. A multi-joint arm 4 composed of a first joint 2 that rotates and a second joint 3 that rotates about an axis b is mounted. A one-axis, two-degree-of-freedom actuator 5 that provides reciprocal motion and rotational motion in the c direction is mounted. Reference numeral 8 denotes a pipe accommodating various cables connected to a power source for driving the robot of this embodiment, and 9 denotes a food material conveyer for conveying the food material h to the robot mount 1.

In FIGS. 2 to 3 showing the hand portion of the first embodiment, reference numerals 6 and 7 denote an air supply port and an air exhaust port for supplying or discharging the driving pressurized air to the actuator 5. A hand body 12 is connected to a drive shaft (not shown) of the actuator 5, and reciprocates and rotates by the actuator 5. Reference numeral 13 denotes a pressing plate attached to the tip of the hand main body 12, which has four grooves 13a as shown in FIG. 3, and pins 15 described later are inserted into the respective grooves 13a. The pressing plate 13 is given a stroke by the actuator 5 until the pressing plate 13 is pressed against the food h and the food h is elastically deformed.
Air cylinders 14 are attached to the ends of the arms 12a and 12b extending to the left and right of the hand main body 12, and a total of four pins 15 are attached to the piston rods 14a of the air cylinders 14, two each.

In the first embodiment, the pressing plate 13 having a stroke of a predetermined length predetermined by the actuator 5 approaches the food h (for example, a hamburger) by a predetermined length and presses the food h to cause elastic deformation. The food is lowered to the position to be pressed, the food h is pressed, and the food h is elastically deformed.
At the same time or after that, the air cylinder 14 is actuated to project the pin 15 from between the grooves 13a of the pressing plate 13 and insert it into the food material h.
A restoring force is generated in the food material h by being pressed by the pressing plate 13, and the restoring force acts on the pressing plate 13 and the pin 15 by inserting the pin 15 into the food material h, so that the pin 15 and the food material h are interposed. And the frictional force generate | occur | produces between the pressing board 13 and the foodstuff h, and, thereby, the hand part 11 can hold | grip reliably, without dropping the foodstuff h.

Thereafter, the articulated arm 4 is rotated to move the grasped food material h into a predetermined place, for example, a lunch box being carried on a food arranging belt conveyor (not shown).
After the moving step of the food h, the food 15 descends again, and the pin 15 is pulled out of the food h while pressing the food h with the pressing plate 13.
By using the pressing plate 13 in this way, the position and posture of the food material at the time of restraint and release can be stabilized.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the food h can be reliably gripped by using the restoring force of the food h by pressing the food h with the pressing plate 13, and the pressing plate 13 has a predetermined stroke. Since there is no need to adjust the stroke depending on the type of food, there is an advantage that a complicated control device is not required.
In addition, it is possible to reliably hold and move the food with a very simple device such as the pressing plate 13 and the pin 15.

4 to 5 relate to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the hand portion 11 connected to the lower side of the actuator 5 in FIG. 2 is replaced with a hand having a different structure, which is the same as the first embodiment. In addition, the hand unit 21 is connected to the actuator 5 having one axis and two degrees of freedom attached to the food holding and moving robot shown in FIG.
4 to 5, 22 a and 22 b are a pair of pressing plates, which are connected to a pair of drive pieces 23 a and 23 b of the air cylinder 24, and move toward or away from each other by the action of the air cylinder 24. This is the position when 22a 'and 22b' are separated. The pressing plates 22a and 22b are driven with a constant stroke by the air cylinder 24. That is, when approaching each other, it is a position where the food is pressed and elastically deformed, and the pressing plate is made of an elastic material, or a spring member with respect to a drive piston (not shown) of the air cylinder 24 is provided. By being connected through, elasticity is imparted. Therefore, the pressing plate has a certain allowable range even if the type of food is changed.

Reference numerals 25 and 26 denote an air supply port and an air discharge port which are connected to the air supply port 6 or the air exhaust port 7 for supplying or discharging the drive pressurized air to or from the actuator 5 to supply or discharge the drive air to the air cylinder 24. is there.
As shown in FIG. 5, the pressing plates 22a and 22b are provided with a plurality of holes 27 as gripping mechanisms. When the pressing plates 22a and 22b press the food from both sides, the restoring force due to the elastic deformation of the food is obtained. Acting on the hole 27, the food material enters the hole 27, and a frictional force is generated between the food material and the hole 27, so that a sufficient gripping force is generated.

In the second embodiment, as described above, the restoring force of the food material is generated by the pressing force of the pressing plates 22a and 22b, and a frictional force is generated between the food material and the hole 27. Therefore, the food material can be securely gripped.
That is, since the food material has a certain degree of softness, when it is sandwiched from both sides by the pressing plates 22a and 22b, a part of the food material protrudes into the hole 27 and can be caught appropriately. For this reason, it is possible to grip a soft food without controlling the gripping force.
Moreover, it can respond to various foodstuffs by changing the thickness (spring constant) of a pressing board, and the number and size of a hole or a recessed part.

Also, by making the strokes of the pressing plates 22a and 22b constant and applying an elastic force to the pressing plates, it is not necessary to adjust the stroke, the control is simple, the cost is not increased, and different types of foods are used. Can be used as is.
Further, since the pressing plate and the gripping function are integrally attached to the tip of the articulated arm 4 controlled by the robot mount 1, there is an advantage that the gripping and moving device can be easily operated and controlled.

  According to the present invention, all kinds of foods that are elastically deformable and have a restoring force when pressed by a pressing plate are gripped and accurately placed in a desired place such as a lunch box or a tray placed on a food material loading conveyor. In moving, it is possible to provide a method and apparatus for gripping and moving a food that has a simple structure and a sufficient gripping function, and that can accurately move the food to a desired position.

1 is an overall elevation view of a food-gripping mobile robot according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is an expanded elevational view of the hand part of the first embodiment. It is the bottom view which looked at the pressing board 13 of the said 1st Example from the A direction of FIG. It is an enlarged elevation view of the hand part of the second embodiment of the present invention. It is a left view of the second embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Robot mount 2 1st joint 3 2nd joint 4 Articulated arm 5 1 axis 2 degrees of freedom actuator 6, 25 Air supply port 7, 26 Air exhaust port 8 Various cable piping 9 Food conveyance conveyor 11, 21 Hand part 12 Hand Main body 12a, 12b Arm 13, 22a, 22b Pressing plate 13a Groove 14, 24 Air cylinder 14a Piston rod 15 Pin (needle member)
23a Drive piece 27 hole h Food

Claims (7)

  A process of elastically deforming and pressing the food material to have a restoring force with the pressing plate, a step of gripping the food material with another gripping mechanism using the restoring force simultaneously with or after the pressing step, and gripping the food material And a method for gripping and moving the food, which comprises moving the food to a predetermined position.   The gripping mechanism is a needle member that is inserted into the food material while the pressing plate is pressing the food material. After the movement step of the food material, the gripping mechanism descends again, and the needle member is removed from the food material while pressing the food material with the pressing plate. The method for grasping and moving foods according to claim 1, further comprising a restraint releasing step of drawing.   An apparatus for gripping and moving a food, comprising: a pressing plate that elastically deforms and presses the food so as to have a restoring force; and a gripping mechanism that moves while gripping the food using the restoring force.   3. The gripping mechanism is a hole or a recess provided in a surface of the pressing plate that comes into contact with the food material, or a needle member that is inserted into the food material while the pressing plate is pressing the food material. The gripping and moving device for food as described.   The elastic force is imparted to the pressing plate, and the moving stroke with respect to the food is made constant, and the moving stroke is extended to a position where the pressing plate is pressed against the food and the food is elastically deformed. Ingredient gripping and moving device.   The food pressing and moving device according to claim 2, wherein the pressing plate and the gripping mechanism are integrally attached to a tip of an arm whose operation is controlled by a control device, and the arm is moved.   5. The food gripping and moving device according to claim 4, wherein the pressing plate is made of an elastic material, or the pressing plate is attached to a pressing drive mechanism via a spring member.

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