JP2012171664A - Device for packing fruit in container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for aligning strawberries in a shipping package attractively.SOLUTION: A control section executes a process of detecting an attracting position of each strawberry on the basis of an image of strawberries obtained by a machine vision 62 and stored in a harvesting box 70, making a strawberry conveying device 10 absorb and retain each strawberry stored in the harvesting box 70, and temporarily mounting the strawberries on a relay conveyor 40 and a process of detecting a direction and an attracting position of each strawberry on the basis of an image of the strawberries obtained by a machine vision and mounted on the relay conveyor, attracting and retaining the strawberries mounted on the relay conveyor on a strawberry conveying device at an attracting position, and conveying the strawberries to shipping packs 52A to 52D on the basis of the directions of the strawberries.

Description

  The present invention relates to a fruit container filling device.

  Since strawberry production in Japan requires a lot of working hours (approximately 2000 hours in the area 10a), it is necessary to save labor. Among them, the sorting pack packing work accounts for less than 30% of the total working hours, which contributes to the lengthening of working hours.

  However, soft fruits such as strawberries are easily damaged and difficult to handle. For this reason, while the boxing apparatus of the fruit which is hard to produce damages, such as a mandarin orange, an apple, a tomato, etc. is prevailing widely, the automatic packing technique of the soft fruit like a strawberry is hardly prevailing.

  On the other hand, as a result of research on boxing technology for soft fruits such as strawberries in recent years, the fruit and vegetable holding device and the fruit and vegetable transfer device described in Patent Document 1, the strawberry automatic sorting and filling system described in Patent Document 2, and Patent Document 3 There is a boxing machine described.

JP 2002-052487 A JP 2003-266024 A JP 2005-231710 A

  However, in the techniques of Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is necessary to handle fruits in a state where they are aligned in a dedicated harvest box. For this reason, it is not possible to handle fruits stored in a random manner in the harvest box, and it is necessary to arrange and store them in the harvest box manually, which is troublesome. On the other hand, the technique described in Patent Document 3 is to physically hold the fruit with fingers in order to handle the fruit without damage, but has a very complicated configuration.

  Then, this invention was made | formed in view of the said situation, and it aims at providing the container filling apparatus of the fruit which can accommodate a fruit in the state which aligned the 2nd container from the 1st container.

  In the fruit container stuffing device of the present invention, a first container placement portion on which a first container in which fruits are randomly accommodated is placed, and a second container in which the fruits are accommodated in an aligned state. The second container placement section, the placement section on which the fruit can be placed, arranged at a position different from the first container placement section and the second container placement section, and the fruit can be adsorbed and held. The fruit transport mechanism for transporting the fruit between the first container, the second container, and the placement section, the image of the fruit stored in the first container, and the placement section. An image acquisition unit for acquiring an image of the fruit, and an adsorption position of the fruit based on the image of the fruit stored in the first container acquired by the image acquisition unit, While adsorbing and holding the fruit accommodated in the first container, the fruit is once mounted on the placement section. Based on the first process to be performed and the image of the fruit placed on the placement unit acquired by the image acquisition unit, the orientation and suction position of the fruit are detected, and the placement unit And a controller that performs a second process of transporting the fruit to the second container based on the orientation of the fruit, while holding the fruit placed on the suction position at the suction position. It is a container filling device.

  According to this, it is taken out from the 1st container in which the fruit was accommodated at random, and it acquired in the state (state mounted in the mounting part) which became easy to recognize the size and posture of each fruit. Since the fruit orientation and suction position are detected from the image, the fruit orientation and suction position can be acquired with high accuracy. In addition, the fruit transport mechanism transports the fruit into the second container based on the direction and suction position of the fruit detected with high accuracy, so that it is possible to arrange the fruit in the second container with good appearance. .

  In this case, the placement unit includes a moving mechanism that moves the fruit placed on the placement unit to a position different from the position on which the fruit was first placed, and the image acquisition unit is different from the first placement unit. It is possible to acquire an image of a fruit that has moved to a position. In such a case, it is not necessary for the fruit transport mechanism to retreat from the vicinity of the fruit when acquiring the fruit image. Thereby, operation | movement of a fruit conveyance mechanism can be simplified.

  In this case, the moving mechanism may be a belt conveyor, and a cushioning material may be provided on a mounting surface on which the fruit of the belt conveyor is mounted. In such a case, the action of the cushioning material can suppress damage to the fruit conveyed on the placement surface.

  In the fruit container packing device of the present invention, the fruit transport mechanism includes a cylindrical adsorption tube, a holding unit that holds the adsorption tube in a vertically movable state, a lower end portion of the adsorption tube, and the fruit in contact with each other. In this state, a negative pressure generating mechanism that makes the inside of the adsorption pipe a negative pressure, and detecting that the adsorption pipe is positioned at a predetermined position above the lowest end in a range in which the adsorption pipe moves up and down with respect to the holding portion. And a moving unit that moves the holding unit that holds the adsorption tube, and the control unit moves the lower end of the adsorption tube through the moving unit to the fruit adsorption position. When the detection unit detects that the adsorption pipe is located at the predetermined position, the operation by the moving unit is stopped and the operation by the negative pressure generation mechanism is started. Performing an adsorption holding operation by the fruit conveying mechanism; It may be. In such a case, it is possible to perform the adsorption holding operation by the fruit transport mechanism from the state where only the weight of the adsorption tube is applied to the fruit. It becomes possible to suppress damage to fruits.

  Moreover, in the fruit container stuffing device of the present invention, the fruit transport mechanism further includes a height position detection unit that detects a height position of the lower end portion of the suction pipe when the fruit transport mechanism sucks and holds the fruit, and the control unit includes: Based on the detection result of the height position detection unit, a value related to the size of the fruit is calculated, and based on the value related to the size of the fruit, the fruit transport mechanism when releasing the adsorption holding of the fruit The height position may be determined. In such a case, since the height position of the fruit transport mechanism when releasing the adsorption retention of the fruit is determined based on the value related to the size of the fruit, the distance between the surface on which the fruit is placed and the fruit is determined. The adsorbing and holding of the fruit can be released in a state adjusted to such an extent that it is not damaged. Thereby, the damage of a fruit can be suppressed.

  The fruit is arranged in the second container in order along a column direction and a row direction perpendicular to the column direction, and the control unit conveys the fruit to a predetermined conveyance position of the second container. The direction of the crossing may be a direction that intersects the column direction and the row direction and does not interfere with the fruits already arranged in the second container. In such a case, fruit damage due to contact with other fruits when the fruits are transported into the second container can be suppressed.

  Further, when the direction of the fruit cannot be calculated from the image acquired by the image acquisition unit, the control unit contacts the fruit transport mechanism with the fruit whose direction cannot be calculated, and the image acquisition is performed after the contact. It is good also as calculating the direction of the said fruit from the image acquired in a part. In such a case, when the state of the fruit is in a state where the direction of the fruit cannot be calculated from the image acquired by the image acquisition unit (for example, when the fruit stands upright with the cocoon part down), The direction of the fruit can be calculated by eliminating the state by the contact of the fruit transport mechanism.

  The fruit container stuffing device of the present invention has an effect that the fruit can be accommodated in a state of being aligned from the first container to the second container.

It is a perspective view which shows the packing system of a strawberry. It is a figure which takes out and expands a strawberry conveying apparatus. It is a figure which shows the state which took out the end effector and expanded. FIGS. 4A and 4B are cross-sectional views of the end effector 20. It is a block diagram which shows the control system of the strawberry packing system. It is a flowchart which shows a series of processes of the packing system. It is a figure for demonstrating the process of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the specific process of step S16 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the specific process of step S26 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the conveyance direction at the time of conveying a strawberry to a shipping pack. It is a figure shown about the coping method when discrimination | determination of the isoclass of a strawberry and calculation of a strawberry's direction and adsorption | suction position were not able to be performed in step S24.

  Hereinafter, one embodiment of the fruit container packing device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a strawberry packing system 100 as a fruit container packing device. As shown in FIG. 1, the pack filling system 100 includes a strawberry transport device 10 as a strawberry transport mechanism, a harvesting box conveyor 60 as a first container placement unit, a relay conveyor 40 as a placement unit, Shipment pack conveyors 50 </ b> A to 50 </ b> D as two-container placement units, machine vision 62 as an image acquisition unit, and a frame 80 that holds these units. In FIG. 1, the longitudinal direction of the harvesting box conveyor 60 and the relay conveyor 40 is the Y-axis direction, and the longitudinal direction of the shipping pack conveyors 50A to 50D (the direction orthogonal to the Y-axis direction) is the X-axis direction. The direction orthogonal to the direction and the X-axis direction is shown as the Z-axis direction.

  FIG. 2 shows a state where the strawberry transport device 10 is taken out and enlarged. As shown in FIG. 2, the strawberry transport device 10 includes an end effector 20, a moving unit (manipulator) 90 that moves the end effector 20 in a two-dimensional direction in the XY plane, a Z-axis direction, and a rotation direction around the Z-axis. .

  FIG. 3 shows a state where only the end effector 20 is taken out and enlarged. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the end effector 20 includes an adsorption tube 22 and a holding unit 24.

  As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, which are cross-sectional views of the end effector 20, the suction tube 22 is formed of a substantially cylindrical member that extends in the Z-axis direction and has a hollow inside. The end of one side of the adsorption tube 22 (the −Z side in FIG. 4A) is a contact portion 22a that comes into contact with the strawberry. In addition, it is good also as providing the shock absorbing material for suppressing the damage of the strawberry at the time of contacting with the strawberry in the contact part 22a. An oval slide hole 22b is formed in the vicinity of the + Z end of the adsorption tube 22.

  As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the holding unit 24 has a space 24 a inside. The holding portion 24 has a pin 25 extending in the Y-axis direction (the direction orthogonal to the paper surface) of FIGS. 4A and 4B, and the pin 25 is inserted through the slide hole 22 b of the suction tube 22. In this state, the adsorption tube 22 is suspended and held. Thereby, the adsorption tube 22 is slidable in the Z-axis direction with respect to the holding portion 24.

  In addition, a transmission type photoelectric sensor 82 (see FIG. 5) as a detection unit having a light transmitting unit 82a and a light receiving unit 82b is provided on the outer periphery of the holding unit 24. The detection light emitted from the light transmitting part 82a enters the light receiving part 82b through the openings 24b and 24c formed in the holding part 24. When the positional relationship between the adsorption tube 22 and the holding unit 24 is in a state as shown in FIG. 4A, the light receiving unit 82b can receive the detection light, but FIG. In the state as shown in b), since the detection light strikes the adsorption tube 22, the light receiving unit 82b cannot receive the detection light. The light reception result of the light receiving unit 82a is transmitted to the control unit 99 in FIG.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, an atmospheric pressure sensor 92 is provided in the space 24 a inside the holding unit 24. The atmospheric pressure sensor 92 detects the atmospheric pressure in the space 24a and transmits the detection result to the control unit 99 in FIG. Although not shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a negative pressure generating mechanism 94 (see FIG. 5) is connected to the holding unit 24 to make the space 24 a and the suction pipe 22 negative. Has been. As shown in FIG. 4 (b), the negative pressure generating mechanism 94 creates a negative pressure in the space 24 a and the inside of the adsorption tube 22 while the strawberry is in contact with the contact portion 22 a of the adsorption tube 22. It adsorbs and holds strawberries.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the moving unit 90 includes a Y guide 12 extending in the Y axis direction, an X guide 14 extending in the X axis direction and moving in the Y axis direction along the Y guide 12, and an X guide along the X guide 14. A Z guide 16 that moves in the axial direction and a Z movable portion 18 that moves in the Z axis direction along the Z guide 16 are included.

  The X guide 14 moves in the Y-axis direction along the Y guide 12 in response to the driving force of a linear drive device (for example, a ball screw, a linear motor, etc.). Further, the Z guide 16 receives the driving force of the linear drive device and moves in the X axis direction along the X guide 14. Further, the Z movable portion 18 receives the driving force of the linear drive device and moves in the Z axis direction along the Z guide 16. Thereby, the Z movable part 18 is movable in the three-axis directions of the X, Y, and Z axis directions. In addition, about the straight drive device, illustration is abbreviate | omitted for convenience.

  Further, the Z movable portion 18 holds the end effector 20 in a rotatable manner. The end effector 20 rotates around the Z axis (θz) in response to a driving force of a rotation driving device (not shown).

  That is, the end effector 20 of the present embodiment can be moved by the moving unit 90 in the four degrees of freedom directions of the X, Y, Z, and θz directions. It is assumed that the position and orientation of the end effector 20 can be measured by the position detection unit 91 (such as a linear encoder or a rotary encoder) in FIG.

  The harvesting box conveyor 60 is a belt conveyor, and conveys the harvesting box 70 as a first container in which harvested strawberries are stored in a random posture from the −Y direction to the + Y direction.

  The relay conveyor 40 is a belt conveyor that is smaller than the harvesting box conveyor 60, and transports the strawberry conveyed from the harvesting box 70 from the -Y direction to the + Y direction. A buffer material is affixed to the strawberry placement surface (the surface on the + Z side in FIG. 1) of the belt of the relay conveyor 40.

  The shipping pack conveyors 50A to 50D respectively transport the shipping packs 52A to 52D as the second containers from the -X direction to the + X direction. Here, it is assumed that the shipping packs 52A to 52D are assigned according to equal classes. For example, in the example of FIG. 1, it is assumed that the shipping pack 52A is a shipping pack packed with strawberries having the highest class, and the shipping pack 52D is a shipping pack packed with strawberries having the lowest class. The shipping pack conveyors 50A to 50D convey the shipping packs 52A to 52D in the + X direction under the instruction of the control unit 99 (see FIG. 5) according to the degree of strawberry filling.

  As shown by a broken line in FIG. 1, the machine vision 62 acquires the image of the strawberry in the harvesting box 70, acquires the image of the strawberry on the relay conveyor 40, and controls the control unit 99 (see FIG. 5). Send.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a control system of the packing system 100 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, in the packing system 100, the control unit 99 has a moving unit 90, a negative pressure generating mechanism based on the image acquired by the machine vision 62 and the detection results of the atmospheric pressure sensor 92 and the photoelectric sensor 82. 94, the operations of the conveyors 60, 40, 50A to 50D, etc. are comprehensively controlled.

  Next, processing in the packing system 100 according to the present embodiment will be described along the flowcharts of FIGS. 6, 8, and 9 with reference to other drawings as appropriate.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a series of processes of the packing system 100. As a premise of the processing in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the shipping packs 52 </ b> A to 52 </ b> D are set on the shipping pack conveyors 50 </ b> A to 50 </ b> D and a predetermined number of harvesting boxes 70 are set on the harvesting box conveyor 60. First, in step S10, the control unit 99 operates the harvesting box conveyor 60 to convey the harvesting box 70 to a predetermined position (see arrow A in FIG. 7). Next, in step S <b> 12, the control unit 99 determines whether a strawberry is present in the harvest box 70 based on the acquired image transmitted from the machine vision 62. If the determination here is negative, the process returns to step S10, and the harvesting box 70 is transported by operating the harvesting box conveyor 60 so that the next harvesting box 70 is in a predetermined position. On the other hand, if the determination in step S12 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S14.

  In step S <b> 14, the control unit 99 calculates the adsorption position of the strawberry (the next transport target strawberry) in the harvesting box 70 based on the acquired image transmitted from the machine vision 62. In this case, the control unit 99 detects the equator portion (the portion having the largest diameter) of the strawberry from the acquired image, and sets the equator portion as the suction position.

  Next, in step S <b> 16, the control unit 99 executes strawberry adsorption processing by the end effector 20. Specifically, the control unit 99 executes processing according to the flowchart of FIG.

  In the process of FIG. 8, first, in step S <b> 40, the control unit 99 moves the end effector 20 above the strawberry adsorption position via the moving unit 90. Next, in step S <b> 42, the control unit 99 moves the end effector 20 downward via the moving unit 90.

  Next, in step S44, the control unit 99 stands by until detection of the detection light of the photoelectric sensor 82 (light receiving unit 82b) is interrupted. When the determination here is affirmative, as shown in FIG. 4B, the end effector 20 is lowered, the contact portion 22a of the adsorption tube 22 comes into contact with the strawberry, and the adsorption tube 22 is held by the holding portion 24. It means that it is in the state which moved upwards. In this case, the contact portion 22a of the adsorption tube 22 and the strawberry are in close contact. In addition, in the state of FIG.4 (b), the force by the fall operation | movement of the end effector 20 is not applied at all with respect to a strawberry, and only the own weight of the adsorption pipe 22 is acting.

  Returning to FIG. 8, when the determination in step S <b> 44 is affirmed, the process proceeds to step S <b> 46, and the control unit 99 stops the downward movement of the end effector 20. Next, in step S48, the control unit 99 starts the operation of the negative pressure generating mechanism 94. That is, the strawberry adsorption holding operation by the adsorption tube 22 of the end effector 20 is started.

  Next, in step S50, the control unit 99 stands by until the atmospheric pressure detected by the atmospheric pressure sensor 92 reaches a predetermined atmospheric pressure. Here, the predetermined atmospheric pressure means an atmospheric pressure capable of adsorbing and holding strawberries. The control unit 99 detects the size of the strawberry to be sucked and held based on the acquired image of the machine vision 62, and sets the predetermined atmospheric pressure to an appropriate value (damaged strawberry) according to the size of the strawberry. It is good also as changing to the value which can be adsorbed-holding without.

  When the determination in step S50 is affirmed, the process proceeds to step S52, and the control unit 99 controls the negative pressure generation mechanism 94 so as to maintain the above-described predetermined atmospheric pressure. Thereby, the state in which the end effector 20 adsorbed and held the strawberry can be maintained. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S18 in FIG.

  In step S18 of FIG. 6, the control unit 99 takes out the strawberry from the harvesting box 70 and places it at a predetermined position on the relay conveyor 40 (see arrow B in FIG. 7). In this case, since the cushioning material is affixed to the upper surface (the strawberry placement surface) of the belt of the relay conveyor 40 as described above, the control unit 99 performs negative pressure while the strawberry is at a certain height. If the operation of the generation mechanism 94 is stopped and the adsorption holding of the strawberry by the adsorption tube 22 is released, the strawberry is hardly damaged.

  Next, in step S20, the control unit 99 moves the relay conveyor 40 by a predetermined amount (see arrow C in FIG. 7). Next, in step S22, the control unit 99 determines whether or not a strawberry image on the relay conveyor has been acquired. If the determination here is negative, that is, if the strawberry that has been placed on the relay conveyor 40 has not yet been photographed by the machine vision 62, the process returns to step S12 to transfer the harvest box 70 to the relay conveyor 40. Execute the strawberry transport process. Then, when the determination in step S22 is affirmed (as shown in FIG. 7, the stage where the strawberry on the relay conveyor 40 is photographed), the process proceeds to step S24.

  In step S <b> 24, the control unit 99 determines the strawberry isoclass based on the image acquired by the machine vision 62 and calculates the strawberry orientation and suction position. The direction of the strawberry can be the direction of a straight line connecting the center of gravity of the heel part (green part) and the center of gravity of the fruit part (red part). Further, the suction position can be the position of the equatorial part of the strawberry as in step S14.

  Next, in step S26, the control unit 99 executes strawberry adsorption processing by the end effector. Specifically, the control unit 99 executes processing according to the flowchart of FIG.

  In the process of FIG. 9, the same processes as in FIG. 8 (step S16) are executed from step S40 to S46. Specifically, in step S40, the control unit 99 moves the end effector 20 above the adsorption position of the strawberry (the strawberry subjected to the processing such as equal class determination) on the relay conveyor 40 via the moving unit 90. In step S42, the end effector 20 is moved downward via the moving unit 90. Further, the control unit 99 stops the downward movement of the end effector 20 in step S46 after detection of the detection light of the photoelectric sensor 82 is interrupted in step S44.

  Next, in step S47, the control unit 99 obtains the Z position (height position) of the end effector 20 from the position detection unit 91 in FIG. 5, and based on the Z position, the short fruit diameter (height) of the strawberry. Is calculated. That is, the position detection unit 91 functions as a height position detection unit.

  Thereafter, the same processing as in FIG. 8 (step S16) is executed from step S48 to S52. Specifically, the control unit 99 starts the operation of the negative pressure generation mechanism 94 in step S48, and after the atmospheric pressure detected by the atmospheric pressure sensor 92 becomes the predetermined atmospheric pressure in step S50, in step S52, the predetermined atmospheric pressure is determined. The negative pressure generating mechanism 94 is controlled so as to maintain the above. Thereby, the state in which the end effector 20 adsorbed and held the strawberry can be maintained. When the above process ends, the process proceeds to step S28 in FIG.

  In step S28 of FIG. 6, the control unit 99 is placed in any one of the shipping packs 52A to 52D with the orientation thereof aligned (see arrow D in FIG. 7). Specifically, the control unit 99 determines which of the shipping packs 52 </ b> A to 52 </ b> D is to carry the strawberry held by the end effector 20 based on the strawberry isoclass determined in step S <b> 24. to decide. As shown in FIG. 10, the control unit 99 aligns the strawberries in an oblique direction with respect to the strawberry carry-in position (determined from the strawberry carry-in status stored in the control unit 99) of the shipment pack to be carried. It approaches from the direction which crosses the X-axis direction (row direction) and the Y-axis direction (column direction) which are done, and the direction which does not interfere with the already packed strawberry. In addition, before the control part 99 is located in a strawberry carrying-in position, based on the direction of the strawberry calculated by step S24 so that the direction of a strawberry may become a predetermined direction, the end effector 20 is moved via the moving part 90. The posture in the θz direction is adjusted.

  Furthermore, when carrying the strawberry into the shipping pack, the control unit 99 determines the height position of the end effector 20 based on the short fruit diameter (height) of the strawberry calculated in step S47. Adjustment is made based on the detection value so that the distance between the strawberry and the shipping pack is almost zero. And in the said state, the control part 99 stops operation | movement of the negative pressure generation | occurrence | production mechanism 94, cancels | releases the adsorption | suction holding | maintenance of the strawberry by the end effector 20, and makes it stand still in the strawberry carrying position of a shipping pack. .

  Next, in step S30, the control unit 99 determines whether or not the shipping pack into which the strawberry is loaded in step S28 is full based on the strawberry loading status (monitored by the control unit 99) with respect to the shipping pack. To do. If the determination in step S30 is negative, the process proceeds to step S34. On the other hand, if the determination in step S30 is affirmative, in step S32, the control unit 99 moves the shipping pack conveyor for transporting the full shipping pack in the direction of arrow E in FIG. Migrate to

  When the process proceeds to step S34, the control unit 99 determines whether or not the process is finished. If the determination in step S34 is negative, the process returns to step S12, but if the determination in step S34 is affirmative, all the processes in FIG. 6 are terminated.

  In step S24, although the strawberry image can be acquired, it may not be possible to determine the equal class and calculate the strawberry orientation and suction position. In this case, there is a high possibility that the strawberry is placed on the relay conveyor 40 in an upward state as indicated by a broken line in FIG. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 11, the control unit 99 moves the end effector 20 (adsorption tube 22) above the relay conveyor 40 and is likely to be in an upward state. The strawberry may be tilted by bringing the adsorption tube 22 into contact therewith. In this case, after acquiring the image of the tilted strawberry again, the process of step S24 can be retried.

  As described above in detail, according to the present embodiment, the control unit 99 detects the strawberry adsorption position (equatorial part) based on the strawberry image stored in the harvesting box 70 acquired by the machine vision 62. Then, the machine vision 62 obtains the processing (S14 to S18) for causing the strawberry transporting apparatus 10 to suck and hold the strawberry accommodated in the harvesting box 70 at the suction position and to place the strawberry once on the relay conveyor 40 (S14 to S18). Based on the image of the strawberry placed on the relay conveyor 40, the direction of the strawberry and the suction position (equatorial part) are detected, and the strawberry placed on the relay conveyor 40 is detected by the strawberry transport device 10 at the suction position. The process of causing the shipping packs 52A to 52D to transport the strawberries (S24 to S28) is performed while adsorbing and holding them. Thus, in this embodiment, it is taken out from the harvest box 70 in which strawberries are accommodated at random, and it becomes easy to recognize the size and posture of each strawberry (the state placed on the relay conveyor 40) ) Detects the strawberry orientation and suction position from the image acquired in step (3), so that the strawberry orientation and suction position can be acquired with high accuracy. In addition, the strawberry transport device 10 transports the strawberry into the shipping packs 52A to 52D based on the direction and suction position of the strawberry detected with high accuracy, so that the strawberries are aligned in the shipping packs 52A to 52D with good appearance. be able to. Moreover, in this embodiment, since it is supposed that the strawberry isoclass discrimination is performed based on the image of the strawberry on the relay conveyor 40, the corresponding isoclass shipment pack (52A to 52D) based on the result of the isoclass discrimination. It is possible to arrange them in a good-looking manner.

  In addition, the relay conveyor 40 moves the strawberry placed on the relay conveyor 40 to a position different from the position where the strawberry transport device 10 was originally placed, and the machine vision 62 moves to a different position. Therefore, when acquiring the image of the strawberry, it is not necessary for the strawberry transport device 10 to perform an operation of retracting from the vicinity of the strawberry. Thereby, operation | movement of the strawberry conveying apparatus 10 can be simplified.

  Moreover, since the buffer material is provided in the upper surface (mounting surface in which a strawberry is mounted) of the relay conveyor 40, the damage of the strawberry conveyed on a mounting surface is suppressed by the effect | action of a buffer material. Can do.

  Further, the control unit 99 causes the lower end portion (contact portion 22a) of the adsorption tube 22 to approach and contact the adsorption position of the strawberry via the moving unit 90, and the photoelectric sensor 82 indicates that the adsorption tube 22 is located at a predetermined position. At the time of detection (when the determination in step S44 is affirmed), the operation by the moving unit 90 is stopped (step S46), and the operation by the negative pressure generating mechanism 64 is started (step S48), whereby the strawberry transport device Adsorption holding operation by 10 is performed. Therefore, since the adsorption holding operation | movement by the strawberry conveying apparatus 10 can be performed from the state where only the weight of the adsorption tube was applied to the strawberry, the strawberry in the adsorption holding operation is not subjected to an excessive burden. Damage can be suppressed. In this case, by adjusting the adsorption force in the strawberry transport device 10 (end effector 20) and reducing the weight of the adsorption tube 22, the force acting on the strawberry is 1N at the maximum, and the action time is about 3s at the maximum per adsorption position. Can do. Moreover, if it is this level of force, damage to the strawberry can be suppressed to almost zero by precooling the strawberry, selecting the material of the buffer material provided at the lower end portion (contact portion 22a) of the adsorption tube 22, or the like.

  Moreover, the control part 99 calculates the value (short fruit diameter) regarding the magnitude | size of a strawberry based on the detection result of the position detection part 91, and based on the value (short fruit diameter) regarding the magnitude | size of the said strawberry. Since the height position of the strawberry transport device 10 when releasing the adsorption holding of the strawberry is determined, the adsorption holding of the strawberry is performed in a state where the distance between the surface on which the strawberry is placed and the strawberry is adjusted so as not to damage the strawberry. It can be canceled. Thereby, damage to strawberries can be suppressed.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, the control part 99 cross | intersects the direction which conveys a strawberry to the strawberry conveyance position of shipping pack 52A-52D to a column direction (X-axis direction) and a row direction (Y-axis direction), and shipping pack Since it is set as the direction which does not interfere with the strawberry already arranged by 52A-52D, the damage of the strawberry by the contact with another strawberry at the time of conveying a strawberry to the shipping packs 52A-52D can be suppressed.

  In the present embodiment, the control unit 99 is configured such that the strawberry state cannot be calculated from the image acquired by the machine vision 62 (for example, the strawberry stands upright with the strawberry portion down). In this case, the state is canceled by the contact of the end effector 20, so that the direction of the strawberry can be calculated reliably.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, since the end effector 20 approaches from the upper part with respect to the strawberry of the adsorption | suction object in the harvest box 70 or the relay conveyor 40, it is not necessary to consider interference with another strawberry and the end effector 20. FIG. That is, it is not necessary to align the strawberries in the harvest box 70 with a predetermined interval. Moreover, according to this embodiment, since the operation | work which takes out the strawberry from the harvest box 70, and the carrying-in operation | work to the shipping packs 52A-52D can be performed with one apparatus (strawberry transport apparatus 10), the apparatus of multiple generations can be used. Cost reduction can be achieved compared with the case where it is required.

  In the above embodiment, the relay conveyor 40 as the placement unit, the harvesting box conveyor 60 as the first container placement unit, and the shipping pack conveyors 50A to 50D as the second container placement unit are respectively belts. Although the case where it is a conveyor was demonstrated, it is not restricted to this. For example, a simple mounting table may be employed instead of each conveyor. In addition to the belt conveyor, other devices such as a roller conveyor may be employed.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where an equal class was discriminate | determined from the image of the strawberry on the relay conveyor 40, it is not restricted to this. For example, when the strawberry accommodated in the harvest box 70 has already been sorted according to equal classes, the equal class determination may be omitted.

  In addition, in the said embodiment, the case where the conveyance to the relay conveyor 40 of the strawberry in the harvesting box 70 was repeated until the image of the strawberry on the relay conveyor 40 was acquired in step S22 of FIG. 6 was demonstrated. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the control unit 99 may wait until a strawberry image can be acquired. In this case, a plurality of strawberries are not placed on the relay conveyor 40 as shown in FIG. 7, and only one strawberry is placed on the relay conveyor 40.

  In addition, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where a fruit was a strawberry, it is not restricted to this. The fruits may be soft fruits other than strawberries, such as loquat and figs.

  The above-described embodiment is an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

10 Strawberry transport device (strawberry transport mechanism)
22 adsorption pipe 24 holding part 40 relay conveyor (mounting part, belt conveyor)
50A-50D Shipping Pack Conveyor (Second Container Placement Unit)
52A-52D shipping pack (second container)
60 Conveyor for harvesting box (first container placement part)
62 Machine vision (image acquisition unit)
70 Harvest box (first container)
82 Photoelectric sensor (detector)
90 moving part 91 position detecting part (height position detecting part)
94 Negative Pressure Generating Mechanism 99 Control Unit

Claims (7)

A first container placement section on which a first container in which fruits are randomly stored is placed;
A second container placement section on which a second container for accommodating the fruits in an aligned state is placed;
A placement portion that is placed at a position different from the first container placement portion and the second container placement portion, and on which the fruit can be placed;
A fruit transport mechanism capable of adsorbing and holding the fruit, and transporting the fruit between the first container, the second container, and the placement unit;
An image acquisition unit for acquiring an image of the fruit housed in the first container and an image of the fruit placed on the placement unit;
Based on the image of the fruit accommodated in the first container acquired by the image acquisition unit, the adsorption position of the fruit is detected, and the fruit transport mechanism is caused to adsorb and hold the fruit accommodated in the first container. In addition, based on the first process of placing the fruit once on the placement unit and the image of the fruit placed on the placement unit acquired by the image acquisition unit, the orientation and suction position of the fruit The fruit transport mechanism causes the fruit placed on the placement unit to be sucked and held at the suction position and transports the fruit to the second container based on the direction of the fruit. A control unit that executes two processes;
A fruit container filling device. The placement unit has a moving mechanism for moving the fruit placed on the placement unit to a position different from the position at which the fruit was placed first,
The fruit container packing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image acquisition unit acquires an image of a fruit that has moved to the different position. The moving mechanism is a belt conveyor,
The fruit container packing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a cushioning material is provided on a placement surface on which the fruit of the belt conveyor is placed. The fruit transport mechanism is:
A cylindrical adsorption tube;
A holding portion for holding the adsorption tube in a vertically movable state;
In a state where the lower end of the adsorption tube and the fruit are in contact with each other, a negative pressure generating mechanism that makes the inside of the adsorption tube a negative pressure,
A detection unit that detects that the adsorption pipe is positioned at a predetermined position above the lowest end of the range in which the adsorption tube moves up and down with respect to the holding unit;
A moving unit that moves the holding unit that holds the adsorption tube,
When the controller detects that the adsorption tube is located at the predetermined position, the control unit causes the lower end of the adsorption tube to approach and contact the fruit adsorption position via the moving unit, The suction holding operation by the fruit transport mechanism is performed by stopping the operation by the moving unit and starting the operation by the negative pressure generating mechanism. Fruit containering equipment. A height position detection unit for detecting a height position of the lower end of the adsorption pipe when the fruit conveyance mechanism adsorbs and holds the fruit;
The control unit calculates a value related to the size of the fruit based on the detection result of the height position detection unit, and releases the adsorption holding of the fruit based on the value related to the size of the fruit. The fruit container packing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a height position of the fruit transport mechanism is determined. In the second container, the fruits are arranged in order along a column direction and a row direction perpendicular to the column direction,
The control unit crosses the column direction and the row direction in a direction in which the fruit is transported to a predetermined transport position of the second container, and does not interfere with the fruit already arranged in the second container. The fruit container filling device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: When the direction of the fruit cannot be calculated from the image acquired by the image acquisition unit, the control unit contacts the fruit transport mechanism with the fruit whose direction cannot be calculated, and after the contact, the image acquisition unit The fruit container stuffing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a direction of the fruit is calculated from an acquired image.

Images