JP2013086914A - Robot sorting system, robot device and method of manufacturing sorted article - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve reliability while reducing a labor burden of a worker.SOLUTION: This robot sorting system 1 includes a carrying-in side cargo 9, carrying-out side cargoes 10A-10F, a robot 11 having an arm 24, a sucking pad 25, a laser sensor 26 and a vision sensor 27, and a robot controller 14. Distance information up to respective upper surfaces of a plurality of cargoes 4 placed on the carrying-in side cargo 9 is acquired by the laser sensor 26, the cargo 4 whose upper surface exists in the highest position is specified, external shape information on the specified specific cargo 4 is acquired by the vision sensor 27, destination information on the specific cargo 4 is acquired, a shape and the size of the specific cargo 4 are calculated, a specific destination area corresponding to the specific cargo 4 is determined, and operation of the robot 11 is controlled so as to stow the specific cargo 4 in the specific carrying-out side cargo 10 corresponding to the specific destination area while lifting the specific cargo by the sucking pad 25.

Description

  Embodiments disclosed herein relate to a robot sorting system, a robot apparatus, and a method for manufacturing sorted articles applied to a logistics facility such as a truck terminal of a courier service provider or a fulfillment center (delivery center) of a mail order service provider. .

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technique related to a sorting storage system. In this prior art, the articles stored in the pallet automatic warehouse in units of placement units (pallets) are transported to a picking area by a tracked carriage, picked up for each sorting destination (delivery destination) in this picking area, and stored Store in the device for each sorting destination. When the truck arrives, the articles are continuously delivered from the article storage device by a conveyor and loaded onto the truck. As a result, the articles are sorted in advance for each sorting destination, stored in the article storage device, and can be shipped continuously as the truck arrives.

JP 2005-306497 A

  When performing sorting work of articles as in the above-described conventional technique, it is necessary to pick up and lift a plurality of articles placed on the placement unit one by one by hand and sort according to the sorting destination. is there. Such work is accompanied by a great physical burden and fatigue, and there is a risk of sorting the articles to the wrong sorting destination.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a robot sorting system, a robot apparatus, and a method for manufacturing sorted articles that can improve the reliability while reducing the labor burden on the operator. And

  In order to solve the above problems, according to one aspect of the present invention, a first placement unit on which a plurality of articles to be sorted are placed, and a plurality of second placement units provided for each sorting destination. And a robot device that transfers the plurality of articles placed on the first placement unit to the plurality of second placement units while sorting according to the sorting destination. The robot apparatus includes a robot arm, a tool provided on the robot arm and capable of lifting the article, and a plurality of articles provided on the robot arm and placed on the first placement unit. Based on the first sensor that acquires distance information to the top surface and the acquisition result of the first sensor, the top surface is at the highest position among the plurality of articles placed on the first placement unit. Article features that identify existing goods Means and a robot arm, wherein the external information of the specific article specified by the article specifying means is acquired, and at the same time, the sorting destination information of the specific article provided in the specific article is acquired. A sensor, calculation means for calculating the shape and size of the specific article based on the outer shape information of the specific article acquired by the second sensor, and the specific article acquired by the second sensor. Based on the sorting destination information, a sorting destination determination unit that determines a specific sorting destination corresponding to the particular item, and the specific item according to the shape and size of the specific item calculated by the calculation unit The robot arm and the robot arm so as to be stacked on a specific second mounting portion corresponding to the specific sorting destination among the plurality of second mounting portions while being lifted by the tool And operation control means for controlling the operation of the serial tools, robots sorting system having applied.

  According to the robot sorting system, the robot apparatus, and the sorted article manufacturing method of the present invention, it is possible to improve reliability while reducing the labor burden on the operator.

1 is a system configuration diagram conceptually showing an overall configuration of a robot sorting system according to an embodiment. It is a perspective view showing a load typically. It is a top view which represents the inside of a sorting space typically. It is a perspective view showing a cargo typically. It is a side view which represents typically the structure of a robot. It is a perspective view showing the tip of an arm typically. It is a perspective view showing typically an example of the loading pattern memorize | stored in the memory | storage device of PC. It is explanatory drawing explaining an example of the outline | summary of operation | movement of a robot. It is explanatory drawing explaining an example of the outline | summary of operation | movement of a robot. It is explanatory drawing explaining an example of the outline | summary of operation | movement of a robot. It is explanatory drawing explaining an example of the outline | summary of operation | movement of a robot. It is a flowchart showing an example of the control content which a robot controller performs. FIG. 10 is a perspective view schematically showing the carry-in side cargo in a modified example in which a sensor is provided in the upper part of the carry-in side cargo and a height direction dimension of the load is estimated. It is explanatory drawing explaining an example of the outline | summary of operation | movement of a robot. It is explanatory drawing explaining an example of the outline | summary of operation | movement of a robot. It is a flowchart showing an example of the control content which a robot controller performs. It is a system block diagram which represents notionally the whole structure of the robot sorting system in the modification which sorts in series in a some sorting space. It is a top view which represents typically the inside of each sorting space. It is a flowchart showing an example of the control content which PLC performs. It is a system block diagram which represents notionally the whole structure of the robot sorting system in the modification which sorts in series in a some sorting space. It is a top view which represents typically the inside of each sorting space. It is a system configuration | structure figure which represents notionally the whole structure of the robot sorting system in the modification which sorts in parallel in a some sorting space. It is a top view which represents typically the inside of each sorting space.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. This embodiment is an example in which the robot sorting system is applied to a truck terminal of a courier company. In this embodiment, the truck terminal has one sorting space in which a robot for sorting is arranged as existing equipment, and a destination that is a sorting destination of a plurality of sorted articles belongs to the truck terminal. This is an example in which the six areas of "A area" "B area" "C area" "D area" "E area" "F area" are shown.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a robot sorting system 1 according to this embodiment is provided at a truck terminal 2 of a courier service provider. The truck terminal 2 receives a plurality of box-shaped packages 4 (articles), which are carried by the carry-in truck 3 and are designated as destinations (corresponding to sortees), to an area to which the destinations belong (hereinafter referred to as appropriate). Are simply referred to as “destination area”) and are classified into “A area”, “B area”, “C area”, “D area”, “E area”, and “F area”. It is a distribution facility for transferring the goods to the unloading truck 5 as the sorted luggage 4 to each. The sorted package 4 corresponds to the sorted article described in the claims. The truck terminal 2 is provided with a carry-in side berth 6 for receiving a plurality of packages 4 carried by the carry-in side track 3 and a carry-out side berth 7 for sending the sorted packages 4 to the carry-out side track 5. ing.

  The plurality of packages 4 carried in by the carry-in truck 3 are mixed with packages 4 having different outer dimensions (that is, dimensions of a box 4a described later). As shown in FIG. 2, each parcel 4 is composed of a box 4a (for example, a cardboard box) that constitutes an outer shell, and a delivery object 4b accommodated inside the box 4a. On the upper surface of the box 4a of each package 4, the destination information (equivalent to the sorting destination information) including information such as the address of the destination, the length direction dimension information, the width direction dimension information, and the height of the box 4a A bar code 8 in which dimension information of the box 4a including direction dimension information and the like is recorded (associated) is provided. Hereinafter, the upper surface of the box 4a of the luggage 4 will be simply referred to as “the upper surface of the luggage 4”.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the robot sorting system 1 includes a carry-in side cargo 9 (first placement unit) and carry-out side cargoes 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D, 10E, and 10F (second placement unit). Hereinafter, when these are indicated without distinction, they are referred to as “unloading side cargo 10”), a sorting space SS, a loading side cargo transport cart 17 (first transport cart), and an unloading side cargo transport cart 18 ( It has a 2nd conveyance trolley | bogie, PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) 16, and PC (Personal Computer) 15.

  The PLC 16 has a storage device (not shown) such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a flash memory. The PLC 16 is connected to a user interface 50 such as a keyboard and a mouse that can input operation information by an operator's manual operation. In the storage device of the PLC 16, as sorting parameter information regarding the package 4, information on the quantity of the package 4 and quantity information of the package 4 for each destination area (for example, “A section”: 200 pieces, “B section”: 100, “B section”: 300 pieces, etc.) are stored. Instead of the quantity information of the luggage 4 for each destination area, the quantity ratio information of the luggage 4 for each destination area (for example, “A area”: “B area”: “C area”:... = 2: 1: 3:...)) May be stored.

  The carry-in side cargo 9 and the carry-out side cargoes 10A to 10F have the same structure, and as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), the side walls 29, 30, the back wall 31, and the luggage 4 are attached. A lower shelf 19 (first placement surface portion) for placement and a flip-up type upper shelf 20 (second placement surface portion) provided above the lower shelf 19 for placing the luggage 4 are respectively provided. Have. Casters 21 are respectively attached to the four corners of the lower surface of the lower shelf 19, and the carry-in side cargo 9 and the carry-out side cargoes 10A to 10F are configured to be movable.

  On the lower shelf 19 and the upper shelf 20 of the loading-side cargo 9, a plurality of loads 4 loaded by the loading-side truck 3 are loaded in a plurality of stages so that the upper surface side on which the bar code 8 is provided faces upward. Placed (stacked).

  The carry-out side cargoes 10A to 10F are provided for each destination area, and sort parameter information (the quantity information of the luggage 4 and the luggage 4 for each destination area stored in the storage device of the PLC 16). On the basis of the quantity information), each of “A area”, “B area”, “C area”, “D area”, “E area”, and “F area” is associated with one of these carry-out cargoes 10A to 10F. Yes. In this example, “A section” is a carry-out side cargo 10A, “B area” is a carry-out side cargo 10B, “C area” is a carry-out side cargo 10C, “D area” is a carry-out side cargo 10D, and “E area” is a carry-out side. The side cargo 10E, “F section” is associated with the carry-out side cargo 10F. On the lower shelves 19 and the upper shelves 20 of the carry-out side cargoes 10A to 10F, the sorted luggage 4 to the corresponding destination area is placed (stacked) in a plurality of stages.

  Returning to FIGS. 1 and 3, the sorting space SS is provided with a robot 11 having an arm 24 (robot arm), a temporary placing table 12 (third mounting portion), a conveyor 13, and a robot controller 14. Has been. The robot 11 and the robot controller 14 are connected so that they can communicate with each other, and the robot controller 14, the PLC 16, and the PC 15 are connected so that they can communicate with each other. In FIG. 3, the robot controller 14 is not shown in order to prevent the illustration from being complicated. The robot 11, the robot controller 14, and the PC 15 correspond to the robot apparatus described in the claims. Around the robot 11 in the sorting space SS, a loading-side cargo installation area 22 (first installation area) for installing the loading-side cargo 9 received from the loading-side berth 6 and a predetermined area are received. Unloading-side cargo installation areas 23A, 23B, 23C, 23D, 23E, and 23F (second installation areas) for installing the unloading-side cargoes 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D, 10E, and 10F are provided. .

  Further, in the sorting space SS, the carry-in side cargo 9 and the carry-out side cargoes 10A to 10F are arranged in a radial direction on a substantially circumference centered on the base end portion of the arm 24 of the robot 11, in other words. The front surface (the surface facing the back wall 31) is disposed so as to face the base end side of the arm 24. Further, in the present embodiment, the destination area (the first quantity ratio of the luggage 4 is relatively high) detected based on the sorting parameter information stored in the storage device of the PLC 16 is relatively large (the quantity ratio of the luggage 4 is relatively high). The unloading-side cargo 10 corresponding to one sorting destination (in this example, the unloading-side cargoes 10A and 10F corresponding to “A section” and “F section”) is the other destination area (the second sorting destination). (In this example, the carry-out side cargos 10B, 10C, 10D, and 10E corresponding to the “B zone”, “C zone”, “D zone”, and “E zone”) It is arranged near. That is, in this example, each of “A area” and “F area” corresponds to the first sorting destination described in the claims, and other “B area”, “C area”, “D area”, and “E”. Each of the “areas” corresponds to a second sorting destination.

  The robot 11 transfers the plurality of packages 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9 installed in the carry-in side cargo installation area 22 to “A area”, “B area”, “C area”, “D” according to the destination area. While sorting into “zone”, “E zone”, and “F zone”, they are transferred to the carry-out side cargo 10A to 10F installed in the carry-out side cargo installation regions 23A to 23F, respectively. That is, the robot 11 transfers the plurality of packages 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9 to the sorted packages 4 to the “A zone”, the sorted packages 4 to the “B zone”, and the “C zone”. Sorted into 4 categories, 4 sorts to “D zone”, 4 sorts to “E zone”, and 4 sorts to “F zone”. Transship to the unloaded cargo 10

  Specifically, the robot 11 determines that, among the plurality of packages 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9, the package 4 whose destination is in the “A area” is sorted into the “A area”. , Transfer to the carry-out side cargo 10A corresponding to “A section”. The packages 4 whose destinations belong to the “B zone” are transferred to the delivery-side cargo 10B corresponding to the “B zone” as the sorted packages 4 to the “B zone”. The cargo 4 whose destination is in the “C zone” is transferred to the carry-out side cargo 10C corresponding to the “C zone” as the sorted baggage 4 to the “C zone”. The cargo 4 whose destination is in the “D zone” is transferred to the delivery-side cargo 10D corresponding to the “D zone” as the sorted baggage 4 to the “D zone”. The cargo 4 whose destination is in the “E zone” is transferred to the unloading-side cargo 10E corresponding to the “E zone” as the sorted baggage 4 to the “E zone”. The packages 4 whose destinations belong to the “F zone” are transferred to the unloading-side cargo 10F corresponding to the “F zone” as the sorted packages 4 to the “F zone”.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the robot 11 has the arm 24. At the tip of the arm 24, there are four suction pads 25 (tool) and a bowl-shaped jig 28 (jig). A laser sensor 26 (first sensor) and a vision sensor 27 (second sensor) are provided.

  The arm 24 is composed of a plurality of members, and each member is rotatably attached.

  The suction pad 25 is configured to be able to lift the luggage 4 by vacuum suction by being vacuumed by a vacuum device (not shown).

  The bowl-shaped jig 28 is a jig for raising and lowering the upper shelf 20 of the carry-in side cargo 9 and the carry-out side cargoes 10A to 10F.

  The laser sensor 26 is directed from the upper side to the lower side of the shelf (one of the lower shelf 19 and the upper shelf 20) to be sorted into the carry-in side cargo 9, that is, on the upper surface (top surface) placed on the shelf. Laser light is irradiated toward the upper surface of the uppermost load 4 on which no other load 4 is placed, and the reflected light of the laser light is received, and the upper surfaces of all the uppermost loads 4 are scanned. Thus, the distance information to the upper surface of each of the uppermost packages 4 is acquired.

  The vision sensor 27 senses the upper surface of a specific baggage 4 (the upper surface of the baggage 4 at the highest position, which will be described in detail later) placed on a shelf to be sorted by the carry-in side cargo 9, thereby The external information on the upper surface of the luggage 4 is acquired, and the destination information and the dimension information of the box 4a are acquired from the barcode 8 provided on the upper surface of the specific luggage 4.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the temporary table 12 is a table for temporarily placing (temporarily placing) the luggage 4.

  The conveyor 13 is a conveyor for transporting the package 4 for which the destination information and the dimension information of the box 4a could not be acquired from the barcode 8 by the vision sensor 27 (the barcode 8 could not be read) to a predetermined place. The luggage 4 transported to a predetermined place by the conveyor 13 is checked for destination by an operator, for example, and then sorted. In addition, the conveyance surface (mounting part of the luggage | load 4) of the conveyor 13 is corresponded to the 4th mounting part as described in a claim.

  Further, when sorting is performed by the robot 11 in the sorting space SS, based on the control of the PLC 16, the loading-side cargo 9 on the loading-side berth 6 on which the plurality of loads 4 are placed, While being pulled by the carry-in side cargo transport carriage 17, it is transported from the carry-in side berth 6 to the carry-in side cargo installation area 22 and installed. At the same time, the (empty) carry-in cargoes 10A to 10F disposed in the predetermined area are pulled by the carry-out side cargo transport carriage 18 from the predetermined area to the carry-out side cargo installation areas 23A to 23A. Each is transported to 23F and installed. Then, when the sorting is completed, the (empty) loading-side cargo 9 installed in the loading-side cargo installation area 22 is pulled by the loading-side cargo transport carriage 17 while being pulled. It is conveyed from the carry-in side cargo installation area 22 to a predetermined area. At the same time, the carry-in cargoes 10A to 10F, which are installed in the carry-out side cargo installation areas 23A to 23F and on which the sorted packages 4 to the corresponding destination areas are placed, are carried out for the carry-out side cargo. While being pulled by the carriage 18, it is conveyed from the carry-out side cargo installation areas 23 </ b> A to 23 </ b> F to the carry-out side berth 7.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the robot controller 14 controls the operation of the robot 11 (arm 24, suction pad 25, laser sensor 26, vision sensor 27, etc.) (details will be described later).

  The PC 15 has a storage device (pattern storage means) (not shown) that stores a plurality of types of loading patterns of the luggage 4 on a shelf (one of the lower shelf 19 and the upper shelf 20) to be loaded on the carry-out side cargo 10. doing. A plurality of types of stacking patterns stored in the storage device of the PC 15 are preliminarily set in accordance with the priority index (in this example, “1”, “2”, “3” according to the mounting efficiency, the stability of the mounting state, etc. ... Are given, and the lower the value, the higher the priority). FIGS. 7A and 7B show examples of stacking patterns stored in the storage device of the PC 15. The stacking pattern shown in FIG. 7 (a) is a pattern having a relatively high priority index, and a plurality of loads 4 are stacked almost without any gaps, and the mounting efficiency and the stability of the mounting state are relatively low. It is high. The stacking pattern shown in FIG. 7 (b) is a pattern having a lower priority index than the stacking pattern shown in FIG. 7 (a), and some gaps are formed between the plurality of loaded packages 4. The mounting efficiency and the stability of the mounting state are lower than the stacking pattern shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, an example of an outline of the operation of the robot 11 based on the control of the robot controller 14 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 11.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the robot 11 operates the arm 24 to move the laser sensor 26 above the shelf to be sorted into the carry-in side cargo 9. Thereafter, the laser sensor 26 emits laser light toward the upper surface of the uppermost package 4 placed on the shelf, receives the reflected light of the laser beam, and transmits all of the uppermost package 4. By scanning the upper surface, distance information to the upper surface of each of the uppermost packages 4 is acquired. The acquisition result of the laser sensor 26, that is, the distance information to the upper surface of each of the uppermost packages 4 is output to the robot controller 14. As a result, among the plurality of packages 4 placed on the shelves to be sorted by the carry-in side cargo 9, the package 4 existing at the highest position on the upper surface is specified.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 9, the robot 11 operates the arm 24 to move the vision sensor 27 above the specified specific luggage 4. Thereafter, the vision sensor 27 senses the upper surface of the specific baggage 4 to obtain the outer shape information of the upper surface of the specific baggage 4 and the above destination from the barcode 8 provided on the upper surface of the specific baggage 4. Information and dimensional information of the box 4a are obtained. In the following, a case will be described as an example where the destination information and the dimension information of the box 4a can be acquired from the barcode 8 by the vision sensor 27 (the barcode 8 can be read). That is, when the destination information and the dimension information of the box 4a can be acquired from the barcode 8 by the vision sensor 27 in the above, the acquisition result of the vision sensor 27, that is, the outer shape information of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4 and the specific information The destination information of the luggage 4 and the dimension information of the box 4a are output to the robot controller 14. As a result, the shape and size of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4 (length dimension and width dimension) are calculated, and the height dimension of the box 4a of the specific luggage 4 (hereinafter referred to as the box of the luggage 4 as appropriate). The height direction dimension of 4a is simply referred to as “the height direction dimension of the load 4”), and a specific destination area corresponding to the specific load 4 is determined, and the carry-out side cargo 10A to 10F is specified. The loading position of the specific luggage 4 on the shelf to be loaded with the specific cargo-side cargo 10 corresponding to the destination area is determined.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 10, the robot 11 operates the arm 24 and the suction pad 25, and moves the suction pad 25 to the lifting position determined based on the calculated shape and size of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4. 11, the specific load 4 is lifted by the suction pad 25, and the lifted specific load 4 is a shelf (example shown in FIG. 11) to be loaded with the specific carry-out side cargo 10 as shown in FIG. 11. Then, it is loaded into the determined loading position of the lower shelf 19) to make the sorted luggage 4. By repeatedly executing the procedure as described above, the plurality of packages 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9 are transferred to “A area”, “B area”, “C area”, “D area”, “D” according to the destination area. While sorting into “E zone” and “F zone”, the cargoes 10A to 10F are transferred to the carry-out side cargoes, and the sorted packages 4 to “A zone” to “F zone” are obtained.

  Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 12, an example of control contents according to the manufacturing method of the sorted package 4 executed by the robot controller 14 based on the control of the PLC 16 in the present embodiment will be described.

  In FIG. 12, the processing shown in this flow is started by performing a predetermined start operation (for example, powering on the robot controller 14). First, in step S <b> 10, the robot controller 14 outputs a control signal to the robot 11, and operates the arm 24 so that the laser sensor 26 is moved above the shelf to be sorted in the carry-in side cargo 9.

  In step S20, the robot controller 14 outputs a control signal to the robot 11, operates the laser sensor 26 as described above, and passes the laser sensor 26 to the shelf to be sorted into the carry-in side cargo 9. The distance information to the upper surface of each of the uppermost loaded packages 4 is acquired. The procedure of step S20 corresponds to the first acquisition procedure described in the claims.

  Thereafter, in step S30, the robot controller 14 determines the shelf to be sorted into the carry-in side cargo 9 based on the distance information to the upper surface of each of the uppermost packages 4 acquired through the laser sensor 26 in step S20. Among the plurality of packages 4 placed on the top, the package 4 present at the highest position on the upper surface is specified. The procedure of step S30 functions as the article specifying means described in the claims and corresponds to the article specifying procedure.

  In step S40, the robot controller 14 outputs a control signal to the robot 11 and operates the arm 24 so that the vision sensor 27 is moved above the specific luggage 4 specified in step S30.

  Thereafter, in step S50, the robot controller 14 outputs a control signal to the robot 11, operates the vision sensor 27 as described above, and includes the position information of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4 via the vision sensor 27. The external shape information is acquired, and the destination information and the dimension information of the box 4a are acquired from the barcode 8 provided on the upper surface of the specific luggage 4. The procedure of step S50 corresponds to the second acquisition procedure described in the claims.

  Then, the process proceeds to step S60, and the robot controller 14 includes a shape including the position of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4 based on the outer shape information of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4 acquired via the vision sensor 27 in the step S50. And calculate the size. The procedure of step S60 functions as a calculation unit described in the claims and corresponds to a calculation procedure.

  Thereafter, in step S70, the robot controller 14 determines whether the destination information and the dimension information of the box 4a have been acquired via the vision sensor 27 in step S50. The procedure of step S70 functions as an acquisition determination unit described in the claims. If the destination information and the dimension information of the box 4a have not been acquired (the barcode 8 has not been read), the determination at step S70 is not satisfied, and the routine goes to step S80.

  In step S80, the robot controller 14 outputs a control signal to the robot 11, and moves the suction pad 25 to the lifting position determined based on the shape and size of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4 calculated in step S60. The arm 24 and the suction pad 25 are operated so that the specific load 4 is lifted by the suction pad 25 and the lifted specific load 4 is placed on the transport surface of the conveyor 13. Then, it returns to said step S10 and repeats the same procedure. The specific luggage 4 placed on the conveyor surface of the conveyor 13 is conveyed to a predetermined place by the conveyor 13.

  On the other hand, in step S70, when the destination information and the dimension information of the box 4a can be acquired via the vision sensor 27 in step S50 (bar code 8 has been read), the determination in step S70 is satisfied. Then, the process proceeds to step S90.

  In step S90, the robot controller 14 determines a specific destination area corresponding to the specific luggage 4 based on the destination information of the specific luggage 4 acquired via the vision sensor 27 in step S50. . The procedure of step S90 functions as a sorting destination determination unit described in the claims and corresponds to a sorting destination determination procedure.

  Then, the process proceeds to step S100, and the robot controller 14 determines the height direction dimension of the specific luggage 4 based on the dimension information of the box 4a of the specific luggage 4 acquired through the vision sensor 27 in step S50. decide. The procedure of step S100 functions as a height determination unit described in the claims.

  Thereafter, in step S110, the robot controller 14 accesses the storage device of the PC 15, and as the loading pattern of the luggage 4 in the specific cargo-side cargo 10 corresponding to the specific destination area determined in step S90, Of the plural types of stacking patterns stored in the storage device, the stacking pattern having the highest priority index is selected and acquired. However, in step S150 described later, if the priority index of the loading pattern selected for the specific cargo-side cargo 10 in step S110 is set to be lowered, this corresponds to the set priority index. Select and obtain a stacking pattern. In step S150, which will be described later, since the priority index of the loading pattern to be selected for the specific carry-out side cargo 10 is set to be lowered one by one, in this step S110, the robot controller 14 substantially A plurality of types of stacking patterns stored in the storage device of the PC 15 are selected and acquired in descending order of priority index. The procedure of step S110 functions as a pattern selection unit described in the claims.

  Then, moving to step S120, the robot controller 14 determines the shape and size of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4 calculated in step S60, the height dimension of the specific luggage 4 determined in step S100, which will be described later. Specific baggage 4 at the present time based on the loading status of the load 4 on the shelf to be loaded of the specific carry-out side cargo 10 stored in step S180 and the loading pattern acquired in step S110. It is determined whether or not to be placed on a shelf to be loaded on the specific cargo-side cargo 10. If the specific baggage 4 is placed on the shelf to be loaded with the specific carry-out side cargo 10 at the present time, if the placement efficiency on the shelf or the stability of the placement state deteriorates, the specific baggage 4 is removed. Assuming that the specific cargo-side cargo 10 is not placed on the shelf to be stacked, the determination in Step S120 is not satisfied, and the routine goes to Step S130. The procedure of step S120 functions as a placement determination unit described in the claims.

  In step S130, the robot controller 14 determines the shape and size of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4 calculated in step S60, the height dimension of the specific luggage 4 determined in step S100, and Based on the placement status of the luggage 4 on the temporary placement table 12 stored in step S180, it is determined whether or not there is a space for placing the specific luggage 4 on the temporary placement table 12. If there is a space for placing the specific luggage 4 on the temporary table 12, the determination in step S130 is satisfied, and the process proceeds to step S140.

  In step S140, the robot controller 14 outputs a control signal to the robot 11, and moves the suction pad 25 to the lifting position determined based on the shape and size of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4 calculated in step S60. Then, the specific load 4 is lifted by the suction pad 25, and the arm 24 and the suction pad 25 are operated so that the lifted specific load 4 is placed on the temporary table 12. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S180 described later.

  On the other hand, if there is no space for placing the specific luggage 4 on the temporary placement table 12 in step S130, the determination in step S130 is not satisfied, and the process proceeds to step S150.

  In step S150, the robot controller 14 sets the priority index of the stacking pattern selected for the specific carry-out side cargo 10 in step S110 to be one lower than the current time. Then, it returns to said step S110 and repeats the same procedure.

  On the other hand, even if the specific baggage 4 is placed on the shelf to be loaded with the specific carry-out side cargo 10 at the present time in step S120, the placement efficiency and the stability of the placement state on the shelf are not deteriorated. In such a case, it is considered that the specific luggage 4 is placed on the shelf to be stacked on the specific carry-out side cargo 10, the determination in step S120 is satisfied, and the process proceeds to step S160.

  In step S160, the robot controller 14 determines the shape and size of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4 calculated in step S60, the height dimension of the specific luggage 4 determined in step S100, and step S180 described later. The specific loading-side cargo 10 is loaded on the basis of the loading status of the load 4 on the shelf to be loaded with the specific loading-side cargo 10 stored in step S110 and the loading pattern acquired in step S110. The loading position of the specific luggage 4 on the target shelf is determined. The procedure of step S160 functions as position determining means described in the claims.

  Thereafter, in step S170, the robot controller 14 outputs a control signal to the robot 11, and moves the suction pad 25 to the lifting position determined based on the shape and size of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4 calculated in step S60. The specific baggage 4 is lifted by the suction pad 25, and the lifted specific baggage 4 is moved to the loading position determined in step S160 of the shelf to be loaded with the specific carry-out side cargo 10. The arm 24 and the suction pad 25 are operated so as to be stacked.

  Then, the process proceeds to step S180, where the robot controller 14 loads, for example, in a memory (not shown), the load status of the load 4 (loading position, shape, size, height direction size, direction of the load 4 in the carry-out side cargoes 10A to 10F). Information on the land area, etc.) and the loading status of the luggage 4 on the temporary table 12 (information on the loading position, shape, size, height direction dimension, destination area, etc. of the luggage 4).

  Thereafter, in step S190, the robot controller 14 has the load 4 placed on the temporary table 12 and the load 4 that can be placed on the shelf to be loaded on the carry-out side cargo 10 corresponding to the destination area. Determine whether to do. If there is no load 4 that can be placed on the shelf to be loaded on the carry-out side cargo 10 corresponding to the destination area, the determination in step S190 is not satisfied, and the procedure returns to step S10 and the same procedure is performed. repeat. On the other hand, if there is a load 4 that can be placed on the shelf to be loaded on the carry-out side cargo 10 corresponding to the destination area, the determination in step S190 is satisfied, and the routine proceeds to step S200.

  In step S200, the robot controller 14 outputs a control signal to the robot 11, and the loading target cargo 10 corresponding to the destination area in step S190 placed on the temporary placement table 12 by the suction pad 25 is selected. The load 24 determined to be placed on the shelf to be lifted is lifted, and the arm 24 and the suction are placed so that the lifted load 4 is placed on the shelf to be loaded on the carry-out side cargo 10 corresponding to the destination area. The pad 25 is operated. Then, it returns to said step S180 and repeats the same procedure.

  Note that the processing shown in this flow ends when a predetermined end operation (for example, powering off the robot controller 14) is performed. By executing the processing shown in this flow, the plurality of packages 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9 are moved to “A area”, “B area”, “C area”, “D area”, “E” according to the destination area. While sorting into “area” and “F area”, the cargoes 10A to 10F are transferred to the carry-out side cargoes, so that the sorted packages 4 to “A area” to “F area” are obtained.

  In the process shown in the flow of FIG. 12 described above, the procedures of step S80, step S140, and step S170 function as operation control means described in the claims and correspond to a loading procedure.

  As described above, in the robot sorting system 1 according to the present embodiment, the distance information to the upper surface of each of the uppermost packages 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9 is acquired via the laser sensor 26. Based on the acquisition result, among the plurality of packages 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9, the package 4 existing at the highest position on the upper surface is specified. Thereafter, the external information of the specified specific luggage 4 is acquired via the vision sensor 27, and the destination information of the specific luggage 4 provided in the specific luggage 4 is acquired. The shape and size of the specific luggage 4 are calculated based on the outline information of the specific luggage 4 acquired via the vision sensor 27, and the destination information of the specific luggage 4 is obtained via the vision sensor 27. Can be acquired, a specific destination area corresponding to the specific package 4 is determined based on the acquired destination information of the specific package 4. Thereafter, according to the calculated shape and size of the specific luggage 4, the specific luggage 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9 is lifted by the suction pad 25, and a specific area corresponding to the specific destination area is selected. It is stacked on the carry-out side cargo 10. By repeatedly executing the procedure as described above, the plurality of loads 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9 are transferred to the carry-out side cargoes 10A to 10F while being sorted according to the destination area. The classified cargo 4 to the destination area is set, and the (empty) carry-out cargoes 10A to 10F are set to the carry-out cargo 10A to 10F on which the sorted cargo 4 to the corresponding destination area is placed. The

  As described above, in this embodiment, since the sorting work is automatically performed by the robot 11, the labor burden on the worker can be reduced as compared with the case where the sorting work is performed manually by the worker. Further, by acquiring the destination information of the luggage 4 from the barcode 8 provided on the upper surface of the luggage 4 via the vision sensor 27, the destination area corresponding to the luggage 4 can be accurately determined. Become. As a result, it is possible to prevent the luggage 4 from being sorted into an erroneous destination area, and the reliability can be improved.

  In addition, when sorting work is performed manually by an operator, one worker cannot be operated for a long time due to the physical burden and fatigue of the operator, and multiple workers are prepared. Therefore, it is necessary to perform work alternately or to interrupt the work. On the other hand, in this embodiment, since the sorting operation can be automated, the operation can be performed smoothly and continuously without considering the above problems, and the work efficiency can be improved. .

  Further, in the present embodiment, in particular, the storage device of the PC 15 stores the loading pattern of the luggage 4 on the carry-out side cargo 10, and the calculated shape and size of the specific luggage 4, the specific identification The loading position of the specific load 4 on the specific discharge-side cargo 10 is determined based on the loading status of the load 4 in the unloading-side cargo 10 and the loading pattern stored in the storage device of the PC 15. . Then, the specific luggage 4 lifted by the suction pad 25 as described above is loaded at the determined loading position. At this time, the loading-side cargo 10 can be obtained by storing in the storage device of the PC 15 a stacking pattern having high mounting efficiency (a large number of mountings can be performed) and high stability of the mounting state (less likely to collapse). An efficient and stable loading position of the load 4 can be determined, and the sorting operation can be performed efficiently and stably.

  In the present embodiment, particularly, when it is determined that the specific luggage 4 is not placed on the specific carry-out side cargo 10, the specific luggage 4 is placed on the temporary placement table 12 and is taken out. The loading to the side cargo 10 is postponed. Thereby, it becomes possible to prevent the mounting efficiency and the stability of the mounting state in the carry-out side cargo 10 from deteriorating. In addition, it is possible to reliably guide the loading pattern of the load 4 placed on the carry-out side cargo 10 to the loading pattern stored in the storage device of the PC 15, and the sorting operation is performed more efficiently and stably. It becomes possible.

  In the present embodiment, in particular, the storage device of the PC 15 stores a plurality of types of stacking patterns to which priority indexes are assigned in advance, and the plurality of types of stacking patterns are selected in descending order of priority index. Is done. At this time, a plurality of types of stacking patterns with high mounting efficiency (can be mounted in large numbers) and high stability in the mounting state (hard to collapse), high mounting efficiency and stability in the mounting state By assigning a higher priority index to a higher pattern and storing it in the storage device of the PC 15, it is possible to select a plurality of types of stacking patterns in the order of higher mounting efficiency and higher mounting state stability. it can. As a result, when the stacking pattern having the highest priority index is first selected and the sorting operation is performed most efficiently and stably, the luggage 4 cannot be temporarily placed on the temporary placement table 12, and the highest priority index is obtained. Even when it becomes difficult to lead to a high stacking pattern, it is possible to select a stacking pattern with a lower priority index and continue the sorting operation efficiently and stably.

  In the present embodiment, in particular, the above-described loading position is determined based on the height dimension of the load 4 in addition to the shape and size of the upper surface of the load 4. Thereby, the efficient and stable loading position of the luggage | load 4 to the carrying-out side cargo 10 can be determined more correctly.

  In the present embodiment, in particular, the carry-in side cargo 9 and the carry-out side cargoes 10 </ b> A to 10 </ b> F are arranged on a substantially circumference centered on the base end portion of the arm 24 of the robot 11. As a result, the distance between the base end portion of the arm 24 and the carry-in side cargo 9 and each carry-out side cargo 10 becomes substantially uniform, so that the arm 24 moves the suction pad 25 provided mainly at the tip in the circumferential direction. The sorting operation is performed while performing the operation, and the amount of movement of the suction pad 25 in the radial direction can be reduced. As a result, the sorting operation can be performed quickly, and the tact time of the sorting operation can be shortened. Further, by arranging the carry-in side cargo 9 and each carry-out side cargo 10 in a radial direction, the front side of the carry-in side cargo 9 and each carry-out side cargo 10 can be directed to the base end side of the arm 24. The suction pad 25 allows smooth access to the carry-in side cargo 9 and each carry-out side cargo 10.

  In the present embodiment, in particular, the carry-out side cargo 10 corresponding to the destination area where the quantity of the luggage 4 is relatively large (in the above example, the carry-out side cargoes 10A and 10F corresponding to “A area” and “F area”). , The cargo on the carry-in side than the other cargo-side cargoes 10 (in the above example, the carry-out side cargoes 10B, 10C, 10D, and 10E corresponding to “B zone”, “C zone”, “D zone”, and “E zone”). 9 is arranged near. Thereby, the movement amount of the suction pad 25 from the carry-in side cargo 9 to the carry-out side cargo 10 can be reduced as a whole, and the tact time of the sorting work can be shortened.

  In the present embodiment, in particular, the carry-in side cargo 9 and the carry-out side cargoes 10 </ b> A to 10 </ b> F are carried by the carry-in side cargo conveyance carriage 17 and the carry-out side cargo conveyance carriage 18. Thereby, an operator's labor burden can further be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, in particular, when it is determined that the destination information of the specific luggage 4 cannot be acquired via the vision sensor 27, the specific luggage 4 lifted by the suction pad 25 as described above. Is placed on the conveying surface of the conveyor 13. As a result, it is possible to place the luggage 4 whose destination is unknown for which destination information could not be acquired separately from the other luggage 4, and the luggage 4 whose destination is unknown is mixed into the carry-out cargo 10. Can be prevented. As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent the baggage 4 from being sorted into an erroneous destination, and the reliability can be further improved.

  In the present embodiment, in particular, the carry-in side cargo 9 and the carry-out side cargoes 10 </ b> A to 10 </ b> F have a lower shelf 19 and a flip-up type upper shelf 20. By having the carry-in side cargo 9 and the carry-out side cargoes 10A to 10F with such a structure, the luggage 4 can be placed separately in the lower shelf 19 and the upper shelf 20, so that the stability of the placement state is increased. It is possible to prevent the loaded luggage 4 from collapsing. Further, since the robot 11 has the hook-shaped jig 28, the upper shelf 20 can be raised and lowered using the hook-shaped jig 28. Therefore, for example, before the cargo 4 placed on the lower shelf 19 of the carry-in side cargo 9 is transferred, the upper shelf 20 of the carry-in side cargo 9 is flipped up so that the upper shelf 20 is attracted to the arm 24 or the suction. The pad 25 can be kept out of the way. Further, for example, before placing the luggage 4 on the lower shelf 19 of the carry-out side cargo 10, the upper shelf 20 of the carry-out side cargo 10 is flipped up so that the upper shelf 20 can be attached to the arm 24 or the suction pad 25. It can be kept in a state that does not obstruct the operation, and after the loading of the luggage 4 on the lower shelf 19 of the carry-out side cargo 10 is finished, the upper shelf 20 of the carry-out side cargo 10 is lowered to the upper shelf 20. The load 4 can be placed in a state where it can be placed. Therefore, the sorting operation can be performed smoothly.

  The embodiment is not limited to the above contents, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and technical idea of the embodiment. Hereinafter, such modifications will be sequentially described.

(1) When a sensor is provided in the upper part of the carry-in side cargo and the height direction dimension of the load is estimated In the above embodiment, the barcode 4 on the upper surface of the load 4 includes the height direction size information of the box 4a. The example in which the dimension information is recorded and the dimension information of the package 4 is specified by acquiring the dimension information of the box 4a by the vision sensor 27 has been described. However, there is a case where the dimension information of the height direction of the box 4a is not recorded on the barcode 8 on the upper surface of the luggage 4. This modification is an example corresponding to such a case.

  That is, in the present modification, only the above-mentioned destination information is recorded on the bar code 8 (see FIG. 2) provided on the upper surface of each baggage 4, and the dimension information of the box 4a is not recorded.

  In this modification, the robot 11 moves the load 4 lifted by the suction pad 25 along a predetermined movement path when moving the load 4 while lifting the load 4 from the carry-in side cargo 9 by the suction pad 25. 24 operations are controlled. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 13, in this modification, the sensor 32 (3rd sensor) provided with the light projection part 32a and the light-receiving part 32b is provided in the upper part of the carrying-in side cargo 9. As shown in FIG. The light projecting portion 32a of the sensor 32 is provided on the inner surface of the upper portion of the side wall 29 of the carry-in side cargo 9, and projects light so that the optical axis is substantially horizontal and intersects the predetermined movement path. The light receiving part 32b of the sensor 32 is provided on the inner surface side of the upper part of the side wall 30 of the carry-in side cargo 9 so as to face the light projecting part 32a, and receives the light projected from the light projecting part 32a. The light reception result of the light receiving unit 32b is output to the robot controller 14 described above.

  Hereinafter, an example of the outline of the operation of the robot 11 based on the control of the robot controller 14 when moving the cargo 4 from the carry-in side cargo 9 along the predetermined movement path will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15. .

  14 (a), 14 (b) and 15 (a), 15 (b), the robot 11 operates the arm 24 and the suction pad 25 and lifts the specific load 4 by the suction pad 25 as described above. Then, the lifted specific luggage 4 is moved along a predetermined movement route (see solid line arrows in each figure). At this time, since the optical axis of the light from the light projecting unit 32a of the sensor 32 intersects the predetermined movement path, the specific luggage 4 moves so as to intersect the optical axis of the light projecting unit 32a. Therefore, before the specific luggage 4 intersects the optical axis of the light projecting unit 32a, the light from the light projecting unit 32a is received by the light receiving unit 32b (see FIGS. 14A and 14B). After that, while the specific luggage 4 moves so as to intersect the optical axis of the light projecting section 32a, the light from the light projecting section 32a is blocked by the specific luggage 4, so that the light from the light projecting section 32a The light is not received by the light receiving unit 32b (see FIG. 15A). When the specific luggage 4 passes through the optical axis of the light projecting unit 32a, the light from the light projecting unit 32a is received by the light receiving unit 32b (see FIG. 15B).

  In this modification, the posture of the arm 24 corresponding to the position of the specific luggage 4 (the position of the control point of the arm 24) when the robot 11 moves along the predetermined movement path of the specific luggage 4. And the height direction dimension of the specific luggage 4 is estimated based on the light reception result of the light receiving unit 32b. That is, the posture of the arm 24 when the specific load 4 intersects the optical axis of the light projecting unit 32a and the light from the light projecting unit 32a is not received by the light receiving unit 32b, and the specific load 4 is projected. By comparing the posture of the arm 24 when the light from the light projecting part 32a is received by the light receiving part 32b through the optical axis of the part 32a, the height dimension of the specific luggage 4 is estimated. The

  Thereafter, the robot 11 determines, as described above, a specific package 4 that has been moved along a predetermined movement route, as in the above-described embodiment, of a shelf that is to be sorted into the specific carry-out cargo 10 described above. It is set as the sorted luggage 4 by stacking at the stacked position.

  Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 16, an example of control contents according to the manufacturing method of the sorted package 4 executed by the robot controller 14 based on the control of the PLC 16 in the present modification will be described. FIG. 16 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 12 described above, and the same steps as those in FIG. 12 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted or simplified as appropriate.

  In FIG. 16, Steps S10 to S40 are the same as those in FIG. 12 described above. When the arm 24 is operated so as to move the vision sensor 27 above the specific luggage 4 in Step S40, Steps S10 to S40 are performed. The process proceeds to step S50 ′ provided in place of S50.

  In step S50 ′, the robot controller 14 outputs a control signal to the robot 11, operates the vision sensor 27 as described above, and acquires the outline information of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4 via the vision sensor 27. At the same time, the destination information is acquired from the barcode 8 provided on the upper surface of the specific luggage 4. The procedure of step S50 ′ corresponds to the second acquisition procedure described in the claims.

  Subsequent step S60 is substantially the same as FIG. 12 described above, and the shape and size of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4 are calculated.

  Then, the process proceeds to step S70 ′ provided instead of step S70, and the robot controller 14 determines whether or not the destination information can be acquired via the vision sensor 27 in step S50 ′. The procedure of step S70 ′ functions as an acquisition determination unit described in the claims. If the destination information has not been acquired, the determination at step S70 ′ is not satisfied, and the routine goes to step S80.

  Step S80 is substantially the same as that in FIG. 12 described above, and the specific load 4 is lifted by the suction pad 25, and the lifted specific load 4 is placed on the transport surface of the conveyor 13 and the suction. The pad 25 is operated. Then, it returns to above-mentioned step S10 and repeats the same procedure.

  On the other hand, if the destination information has been acquired via the vision sensor 27 in step S50 ′ in step S70 ′, the determination in step S70 ′ is satisfied, and the process proceeds to step S90.

  Step S90 is substantially the same as FIG. 12 described above, and a specific destination area corresponding to the specific luggage 4 is determined.

  Thereafter, in step S95 newly provided, the robot controller 14 outputs a control signal to the robot 11, and the lifting position determined based on the shape and size of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4 calculated in step S60. The suction pad 25 is moved, the specific load 4 is lifted by the suction pad 25, and the arm 24 and the suction pad 25 are operated so that the lifted specific load 4 is moved along a predetermined movement path.

  Then, the process proceeds to step S96 newly provided, and the robot controller 14 corresponds to the position of the specific baggage 4 when the specific baggage 4 is moved along the predetermined movement route in step S95. The posture information of the arm 24 (position information of the control point of the arm 24) and the light reception result of the light receiving unit 32b of the sensor 32 are acquired.

  Thereafter, in step S100 ′ provided in place of step S100, the robot controller 14 obtains the posture information of the arm 24 corresponding to the position of the specific luggage 4 and the light receiving unit of the sensor 32 acquired in step S96. Based on the light reception result of 32b, the posture of the arm 24 when the specific luggage 4 intersects the optical axis of the light projecting unit 32a of the sensor 32 and the light from the light projecting unit 32a is not received by the light receiving unit 32b. By comparing the posture of the arm 24 when the specific baggage 4 passes through the optical axis of the light projecting unit 32a and the light from the light projecting unit 32a is received by the light receiving unit 32b, the specific baggage 4 Estimate the height dimension of. The procedure of step S100 ′ functions as height estimation means described in the claims.

  Subsequent step S110 is substantially the same as FIG. 12 described above, and a plurality of types of stacking patterns stored in the storage device of the PC 15 are selected and acquired in descending order of priority index.

  Then, the process proceeds to step S120 ′ provided in place of step S120, and the robot controller 14 determines the shape and size of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4 calculated in step S60, and the specific shape estimated in step S100 ′. The height direction dimension of the load 4, the loading status of the load 4 on the shelf to be loaded with the specific carry-out cargo 10 stored in step S180, and the loading pattern acquired in step S110 Based on the above, it is determined whether or not the specific load 4 is currently placed on the shelf to be loaded with the specific carry-out cargo 10. The procedure of step S120 ′ functions as the placement determination means described in the claims. If the specific baggage 4 is placed on the shelf to be loaded with the specific carry-out side cargo 10 at the present time, if the placement efficiency on the shelf or the stability of the placement state deteriorates, the specific baggage 4 is removed. Assuming that the specific cargo-side cargo 10 is not placed on the shelf to be stacked, the determination in step S120 ′ is not satisfied, and the routine proceeds to step S130 ′ provided in place of step S130.

  In step S130 ′, the robot controller 14 determines the shape and size of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4 calculated in step S60, the height dimension of the specific luggage 4 estimated in step S100 ′, and Based on the placement status of the luggage 4 on the temporary table 12 stored in the above-described step S180, it is determined whether or not there is a space for placing the specific luggage 4 on the temporary table 12. If there is a space for placing the specific luggage 4 on the temporary table 12, the determination in step S130 'is satisfied, and the process proceeds to step S140' provided in place of step S140.

  In step S140 ′, the robot controller 14 outputs a control signal to the robot 11, and places the specific load 4 moved along the predetermined movement path in step S95 on the temporary table 12. The arm 24 and the suction pad 25 are operated. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S180 described above.

  On the other hand, if there is no space for placing the specific luggage 4 on the temporary placement table 12 in step S130 ′, the determination in step S130 ′ is not satisfied, and the process proceeds to step S150.

  Step S150 is substantially the same as FIG. 12 described above, and the priority index of the loading pattern selected for the specific carry-out side cargo 10 in step S110 is set to be one lower than the current time. Then, it returns to said step S110 and repeats the same procedure.

  On the other hand, even if the specific baggage 4 is placed on the shelf to be loaded with the specific carry-out side cargo 10 at the present time in step S120 ′, the placement efficiency and the stability of the placement state on the shelf deteriorate. If not, it is considered that the specific luggage 4 is placed on the shelf to be loaded on the specific cargo 10 and the determination in step S120 ′ is satisfied, and the process proceeds to step S160 ′ provided in place of step S160. Move.

  In step S160 ′, the robot controller 14 determines the shape and size of the upper surface of the specific luggage 4 calculated in step S60, the height dimension of the specific luggage 4 estimated in step S100 ′, Based on the loading status of the load 4 on the shelf to be loaded with the specific carry-out cargo 10 stored in step S180 and the loading pattern acquired in step S110, the specific carry-out cargo 10 is stored. The loading position of the specific luggage 4 on the shelf to be loaded is determined. The procedure of step S160 ′ functions as position determining means described in the claims.

  Thereafter, in step S170 ′ provided in place of step S170, the robot controller 14 outputs a control signal to the robot 11, and the specific baggage 4 moved along the predetermined movement path in step S95 is transferred to the above-described step. The arm 24 and the suction pad 25 are operated so as to be loaded at the loading position determined in the above step S160 ′ of the shelf to be loaded with the specific carry-out side cargo 10.

  Subsequent steps S180 to S200 are the same as those in FIG.

  In the processing shown in the flow of FIG. 16 described above, the procedures of step S80, step S95, step S140 ′, and step S170 ′ function as the operation control means described in the claims and correspond to the loading procedure. To do. Of these procedures, the procedure of step S95 functions as the first control means, and the procedure of step S170 'functions as the second control means.

  In the modified example described above, the above-described loading position is determined based on the estimated height dimension of the load 4 in addition to the shape and size of the upper surface of the load 4. Thereby, the efficient and stable loading position of the luggage | load 4 to the carrying-out side cargo 10 can be determined more correctly like the said embodiment.

  In the above description, an example in which sorting is performed by one robot 11 in one sorting space SS has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and sorting may be performed by a plurality of robots in a plurality of sorting spaces. At this time, based on the sorting parameter information stored in the storage device of the PLC 16, the PLC 16 sorts the robots in each sorting space (the quantity and arrangement of the unloading-side cargo to be placed in each sorting space, the unloading side). The destination area associated with each of the cargos may be automatically determined. Hereinafter, examples in which the manner of sorting by each robot in each sorting space are different from each other will be described using the modified examples (2), (3), and (4). The configuration of the robot sorting system shown in each figure in the modifications (2), (3), and (4) described below is the same as that of the PLC 16 in the modifications (2), (3), and (4) described below. The mode corresponds to the correspondence information generated based on the sorting parameter information stored in the storage device of the PLC 16.

(2) When sorting in series in multiple sorting spaces (part 1)
This modification is an example corresponding to a case where a plurality of robots sort in series (stepwise) in a plurality of sorting spaces. Further, in the present modification, the truck terminal has two sorting spaces where robots for sorting are arranged as existing equipment, and the destination areas of the plurality of luggage 4 are designated as “G zone” and “H zone”. This is an example in the case of 10 areas of “I area” “J area” “K area” “L area” “M area” “N area” “O area” “P area”.

  As shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the robot sorting system 1A according to the present modification is provided in the track terminal 2A. The truck terminal 2A receives a plurality of packages 4 carried by the truck 3 on the carry-in side according to the destination area “G area” “H area” “I area” “J area” “K area” “L area” “ This is a distribution facility for sorting into the “M zone”, “N zone”, “O zone”, and “P zone”, and as the sorted cargo 4 to each of these “G zone” to “P zone”. .

  The robot sorting system 1A includes the carry-in side cargo 9 and the carry-out side cargoes 33G, 33H, 33I, 33J, 33K, 33L, 33M, 33N, 33O, 33P, and 33Z (second placement unit. In the case where they are shown without distinction, they are referred to as “carrying-out side cargo 33”), two sorting spaces SS1, SS2, a standby space WS, the aforementioned carrying-in side cargo carrying cart 17 and a carrying-out side cargo carrying cart 37 ( 2nd conveyance trolley | bogie), the above-mentioned PLC16, and the above-mentioned PC15. In FIG. 17, the illustration of the PLC 16, the above-described user interface 50 connected to the PLC 16, and the PC 15 is omitted to prevent the illustration from being complicated.

  In this modification, each sorting space is determined by the PLC 16 based on the above-described sorting parameter information (the quantity information of the luggage 4 and the quantity information of the luggage 4 for each destination area) stored in the storage device of the PCL 16. Sorting mode by robots 11A and 11B (described later) in SS1 and SS2 (quantity and arrangement of carry-out side cargo 33 arranged in each sort space SS1 and SS2, destination area corresponding to each of carry-out side cargo 33, etc.) Is determined, and the destination areas to be associated with the carry-out side cargoes 33G to 33P and 33Z are determined. And "G area" "H area" "I area" "J area" "K area" "L area" "M area" "N area" "O area" "P area" and "Z area" described later Is associated with any one of the carry-out side cargoes 33G to 33P and 33Z, and is stored in the storage device of the PLC 16. In this example, the storage device of the PLC 16 includes “G area”, “H area”, “I area”, “J area”, “K area”, “G area” as the carry-out side cargo 33G, and “H area” as the carry-out side. The cargo 33H, the “I zone” is associated with the carry-out side cargo 33I, the “J zone” is associated with the carry-out side cargo 33J, and the “K zone” is associated with the carry-out side cargo 33K, and “L zone” “M zone” “N zone” “ The "O area" and "P area" are collectively referred to as "Z area", and the "Z area" is associated with the carry-out side cargo 33Z, and the "L area", "M area", "N area", " Regarding the “O area” and “P area”, the “L area” is the unloading side cargo 33L, the “M area” is the unloading side cargo 33M, the “N area” is the unloading side cargo 33N, the “O area” is the unloading side cargo 33O, “ Correspondence information in which “P area” is associated with the carry-out side cargo 33P is stored. .

  The carry-out side cargoes 33G to 33P and 33Z have structures equivalent to the carry-in side cargo 9 and the carry-out side cargoes 10A to 10F (see FIGS. 4A and 4B), respectively.

  In the sorting space SS1, a robot 11A (first robot), the above-described temporary placement table 12, the above-described conveyor 13, and a robot controller 14A that controls the operation of the robot 11A are disposed. The robot 11A and the robot controller 14A are connected so as to be able to communicate with each other. In FIG. 18, the robot controller 14 </ b> A is not shown in order to prevent the illustration from being complicated. Around the robot 11A in the sorting space SS1, the above-mentioned carry-in side cargo installation area 22 and the above-mentioned carry-out side cargoes 33G, 33H, 33I, 33J, 33K, and 33Z received from a predetermined area are respectively installed. Unloading-side cargo installation areas 34G, 34H, 34I, 34J, 34K, and 34Z (second installation areas) are provided.

  The robot 11A transfers a plurality of packages 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9 installed in the carry-in side cargo installation area 22 to “G zone” to “K zone” to “Z zone” according to the destination area. While performing the primary sorting, the cargos are transferred to the carry-out side cargo 33G to 33K and 33Z installed in the carry-out side cargo installation areas 34G to 34K and 34Z, respectively. That is, the robot 11A transfers the plurality of packages 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9 to the sorted packages 4 to the “G zone”, the sorted packages 4 to the “H zone”, and the “I zone”. The primary sorting is performed by sorting into the sorted package 4, the sorted package 4 to the “J zone”, the sorted package 4 to the “K zone”, and the package 4 to the “Z zone”. Transship to the carry-out side cargo 33 corresponding to the land area.

  Specifically, the robot 11A, among the plurality of packages 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9, for the packages 4 whose destinations belong to the “G zone”, are classified as “packages 4” into the “G zone”. , Transfer to the carry-out side cargo 33G corresponding to “G section”. The cargo 4 whose destination is in the “H zone” is transferred to the carry-out side cargo 33H corresponding to the “H zone” as the sorted baggage 4 to the “H zone”. The cargo 4 whose destination is in the “I zone” is transferred to the delivery-side cargo 33I corresponding to the “I zone” as the sorted cargo 4 to the “I zone”. The packages 4 whose destinations belong to the “J zone” are transferred to the carry-out side cargo 33J corresponding to the “J zone” as the sorted packages 4 to the “J zone”. The cargo 4 whose destination is in the “K zone” is transferred to the carry-out side cargo 33K corresponding to the “K zone” as the sorted cargo 4 to the “K zone”. If the destination 4 is in the “Z zone”, that is, the “L zone”, “M zone”, “N zone”, “O zone”, or “P zone”, the baggage 4 is shipped to the “Z zone”. Transship to side cargo 33Z.

  Further, when sorting is performed by the robot 11A in the sorting space SS1, the loading-side cargo 9 placed on the loading-side berth 6 and loaded with the plurality of loads 4 is loaded based on the control of the PLC 16. While being pulled by the side cargo transport carriage 17, it is transported and installed from the carry-in side berth 6 to the carry-in side cargo installation area 22. At the same time, the (empty) carry-out side cargos 33G to 33K, 33Z disposed in the predetermined area are pulled by the carry-out side cargo transport carriage 37 while being pulled out from the predetermined area. 34G to 34K and 34Z are respectively transported and installed. Then, when the sorting is completed, the (empty) loading-side cargo 9 installed in the loading-side cargo installation area 22 is pulled by the loading-side cargo transport carriage 17 while being pulled. It is conveyed from the carry-in side cargo installation area 22 to a predetermined area. At the same time, the unloading-side cargo 33G to 33K on the unloading-side cargo installation areas 34G to 34K on which the sorted packages 4 are placed in the corresponding destination areas are transported for unloading-side cargo. While being pulled by the carriage 37, it is conveyed from the carry-out side cargo installation areas 34 </ b> G to 34 </ b> K to the carry-out side berth 7. At the same time, the carry-out side cargo 33Z on which the load 4 is placed in the “Z zone”, which is installed in the carry-out side cargo installation area 34Z, is pulled by the carry-out side cargo transport carriage 37. From the carry-out side cargo installation area 34Z, it is conveyed to the below-described carry-out side cargo installation area 34Z 'in the sorting space SS2 via the standby space WS.

  In the sorting space SS2, a robot 11B, the above-described temporary placement table 12, the above-described conveyor 13, and a robot controller 14B that controls the operation of the robot 11B are disposed. The robot 11B and the robot controller 14B are connected so as to be able to communicate with each other. In FIG. 18, the robot controller 14B is not shown in order to prevent the illustration from being complicated. Further, the robot 11A and the robot controller 14A disposed in the sorting space SS1, the robot 11B and the robot controller 14B disposed in the sorting space SS2, and the PC 15 include the robot apparatus according to the claims. It corresponds to. The sorting space SS2 includes a carry-out side cargo installation area 34Z '(first installation area) for installing the carry-out side cargo 33Z received from the sorting space SS1 via the standby space WS, and a predetermined area. There are provided unloading-side cargo installation areas 34L, 34M, 34N, 34O, and 34P (second installation areas) for installing the unloading-side cargo 33L, 33M, 33N, 33O, and 33P that are received from the vehicle.

  The robot 11B loads the cargo 4 in the “Z zone”, which is placed in the carry-out side cargo 33Z installed in the carry-out side cargo installation area 34Z ′ and is primarily sorted by the robot 11A in the sort space SS1. Carrying out the secondary sorting into the “L zone” to the “P zone” included in the “Z zone” according to the destination zone, Transshipment is performed by transporting to the side cargoes 33L to 33P. That is, the robot 11B converts the luggage 4 placed in the carry-out side cargo 33Z into the “Z area”, the sorted luggage 4 into the “L area”, the sorted luggage 4 into the “M area”, “ Carry out secondary sorting into the sorted luggage 4 to the "N area", the sorted luggage 4 to the "O area", and the sorted luggage 4 to the "P area", and carry out the delivery corresponding to the destination area Transship to side cargo 33.

  Further, when sorting is performed by the robot 11B in the sorting space SS2, the carry-out side cargo 33Z in which the luggage 4 placed in the “Z zone” placed in the standby space WS is placed based on the control of the PLC 16. Are transported from the standby space WS to the carry-out side cargo installation area 34Z ′ while being pulled by the carry-out side cargo transport carriage 37. At the same time, the (empty) carry-out side cargos 33L to 33P arranged in the predetermined area are pulled by the carry-out side cargo transport carriage 37 while being pulled out from the predetermined area. It is conveyed to 34P and installed. When sorting is completed, the (empty) carry-out side cargo 33Z that has been placed in the carry-out side cargo installation area 34Z 'is being pulled by the carry-out side cargo transport carriage 37. It is transported from the carry-out side cargo installation area 34Z ′ to a predetermined area. At the same time, the unloading-side cargo 33L to 33P, which is installed in the unloading-side cargo installation areas 34L to 34P and is loaded with the sorted luggage 4 to the corresponding destination area, is transported to the unloading-side cargo. While being pulled by the carriage 37, it is conveyed from the carry-out side cargo installation areas 34 </ b> L to 34 </ b> P to the carry-out side berth 7.

  As described above, in this modified example, a plurality of packages 4 are first received in the sorting space SS1, and the robot 11A performs primary sorting, and sorts the sorted packages 4 into the “G zone” and the “H zone”. It is assumed that the finished package 4, the sorted package 4 to the "I zone", the sorted package 4 to the "J zone", the sorted package 4 to the "K zone", and the package 4 to the "Z zone". After that, the parcel 4 to the “Z zone” where the primary sorting has been performed is received in the sorting space SS2, and the robot 11B performs the secondary sorting, to the sorted parcel 4 to the “L zone” and to the “M zone”. , Sorted package 4 to “N zone”, sorted package 4 to “O zone”, and sorted package 4 to “P zone”. That is, after the robot 11A performs primary sorting in the sorting space SS1, the sorting is performed in series in the two sorting spaces SS1 and SS2, such that the robot 11B performs secondary sorting in the sorting space SS2.

  The two robots 11A and 11B arranged in these two sorting spaces SS1 and SS2 have the same structure and function as the robot 11 (see FIGS. 5 and 6).

  In this modification, the control contents according to the manufacturing method of the sorted luggage 4 that are respectively executed by the robot controllers 14A and 14B based on the control of the PLC 16 are the destination area and the destination area in the processing shown in the flow of FIG. The number of items, the cargo to be sorted and stacked, etc. are different, and basically the same procedure is sufficient, so detailed description will be omitted. Hereinafter, an example of the control content executed by the PLC 16 in the present modification will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 19, the process shown in this flow is started by performing a predetermined start operation (for example, powering on the PLC 16). First, in step S330, the PLC 16 determines each sorting space SS1, SS2 based on the sorting parameter information (the quantity information of the luggage 4 and the quantity information of the luggage 4 for each destination area) stored in the storage device of the PLC 16. The manner of sorting by the robots 11A and 11B in (the quantity and arrangement of the carry-out side cargo 33 arranged in each sort space SS1, SS2, the destination area corresponding to each of the carry-out side cargo 33, etc.) Correspondence information based on the determined content is generated. In the present modification, as shown in FIG. 18, six carry-out side cargos 33 are disposed in the sorting space SS1 (the carry-out side cargos 33G to 33K, 33Z), and five carry-out side cargos 33 are disposed in the sorting space SS2 (the carry-out side cargoes). 33L to 33P), the carry-out side cargo 33G is "G zone", the carry-out side cargo 33H is "H zone", the carry-out side cargo 33I is "I zone", the carry-out side cargo 33J is "J zone", and the carry-out side Cargo 33K is “K zone”, unloading side cargo 33L is “L zone”, unloading side cargo 33M is “M zone”, unloading side cargo 33N is “N zone”, unloading side cargo 33O is “O zone”, unloading side It is determined that the cargo 33P is associated with the “P area” and the carry-out side cargo 33Z is associated with the “Z area”, and correspondence information based on the determined contents is generated.

  Thereafter, in step S340, the PLC 16 stores the correspondence information generated in step S330 in the storage device of the PLC 16.

  Then, the process proceeds to step S350, and the PLC 16 outputs a control signal to each of the robot controllers 14A and 14B based on the correspondence information stored in the storage device of the PLC 16, so that the plurality of loads 4 are robots in the sorting spaces SS1 and SS2. The robot controllers 14A and 14B that control the robots 11A and 11B are controlled so that the robots 11A and 11B cooperate with each other and transfer to the corresponding carry-out side cargo 33. That is, in this modification, the PLC 16 receives the carry-in side cargo 9 in the sorting space SS1, and loads the plurality of loads 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9 out of the carry-out side cargoes 33G to 33K, 33Z. Transshipment into each of the specific carry-out cargos 33 associated with the specific destination area results in the sorted luggage 4 to each of “G area” to “K area” and the luggage 4 to “Z area”. As described above, the robot controller 14A that controls the operation of the robot 11A is controlled. At the same time, the PLC 16 receives in the sorting space SS2 the carry-out side cargo 33Z in which the load 4 in the “Z zone” is placed, and takes the load 4 in the “Z zone” placed in the carry-out side cargo 33Z. , Among the unloading-side cargoes 33L to 33P, the packages 4 are transferred to the specific unloading-side cargo 33 associated with the specific destination area described above, and sorted into the “L-zone” to “P-zone”, respectively. The robot controller 14B that controls the operation of the robot 11B is controlled. Thereafter, the processing shown in this flow is terminated.

  In this modification described above, since the sorting operation is automatically performed by the two robots 11A and 11B, the labor burden on the operator can be reduced and the work efficiency can be improved as in the above-described embodiment. be able to. Further, by acquiring the above-mentioned destination information from the above-described barcode 8 provided on the upper surface of the luggage 4 by the above-described vision sensor 27 provided in the robot 11A, 11B, the destination area corresponding to the luggage 4 can be obtained. It becomes possible to determine accurately. As a result, it is possible to prevent the luggage 4 from being sorted into an erroneous destination area, and the reliability can be improved.

  Further, in this modification, the destination address determined based on the sorting parameter information (the quantity information of the luggage 4 and the quantity information of the luggage 4 for each destination area) stored in the storage device of the PLC 16 in advance. Correspondence information in which each of the areas is associated with one of the plurality of carry-out cargos 33. In the above example, each of “G area” to “P area” and “Z area” is one of the carry-out side cargos 33G to 33P, 33Z. Correspondence information associated with crab is stored. Then, based on the correspondence information stored in the storage device of the PLC 16, the robots 11 </ b> A and 11 </ b> B cope with the plurality of loads 4 in accordance with the destination information acquired by the vision sensor 27 described above. The operations of the robots 11A and 11B are controlled so as to be loaded onto the carry-out side cargoes 33G to 33P and 33Z. As a result, sorting parameters such as the quantity of luggage 4 and the quantity of luggage 4 for each destination area are input to the PLC 16 in advance, and the sorting parameter information is stored in the storage device of the PLC 16 so that the sorting parameters can be set. It is possible to change the manner of sorting by the robots 11A and 11B in the sorting spaces SS1 and SS2 according to fluctuations. As a result, it is possible to perform sorting with existing equipment flexibly in response to changes in sorting parameters.

  Moreover, in this modification, based on the sorting parameter information (the quantity information of the luggage 4 and the quantity information of the luggage 4 for each destination area) stored in the storage device of the PLC 16, the unloading-side cargo 33G to 33P, 33Z. The destination area to be associated with each is determined, correspondence information based on the determined content is generated, and stored in the storage device of the PLC 16. Thus, by automatically determining the destination area to be associated with each of the carry-out side cargos 33G to 33P and 33Z and generating the corresponding information, the operator is compared with the case of generating the corresponding information based on the manual operation of the operator. It is possible to reduce the labor burden. In addition, it is possible to avoid problems such as generation of non-execution of correspondence information due to an operator forgetting to perform an operation.

  In the present modification, the storage device of the PLC 16 stores the quantity information of the luggage 4 and the quantity information of the luggage 4 for each destination as the sorting parameter information. Thereby, it is possible to perform sorting with existing equipment flexibly in response to changes in the quantity of the luggage 4 and the quantity of the luggage 4 for each destination.

  Further, in this modification, after the robot 11A performs primary sorting in the sorting space SS1, the robot 11B performs secondary sorting in the sorting space SS2, so that the sorting is performed in series in the two sorting spaces SS1 and SS2. I do. Thereby, working efficiency can be improved.

(3) When sorting in series in multiple sorting spaces (part 2)
In this modification, the truck terminal has three sorting spaces in which robots for sorting are arranged as existing equipment, and the destination areas of the plurality of loads 4 are designated as “XA zone”, “XB”. "Zone""XCzone""XDzone""XEzone""YFzone""YGzone""YHzone""YIzone""YJzone" This is an example in the case of 10 areas.

  As shown in FIGS. 20 and 21, the robot sorting system 1B according to the present modification is provided in the track terminal 2B. The truck terminal 2B receives a plurality of packages 4 carried by the truck 3 on the carry-in side according to the destination area, “XA area”, “XB area”, “XC area”, “XD area”, “ Sorted into "XE area", "YF area", "YG area", "YH area", "YI area", and "YJ area". These "XA area" to "XE area" This is a distribution facility for transshipment to the unloading side truck 5 as the sorted luggage 4 into the "area", "YF area" to "YJ area".

  The robot sorting system 1B includes the carry-in side cargo 9 and the carry-out side cargoes 41A, 41B, 41C, 41D, 41E, 41F, 41G, 41H, 41I, 41J, 41X, and 41Y (second mounting portion. Hereinafter, as appropriate). When these are shown without distinction, they are referred to as “carry-out side cargo 41”), three sorting spaces SS3, SS4, SS5, standby spaces WS1, WS2, the aforementioned carry-in side carriage carriage 17 and the carry-out side. It has a cargo transport cart 43 (second transport cart), the PLC 16 described above, and the PC 15 described above. In FIG. 20, illustration of the PLC 16, the above-described user interface 50 connected to the PLC 16, and the PC 15 is omitted to prevent the illustration from being complicated.

  In this modification, each sorting space is determined by the PLC 16 based on the above-described sorting parameter information (the quantity information of the luggage 4 and the quantity information of the luggage 4 for each destination area) stored in the storage device of the PCL 16. Sorting mode by each robot 11C, 11D, 11E (described later) in SS3, SS4, SS5 (the quantity and arrangement of the unloading-side cargo 41 arranged in each sorting space SS3, SS4, SS5, each of the unloading-side cargo 41 A destination area to be associated) is determined, and a destination area to be associated with each of the carry-out side cargos 41A to 41J, 41X, 41Y is determined. "XA area" "XB area" "XC area" "XD area" "XE area" "YF area" "YG area" "YH area" Correspondence information is generated by associating each of “YI area”, “YJ area”, and “X area” and “Y area” described later with one of the unloading-side cargoes 41A to 41J, 41X, 41Y. , Stored in the storage device of the PLC 16. In this example, regarding the “X section” and “Y section” classified based on a predetermined classification standard, the storage section of the PLC 16 has “X section” as the unloading side cargo 41X, “Y section” as the unloading side cargo 41Y, “XA area”, “XB area”, “XC area”, “XD area”, “X”, which are classified more finely than “X area”. -E area "," XA area "is unloading side cargo 41A," XB area "is unloading side cargo 41B," XC area "is unloading side cargo 41C," XD area "is unloaded The side cargo 41D, “XE zone” is associated with the carry-out side cargo 41E, and “YF zone” “YG” classified more finely than “Y zone” (classified as “Y zone”) "YF area" for the "area", "YH area", "YI area" and "YJ area" 1F, “YG area” is the unloading side cargo 41G, “YH area” is the unloading side cargo 41H, “YI area” is the unloading side cargo 41I, “YJ area” is the unloading side cargo 41J, Correspondence information associated with is stored.

  The carry-out side cargoes 41A to 41J, 41X, and 41Y have structures equivalent to the carry-in side cargo 9 and the carry-out side cargoes 10A to 10F (see FIGS. 4A and 4B), respectively.

  In the sorting space SS3, a robot 11C (first robot), the above-described temporary placement table 12, the above-described conveyor 13, and a robot controller 14C that controls the operation of the robot 11C are disposed. The robot 11C and the robot controller 14C are connected so as to be able to communicate with each other. In FIG. 21, the robot controller 14 </ b> C is not shown in order to prevent the illustration from being complicated. Around the robot 11C in the sorting space SS3, the carry-in side cargo installation area 22 and the carry-out side cargo installation areas 47X for installing the carry-out side cargos 41X and 41Y received from the predetermined areas, respectively. 47Y (second installation area).

  The robot 11 </ b> C performs the primary sorting that sorts the plurality of packages 4 placed in the carry-in cargo 9 installed in the carry-in cargo installation area 22 into “X zone” and “Y zone” according to the destination area. While performing, it reships by carrying to the unloading side cargo 41X and 41Y installed in the unloading side cargo installation areas 47X and 47Y, respectively. That is, the robot 11C performs primary sorting of the plurality of packages 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9 into the packages 4 to the “X zone” and the packages 4 to the “Y zone”. Transship to the unloading-side cargo 41X, 41Y corresponding to the area.

  Specifically, the robot 11 </ b> C carries out, as a load 4 to the “X zone”, a load 4 belonging to the “X zone” among the plurality of loads 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9. Transship to side cargo 41X. The cargo 4 whose destination is in the “Y zone” is transferred to the carry-out side cargo 41Y as the cargo 4 in the “Y zone”.

  Further, when sorting is performed by the robot 11C in the sorting space SS3, the loading-side cargo 9 placed on the loading-side berth 6 and loaded with the plurality of loads 4 is loaded based on the control of the PLC 16. While being pulled by the side cargo transport carriage 17, it is transported and installed from the carry-in side berth 6 to the carry-in side cargo installation area 22. At the same time, the (empty) carry-out side cargos 41X and 41Y disposed in the predetermined area are pulled by the carry-out side cargo transport carriage 43 while being pulled out from the predetermined area. 47Y is transported and installed. Then, when the sorting is completed, the (empty) loading-side cargo 9 installed in the loading-side cargo installation area 22 is pulled by the loading-side cargo transport carriage 17 while being pulled. It is conveyed from the carry-in side cargo installation area 22 to a predetermined area. At the same time, the unloading-side cargo 41X on which the luggage 4 is placed in the “X section” installed in the unloading-side cargo installation area 47X is pulled by the unloading-side cargo transport cart 43 while From the unloading side cargo installation area 47X, it is transferred to the below-described unloading side cargo installation area 47X 'of the sorting space SS4 via the standby space WS1. At the same time, the unloading-side cargo 41Y on which the load 4 is placed in the “Y section” installed in the unloading-side cargo installation area 47Y is pulled by the unloading-side cargo transport cart 43 while The unloading-side cargo installation area 47Y is transported to the unloading-side cargo installation area 47Y ′, which will be described later, in the sorting space SS5 via the standby space WS2.

  In the sorting space SS4, a robot 11D, the above-described temporary placement table 12, the above-described conveyor 13, and a robot controller 14D that controls the operation of the robot 11D are disposed. The robot 11D and the robot controller 14D are connected to be able to communicate with each other. In FIG. 21, the robot controller 14D is not shown in order to prevent the illustration from being complicated. The sorting space SS4 includes a carry-out side cargo installation area 47X ′ (first installation area) for installing the carry-out side cargo 41X received from the sorting space SS3 via the standby space WS1, and a predetermined area. The carry-out side cargo installation areas 47A, 47B, 47C, 47D, and 47E (second installation areas) for installing the carry-out side cargoes 41A, 41B, 41C, 41D, and 41E, respectively, are provided.

  The robot 11D loads the cargo 4 in the “X zone”, which is placed in the unloading-side cargo 41X installed in the unloading-side cargo installation area 47X ′ and is primarily sorted by the robot 11C in the sorting space SS3. Are classified into the “XA area” to the “XE area” classified as the “X area” according to the destination area, and the carry-out side cargo installation areas 47A to 47E are arranged. Reloading is performed by transporting the cargo to the installed cargo-side cargoes 41A to 41E. That is, the robot 11D transfers the package 4 to the “X section” placed on the carry-out side cargo 41X, the sorted package 4 to the “XA section”, and the sorted package to the “XB section”. 4, secondary sorting that sorts into the sorted baggage 4 to the “XC zone”, the sorted baggage 4 to the “XD zone”, and the sorted baggage 4 to the “XE zone” Go to the unloading cargo 41 corresponding to the destination area.

  Further, when sorting is performed by the robot 11D in the sorting space SS4, on the basis of the control of the PLC 16, the unloading-side cargo 41X on which the luggage 4 is placed in the “X zone” disposed in the standby space WS1 is placed. Are transported from the standby space WS1 to the unloading-side cargo installation area 47X ′ while being pulled by the unloading-side cargo transport cart 43. At the same time, the (empty) carry-out side cargos 41A to 41E disposed in the predetermined area are pulled by the carry-out side cargo transport carriage 43 from the predetermined area and the carry-out side cargo installation areas 47A to 47E. 47E is transported and installed. When the sorting is finished, the (empty) carrying-out side cargo 41X installed in the carrying-out side cargo installation area 47X ′ is being pulled by the carrying-side cargo carrying cart 43. It is conveyed from the unloading side cargo installation area 47X ′ to a predetermined area. At the same time, the unloading-side cargo 41A to 41E on the unloading-side cargo installation areas 47A to 47E, on which the sorted packages 4 are placed in the corresponding destination areas, are transported for unloading-side cargo. While being pulled by the carriage 43, it is conveyed from the carry-out side cargo installation areas 47 </ b> A to 47 </ b> E to the carry-out side berth 7.

  The sorting space SS5 is provided with a robot 11E, the above-described temporary placement table 12, the above-described conveyor 13, and a robot controller 14E that controls the operation of the robot 11D. The robot 11E and the robot controller 14E are connected so that they can communicate with each other. In FIG. 21, the robot controller 14E is not shown in order to prevent the illustration from being complicated. Also, the robot 11C and robot controller 14C disposed in the sorting space SS3, the robot 11D and robot controller 14D disposed in the sorting space SS4, and the robot 11E and robot controller disposed in the sorting space SS5. 14E and the PC 15 correspond to the robot apparatus described in the claims. The sorting space SS5 includes a loading-side cargo installation area 47Y ′ (first installation area) for installing the unloading-side cargo 41Y received from the sorting space SS3 via the standby space WS2, and a predetermined area. The carry-out side cargo installation areas 47F, 47G, 47H, 47I, and 47J (second installation areas) for installing the carry-out side cargoes 41F, 41G, 41H, 41I, and 41J, respectively, are provided.

  The robot 11E is placed on the unloading-side cargo 41Y installed in the unloading-side cargo installation area 47Y ′, and the package 4 in the “Y section” that is primarily sorted by the robot 11C in the sorting space SS3. Are classified into the “YF area” to the “YJ area” classified as the “Y area” according to the destination area, while the cargo area is set to the cargo-side installation areas 47F to 47J. Reloading is performed by transporting the cargo to the installed cargo-side cargoes 41F to 41J. That is, the robot 11E transfers the package 4 to the “Y zone” placed on the carry-out side cargo 41Y, the sorted package 4 to the “YF zone”, and the sorted package to the “YG zone”. 4, secondary sorting that sorts into “YH zone”, sorted package 4, “YI zone” sorted package 4, and “YJ zone” sorted package 4 Go to the unloading cargo 41 corresponding to the destination area.

  Further, when sorting is performed by the robot 11E in the sorting space SS5, based on the control of the PLC 16, the unloading-side cargo 41Y in which the luggage 4 placed in the “Y section” placed in the standby space WS2 is placed. Is transported from the standby space WS2 to the carry-out side cargo installation area 47Y ′ while being pulled by the carry-out side cargo carriage 43. At the same time, the (empty) carry-out side cargos 41F to 41J arranged in a predetermined area are pulled by the carry-out side cargo transport cart 43 while being pulled out from the predetermined area. It is transported to 47J and installed. When the sorting is finished, the (empty) carrying-out side cargo 41Y installed in the carrying-out side cargo installation area 47Y ′ is being pulled by the carrying-side cargo carrying cart 43. It is conveyed from the carry-out side cargo installation area 47Y ′ to a predetermined area. At the same time, the unloading-side cargo 41F to 41J on the unloading-side cargo installation areas 47F to 47J, each of which is loaded with the sorted luggage 4 in the corresponding destination area, is transported for unloading-side cargo. While being pulled by the carriage 43, it is conveyed from the carry-out side cargo installation areas 47 </ b> F to 47 </ b> J to the carry-out side berth 7.

  As described above, in the present modification, the plurality of packages 4 are received in the sorting space SS1, and the robot 11C performs primary sorting to obtain the packages 4 in the “X zone” and the packages 4 in the “Y zone”. . Thereafter, the parcel 4 to the “X zone” where the primary sorting has been performed is received in the sorting space SS4, and the robot 11D performs the secondary sorting, and the sorted parcels 4 to the “X-A zone”, “X- Sorted baggage 4 to “B zone”, sorted baggage 4 to “XC zone”, sorted baggage 4 to “XD zone”, and sorted baggage 4 to “XE zone” To do. At the same time, the package 4 to the “Y zone” where the primary sorting has been performed is received in the sorting space SS5, and the robot 11E performs the secondary sorting, and the sorted packages 4 to the “YF zone”. Sorted baggage 4 to “YG zone”, sorted baggage 4 to “YH zone”, sorted baggage 4 to “YI zone”, and sorted baggage to “YJ zone” 4. That is, after the robot 11C performs primary sorting in the sorting space SS3, the two robots 11C and 11D perform secondary sorting in the two sorting spaces SS4 and SS5, respectively. Sorting is performed in series with the spaces SS4 and SS5.

  The three robots 11C, 11D, and 11E arranged in these three sorting spaces SS3, SS4, and SS5 have structures and functions equivalent to those of the robot 11 (see FIGS. 5 and 6). .

  In this modification, the control contents according to the manufacturing method of the sorted package 4 executed by the robot controllers 14C, 14D, and 14E based on the control of the PLC 16 are the destination area and the destination in the process shown in the flow of FIG. Since the number of land areas, the cargo to be sorted and stacked, etc. are different, and basically the same processing is sufficient, detailed description is omitted. In addition, the control contents executed by the PLC 16 in this modification may be the same as the process shown in the flow of FIG. Hereinafter, an example of the control content executed by the PLC 16 in this modification will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, in step S330 of FIG. 19 described above, the PLC 16 determines each parameter based on the sorting parameter information (the quantity information of the luggage 4 and the quantity information of the luggage 4 for each destination area) stored in the storage device of the PLC 16. Sorting modes by the robots 11C, 11C, and 11E in the sorting spaces SS3, SS4, and SS5 (corresponding to the quantity and arrangement of the unloading-side cargo 41 disposed in the sorting spaces SS3, SS4, and SS5, and the unloading-side cargo 41, respectively) Destination area, etc.) is determined, and correspondence information based on the determined content is generated. In the present modification, as shown in FIG. 21, two unloading-side cargoes 41 (unloading-side cargo 41X, 41Y) are provided in the sorting space SS3, and five unloading-side cargoes 41 are disposed in the sorting space SS4 (unloading-side cargo 41A to 41A to 41A). 41E), five unloading-side cargoes 41 (unloading-side cargoes 41F to 41J) are arranged in the sorting space SS5, the unloading-side cargo 41X is set as “X section”, the unloading-side cargo 41Y is set as “Y section”, and the unloading-side cargo 41A. “XA section”, the unloading side cargo 41B as “XB area”, the unloading side cargo 41C as “XC area”, the unloading side cargo 41D as “XD area”, and the unloading side cargo 41E as “ XE section ", unloading side cargo 41F is" YF area ", unloading side cargo 41G is" YG area ", unloading side cargo 41H is" YH area ", unloading side cargo 41I is" Y- " "I area", unloading side It is determined to associate the over Gore 41J "Y-J region", the corresponding information is generated based on the determined contents.

  Thereafter, in step S340 of FIG. 19 described above, the PLC 16 stores the correspondence information generated in step S330 in the storage device of the PLC 16.

  Then, the process proceeds to step S350 in FIG. 19 described above, and the PLC 16 outputs a control signal to each robot controller 14C, 14D, 14E based on the correspondence information stored in the storage device of the PLC 16, and the plurality of packages 4 are Robot controllers 14C, 14D, 14E, 11E, 11E for controlling the robots 11C, 11D, 11E so that the robots 11C, 11D, 11E in the sorting spaces SS3, SS4, SS5 cooperate with each other and transfer to the corresponding cargo-side cargo 41 respectively. 14E is controlled. In other words, in this modification, the PLC 16 receives the carry-in side cargo 9 in the sorting space SS3, and loads the plurality of loads 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9 among the carry-out side cargoes 41X and 41Y. The robot controller 14C for controlling the operation of the robot 11C is controlled so that the cargo is transferred to each of the specific cargo-side cargoes 41 associated with the destination area and becomes the luggage 4 to each of the "X area" and the "Y area". doing. At the same time, the PLC 16 receives in the sorting space SS4 the unloading-side cargo 41X on which the load 4 in the “X section” is placed, and the unloading-side cargo 41X loaded on the unloading-side cargo 41X. , Among the carry-out side cargos 41A to 41E, the cargo is transferred to each of the specific carry-out side cargos 41 associated with the specific destination area described above, and is transferred to each of the “XA zone” to the “XE zone”. The robot controller 14D that controls the operation of the robot 11D is controlled so as to obtain the sorted package 4. At the same time, the PLC 16 receives in the sorting space SS5 the carry-out side cargo 41Y on which the load 4 in the “Y section” is placed, and loads the load 4 in the “Y section” on the carry-out side cargo 41Y. , Among the carry-out side cargoes 41F to 41J, transfer to each of the specific carry-out side cargos 41 associated with the specific destination area described above, to each of “YF zone” to “YJ zone” The robot controller 14E that controls the operation of the robot 11E is controlled so as to obtain the sorted package 4. Thereafter, the processing shown in this flow is terminated.

  In the modification described above, after the robot 11C performs the primary sorting in the sorting space SS3, the two robots 11C and 11D perform the secondary sorting in the two sorting spaces SS4 and SS5, respectively. Sorting is performed in series in the sorting space SS3 and the two sorting spaces SS4 and SS5. Thereby, the effect similar to the modification of said (2) can be acquired.

(4) When sorting in parallel in a plurality of sorting spaces This modification is an example corresponding to the case where a plurality of robots sort in parallel (in parallel) in a plurality of sorting spaces. Further, in this modification, the truck terminal has two sorting spaces where robots for sorting are arranged as existing equipment, and the destination areas of the plurality of luggage 4 are defined as the above-mentioned “A zone” and “B”. This is an example in the case of six areas of "area", "C area", "D area", "E area", and "F area".

  As shown in FIGS. 22 and 23, the robot sorting system 1C according to the present modification is provided at the track terminal 2C. The truck terminal 2 </ b> C receives the plurality of packages 4 carried by the truck 3 on the carry-in side according to the destination area, the “A area”, “B area”, “C area”, “D area”, “E area”, “F area”. This is a distribution facility for transshipment to the delivery-side truck 5 as the sorted luggage 4 to each of these “A area” to “F area”.

  The robot sorting system 1C includes the aforementioned carry-in side cargo 9, the aforementioned carry-out side cargoes 10A to 10F, the two sorting spaces SS6 and SS7, the aforementioned carry-in side cargo carriage 17 and the aforementioned carry-out side cargo. The conveyance carriage 18, the PLC 16 described above, and the PC 15 described above are included. In FIG. 22, the illustration of the PLC 16, the above-described user interface 50 connected to the PLC 16, and the PC 15 is omitted to prevent the illustration from being complicated.

  In this modification, each sorting space is determined by the PLC 16 based on the above-described sorting parameter information (the quantity information of the luggage 4 and the quantity information of the luggage 4 for each destination area) stored in the storage device of the PCL 16. Sorting mode by robots 11 and 11 (described later) in SS6 and SS7 (quantity and arrangement of carry-out cargo 10 arranged in each sort space SS6 and SS7, destination area corresponding to each carry-out cargo 10, etc.) Is determined, and a destination area to be associated with each of the carry-out side cargoes 10A to 10F is determined. Correspondence information is generated by associating each of the “A area”, “B area”, “C area”, “D area”, “E area”, and “F area” with one of the carry-out cargoes 10A to 10F. It is stored in the storage device.

  The sorting space SS6 is the same as the sorting space SS (see FIG. 3). The sorting space SS6 includes the robot 11, the temporary placement table 12, the conveyor 13, and the robot. The controller 14 is disposed, and the above-described carry-in side cargo installation area 22 and the above-described carry-out side cargo installation areas 23 </ b> A to 23 </ b> F are provided around the robot 11. In FIG. 23, the robot controller 14 is not shown in order to prevent the illustration from being complicated.

  The robot 11 disposed in the sorting space SS6 performs the same processing as in the above-described embodiment. That is, a plurality of packages 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9 installed in the carry-in side cargo installation area 22 of the sorting space SS6 are divided into “A area”, “B area” and “C area” according to the destination area. While sorting into “D zone”, “E zone”, and “F zone”, the cargo is transferred to the carry-out side cargoes 10A to 10F respectively installed in the carry-out side cargo installation regions 23A to 23F of the sorting space SS6.

  The sorting space SS7 is the same as the sorting space SS (see FIG. 3). The sorting space SS7 includes the robot 11, the temporary placement table 12, the conveyor 13, and the robot. The controller 14 is disposed, and the above-described carry-in side cargo installation area 22 and the above-described carry-out side cargo installation areas 23 </ b> A to 23 </ b> F are provided around the robot 11. In FIG. 23, the robot controller 14 is not shown in order to prevent the illustration from being complicated. Further, the robot 11 and the robot controller 14 disposed in the sorting space SS6, the robot 11 and the robot controller 14 disposed in the sorting space SS7, and the PC 15 include the robot apparatus according to the claims. It corresponds to.

  The robot 11 disposed in the sorting space SS7 performs the same processing as in the above-described embodiment. That is, a plurality of packages 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9 installed in the carry-in side cargo installation area 22 of the sorting space SS7 are divided into “A area”, “B area”, and “C area” according to the destination area. While sorting into “D zone”, “E zone”, and “F zone”, the cargoes are transferred to the carry-out side cargoes 10A to 10F installed in the carry-out side cargo installation regions 23A to 23F of the sorting space SS7.

  As described above, in this modified example, a plurality of parcels 4 are shared and accepted by the sorting spaces SS6 and SS7, and the robots 11 and 11 sort in parallel in the sorting spaces SS6 and SS7. Sorted baggage 4 to “B”, sorted baggage 4 to “C zone”, sorted baggage 4 to “C zone”, sorted baggage 4 to “D zone”, sorted baggage to “E zone” 4 and the sorted luggage 4 to "F zone". In other words, the sorting work of the robot 11 in the sorting space SS6 and the sorting work of the robot 11 in the sorting space SS7 are performed in parallel in the two sorting spaces SS6 and SS7.

  In the present modification, the control contents according to the manufacturing method of the sorted package 4 executed by each robot controller 14 based on the control of the PLC 16 are substantially the same as the process shown in the flow of FIG. The detailed explanation is omitted. In addition, the control contents executed by the PLC 16 in this modification may be the same as the process shown in the flow of FIG. Hereinafter, an example of the control content executed by the PLC 16 in this modification will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, in step S330 of FIG. 19 described above, the PLC 16 determines each parameter based on the sorting parameter information (the quantity information of the luggage 4 and the quantity information of the luggage 4 for each destination area) stored in the storage device of the PLC 16. The manner of sorting by the robots 11 and 11 in the sorting spaces SS6 and SS7 (the quantity and arrangement of the carry-out side cargo 10 arranged in each sortation space SS6 and SS7, the destination area corresponding to each of the carry-out side cargoes 10, etc.) Decision is made and correspondence information based on the decision content is generated. In this modification, as shown in FIG. 23, six carry-out side cargoes 10 (the carry-out side cargoes 10A to 10F) are arranged in each sorting space SS6, SS7, and the carry-out side cargo 10A is designated as “A section”, The unloading side cargo 10A is "A section", the unloading side cargo 10B is "B section", the unloading side cargo 10C is "C section", the unloading side cargo 10D is "D section", and the unloading side cargo 10E is "E section". Corresponding information based on the determined content is generated.

  Thereafter, in step S340 of FIG. 19 described above, the PLC 16 stores the correspondence information generated in step S330 in the storage device of the PLC 16.

  Then, the process proceeds to step S350 in FIG. 19 described above, and the PLC 16 outputs a control signal to each of the robot controllers 14 and 14 based on the correspondence information stored in the storage device of the PLC 16, and sorts the plurality of loads 4 into the sorting space. The robot controllers 14 and 14 that control the robots 11 and 11 are controlled so that the robots 11 and 11 of SS6 and SS7 cooperate with each other and transfer to the corresponding carry-out side cargo 10 respectively. In other words, in this modification, the PLC 16 receives the carry-in side cargo 9 in the sorting spaces SS6 and SS7, and the robots 11 and 11 receive the plurality of loads 4 placed on the carry-in side cargo 9 in parallel. Of the unloading-side cargoes 10A to 10F, they are transferred to the specific unloading-side cargoes 10 associated with the above-mentioned specific destination areas, and the sorted packages 4 to the “A-area” to “F-area” respectively. Thus, the robot controllers 14 and 14 for controlling the operations of the robots 11 and 11 are controlled. Thereafter, the processing shown in this flow is terminated.

  According to this modified example described above, the same effect as the modified example (2) described above can be obtained. In this modification, the sorting work of the robot 11 in the sorting space SS6 and the sorting work of the robot 11 in the sorting space SS7 are performed in parallel in the two sorting spaces SS6 and SS7. Sort. Thereby, even if the robot 11 in one sorting space (for example, the robot 11 in the sorting space SS6) stops due to failure or maintenance, the sorting work is performed by the robot 11 in the other sorting space (for example, the robot 11 in the sorting space SS7). Since it can be performed continuously, it is possible to prevent the entire system from being stopped. As a result, the stability and reliability of the robot sorting system 1C can be improved.

(5) When correspondence information is generated based on an operator's manual operation In the modified examples (2) to (4) above, a destination area to be associated with each of the carry-out cargoes arranged in each sorting space is automatically determined. However, the correspondence information is generated, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the operator himself / herself determines the mode of sorting by each robot in each sorting space (the quantity and arrangement of the unloading-side cargo arranged in each sorting space, the destination area corresponding to each unloading-side cargo, etc.) The PLC 16 may generate correspondence information based on the determined content. In this case, the PLC 16 generates the correspondence information based on the operation information of the user interface 50 by the operator (= function as a second correspondence information generation unit), and stores the generated correspondence information in the storage device of the PLC 16. Remember. According to the present modification, the correspondence information intended by the operator can be generated reliably, so that the reliability can be improved compared to the case where the correspondence information is automatically generated.

(6) In the case where the quantity of the carry-out side cargo corresponding to the destination area where the quantity of luggage is large In the above-described embodiment, the destination area where the quantity of the luggage 4 is relatively large among the cargoes on the carry-out side 10A to 10E. The carry-out side cargo 10 corresponding to the above is disposed closer to the carry-in side cargo 9 than the other carry-out side cargoes 10, but is not limited thereto. That is, the carry-out side cargo 10 corresponding to the destination area where the quantity of the luggage 4 is relatively large may be installed so as to be installed more than the other carry-out side cargoes 10. Thereby, it becomes possible to reduce the replacement frequency of the carrying-out side cargo 10 corresponding to the destination area where the quantity of the load 4 is relatively large, and the tact time of the sorting work can be shortened.

(7) Others In the above, the carry-in side cargo 9 and the carry-in side cargo 10 are transported by the carry-in side cargo transport cart 17 and the carry-out side cargo transport cart 18, but the present invention is not limited to this. The side cargo 9 and the carry-in side cargo 10 may be transported manually by an operator.

  In the above description, the suction pad 25 is provided at the tip of the arm 24 of the robot 11 or the like, and the load 4 is sucked and lifted by the suction pad 25. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The load 4 may be gripped and lifted by this gripping member.

  In the above description, the barcode 8 on which the destination information is recorded is provided on the upper surface of the luggage 4, and the destination information is acquired from the barcode 8 by the vision sensor 27 provided at the tip of the arm 24. Not limited to this. That is, a bar code reader may be provided at the tip of the arm 24, and destination information and the like may be acquired from the bar code 8 by this bar code reader. Alternatively, an IC tag in which destination information or the like is recorded may be provided on the upper surface of the luggage 4, and an IC tag reader may be provided at the tip of the arm 24, and the destination information or the like may be acquired from the IC tag by the IC tag reader.

  In the above description, the load 4 is placed on the carry-in side cargo 9 and the carry-in side cargo 10. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the load 4 may be placed on a pallet that is a placement unit.

  In the above, a plurality of packages 4 are sorted by destination area (for example, by municipality). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of packages 4 are sorted by destination (for example, by one unit). Also good. Alternatively, the plurality of packages 4 may be sorted for each type (corresponding to a sorting destination).

  In the above description, the case where the robot sorting system 1 or the like is applied to the truck terminal 2 or the like of the courier company has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. To fulfillment centers, etc.).

  Further, the flow shown in FIG. 12 and the like is not limited to the procedure illustrated in the embodiment, and the procedure may be added / deleted or the order may be changed without departing from the spirit and technical idea. Good.

  In addition to those already described above, the methods according to the above-described embodiments and modifications may be used in appropriate combination.

  In addition, although not illustrated one by one, the above-mentioned embodiment and each modification are implemented by adding various changes without departing from the spirit thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Robot sorting system 1A Robot sorting system 1B Robot sorting system 1C Robot sorting system 4 Luggage 9 Carry-in side cargo (1st loading part)
10A to F Carry-out side cargo (second placement part)
11 Robot 11A Robot 11B Robot 11C Robot 11D Robot 11E Robot 12 Temporary placement table (third placement unit)
14 Robot controller 14A Robot controller 14B Robot controller 15 PC
16 PLC
17 Carrying cart for loading-side cargo (first transporting cart)
18 Carriage for cargo on the carry-out side (second carriage)
19 Lower shelf (first placement surface)
20 Upper shelf (second placement surface)
22 Carry-in side cargo installation area (first installation area)
23A to F Cargo-side cargo installation area (second installation area)
24 arm (robot arm)
25 Suction pad (tool)
26 Laser sensor (first sensor)
27 Vision sensor (second sensor)
28 A bowl-shaped jig (jig)
32 sensors (third sensor)
32a Light projecting part 32b Light receiving part 33G-K Carry-out side cargo (2nd mounting part)
33L-P Carry-out side cargo (second placement part)
33Z Cargo on the carry-out side (second mounting part)
34G-P Cargo-side cargo installation area (second installation area)
37 Carriage for cargo on the carry-out side (second carriage)
41A-J Cargo-side cargo (second placement part)
41X, Y Carry-out side cargo (second placement part)
43 Carriage for cargo on the carry-out side (second carriage)
47A to J Cargo-side cargo installation area (second installation area)

Claims (14)

A first placement unit on which a plurality of articles to be sorted are placed;
A plurality of second placement units provided for each sorting destination;
A robotic device that transfers the plurality of articles placed on the first placement unit to the plurality of second placement units while sorting according to the sorting destination;
A robot sorting system having
The robot apparatus is:
A robot arm,
A tool provided on the robot arm and capable of lifting the article;
A first sensor that is provided in the robot arm and acquires distance information to the top surface of each of the plurality of articles placed on the first placement unit;
Based on the acquisition result of the first sensor, among the plurality of articles placed on the first placement unit, article specifying means for specifying an article that exists at the highest position of the top surface;
A second sensor that is provided in the robot arm, acquires external information of the specific article specified by the article specifying means, and acquires the sorting destination information of the specific article provided in the specific article;
Calculation means for calculating the shape and size of the specific article based on the external shape information of the specific article acquired by the second sensor;
Sorting destination determination means for determining a specific sorting destination corresponding to the specific article based on the sorting destination information of the specific article acquired by the second sensor;
According to the shape and size of the specific article calculated by the calculation means, the specific article corresponding to the specific sorting destination among the plurality of second placement units while lifting the specific article by the tool Operation control means for controlling the operation of the robot arm and the tool so as to be stacked on the second placement unit;
A robot sorting system characterized by comprising: The robot apparatus is:
Pattern storage means for storing a stacking pattern of the article on the second placement unit;
Based on the shape and size of the specific article calculated by the calculation means, the placement status of the article in the specific second placement section, and the stacking pattern stored in the pattern storage means , Position determining means for determining a stacking position of the specific article on the specific second placement unit;
Have
The operation control means includes
The operation of the robot arm and the tool is controlled so that the specific article lifted by the tool is stacked at the loading position determined by the position determining means. The robot sorting system described. A third placement section for placing the article temporarily;
The robot apparatus is:
Based on the shape and size of the specific article calculated by the calculation means, the placement status of the article in the specific second placement section, and the stacking pattern stored in the pattern storage means And a placement determination means for determining whether or not to place the specific article on the specific second placement section at the present time,
The position determining means includes
When it is determined that the specific article is to be placed on the specific second placement unit by the placement determination unit, the loading position is determined,
The operation control means includes
When it is determined by the placement determination means that the specific article is to be placed on the specific second placement portion, the specific article lifted by the tool is determined by the position determination means. When it is determined that the specific article is not placed on the specific second placement unit by the placement determination unit, the specific article lifted by the tool is The robot sorting system according to claim 2, wherein operations of the robot arm and the tool are controlled so as to be placed on the third placement unit. The pattern storage means of the robot device is:
A plurality of types of the above-mentioned stacking patterns to which a priority index is assigned in advance are stored,
The robot apparatus is:
Pattern selection means for selecting the plurality of types of stacking patterns in descending order of priority index;
The position determining means includes
The shape and size of the specific article calculated by the calculation means, the placement status of the article on the specific second placement section, and the pattern selection means selected from the plurality of types of stacking patterns The robot sorting system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the loading position is determined based on the stacked loading pattern. The second sensor of the robot device is:
In addition to sorting information of the specific article provided in the specific article, acquisition of height direction dimension information of the specific article
The robot apparatus is:
Height determining means for determining the height direction dimension of the specific article based on the height direction dimension information of the specific article acquired by the second sensor;
The position determining means includes
The shape and size of the specific article calculated by the calculation means, the height dimension of the specific article determined by the height determination means, and the placement of the article on the specific second placement section 5. The robot sorting system according to claim 2, wherein the stacking position is determined based on a situation and the stacking pattern stored in the pattern storage unit. The operation control means of the robot apparatus is
In accordance with the shape and size of the specific article calculated by the calculation means, the robot arm and the tool operate so as to move the specific article along a predetermined movement path while being lifted by the tool. First control means for controlling
The robot arm and the robot arm so that the specific article moved along the predetermined movement path based on the control of the first control means is stacked at the loading position determined by the position determination means. Second control means for controlling the operation of the tool;
With
The first placement unit includes:
A third sensor including a light projecting unit that projects light so that the optical axis is substantially horizontal and intersects the predetermined movement path, and a light receiving unit that receives light projected from the light projecting unit At the top,
The robot apparatus is:
The posture of the robot arm and the light reception result of the light receiving unit of the third sensor when the specific article is moved along the predetermined movement path based on the control of the first control means. And a height estimating means for estimating a height dimension of the specific article,
The position determining means includes
The shape and size of the specific article calculated by the calculation means, the height dimension of the specific article estimated by the height estimation means, and the placement of the article on the specific second placement section 5. The robot sorting system according to claim 2, wherein the stacking position is determined based on a situation and the stacking pattern stored in the pattern storage unit. The first placement part and the plurality of second placement parts are:
7. The robot apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the robot apparatus is disposed in a radial direction on a substantially circumference centered on a base end portion of the robot arm of the robot apparatus. 8. Robot sorting system. Of the plurality of second placement units, a second placement unit corresponding to a predetermined first sorting destination is:
8. The device according to claim 2, wherein the second placement unit is disposed closer to the first placement unit than the second placement unit corresponding to the other second sorting destination. 9. Robot sorting system. Of the plurality of second placement units, a second placement unit corresponding to a predetermined first sorting destination is:
The robot sorting system according to any one of claims 2 to 8, wherein the robot sorting system is installed so that the number of installed units is larger than that of the second placement units corresponding to other second sorting destinations. . A first installation area for installing the first placement unit;
A plurality of second installation areas for installing the plurality of second placement units;
A first conveyance carriage that performs at least one of conveyance of the first placement unit to the first installation region and conveyance of the first placement unit from the first installation region;
A second transport carriage that performs at least one of transport of the second placement unit to the second installation region and transport of the second placement unit from the second installation region;
The robot sorting system according to any one of claims 2 to 9, further comprising: A fourth placement unit for placing an article for which the sorting destination information could not be acquired by the second sensor;
The robot apparatus is:
Having an acquisition determination means for determining whether or not the sorting destination information of the specific article has been acquired by the second sensor;
The operation control means includes
When the acquisition determination unit determines that the sorting destination information of the specific article cannot be acquired by the second sensor, the specific article lifted by the tool is placed on the fourth placement unit. The robot sorting system according to any one of claims 2 to 10, wherein operation of the robot arm and the tool is controlled so as to be placed. The first placement part and the plurality of second placement parts are:
Having a first placement surface portion for placing the article;
At least one of the first placement part and the plurality of second placement parts is:
Provided above the first placement surface portion, and has a flip-up type second placement surface portion for placing the article,
The robot apparatus is:
The robot sorting system according to any one of claims 2 to 11, further comprising a jig provided on the robot arm for raising and lowering the second placement surface portion. A robot apparatus for transferring a plurality of articles to be sorted placed on the first placement unit to a plurality of second placement parts provided for each sorting destination while sorting according to the sorting destination,
A robot arm,
A tool provided on the robot arm and capable of lifting the article;
A first sensor that is provided in the robot arm and acquires distance information to the top surface of each of the plurality of articles placed on the first placement unit;
Based on the acquisition result of the first sensor, among the plurality of articles placed on the first placement unit, article specifying means for specifying an article that exists at the highest position of the top surface;
A second sensor that is provided in the robot arm, acquires external information of the specific article specified by the article specifying means, and acquires the sorting destination information of the specific article provided in the specific article;
Calculation means for calculating the shape and size of the specific article based on the external shape information of the specific article acquired by the second sensor;
Sorting destination determination means for determining a specific sorting destination corresponding to the specific article based on the sorting destination information of the specific article acquired by the second sensor;
According to the shape and size of the specific article calculated by the calculation means, the specific article corresponding to the specific sorting destination among the plurality of second placement units while lifting the specific article by the tool Operation control means for controlling the operation of the robot arm and the tool so as to be stacked on the second placement unit;
A robot apparatus comprising: The plurality of articles to be sorted placed on the first placement unit are sorted according to the sorting destination by the robot device and transferred to the plurality of second placing parts provided for each sorting destination. A method for producing sorted articles for producing sorted articles for each of the sorting destinations,
A first acquisition procedure for acquiring distance information to the top surface of each of the plurality of articles placed on the first placement unit;
Based on the acquisition result in the first acquisition procedure, among the plurality of articles placed on the first placement unit, an article identification procedure for identifying an article present at the highest position on the top surface;
A second acquisition procedure for acquiring outer shape information of the specific article specified in the article specifying procedure, and acquiring the sorting destination information of the specific article provided in the specific article;
A calculation procedure for calculating the shape and size of the specific article based on the external shape information of the specific article acquired in the second acquisition procedure;
A sorting destination determination procedure for determining a specific sorting destination corresponding to the specific article based on the sorting destination information of the specific article acquired in the second acquisition procedure;
According to the shape and size of the specific article calculated in the calculation procedure, the specific article corresponding to the specific sorting destination among the plurality of second placement units while lifting the specific article by the robot device A loading procedure for loading on the second mounting portion of
A method for producing an assorted article, comprising:

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