JP2013170029A - Palletizing apparatus and palletizing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small and inexpensive palletizing apparatus and method, enabling palletization while preventing increase in volume, in a palletizing apparatus for stacking workpieces to be stacked on a pallet.SOLUTION: A palletizing apparatus 50 configured to take out and stack a workpiece 28 onto a pallet 48 by a multiaxial robot 2 includes: a conveyor 4 for placing and moving the pallet 48; a stage 1 disposed across the conveyor 4 and having a thrust in a conveyance direction of the conveyor 4; and the multiaxial robot 2 disposed on the stage 1.

Description

  The present invention relates to a palletizing apparatus and a palletizing method for stacking a workpiece on a pallet.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when palletizing a workpiece to be loaded, there has been known one that uses a large robot to take out a workpiece to be loaded from a take-out station and to palletize a plurality of stages on a pallet. This often uses a large multi-axis robot to make up for the pick-up station and the area required to stack the work in stages.

  Among such prior arts, Patent Document 1 uses a large multi-axis robot to supplement the operating area. As shown in FIG. 1 of Patent Document 1, the robot 6 is equipped with a powered conveyor 3 and a product supply conveyor 15, and in addition to these two areas, in addition to loading the product on the pallet to supplement the operating range. It has been.

  Further, Patent Document 2 discloses an apparatus that uses elevators 7 and 9 for raising stacked workpieces, arranges a robot that performs a three-axis operation above a stacking region, and loads products on a pallet. . See FIG. 1 of Patent Document 2.

JP 07-308880 JP2008-81240

  However, in the palletizing method and apparatus described above, a large volume is required because there are a take-out station for taking out the work to be loaded, a palletizing station for loading the pallet, and a station for placing a large robot. Also, a robot that moves three axes above the pallet also requires a large volume.

  Therefore, the present invention reduces the volume by moving the loading robot on the loading pallet, and automatically loads and loads the pallet before loading using the thrust of the single axis moving stage by the aforementioned loading robot. It is an object of the present invention to provide a small and inexpensive palletizing device that can automatically carry out a completed pallet.

In order to achieve the above object, the palletizing apparatus of the present invention comprises:
A palletizing device that picks up a workpiece by a multi-axis robot and loads it on a pallet.
A conveyor for placing and moving pallets;
A stage disposed across the conveyor and having a thrust in the conveying direction of the conveyor;
A multi-axis robot installed on the stage;
It is characterized by having.

In order to achieve the above object, the palletizing method of the present invention comprises:
A palletizing method in which a workpiece is loaded on a pallet by a multi-axis robot fixed to a stage movable across the conveying direction of the pallet on the conveyor,
Placing pallets on the conveyor,
Removing workpieces from a workpiece removal station with a multi-axis robot;
Move the stage in the direction of the pallet, and load the workpiece on the front side in the pallet transport direction,
Moving the stage to the rear in the transport direction after finishing the loading of the workpiece on the front side of the pallet,
Loading workpieces on the rear side of the pallet transport direction,
Are performed in this order.

  A multi-axis robot is installed on the stage so as to be movable in a direction almost perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveyor.

  The stage has a pallet transfer claw and a pallet extrusion unit.

  Pallets loaded with workpieces can be automatically picked up by unmanned vehicles.

  It has a work picking station for transporting the work picked up by the multi-axis robot to the picking position.

  The pallet can carry a sheet pallet with tabs, and the workpiece is loaded on the sheet pallet carried on the pallet.

  A pallet magazine for holding a sheet pallet supplied to the pallet is provided.

  Palletizing by a multi-axis robot for stacking is performed by moving the stage on the single-axis robot to perform palletizing from the front side in the transport direction of the fixed stacking pallet after removing the stacking workpiece from the take-out station. . The loading and palletizing are repeated until the loading on the front side is completed. After the specified number of stages have been stacked, the operation of palletizing again is repeated at a position shifted by one pitch of the workpiece to be loaded rearward in the conveying direction. By repeating this operation for one pallet, the stage and the multi-axis robot can move on the stacking pallet, and the apparatus can be downsized.

  When it is necessary to install a sheet pallet with tabs on the pallet before stacking, if a vertical pallet magazine is installed on the side of the stacking robot section so that it can be supplied by the stacking robot, supply from the take-out with a small robot Is possible. When the tab pallet with tabs is automatically folded, a tab automatic folding unit is provided above the tabbed sheet pallet magazine.

  Since the multi-axis robot operates on a stage that is disposed across the conveyor and has thrust in the conveying direction of the conveyor, a space for installing large robots on both sides of the conveyor becomes unnecessary.

  As a result, the designated tab is folded by the automatic tab folding unit while the sheet is lifted above the magazine when the multi-axis robot is stacked. Furthermore, using the power for discharging the pallet after the completion of the stacking, the tabs on the two sides are bent at the same time as being carried out by the tab folding unit installed in the non-powered conveyor section. Thus, automatic supply of a tabbed sheet pallet is also possible.

  For loading and unloading of the pallet, the pallet on the non-powered roller conveyor is loaded with the pallet transfer claw of the stage using the thrust of the single-axis stage moving on the pallet. At the time of unloading, the stage is moved forward by the movement of the stage, and the pallet is moved forward. For the extrusion from the stacking unit, the completed pallet is pushed out by the completed pallet extrusion unit installed on the stage. This eliminates the need for a powered conveyor.

  A powered conveyor may be used for loading and unloading the pallet. In this case, the pallet transfer claw and the finished pallet pushing unit described above are not necessary.

  As shown in Fig. 14, unmanned vehicles that transport pallets pass under the stage of the loading robot, stop at the pallet loading station, and after loading the workpieces on the pallets, You may carry out a packing completion pallet.

  In this case, the conveyor and the pallet transfer claw / completed pallet extrusion unit are not required.

The perspective view which shows the whole structure of the palletizing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The side view which shows the whole structure of the palletizing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The front view which shows the whole structure of the palletizing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The rear view which shows the whole structure of the palletizing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention The top view explaining each station of the pallet concerning an embodiment of the invention Enlarged view of the folding unit Illustration of bending unit Operation diagram of sheet pallet folding unit with tab Operation diagram of sheet pallet folding unit with tab Operation diagram of sheet pallet folding unit with tab Enlarged view of the finished pallet extrusion unit Enlarged view of the tab folding unit Enlarged view of tab bending unit ironing bending Overall view of the palletizing device when automatically picking up unmanned vehicles Overall view of the palletizing device when the first line is completed

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. In addition, the embodiments described below are for explaining the present invention by way of example, and it goes without saying that various changes and modifications are possible.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a palletizing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The palletizing apparatus 50 corresponding to automatic palletizing takes out the work 28 by the small multi-axis robot 2 and has a tab-shaped sheet pallet having tabs on four sides (hereinafter referred to as “sheet pallet” for convenience of explanation). Load) 47. The palletizing device 50 is arranged across the non-powered conveyor 4 for placing and moving the pallet 48 capable of carrying the sheet pallet 47 and the non-powered conveyor 4, and thrusts the non-powered conveyor 4 in the illustrated conveyance direction. And a stacking robot unit composed of a multi-axis robot 2 installed on the stage 1.

  A single-axis robot mount 40 on which a single-axis robot 5 is placed along the direction of carrying out (moving) the pallet 48 on both outer sides of the non-powered conveyor 4 having two rows of rotating roller portions 36 arranged in parallel. Is arranged in parallel with the non-powered conveyor 4. The non-powered conveyor 4 includes two left and right rotating roller portions 36, but can also include three rotating roller portions 36.

  The stage 1 disposed across the non-powered conveyor 4 is supported by the single-axis robot 5 so as to be movable in the conveying direction at both ends in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the non-powered conveyor 4. One end of the stage 1 is connected to an end of a work supply conveyor 7 that supplies the work 28 from a work supply source (not shown). A pallet magazine 3 that holds a plurality of sheet pallets 47 and supplies the sheet pallets 47 is provided at the other end of the stage 1. A workpiece picking station 8 is provided at the end of the workpiece supply conveyor 7 on the multi-axis robot 2 side.

  The workpiece supply conveyor 7 and the pallet magazine 3 are provided above the uniaxial robot 5 and the stage 1. For this reason, the operation of the single-axis robot 5 is not affected. This can be understood from FIG. 2, which is a side view showing the overall configuration of the palletizing apparatus 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the pallet positioning unit 12 and the tab bending unit 23 are provided on the single-axis robot mount 40. The tab bending unit 23 includes a mechanism for bending the tab of the sheet pallet 47 as will be described later with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14.

  The work supply conveyor 7 and the work removal station 8 shown in FIG. 1 may be installed on either the left or right side when viewed from the pallet carrying-out direction. Similarly, the pallet magazine 3 may be installed on either the left or right side as viewed from the pallet unloading direction. Furthermore, the workpiece supply conveyor 7 and the workpiece picking station 8 driven by a drive source (not shown) and the pallet magazine 3 can be provided on the same side of the non-powered conveyor 4.

  FIG. 3 is a front view showing the overall configuration of the palletizing apparatus 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a rear view showing the overall configuration of the palletizing apparatus 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the pallet guide 37 that holds the pallet magazine 3 is supported at a predetermined inclination on a pallet magazine base 38 fixed to the single-axis robot base 40. The reason why the pallet magazine 3 is tilted and supported is to make it easier for the multi-axis robot 2 to take out the sheet pallet 47 from the pallet magazine 3.

  As shown in the rear view of FIG. 4, the pallet transfer claw unit 10 is provided between the two rows of rotating roller portions 36 constituting the non-powered conveyor 4 and performs positioning in the pallet 48 conveyance direction. In addition, work guides 39 extending upward are provided on both sides of the work supply conveyor 7 in the transport direction, and guide the work 28 toward the work take-out station 8 without being skewed.

  Here, the multi-axis robot 2 will be described. The multi-axis robot 2 includes a robot fixing unit 22 at the bottom. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the robot fixing unit 22 is fixed to the upper surface near the center of the stage 1. Accordingly, the multi-axis robot 2 moves in the conveying direction of the conveyor 4 as the stage 1 moves.

  The multi-axis robot 2 includes an arm 43, and a suction pad 44 for taking out the work 28 is provided at the tip of the arm 43. The suction pad 44 is provided with a plurality of suction portions on the surface facing the work 28. The suction unit is connected to a suction source (not shown), holds the work 28 on the suction pad 44 by suction force, takes out the work 28 from the work take-out station 8, and loads it on the sheet pallet 47.

  FIG. 5 is a top view for explaining each station of the pallet 48 of the present invention. The pallet 48 is loaded from the pallet standby station 9 and moves to the pallet stacking station 11. A plurality of sheet pallets 47 are accommodated in the pallet magazine 3, from which the multi-axis robot 2 takes out one sheet pallet 47 and places it on the pallet 48. Further, the workpiece 28 is stacked on the sheet pallet 47 as described later. This state is a standby state of the palletizing device 50 shown in FIG.

  When a predetermined number of workpieces 28 are stacked at the pallet stacking station 11, the pallet 48 is moved to the pallet unloading station 45. That is, the pallet 48 moves to the most upstream pallet standby station 9, the pallet stacking station 11, and the most downstream pallet unloading station 45.

  Here, the movement of the pallet 48 using the non-powered conveyor 4 composed of a plurality of rollers in the palletizing apparatus 50 of the present invention will be described. After the activation signal is input, the claw descends from the pallet transfer claw unit 10 attached to the stage 1 shown in FIG. 4 to the inside of the pallet cavity, and the claw is inserted. After nail insertion, the stage 1 is moved in the carry-out direction, and the pallet on the non-powered conveyor 4 is moved to the pallet stacking station 11 shown in FIG. After completion of the pallet movement to the pallet stacking station 11, the pallet shown in FIG. After the pallet fixing is completed, the claw of the pallet transfer claw unit 10 is raised, and then the stage 1 is moved back to the position of the pallet loading station 11 shown in FIG.

  The above-described pallet carrying-in operation can be omitted when using a powered conveyor or carrying a pallet by an unmanned vehicle.

  FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the folding unit 18 for automatically folding the sheet pallet 47, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the folding unit 18. When it is necessary to set the sheet pallet 47 in the stacking station 11, one sheet pallet 47 at the pallet take-out position 46 is taken out from the pallet magazine 3 by the multi-axis robot 2. At the time of taking out, as shown in FIG. 6, the sheet pallet 47 is lifted by the multi-axis robot 2, and the folding tab portion 19 is inserted into the folding unit 18 at the automatic folding position 13 with the tab.

  After the insertion is completed, when the folding cylinder 14 of the tabbed automatic folding unit 18 is driven, the pallet pressing plate 16 extends forward, and the fixing plate 17 and the pallet that are fixed when the sheet pallet 47 is folded as shown in FIGS. A sheet pallet 47 is sandwiched between the presser plate 16 and the holding plate 16.

  In FIG. 9, when the folding cylinder 14 is driven in a state where the sheet pallet 47 is sandwiched between the fixed plate 17 and the pallet presser plate 16, the pallet presser plate 16 extends further forward. Thereby, the link arm 20 connected to the bending cylinder 14 is displaced to the bending cylinder 14 side. The pallet folding plate 15 connected to the link arm 20 falls down substantially perpendicularly to the bending cylinder 14 direction. Thereby, the tab of the sheet pallet 47 is bent in the direction of the bending cylinder 14. FIG. 10 shows this state.

  The number of bending operations of the bending cylinder 14 can be arbitrarily set by the designated number. After the folding is completed, the multi-axis robot 2 rotates the sheet pallet 47 by 180 degrees, inserts the tab at a position symmetrical to the folded position as described above into the folding unit 18 and performs the folding operation again.

  In the above description, the tabs on the two opposite sides are folded, but the tabs on the four sides may be folded by the tab automatic folding unit 18 provided on the pallet magazine 3.

  The sheet pallet 47 in which the automatic folding of the designated tabs on the two sides is completed is set in the pallet stacking station 11 by the multi-axis robot 2. At this time, the sheet pallet 47 is set in the pallet stacking station 11 so that the tab folded by the tab folding unit 18 is positioned on the side of the sheet pallet 47 in the carry-out direction. After the setting of the sheet pallet 47 is completed, the stage 1 is moved backward to the workpiece picking station 8.

  The multi-axis robot 2 takes out the work 28 positioned at the work take-out station 8. After the completion of the removal, the stage 1 is moved in the pallet unloading direction, and the work 28 taken out from the work unloading station 8 is stacked on the leading end side in the workpiece unloading position direction of the sheet pallet 47 fixed at the position of the stacking station 11. After completing the loading, the stage 1 is moved backward to the workpiece take-out station 8 and the next workpiece is taken out. After the removal is completed, the stage 1 is moved in the pallet unloading direction, and the work is loaded on the previously loaded work.

  The stacking order may be either the upward direction of the stacked workpieces or the stacking sequence of the workpieces. The operations from picking up to stacking are repeated until the specified number of columns and the specified number of steps are stacked. FIG. 15 is an overall view of the palletizing device when the first-line stacking is completed, showing an example of such stacking. FIG. 15 shows that three rotating roller portions 36 may constitute the conveyor 4. As shown in FIG. 15, when the workpiece 28 is stacked on the front side in the conveying direction of the sheet pallet 47, the stage 1 is positioned on the sheet pallet 47.

In the palletizing by the multi-axis robot 2 for stacking, the workpiece 28 to be stacked is taken out from the workpiece picking station 8 and then palletized from the front side in the transport direction of the fixed loading pallet 48. At this time, since the work 28 is not stacked on the rear side of the pallet 48, a part or all of the stage 1 can be positioned above the rear side of the pallet 48. Accordingly, the work space can be shortened and the multi-axis robot 2 can be reduced in size.
Thereafter, the above-described operation is repeated, and the stage 1 moves on the single-axis robot 5 to perform palletizing.

  The loading and palletizing of the stacked workpieces are repeated until the loading of the front side of the pallet 48 is completed. After the specified number of stages have been stacked, the operation of palletizing again is repeated at a position shifted by one pitch of the workpiece to be loaded rearward in the conveying direction. By repeating this operation for one pallet, the stage 1 and the multi-axis robot 2 can move on the loading pallet 48, and the apparatus can be miniaturized.

  After stacking the workpieces 28 in the designated row and the designated number of stages, the stage 1 in which the next workpiece 28 is taken out from the station 8 by the multi-axis robot 2 reaches the position one pitch behind the stacked workpieces 28 in the row direction. Proceed and stack the workpieces again up to the specified row / number of steps. This operation is repeated until the completion of stacking up to the designated row / designated number of rows in the same manner as in the previous row, and after completion, the workpiece 28 is loaded again at a position one pitch behind in the row direction. That is, since the workpieces 28 are stacked from the workpiece unloading direction side of the pallet 47 to be stacked, there is a space on the pallet 48 until the previous row is stacked, and the stage 1 is mounted on the pallet. It is possible to move on the pallet 48 fixed to the station 11.

  FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of a finished product extrusion unit in which a predetermined number of workpieces 28 are stacked on the pallet 48. After the above-described work stacking is completed, as shown in FIG. 11, the completed pallet extrusion unit 21 attached to the stage 1 descends obliquely downward as viewed from the pallet unloading direction. The pushing plate 19 attached to the finished pallet pushing unit 21 and displaced by the operation of the cylinder 42 pushes together with the lowermost work 28 on which the loading completion pallet 48 and the sheet pallet 47 in the pallet loading station 11 are stacked. Move to position.

  After the movement is completed, the finished product pallet is pushed out to the position of the pallet unloading station 45 by the thrust that the stage 1 moves in the unloading direction. After the stage 1 moves to the designated position, the extrusion plate 19 attached to the completed pallet extrusion unit 7 moves backward. This operation completely separates the loading completion pallet from the position of the pallet loading station 11. After completion of unloading the completed pallet, the stage 1 moves backward to the position of the workpiece removal station 8.

  In the embodiment described above, the multi-axis robot 2 takes out two workpieces 28 at a time from the workpiece take-out station 8 as shown in FIG. 1, but the number to be taken out at one time is arbitrary and may be one, or 3 It may be more than one.

  The pallet unloading operation described above may not be performed when the pallet is conveyed by a power conveyor (not shown) or the unmanned vehicle 50 shown in FIG. FIG. 14 is an overall view of the palletizing device 50 during automatic unmanned vehicle take-up. The finished product 35 in which the work has been loaded on the pallet 47 can be configured to be automatically discharged onto the transfer pallet 48 placed on the upper station 49 of the unmanned vehicle 50.

  When the pallet that has been stacked by the thrust of the stage 1 is unloaded, the left and right tabbed sheet pallets 47 are folded simultaneously as viewed from the unloading direction. As shown in FIG. 12, left and right tab folding units 23 attached to the single-axis robot mount 5 are used. Before the loading completion pallet is unloaded from the pallet loading station 11 on the stage 1, the tab folding calling guide 24 and the tab folding roller 25 attached to the tip of the tab folding unit 23 shown in FIG. Toward the center of the non-powered conveyer 4 to the position just before the application with the finished product pallet.

  Thus, when the tab folding calling guide 24 and the tab folding roller 25 push out the stacking completion pallet on the stage 1 after the advancement is completed, the sheet pallet 47 is sequentially squeezed from the unloading direction side as shown in detail in FIG. Bend. After carrying out the stacking completion pallet on the stage 1, the operation of the cylinder 26 moves the tab folding calling guide 24 and the tab folding roller 25 backward to complete the folding of the tabs on the two sides. FIG. 13 shows a state where the sheet pallet 47 is bent by ironing. In FIG. 13, the stacked workpieces 28 are drawn with imaginary lines for convenience of explanation. When the finished product pallet is pushed out to the position of the pallet unloading station 45 with a thrust that moves the stage 1 in the unloading direction, the tab of the sheet pallet 47 can be automated by the tab folding unit 23.

  When the four-side tabs are folded in advance by the folding unit 18 installed at the top of the pallet magazine 3, the tabs are folded by the tab folding unit 23 installed on the single-axis robot mount 40 when the pallet is completed. It is not necessary to bend.

  The process from the pallet supply to the finished pallet unloading is completed through the above steps.

  In the above description, the sheet pallet 47 is not carried on the pallet 48 placed on the pallet standby station 9. However, the pallet 48 carrying the sheet pallet 47 in advance can be prepared in the pallet standby station 9. . In this case, the pallet magazine 3 becomes unnecessary. Further, it is not necessary to take out the sheet pallet 47 from the pallet magazine 3 and place it on the pallet 48 before the work is stacked. Further, the sheet palette 47 is provided with tabs on four sides, but it is not always necessary to provide tabs on all four sides.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the volume of the palletizing device main body can be reduced, the operator load of bending the tabbed sheet pallet can be reduced, and capital investment can be suppressed without requiring many power conveyors. effective.

2 Small multi-axis robot 3 Pallet magazine 4 Non-powered conveyor 5 1-axis robot 7 Work supply conveyor 8 Work take-out station 10 Pallet transfer claw unit 12 Positioning unit 14 Pallet folding cylinder 15 Pallet folding plate 16 Pallet holding plate 17 Pallet fixing plate 18 Folding unit 22 Link arm 22 Robot fixing part 23 Tab folding unit 24 Pallet folding call guide 25 Pallet folding roller 26 Cylinder 28 Work 30 Palette 35 during ironing bending Finished product 36 Rotating roller part 37 Pallet guide 38 Pallet magazine mount 39 Work guide 40 Single-axis robot mount 42 Cylinder 43 Arm 44 Suction pad 47 (with tab) Sheet pallet 48 Pallet 50 Palletizing device

Claims (13)

A palletizing device that takes out a workpiece by a multi-axis robot and loads it on a pallet,
A conveyor for placing and moving pallets;
A stage disposed across the conveyor and having a thrust in the conveying direction of the conveyor;
A multi-axis robot installed on the stage;
A palletizing device characterized by comprising:   The palletizing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the multi-axis robot is installed on a stage so as to be movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the conveyor.   The palletizing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stage includes a pallet transfer claw and a pallet pushing unit.   The palletizing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pallet on which the workpiece is loaded can be automatically picked up by an unmanned vehicle.   5. The palletizing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a workpiece take-out station that conveys the work taken out by the multi-axis robot to a take-out position.   The palletizing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the pallet can carry a sheet pallet with tabs, and the workpiece is stacked on the sheet pallet carried on the pallet. .   The palletizing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a pallet magazine that holds the sheet pallet for supplying the sheet pallet onto the pallet. A palletizing method in which a workpiece is loaded on a pallet by a multi-axis robot fixed to a stage movable across the conveying direction of the pallet on the conveyor,
Placing pallets on the conveyor,
Removing workpieces from a workpiece removal station with a multi-axis robot;
Move the stage in the direction of the pallet, and load the workpiece on the front side in the pallet transport direction,
Moving the stage to the rear in the transport direction after finishing the loading of the workpiece on the front side of the pallet,
Loading workpieces on the rear side of the pallet transport direction,
Are performed in this order.   The palletizing method according to claim 6, wherein after the work is stacked on the rear side in the conveyance direction of the pallet, the pallet on which the work has been stacked by the thrust of the stage is sent forward in the conveyance direction.   The palletizing method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the pallet can carry a tabbed sheet pallet, and the workpiece is loaded on the sheet pallet carried on the pallet.   The palletizing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the sheet pallet is supplied onto the pallet from a pallet magazine.   The palletizing method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the tab of the sheet pallet is bent when the work is stacked on the rear side in the conveyance direction of the pallet and then fed forward in the conveyance direction.   13. The palletizing method according to claim 12, wherein the tab of the sheet pallet is bent when the pallet on which workpieces are stacked by the thrust of the stage is sent forward in the conveying direction.

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