JP2017056528A - Transfer system and transfer method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve transfer efficiency of a workpiece.SOLUTION: A transfer system includes a first conveyer, a second conveyer, a robot, a robot controller, an image sensor, and a temporary placing area. The first conveyer conveys the workpiece. The second conveyer conveys a placing plate for placing the workpiece. The robot transfers the workpiece to be conveyed by the first conveyer to the placing plate to be conveyed by the second conveyer. The robot controller includes a determination part and an operation control part. The determination part determines a supply state of the workpiece to the placing plate based on a detection result of the image sensor. The operation control part makes the robot perform operation of temporarily placing the workpiece obtained from the first conveyer on the temporary placing area when it is determined that the workpieces are oversupplied to the placing plate by the determination part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The disclosed embodiments relate to a transfer system and a transfer method.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a transfer system is known that includes a workpiece transfer conveyor that transfers workpieces, a tray transfer conveyor that transfers a tray on which workpieces are placed, and a robot that transfers workpieces from the workpiece transfer conveyor to the tray transfer conveyor.

  In such a transfer system, if the balance between the workpiece supply amount and the tray supply amount is lost, the workpiece may be missed or placed on the tray. For this reason, when this balance collapses, the technique which makes the conveyance speed of a conveyor slow is proposed (for example, refer patent document 1).

  Specifically, in such a technique, when the workpiece supply amount is excessive with respect to the tray supply amount, the conveyance speed of the workpiece conveyance conveyor is decreased, and conversely, when the tray supply amount is excessive, the tray conveyance is performed. The conveyor transport speed is slow.

JP 2012-184102 A

  However, if the conveying speed of the conveyor is slowed as in the above-described prior art, the time required for transferring the workpiece is increased, and there is a problem that the transfer efficiency is lowered.

  An object of one embodiment is to provide a transfer system and a transfer method that can increase the transfer efficiency of a workpiece.

  The transfer system according to an aspect of the embodiment includes a first conveyor, a second conveyor, a robot, a robot controller, an image sensor, and a temporary placement area. The first conveyor conveys the workpiece. A 2nd conveyor conveys the mounting board which mounts the said workpiece | work. A robot transfers the said workpiece | work conveyed by the said 1st conveyor to the said mounting plate conveyed by the said 2nd conveyor. The robot controller controls the operation of the robot. The image sensor detects the workpiece and the mounting plate. The temporary placement area is an area for temporarily placing the workpiece obtained by the robot from the first conveyor. Further, the robot controller includes a determination unit and an operation control unit. The determination unit determines the supply state of the workpiece with respect to the mounting plate based on the detection result of the image sensor. The operation control unit temporarily moves the work acquired from the first conveyor in the temporary placement area when the determination unit determines that the work is excessively supplied to the mounting plate. Let the robot do it.

  According to one aspect of the embodiment, it is possible to provide a transfer system and a transfer method that can increase the transfer efficiency of a workpiece.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a transfer system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the transfer system. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the robot. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the extended range information. FIG. 5A is an explanatory diagram of temporary placement information. FIG. 5B is an explanatory diagram of the placement board information. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of stacking in the temporary placement area. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed by the transfer system. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when a plurality of types of workpieces are placed on the placement plate. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure according to the operating status of the second conveyor.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a transfer system and a transfer method disclosed in the present application will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited by embodiment shown below. In the following, a case where a so-called parallel link robot is used as a robot for transferring a workpiece will be described. However, a serial link robot may be used.

  In the embodiment described below, expressions such as “parallel” and “vertical” may be used, but it is not necessary to strictly satisfy these conditions. That is, each expression described above allows for deviations in manufacturing accuracy, installation accuracy, processing accuracy, detection accuracy, and the like.

  First, the outline | summary of the transfer system which concerns on embodiment is demonstrated using FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the transfer system 1. FIG. 1 is a view of the transfer system 1 as viewed from the positive direction of the Z axis. FIG. 1 also shows a three-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system including the Z axis whose vertical upward direction is the positive direction for easy understanding. Such an orthogonal coordinate system may be shown in other drawings used in the following description.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the transfer system 1 according to the embodiment includes a first conveyor 10, a second conveyor 20, a robot 30, an image sensor 40, a temporary placement area 50, and a robot controller 100. In this embodiment, the case where the image sensor 40 is used as a sensor for detecting an object such as the workpiece 200 will be described. However, various sensors such as an optical sensor and a sound wave sensor can be used instead of the image sensor 40. That is, the type of sensor is not limited as long as the position and orientation of the passing object can be detected.

  The 1st conveyor 10 conveys the some workpiece | work 200 to the conveyance direction 11 (X-axis positive direction) shown in the figure. Here, the orientation of the workpiece 200 may be varied as shown in FIG. This is because the robot 30 places the workpiece 200 on the temporary placement area 50 or the placement plate 300 while adjusting the direction of the workpiece 200.

  The 2nd conveyor 20 conveys the some mounting board 300 to the conveyance direction 21 (X-axis positive direction) shown in the figure. Here, the mounting plate 300 may have any shape as long as the workpiece 200 can be mounted such as a container such as a tray or a pallet or a plate-like table. Further, the mounting plate 300 may be a region that can be detected by the image sensor 40 such as a protrusion or a pattern on the second conveyor 20.

  In addition, in FIG. 1, although it showed about the case where the extending | stretching direction was respectively linearly 1st conveyor 10 and the 2nd conveyor 20 were provided in parallel, it is good also as providing both conveyors non-parallel, and extending | stretching direction is It may be curved. Moreover, it is good also as providing both conveyors so that it may cross | intersect up and down about a perpendicular direction.

  Moreover, in FIG. 1, although the case where the conveyance direction 11 of the 1st conveyor 10 and the conveyance direction 21 of the 2nd conveyor 20 were the same direction was shown, it is good also considering the conveyance direction of each conveyor as a mutually reverse direction. Note that when the conveying directions of the conveyors are opposite to each other, the image sensor 40 may be provided on the upstream side of the robot 30.

  The robot 30 acquires a workpiece 200 conveyed by the first conveyor 10 and performs a transfer operation such as an operation of placing the workpiece 200 on the mounting plate 300 conveyed by the second conveyor 20. The image sensor 40 is provided on the upstream side (X-axis negative direction) of the robot 30 in FIG. 1 and images the workpiece 200 and the placement plate 300 within the imaging range 41. In addition, although the case where the imaging range 41 was substantially rectangular was illustrated in FIG. 1, the shape of this imaging range 41 may be arbitrary.

  The robot controller 100 receives the detection result from the image sensor 40, recognizes the positions of the workpiece 200 and the placement plate 300, and instructs the robot 30 to perform a transfer operation. Here, in the transfer system 1 according to the embodiment, the temporary placement area 50 which is an area for temporarily placing the workpiece 200 acquired by the robot 30 from the first conveyor 10 is provided. Then, the robot controller 100 causes the robot 30 to perform an operation using the temporary placement area 50 in accordance with the supply balance between the workpiece 200 and the placement plate 300.

  For example, it is assumed that the robot controller 100 determines that the workpiece 200 is excessively supplied to the mounting plate 300 (step S1). In this case, the robot controller 100 instructs the robot 30 to transfer the workpiece 200 acquired by the robot 30 from the first conveyor 10 to the temporary placement area 50 (step S2).

  By doing in this way, if the temporary placement area 50 is not present, the workpiece 200 that flows to the downstream side is not missed. That is, it is possible to prevent the workpiece 200 from being missed. Furthermore, when the placement plate 300 is excessively supplied to the workpiece 200, the workpiece 200 temporarily placed in the temporary placement area 50 can be transferred to the placement plate 300 of the second conveyor 20. That is, it is possible to prevent the workpiece 200 from being left on the placement plate 300.

  Therefore, according to the transfer system 1 according to the embodiment, the transfer efficiency of the workpiece 200 can be increased. The transfer system 1 determines whether the workpiece 200 is excessively supplied or insufficiently supplied to the mounting plate 300 based on the detection result of the image sensor 40. Regarding this point, FIG. Will be described later.

  Moreover, although the transfer system 1 respond | corresponds also to the transfer of several types of workpiece | work 200, this point is later mentioned using FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B. Furthermore, although the transfer system 1 corresponds to the stacking of the workpieces 200 in the temporary placement area 50, this point will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Next, the configuration of the transfer system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the transfer system 1. In FIG. 2, the provisional placement area 50 shown in FIG. 1 is not shown. Moreover, in FIG. 2, the component required for description of the transfer system 1 is shown, and description about a general component is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the transfer system 1 includes a first conveyor 10, a second conveyor 20, a robot 30, an image sensor 40, a temporary placement area 50 (see FIG. 1), and a robot controller 100. . The first conveyor 10, the second conveyor 20, the robot 30, and the image sensor 40 are connected to the robot controller 100.

  As already described with reference to FIG. 1, the first conveyor 10 is a conveyor that conveys the workpiece 200, and the second conveyor 20 is a conveyor that conveys the placement plate 300. Each conveyor notifies the robot controller 100 of the operating status (for example, status of occurrence of abnormality, recovery from abnormality, etc.).

  The robot 30 is, for example, a parallel link robot, and is disposed on the ceiling of a room where the transfer system 1 is installed. The detailed configuration of the robot 30 will be described later with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the case where the robot 30 is a parallel link robot will be described. However, the robot 30 may be a serial link robot in which a plurality of arms are connected in series at a plurality of joints.

  The image sensor 40 is a vision sensor such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera, and images the workpiece 200 conveyed by the first conveyor 10 and the mounting plate 300 conveyed by the second conveyor 20. In FIG. 1, the case where the image of the workpiece 200 and the mounting plate 300 is imaged by one image sensor 40 is shown, but the image sensor 40 for imaging the workpiece 200 and the imaging of the mounting plate 300 may be used. Good.

  The robot controller 100 includes a control unit 110 and a storage unit 120. The control unit 110 includes an image recognition unit 111, a determination unit 112, an acquisition source determination unit 113, an operation control unit 114, and a reception unit 115. In addition, the storage unit 120 stores extended range information 121, temporary placement information 122, placement board information 123, and teaching information 124.

  In FIG. 2, one robot controller 100 is shown for simplicity of explanation, but when there are a plurality of robots 30, a robot controller 100 corresponding to each robot 30 may be provided. . In this case, an upper robot controller 100 that bundles the robot controllers 100 may be provided.

  Here, the robot controller 100 includes, for example, a computer having a central processing unit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive (HDD), and an input / output port, and various circuits. Including.

  The CPU of the computer functions as, for example, the image recognition unit 111, the determination unit 112, the acquisition source determination unit 113, the operation control unit 114, and the reception unit 115 of the control unit 110 by reading and executing a program stored in the ROM. To do.

  In addition, at least one or all of the image recognition unit 111, the determination unit 112, the acquisition source determination unit 113, the operation control unit 114, and the reception unit 115 may be ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or the like. It can also be configured with other hardware.

  The storage unit 120 corresponds to, for example, a RAM or an HDD. The RAM and HDD can store extended range information 121, temporary placement information 122, placement board information 123, and teaching information 124.

  Note that the robot controller 100 may acquire the above-described program and various types of information via another computer or a portable recording medium connected via a wired or wireless network. Furthermore, as described above, the robot controller 100 may be configured as a plurality of devices that can communicate with each other, or may be configured as a hierarchical device that can communicate with an upper or lower device.

  The control unit 110 receives the operation status from the first conveyor 10 and the second conveyor 20, and the detection results of the workpiece 200 (see FIG. 1) and the mounting plate 300 (see FIG. 1) from the image sensor 40, respectively. The operation control of the robot 30 is performed.

  The image recognition unit 111 recognizes the positions and orientations of the workpiece 200 and the placement plate 300 from the image captured by the image sensor 40. For example, the image recognition unit 111 recognizes the orientation of the workpiece 200 and the X and Y coordinates (see FIG. 1) of the representative position (for example, the center) of the workpiece 200.

  Further, the image recognition unit 111 determines the future positions of the workpiece 200 and the mounting plate 300 based on the conveyance speed of the first conveyor 10 and the conveyance speed of the second conveyor 20 and the distance between the image sensor 40 and the robot 30. Predict. The robot controller 100 may be configured to use the image sensor 40 including the image recognition unit 111 and receive the recognition result from the image sensor 40.

  The determination unit 112 determines the supply state of the workpiece 200 and the mounting plate 300 based on the recognition result by the image recognition unit 111. Specifically, the determination unit 112 determines whether the workpiece 200 is excessively supplied or insufficiently supplied to the mounting plate 300 based on the extended range information 121 of the storage unit 120.

  And when the determination part 112 determines with the workpiece | work 200 being oversupply, it will determine transferring the workpiece | work 200 which the robot 30 acquired from the 1st conveyor 10 to the temporary placement area 50 (refer FIG. 1). . Further, when the determination unit 112 determines that the workpiece 200 is insufficiently supplied, the determination unit 112 determines to transfer the workpiece 200 in the temporary placement area 50 to the placement plate 300 of the second conveyor 20.

  Here, the extended range information 121 includes information on the first extended range in which the range in which the robot 30 can place the workpiece 200 on the mounting plate 300 in the second conveyor 20 is extended by a predetermined distance upstream.

  The extended range information 121 includes information related to the second extended range in which the range in which the robot 30 can acquire the workpiece 200 on the first conveyor 10 is extended upstream by a predetermined distance. Details of the extended range information 121 and processing contents of the determination unit 112 based on the extended range information 121 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  By the way, the determination unit 112 performs processing for updating the temporary placement information 122 indicating the placement state of the workpiece 200 in the temporary placement area 50 (see FIG. 1). The details of the temporary placement information 122 and the content of the process in which the determination unit 112 updates the temporary placement information 122 will be described later with reference to FIG. 5A.

  In addition, the determination unit 112 performs a process of updating the placement plate information 123 indicating the placement state of the workpiece 200 on the placement plate 300. The details of the placement board information 123 and the content of the process in which the determination unit 112 updates the placement board information 123 will be described later with reference to FIG. 5B.

  The acquisition source determination unit 113 determines which workpiece 200 in the temporary placement area 50 is to be acquired. Further, when there are a plurality of types of workpieces 200, the acquisition source determination unit 113 determines the type of the workpiece 200 to be placed on the placement plate 300 based on the placement plate information 123, and then the temporary placement area The workpiece 200 to be acquired from 50 is determined.

  The operation control unit 114 controls the robot 30 to perform the transfer operation of the workpiece 200 based on the determination result by the determination unit 112, the determination result by the acquisition source determination unit 113, and the teaching information 124 in the storage unit 120. Here, the teaching information 124 is information that includes a “job” that is a program that is created at the teaching stage for teaching the robot 30 of an operation and that defines the operation path of the robot 30.

  The receiving unit 115 receives the operating status of the first conveyor 10 and the operating status of the second conveyor 20, and notifies the operation control unit 114 when an abnormality occurs in each conveyor or when the abnormality is recovered. . Details of processing performed by the operation control unit 114 when an abnormality occurs or when the abnormality is recovered will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Next, the configuration of the robot 30 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the robot 30. As shown in FIG. 3, the robot 30 is a so-called parallel link robot, and includes a main body portion 31, three links 32, and a holding portion 33 supported by the three links.

  The main body 31 is fixed to a ceiling of a room where the transfer system 1 is installed. The main body 31 includes an actuator (not shown) such as a motor for driving the three links 32.

  Each of the three links 32 includes a first joint portion 32a, a first arm 32b, a second joint portion 32c, a second arm 32d, and a third joint portion 32e. As described above, the actuator that drives the first joint portion 32 a is provided in the main body portion 31. The first arm 32b is driven by the actuator described above so as to turn around the rotation axis of the first joint portion 32a.

  The 2nd joint part 32c is provided in the front end side of the 1st arm 32b, and the base end side of the 2nd arm 32d is connected so that turning is possible. Further, a third joint portion 32e is provided at the distal end side of the second arm 32d, and the holding portion 33 is connected via the third joint portion 32e.

  Here, the holding unit 33 has a holding mechanism for the workpiece 200 such as an adsorption mechanism and a gripping mechanism, and incorporates an actuator (not shown) such as a motor for rotating the holding mechanism around the Z axis shown in FIG. To do. Thereby, the workpieces 200 in different directions can be placed on the temporary placement area 50 or the placement plate 300 in a predetermined direction.

  The robot 30 rotates each link 32 with respect to the main body portion 31 according to the instruction of the robot controller 100 to move the holding portion 33 so as to be in an arbitrary posture and arbitrary position, and to hold the holding portion 33. Rotate the mechanism to an arbitrary angle. Thus, by using the parallel link robot 30, the workpiece 200 can be transferred quickly, and the degree of freedom in the layout of the temporary placement area 50 can be increased.

  Next, the extended range information 121 shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the extended range information 121. The extended range information 121 is information including a first extended range 20EX corresponding to the second conveyor 20 that conveys the placement plate 300 and a second extended range 10EX corresponding to the first conveyor 10 that conveys the workpiece 200. is there.

  First, the 1st expansion range 20EX corresponding to the 2nd conveyor 20 which conveys the mounting board 300 is demonstrated. As shown in FIG. 4, in the first extended range 20EX, the range 20R in which the robot 30 can place the workpiece 200 on the mounting plate 300 in the second conveyor 20 is defined on the upstream side in the transport direction 21 (X-axis negative direction). ) Is a range expanded by a predetermined distance 20P. The predetermined distance 20P can be changed from an input device (not shown).

  The determination unit 112 of the robot controller 100 described above determines that the workpiece 200 is excessively supplied to the mounting plate 300 when there is no mounting plate 300 in the first extended range 20EX. As described above, by using the first extended range 20EX, the transfer system 1 can determine the excessive supply of the workpiece 200 by a simple process.

  Next, the 2nd expansion range 10EX corresponding to the 1st conveyor 10 which conveys the workpiece | work 200 is demonstrated. As shown in FIG. 4, the second extended range 10EX extends the range 10R in which the robot 30 can acquire the workpiece 200 on the first conveyor 10 by a predetermined distance 10P upstream in the transport direction 11 (X-axis negative direction). Range. The predetermined distance 10P can be changed from an input device (not shown).

  The determination unit 112 of the robot controller 100 described above determines that the workpiece 200 is insufficiently supplied to the mounting plate 300 when there is no workpiece 200 in the second extended range 10EX. As described above, by using the second extended range 10EX, the transfer system 1 can determine the supply shortage of the workpiece 200 by a simple process.

  In FIG. 4, the downstream end of the first expansion range 20EX is on the downstream side (X-axis positive direction) with respect to the downstream end of the second expansion range 10EX. This is because the normal operation of transferring to 20 is performed smoothly. That is, in consideration of the time required from obtaining the workpiece 200 to placing it on the placement plate 300, the downstream end of the first extension range 20EX is shifted downstream from the downstream end of the second extension range 10EX. It is.

  Next, the temporary placement information 122 illustrated in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG. 5A. FIG. 5A is an explanatory diagram of the temporary placement information 122. As illustrated in FIG. 5A, the temporary placement information 122 is information including, for example, a “type” item indicating the type of the workpiece 200 and a “position” item indicating the position of the workpiece 200 in the temporary placement area 50.

  Here, the “position” item includes a “sub-area” item that identifies a sub-area obtained by dividing the temporary placement area 50 into a plurality, and a “stage number” item that indicates the number of stages when the workpieces 200 are stacked. FIG. 5A shows the case where the types of workpieces 200 are α, β, and γ, but the number of types is not limited, and the number of types can be any number of 1 or more. FIG. 5A shows the case where the number of stages is 1 and 2. However, the number of stages is not limited, and the number of stages can be any number of 1 or more.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5A, the workpiece 200 of type α is in the first and second stages of area A, the workpiece 200 of type β is in the first stage of area B, and the workpiece 200 of type γ is C. In the first step of the area, each is temporarily placed.

  When the determination unit 112 of the robot controller 100 determines to temporarily place the workpiece 200 in the temporary placement area 50, the determination unit 112 determines the subarea and the number of steps in which the workpiece 200 is temporarily placed based on the temporary placement information 122. . Then, information on the workpiece 200 that has been temporarily placed is added to the temporary placement information 122.

  Further, when determining that the workpiece 200 is to be paid out from the temporary placement area 50, the determination unit 112 determines the workpiece 200 to be paid out based on the temporary placement information 122. Then, the information regarding the workpiece 200 that has been paid out is deleted from the temporary placement information 122.

  Further, the acquisition source determination unit 113 of the robot controller 100 described above determines which workpiece 200 in the temporary placement area 50 is to be acquired based on the temporary placement information 122.

  Next, the placement board information 123 shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG. 5B. FIG. 5B is an explanatory diagram of the placement board information 123. As shown in FIG. 5B, the placement board information 123 includes, for example, a “type” item indicating the type of the workpiece 200, a “position” item indicating a position in the placement plate 300, and the workpiece 200. This information includes a “mounting state” item indicating whether or not there is.

  FIG. 5B shows a case where the types of workpieces 200 are α, β, and γ, but the number of types is not limited, and the number of types can be any number of 1 or more. 5B shows a case where there are four positions 1 to 4 as positions in the mounting plate 300, but the number of places is not limited, and the number of places is an arbitrary number of 1 or more. be able to.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5B, the workpiece 200 having the type α at the position “1”, the type β at the position “3”, and the type γ at the position “4” is already placed, and the position “2”. Indicates that the work 200 of type α is to be placed, but has not yet been placed.

  When the determination unit 112 of the robot controller 100 determines to transfer the workpiece 200 to the mounting plate 300, the determination unit 112 determines a new “position” for mounting the workpiece 200 based on the mounting plate information 123. To do. Specifically, the determination unit 112 acquires the “position” where the workpiece 200 is not yet placed and the “type” from the placement board information 123, and newly sets the “position” where the workpiece 200 is placed. The “type” of the workpiece 200 to be transferred is determined.

  In addition, when there are a plurality of “positions” where the workpiece 200 is not placed, priority is given to the upper and lower rows shown in FIG. 5B, or priority is given to the smaller or larger “position”. By doing this, the “position” may be determined.

  Further, the acquisition source determination unit 113 of the robot controller 100 described above acquires a “type” corresponding to the “position” of the workpiece 200 to be newly placed on the placement plate 300 from the placement plate information 123. Then, it is determined from which of the first conveyor 10 or the temporary placement area 50 the acquired “type” of workpiece 200 is to be acquired.

  For example, in the case shown in FIG. 5B, since there is no workpiece 200 at the position “2”, α, which is the type of the workpiece 200 to be placed at the position “2”, is acquired from the placement board information 123. And if the workpiece | work 200 of a kind exists in the range 10R (refer FIG. 4) which can acquire the 1st conveyor 10, the 1st conveyor 10 will be determined as an acquisition source of the workpiece | work 200. FIG. On the other hand, if there is no workpiece 200 of type α in the range 10R, the temporary placement area 50 is determined as the acquisition source of the workpiece 200.

  Next, the stacking of the workpieces 200 in the temporary placement area 50 (see FIG. 1) will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of stacking in the temporary placement area 50. In FIG. 6, a case where a single type of workpiece 200 is stacked will be described. In addition, in order to distinguish each workpiece 200, a lower case alphabet is added to the end of the code like the workpiece 200a.

  Here, FIG. 6 shows a case where the temporary placement area 50 is divided into four sub-areas of A area, B area, C area, and D area, but the number to be divided is not limited. The number of divisions (number of subareas) can be an arbitrary number of 1 or more.

  The operation control unit 114 of the robot controller 100 described above performs the operation of loading the workpiece 200 on the next stage on condition that all the lower stages are filled when the workpieces 200 are stacked in multiple stages while being arranged in each sub-area. 30.

  In the case shown in FIG. 6, 200e is placed on the third stage on condition that all the second stages are filled, that is, the workpieces 200a, 200b, 200c, and 200d are respectively placed. . Here, if the workpiece 200 is not placed on the second stage of the C area, the new workpiece 200 is not the third stage of the A area, the B area, or the D area, but the second stage of the C area. Placed in the eye.

  In this way, on the condition that all the steps immediately below are filled, by placing the workpiece 200 on the next step, the load collapse of the workpiece 200 when the robot 30 temporarily places the workpiece 200 in the temporary placement area 50. Can be prevented.

  In addition, when the workpieces 200 arranged in each sub-area in the temporary placement area 50 are stacked in multiple stages, the operation control unit 114 removes the workpiece 200 from the level immediately below, on condition that all the top levels are gone. The robot 30 is caused to perform an acquisition operation.

  In the case shown in FIG. 6, when the workpiece 200e is on the third level of the A area, the second level workpieces 200b, 200c, and 200d in the B area, the C area, and the D area cannot be acquired. That is, it is allowed to acquire the workpieces 200a, 200b, 200c, and 200d in the second stage of each area only after acquiring the workpiece 200e in the third stage of the A area.

  As described above, on the condition that all the uppermost steps are eliminated, the workpiece 200 is acquired from the immediately lower step, so that the load of the workpiece 200 when the robot 30 pays out the workpiece 200 from the temporary placement area 50 is reduced. Can be prevented.

  In FIG. 6, the case between the second stage and the third stage has been described. However, as between the first stage and the second stage, between the nth stage (n is a natural number) and the n + 1 stage. The same applies to the case.

  Next, a processing procedure executed by the transfer system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed by the transfer system 1. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the determination unit 112 determines whether or not the placement plate 300 is in the first extended range 20EX (see FIG. 4) of the second conveyor 20 (Step S <b> 101).

  And when there is no mounting board 300 in the 1st expansion range 20EX (step S101, Yes), the determination part 112 determines with the workpiece | work 200 being excessive supply with respect to the mounting board 300 (step S102). . In this case, the operation control unit 114 causes the robot 30 to perform an operation of transferring the workpiece 200 of the first conveyor 10 to the temporary placement area 50 (step S103), and ends the process.

  On the other hand, when the mounting plate 300 is in the first extended range 20EX (step S101, No), the determination unit 112 determines whether or not the workpiece 200 is in the second extended range 10EX of the first conveyor 10. (Step S104).

  When the workpiece 200 is not in the second extended range 10EX (step S104, Yes), the determination unit 112 determines that the mounting plate 300 is excessively supplied to the workpiece 200 (step S105). In this case, the operation control unit 114 causes the robot 30 to perform an operation of transferring the workpiece 200 in the temporary placement area 50 to the placement plate 300 of the second conveyor 20 (step S106), and ends the process.

  Here, when the workpiece 200 is present in the second extended range 10EX (step S104, No), the determination unit 112 determines that the supply balance between the workpiece 200 and the mounting plate 300 is normal (step S107). In this case, the operation control unit 114 causes the robot 30 to perform an operation of transferring the workpiece 200 of the first conveyor 10 to the placement plate 300 of the second conveyor 20 (step S108), and ends the process.

  Next, a processing procedure when a plurality of types of workpieces 200 are placed on the placement plate 300 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when a plurality of types of workpieces 200 are placed on the placement plate 300. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the acquisition source determination unit 113 acquires the type of the workpiece 200 that is insufficient for the mounting plate 300 based on the mounting plate information 123 (step S <b> 201).

  Then, it is determined whether or not there is an insufficient type of workpiece 200 on the first conveyor 10 (step S202). Then, when there is a shortage type of workpiece 200 on the first conveyor 10 (step S202, Yes), the operation control unit 114 transfers the workpiece 200 from the first conveyor 10 to the mounting plate 300 of the second conveyor 20. The robot 30 is made to perform the operation (step S203), and the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the insufficient type of workpiece 200 is not present on the first conveyor 10 (No in step S202), the acquisition source determination unit 113 acquires the position of the corresponding workpiece 200 in the temporary placement area 50 based on the temporary placement information 122. (Step S204). Then, the operation control unit 114 causes the robot 30 to perform an operation of transferring the workpiece 200 from the temporary placement area 50 to the placement plate 300 of the second conveyor 20 (step S205), and ends the process.

  Next, the process procedure according to the operation condition of the 2nd conveyor 20 is demonstrated using FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure according to the operation status of the second conveyor 20. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the reception unit 115 determines whether an abnormality of the second conveyor 20 has been received (step S301).

  When the receiving unit 115 receives an abnormality of the second conveyor 20 (step S301, Yes), the operation control unit 114 performs the temporary placement operation of the workpiece 200 in the temporary placement area 50 rather than the normal operation. (Step S302), and the process ends. Here, the normal operation in step S <b> 302 indicates an operation of transferring the workpiece 200 from the first conveyor 10 to the mounting plate 300 of the second conveyor 20.

  On the other hand, when the received information is not an abnormality of the second conveyor 20 (step S301, No), the reception unit 115 determines whether or not an abnormality recovery of the second conveyor 20 has been received (step S303). When the abnormality recovery of the second conveyor 20 is accepted (step S303, Yes), the operation control unit 114 gives priority to the robot 30 with respect to the robot 30 with respect to the operation of paying out the workpiece 200 from the temporary placement area 50 over the normal operation ( Step S304) and the process is terminated.

  Here, the normal operation in step S304 indicates an operation of transferring the workpiece 200 from the first conveyor 10 to the mounting plate 300 of the second conveyor 20 as in step S302. If the determination condition in step S303 is not satisfied (No in step S303), the process ends without changing the priority operation.

  As described above, the transfer system 1 according to this embodiment includes the first conveyor 10, the second conveyor 20, the robot 30, the robot controller 100, the image sensor 40, and the temporary placement area 50. The first conveyor 10 conveys the workpiece 200. Further, the second conveyor 20 conveys a placement plate 300 on which the workpiece 200 is placed.

  The robot 30 transfers the workpiece 200 conveyed by the first conveyor 10 to the mounting plate 300 conveyed by the second conveyor 20. The robot controller 100 controls the operation of the robot 30. The image sensor 40 detects the workpiece 200 and the placement plate 300. The temporary placement area 50 is an area where the workpiece 200 acquired by the robot 30 from the first conveyor 10 is temporarily placed.

  The robot controller 100 also includes a determination unit 112 and an operation control unit 114. The determination unit 112 determines the supply state of the workpiece 200 with respect to the mounting plate 300 based on the detection result of the image sensor 40. The operation control unit 114 temporarily places the workpiece 200 acquired from the first conveyor 10 in the temporary placement area 50 when the determination unit 112 determines that the workpiece 200 is excessively supplied to the placement plate 300. To the robot 30.

  Therefore, according to the transfer system 1 according to the present embodiment, since the workpiece 200 can be temporarily placed in the temporary placement area 50 even if the workpiece 200 is excessively supplied, it is possible to prevent the workpiece 200 from being missed. That is, according to the transfer system 1, the transfer efficiency of the workpiece 200 can be increased.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where there is one each of the first conveyor 10 and the second conveyor 20 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and at least one of the first conveyor 10 and the second conveyor 20 may be a plurality. In addition, both the first conveyor 10 and the second conveyor 20 may be a plurality. Thus, even if it is a case where the 1st conveyor 10 and the 2nd conveyor 20 are made into multiple units | sets, the transfer method mentioned above is applicable.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the temporary placement area 50 is provided between the first conveyor 10 and the second conveyor 20 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the temporary storage area 50 may be provided on the opposite side of the second conveyor 20 from the first conveyor 10 or on the opposite side of the first conveyor 10 from the second conveyor 20. Moreover, when the 1st conveyor 10 or the 2nd conveyor 20 is made into multiple units | sets, it is good also as providing in the position pinched | interposed by each conveyor, and good also as providing in the outer side of a conveyor group.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, it has been shown that a plurality of types of workpieces 200 may be used. However, when there are a plurality of types of workpieces 200, the same type of workpieces 200 is placed in each sub-area of the temporary placement area 50. It is preferable. In this case, the workpieces 200 may be arranged in the sub area or may be further stacked.

  Further effects and modifications can be easily derived by those skilled in the art. Thus, the broader aspects of the present invention are not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described above. Accordingly, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transfer system 10 1st conveyor 11 Transport direction 20 2nd conveyor 21 Transport direction 30 Robot 31 Main body part 32 Link 32a 1st joint part 32b 1st arm 32c 2nd joint part 32d 2nd arm 32e 3rd joint part 33 Holding part DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 40 Image sensor 41 Imaging range 50 Temporary placement area 100 Robot controller 110 Control part 111 Image recognition part 112 Judgment part 113 Acquisition source determination part 114 Operation control part 115 Reception part 120 Storage part 121 Extended range information 122 Temporary placement information 123 Mounting board Information 124 Teaching information

Claims (11)

A first conveyor for conveying workpieces;
A second conveyor for conveying a mounting plate for mounting the workpiece;
A robot that transfers the workpiece conveyed by the first conveyor to the mounting plate described above that is conveyed by the second conveyor;
A robot controller for controlling the operation of the robot;
An image sensor for detecting the workpiece and the mounting plate;
A temporary placement area that is an area for temporarily placing the workpiece acquired by the robot from the first conveyor;
The robot controller is
A determination unit for determining a supply state of the workpiece with respect to the mounting plate based on a detection result of the image sensor;
When the determination unit determines that the workpiece is excessively supplied to the placement plate, the robot is caused to temporarily place the workpiece acquired from the first conveyor in the temporary placement area. A transfer system comprising: an operation control unit. The determination unit
In the second conveyor, the placement plate is in a first extended range in which the range in which the robot can place the workpiece on the placement plate is extended by a first distance to the upstream side in the transport direction of the placement plate. The transfer system according to claim 1, wherein if there is not, it is determined that the workpiece is excessively supplied to the mounting plate. The operation controller is
When the determination unit determines that the workpiece is insufficiently supplied to the mounting plate, the robot performs an operation of transferring the workpiece temporarily placed in the temporary placement area to the mounting plate. The transfer system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The determination unit
In the first conveyor, when the workpiece is not in the second extended range in which the range in which the robot can take the workpiece is extended by a second distance to the upstream side of the workpiece conveyance direction, The transfer system according to claim 3, wherein the workpiece is determined to be insufficiently supplied. At least one of the first conveyor and the second conveyor is
The transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the transfer system is a plurality. The work includes
There are several types
In the mounting plate described above,
It is predetermined that a predetermined number is placed for each type of the workpiece,
The operation controller is
When the determination unit determines that the workpiece of the predetermined type is insufficiently supplied to the mounting plate, the workpiece of the type temporarily placed in the temporary placement area is transferred to the placement plate. The transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the robot performs a transfer operation. The robot controller is
A reception unit for receiving the operation status of the second conveyor;
The operation controller is
When the reception unit receives an abnormality in the second conveyor, the robot places priority on the operation of temporarily placing the work in the temporary placement area over the operation of transferring the work to the placement plate. The transfer system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: The operation controller is
When the accepting unit accepts that the abnormality of the second conveyor is recovered, the work in the temporary placement area is placed as described above rather than the operation of transferring the work from the first conveyor to the placing plate. The transfer system according to claim 7, wherein the robot is given priority to an operation of transferring to a plate. The operation controller is
When the workpieces are stacked in multiple stages while being arranged in the temporary placement area, the robot is caused to perform an operation of loading the workpieces in the next stage on condition that all the immediately lower stages are filled. The transfer system according to any one of 1 to 8. The operation controller is
When the workpieces arranged in the temporary placement area are stacked in multiple stages, the robot is caused to perform the operation of taking the workpiece from the immediately lower stage on condition that all the uppermost stages are eliminated. The transfer system according to any one of claims 1 to 9. A first conveyor for conveying workpieces;
A second conveyor for conveying a mounting plate for mounting the workpiece;
A robot that transfers the workpiece conveyed by the first conveyor to the mounting plate described above that is conveyed by the second conveyor;
A robot controller for controlling the operation of the robot;
An image sensor for detecting the workpiece and the mounting plate;
Using a temporary placement area that is a temporary placement area for the workpiece obtained by the robot from the first conveyor;
A determination step in which the robot controller determines a supply state of the workpiece with respect to the mounting plate based on a detection result of the image sensor;
When the determination step determines that the workpiece is excessively supplied to the placement plate, the robot controller performs an operation of temporarily placing the workpiece acquired from the first conveyor in the temporary placement area. An operation control step for causing the robot to perform the transfer method.

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