JP2018024096A - Work-piece conveyance system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a work-piece conveyance system capable of extracting a work-piece stopped by a stopper, reliably one by one.SOLUTION: A work-piece conveyance system S comprises: a conveyance device 1 for conveying a work-piece W in one direction; a stopper 2 installed on the conveyance device 1 and for stopping the work-piece W carried by the conveyance device 1, at a predetermined position; and an extracting device 3 for extracting the work-piece W stopped by the stopper 2 from the conveyance device 1. An outer edge of the stopper 2 in a direction opposite to a conveyance direction shown by an arrow A10, extends in a curved shape in a direction to traverse the conveyance device 1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a workpiece conveyance system including a conveyance device that conveys a workpiece in one direction and a take-out device that takes out a workpiece conveyed by the conveyance device.

  Various work transfer systems including a transfer device such as a belt conveyor for transferring a plurality of workpieces and a take-out device such as a robot for taking out the workpieces transferred by the transfer device one by one are known. In relation to this, Patent Document 1 discloses a plurality of motor conveyors that convey a workpiece in a predetermined conveyance direction, a guide member that regulates the lateral position of the workpiece that intersects the conveyance direction, and conveyance along the guide member. There has been proposed a positioning device for a robot palletizer that includes a stopper member that stops a workpiece to be processed. And in the positioning apparatus of patent document 1, the workpiece conveyed along a guide member is abutted on the planar contact surface in a stopper member, and is stopped. However, when a stopper member having such a flat contact surface is used, depending on the shape of the workpiece, the side surface of the workpiece closely contacts the contact surface of the stopper member, or the side surfaces of adjacent workpieces closely contact each other. There is a risk of doing.

  FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional transport device that includes a stopper member that stops a workpiece on a flat contact surface, similarly to the positioning device of Patent Document 1. As shown in FIG. 7, the transport device 7 of this example includes a belt conveyor 71 that transports a plurality of workpieces W in the direction indicated by the arrow A <b> 70, and a planar contact surface AS that transports the workpieces W transported to a predetermined position. And a stopper member 72 to be stopped at the same time. Moreover, the workpiece | work W conveyed by the conveying apparatus 7 of this example has the shape of a triangular prism, and is mounted in the belt conveyor 71 in the state in which the bottom face was faced down. As can be seen from FIG. 7, when the work W having a flat side surface is stopped at the flat contact surface AS, the side surface of the work W is brought into close contact with the contact surface AS, or the side surfaces of the adjacent workpieces W are separated from each other. There is a risk of close contact. As a result, the take-out device such as a robot may grip the work W to be taken out together with the other work W adjacent thereto, or may be dropped while taking out the other work W thus held.

JP-A-5-286544

  There is a need for a workpiece transfer system that can reliably take out workpieces stopped by a stopper one by one.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a transport device that transports a workpiece in one direction, a stopper that is installed in the transport device and stops the workpiece transported by the transport device at a predetermined position, and is restrained by the stopper. A workpiece transfer system comprising a take-out device for taking out a workpiece from a transfer device and a position detector for detecting the position of the workpiece stopped by a stopper, wherein the stopper in a direction opposite to the transfer direction of the workpiece by the transfer device The outer edge extends in a curved shape in a direction crossing the conveying device, and the take-out device includes a hand that grips the workpiece and an arm that moves the hand to a position where the workpiece can be gripped based on the detection result of the position detector. A workpiece transfer system is provided which is a vertical articulated robot.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a workpiece transfer system is provided in which the outer edge of the stopper has a concave portion that is recessed in the same direction as the transfer direction.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the position detector detects the position of each of the plurality of workpieces restrained by the stopper, and the vertical articulated robot has the position detector. A workpiece transfer system is provided that takes out workpieces one by one from the transfer device based on the detection result.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the work conveyed by the conveying device is restrained at the outer edge of the stopper that extends in a curved shape in a direction crossing the conveying device, so that the work is prevented from coming into close contact with the stopper. it can. Furthermore, according to the first aspect, since the workpieces restrained by the stopper are arranged in a curved line along the outer edge of the stopper, the workpieces are hardly adhered to each other. Therefore, according to the first aspect, a large frictional force acts between the work to be taken out and the stopper or other adjacent work, or the work to be taken out is caught by the stopper or other adjacent work. Since this can be prevented, the restrained workpieces can be reliably taken out one by one.
According to the 2nd aspect of this invention, since the workpiece | work restrained by the stopper becomes easy to gather inside a concave part, even if it is a case where the operation | movement range of a taking-out apparatus is small, a workpiece | work can be taken out reliably.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the robot hand is accurately positioned with respect to the individual workpieces, even if the workpieces restrained by the stopper are dispersed in a wide range of the transfer device, the workpieces are 1 It can be reliably removed one by one.

1 is a perspective view of an exemplary workpiece transfer system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the elements on larger scale which expand and show the vicinity of the stopper in the workpiece conveyance system of FIG. It is the top view which looked at the stopper in the workpiece conveyance system of FIG. 1 in the direction perpendicular | vertical to the upper surface of a frame main body. FIG. 4 is a top view similar to FIG. 3, showing a first modification of the stopper in the workpiece transfer system of the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a top view similar to FIG. 3, showing a second modification of the stopper in the workpiece transfer system of the present embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the example workpiece conveyance operation | movement by the workpiece conveyance system of this embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows an example of the conventional conveying apparatus provided with the stopper member which stops a workpiece | work with a planar contact surface similarly to the positioning apparatus of patent document 1. FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same code | symbol is provided to the same component. The contents described below do not limit the technical scope of the invention described in the claims, the meaning of terms, and the like.

  With reference to FIGS. 1-6, the workpiece conveyance system of one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary workpiece transfer system S of the present embodiment. Here, the workpiece conveyance system S of the present example conveys the workpiece loaded into a predetermined loading position to a predetermined removal position, and takes out the workpiece conveyed to the above extraction position and carries it out to the next process. System. Such an operation of the workpiece transfer system S is hereinafter referred to as a workpiece transfer operation. As shown in FIG. 1, the workpiece transfer system S of the present example includes a transfer device 1 that transfers the workpiece W in one direction, and the workpiece W that is installed in the transfer device 1 and is transferred by the transfer device 1 at the take-out position RP. And a take-out device 3 for taking out the workpieces W restrained by the stopper 2 from the transfer device 1 one by one. These devices will be described in order below.

  First, the conveyance apparatus 1 of this example will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the transport device 1 of this example is a general belt conveyor, and an endless belt 11 installed on a plurality of pulleys (not shown) and the belt 11 travel along a predetermined route. Further, a frame 12 that supports the inner peripheral surface of the belt 11 and drive means (not shown) such as a servomotor that drives the pulley of the belt 11 to rotate and drive the belt 11 are provided. The frame 12 of this example includes a flat frame main body 121 extending in one direction, and the transport device 1 of this example is configured to work by the belt 11 that travels along the upper surface TS of the frame main body 121. Transport W. In the transport apparatus 1 of this example, the upper surface TS of the frame body 121 extends in parallel to the horizontal direction.

  An arrow A <b> 10 in FIG. 1 represents the moving direction of the belt 11 traveling along the upper surface TS of the frame main body 121, i.e., the conveying direction of the workpiece W by the conveying device 1. In the following description, a portion of the outer peripheral surface of the belt 11 that extends along the upper surface TS of the frame main body 121 may be particularly referred to as a conveyance path CP of the workpiece W. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the carry-in position LP at which the workpiece W is carried into the transfer device 1 of this example is provided at the end of the transfer path CP in the direction opposite to the transfer direction represented by the arrow A10. The take-out position RP from which the workpiece W is taken out from the transfer device 1 is provided at a position separated from the carry-in position LP by a predetermined distance along the transfer direction represented by the arrow A10.

  Next, the stopper 2 of this example will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the stopper 2 of this example has a flat plate shape extending in parallel with the frame main body 121, and is attached to the frame 12 via a fitting type attachment member 13. The attachment member 13 of this example is installed at the end of the frame 12 in the conveyance direction of the workpiece W, and the stopper 2 fitted to the attachment member 13 is adjacent to the take-out position RP in the conveyance path CP. It is arranged. Further, the stopper 2 of this example extends over the entire length in the width direction of the belt 11 so as to block the transport path CP on the downstream side of the take-out position RP. Therefore, the workpiece W conveyed along the conveyance path CP is stopped by being abutted against the stopper 2 at the extraction position RP. The detailed structure of the stopper 2 of this example will be described later.

  Next, the position detector PS of this example will be described. The position detector PS of the present example is a general vision sensor, and a camera CM that captures the vicinity of the take-out position RP in the transport path CP of the work W, and the position of each work W included in the captured image of the camera CM. And an image processing device (not shown) for detecting. The position detector PS of this example is installed at a position separated from the upper surface TS of the frame main body 121 by a predetermined distance by a mounting member (not shown). The detection result of the position of the workpiece W by the position detector PS is transmitted to the robot arm RA of the take-out device 3 described later.

  Next, the take-out device 3 of this example will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the take-out device 3 of this example is a vertical articulated robot including a robot arm RA having a wrist RW at the tip and a robot hand RH attached to the wrist RW. Here, the robot arm RA of this example has a structure in which a plurality of arm portions 31 are connected in series via a rotary joint portion 32, and these arm portions 31 are connected by a driving means such as a servo motor. By driving, the position and posture of the robot hand RH can be freely changed. In particular, the robot arm RA of this example moves the robot hand RH to a position where the workpiece W can be gripped based on the detection result of the position of the workpiece W received from the position detector PS. The principle of the robot hand RH gripping the workpiece W will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the robot hand RH of this example is attached to the base portion 33 that is rotatably attached to the wrist portion RW of the robot arm RA, the main body portion 34 that extends from the base portion 33, and the main body portion 34. And an adsorbing portion 35 to be obtained. More specifically, the main body portion 34 of the robot hand RH extends perpendicularly to the protruding portion 341 from the protruding portion 341 protruding from the base portion 33 to the opposite side of the wrist portion RW, and the protruding portion 341 in the protruding direction. And an existing vertical portion 342. The suction part 35 of the robot hand RH includes a nozzle NZ fitted in a through hole formed in the vertical part 342 of the main body part 34, and a vacuum pad VP attached to the tip of the nozzle NZ. The base end of the nozzle NZ is connected to a vacuum supply source such as a vacuum pump via an air tube (not shown). Therefore, in the workpiece transfer system S of the present example, when the gas in the vacuum pad VP is discharged by the vacuum supply source in a state where the vacuum pad VP is in contact with the workpiece W, the negative pressure formed in the vacuum pad VP is acted. As a result, the workpiece W is attracted to the vacuum pad VP.

  As described above, in the workpiece transfer system S of the present example, the robot arm RA and the robot hand RH of the take-out device 3 cooperate to hold the individual workpieces W stopped by the stopper 2 and hold the workpieces W Is taken out from the conveying device 1 and carried out to a predetermined carrying-out area. Then, the workpiece | work W conveyed by the workpiece | work conveyance system S of this example is demonstrated. FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial view showing the vicinity of the stopper 2 in the workpiece transfer system S of FIG. The workpiece W of this example has a columnar form including a planar facing surface BF and at least one planar side surface LF intersecting the bottom surface BF on the outer surface. Then, the workpiece W of this example is placed and transported on the transport path CP so that the bottom surface BF faces the outer peripheral surface of the belt 11. Accordingly, the outline of the workpiece W when the workpiece W on the transport path CP is viewed from above in the vertical direction includes at least one straight line portion. The workpiece W illustrated in FIG. 2 has a triangular prism shape including three side surfaces LF orthogonal to the bottom surface BF on the outer surface.

  Subsequently, the detailed structure of the stopper 2 of this example will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the outer edge OP of the stopper 2 in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction of the workpiece W is processed into a curved surface extending across the conveyance path CP. FIG. 3 is a top view of the stopper 2 in the workpiece transfer system S of FIG. 1 as viewed in a direction perpendicular to the top surface TS of the frame main body 121. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the outer edge OP of the stopper 2 in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction represented by the arrow A <b> 30 has a curved shape extending in a direction crossing the conveyance path CP. According to such a structure of the stopper 2, the workpiece W transported along the transport direction is restrained at the curved outer edge OP extending in the direction crossing the transport path CP. Therefore, according to the structure of the stopper 2 of this example, since the linear portion included in the outline of the workpiece W described above does not overlap the outer edge OP of the stopper 2, the restrained workpiece W is in close contact with the stopper 2. Can be prevented.

  Furthermore, according to the structure of the stopper 2 of this example, the restrained workpieces W are arranged in a curved shape along the outer edge OP. Therefore, according to the structure of the stopper 2 of this example, the straight portions included in the contour lines of the adjacent workpieces W are difficult to overlap, so that the workpieces W are difficult to adhere to each other. As described above, according to the structure of the stopper 2 of this example, a large frictional force acts between the workpiece W to be taken out and the stopper 2 or another adjacent workpiece W, or the workpiece W to be taken out is 2 or other adjacent workpieces W can be prevented from being caught, so that the restrained workpieces W can be reliably taken out one by one.

  As can be seen from FIG. 3, the outer edge OP of the stopper 2 of this example has a concave portion that is recessed in the same direction as the conveyance direction represented by the arrow A <b> 30. As a result, the restrained workpiece W is likely to gather inside the concave portion, so that the workpiece W can be reliably taken out even when the operation range of the take-out device 3 is small. Note that the curved shape of the outer edge OP of the stopper 2 is not limited to that illustrated in FIG. 3, and various curved shapes can be selected according to the size and shape of the workpiece W, the operation range of the take-out device 3, and the like. 4 and 5 are both top views similar to FIG. 3, and show first and second modifications of the stopper 2 in the workpiece transfer system S of the present embodiment, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the outer edge OP of the stopper 2 according to the first modification has a convex portion protruding in the direction opposite to the conveying direction represented by the arrow A <b> 40. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the outer edge OP of the stopper 2 according to the second modification has a wave-like portion extending in a wave-like shape across the conveyance path CP. Also in these modified examples, since the linear portion included in the contour line of the workpiece W does not overlap with the outer edge OP of the stopper 2, the restrained workpiece W can be prevented from coming into close contact with the stopper 2. Furthermore, also in these modified examples, since the restrained workpieces W are arranged in a curved shape along the outer edge OP, the workpieces W are difficult to adhere to each other.

  Next, a workpiece transfer operation by the workpiece transfer system S of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of an exemplary workpiece transfer operation by the workpiece transfer system S of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, first, in step S <b> 601, the conveyance device 1 starts running the belt 11. Thereby, the workpiece | work W on the belt 11 is conveyed along a conveyance direction, and is abutted on the outer edge OP of the stopper 2 (refer FIG. 2). Next, in step S <b> 602, when the belt 11 moves a predetermined distance along the transport direction, the transport device 1 stops the travel of the belt 11. Next, in step S603, the camera CM of the position detector PS captures an image in the vicinity of the take-out position RP in the transport path CP, and the image processing device of the position detector PS detects each workpiece W included in the camera image. Detect position.

  Next, in step S604, the subsequent processing is branched depending on whether or not the position of the workpiece W is detected in step S603. When the position of the workpiece W is not detected in step S603 (NO in step S604), that is, when the workpiece W does not exist at the take-out position RP, the workpiece transfer system S returns to step S601 described above. On the other hand, when the position of the workpiece W is detected in step S603 (YES in step S604), that is, when the workpiece W exists at the take-out position RP, the workpiece transfer system S proceeds to step S605 below. Next, in step S605, the take-out device 3 drives the robot arm RA and the robot hand RH to take out the workpieces W from the transfer device 1 one by one. At this time, the robot arm RA moves the robot hand RH to a position where the workpiece W can be gripped based on the detection result of the position of the workpiece W by the position detector PS.

  Next, in step S606, the subsequent processing is branched depending on whether or not all the workpieces W detected in step S603 have been taken out. Here, when the removal of all the workpieces W detected in step S603 has not been completed (NO in step S606), that is, when the workpiece W remains at the removal position RP, the workpiece transfer system S proceeds to step S605 described above. Return. On the other hand, when the removal of all the workpieces W detected in step S603 is completed (YES in step S606), that is, when the workpiece W does not remain at the removal position RP, the workpiece transfer system S proceeds to the following step S607.

  Next, in step S607, the subsequent processing is branched depending on whether or not the work transfer system S has received a cycle stop command. The cycle stop command according to the present example is input from the user via an input device such as a keyboard or a touch panel provided in the workpiece transfer system S. However, a cycle stop command is automatically generated when a predetermined time has elapsed after the work transfer operation has started, or when the work W is taken out (see step S605 above) a predetermined number of times. You may be made to do. When a cycle stop command is received (YES in step S607), the workpiece transfer system S ends the workpiece transfer operation, but when a cycle stop command is not received (NO in step S607), the workpiece The transport system S returns to step S601 described above.

  In step S601 described above, the workpiece W conveyed by the conveyance device 1 is stopped at the outer edge OP of the stopper 2 that extends in a curved shape in the direction crossing the conveyance path CP. Never do. Furthermore, since the workpieces W restrained by the stopper 2 are arranged in a curved shape along the outer edge OP of the stopper 2, the workpieces W are hardly adhered to each other. Accordingly, in step S605 described above, a large frictional force acts between the workpiece W to be taken out and the stopper 2 or another adjacent workpiece W, or the workpiece W to be taken out is the stopper 2 or another adjacent workpiece W. Therefore, the restrained workpieces W can be reliably taken out one by one.

  In step S605 described above, based on the position of each workpiece W detected by the position detector PS, the robot arm RA of the take-out device 3 moves the robot hand RH to a position where the workpiece W can be gripped. As a result, the robot hand RH is accurately positioned with respect to the individual workpieces W, so that even when the stopped workpieces W are dispersed over a wide range on the transport path CP, the workpieces W are reliably taken out one by one. be able to. In addition, according to the structure of the stopper 2 mentioned above, since adjacent workpiece | work W becomes difficult to mutually adhere | attach, the detection accuracy at the time of position detector PS detecting each workpiece | work W can be improved.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be variously modified within the scope described in the claims. For example, in the above-described embodiment, a belt conveyor is illustrated as the transfer device 1, but the transfer device 1 of the workpiece transfer system S of the present invention includes an arbitrary machine including a roller conveyor that can transfer a plurality of workpieces W in one direction. It can be a device. In the above embodiment, a vertical articulated robot is exemplified as the take-out device 3. However, the take-out device 3 of the work transfer system S of the present invention can be operated from the transfer device 1 including a horizontal multi-joint robot and an orthogonal robot. It can be any mechanical device that can take out W. Furthermore, the take-out device 3 of the workpiece transfer system S of the present invention may include an electromagnetic suction type or servo drive type robot hand RH instead of the vacuum suction type robot hand RH exemplified in the above embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conveyance device 11 Belt 12 Frame 121 Frame main body 13 Attachment member 2 Stopper 3 Taking out device 31 Arm part 32 Joint part 33 Base part 34 Main body part 341 Projection part 342 Vertical part BF Bottom face CP Conveyance path LF Side surface LP Carry-in position NZ Nozzle OP Outer edge RA Robot arm RH Robot hand RP Extraction position RW Wrist part S Work transfer system TS Top face VP Vacuum pad W Work piece

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a conveying device that conveys a plurality of workpieces in one direction, a stopper that is installed in the conveying device and stops the plurality of workpieces conveyed by the conveying device at a predetermined position, and a stopper A workpiece transfer system comprising: a take-out device for taking out a plurality of workpieces restrained by a transport device; and a position detector for detecting the positions of the plurality of workpieces restrained by a stopper, wherein the workpiece transport direction by the transport device The outer edge of the stopper in the opposite direction extends in a curved shape in a direction transverse to the conveying device, and the position detector detects the position of each of the plurality of workpieces restrained by the outer edge of the stopper, and the take-out device Is provided with a workpiece transfer system that takes out workpieces one by one from the transfer device based on the detection result of the position detector .
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a workpiece transfer system is provided in which the outer edge of the stopper has a concave portion that is recessed in the same direction as the transfer direction.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the take-out device moves the hand to a position where the work can be gripped based on the hand that grips the work and the detection result of the position detector. A workpiece transfer system is provided that is a vertical articulated robot having an arm to be moved .

Claims (3)

A transfer device for transferring a workpiece in one direction;
A stopper that is installed in the transport device and stops a workpiece transported by the transport device at a predetermined position;
A take-out device for taking out the work restrained by the stopper from the transfer device;
A position detector for detecting the position of the workpiece stopped by the stopper;
A workpiece transfer system comprising:
An outer edge of the stopper in a direction opposite to the conveying direction of the workpiece by the conveying device extends in a curved shape in a direction crossing the conveying device;
The take-out device is a vertical articulated robot having a hand that grips a workpiece and an arm that moves the hand to a position where the workpiece can be gripped based on a detection result of the position detector. .   The workpiece conveyance system according to claim 1, wherein the outer edge of the stopper has a concave portion that is recessed in the same direction as the conveyance direction.   The position detector detects a position of each of a plurality of workpieces restrained by the stopper, and the vertical articulated robot takes out workpieces one by one from the transfer device based on the detection result. The workpiece transfer system according to 1 or 2.

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