JP2018133036A - Commodity conveyance device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve a degree of freedom of a conveyable commodity, and favorably convey the commodity.SOLUTION: A commodity conveyance device includes a commodity receiving unit 10 that allows a mounting surface 11 to mount a discharged commodity to receive the commodity, a conveyance mechanism 20 that conveys the commodity receiving unit 10 that has received the commodity to a predetermined target place, a pressure sensor 12 that detects magnitude of pressure acting on the mounting surface 11, and a control unit 30 that, when the commodity receiving unit 10 has received the commodity, allows the mounting surface 11 to vibrate in a horizontal direction for a predetermined time, estimates a height position of the center of gravity of the commodity by a change in the magnitude of the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 12, and drives the conveyance mechanism 20 at the highest carrying-out speed associated with the height position of the center of gravity of the commodity.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a commodity conveyance device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a product transport device applied to, for example, a vending machine, a device including a product bucket and a transport mechanism is known.

  The merchandise bucket receives merchandise paid out from a merchandise storage column that stores merchandise. The transport mechanism includes an X-axis transport unit that moves the product bucket along the left-right direction and a Y-axis transport unit that moves the product bucket along the up-down direction in the front area of the product storage rack. Yes. This conveyance mechanism conveys a goods bucket to the vicinity of the goods take-out port which is an opening for taking out goods.

  In such a merchandise transport device, the merchandise discharged from a predetermined merchandise storage column is received by the merchandise bucket, and the merchandise bucket is transported to the vicinity of the merchandise take-out port by the transport mechanism, whereby the merchandise take-out outlet (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2006-235684 A

  By the way, in the above-described merchandise transporting apparatus, the merchandise bucket maintains the received merchandise in a substantially upright posture and transports it as fast as possible. Generally, the front surface portion extending toward the upper surface and the side surface portions extending upward from both side edge portions of the bottom portion are integrally formed.

  For this reason, products that can be received by the product bucket are limited to those whose lateral size is smaller than the separation distance between the side portions, and as a result, the degree of freedom of the shape and size of products that can be transported is limited. It was.

  By the way, when trying to convey various types of products with different sizes and shapes in one product bucket, it is conceivable to use a product bucket having a long bottom portion whose longitudinal direction is the left-right direction.

  However, when such a product bucket is used, it is insufficient to regulate the behavior of the product during the transportation of the product bucket, resulting in a reduction in the transport speed and a good transport of the product. It was difficult to do.

  In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a commodity transport apparatus that can transport a commodity satisfactorily while improving the degree of freedom of the commodity that can be transported.

  In order to achieve the above object, a product transporting apparatus according to the present invention includes a product receiving unit that receives a product by placing the paid-out product on a mounting surface, and the product receiving unit that receives the product. In a product transport device comprising a transport mechanism for transporting the section to a predetermined target location, pressure detecting means for detecting the magnitude of the pressure acting on the placement surface, and the product receiving section receives the product. In this case, the mounting surface is vibrated for a predetermined time along the horizontal direction, the height position of the center of gravity of the product is estimated from the change in the magnitude of the pressure detected by the pressure detecting means, and the center of gravity of the product is Control means for driving the transport mechanism at the fastest unloading speed associated with the height position.

  In addition, the product transport device according to the present invention has a product receiving unit that receives the product and a product receiving unit that receives the product by placing the paid-out product on a mounting surface. In a product conveying apparatus having a conveying mechanism for conveying to a target location, a pressure detection means for detecting the magnitude of pressure acting on the placement surface, and a vertical approach in a manner approaching and separating from the placement surface. A pair of guide members that are movable along the horizontal direction in a manner close to and away from the product placed between them by being placed on the placing surface. When the product receiving unit receives the product, the placement surface is vibrated along a horizontal direction for a predetermined time, and the height of the center of gravity of the product is changed by the change in the pressure detected by the pressure detection unit. Estimate the position, the estimated height of the center of gravity of the product Characterized in that a control means for driving the conveying mechanism in said pair of guide members while being close to the product while moving to.

  According to the present invention, when the product receiving unit receives the product, the control unit vibrates the placement surface for a predetermined time along the horizontal direction, and the control unit detects the change by the change in the magnitude of the pressure detected by the pressure detection unit. Estimating the height position of the center of gravity of the product and driving the transport mechanism at the fastest unloading speed associated with the height position of the center of gravity of the product, so that the product can be stably transported at a desired speed As long as the product can be placed on the placement surface, the size does not need to be particularly limited. Therefore, there is an effect that the product can be transported satisfactorily while improving the degree of freedom of the transportable product.

  Further, according to the present invention, the pair of guide members are provided so as to be movable in the vertical direction in a manner of approaching and moving away from the placement surface, and placed on the placement surface, so that Since it can move along the horizontal direction in a manner that is close to and away from the placed product, there is no need to limit the size and shape of the product as long as it can be placed on the placement surface. In addition, when the product receiving unit receives the product, the control unit vibrates the placement surface for a predetermined time along the horizontal direction, and the center of gravity of the product is increased by the change in the pressure detected by the pressure detection unit. By estimating the position and driving the transport mechanism while moving the pair of guide members to the height position of the estimated center of gravity of the product and bringing them close to the product, the behavior of the product in the middle of transportation is regulated. The product can be transported at the fastest possible transport speed while stably supporting the product. Therefore, there is an effect that the product can be transported satisfactorily while improving the degree of freedom of the transportable product.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a configuration of a commodity transport apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the product received in the product receiving unit shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing content of the commodity transport processing performed by the control unit shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the center-of-gravity height position estimation processing shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the contents of the conveyance speed setting process shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the configuration of the commodity transport apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a rear view showing the product received in the product receiving unit shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a product received in the product receiving unit shown in FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing content of the commodity transport processing performed by the control unit shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the center-of-gravity height position estimation processing shown in FIG.

  Exemplary embodiments of a commodity transporting apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a configuration of a commodity transport apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The product conveyance device illustrated here includes a product receiving unit 10, a conveyance mechanism 20, and a control unit 30.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the product receiving unit 10 receives the product W <b> 1 by placing the product W <b> 1 paid out from the product storage element (not shown) on the placement surface 11.

  The product receiving unit 10 is provided with a pressure sensor 12. The pressure sensor 12 is a pressure detection unit that is provided over the entire surface of the mounting surface 11 and detects the magnitude of the pressure acting on the mounting surface 11. The pressure sensor 12 sends the detection result to the control unit 30 as a pressure signal.

  The transport mechanism 20 transports the commodity receiving unit 10 and has an X-axis transport unit 21 and a Y-axis transport unit 22. The X-axis transport unit 21 transports the product receiving unit 10 along the X direction, that is, the left-right direction (horizontal direction). The Y-axis transport unit 22 transports the X-axis transport unit 21 including the product receiving unit 10 along the Y direction, that is, the vertical direction.

  The control unit 30 is a control unit that comprehensively controls the operation of the commodity transporting apparatus in accordance with programs and data stored in the memory 39. The control unit 30 includes an input processing unit 31, an output processing unit 32, an estimation processing unit 33, and a setting processing unit 34. For example, the control unit 30 may cause a processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) to execute a program, that is, may be realized by software, or may be realized by hardware such as an IC (Integrated Circuit). It may be realized by using software and hardware together.

  The input processing unit 31 inputs a pressure signal sent from the pressure sensor 12. The output processing unit 32 outputs a drive command or a drive stop command to the transport mechanism 20. The estimation processing unit 33 estimates the height position of the center of gravity of the product received by the product receiving unit 10 by a center-of-gravity height position estimation process described later. The setting processing unit 34 reads the conveyance speed information stored in the memory 39 and sets the conveyance speed from the height position of the center of gravity estimated through the estimation processing unit 33. Here, the transport speed information is obtained experimentally in advance, and the height of the center of gravity and the fastest transport speed are set so that the fastest transport speed decreases as the height of the center of gravity increases. Information associated with each other.

  In the product transport apparatus having the above-described configuration, the product receiving unit 10 is transported to the front region of the product storage element that stores the product to be transported, and the following product transport process is performed. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing content of the commodity transport processing performed by the control unit 30 shown in FIG.

  In this merchandise transport process, the controller 30 receives a pressure signal from the pressure sensor 12 through the input processor 31 (step S110: Yes), that is, the merchandise is delivered from the merchandise storage element to the merchandise receiving section 10. When the product is placed on the placement surface 11, it is assumed that the product receiving unit 10 has received the product, and the center-of-gravity height position estimation process is performed (step S120).

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the center-of-gravity height position estimation processing shown in FIG. In the center-of-gravity height position estimation process, the control unit 30 outputs a drive command to the X-axis transport unit 21 constituting the transport mechanism 20 through the output processing unit 32 (step S121). More specifically, the control unit 30 outputs a drive command to the X-axis transport unit 21 and reciprocates on the mounting surface 11 at a predetermined acceleration (for example, 500 mm / s ² ) along the left-right direction by about 15 mm, for example. Vibrate like. And after progress of predetermined time (step S122: Yes), the control part 30 outputs a drive stop command with respect to the X-axis conveyance part 21 through the output process part 32 (step S123). That is, the control unit 30 vibrates the placement surface 11 in the left-right direction (horizontal direction) for a predetermined time when the product receiving unit 10 receives a product.

  And the control part 30 waits for the input of the pressure signal from the pressure sensor 12 through the input process part 31 (step S124). When the pressure signal from the pressure sensor 12 is input (step S124: Yes), the control unit 30 estimates the height position of the center of gravity of the product through the estimation processing unit 33 (step S125). The estimation of the height position of the center of gravity of this product is performed as follows. That is, the product placed on the placement surface 11 tends to tilt by vibrating the placement surface 11, and as a result, a force (stress) that supports the product to be tilted acts on the placement surface 11. The height position of the center of gravity of the product can be estimated based on the change in stress over time. The control unit 30 that has estimated the height position of the center of gravity of the product in this way then returns the procedure and ends the current center-of-gravity height position estimation process.

  The control unit 30 that has performed the center-of-gravity height position estimation process in this way performs a conveyance speed setting process (step S130).

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the contents of the conveyance speed setting process shown in FIG. In this transport speed setting process, the controller 30 reads transport speed information from the memory 39 through the setting processor 34 (step S131). And the control part 30 sets the conveyance speed (fastest conveyance speed) linked | related with the height position of the gravity center estimated by step S120 from the read conveyance speed information to the conveyance speed of this goods (step S132). Thereafter, the procedure is returned to end the current conveyance speed setting process.

  The control unit 30 that has performed the conveyance speed setting process outputs a drive command to the conveyance mechanism 20 (the X-axis conveyance unit 21 and the Y-axis conveyance unit 22) through the output processing unit 32 (Step S140), and the commodity receiving unit 10 is preliminarily set. A waiting state is awaited until reaching the set target location (step S150). When the product receiving unit 10 reaches the target location (step S150: Yes), the control unit 30 outputs a drive stop command to the transport mechanism 20 through the output processing unit 32 (step S160), and then returns the procedure. Then, the current product conveyance process is terminated.

  As described above, according to the commodity transport apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, when the commodity receiving unit 10 receives the commodity, the control unit 30 vibrates the placement surface 11 along the left-right direction for a predetermined time. The height position of the center of gravity of the product is estimated from the change in the magnitude of the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 12, and the transport mechanism 20 is driven at the fastest unloading speed associated with the height position of the center of gravity of the product. Therefore, as long as the product can be stably conveyed at a desired speed and can be placed on the placement surface 11, the size need not be particularly limited. Accordingly, the product can be transported satisfactorily while improving the degree of freedom of the transportable product.

<Embodiment 2>
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the configuration of the commodity transport apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The product conveyance device exemplified here includes a product receiving unit 40, a conveyance mechanism 50, and a control unit 60.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the product receiving unit 40 receives the product W <b> 2 by placing the product paid out from the product storage element (not shown) on the placement surface 41.

  The product receiving unit 40 is provided with a pressure sensor 42 and a guide member 43. The pressure sensor 42 is a pressure detection unit that is provided over the entire surface of the mounting surface 41 and detects the magnitude of the pressure acting on the mounting surface 41. The pressure sensor 42 sends the detection result to the control unit 60 as a pressure signal.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the guide member 43 is a pair of left and right elongated members extending in the front-rear direction, and is provided so as to be movable by the guide mechanism 44. The guide mechanism 44 includes a first moving unit 441 and a second moving unit 442. The first moving portion 441 is for moving the guide member 43 along the vertical direction in a manner that the guide member 43 approaches and separates from the placement surface 41. The second moving unit 442 moves the first moving unit 441 including the guide member 43 along the left-right direction.

  Such a guide member 43 moves in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction by the guide mechanism 44 and is placed on the placement surface 41 so as to have a predetermined height level with respect to the product W2 disposed therebetween. It is possible to hold the product W2 by abutting with.

  The transport mechanism 50 transports the commodity receiving unit 40 and includes an X-axis transport unit 51 and a Y-axis transport unit 52. The X-axis transport unit 51 transports the product receiving unit 40 along the X direction, that is, the left-right direction (horizontal direction). The Y-axis transport unit 52 transports the X-axis transport unit 51 including the product receiving unit 40 along the Y direction, that is, the vertical direction.

  The control unit 60 is a control unit that comprehensively controls the operation of the commodity transport device according to programs and data stored in the memory 69. The control unit 60 includes an input processing unit 61, an output processing unit 62, an estimation processing unit 63, and a guide drive processing unit 64. The control unit 60 may be realized by causing a processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) to execute a program, that is, by software, or by hardware such as an IC (Integrated Circuit). It may be realized by using software and hardware together.

  The input processing unit 61 inputs a pressure signal sent from the pressure sensor 42. The output processing unit 62 outputs a drive command or a drive stop command to the transport mechanism 50. The estimation processing unit 63 estimates the height position of the center of gravity of the product received by the product receiving unit 40 by a center-of-gravity height position estimation process described later. The guide drive processing unit 64 gives a drive command or a drive stop command to the guide mechanism 44 of the product receiving unit 40 to move the guide member 43 to a predetermined height level so as to sandwich the product.

  In the product transport apparatus having the above configuration, the product receiving unit 40 is transported to the front region of the product storage element that stores the product to be transported, and the following product transport process is performed. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing content of the commodity transport processing performed by the control unit 60 shown in FIG.

  In this merchandise transport process, the controller 60 receives a pressure signal from the pressure sensor 42 through the input processor 61 (step S210: Yes), that is, the merchandise is delivered from the merchandise storage element to the merchandise receiver 40. When the product is placed on the placement surface 41, it is assumed that the product receiving unit 40 has received the product, and a center-of-gravity height position estimation process is performed (step S220).

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the center-of-gravity height position estimation processing shown in FIG. In the center-of-gravity height position estimation process, the control unit 60 outputs a drive command to the X-axis transport unit 51 constituting the transport mechanism 50 through the output processing unit 62 (step S221). More specifically, the control unit 60 outputs a drive command to the X-axis transport unit 51, and reciprocates on the placement surface 41 at a predetermined acceleration (eg, 500 mm / s ² ) along the left-right direction, for example, by about 15 mm. Vibrate like. And after progress of predetermined time (step S222: Yes), the control part 60 outputs a drive stop command with respect to the X-axis conveyance part 51 through the output process part 62 (step S223). That is, the control part 60 vibrates the mounting surface 41 along the left-right direction (horizontal direction) for a predetermined time, when the goods receiving part 40 receives goods.

  Then, the control unit 60 waits for input of a pressure signal from the pressure sensor 42 through the input processing unit 61 (step S224). When the pressure signal from the pressure sensor 42 is input (step S224: Yes), the control unit 60 estimates the height position of the center of gravity through the estimation processing unit 63 (step S225). The height position of the center of gravity is estimated as follows. That is, the product placed on the placement surface 41 tends to tilt by vibrating the placement surface 41, and as a result, a force (stress) that supports the product to be tilted acts on the placement surface 41. The height position of the center of gravity of the product can be estimated based on the change in stress over time. The control unit 60 that has estimated the height position of the center of gravity of the product in this way then returns the procedure and ends the current center-of-gravity height position estimation process.

  The control unit 60 that has performed the center-of-gravity height position estimation process in this way transmits a drive command and a drive stop command to the guide mechanism 44 (the first moving unit 441 and the second moving unit 442) through the guide drive processing unit 64. Thus, the pair of guide support members are moved to the height position of the center of gravity, and the product is held at the height position (step S230).

  The control unit 60 that sandwiches the product outputs a drive command to the transport mechanism 50 (the X-axis transport unit 51 and the Y-axis transport unit 52) through the output processing unit 62 (step S240), and the product receiving unit 40 is preset. Waiting to reach the target location (step S250). When the product receiving unit 40 reaches the target location (step S250: Yes), the control unit 60 outputs a drive stop command to the transport mechanism 50 through the output processing unit 62 (step S260), and then returns the procedure. Then, the current product conveyance process is terminated.

  As described above, according to the merchandise conveying apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the pair of guide members 43 are installed on the merchandise receiving portion 40 so as to be movable along the vertical and horizontal directions, and are mounted between each other. Since the product placed on the placement surface 41 can be sandwiched, any product having any size and shape can be sandwiched as long as the product can be placed on the placement surface 41. In addition, when the product receiving unit 40 receives the product, the control unit 60 vibrates the placement surface 41 along the left-right direction for a predetermined time, and the change in the magnitude of the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 42 causes the product to change. It is possible to estimate the height position of the center of gravity and drive the conveyance mechanism 50 by holding the product between the pair of guide members 43 at the estimated height position of the center of gravity of the product. Goods can be transported at as fast a transport speed as possible. Accordingly, the product can be transported satisfactorily while improving the degree of freedom of the transportable product.

  The preferred embodiments 1 and 2 of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to these, and various modifications can be made.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the placement surfaces 11 and 41 of the product receiving portions 10 and 40 are vibrated for a predetermined time along the left-right direction by the transport mechanisms 20 and 50. If the surface is vibrated in the horizontal direction, the mounting surface may be vibrated for a predetermined time along the front-rear direction, or the mounting surface may be vibrated front-rear, left-right.

  In Embodiment 2 described above, the pair of guide members 43 sandwich the product. However, in the present invention, the pair of guide members are close to the product and a gap is formed between the product. May be. According to this, since a guide member does not contact goods, it can prevent damaging the surface of the goods concerned.

  In Embodiments 1 and 2 described above, the product transport device that transports the product paid out from the product storage element has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to various structures that transport products. . Moreover, in this invention, even if it does not convey goods as fast as possible, it may convey stably at a desired speed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Commodity receiving part 11 Placement surface 12 Pressure sensor 20 Conveyance mechanism 30 Control part 40 Commodity receiving part 41 Placement surface 42 Pressure sensor 43 Guide member 50 Conveyance mechanism 60 Control part

Claims (2)

A product receiving part for receiving the product by placing the paid-out product on the placement surface;
A product transport device comprising: a transport mechanism that transports the product receiving unit that has received the product to a predetermined target location;
Pressure detecting means for detecting the magnitude of pressure acting on the mounting surface, and
When the product receiving unit receives the product, the placement surface is vibrated along a horizontal direction for a predetermined time, and the height of the center of gravity of the product is changed by the change in the pressure detected by the pressure detection unit. And a control means for driving the transport mechanism at the fastest carry-out speed associated with the height position of the center of gravity of the product. A product receiving part for receiving the product by placing the paid-out product on the placement surface;
A product transport device comprising: a transport mechanism that transports the product receiving unit that has received the product to a predetermined target location;
Pressure detecting means for detecting the magnitude of pressure acting on the mounting surface, and
Aspect that is provided so as to be movable in the vertical direction in a manner that is close to and away from the placement surface, and that is close to and away from the product placed between them by being placed on the placement surface. A pair of guide members movable along the horizontal direction,
When the product receiving unit receives the product, the placement surface is vibrated along a horizontal direction for a predetermined time, and the height of the center of gravity of the product is changed by the change in the pressure detected by the pressure detection unit. And a control means for driving the transport mechanism while moving the pair of guide members close to the product while estimating the position and moving the pair of guide members to a height position of the estimated center of gravity of the product. Conveying device.

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