JP2019025565A - Robot hand - Google Patents

Abstract

To enable a robot hand to grip and transfer a certain quantity of objects of indeterminate shapes in a bulk state without requiring an excess installation space and excessive cost.SOLUTION: A robot hand 1A comprises a main body 2, a fixed fork 50 and a movable fork 60 as a pair of fingers, and a robot cylinder 3 for opening and closing the forks, and grips an object by closing the fingers and releases the object by opening the fingers at a location of interest. A height detection plate 40 for detecting a height from the finger lower end side is disposed in an upward movable manner on the lower end side of the interval portion between the fixed fork 50 and the movable fork 60, and is connected to a digital sensor 9. An inserting operation is stopped upon detection by the digital sensor 9 that the height detection plate 40 being pressed against the object 100 in the interval portion has reached a prescribed height while inserting the fingers from above into a pile of indeterminate-shaped object 100 in a bulk state, and the object 100 of a specified quantity is gripped by closing the fingers.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a robot hand mounted on a crane or a robot arm, and more particularly to a robot hand for transferring and placing a rose-like object such as sugar beet on a target location while holding a certain amount.

  In recent lunch box factories, automatic pick-up devices that place and place on the target place of the lunch box while picking up the prepared food on the conveyor with the robot hand attached to the moving part of the crane or the tip of the robot arm Is popular. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-135548 discloses an apparatus that picks up a prepared food that is positioned on a conveyor while sandwiching it between fingers of a robot hand, transfers it to a lunch box, and puts it into a specific position. Has been.

  By using this device, many parts of the work that required manual labor in the lunch box manufacturing process are automated, and an improvement in hygiene, a reduction in manufacturing cost, and an improvement in manufacturing efficiency are expected. However, since this device is intended only for block-shaped side dishes having a certain shape, it is difficult to transport while holding a certain amount of rose-shaped and irregular-shaped objects such as pickles, seasonings, and boiled dishes. .

  On the other hand, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 7-7888 discloses that a certain amount of processed food material made of bulk material is conveyed while being held at a certain width, and is transferred while holding a certain amount with bucket-type fingers. A device for gripping processed foods that opens and puts fingers on the target position is proposed, and this allows automatic processing while gripping a certain amount without crushing loose and irregular shaped processed foods such as sugar beet. It becomes possible to place and place it on the target place.

  However, in order to hold a certain amount of processed food with the fingers of the robot hand in this apparatus, it is necessary to load the processed food with a certain height and width on the alignment conveyor, and to the side of the alignment conveyor. Since it is necessary to arrange a large supply conveyor having the same width as that, it is necessary to secure an extra installation space and excessive introduction costs. In addition, it is said that automation with this device is still insufficient because it requires a certain amount of manpower and cost to place processed foods at a certain height on the supply conveyor in order to allow the fingers to hold a certain amount. I must.

JP-A-6-135548 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-7888

  The present invention is intended to solve the above-described problems. With respect to a robot hand, a certain amount of loose and irregular shaped objects can be gripped and transferred without requiring extra installation space or excessive cost. The challenge is to make it possible.

  In view of this, the present invention provides a main body portion mounted on the moving portion of the crane or the tip portion of the robot arm, a pair of fingers opposed to each other with the tip facing downward below the main body portion, and opening and closing the fingers. Driving means, and gripping the object located in the gap portion by closing the fingers, opening the finger above the destination location of the transfer destination to open the object and placing it on the destination location In the robot hand, a height detection plate for detecting a height position with respect to the lower end side of the finger is disposed laterally on the lower end side of the gap portion of the finger so as to be movable upward. It is connected to the sensor means provided above it by a predetermined link, and the fingers are inserted from above into an assembly made up of loose and irregular shaped objects. , By detecting that the sensor means detects that the height detection plate pushed by the object that has entered the interval portion has reached a predetermined height position, the insertion operation is stopped, and the finger is closed to a predetermined amount. The object is grasped and picked up.

  In this way, a height detection plate for detecting the height from the lower end side of the finger is provided in the interval portion between the pair of downward fingers, and the height detection plate is inserted in advance while inserting the pair of fingers into the assembly of objects. The sensor means detects that it has been lifted up to a specified height position, and the gripping operation is stopped and gripped, so the amount of rose-shaped objects gripped by the fingers can be reduced even with a simple configuration. Since it becomes easy to arrange uniformly, it does not require an extra installation space and an excessive cost for that purpose.

  Further, in this robot hand, the link portion between the height detection plate and the sensor means is provided with biasing means for applying a predetermined downward biasing force to the height detection plate. The height detection plate rises while compressing the object by the biasing force as the finger is inserted into the object stack, and the height detection plate is moved along the operation of opening the finger at the transfer destination. If it is lowered by the urging force and assists the opening of the object, the height detection plate is inserted while inserting the fingers into the rose-shaped and irregular-shaped accumulation body whose density is not constant. By compressing, the density becomes uniform and a certain amount of object can be easily grasped stably, and the height when the object that has been grasped by opening the finger is opened and dropped. Detection plate facing downward Since the biasing force is to assist the opening operation, and be easy mounted smoothly to the target site.

  Furthermore, in the robot hand described above, the fingers are shaped like a fork of Western tableware, and the tip sides of a pair of opposed fingers are inclined inward so as to narrow the distance between them. For example, in a rose-like and irregular-shaped accumulation body such as a vegetable dish containing moisture, it is easy to grip a certain amount while only scraping a solid object.

  In this case, the height detection plate has a width that is longer in the spacing direction than the spacing portion on the lower end side of the pair of fingers, and a portion thereof interferes with the operating range of at least one finger. In addition, at least the interfering portion has a lattice shape in which gaps extend in the interval direction, and branch portions constituting the fork shape of the fingers respectively enter and mesh with the gaps. Therefore, the height detection plate can be moved up and down and the fork can be opened and closed. Even if it is an object, it becomes easy to detect the height while compressing it appropriately without crushing it, and with the vertical movement of the height detection plate, the lattice-shaped part becomes the finger While meshing the part becomes easy to drop liked caught the object in the gap.

  According to the present invention in which the insertion operation is stopped and gripped by detecting that the height detection plate has reached a predetermined height while inserting the fingers into the integrated body of the object, the extra arrangement space and excess It is possible to hold and transfer a certain amount of a rose-like and irregular-shaped target object without requiring a high cost.

It is a side view of the robot hand of an embodiment in the present invention. It is a perspective view of the robot hand of FIG. It is a side view for demonstrating operation | movement of the robot hand of FIG. 1, Comprising: (A) is the state located above the target object assembly, (B) is the state which inserted the finger to the target object assembly to the predetermined depth. (C) is a state in which the object is gripped by the inserted finger. 3A and 3B are side views for explaining the operation of the robot hand of FIG. 1, in which FIG. 3A is a state in which an object gripped by fingers is picked up, and FIG. 3B is a finger gripping the object. A state in which the object is opened above the target position, (C) is a state in which the height detection plate is lowered simultaneously with the dropping of the object. It is a side view of the robot hand as an application example of the robot hand of FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a side view of a robot hand 1A according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows a perspective view thereof. This robot hand 1A is assumed to be used as a means to be mounted on the tip of the robot arm to grab and pick up a predetermined object and to open and place the object at a target location. In particular, it is suitable for use in a bento factory, in which roses and irregular shaped ingredients such as pickles, condiments, and boiled foods and sugar beets are automatically placed in a predetermined amount at a target location of the lunch box.

  That is, the base end side of a pair of fingers by a main body 2 made of a base plate mounted on a robot arm (not shown) and a fixed fork 50 and a movable fork 60 which are opposed to each other below the main body 2 with the front end facing downward. Finger parts 5 and 6 supported by the supports 5a and 6a, and a ROBO cylinder 3 as a driving means for opening and closing the movable fork 60 by reciprocating the finger part 6 in the horizontal direction. The object is positioned in the space between the fixed fork 50 and the movable fork 60, and the movable fork 60 is closed to hold it, and the movable fork 60 is opened above the target position to open the target and return to the target position. It is supposed to be placed.

  The base plate constituting the main body 2 is made of a horizontally long plate-like member, and has a joint 8 for connecting to the robot arm side on the base end side, and an amplifier unit 7 and sensor means on the upper surface side. A contact type digital sensor 9 is mounted. A height detecting portion 4A is disposed at a space where the fixed fork 50 and the movable fork 60 face each other, and a lateral height for detecting a height position with respect to the lower end side of the finger at the lower end side thereof. The height detection plate 40 is provided in a state in which it can move upward.

  In the height detection unit 4A, a support body 4a that is bent upward from one end side of a horizontal height detection plate 40 and extends in an L shape supports a fixed fork 50 with a finger unit 5. Connected to the inner surface of the support 5a made of a plate-shaped member facing in a state where it can be slid up and down via screws 9 and 9 and connected to a digital sensor 9 provided thereabove. It has become.

  The robot hand 1A having such a configuration is configured such that a fixed fork 50 and a movable fork 60 constituting a pair of fingers are inserted from above into an integrated body composed of rose-like and irregular shaped objects such as sugar beet, and a gap portion thereof is inserted. When the digital sensor 9 detects that the height detection plate 40 pushed by the object that has entered the position reaches a predetermined height position, the insertion operation is stopped and the pair of fingers is determined in advance. A predetermined amount of an object is gripped while closing with pressure, and this is the greatest feature of the present invention.

  By adopting such a configuration, even if the target object to be gripped by the pair of fingers is an aggregate of rose-shaped indefinite shape, it is easy to pick up while gripping a certain amount without crushing. In addition, the robot hand 1A has a simple configuration that does not require equipment or manual operation like the supply conveyor described in Patent Document 2 in order to accurately hold a certain amount of an object. It does not require space or excessive costs.

  Further, in the robot hand 1A according to the present embodiment, a downward biasing force of a predetermined level is provided between the support 40b and the digital sensor 9 constituting a part of the link between the height detection plate 40 and the digital sensor 9. A coil spring (not shown) is interposed as an urging means for applying a force to the height detection plate 40, and the elastic restoring force when the coil spring is compressed in accordance with the operation of inserting the pair of fingers into the integrated body of objects. Assuming that the height detection plate 40 rises while compressing the object at a predetermined pressure, a collection of rose-shaped objects whose density is not constant is made uniform.

  Then, after gripping and picking up the object, the height detection plate 40 of the height detection unit 4A is restored by the elastic restoring force (biasing force) of the compressed coil spring as the finger is opened at the transfer destination. When the object held by the opening operation of the finger is released, the downward biasing force of the height detection plate 40 performs the opening operation and the dropping operation of the object. Since it assists, it has the characteristic of being easy to mount smoothly with respect to the target location.

  Furthermore, in the robot hand 1A of the present embodiment, the lower end side of the fixed fork 50 and the movable fork 60 constituting the pair of fingers is a fork shape of Western tableware, and the front end side thereof is narrowed so as to reduce the interval therebetween. Since it is inclined inward, it is easy to grip a certain amount of the object in a rose-like accumulation body such as boiled food or boiled water containing only the solid part of the object.

  In addition, in the present embodiment, the height detection plate 40 of the height detection unit 4A is longer in the lateral direction than the lower end side spacing portion of the fixed fork 50 and the movable fork 60 in the spacing direction. The one end side interferes with the operation range of the movable fork 60, and at least the interfering portion has a lattice shape with a gap extending in the interval direction.

  Then, all the branch parts constituting the fork shape in the movable fork 60 are invaded and meshed with the lattice-like gaps in the height detection plate 40, so that the upper and lower sides of the height detection part 4A are It is possible to operate and open / close the fingers. As described above, the width of the height detection plate 40 is made wider than the space at the lower end side of the fixed fork 50 and the movable fork 60 to increase the pressing area, so that even a soft rose-shaped object can be obtained. It becomes easy to detect the height while compressing appropriately without crushing. Further, as the height detection unit 4A moves up and down, the lattice-shaped height detection plate 40 meshes with and slides on the gaps in the branches of the movable fork 60, so that the object sandwiched between the gaps in the branches is rolled. The function to drop is also demonstrated.

  Next, the operation of the robot hand 1A of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. The operation of the robot hand 1A and the robot arm supporting it are automatically controlled by electronic control means (not shown) that recognizes the position information of the object and the loading destination with a predetermined camera or the like. However, the proximal end side connecting portion of the main body 2 and the robot arm connected thereto are not shown.

  FIG. 3 (A) shows that the fixed forks 50 and the movable forks 60 of the robot hand 1A are moved above the pick-up position of the assembly of objects 100 made of boiled hijiki loaded in a wide-mouthed container. Indicates a stopped state. Then, as shown in FIG. 3B, the fixed fork 50 and the movable fork 60 are inserted into the assembly of the object 100 while the robot hand 1A is lowered by operating the robot arm.

  Along with this insertion operation, the height detection plate 40 is pushed up by the object 100 that has entered the space between the fixed fork 50 and the movable fork 60, but rises, but the base end side (link portion) of the height detection unit 4A. And an elastic restoring force of a coil spring (not shown) interposed between the digital sensor 9 and the rose-like and irregular shaped object 100 are compressed to a predetermined density, and the height detection plate 40 is set to a predetermined height. When the digital sensor 9 detects that the position has been reached, the insertion operation is stopped.

  When the insertion operation is stopped, the ROBO cylinder 3 is actuated as shown in FIG. 3C, and the movable fork 60 is closed and the object 100 is gripped while the finger portion 6 is moved laterally toward the finger portion 5. . When the object 100 is gripped, the robot hand 1A is vertically lifted and picked up as shown in FIG.

  When it is located at a predetermined distance above the loading position of the lunch box 200 that is the loading destination, as shown in FIG. 4 (B), the ROBO cylinder 3 is operated to open the movable fork 60. Then, as shown in FIG. 4C, the object 100 is opened, but at that time, the height detecting plate 40 is elastically restored by a coil spring (not shown) disposed on the base end side of the height detecting portion 4A. The function of pushing the object 100 downward while descending, assisting the opening operation, and scraping and dropping the object 100 sandwiched between the branches of the movable fork 60 engaged with the lattice-shaped height detection plate 40. Demonstrate.

  FIG. 5 shows a robot hand 1B as an application example of the robot hand 1A described above. In this example, the height detection plate 41 of the height detection unit 4B is wider than the height detection plate 40 of the robot hand 1A described above in the interval direction of the fixed fork 50 and the movable fork 60, and the movable fork 60 In addition to being extended so that one end side of the side interferes with its operating range, the other end side is also extended so as to interfere with the operating range of the fixed fork 50.

  For this reason, the height detection unit 4B is configured such that the height detection plate 41 has a lattice shape like the height detection plate 40 and meshes with the branches of the movable fork 60, and the lower end of the support 4b. The predetermined range on the side is also formed in a lattice shape continuously from the lattice portion of the height detection plate 41 and bent inward while meshing with the branch portion of the fixed fork 50, and the center line of the support 4b above it Is positioned in the middle of the height detection plate 41 in the width direction.

  Accordingly, since the height detection plate 40 is supported by the support 4a in a cantilever manner in the height detection unit 4A, a force is easily applied in a direction inclined with respect to the center line of the support 4a. In the height detection unit 4B, the height detection plate 41 can easily apply a force in the direction of the center line of the support 4b, so that the height detection plate 41 is likely to rise smoothly, and the height detection plate 41 Also has a feature that a scraping operation can be performed at both branches of the fixed fork 50 and the movable fork 60.

  In the above description, the case where the robot hand is mounted on the tip of the robot arm has been described, but the same function is exhibited even when the robot hand is mounted on the moving unit of the crane. In addition, the case where the object to be grasped by the robot hand is a side dish or the like placed on the lunch box has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and any object that can be grasped by fingers can be applied. Needless to say.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a robot hand can be gripped and transferred by a certain amount of a rose-like and irregular-shaped object without requiring extra installation space and excessive cost.

  1A, 1B Robot hand, 2 Main body, 3 Robo cylinder, 4A, 4B Height detector, 5, 6 Finger, 4a, 4b, 5a, 6a Support, 40, 41 Height detector, 9 Digital sensor, 50 fixed forks, 60 movable forks, 100 objects

Claims (4)

  A main body mounted on the moving part of the crane or the tip of the robot arm, a pair of fingers opposed to each other with the tip facing downward below the main body, and a driving means for opening and closing the fingers, In the robot hand that closes the fingers, grips the object located in the interval portion, opens the fingers above the destination location of the transfer destination, and opens the object and places it on the destination location. On the lower end side of the gap portion, a height detection plate for detecting the height position with respect to the lower end side of the finger is disposed sideways in a state of being movable upward and provided above the height detection plate Connected to the sensor means by a predetermined link, the fingers are inserted into an assembly made up of loose and irregular shaped objects from above, and the gap portion is eroded. When the sensor means detects that the height detecting plate pushed by the object has reached a predetermined height position, the insertion operation is stopped, and the finger is closed to hold a predetermined amount of the object. Robot hand characterized by picking up.   The link portion between the height detection plate and the sensor means is provided with biasing means for applying a downward biasing force to the height detection plate at a predetermined level, and the fingers are stacked on the object. The height detection plate rises while compressing the object by the urging force as it is inserted into the body, and the height detection plate is lowered by the urging force as the finger is opened at the transfer destination. The robot hand according to claim 1, wherein opening of the object is assisted.   3. The robot hand according to claim 1, wherein the fingers have a fork shape of Western tableware, and the tip sides of the opposed fingers are inclined inward so as to narrow the interval therebetween.   The height detection plate has a width that is longer in the interval direction than the interval portion on the lower end side by the opposed fingers, and a part of the height detection plate interferes with an operation range of at least one of the fingers. And at least the interfering portion has a lattice shape in which gaps extend in the interval direction, and branch portions constituting the fork shape of the fingers respectively enter and mesh with the gaps, The robot hand according to claim 3, wherein the height detection plate can be moved up and down and the fingers can be opened and closed.

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