JP2020110758A - Gas ejection hand - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a device which can level a height of a viscous fluid such as pasta sauce or the like without worrying about alcohol smell or unevenness caused by stroke.SOLUTION: A gas ejection hand for leveling a height of a viscous fluid comprises: a gas ejection part which has an undersurface and has multiple gas flow channels of which each opens on the undersurface; a main body part for holding the gas ejection part; a robot arm fitting part provided on the main body part; and a compressed gas supply path which communicates with the multiple gas flow channels of the gas ejection part, and can supply compressed gas to the multiple gas flow channels.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a gas ejection hand attached to a robot arm, and more particularly to a gas ejection hand for leveling the height of viscous fluid such as a sauce for pasta.

Conventionally, noodles in a container have been sold as a type of bento. For example, a boiled pasta or other noodle mass that is topped with sauces and topped with ingredients is sold in a container.

The noodles in such a container, for example, after the noodle mass is placed in a resin container conveyed by a belt conveyor, by a robot that works in conjunction with the conveyor timing of the belt conveyor, sauces are hung, ingredients Is manufactured by being topped or covered with a container lid corresponding to the container. After that, such noodles in containers are rapidly frozen and sold as frozen foods, or held in the chilled temperature zone and sold as chilled foods.

Regarding a method for producing frozen pasta such as spaghetti, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 are disclosed.

JP, 2000-032938, A Japanese Patent No. 5662548

Even after unraveling the noodle masses and leveling the top surface of the noodle masses, if the sauce itself has a high viscosity, the sauce remains swelled after the sauce is hung. Thus, there is a problem in that the sauce is attached to the back surface of the container lid to be covered with the container in the subsequent step, and the appearance of the product is deteriorated.

The inventor of the present invention initially considered solving this problem by leveling the source with a “spa”. However, it has been found that it is unexpectedly difficult to deal with the need to wipe off the source that has moved (attached) to the “spa”.

For example, the strategy of immersing the "spa" in an alcohol solution has the effect that the sauce can be efficiently wiped from the "spa" and that the sauce is less likely to move (attach) to the "spa". It can also be obtained, but the problem arises that the sauce smells like alcohol through the “spa”.

In addition, "spating unevenness" may be left on the sauce after being stroked by "spatula", which also causes a problem that the appearance of the product may be deteriorated in some cases.

The present invention was created in view of the above background. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that can evenly spread the height of a viscous fluid such as a sauce for pasta without the concern that alcohol odors and stroking will cause unevenness.

The present invention is a gas ejection hand for equalizing the height of a viscous fluid object, which has a lower surface, and a gas ejection unit having a large number of gas passages each opening at the lower surface, and the gas. A main body portion that holds the ejection portion, a robot arm mounting portion provided on the main body portion, and the plurality of gas passages of the gas ejection portion communicate with each other, and compressed gas is supplied to the plurality of gas passages. And a possible compressed gas supply path.

According to the present invention, the compressed gas (for example, compressed air) supplied from the compressed gas supply path is jetted from the lower surface of the gas jetting portion through the plurality of gas passages of the gas jetting portion, so that it is raised, for example. The height of the viscous fluid material such as the sauce for pasta which has been maintained can be leveled. In addition, since the height of the viscous fluid object is leveled by the action of the compressed gas, there is no fear that the viscous fluid object has an "alcoholic odor" or "unevenness due to stroking.

In the present invention, the lower surface of the gas ejection portion is allowed to temporarily physically contact the viscous fluid substance. Even when the lower surface temporarily comes into physical contact with the viscous fluid substance, the compressed gas (for example, compressed air) ejected from the lower surface immediately separates them (a void is formed). ).

In the present invention, preferably, the lower surface of the gas ejection portion is a flat surface. In this case, the height of the viscous fluid material can be smoothed to a desired height. Alternatively, the lower surface of the gas ejection portion is a conical surface having an inclination angle of 3 degrees or less. According to the verification by the present inventor, even in the case of such a configuration, the height of the viscous fluid object can be more smoothly leveled to the desired height. Further, the lower surface of the gas ejection portion may be a part of a spherical surface having a radius of curvature of 1000 mm or more. According to the verification by the present inventor, even in the case of such a configuration, the height of the viscous fluid object can be more smoothly leveled to the desired height.

In addition, according to the results of various experiments conducted by the inventor of the present invention, each of a large number of gas passages is opened as fine holes having a diameter of 0.5 mm or less on the lower surface of the gas ejection portion, and a large number of gas passages work together. When the lower surface of the gas ejection part achieves an opening ratio of 30% or more, the compressed gas acts on the entire lower surface of the gas ejection part in a well-balanced manner, and the height of the viscous fluid is leveled very smoothly. It has been found that it can be expanded by

Such an opening size and an opening ratio can be relatively easily obtained by employing a porous resin (for example, polyethylene), a ceramic or a metal fired body as the gas ejection portion.

Alternatively, the gas ejection portion may have a flow passage defining member in which the plurality of gas passages are formed in parallel with each other.

In this case, when forming (processing) a large number of gas passages in the flow passage defining member, the above-described opening size and opening ratio can be realized relatively easily.

Further, for example, when the height of the pasta sauce is made uniform as a viscous fluid substance, the pasta container is often circular in plan view, and therefore the gas ejection portion has a cylindrical shape (gas ejection). The lower surface of the part is preferably circular).

Further, it is preferable that the gas ejection portion is rotatable with respect to the robot arm attachment portion. In this case, since the element (velocity vector) due to the rotation is superimposed on the flow of the compressed gas ejected from the lower surface of the gas ejection portion, the effect of evenly expanding the height of the viscous fluid object can be further enhanced. it can.

According to the present invention, the compressed gas (for example, compressed air) supplied from the compressed gas supply path is jetted from the lower surface of the gas jetting portion through the plurality of gas passages of the gas jetting portion, so that it is raised, for example. The height of the viscous fluid material such as the sauce for pasta that has been maintained can be leveled. In addition, since the height of the viscous fluid object is leveled by the action of the compressed gas, there is no fear that the viscous fluid object will have an "alcohol odor" or "scratch unevenness".

It is a schematic diagram of a gas ejection hand concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram of a gas ejection hand concerning a 2nd embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram showing the state of the gas ejection hand when the robot arm descends. It is a schematic diagram showing the state of the gas ejection hand at the time of horizontal relative movement of the robot arm. It is a schematic diagram showing the state of the gas ejection hand when the robot arm rises. It is a schematic diagram of a gas ejection hand concerning a modification of a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram of the gas ejection hand concerning the modification of a 2nd embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a gas ejection hand 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a gas ejection hand 101 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a schematic view showing the state of the gas ejection hands 1 and 101 of each embodiment when the robot arm 60 descends, and FIG. 4 shows the robot arm 60 moving relative to the container in a horizontal plane. FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a state of the gas ejection hands 1 and 101 of each embodiment when performing, and FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a state of the gas ejection hands 1 and 101 of each embodiment when the robot arm 60 rises. Is.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the gas jetting hands 1 and 101 of the respective embodiments are hung on the upper surface of the noodle mass 3 in a state of being leveled in the container 2 and are relatively high by themselves. It is developed as a hand for leveling the height of the sauce 4 which is kept in a raised state due to viscosity.

(Configuration of the first embodiment)
First, the configuration of the gas ejection hand 1 according to the first embodiment will be described. The gas ejection hand 1 according to the present embodiment has a lower surface which is a flat surface (may be a conical surface having an inclination angle of 3 degrees or less or a part of a spherical surface having a curvature radius of 1000 mm or more), and each of them has a lower surface. The gas ejection part 10 having a large number of gas passages 10h that are open is provided.

The gas ejection portion 10 is made of a porous ceramic (specifically, for example, alumina), and a large number of gas passages 10h have complicated paths or shapes (detailed illustration is omitted). ), each of the gas passages 10h is opened as a fine hole having a diameter of 0.5 mm or less on the lower surface of the gas ejection portion 10, and the plurality of gas passages 10h are jointly formed. On the lower surface of the gas ejection portion 10, an aperture ratio of 30% or more is achieved.

Further, the gas ejecting portion 10 is formed in a cylindrical shape corresponding to the container 2 having a circular shape in a plan view. As a result, the lower surface of the gas ejection portion 10 has a circular shape. More specifically, the diameter of the gas ejection portion 10 is 10 to 15 cm, and the height of the gas ejection portion 10 is 0.5 to 1.0 cm.

The gas ejection part 10 as described above is held by the main body part 20. The main body portion 20 includes a cylindrical portion 21 that surrounds and holds an upper portion of an outer peripheral surface of the gas ejection portion 10, a cross beam portion 22 that is passed in a diametrical direction orthogonal to each other at an upper end portion of the cylindrical portion 21, and a cross. And a shaft portion 23 extending upward from an intersection (center portion) of the beam portion 22. The body portion 20 is made of metal, for example.

An annular robot arm attachment portion 30 (for example, an inner diameter of 3 cm and a height of 0.8 cm) is provided at the upper end of the shaft portion 23. The robot arm attachment part 30 of the present embodiment is adapted to be attached to the robot arm 60 (specifically, duAro manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.).

Further, inside the cylindrical portion 21 of the main body portion 20 and above the gas ejection portion 10, a disk-shaped compressed air chamber forming plate 41 (for example, 5 mm in thickness) is provided to form the compressed air chamber 42. The compressed air chamber 42 is formed between the lower surface of the compressed air chamber forming plate 41, the upper surface of the gas ejection portion 10 and the cylindrical side wall.

Further, a communication hole 41h is opened at the center of the upper surface of the compressed air chamber forming plate 41 (may be another position or side surface of the upper surface), and the compressed gas supply tube 40 is connected to the communication hole 41h. As a result, the compressed gas supply tube 40, the communication hole 41h, and the compressed air chamber 42 communicate with the large number of gas passages 10h of the gas ejection unit 10 and supply the compressed gas to the large number of gas passages 10h. It functions as a compressed gas supply path. The compressed gas supplied from the compressed gas supply tube 40 is, for example, compressed air having a pressure of about 0.2 to 0.4 MPa and a flow rate of about 30 l/min.

(Configuration of the second embodiment)
Next, the configuration of the gas ejection hand 101 according to the second embodiment will be described. The gas ejection hand 101 of the present embodiment also has a lower surface that is a flat surface, and is also provided with the gas ejection unit 110 that has a large number of gas communication channels 110h that are open at the lower surface.

The gas ejection unit 110 of the present embodiment is made of a metal plate material (specifically, for example, a stainless steel plate) instead of a porous ceramic, and a large number of gas communication channels 110h are parallel to each other by, for example, a drill for drilling. Is perforated. Each of the gas passages 110h is opened as a fine hole having a diameter of 0.5 mm or less on the lower surface of the gas ejection portion 110, and the plurality of gas passages 110h jointly form the lower surface of the gas ejection portion 110. In the above, the point that the aperture ratio of 30% or more is achieved is the same as in the first embodiment.

Further, the gas ejecting portion 110 is also formed in a cylindrical shape (disc shape) corresponding to the container 2 having a circular shape in a plan view. As a result, the lower surface of the gas ejection unit 110 is also circular. More specifically, the diameter of the gas ejection portion 110 is 10 to 15 cm, and the height (thickness) of the gas ejection portion 110 is 0.2 to 0.5 cm.

The gas ejection part 110 as described above is held by the main body part 120. The main body portion 120 includes a cylindrical portion 121 that surrounds and holds an upper portion of the outer peripheral surface of the gas ejection portion 110, a cross beam portion 122 that extends in a diametrical direction orthogonal to each other at an upper end portion of the cylindrical portion 121, and a cross. And a shaft portion 123 extending upward from an intersection (center portion) of the beam portion 122. The main body 120 is also made of metal, for example.

An annular robot arm mounting portion 130 (for example, an inner diameter of 3 cm and a height of 0.8 cm) is provided at the upper end of the shaft portion 123. The robot arm attachment part 130 of this embodiment is adapted to be attached to the robot arm 60 (specifically, duAro manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.).

In addition, a disc-shaped compressed air chamber forming plate 141 (for example, a thickness of 5 mm) is provided inside the cylindrical portion 121 of the main body 120 and above the gas ejection portion 110 so as to form the compressed air chamber 142. The compressed air chamber 142 is formed between the lower surface of the compressed air chamber forming plate 141, the upper surface of the gas ejection unit 110, and the cylindrical side wall.

Further, a communication hole 141h is opened at the center of the upper surface of the compressed air chamber forming plate 141 (may be other position or side surface of the upper surface), and the compressed gas supply tube 140 is connected to the communication hole 141h. Accordingly, the compressed gas supply tube 140, the communication hole 141h, and the compressed air chamber 142 communicate with the many gas communication channels 110h of the gas ejection unit 110, and supply the compressed gas to the many gas communication channels 110h. It functions as a compressed gas supply path. The compressed gas supplied from the compressed gas supply tube 140 is, for example, compressed air having a pressure of about 0.2 to 0.4 MPa and a flow rate of about 30 l/min.

(Operation of each embodiment)
Next, the operation of the gas ejection hands 1 and 101 configured as described above will be described.

The gas ejection hands 1 and 101 of the present embodiment are used with the robot arm attachment parts 30 and 130 attached to the robot arm 60 (for example, duAro manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.).

On the other hand, the container 2 that is the operation target of the gas ejection hands 1 and 101 (strictly speaking, the operation target is the sauce 4 placed on the noodle masses 3 in the container 2) has, for example, a belt with the opening facing upward. They are sequentially conveyed on the conveyor at appropriate intervals.

Prior to the operation of the gas ejection hands 1 and 101 (on the upstream side of the gas ejection hands 1 and 101 ), the noodle masses 3 are provided in the container 2 by various robot hands that are linked with the transport timing of the container 2. After the noodle mass 3 is appropriately loosened and the upper surface thereof is flattened, the sauce 4 is covered. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the source 4 has a high viscosity, and the state in which the source 4 is raised after the source 4 is applied is maintained.

The robot arm 60 grasps the transport state of each container 2 via a sensor or an image processing system (not shown), and executes a predetermined control program so that the gas can be synchronized with the movement timing of each container 2. The jetting hands 1 and 101 are moved, and the source 4 of each container 2 is leveled without interrupting the transportation of each container 2.

Specifically, the robot arm 60 first moves the gas ejection hands 1 and 101 to a position directly above the source 4 in the container 2. After that, the robot arm 60 moves the gas ejection hands 1 and 101 in the horizontal direction so as to be synchronized with the transport of the container 2, and lowers the gas ejection hands 1 and 101 in the vertical direction (the descending step, see FIG. 3 ). ).

Simultaneously with this lowering step, through the compressed gas supply tubes 40, 140, the communication holes 41h, 141h and the compressed air chambers 42, 142, to the many gas communication channels 10h, 110h of the gas ejection units 10, 110. Compressed gas (eg compressed air) is supplied. The compressed gas is ejected from the lower surface of the gas ejection part 110 toward the source 4 through the numerous gas communication channels 10h and 110h of the gas ejection parts 10 and 110.

In the present embodiment, after the gas ejection units 10 and 110 have been lowered to a predetermined lowering height, as shown in FIG. 4, while maintaining the lowering height in the vertical direction, and the gas ejection unit 110. Using the control system of the robot arm 60 while maintaining the ejection of the compressed gas from the lower surface of the container to the source 4, the letter “()” (a circle or the like other than that of the container 2 and the source 4 in the horizontal plane is used. The gas ejection hands 1 and 101 are moved so as to draw a pattern (for example, the pattern of “No” may be used) (for example, the character “” is drawn once in 0.5 seconds) (horizontal relative movement step, see FIG. 4).

After that, the gas ejection hands 1 and 101 are retracted above the source 4 (ascending step, see FIG. 5). Even during this rising step, the compressed gas is supplied to the large number of gas passages 10h and 110h of the gas ejection units 10 and 110 through the compressed gas supply tubes 40 and 140, the communication holes 41h and 141h, and the compressed air chambers 42 and 142. (For example compressed air) continues to be supplied.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the compressed gas (for example, compressed air) supplied from the compressed gas supply tubes 40 and 140 as the compressed gas supply passages, the communication holes 41h and 141h, and the compressed air chambers 42 and 142 is used. The source 4 was maintained in a swelled state by being ejected from the lower surface of the gas ejection portions 10 and 110 through the multiple gas passages 10h and 110h of the gas ejection portions 10 and 110 (an example of viscous fluid matter). ) Can be leveled.

Further, according to the present embodiment, since the height of the sauce 4 is leveled by the action of the compressed gas, there is no fear that the sauce 4 has an “alcoholic smell” or “stroking unevenness”.

Further, according to the present embodiment, since the lower surfaces of the gas ejection portions 10 and 110 are flat surfaces, the height of the source 4 can be more smoothly equalized to a desired height.

Further, according to the present embodiment, each of the large number of gas flow passages 10h and 110h is opened as a fine hole having a diameter of 0.5 mm or less on the lower surface of the gas ejection portions 10 and 110, and a large number of gas flow passages are formed. Since the passages 10h and 110h jointly achieve an opening ratio of 30% or more on the lower surfaces of the gas ejection portions 10 and 110, the compressed gas acts on the entire lower surfaces of the gas ejection portions 10 and 110 in a well-balanced manner. The height of the sauce 4 can be leveled very smoothly.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the compressed air supply tubes 40, 140 are provided between the compressed gas supply tubes 40, 140 and the multiple gas flow passages 10h, 110h, so that the compressed gas supply tubes 40, Regardless of the size or arrangement position of 140, compressed air can be supplied to each of the gas communication channels 10h and 110h substantially uniformly (at substantially the same pressure).

In addition, in the present embodiment, the ejection of the compressed air from the lower surface of the gas ejection portions 10 and 110 may be started not in the start of the descending step but in the middle of the descending step. However, in order to make the height of the source 4 smoother, the ejection of compressed air from the lower surfaces of the gas ejection portions 10 and 110 is started before the gas ejection portions 10 and 110 contact the source 4. It is preferable.

However, at least at the time of the present application, the aspect in which the lower surfaces of the gas ejection portions 10 and 110 temporarily physically contact the source 4 is not excluded from the present invention. Even when the lower surface is temporarily in physical contact with the source 4, the compressed gas is jetted from the lower surface to immediately separate the two (gap is formed), and the height of the source 4 is smoothly leveled. It can exert the action.

In addition, the ejection of the compressed air from the lower surface of the gas ejection units 10 and 110 may be stopped during the ascending stroke, not at the end of the ascending stroke. It may be stopped before the start of the climbing stroke (provided it is already reliably separated from 4).

Further, at least at the time of filing the present application, the aspect in which the horizontal relative movement step is not performed is not excluded from the present invention.

Further, a configuration may be adopted in which the robot arm attachment parts 30 and 130 attached to the robot arm 60 and the gas ejection parts 10 and 110 are rotatable with respect to each other. For example, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, rotation motors 35 and 135 for relatively rotating the robot arm mounting portions 30 and 130 and the shaft portions 23 and 123 are mounted, so that the robot arm mounting portions 30 and 130 and the shaft portion. 23 and 123 can be rotated relative to each other.

In this case, since the element (velocity vector) due to the rotation is superimposed on the flow of the compressed gas ejected from the lower surface of the gas ejection portions 10 and 110, the effect of evenly increasing the height of the viscous fluid object is further provided. Can be increased.

It is preferable that the range of the rotation angle is suppressed to a maximum of about 270° in order to avoid excessive bending of the compressed gas supply tubes 40 and 140.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the robot arm mounting portions 30, 130 are mounted on the robot arm 60 via the offset plates 36, 136 so that the rotation motors 35, 135 and the robot arm 60 do not interfere with each other. It is preferable.

Alternatively, when the robot arm 60 itself has a rotation function, the rotation function can also be used to cause an element (speed vector) due to the rotation in the flow of the compressed gas ejected from the lower surfaces of the gas ejection units 10 and 110. Since the superposition is overlapped, it is possible to further enhance the effect of evenly spreading the height of the viscous fluid object.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Gas ejection hand 2 Container 3 Noodle lump 4 Source 10 Gas ejection part 10h Gas passage 20 Body part 21 Cylindrical part 22 Cross beam part 23 Shaft part 30 Robot arm attachment part 35 Rotation motor 36 Offset plate 40 Compressed gas supply tube 41 Compressed air chamber forming plate 41h Communication hole 42 Compressed air chamber 60 Robot arm 101 Gas ejection hand 110 Gas ejection part 110h Gas communication channel 120 Main body part 121 Cylindrical part 122 Cross beam part 123 Shaft part 130 Robot arm mounting part 135 Rotation motor 136 Offset plate 140 Compressed gas supply tube 141 Compressed air chamber forming plate 141h Communication hole 142 Compressed air chamber

Claims (9)

A gas ejection hand for equalizing the height of a viscous fluid,
A gas ejection portion having a lower surface and a large number of gas passages each opening at the lower surface,
A main body portion that holds the gas ejection portion,
A robot arm mounting portion provided on the main body,
A compressed gas supply path that communicates with the large number of gas passages of the gas ejection unit and can supply compressed gas to the large number of gas passages;
A gas ejection hand characterized by having. The air ejection hand according to claim 1, wherein the lower surface of the gas ejection portion is a flat surface. The air ejection hand according to claim 1, wherein the lower surface of the gas ejection portion is a conical surface having an inclination angle of 3 degrees or less. The air ejection hand according to claim 1, wherein the lower surface of the gas ejection portion is a part of a spherical surface having a curvature radius of 1000 mm or more. Each of the plurality of gas passages is opened as a fine hole having a diameter of 0.5 mm or less on the lower surface of the gas ejection portion,
The air jetting hand according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the plurality of gas passages jointly achieve an opening ratio of 30% or more on the lower surface of the gas jetting portion. .. The air jetting hand according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the gas jetting portion has a fired body of porous resin, ceramic, or metal. The air jetting hand according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the gas jetting portion has a flow passage defining member in which the plurality of gas passages are formed in parallel with each other. The air jetting hand according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the gas jetting portion has a cylindrical shape. The air ejecting hand according to claim 8, wherein the gas ejecting portion is rotatable with respect to the robot arm attachment portion.

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