JP2021020278A - Article moving system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an article moving system which moves a portion of articles from a group of articles, and in which variation hardly occurs in the quantity of articles to be moved.SOLUTION: An article moving system 100 moves a portion of articles A from an article group A1. The article moving system includes: a placement part 50 where the article group is placed; a gripping member 32 for gripping articles; and a robot 10. The robot moves the gripping member, and inserts the gripping member to the article group placed in the placement part, and separates the gripping member having gripped articles, from the placement part in a first direction D1. The robot moves the gripping member in a direction D2 different from the first direction, when separating the gripping member having gripped articles, from the placement part in the first direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5C

Description

The present invention relates to an article moving system that moves a part of articles from an article group.

As in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-3182), a gripping member is inserted into a group of articles mounted on a mounting portion, and a part of the articles in the group of articles is gripped by the gripping member, and the article An article moving system is known in which a gripping member that grips a device is separated from a mounting portion and an article is moved from the mounting portion.

In such an article movement system, various articles may be handled. For example, the article moving system may handle articles such as sticky articles and articles having a long length, which tend to be in a state where the articles are connected to each other. When a part of the articles in the article group is gripped by the gripping member for such an article, at least an article that is not sufficiently gripped may be connected to the gripped article.

Therefore, for example, when a gripping member attempts to take out a substantially constant amount of articles from the article group and move them, there is a possibility that more articles than the predetermined amount may be moved. Therefore, in the conventional article moving system as disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-3182), the amount of articles moved by the gripping member from the mounting portion tends to vary.

An object of the present invention is to provide an article moving system for moving a part of articles from an article group, in which the amount of articles to be moved is less likely to vary.

The article movement system according to the first aspect moves some articles from the article group. The article moving system includes a mounting portion, a gripping member, a first driving portion, and a second driving portion. A group of goods is placed in the placement section. The gripping member grips the article. The first drive unit moves at least one of the gripping member and the mounting portion, inserts the gripping member into the article group mounted on the mounting portion, and pulls the gripping member that grips the article from the mounting portion to the first. Release in the direction. The second drive unit moves the grip member in a direction different from the first direction when the grip member that the first drive unit grips the article is separated from the mounting portion in the first direction.

In the article moving system of the first aspect, when the gripping member grips a part of the articles of the article group on the placement portion and moves from the article group, the gripping member is separated from the placement portion in the first direction. Is moved in different directions. As a result, in the article moving system, it is easy to separate the article gripped by the gripping member from the article in the article group of the placement portion connected to the article, and the amount of the article moved by the gripping member varies greatly. It is unlikely to occur.

The article moving system according to the second aspect is the article moving system of the first aspect, and the second driving unit is when the first driving unit separates the gripping member holding the article from the mounting portion in the first direction. By rotating the gripping member around the rotation axis with the first direction as the rotation axis direction, the gripping member is moved in a direction different from the first direction. Preferably, the second drive unit moves the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction by rotating the gripping member by 45 ° or more around the rotation axis.

In the article moving system of the second aspect, the gripping member is rotated by 45 ° or more around a rotation axis extending along the first direction, so that the article gripped by the gripping member and the article of the placement portion connected to the gripping member are rotated. It is easy to separate from the group of articles. Therefore, in this article moving system, the amount of articles moved by the gripping member is unlikely to vary greatly.

The article moving system according to the third aspect is the article moving system according to the first aspect or the second aspect, and the first driving unit moves at least one of the gripping member and the placing portion, and the gripping member and the placing portion. The gripping member is inserted into the article group by bringing the and to the first distance. The second driving unit moves the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction after separating the gripping member from which the first driving unit grips the article by a second distance larger than the first distance.

In the article moving system of the third aspect, the gripping member is moved in a direction different from the first direction after the gripping member is separated from the mounting portion to some extent. Therefore, in this article moving system, it is easy to separate the article gripped by the gripping member from the article of the article group of the placement portion connected to the article, and the amount of the article moved by the gripping member varies greatly. Hateful.

The article moving system according to the fourth aspect is the article moving system of the third aspect, and the first driving unit grips the article after the second driving unit moves the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction. The gripping member is separated from the mounting portion by a third distance larger than the second distance.

In the article moving system of the fourth aspect, after moving the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction, the gripping member and the mounting portion are further separated to a third distance. Therefore, after the gripping member is separated to the third distance, the problem that the article is unintentionally dropped from the gripping member is unlikely to occur.

The article moving system according to the fifth aspect is any of the article moving systems from the first aspect to the fourth aspect, and the second driving unit holds a gripping member from which the first driving unit grips the article from the mounting portion. When separated in the first direction, the gripping member is moved in a direction orthogonal to the first direction.

In the article moving system of the fifth aspect, it is easy to separate the article gripped by the gripping member from the article of the article group of the placement portion connected to the article, and the amount of the article moved by the gripping member varies greatly. It is unlikely to occur.

In the article moving system according to the present invention, it is easy to separate the article gripped by the gripping member from the article in the article group of the placement portion connected to the article, and the amount of the article moved by the gripping member varies greatly. It is unlikely to occur.

It is a schematic diagram of the article moving system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the article moving system of FIG. It is a schematic side view of the gripper of the article discharge device of FIG. It is a bottom view of the gripper of FIG. 3 seen from the gripping member side, and depicts the gripping member located at a remote position before gripping the article or after releasing the gripping of the article. It is a bottom view of the gripper of FIG. 3 seen from the gripping member side, and depicts the gripping member located at a close position when gripping an article. It is a bottom view of the gripper of FIG. 3 viewed from the gripping member side, and depicts a state in which the gripping member in a state of gripping an article is rotated from the state drawn in FIG. 4B. It is a schematic side view of the main part of the article movement system for demonstrating the operation of the article movement system of FIG. 1, and depicts the initial state before the gripper grips an article. It is a schematic side view of the main part of the article moving system for demonstrating the operation of the article moving system of FIG. The state of being inserted in the group is drawn. It is a schematic side view of the main part of the article moving system for demonstrating the operation of the article moving system of FIG. 1, and depicts the state which moved the gripping member which gripped the article to the 2nd position. It is a schematic side view of the main part of the article moving system for demonstrating the operation of the article moving system of FIG. 1, and after rotating the gripping member holding an article by 90 ° around the rotation axis R (after the separation operation). ), The state in which the gripping member is moved to the third position is drawn. It is a schematic side view of the main part of the article moving system for demonstrating the operation of the article moving system of FIG. 1, and depicts the state which the gripper is moved on the conveyor. It is a schematic side view of the main part of the article movement system for demonstrating the operation of the article movement system of FIG. 1, and draws the state which the grip member releases the grip of the article, and the article is placed on the conveyor. There is. It is a flowchart for demonstrating an example of operation of the article moving system of FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating another example of the separation operation of the gripping member of the article moving system which concerns on modification B. It is a figure for demonstrating still another example of the separation operation of the gripping member of the article moving system which concerns on modification B. It is a schematic side view of the main part of the article moving system which moves the gripping member which gripped an article diagonally upward from a place | placement part which concerns on modification C. It is a flowchart for demonstrating another example of operation of the article moving system which concerns on modification D. It is a flowchart for demonstrating still another example of the operation of the article moving system which concerns on modification D. It is a flowchart for demonstrating still another example of the operation of the article moving system which concerns on modification D. It is a flowchart for demonstrating still another example of the operation of the article moving system which concerns on modification D. It is a schematic diagram of the combination weighing system which is an example of the article moving system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the combination weighing system of FIG. It is a schematic diagram of the article moving system which concerns on modification G. It is a block diagram of the article moving system of FIG. It is a schematic diagram of the article moving system which concerns on modification H. It is a block diagram of the article moving system of FIG. It is a flowchart for demonstrating an example of operation of the article moving system of FIG.

The article moving system 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

(1) Overall Outline An outline of the article moving system 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an article moving system 100. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the article moving system 100.

The article moving system 100 is a system for moving a part of articles A from an article group A1 which is a collection of articles A. In the present embodiment, the article moving system 100 moves a part of the articles A taken out from the article group A1 into the container C conveyed by the conveyor 60.

However, the destination of the article A by the article moving system 100 is not limited to the inside of the container C. The article moving system 100 may directly move a part of the articles A taken out from the article group A1 onto the conveyor 60. Further, the article moving system 100 may put a part of the articles A taken out from the article group A1 into a funnel-shaped discharge chute (not shown). The article A discharged from the discharge chute is, for example, packaged in a bag or contained in a container in a subsequent process of the article moving system 100, and shipped as a product.

The article moving system 100 mainly includes a robot 10, a movable member 20, a gripper 30, a mounting unit 50, and a control unit 70 (see FIGS. 1 and 2). The control unit 70 controls the operation of each unit of the article moving system 100. These configurations will be outlined.

The article group A1, which is a collection of articles A, is placed in the placement section 50. Article A is, but is not limited to, food, for example. Although not limited to, Article A is, for example, a highly sticky food containing a large amount of sugars, gluten, etc. (for example, Tsukudani kelp). Further, the article A is a food having a long length such as spaghetti. Foods with high stickiness and foods with a long length tend to be in a state where the articles are connected to each other.

A gripper 30 is attached to the movable member 20. The gripper 30 has a grip member 32 that grips the article A. The robot 10 moves the movable member 20 to which the gripper 30 is attached. The control unit 70 controls the operation of various configurations of the article moving system 100 including the gripping member driving mechanism 34 and the robot 10. By driving the gripping member 32, the gripping member driving mechanism 34 causes the gripping member 32 to grip the article A, and causes the gripping member 32 to release the gripping of the article A.

The operation of the article moving system 100 will be outlined.

The control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the movable member 20 to which the gripper 30 is attached, and brings the gripper 30 closer to the placement unit 50 on which the article group A1 is placed. , The gripping member 32 of the gripper 30 is inserted into the article group A1 mounted on the mounting portion 50. The control unit 70 controls the gripping member drive mechanism 34 of the gripping device 30 to cause the gripping member 32 of the gripping device 30 to grip a part of the article A of the article group A1 placed on the mounting unit 50. Next, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the movable member 20, and moves the gripping member 32 gripping the article A of the gripper 30 from the mounting portion 50 to the first direction D1. Release. At this time, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 different from the first direction D1. By moving the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2, the separation of the article A gripped by the gripping member 32 and the article A of the article group A1 is likely to be promoted. For the sake of simplification of the description, the operation in which the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 (by moving the movable member 20) may be referred to as a separation operation. Further, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the movable member 20 to which the gripper 30 is attached, and the gripper 30 gripping the article A is placed on the conveyor 60. Move it above C. Then, the control unit 70 controls the gripping member driving mechanism 34 to release the gripping of the article A by the gripping member 32, and puts the article A in the container C. In this way, the article A is moved by the article moving system 100.

(2) Detailed Configuration The detailed configuration of the article moving system 100 will be described mainly with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the gripper 30. 4A to 4C are bottom views of the gripper 30 as viewed from below. In other words, FIGS. 4A to 4C are bottom views of the gripper 30 as viewed from the grip member 32 side. In particular, FIG. 4A depicts the gripping member 32 of the gripper 30 before gripping the article A or after releasing the grip of the article A. FIG. 4B depicts a gripping member 32 of the gripper 30 when gripping the article A (the illustration of the article A is omitted). FIG. 4C depicts a state in which the gripping member 32 in a state of gripping the article A (not shown in the article A) is rotated from the state drawn in FIG. 4B.

(2-1) Movable member The movable member 20 is a member to which the gripper 30 is attached (see FIG. 1). The movable member 20 is a frame that supports the gripper 30. The movable member 20 is a movable (movable) member that is moved by the robot 10.

Here, the description that the gripper 30 is attached to the movable member 20 is not limited to the mode in which the gripper 30 is directly attached to the movable member 20. The description that the gripper 30 is attached to the movable member 20 includes an embodiment in which the gripper 30 is attached to the movable member 20 via another member.

(2-2) Gripping device The gripping device 30 is a device for gripping an article A.

Each gripping device 30 has a gripping member 32 and a gripping member driving mechanism 34 as a driving mechanism for driving the gripping member 32 (see FIGS. 1 and 2). The gripping member drive mechanism 34 drives the gripping member 32 using, for example, a motor or a fluid pressure as a drive source.

In the present embodiment, the gripping member 32 is a rod-shaped or finger-shaped member (see FIG. 3). The gripper 30 has a plurality of gripping members 32 (three in FIG. 3). The number and shape of the gripping members 32 drawn in FIG. 3 and the like are merely examples, and can be changed as appropriate.

When the gripper 30 is viewed from the gripping member 32 side, the gripper 30 is formed in a substantially circular shape (see FIG. 4A). In the present embodiment, when the gripping device 30 is viewed from the gripping member 32 side, the plurality of gripping members 32 are arranged side by side in the circumferential direction (see FIG. 4A). In particular, here, when viewed from the gripping member 32 side of the gripper 30, the plurality of gripping members 32 are arranged side by side at substantially equal intervals in the circumferential direction. When the gripper 30 is viewed from the grip member 32 side, the grip member 32 can move in the radial direction. The gripper 30 moves the gripping members 32 (see FIG. 4A) located at positions apart from each other (referred to as remote positions) inward in the radial direction by the gripping member drive mechanism 34, and moves them closer to each other (close to each other). By moving to a position (referred to as a position) (see FIG. 4B), a plurality of gripping members 32 grip the article A. Further, the gripping device 30 moves the gripping member 32 (see FIG. 4B) at a close position radially outward by the gripping member driving mechanism 34 and moves it to a remote position (see FIG. 4A), whereby the gripping member 32 The grip of the article A is released.

(2-3) Robot The robot 10 is a device that supports the movable member 20 and moves the movable member 20. Although not limited to, the robot 10 is a multi-axis (for example, 6-axis) robot.

The robot 10 functions as a first drive unit. In other words, by moving the movable member 20, the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 of the gripping device 30 attached to the movable member 20 and grips the article group A1 mounted on the mounting portion 50. The member 32 is inserted. Specifically, the robot 10 moves the movable member 20 arranged at a predetermined position vertically downward, so that the robot 10 is a gripper arranged above the article group A1 placed on the placement portion 50. The gripping member 32 of 30 is moved vertically downward, and the gripping member 32 is inserted into the article group A1. Further, the robot 10 separates the gripping member 32 that grips the article A from the mounting portion 50 in the first direction D1. Specifically, the robot 10 moves the movable member 20 arranged at a predetermined position vertically upward, moves the gripping member 32 that grips the article A vertically upward, and places the gripping member 32. Move away from 50. The vertical upper part is an example of the first direction D1.

Further, the robot 10 functions as a second drive unit. In other words, when the robot 10 functions as the first driving unit and separates the gripping member 32 that grips the article A from the mounting portion 50 in the first direction D1, the gripping member 32 is different from the first direction D1. Move in two directions D2. Specifically, when the robot 10 separates the gripping member 32 that grips the article A from the mounting portion 50 in the first direction D1, the first direction D1 is set as the rotation axis direction, and the gripping member 32 is set as the rotation axis R ( (See Fig. 3) Rotate around. Specifically, the robot 10 rotates the gripping member 32 around a rotation axis R that passes through the substantially center of the substantially circular gripper 30 and extends in the vertical direction in the bottom view, and the gripping member 32 is first. Move in the second direction D2 different from the direction D1. Note that FIG. 4B depicts the gripping member 32 before being moved in the second direction D2. FIG. 4C depicts the gripping member 32 after being moved in the second direction D2. The timing at which the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 will be described later.

In the present embodiment, the robot 10 is not limited to the 6-axis multi-axis robot as described above. The robot 10 may be a device capable of moving the gripping member 32 (moving member 20) in the manner described here.

Further, the function of the robot 10 described here may be realized by a plurality of devices. For example, the article moving system 100 may have a device for linearly moving the gripping member 32 in the vertical and horizontal directions and a device for rotating the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R instead of the robot 10. .. Further, for example, in the article moving system 100, instead of the robot 10, a device for linearly moving the gripping member 32 in the vertical direction, a device for linearly moving the movable member 20 in the horizontal direction, and a gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R. It may have a device that rotates the device.

(2-4) Placement section The article group A1 is placed in the placement section 50. The placement unit 50 includes an article group storage container 52 in which the article A (article group A1) is housed. In the placement portion 50, the article group A1 is placed on the placement surface 52a (here, the bottom surface of the article group storage container 52). The gripper 30 grips a part of the article A from the article group A1 housed in the article group storage container 52.

In the present embodiment, the article group storage container 52 is a rectangular parallelepiped container with an open upper part. In the present embodiment, when the amount of the article A housed inside the article group storage container 52 is reduced, the placement unit 50 causes a person or a machine to use the article group storage container 52 in which the amount of the article A is reduced. , It is configured to be replaceable with a new article group storage container 52 (which contains a large amount of article A). The placement unit 50 may have an article supply mechanism for supplying the article A to the article group accommodating container 52 instead of the article group accommodating container 52 being configured to be replaceable.

(2-5) Control unit The control unit 70 includes a CPU (not shown) and a memory such as a ROM or RAM. The control unit 70 is electrically connected to the robot 10 and the gripping member drive mechanism 34 (see FIG. 2). The control unit 70 controls the operation of various configurations of the article moving system 100 including the robot 10 and the gripping member driving mechanism 34 by executing a program stored in the memory by the CPU. Further, the control unit 70 may further control the operation of the conveyor 60 that conveys the container C that contains the article A. However, the operation of the conveyor 60 may be controlled by another control unit.

The various functions of the control unit 70 may not be realized by software, may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by cooperation between hardware and software.

(3) Operation of the article moving system The operation of the article moving system 100 controlled by the control unit 70 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5A to 5F and FIG. 5A-5F are schematic side views of the main parts of the article moving system 100 for explaining the operation of the article moving system 100 of FIG. In FIGS. 5A to 5F, drawing of the robot 10 for moving the movable member 20 is omitted. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the article moving system 100.

FIG. 5A depicts the initial state before the gripper 30 grips the article A. To briefly explain the state of each constituent member in the initial state, the movable member 20 has the gripping member 32 of the gripper 30 above the article group storage container 52 of the mounting portion 50 and outside the article group storage container 52. It is arranged at a predetermined position (initial position) so as to be arranged at. The gripping member 32 of each gripper 30 is arranged at a remote position as shown in FIG. 4A.

When the article moving system 100 is in operation, the control unit 70 controls the robot 10 to move the movable member 20 vertically downward from the initial position and bring the gripper 30 closer to the mounting unit 50 (see step S1). Specifically, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 and is movable so that the gripping member 32 of the gripping device 30 is arranged at the first position where the article A in the article group storage container 52 can be gripped. The member 20 is moved vertically downward (see FIG. 5B). In other words, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 so that at least a part of the gripping member 32 is inserted into the article group A1 and moves the movable member 20 vertically downward. For example, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the movable member 20 vertically downward to bring the distance between the gripping member 32 and the mounting portion 50 close to a predetermined distance, thereby at least a part of the gripping member 32. (For example, about half the length of the gripping member 32) is inserted into the article group A1. Specifically, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the movable member 20 vertically downward, and the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 and the mounting surface 52a of the article group storage container 52 of the mounting portion 50. At least a part of the gripping member 32 is inserted into the article group A1 by bringing the distance to the first distance L1 (see FIG. 5B).

Next, in step S2, the control unit 70 controls the gripping member drive mechanism 34 of the gripping device 30 to cause the gripping member 32 to grip the article A.

Next, the control unit 70 controls the robot 10 to move the movable member 20 in a state where the grip member 32 of the grip device 30 grips the article A, so that the grip member 32 of the grip device 30 is placed. Move away from 50 in the first direction D1 (see step S3). Here, the first direction D1 is vertically above. In step S3, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the gripping member 32 vertically upward to the second position, and in the first direction D1, the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 and the mounting portion 50 are placed. The distance from the placement surface 52a is increased by the second distance L2 (see FIG. 5C). The second distance L2 is a distance larger than the first distance L1. In the second position, the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 is preferably arranged at a position higher than the article group A1 placed on the placing portion 50. More preferably, in the second position, the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 is located higher than the article group A1 placed on the placement portion 50 and is arranged in the vicinity of the article group A1. When the gripping member 32 is moved to the second position, the control unit 70 temporarily stops the robot 10 from moving the movable member 20 vertically upward (in other words, moving the gripping member 32 in the first direction D1).

Next, the control unit 70 causes the robot 10 to perform a separation operation. In other words, the control unit 70 controls the robot 10 to move the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 different from the first direction D1 (see step S4). Specifically, the control unit 70 controls the robot 10 to rotate the movable member 20 around the rotation axis R extending in the vertical direction, thereby rotating the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R by a predetermined angle and gripping. The member 32 is moved in the second direction D2 different from the first direction D1. Here, since the gripping member 32 is rotated around the rotation axis R extending in the first direction D1, the second direction D2 is a direction orthogonal to the first direction D1. In step S4, the robot 10 rotates the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R by 45 ° or more. Preferably, the robot 10 rotates the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R by 90 ° or more. More preferably, the robot 10 rotates the gripping member 32 about 180 ° around the rotation axis R.

By moving the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 different from the first direction D1 in this way, the article A gripped by the gripping member 32 and the article group A1 placed on the placement portion 50 It is easy to separate from the article A. Therefore, when the article A is taken out from the article group A1 by the grip member 32 and moved, the article A not grasped by the grip member 32 may be moved together with the article A being gripped by the grip member 32. It can be suppressed. Further, when the article A is taken out from the article group A1 by the grip member 32 and moved, the article A gripped by the grip member 32 is pulled by the article A of the article group A1 that is not gripped and falls. Occurrence can be suppressed. For example, in the experiment by the inventor of the present application, as a separation operation of the robot 10, by rotating the gripping member 32 about 180 ° around the rotation axis R, a phenomenon that the article A unintentionally falls from the gripping member 32 occurs. It can be suppressed to 4/4 or less. In short, in the article moving system 100, since the gripping member 32 is moved in the second direction D2 different from the first direction D1, the gripping member 32 takes out a substantially constant amount of the article A from the article group A1 and moves it each time. It is easy to make it.

Even when the gripping member 32 is not moved in the second direction D2, when the gripping member 32 is stopped for a long time at the above-mentioned second position, for example, the weight of the article A not gripped by the gripping member 32 is sufficient. You can expect a fall to some extent. With this configuration, there is a possibility that the amount of the article A moved by the gripping member 32 can be made uniform to some extent. However, in such a configuration, the time required to move the article A from the article group A1 to the container C becomes long, and the efficiency of the article moving system decreases. On the other hand, in the article moving system 100, the efficiency of the article moving system 100 can be maintained high by moving the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2.

After causing the robot 10 to perform the separation operation (in other words, after moving the grip member 32 in the second direction D2), the control unit 70 controls the robot 10 to move the movable member 20 vertically upward, and the article A The gripping member 32 that grips the robot is moved to the third position in the first direction D1 (see step S5). When the gripping member 32 is arranged at the third position, the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 is separated from the mounting surface 52a of the mounting portion 50 by a third distance L3 in the first direction D1 (see FIG. 5D). ). The third distance L3 is a distance larger than the second distance L2.

Next, the control unit 70 controls the robot 10 to move the movable member 20, so that the gripping member 32 that grips the article A is moved above the container C of the conveyor 60 (FIG. 5E and step S6). reference).

Next, the control unit 70 controls the gripping member drive mechanism 34 of the gripping device 30 to cause the gripping member 32 to release the gripping of the article A, and places the article A in the container C (see FIG. 5F and step S7). ).

After that, the control unit 70 controls the robot 10 to move the movable member 20 to the initial position (the position drawn in FIG. 5A) (see step S8).

While the article moving system 100 is in operation, the article moving system 100 repeatedly executes a series of operations (operations of steps S1 to S8).

(4) Features (4-1)
The article moving system 100 of the above embodiment moves a part of articles A from the article group A1. The article moving system 100 includes a placing portion 50 on which the article group A1 is placed, a gripping member 32 for gripping the article A, and a robot 10. The robot 10 functions as a first drive unit and a second drive unit. The robot 10 moves the gripping member 32, inserts the gripping member 32 into the article group A1 placed on the placing portion 50, and moves the gripping member 32 holding the article A from the placing portion 50 in the first direction D1. Release to. In the present embodiment, the first direction D1 is vertically upward. The robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 in a direction different from that of the first direction D1 when the gripping member 32 that grips the article A is separated from the mounting portion 50 in the first direction D1.

In the article moving system 100, when the gripping member 32 grips a part of the article A of the article group A1 on the placement portion 50 and moves it from the article group A1, the gripping member 32 is separated from the placement portion 50. It is moved in a second direction D2 different from the first direction D1. As a result, in the article moving system 100, the article A gripped by the gripping member 32 and the article A of the article group A1 of the mounting portion 50 connected thereto can be easily separated, and the gripping member 32 is moved. Large variations in the amount of article A are unlikely to occur.

(4-2)
In the article moving system 100 of the above embodiment, when the robot 10 separates the gripping member 32 holding the article A from the mounting portion 50 in the first direction D1, the robot 10 sets the first direction D1 as the rotation axis direction. By rotating the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R, the gripping member 32 is moved in a direction different from the first direction D1. Preferably, the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 in a second direction D2 different from the first direction D1 by rotating the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R by 45 ° or more. More preferably, the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 in a second direction D2 different from the first direction D1 by rotating the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R by 90 ° or more.

In the article moving system 100, the gripping member 32 is rotated by 45 ° or more around a rotation axis R extending along the first direction D1, so that the article A gripped by the gripping member 32 and the placement connected thereto are connected to the gripping member 32. It is easy to separate the article group A1 of the part 50 from the article A. Therefore, in the article moving system 100, the amount of the article A moved by the gripping member 32 is unlikely to vary greatly.

(4-3)
In the article moving system 100 of the above embodiment, the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 and brings the gripping member 32 and the mounting portion 50 closer to the first distance L1 to insert the gripping member 32 into the article group A1. More specifically, the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 and brings the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 and the mounting surface 52a of the mounting portion 50 closer to the first distance L1 to bring the gripping member 32 to the article group A1. Insert in. The robot 10 separates the gripping member 32 that grips the article A from the mounting portion 50 by a second distance L2 that is larger than the first distance L1, and then moves the gripping member 32 in a direction different from the first direction D1. More specifically, the robot 10 separates the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 that grips the article A from the mounting surface 52a of the mounting portion 50 by a second distance L2, and then sets the gripping member 32 as the first direction D1. Moves in different directions.

In the article moving system 100, after the gripping member 32 is separated from the mounting portion 50 to some extent, the gripping member 32 is moved in a direction different from the first direction D1. Therefore, in the article moving system 100, the article A gripped by the gripping member 32 and the article A of the article group A1 of the mounting portion 50 connected to the article A can be easily separated. Therefore, in the article moving system 100, the amount of the article A moved by the gripping member 32 is unlikely to vary greatly.

(4-4)
In the article moving system 100 of the above embodiment, the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 in a direction different from the first direction D1, and then moves the gripping member 32 that grips the article A by a second distance from the mounting portion 50. Separate by the third distance L3, which is larger than L2. More specifically, after the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 in a direction different from the first direction D1, the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 that grips the article A is moved from the mounting surface 52a of the mounting portion 50. , Separate the third distance L3.

In the article moving system 100, after moving the gripping member 32 in a direction different from the first direction D1, the gripping member 32 and the mounting portion 50 are further separated by a third distance L3. Therefore, in the article moving system 100, after the gripping member 32 is separated to the third distance L3, the problem that the article A unintentionally falls from the gripping member 32 is unlikely to occur.

(4-5)
In the article moving system 100 of the above embodiment, when the robot 10 separates the gripping member 32 that grips the article A from the mounting portion 50 in the first direction D1, the robot 10 makes the gripping member 32 orthogonal to the first direction D1. Move in direction D2. Specifically, the robot 10 rotates the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R extending along the first direction D1 when the gripping member 32 holding the article A is separated from the mounting portion 50 in the first direction D1. By making it move, it moves in the second direction D2 orthogonal to the first direction D1.

In the article moving system 100, the article A gripped by the gripping member 32 and the article A of the article group A1 of the placement portion 50 connected thereto can be easily separated, and the article A moved by the gripping member 32. Large variations in quantity are unlikely to occur.

(5) Modification Example A modification of the above embodiment is shown below. In addition, a part or all of the contents of each modification may be combined with the contents of the said embodiment and the contents of other modifications to the extent that they do not contradict each other.

(5-1) Modification A
The type of gripper 30 in the above embodiment is only an example, and various types of grippers can be applied as the grippers of the present disclosure. For example, the gripper may grip the article A by moving a pair of gripping members in parallel so as to approach each other.

(5-2) Modification B
In the above embodiment, the robot 10 as the second drive unit rotates the movable member 20 around the rotation axis R extending in the first direction D1 to make the gripping member 32 different from the first direction D1 in the second direction D2. Move to. However, the mode in which the robot 10 as the second drive unit moves the gripping member 32 is not limited to the mode of the above embodiment.

For example, in step S4 of the flowchart of FIG. 6, the robot 10 as the second drive unit linearly moves the movable member 20 in the direction intersecting the first direction D1 to intersect the gripping member 32 with the first direction D1. You may move it in the third direction D3. For example, the robot 10 moves the movable member 20 in the horizontal direction orthogonal to the first direction D1, so that the gripping member 32 is indicated by a chain double-dashed line in FIG. 7 from the position shown by the solid line in FIG. It may be moved to the position in the third direction D3 orthogonal to the first direction D1.

Further, for example, in step S4 of the flowchart of FIG. 6, the robot 10 as the second drive unit turns the movable member 20 in the side view to make the gripping member 32 different from the first direction D1 in the fourth direction D4. You may move to. For example, the robot 10 swivels the movable member 20 around the swivel axis R1 extending in the horizontal direction as shown in FIG. 8, so that the gripping member 32 is moved from the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 8 to two points in FIG. It may be moved to the position indicated by the chain line in the fourth direction D4 different from the first direction D1.

Further, the robot 10 as the second drive unit may move the grip member 32 in a mode that combines the movements of the grip member 32 in the second direction D2 to the fourth direction D4 described above.

(5-3) Modification C
In the above embodiment, the first direction D1 is vertically above, but the first direction D1 is not limited to vertically above. For example, the robot 10 as the first driving unit may move the gripping member 32 in the first direction D1'(diagonally upward) by moving the movable member 20 diagonally upward as shown in FIG. For example, specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, the robot 10 as the first drive unit is a movable member in a direction orthogonal to the mounting surface 52a of the article group storage container 52 of the mounting portion 50 installed at an angle. By moving 20, the gripping member 32 is moved in the first direction D1'. Then, the robot 10 as the second driving unit is different from the first direction D1'by rotating the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R'with the first direction D1'as the rotation axis direction. It may be moved in the second direction D2'.

(5-4) Modification D
In the above embodiment, the robot 10 as the first driving unit moves the movable member 20 vertically upward, and the gripping member 32 is moved to the second position in the first direction D1 so as to be separated from the mounting portion 50 (FIG. 5C). After moving to (see), the movement of the gripping member 32 in the first direction D1 is temporarily stopped. After that, the robot 10 as the second drive unit moves the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 different from the first direction D1.

However, when the robot 10 as the first drive unit separates the grip member 32 that grips the article A from the mounting portion 50 in the first direction D1, the robot 10 as the second drive unit holds the grip member 32 in the second direction. The timing of moving to D2 is not limited to the above timing.

For example, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10A, the control unit 70 controls the robot 10 to rotate the movable member 20 before moving the grip member 32 from the first position to the first direction D1 to move the grip member 32. It may be moved in the second direction D2 different from the first direction D1. In other words, the control unit 70 controls the robot 10 to rotate the movable member 20 in a state where the distance between the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 and the mounting surface 52a of the article group storage container 52 is the first distance L1. The gripping member 32 may be moved in a second direction D2 different from the first direction D1. In short, in the flowchart of FIG. 6, the process of step S4 may be executed before the process of step S3. In this case, after step S3, the gripping member 32 stands still at the second position for a while (for example, for several seconds).

If the gripping member 32 is moved in the second direction D2 before being moved from the first position in the first direction D1, the process of step S3 may be omitted in the flowchart of FIG. 10A. That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10B, the control unit 70 controls the robot 10 to move the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2, and then further controls the robot 10 to move the movable member 20 vertically upward. , The gripping member 32 may be moved from the first position to the third position (without stopping at the second position).

Further, for example, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10C, the control unit 70 may simultaneously execute the processes of step S3 and step S4 of FIG. 6 (see step S3a of FIG. 10C). In other words, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 that moves the movable member 20 to which the gripper 30 is attached so that the gripping member 32 moves in the first direction D1 and moves in the second direction D2. May be good. In step S3a, the timing of starting / completing the movement of the gripping member 32 in the first direction D1 and the timing of starting / ending the movement of the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 do not have to coincide. .. In this case, after step S3a, the gripping member 32 stands still at the second position for a while (for example, for a few seconds).

Further, for example, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10D, the control unit 70 may simultaneously execute the processes of step S4 and step S5 of FIG. 6 (see step S5a of FIG. 10D). In other words, the control unit 70 moves the gripping member 32 to the second position, temporarily stops the movement of the gripping member 32 in the first direction D1 at the second position (for example, for several seconds), and then the gripping member 32 moves. The operation of the robot 10 that moves the movable member 20 to which the gripper 30 is attached may be controlled so that the robot 10 moves in the first direction D1 and also in the second direction D2. In step S5a, the timing of starting / completing the movement of the gripping member 32 in the first direction D1 and the timing of starting / ending the movement of the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 do not have to coincide. ..

That is, when the robot 10 as the first drive unit separates the grip member 32 that grips the article A from the mounting portion 50 in the first direction D1, the robot 10 as the second drive unit holds the grip member 32 in the second direction. Various timings such as the following can be selected as the timing to move to D2. The robot 10 as the second drive unit may move the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 at a plurality of timings among the timings shown below.
-Before the gripping member 32 gripping the article A begins to be separated from the mounting portion 50 in the first direction D1.-When the gripping member 32 gripping the article A moves from the first position to the second position in the first direction D1. -When the gripping member 32 that grips the article A moves to the second position in the first direction D1 and then temporarily stops moving to the first direction D1.-The gripping member 32 that grips the article A moves to the first direction D1. When moving from the 2nd position to the 3rd position

(5-5) Modification E
In the article moving system 100 of the above embodiment, a single gripping member 32 is attached to the movable member 20, but in the article moving system of the present invention, a plurality of gripping members 32 may be attached to the movable member 20. ..

At this time, the robot 10 as the second driving unit may simultaneously move the gripping members 32 of the plurality of gripping devices 30 in the second direction D2 different from the first direction D1 by rotating the movable member 20. Further, the article moving system may have a rotating device for each of the plurality of gripping devices 30 different from the robot 10 for rotating the gripping device 30 around a rotation axis R extending in the first direction D1. Then, in the article moving system 100, the gripping member 32 of each gripping device 30 may be moved in a second direction D2 different from the first direction D1 by rotating the gripping device 30 corresponding to each rotating device.

<Example of using an article movement system in which multiple gripping members are attached to movable members>
For example, an article moving system in which a plurality of gripping members 32 are attached to the movable member 20 may be used as a combination weighing system 200 as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. FIG. 11 is a schematic view of the combination weighing system 200. FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the combination weighing system 200.

The combination weighing system 200 is a system for moving a part of the articles A from the article group A1 and discharging the moved articles A. Specifically, the combination weighing system 200 is a system that takes out and discharges a part of the articles A from the article group A1 so that the weight is within the target weight range. Although not limited, the article A discharged by the combination weighing system 200 is packaged in a bag or contained in a container in a subsequent process of the combination weighing system 200 and shipped as a product.

The combination weighing system 200 controls the robot 10, the movable member 120, the plurality of grippers 30, the plurality of weight acquisition units 40, the mounting unit 50, the mounting unit driving unit 54, and the discharge chute 160. A unit 170 is mainly provided (see FIGS. 11 and 12). The control unit 170 performs various calculations and controls the operation of each unit of the combination measurement system 200.

The robot 10 and the gripper 30 are the same as the robot 10 and the gripper 30 of the above embodiment. The movable member 120 is the same as the movable member 20 of the above embodiment except that a plurality of grippers 30 are attached. The placement portion 50 has a gripping position in which the gripper 30 grips the article A of the article group A1 placed on the placement portion 50 by the placement portion drive unit 54, and the gripper 30 is placed on the placement portion 50. The only difference is that it can be moved from the placed article group A1 to the retracted position where the article A is not gripped. Each of the plurality of weight acquisition units 40 is provided corresponding to one gripper 30, and acquires the weight value of the article A gripped by the corresponding gripper 30. The discharge chute 160 is arranged directly below the gripper 30, and receives and discharges the article A released by the gripper 30. The control unit 170 used the control of the operation of various configurations of the combination weighing system 200 including the robot 10, the gripping member drive mechanism 34, and the mounting unit drive unit 54, and the weight value of the article A acquired by the weight acquisition unit 40. Perform combination calculation, etc.

The operation of the combination weighing system 200 will be outlined.

The control unit 170 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the movable member 120 arranged at the initial position vertically downward, and arranges the gripper 30 at the gripping position where the article group A1 is placed. Bring it closer to the yard 50. Then, the control unit 170 controls the gripping member drive mechanism 34 of each gripping device 30, and grips a part of the article A of the article group A1 placed on the mounting unit 50 with the gripping member of each gripping device 30. Let 32 hold it.

Next, the control unit 170 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the movable member 120 vertically upward, and the gripping member 32 that grips the articles A of the plurality of gripping devices 30 is moved from the mounting unit 50 to the first position. Move in one direction D1. At this time, the control unit 170 may control the operation of the robot 10 as in steps S4 to S6 of the flowchart of FIG. 6 of the above embodiment.

Next, the control unit 170 moves the mounting unit 50 to a retracted position that is out of the position directly below the gripper 30. In this state, the mounting portion 50 is not arranged between the gripper 30 and the discharge chute 160.

Next, the control unit 170 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the movable member 120 vertically downward, and brings the gripper 30 closer to the discharge chute 160. At this time, each weight acquisition unit 40 acquires the weight value of the article A gripped by the gripper 30 corresponding to the weight acquisition unit 40. Specifically, each weight acquisition unit 40 has a force sensor and an acceleration sensor, and the force and acceleration measured when the gripper 30 in a state of gripping the article A is moved with the movement of the movable member 120. Based on, the mass of the article A gripped by the gripper 30 is acquired. The control unit 170 performs a combination calculation based on the weight value of the article A gripped by the gripper 30 acquired by each weight acquisition unit 40. The combination calculation is a process of finding a combination of weight values whose total value is within the target weight range as a result of adding the weight values of the articles A gripped by each of the grippers 30.

Then, based on the result of the combination calculation, the control unit 170 causes the grip member 32 of the gripper 30 corresponding to the combination of the weight values in the target weight range to release the grip of the article A above the discharge chute 160. Article A in the target weight range is discharged from the discharge chute 160. When there are a plurality of combinations of weight values in the target weight range, the control unit 170 grips the article A on the grip member 32 of the gripper 30 corresponding to the combination of weight values in the target weight range above the discharge chute 160. Is released, and the operation of discharging the article A in the target weight range from the discharge chute 160 is executed a plurality of times for all combinations.

When the discharge of the article A is completed for all the combinations of the weight values within the target weight range, the control unit 170 controls the robot 10 to return the movable member 120 to the initial position. Further, the control unit 70 controls the mounting unit driving unit 54 to return the mounting unit 50 from the retracted position to the gripping position directly below the gripper 30. Further, if there is a gripper 30 still gripping the article A, the control unit 170 controls the gripping member drive mechanism 34 of the gripper 30 to cause the gripper 30 to release the grip of the article A. The article A is dropped into the article group storage container 52 of the placement portion 50.

The combination weighing system 200 repeats the above operations.

(5-6) Modification F
In the above embodiment, the article moving system 100 has one movable member 20 and one robot 10, but the present invention is not limited to this. The article moving system 100 may have a plurality of movable members 20 to which the gripper 30 is attached and a plurality of robots 10 for moving the movable members 20.

(5-7) Modification G
In the above embodiment, the movable member 20 to which the gripper 30 is attached is moved, so that the gripping member 32 of the gripper 30 is inserted into the article group A1 placed on the placement portion 50, and the article A The gripping member 32 that grips the is separated from the mounting portion 50 in the first direction D1. However, the present invention is not limited to such an aspect.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the article moving system 300 may further include a mounting unit driving unit 254 that moves the mounting unit 50 in the vertical direction.

Then, the robot 10 of the article moving system 300 inserts the gripping member 32 into the article group A1 placed on the placement portion 50, and the gripping member 32 holding the article A is moved from the placement portion 50 in the first direction D1. It is not necessary to move the gripping member 32 in order to separate the grip member 32. Instead, the control unit 270 controls the mounting unit drive unit 254 as the first driving unit, and by moving the mounting unit 50, the gripping member 32 is placed on the mounting unit 50. The gripping member 32 that is inserted into A1 and grips the article A is separated from the mounting portion 50 in the first direction D1. The control unit 270 has the above-described embodiment except that the gripping member 32 is inserted into the article group A1 and the mounting unit driving unit 254 is controlled in order to separate the gripping member 32 from the mounting unit 50 in the first direction D1. Since it is the same as the control unit 70, further description will be omitted.

(5-8) Modification H
In the above embodiment, the robot 10 moves the article A onto the conveyor 60 (on the container C) by moving the movable member 20 to which the gripper 30 is attached in the horizontal direction. In short, in the above embodiment, the article A is horizontally moved onto the conveyor 60 by the robot 10. However, the present invention is not limited to such an aspect, and the article A may be moved onto the conveyor 60 without being moved horizontally by the robot 10.

An article moving system of such an aspect will be described by taking the article moving system 400 as an example with reference to FIGS. 15 to 17. FIG. 15 is a schematic view of the article moving system 400. FIG. 16 is a block diagram of the article moving system 400. FIG. 17 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the operation of the article moving system 400.

Since the article moving system 400 has many similar points to the article moving system 100 described above, for the sake of simplification of the explanation, the differences between the article moving system 400 and the article moving system 100 will be mainly described here. The description of common points will be omitted.

In the article moving system 400, the robot 310 moves the movable member 20 only in the vertical direction. In the article moving system 400, the conveyor 60 is arranged directly under the movable member 20.

The article moving system 400 holds the placement portion 50 at the gripping position P1 (see the placement portion 50 drawn by the solid line in FIG. 15) and the retracted position P2 (the placement portion drawn by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 15). It has a mounting unit drive unit 354 that is moved to and from the unit 50) (see FIG. 16). The gripping position P1 is a position where the gripper 30 can grip the article A of the article group A1 placed on the placement portion 50. Specifically, the mounting portion 50 arranged at the gripping position P1 is arranged directly below the movable member 20 and directly above the conveyor 60. The retracted position P2 is a position where the gripper 30 does not grip the article A from the article group A1 placed on the placement portion 50. Specifically, the placement portion 50 arranged at the evacuation position P2 is arranged at a position off the position directly below the movable member 20 and directly above the conveyor 60. In other words, when the placement portion 50 is arranged at the retracted position P2, the placement portion 50 does not exist between the movable member 20 and the conveyor 60.

The robot 310, the gripping member drive mechanism 34, and the mounting unit drive unit 354 are electrically connected to the control unit 370 (see FIG. 16). The operations of the robot 310, the gripping member drive mechanism 34, and the mounting unit drive unit 354 are controlled by the control unit 370.

An example of the operation of the article moving system 400 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Since steps S1 to S5 of FIG. 17 are the same as steps S1 to S5 in the flowchart of FIG. 6, description thereof will be omitted. The mounting portion 50 is arranged at the gripping position P1 between steps S1 to S5 in FIG.

In step S406, the control unit 370 moves the mounting unit 50 to the retracted position P2.

Next, in step S407, the control unit 370 controls the robot 310 to move the movable member 20 vertically downward to move the gripping member 32 that grips the article A in the vicinity of the conveyor 60 (near the container C). Move to.

Next, in step S408, the control unit 370 controls the gripping member driving mechanism 34 of the gripping device 30 to cause the gripping member 32 to release the gripping of the article A, and places the article A in the container C.

Next, in step S409, the control unit 370 controls the robot 310 to move the movable member 20 to the initial position.

Next, in step S410, the control unit 370 moves the mounting unit 50 to the gripping position P1.

While the article moving system 400 is in operation, the article moving system 400 repeatedly executes a series of operations.

<Additional notes>
The article movement system described above is merely a specific example of the article movement system, and does not limit the technical scope of the present disclosure. It will be appreciated that the above embodiments are capable of various modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

10 Robot (1st drive unit, 2nd drive unit)
32 Grip member 50 Placement 100,300 Article movement system 200 Combination weighing system (article movement system)
A1 Article group A Articles D1, D1'First direction D2, D2' Second direction (direction different from the first direction)
D3 3rd direction (direction different from 1st direction)
D4 4th direction (direction different from 1st direction)
L1 1st distance L2 2nd distance L3 3rd distance

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-3182

Claims (5)

An article movement system that moves some articles from an article group.
The placement part where the article group is placed and
A gripping member that grips the article and
At least one of the gripping member and the mounting portion is moved, the gripping member is inserted into the article group mounted on the mounting portion, and the gripping member that grips the article is removed from the mounting portion. The first drive unit separated in the first direction and
A second drive unit that moves the grip member in a direction different from the first direction when the grip member that grips the article is separated from the mounting portion in the first direction.
A goods movement system. When the first driving unit separates the gripping member that grips the article from the mounting portion in the first direction, the second driving unit sets the gripping member with the first direction as the rotation axis direction. By rotating the grip member by 45 ° or more around the rotation axis, the gripping member is moved in a direction different from the first direction.
The article moving system according to claim 1. The first driving unit moves at least one of the gripping member and the mounting portion, and brings the gripping member and the mounting portion closer to the first distance to insert the gripping member into the article group.
The second drive unit separates the grip member from which the first drive unit grips the article by a second distance larger than the first distance from the mounting portion, and then separates the grip member from the first. Move in a direction different from the direction,
The article moving system according to claim 1 or 2. In the first driving unit, after the second driving unit moves the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction, the gripping member that grips the article is moved from the mounting portion to the second distance. Separate by a larger third distance,
The article moving system according to claim 3. The second driving unit moves the gripping member in a direction orthogonal to the first direction when the first driving unit separates the gripping member holding the article from the mounting portion in the first direction. ,
The article moving system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

Images