JP2022009289A - Unloading device and detecting method of cargo - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an unloading device allowing a cargo to be taken out from a cargo bed on which the cargoes having various shapes are placed, while preventing the collapse of cargo.

SOLUTION: According to one embodiment, an unloading device has a placing part, a moving mechanism, a camera, and a supporting part. The placing part is used to place a cargo thereon when the placing part goes to a cargo bed on which the cargo is placed and takes out the cargo from the cargo bed. The moving mechanism moves the cargo toward the placing part. The camera is mounted on a lower side of the placing part in a state of being aimed at the cargo bed and can detect a bottom portion of the cargo. The supporting part supports another cargo adjacent to a lower side of the bottom of the cargo when the cargo is taken out from the cargo bed and placed on the placing part, thereby allowing the camera to detect the bottom portion of the cargo.

SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9A

COPYRIGHT: (C)2022,JPO&INPIT

Description

An embodiment of the present invention relates to an unloading device for unloading a load placed on a loading platform, and a method for detecting an adjacent load.

In recent years, automation is being promoted in the logistics industry. An example of the progress of automation is palletizing (loading). This is the work of stacking well-shaped boxes on a flat table called a pallet. Vertical articulated industrial robots or linear motion systems are used for palletizing. The opposite work is depalletizing (unloading). This is the work of lowering the box placed on the pallet. Deparating is somewhat automated for well-shaped boxes.

For example, in the courier industry, a trolley (loading platform) with fences in three directions called a basket trolley is used. Normally, luggage is taken in and out from the side of the dolly that does not have a fence. Boxes of different sizes and bags with appropriate shapes are loaded in the trolley as luggage.

When using a device that automatically performs devaluation to take out luggage from the loading platform, the luggage loaded on the loading platform is recognized by the upper camera located above the loading platform and the side camera located on the side of the loading platform. , Detects the position and posture of the luggage to be taken out from the loading platform. Then, the device takes out the baggage by, for example, a robot hand while supporting the baggage under the baggage to be taken out by the support portion.

In the device at this time, the baggage on the lower side of the baggage to be taken out is supported by the support portion. At this time, for example, a support portion may be inserted between the luggage to be taken out next and the upper camera. For this reason, it may be difficult to determine the next baggage to be taken out at the timing. Therefore, for example, the device takes out the luggage to be taken out, retracts the support portion between the luggage loaded on the loading platform and the upper camera, and then determines the luggage to be taken out next.

Special Table 2010-52036 Gazette Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-225952

The problem to be solved by the present invention is that when the work of taking out a load from a loading platform having various shapes such as a box shape or a bag shape is repeated, the load to be taken out next is taken out earlier while preventing the load from collapsing. It is to provide an unloading device that can be recognized by the user and a method for detecting adjacent packages.

According to the embodiment, the unloading device includes a mounting portion, a moving mechanism, a camera, and a support portion. The loading unit is directed to the loading platform on which the luggage is loaded and is used to load the luggage when it is taken out of the loading platform. The moving mechanism moves the baggage toward the above-mentioned storage portion. The camera is attached to the lower side of the above-mentioned storage portion while facing the loading platform, and can detect the bottom of the luggage. When the luggage is taken out from the loading platform and placed on the above-mentioned storage portion, the support portion supports the luggage adjacent to the lower side of the bottom of the luggage while supporting the bottom of the luggage with the camera. Make it detectable.

FIG. 1A is a schematic view showing a state in which the tip of the loading portion is arranged under the load to be taken out while the load is held by the support portion of the unloading device in the luggage taking-out system according to the first embodiment. .. FIG. 1B is a schematic view showing a state in which the unloading device and the loading platform of the luggage unloading system shown in FIG. 1A are tilted. FIG. 2A is a schematic view showing an image when the loading platform is photographed by the first camera of the luggage taking-out system shown in FIG. 1A. In FIG. 2B, the image shown in FIG. 2A is image-processed to determine the boundary between the luggage in the front row and the luggage in the back row (thick solid line), the top edge of the luggage in the front row (thick one-dot chain line), and the bottom of the luggage (thick dashed line). It is a schematic diagram which shows the extracted state. FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the luggage removal system shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing the relationship between the mounting portion of the unloading device of the luggage unloading system shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the second camera, and the support portion. FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a state in which the luggage shown in FIG. 1A is photographed by the second camera shown in FIG. 4 and the bottom of each luggage is extracted by image processing. FIG. 6 is an example of the processing flow of the luggage taking-out system shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing the relationship between the mounting portion, the second camera, and the support portion of the unloading device of the luggage unloading system according to the first modification of the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing the relationship between the mounting portion, the second camera, and the support portion of the unloading device of the luggage unloading system according to the second modification of the first embodiment. FIG. 9A shows the case where there is a shelf on the loading platform in the luggage taking-out system according to the second embodiment, and the lower side of the luggage for which the tip of the loading portion is to be taken out while the load on the loading platform is held by the support portion of the unloading device. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which was arranged in. FIG. 9B shows a case where there is no shelf on the loading platform in the luggage taking-out system according to the second embodiment, and the lower side of the luggage for which the tip of the loading portion is to be taken out while the load on the loading platform is held by the support portion of the unloading device. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which pulls the baggage which we want to arrange and take with a grip part. FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of the luggage removal system shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B. FIG. 11 shows the boundary (thick solid line) between the luggage in the front row and the luggage in the back row, and the luggage in the front row by performing image processing on the images taken by the first camera of the luggage taking-out system shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which extracted the top side (thick one-dot chain line) and the bottom side (thick broken line) of a baggage. FIG. 12A is an example of the processing flow of the baggage removal system shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B. FIG. 12B is an example of a processing flow in the case where there is no shelf on the loading platform in the luggage taking-out system shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B. FIG. 13 is a schematic view showing a state in which the unloading device of the luggage unloading system according to the second embodiment holds the luggage by a method different from the methods shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B. FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing a luggage taking-out system according to a third embodiment. FIG. 15A is an example of the processing flow of the luggage taking-out system shown in FIG. FIG. 15B is an example of a processing flow when the luggage is taken out from the loading platform by using the second camera in the luggage taking-out system shown in FIG. FIG. 16A is a schematic view showing a state in which a region including the bottom of the luggage is imaged by a second camera attached to the lower side of the lower support portion. FIG. 16B is a schematic view showing a state in which the front end of the lower support portion is brought into contact with the lower luggage at the bottom of the luggage to be taken out, and the front surface of the luggage to be taken out is sucked by the grip portion. FIG. 16C is a schematic view showing a state in which the tip of the lower support portion is brought into contact with the lower luggage at the bottom of the luggage to be taken out, and the luggage is sucked and taken out by the grip portion. FIG. 17 is a schematic view showing a state in which the bottom of the baggage to be taken out cannot be recognized when the area including the bottom of the baggage to be taken out is imaged by the second camera attached to the lower side of the lower support portion. FIG. 18A shows a first modification of the third embodiment, and is a schematic view showing a state in which a region including the bottom of the luggage is imaged by a second camera attached to the lower side of the lower support portion. FIG. 18B is a schematic view showing a state in which the tip of the lower support portion (displacement sensor) is in contact with the front surface of the load to be taken out. FIG. 18C is a schematic view showing a state in which the tip of the lower support portion is in contact with the lower luggage at the bottom of the luggage to be taken out. FIG. 18D shows a state in which the tip of the lower support portion is in contact with the lower luggage at the bottom of the luggage to be taken out, the luggage is sucked by the grip portion, and the luggage is placed on the lower support portion. It is a schematic diagram. FIG. 19 is a schematic block diagram of a luggage taking-out system according to a first modification of the third embodiment. FIG. 20A is an example of a processing flow for taking out a load from the loading platform by using the displacement sensors shown in FIGS. 18A to 18D in the load taking-out system according to the first modification of the third embodiment. FIG. 20B is an example of a processing flow for performing contact confirmation processing of the displacement sensor in FIG. 20A. 21A is a schematic view showing an example of a support portion shown in FIGS. 14 and 16A-18D in the luggage taking-out system according to the second modification of the third embodiment. FIG. 21B is a schematic view showing an example of the support portion shown in FIGS. 14 and 16A-18D in the luggage taking-out system according to the third modification of the third embodiment. FIG. 22 shows an example in which the displacement sensor of the luggage taking-out system according to the fourth modification of the third embodiment is placed on the conveyor of the mounting portion or the cylinder of the support portion of the second embodiment and applied. It is a figure.

(First Embodiment)
As a conventional method, there is a method (tipper method) in which a plurality of packages are slanted down together with the carrier to be taken out of the carrier by gravity at once, and then carried by a belt conveyor. If a plurality of packages are taken out of the loading platform at once by gravity, there is a concern that the packages may hit each other and damage one or more (one or more) packages.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, even in the tipper method, the baggage taking-out system 10 capable of preventing damage to the baggage by reducing the number of baggage to be taken out at the same time to one or two as much as possible is provided. That is, in the present embodiment, an example in which the device 14 of the system 10 does not use the robot hand will be described.

A plurality of luggage B1, B2, ... Are randomly placed on the loading platform (trolley) 16 shown in FIG. 1A. As the loading platform 16 described in this embodiment and the embodiment described later, one having fences in three directions is used.
FIG. 2A shows a schematic view of a plurality of luggage B1, B2, ... Taken by the first camera 26 described later. FIG. 2A shows an oblique bird's-eye view obtained when the load loaded on the loading platform 16 is photographed by the first camera 26. If the baggage to be taken is box-shaped, the control unit 22, which will be described later, extracts three visible sides from the image information. An example of the three sides to be extracted is the upper boundary of the box-shaped luggage, the front corner side, and the bottom side.
In FIG. 2B, a plurality of packages B1, B2, ... Taken by the first camera 26 are image-processed by the baggage determination unit (image processing unit) 22b of the control unit 22, which will be described later, and the baggage in the front row and the baggage in the back row are processed. The state where the boundary with the luggage (thick solid line), the top edge of the luggage in the front row (thick one-dot chain line), and the bottom of the luggage (thick dashed line) are extracted is shown.

The luggage taking-out system 10 has an inclined portion 12 having an inclined surface 12a inclined with respect to the floor surface F, an unloading device 14, and a loading platform 16. The inclined surface 12a can move between a state of being flush with the floor surface F (see FIG. 1A) and an inclined state of being inclined with respect to the floor surface F (see FIG. 1B).

As shown in FIG. 3, the baggage removal system 10 includes a control unit (processor) 22, a moving mechanism 24 controlled by the control unit 22, and a first camera 26. Here, as shown in FIG. 1A, a case where the first camera 26 is located in front of and above the loading platform 16 will be described. Therefore, the first camera 26 can take a bird's-eye view of the side of the loading platform 16 without a fence from diagonally above. There may be a plurality of first cameras 26, such as two above the loading platform 16 and two in front of the loading platform 16. In this case, the control unit 22 synthesizes a plurality of images by image processing, and as shown in FIG. 2B, the boundary between the front row and the back row (thick solid line), the uppermost side (thick one-dot chain line), and the bottom side of the front row. (Thick broken line) etc. can be extracted.

The control unit 22 and the moving mechanism 24 can be used as a part of the unloading device 14. That is, the unloading device 14 may include a control unit 22 and a moving mechanism 24.

The control unit 22 is, for example, a load for image processing image information from the movement control unit 22a that controls the movement mechanism 24, the first camera (RGB sensor) 26, and the second camera (RGB-Deptth sensor) 38 described later. It has a determination unit (image processing unit) 22b. The movement control unit 22a controls the movement mechanism 24 to operate appropriately according to the image processing result of the luggage determination unit (image processing unit) 22b.

The control unit 22 is a computer including, for example, a processor such as a CPU, a storage device such as a ROM, RAM, a memory, an auxiliary storage unit, and a hard disk drive. A program is installed in the control unit 22 in advance. The control unit 22 can control the frame 34 and the camera 38, which will be described later, as automated devices by the program. The automation device may include a camera 26 and the like.
The control unit 22 is realized by a processor such as a CPU executing a program stored in a memory, but the control unit 22 is not limited to this. The control unit 22 may be partially or wholly realized by hardware such as LSI, ASIC, and FPGA.

Since the moving mechanism 24 is controlled by the control unit 22, the inclined surface 12a of the inclined portion 12 is rotated at an appropriate angle with respect to the floor surface F with the position indicated by the reference numeral P as a fulcrum, and the base 32 described later. It is used to move the frame 34 to an appropriate position. It is preferable that the fulcrum P of the inclined portion 12 is parallel to, for example, the Y axis described later. Further, the device 14 is moved to an appropriate position with respect to the loading platform 16. That is, the moving mechanism 24 is used to move the first camera 26, the second camera 38, and the frame 34. Therefore, the control unit 22 and the moving mechanism 24 are used as a part of the luggage taking-out system 10 and also as a part of the device 14.

The unloading device 14 according to the present embodiment includes a base (fixed portion) 32, a frame 34 supported by the base 32, a mounting portion 36 provided on the frame 34 on which one or more loads B1 and B2 are placed, and the like. It has a second camera 38 and a support portion 40 that supports one or more luggage B1, B2 lower luggage B3, ...

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the loading platform 16 is movable with respect to the device 14, and the exchanged loading platform 16 can be moved with respect to the device 14 and directed to an appropriate state. The device 14 itself may be movable toward the loading platform 16. Further, the loading platform 16 and the device 14 may be relatively movable.

Here, it is assumed that the XYZ Cartesian coordinate system is adopted as shown in FIG. 1A. The device 14 takes an X-axis and a Y-axis parallel to the floor surface (direction orthogonal to the direction of gravity). The Z axis coincides with the direction of gravity. The direction in which the loading platform 16 is directed with respect to the device 14 is defined as the plus X-axis direction. The minus X-axis direction is the direction in which the packages B1, B2, ... Taken out from the loading platform 16 are conveyed. The plus Y-axis direction is the direction from the left to the right in the image captured by the camera 38, and the minus Y-axis direction is the direction from the right to the left in the image captured by the camera 38. Suppose there is. The plus Z-axis direction is the direction from the lower side in the vertical direction to the upper side, and the minus Z-axis direction is the direction from the upper side to the lower side in the vertical direction.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the device 14 and the loading platform 16 are rotatable around the Y-axis. That is, the device 14 and the loading platform 16 can be appropriately inclined with respect to the floor surface F.

The frame 34 of the device 14 can be moved in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction with respect to the base 32 by the operation of the moving mechanism 24 described later. Therefore, the control unit 22 can move the position of the mounting unit 36 (conveyors 52, 54, 56 described later) in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction by the operation of the moving mechanism 24.

The mounting portion 36 has a plurality of belt conveyors 52, 54, 56. The conveyors 52, 54, and 56 are arranged in order along the minus X-axis direction. The belt portion of the conveyor 52 is wound around a tip side cylindrical shaft (tip portion) 52a and a proximal end side cylindrical shaft (base end portion) 52b. A motor (not shown) is arranged as a part of the moving mechanism 24 on at least one of the distal end side cylindrical shaft 52a and the proximal end side cylindrical shaft 52b. At least one of the motors of the distal end side cylindrical shaft 52a and the proximal end side cylindrical shaft 52b is connected to the control unit 22. Therefore, the belt portion of the conveyor 52 is rotated in a state appropriately controlled by the motor. The conveyors 54 and 56 are also formed in the same manner as the conveyor 52.

The tip-side cylindrical shaft 52a of the most tip-side conveyor 52 is formed so that the thickness (outer diameter) in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) is as small as possible. Therefore, due to the movement of the frame 34 by the moving mechanism 24, a part of the tip side cylindrical shaft 52a of the most tip side conveyor 52, particularly the tip side, can be put into the gap between the loaded loads B1 and B3.

In the present embodiment, the second camera 38 is arranged under the conveyor 52. The field of view of the camera 38 may be adjusted by the control unit 22 under the mounting unit 36, for example, by moving along a ZX plane or by using a zoom function. For the second camera 38, for example, an RGB-Depth sensor is used. The second camera 38 is composed of a color camera and a distance image sensor, and has a function of superimposing a distance image on an RGB image. The control unit 22 can detect the bottom of the baggage B1 and / or the gap between the baggage B1 and B3 by image processing in the control unit 22 using the image data captured by the second camera 38. The second camera 38 can measure the distance to the loading platform 16 and the distance to one or more loads.

As shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 4, the support portion 40 is provided between the tip-side cylindrical shaft 52a of the conveyor 52 and the base 32. The support portion 40 is, for example, in the shape of a roll curtain, and has a sheet-like member 62 and a pair of cylinders 64, 66. An appropriate cloth (fabric) may be used for the sheet-shaped member 62. The pair of cylinders 64, 66 has a central axis parallel to the Y axis. One of the pair of cylinders 64 and 66 is fixed to the base 32, and the other cylinder 66 is supported at or near the tip-side cylindrical shaft 52a of the conveyor 52. That is, the cylinder 66 at one end of the sheet-shaped member 62 is attached to the mounting portion 36, and the cylinder 64 at the other end is attached to the base (fixed portion) 32. A sheet-shaped member 62 is wound around the cylinders 64 and 66, respectively. The sheet-shaped member 62 and the cylinders 64 and 66 are formed in the same manner as, for example, a roll curtain. The distance between the pair of cylinders 64 and 66 can be varied from 0 mm at which the cylinders 64 and 66 come into contact with each other to a distance corresponding to the length of the sheet-shaped member 62. A torsion spring (not shown) is arranged on at least one of the cylinders 64 and 66. An appropriate tension is always generated in the sheet-shaped member 62. Then, when the tension on the sheet-shaped member 62 decreases and the sheet-shaped member 62 becomes loose, the sheet-shaped member 62 can be wound up at at least one of the cylinders 64 and 66.

When the frame 34 moves with respect to the base 32, the area of the sheet-shaped member 62 can be increased or decreased while an appropriate tension is applied to the sheet-shaped member 62 between the pair of cylinders 64 and 66. Therefore, the size of the sheet-shaped member 62 may change when the cylinder 66 moves with respect to the base 32, depending on the position of the mounting portion 36, that is, the cylindrical shaft 52a on the tip end side of the conveyor 52.

As shown in FIG. 5, the sheet-shaped member 62 has a window portion 63a such as a slit or an opening. Therefore, the second camera 38 can take an image of the luggage B1, B3, B5, B7 through the window portion 63a of the sheet-shaped member 62. The window portion 63a is formed between a pair of edges 62a and 62b in order to suppress deformation of the surface of the sheet-like member 62 itself. The width of the sheet-shaped member 62 in the Y-axis direction can be appropriately set. Further, the width of the window portion 63a in the Y-axis direction can be appropriately set.
FIG. 5 shows an image of a loading platform 16 loaded with luggage B1, B2, ... Using the second camera 38. The image shows the bottom surface of the conveyor 52 of the mounting portion 36, the sheet-shaped member 62 of the support portion 40, the cylinders 64, 66, and the luggage B1, B3, B5, ....

Here, when the first camera 26 arranged in front of and above the loading platform 16 is used, a part of the device 14 may interfere between the first camera 26 and the loading platform 16. On the other hand, there are no interfering objects or interfering objects other than the support portion 40 between the second camera 38 and the loading platform 16. The window portion 63a of the sheet-shaped member 62 of the support portion 40 has a predetermined width. Therefore, the control unit 22 can easily find the bottom of one or more packages on the loading platform 16 by the captured image of the second camera 38.

The control unit 22 grasps the positional relationship between the sheet-shaped member 62, the cylinders 64, 66 of the support unit 40 and the second camera 38. The control unit 22 uses, for example, an algorithm (using line detection, color detection, area detection, etc.) of appropriate image processing (baggage determination unit 22b) to provide the sheet-shaped members 62 and cylinders 64, 66 shown in FIG. It can be erased or ignored.
Here, it is preferable that the material of the sheet-shaped member 62 is made of an infrared absorbing material. In this case, the sheet-shaped member 62 cannot be photographed through the second camera 38. That is, among the luggage B1, B3, B5, ..., The portion existing in the plus X-axis direction with respect to the sheet-shaped member 62 cannot obtain information by the second camera (distance image sensor) 38. Therefore, the control unit 22 can perform image processing that ignores the presence of the sheet-like member 62, that is, the support unit 40 in the image information captured by the second camera 38.

The control unit 22 focuses on extracting the bottom of each package after performing such preprocessing on the image information obtained by the second camera 38. To detect the bottom of each baggage, the maximum point of information of the second camera (distance image sensor) 38, the color change point, and the like are used. The control unit 22 can extract the bottoms B1b, B3b, B5b of the luggage B1, B3, B5 that can be imaged through the window unit 63a, ignoring the presence of the sheet-like member 62. As shown in FIG. 5, when the outside of the sheet-shaped member 62 can be imaged by the second camera 38, the control unit 22 has the bottoms B1b, B3b, B5b of the luggage B1, B3, B5 on the outside of the sheet-shaped member 62. Can be extracted.

A large number of sets of loading platforms 16 loaded with a plurality of (many) loads are prepared, and the control unit 22 learns the image obtained in the same manner as shown in FIG. 5 by deep learning, making it easy to detect the bottom of each load. You may. In that case, an image of a large amount of luggage can be taken in advance, and as an example, a person can determine the boundary of the luggage in the image, draw a line on the boundary, and use it as a learning image.

When the load is supported by the support portion 40, it is highly possible that the cylinder 66 on the tip end side of the conveyor 52 is located at a position in the plus X-axis direction than the cylinder 64 provided on the base 32. The sheet-shaped member 62 is inclined with respect to the X-axis and the Z-axis. As shown in FIG. 1A, in the sheet-shaped member 62, a part of the tip-side cylindrical shaft 52a and / or the cylinder 66 of the most tip-side conveyor 52 is inserted into the gap between the loaded loads B1 and B3. In the state, the luggage B3, B5, B7 can be supported. By supporting the luggage B3, B5, B7 by the sheet-shaped member 62, the luggage B3, B5, B7 and the luggage B4, B6, B8, B9 on the back side thereof are prevented from collapsing. Further, even if the luggage B3, B4, ..., B9 collapses, the collapsed luggage is prevented from entering the base 32 or the frame 34 of the device 14 through the sheet-shaped member 62.
It is preferable that the sheet-shaped member 62 of the support portion 40 is not in a state parallel to the Z axis even when the inclined surface 12a of the inclined portion 12 is inclined with respect to the floor surface F.

The transport processing flow of the packages B1, B2, ..., B9 using the package take-out system 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the first camera 26 takes a bird's-eye view of the loading platform 16, and the luggage determining unit (image processing unit) 22b of the control unit 22 determines the presence of the luggage B1, B2, ..., B9 on the loading platform 16 (step S11). ). The control unit 22 can appropriately use the zoom function of the camera 26 when the first camera 26 takes a bird's-eye view of the loading platform 16.

When the control unit 22 determines that the loading platform 16 does not have the luggage B1, B2, ..., B9 (step S11-No), the process ends.

When the control unit 22 determines that the luggage B1, B2, ..., B9 are on the loading platform 16 (step S11-Yes), the loading platform 16 is passed through the window portion 63a of the sheet-shaped member 62 by the second camera 38 on the lower side of the conveyor 52. While photographing the inside, the moving mechanism 24 is operated to move the frame 34 appropriately. At this time, depending on the relationship with the width of the sheet-shaped member 62 along the Y-axis direction, the luggage outside the sheet-shaped member 62 is also photographed. The control unit 22 appropriately moves the moving mechanism 24 to bring the front end side cylindrical shaft 52a of the conveyor 52 closer to the upper luggage B1 and searches for the bottom side B1b of the upper luggage B1 in the loading platform 16 (step S12). ). At this time, when the distance between the cylinders 64 and 66 becomes large, the sheet-shaped member 62 extends while maintaining an appropriate tension.

The control unit 22 passes through the window portion 63a of the sheet-shaped member 62 and outside the edges 62a and 62b of the sheet-shaped member 62 (position on the plus Y-axis direction side with respect to the edge 62a, position in the minus Y-axis direction with respect to the edge 62b). The bottoms B1b, B3b, and B5b of the luggage B1, B3, and B5 can be extracted with. When the control unit 22 confirms the existence of the bottom side B1b of the load B1 on the front side and the upper side in the loading platform 16 (step S13-Yes), the moving mechanism 24 is operated. The control unit 22 brings the tip-side cylindrical shaft 52a and / or the cylinder 66 of the most tip-side conveyor 52 close to or in contact with the load B3 below the bottom side B1b of the load B1 that has confirmed the presence of the bottom side B1b (step). S14).

When the control unit 22 cannot confirm the existence of the bottom B1b of the luggage B1 on the front side in the loading platform 16 (step S13-No), the first camera 26 takes a picture of the loading platform 16 again, and the control unit 22 takes a picture of the loading platform 16. It is confirmed whether or not the luggage B1, ..., B9 is on the 16 (step S11). Further, instead of the flow from step S13 to step S11, the control unit 22 appropriately moves the frame 34 while photographing the inside of the loading platform 16 with the second camera 38, and the luggage B1 on the front side and upper side in the loading platform 16 The flow of step S12 may be performed to search for the base B1b of the camera.

When operating the moving mechanism 24, the control unit 22 attaches the tip-side cylindrical shaft 52a and / or the cylinder 66 of the most tip-side conveyor 52 to the bottom of the luggage B1 whose presence of the bottom B1b is confirmed by, for example, feedback control. It is brought close to the luggage B3 on the lower side of B1b (step S14). At this time, the sheet-shaped member 62 of the support portion 40 supports not only the luggage B3 but also the luggages B5 and B7 on the lower side of the luggage B3. Therefore, the possibility of the load collapsing can be greatly reduced as compared with the case where only the load B3 is supported by the support portion 40.

The control unit 22 determines that the tip-side cylindrical shaft 52a and / or the cylinder 66 of the most tip-side conveyor 52 is located close to the load B3 below the bottom side B1b of the load B1 that has confirmed the presence of the bottom side B1b. Then (step S15-Yes), the control unit 22 operates the moving mechanism 24, tilts the tilted portion 12, and operates the conveyors 52, 54, and 56, respectively. The inclined portion 12 inclines the loading platform 16 and the device 14 at the same angle (step S16). At this time, the control unit 22 may incline the inclined portion 12 at a predetermined angle or may incline it at a desired angle, and the load B1 (, B2) to the front end side conveyor 52 or the intermediate conveyor 54 may be inclined. It may be tilted until placement is detected. The tilt angle is an appropriate angle from 0 ° to 90 °. The gravitational direction of the luggage B1 (, B2) changes depending on the inclination of the inclined surface 12a of the inclined portion 12. Therefore, the luggage B1 (, B2) slides with respect to the luggage B3 and B4 due to the inclination of the inclined surface 12a of the inclined portion 12. In the luggage B1 (, B2), the luggage B1 (, B2) is placed on the belt conveyor 52 by gravity and the scraping force of the belt conveyor 52 (the force for placing the luggage B1 (, B2) on the conveyor 52). The luggage B1 (, B2) is passed from the operating conveyor 52 to the conveyors 54 and 56 adjacent to each other in the minus X-axis direction. The luggage B1 (, B2) is moved from the conveyor 56 to an appropriate separate process. In this way, the gravitational direction of the luggage B1 (, B2) changes due to the inclination of the inclined surface 12a of the inclined portion 12, and the luggage B1 (, B2) is placed on the mounting portion 36.

At this time, the luggage B3, B5, and B7 are supported by the sheet-shaped member 62 of the support portion 40. The sheet-like member 62 of the support portion 40 does not tilt until it is parallel to the Z axis. The sheet-shaped member 62 of the support portion 40 continues to hold the luggage B3, ..., B9 toward the loading platform 16. Therefore, even if the packages B1 and B2 are placed on the conveyors 52, 54, and 56 and transported, it is possible to prevent the remaining packages B3, ..., B9 from collapsing. That is, the luggage B3, ... Other than the luggage B1 (, B2) to be taken out is pressed by the support portion 40 to prevent the load from collapsing.

When the control unit 22 detects the movement of the load B1 (, B2) from the loading platform 16 to the conveyors 52, 54, 56 (steps S17-Yes), the control unit 22 restores the inclination of the loading platform 16 and the unloading device 14 and the conveyor. The operations of 52, 54, and 56 are stopped (step S18). At this time, if the second camera 38 detects that the load remains on the loading platform 16, the inclination of the loading platform 16 and the unloading device 14 does not need to be returned to the state shown in FIG. 1A. The device 14 and the loading platform 16 may be returned to the state shown in FIG. 1A after all the packages have been taken out from the loading platform 16 and moved to another process.

The control unit 22 uses, for example, the first camera 26 to confirm whether or not there is a load on the loading platform 16 (step S19). When it is determined that the package does not exist (step S19-No), the process ends.

When the control unit 22 determines that the luggage B3, ..., B9 exists (step S19-Yes), the process returns to step S12 again to continue the process. Then, the control unit 22 can discover the gap between the luggages B3 and B5 and the gap between the luggages B5 and B7 one after another and take out the luggage from the loading platform 16.

The second camera 38 can continuously check the state of the luggage B3, B5, and B7 through the window portion 63a of the sheet-shaped member 62 from before the luggage B1 is taken out to after the luggage B1 is taken out. Therefore, next, when the luggages B3 and B4 are taken out, if the luggages B5 and B7 can be reliably supported by the sheet-like member 62 of the support portion, the luggages B5, ... B9 are prevented from collapsing.

As described above, in the device 14, even if the luggage B1, ..., B9 is randomly loaded on the loading platform 16, the luggage B3, B5, and B7 are supported by the sheet-shaped member 62 having the window portion 63a. The bottoms of the luggage B3, B5, B7 can be easily found by using the camera 38 under the conveyor 52. Therefore, the tip-side cylindrical shaft 52a and / or the cylinder 66 of the conveyor 52 can be inserted into the bottoms B1b, B3b of the luggage B1, B3, ... Slightly lower positions one after another. Therefore, even if the system 10 according to the present embodiment supports the luggage B3, ... With the support portion 40, and takes out the luggage B1 from the loading platform 16 in which the luggage B1, ... Are randomly arranged, the luggage B3, ... It is possible to prevent the load from collapsing. Therefore, by using the system 10 including this device 14, it is possible to improve the speed of the automatic unloading work from a certain loading platform 16 on which the load is loaded. Therefore, according to the apparatus 14 according to the present embodiment, when the work of taking out one or more packages from the loading platform in which various shapes such as a box shape and a bag shape exist is repeated, the following is performed while preventing the load from collapsing. It is possible to provide an unloading device capable of recognizing one or more packages to be taken out earlier.

As described above, the unloading device 14 according to the present embodiment includes the mounting portion 36 (conveyor 52, 54, 56), the moving mechanism 24 (inclined portion 12), the camera (second camera) 38, and the support portion. It has 40 (sheet-shaped member 62). The loading portion 36 is directed to the loading platform 16 on which one or more packages B1, B2, ... Are loaded, and is loaded when one or more packages B1, B2, ... Are taken out from the loading platform 16. The moving mechanism 24 moves one or more packages B1, B2, ... Toward the mounting portion 36. The camera 38 is attached to the lower side of the mounting portion 36 while facing the loading platform 16, and can detect the bottom B1b of one or more packages B1, B2, .... The support portion 40 is a base B1b of one or more luggage B1, B2, ... Detected by the camera 38 when one or more luggage B1, B2, ... Is taken out from the loading platform 16 and placed on the mounting portion 36. Preferably, the luggage B3 immediately adjacent to the luggage B3 is supported.
Since the second camera 38 can be attached to the lower side of the mounting portion 36, the position of the second camera 38 can be appropriately brought closer to the luggage B1, B2, ... As compared with the first camera 26. Therefore, the second camera 38 attached to the lower side of the mounting portion 36 makes it easier to detect the bottom side B1b of the luggage B1 taken out from the loading platform 16 than when the first camera 26 is used. Then, the luggage B1 can be taken out with the support portion 40 preventing the luggage B3, ... Under the luggage B1 from collapsing. When the camera 38 takes out the luggage B1 and B2, a part of the camera 38 is interfered with by the support portion 40, but the camera 38 always suppresses the influence of the interference by the sequential image processing, and the luggage B3 and B5 of the loading platform 16 are always used. , ... can continue to be imaged. That is, by performing image processing on the control unit 22 in accordance with the sheet-shaped member 62, the bottoms B3b, B5b, ... Of the luggage B3, B5, ... Can be easily extracted from the image of the camera 38. Therefore, it is possible to immediately start the operation of taking out the next baggage B3, ...

In the present embodiment, the inclined portion 12 has an inclined surface 12a, and the inclined surface 12a is described as rotating around the axis of the fulcrum P. The unloading device 14 and the loading platform 16 may be tilted to an appropriate inclination by, for example, arranging a hydraulic device or the like on the floor F.

Here, the first camera 26 is used to photograph the luggage B1, B2, ... In the loading platform 16, and the control unit 22 determines the existence of the luggage B1, B2, ... In the loading platform 16 based on the data. However, if the presence of the luggage B1, B2, ... Can be confirmed by the second camera 38 through the support portion 40, the first camera 26 is not always necessary. In this case, the second camera 38 may find the luggage B1, B3, ... When moving from the upper side to the lower side of the loading platform 16 together with the conveyor 52 while facing the loading platform 16. When moving from the lower side to the upper side of the loading platform 16 together with the 52, the luggage B1, B3, ... May be found.

(First modification)
The first modification will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

As shown in FIG. 7, the sheet-shaped member 62 of the support portion 40 has a plurality of shaded portions 63b in the window portion 63a. The shaded portion 63b is formed in parallel along the Y axis, for example. It is preferable that the shaded portions 63b are formed at appropriate intervals. In this case, the sheet-shaped member 62 including the shaded portion 63b can easily avoid interference due to image processing of the control unit 22 as much as possible. The shaded portion 63b of the support portion 40 is provided so as to be able to reliably support the luggage B3, B5, ... The shaded portion 63b also has a function of reinforcing the sheet-shaped member 62.

Even if the sheet-shaped member 62 is formed in this way, the control unit 22 ignores the presence of the sheet-shaped member 62 and ignores the presence of the sheet-shaped member 62, and the portion where the shaded portion 63b is present, as described in the first embodiment. The bottoms B1b, B3b, B5b of the luggage B1, B3, B5 that can be imaged through the window portion 63a and further outside the sheet-like member 62 can be appropriately extracted while avoiding the above.

Therefore, even when the support portion 40 having the structure of this modification is used, the luggage B1, B2, ... Loaded on the loading platform 16 are sequentially placed in the same manner as described in the first embodiment. It can be placed on the unit 36 and moved to another process.

Due to the shaded portion 63b of the sheet-shaped member 62, there is a concern that the luggage B1, B3, B5, ... Cannot be imaged by the camera 38. When the sheet-shaped member 62 is formed as the shaded portion 63b, the control unit 22 can easily extract the bottom side B1b of the target luggage B1 by performing image processing in consideration of having the shaded portion 63b. Can be done. Further, the control unit 22 can extract the bottoms B3b and B5b of the luggage B3, B5, ... Below the bottom B1b of the luggage B1 in the same manner as the bottom B1b of the luggage B1.

(Second modification)
The second modification will be described with reference to FIG.

Unlike the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4 and the first modification shown in FIG. 7, the sheet-shaped member 62 of the support portion 40 shown in FIG. 8 does not have the window portion 63a formed. It is preferable that the sheet-shaped member 62 of this modification is made of a transparent or translucent infrared transmissive material. In addition, the sheet-like member 62 of this modification may be formed in an appropriate mesh shape. In this case, the captured image information of the second camera 38 can capture the luggage B1, B3, ... To the same extent as the sheet-like member 62 does not exist. Therefore, when the sheet-shaped member 40 of this modification is used, the control unit 22 can easily extract the bases B1b, B3b, ....

Therefore, even when the support portion 40 having the structure of the present modification is used, the loads B1 and B2 loaded on the loading platform 16 are the same as described in the first embodiment and the first modification. , ... Can be sequentially placed on the mounting unit 36 and moved to another process.

(Second Embodiment)
The second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 9A to 12B. This embodiment is a modification of the first embodiment including each modification.

As shown in FIG. 9A, the loading platform 16 may have a shelf 16a. When the luggage under the shelf 16a is taken out from the loading platform 16 among such loading platforms 16, a human being is performing the work of putting his / her hand under the shelf 16a and pulling out the luggage. Therefore, when constructing an automated system 10 for taking out luggage from the loading platform 16 on which the shelf 16a exists, it is necessary to devise a way to take out the luggage on the lower side of the shelf 16a in the horizontal direction instead of from the upper side.

Here, instead of inclining the inclined surface 12a of the inclined portion 12 described in the first embodiment and moving the luggage B1 and B2 to the mounting portion 36 by gravity, the control unit 22 controls the load B1 and B2 as shown in FIG. An example of using the arm 72 and the grip portion (robot hand) 74 that are operated by being operated will be described. It is preferable that the grip portion 74 has a plurality (many) suction cups.
The grip portion 74 usually takes out the load one by one from the loading platform 16. When the upper luggage B1 adjacent to the lower luggage B3 is stably arranged, the grip portion 74 may take out the upper luggage B1 together with the lower luggage B3. It may be possible. Therefore, the grip portion 74 can grip one or more loads.

A suction pump 75 is connected to the control unit 22. The control unit 22 may switch ON / OFF of the pump 75. The pump 75 is connected to the grip portion 74. Therefore, the control unit 22 can switch the operation of causing the grip unit 74 to exert a suction force (grip force) on the load or separating the grip unit 74 from the load. In this embodiment, an example of using the grip portion 74 that sucks and grips the front surface of the load, which is considered to be highly versatile, will be described.
In addition, as shown in the planes Sa and Sb of the luggage B1 shown in FIG. 2A, each luggage may be arranged at an appropriate angle with respect to the YZ plane. By adsorbing one of the surfaces Sa and Sb, the grip portion 74 makes the adsorbed surface parallel to or substantially parallel to the YZ plane. Therefore, the luggage B1 may be randomly loaded.

As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the luggage unloading system 10 has an unloading device 114 and a loading platform 16. FIG. 9A shows a luggage removal system 10 used for a loading platform 16 having a shelf 16a. FIG. 9B shows a state in which the baggage removal system 10 is used for a loading platform 16 without a shelf 16a. The unloading device 114 according to the present embodiment can be used for both the loading platform 16 having the shelf 16a and the loading platform 16 not having the shelf 16a.

The unloading device 114 according to the present embodiment includes a mounting portion 36 (conveyor 52, 54), a moving mechanism 24 (arm 72 and grip portion 74), a camera (second camera) 38, and a support portion 40 (seat). It has a shaped member 62). The loading portion 36 is directed to the loading platform 16 on which one or more packages B1, B2, ... Are loaded, and is loaded when one or more packages B1, B2, ... Are taken out from the loading platform 16. The moving mechanism 24 moves one or more packages B1, B2, ... Toward the mounting portion 36. The camera 38 is attached to the lower side of the mounting portion 36 while facing the loading platform 16, and can detect the bottom B1b of one or more packages B1, B2, .... The support portion 40 is a base B1b of one or more luggage B1, B2, ... Detected by the camera 38 when one or more luggage B1, B2, ... Is taken out from the loading platform 16 and placed on the mounting portion 36. Preferably, the luggage B3 immediately adjacent to the luggage B3 is supported.

In this embodiment, not only the control unit 22 and the moving mechanism 24, but also the first camera 26 can be used as a part of the device 114. That is, the device 114 may include a control unit 22, a moving mechanism 24, and a first camera 26.

The unloading device 114 according to the present embodiment includes a base 32, a frame 34 fixed to the base 32, a mounting portion 36 provided on the frame 34 on which one or more luggage B1 and B2 can be placed, and a second camera ( It has an RGB-Depth sensor) 38 and a support portion 40 that supports one or more luggage B1, B2 lower luggage B3, ... The device 114 further includes an arm 72 that moves with respect to the frame 34, a grip portion 74 that is provided at the tip of the arm 72 and grips the luggage B1, B2, ..., And a first camera 26. Here, an example of sucking and gripping the luggage B1, B2, ... One by one will be described.

FIG. 11 shows an oblique bird's-eye view obtained when the load loaded on the loading platform 16 is photographed by the first camera 26. The image shown in FIG. 11 shows that the box-shaped luggage is arranged in an orderly manner. If the baggage to be taken is box-shaped, the control unit 22 extracts the visible three sides from the image information.
In FIG. 11, the boundary line between the luggage in the front row and the luggage in the back row in the image is extracted by image processing. If there is a middle row baggage between the front row baggage and the back row baggage, the boundary is also extracted.

The grip portion 74 in the present embodiment is particularly suitable for a box-shaped luggage such as a substantially rectangular parallelepiped as shown in FIG. The grip portion 74 described in this embodiment can also be used for a load having an appropriate shape shown in FIG. 2A.

The luggage removal system 10 includes a control unit (processor) 22, a moving mechanism 24 controlled by the control unit 22, and a first camera 26. Here, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the case where the first camera 26 is located in front of and above the loading platform 16 will be described. There may be a plurality of first cameras 26, such as two above the loading platform 16 and two in front of the loading platform 16. In this case, a plurality of images can be combined by image processing to extract the boundary between the front row and the back row (thick solid line), the top edge (thick one-dot chain line), the bottom edge (thick dashed line), and the like shown in FIG. ..

The control unit 22 receives, for example, images from the movement control unit 22a that controls the movement mechanism 24, the arm 72, and the grip portion 74, and the images from the first camera (RGB sensor) 26 and the second camera (RGB-Depts sensor) 38, respectively. It has a baggage determination unit (image processing unit) 22b for image processing. The movement control unit 22a controls the movement mechanism 24, the arm 72, and the grip unit 74 to be appropriately operated according to the image processing result of the luggage determination unit (image processing unit) 22b.

The moving mechanism 24 can move the conveyors 52 and 54 with respect to the base 32 along the Z-axis direction and can move along the X-axis direction. The arm 72 and the grip portion 74 can move along the Z-axis direction and also move along the X-axis direction with respect to the base 32 and the frame 34.

Luggage B1, B2, ..., B7 transport processing flow when the loading platform 16 has no shelves (see FIG. 9B) using the luggage taking-out system 10, and luggage B1 when the loading platform 16 has shelves 16a (see FIG. 9A). , B2, ..., B6 will be described with reference to FIGS. 12A and 12B. Here, when the device 114 is used to take out the luggage (see FIG. 9A) placed on the upper side and the lower side of the intermediate shelf 16a of the loading platform 16, the luggage is taken out from the loading platform 16 in which the intermediate shelf 16a does not exist (FIG. 9B). (See) will be described.

The control unit 22 detects whether or not there is a shelf 16a on the loading platform 16 (step S21). Here, for example, the control unit 22 determines the presence or absence of the shelf 16a based on a bird's-eye view image taken by the first camera 26 or the like, information transmitted from the loading platform 16 to the control unit 22, information acquired by the control unit 22 from the loading platform 16, and the like. do.

As shown in FIG. 9B, the flow when there is no shelf 16a on the loading platform 16 (step S21-No) will be described. When there is no shelf 16a on the loading platform 16, the packages B1, B2, ..., B7 loaded on the loading platform 16 are sequentially conveyed according to the flow shown in FIG. 12B.

The first camera 26 photographs the loading platform 16, and the luggage determining unit (image processing unit) 22b of the control unit 22 determines the presence of the luggage B1, B2, ..., B7 on the loading platform 16 (step S101).

When the control unit 22 determines that the loading platform 16 does not have the luggage B1, B2, ..., B7 (step S101-No), the process ends (see FIG. 12A).

When the control unit 22 determines that the luggage B1, B2, ..., B7 are on the loading platform 16 (step S101-Yes), the control unit 22 moves the moving mechanism 24 while taking a picture of the inside of the loading platform 16 with the second camera 38. Operate appropriately. Then, the bottom of the luggage B1 on the front side and the upper side in the loading platform 16 is searched (step S102).

When the control unit 22 confirms the existence of the bottom side B1b of the load B1 on the front side in the loading platform 16 (step S103-Yes), the moving mechanism 24 is operated to operate the tip side cylindrical shaft 52a and the tip side cylindrical shaft 52a of the conveyor 52 on the most tip side. / Or the cylinder 66 is brought close to or in contact with the load B3 on the lower side of the load B1 whose presence of the bottom B1b is confirmed (step S104).

When the control unit 22 cannot confirm the existence of the bottom B1b of the luggage B1 on the front side in the loading platform 16 (S103-No), the first camera 26 takes a picture of the loading platform 16 again, and the control unit 22 takes a picture of the loading platform 16 again. It is confirmed whether or not the luggages B1, ..., B9 are on the top (step S101). Further, instead of step S101, the control unit 22 appropriately moves the frame 34 while photographing the inside of the loading platform 16 with the second camera 38 to search for the bottom side B1b of the luggage B1 on the front side in the loading platform 16. It may be (step S102).

When operating the moving mechanism 24, the control unit 22 attaches the tip-side cylindrical shaft 52a and / or the cylinder 66 of the most tip-side conveyor 52 to the bottom of the luggage B1 whose presence of the bottom B1b is confirmed by, for example, feedback control. It is brought close to the luggage B3 on the lower side of B1b (step S104).

At this time, the luggage B3, B5, and B7 placed on the loading platform 16 are supported by the sheet-shaped member 62 of the support portion 40. The sheet-shaped member 62 of the support portion 40 continues to hold the luggage B2, ..., B7 toward the loading platform 16. Even if the load B1 is carried on the conveyors 52 and 54, the device 114 prevents the remaining load B2, ..., B7 from collapsing due to the sheet-like member 62 of the support portion 40. Can be done. That is, the luggage B2, ..., B7 other than the luggage B1 to be taken out are suppressed by the support portion 40 in order to prevent the load from collapsing.

The control unit 22 determines that the tip-side cylindrical shaft 52a and / or the cylinder 66 of the most tip-side conveyor 52 is located close to the load B3 below the bottom side B1b of the load B1 that has confirmed the existence of the bottom side B1b. Then (step S105-Yes), the control unit 22 operates the arm 72, the grip unit 74, and the conveyors 52 and 54 by the moving mechanism 24, respectively. The control unit 22 operates the pump 75, and the grip unit 74 sucks and grips the front surface of the load B1 (step S106). The control unit 22 moves the arm 72 in the minus X-axis direction while the load B1 is attracted to the grip portion 74. The control unit 22 stops the operation of the pump 75 as the luggage B1 is placed on the conveyor 52 by the scraping force of the belt conveyor 52, and separates the grip portion 74 from the front surface of the luggage B1. The luggage B1 is passed from the conveyor 52 to the conveyor 54.

When the control unit 22 detects the movement of the luggage B1 from the loading platform 16 to the conveyor 54 and further the movement of the luggage B1 to a predetermined position (discharge from the device 114 to the outside) (step S107-Yes), the conveyor 52, While stopping the operation of 54, the second camera 38 searches for the bottom B2b of the upper luggage B2 in the loading platform 16 (step S108). It is preferable that the timing for searching the bottom of the upper luggage B2 in the loading platform 16 by the second camera 38 starts when the luggage B1 is passed to the conveyor 52. Therefore, before making the determination in step S107, the second camera 38 may search for the bottom of the upper luggage B2 in the loading platform 16.

When the control unit 22 determines that the bottom B2b of the luggage B2 or the bottom B3b of the luggage B3 does not exist (step S109-No), it determines that the luggage does not exist in the loading platform 16 and ends the process.

When the control unit 22 determines that the bottom B2b of the luggage B2 or the bottom B3b of the luggage B3 exists on the loading platform 16 (step S109-Yes), the process returns to step S104 again to continue the process. Then, for example, the control unit 22 sucks the luggage B3 while holding the luggage B5 and B7 with the support portion 40 and puts the luggage B3 on the conveyor 52, or sucks the luggage B2 while holding the luggage B3 with the support portion 40 and sucks the conveyor 52. Put on. In this way, the system 10 can take out the luggages B1, ..., B7 from the loading platform 16 in an appropriate order.

The step S101 for confirming the existence of the luggage on the loading platform 16 with the first camera 26 is not always necessary. This is because the presence of the luggage on the loading platform 16 may be confirmed by the second camera 38.

As shown in FIG. 9A, the flow when the shelf 16a exists on the loading platform 16 (step S21-Yes) will be described. When the shelves 16a are present on the loading platform 16, for example, the packages B1, B2, ..., B6 loaded on the loading platform 16 are sequentially conveyed according to the flow shown in FIG. 12A.

As shown in FIG. 9A, the loading platform 16 may have shelves 16a parallel to the XY plane at appropriate positions in the Z-axis direction (step S21-Yes).

While taking a picture of the inside of the loading platform 16 with the second camera 38, the frame 34 is appropriately moved to search for the bottom of the luggage B1 on the front side of the luggage B1, B2, ... Step S22).

When the control unit 22 confirms the existence of the bottom side B1b of the load B1 on the front side in the loading platform 16 (step S23-Yes), the moving mechanism 24 is operated to operate the tip side cylindrical shaft 52a and the tip side cylindrical shaft 52a of the conveyor 52 on the most tip side. / Or the cylinder 66 is brought close to or in contact with the load B3 on the lower side of the load B1 for which the presence of the bottom B1b has been confirmed (step S24).

The control unit 22 determines that the tip-side cylindrical shaft 52a and / or the cylinder 66 of the most tip-side conveyor 52 is located close to the load B3 below the bottom side B1b of the load B1 that has confirmed the existence of the bottom side B1b. Then (step S25-Yes), the control unit 22 operates the arm 72, the grip unit 74, and the conveyors 52 and 54 by the moving mechanism 24, respectively. The control unit 22 operates the pump 75, and the grip unit 74 sucks and grips the front surface of the load B1 (step S26). The control unit 22 moves the arm 72 in the minus X-axis direction while the load B1 is attracted to the grip portion 74. The control unit 22 stops the operation of the pump 75 as the luggage B1 is placed on the conveyor 52 by the scraping force of the belt conveyor 52, and separates the grip portion 74 from the front surface of the luggage B1. The luggage B1 is passed from the conveyor 52 to the conveyor 54.

When the control unit 22 detects the movement of the luggage B1 from the loading platform 16 to the conveyor 54 and the movement of the luggage B1 to a predetermined position (discharge from the device 114 to the outside) (step S27-Yes), the conveyor 52, While stopping the operation of 54, the second camera 38 searches for the bottom of the upper luggage B2 in the loading platform 16 (step S28). It is preferable that the timing for searching the bottom of the upper luggage B2 in the loading platform 16 by the second camera 38 starts when the luggage B1 is passed to the conveyor 52. Therefore, before making the determination in step S27, the second camera 38 may search for the bottom of the upper luggage B2 in the loading platform 16.

When the control unit 22 determines that the bottom B2b of the luggage B2 or the bottom B3b of the luggage B3 does not exist on the upper side of the shelf 16a of the loading platform 16 (step S29-No), the luggage does not exist on the upper side of the shelf. to decide. Then, the control unit 22 searches for luggage on another shelf (here, the lower side of the shelf 16a) (step S30). In step S30, the same processing as in step S22 is performed.

If the control unit 22 determines that there is a load on another shelf (lower side of the shelf 16a), the process returns to step S23. Therefore, the luggage B5 and B6 on the lower side of the shelf 16a are taken out to the conveyors 52 and 54 of the mounting portion 36 by using the grip portion 74 in the same manner as described above. For this reason, and if there is yet another shelf, the presence of luggage is confirmed (step S30).

If the control unit 22 cannot confirm the existence of the bottom B1b of the luggage B1 on the front side in the loading platform 16 (step S23-No), the process proceeds to step S30 to proceed to another shelf (lower side of the shelf 16a). ) Check if there is any luggage. When it is determined that there is no luggage on another shelf (lower side of the shelf 16a), the control unit 22 ends the process.

As described above, in the device 114, even if the loading platform 16 is loaded with the luggage B1, B2, ..., The conveyor 52 supports the luggage B3, B5, B7 by using the sheet-shaped member 62 having the window portion 63a. The bottom B3b, B5b, B7b of the luggage B3, B5, B7 can be easily found by using the lower camera 38. Therefore, the tip-side cylindrical shaft 52a and / or the cylinder 66 of the conveyor 52 can be arranged one after another at a position slightly lower than the bottoms B1b, B3b of the luggage B1, B3, ... Therefore, by using the system 10 including this device 114, it is possible to improve the speed of the automatic unloading work from a certain loading platform 16 on which the load is loaded.

By using the system 10 according to the present embodiment, immediately after taking out the luggage B1, ..., B4 placed on the upper side of the shelf 16a of the loading platform 16, the luggage B5 placed on the lower side of the shelf 16a of the loading platform 16 , B6 can be taken out. When taking out the luggage B5 and B6 placed on the lower side of the shelf 16a of the loading platform 16, the first camera 26 may not be able to take a picture of the luggage B5 and B6. Even in this case, the presence of the luggage B5 and B6 and the bottoms B5b and B6b of the luggage B5 and B6 can be confirmed by the second camera 38.

As described above, as described in the first embodiment, the camera 38 mounted under the conveyor 52 is used to detect the gap between the upper and lower luggage B1 and B3 in the loading platform 16 (the bottom side B1b of the luggage B1). Should be used. In this case, the camera 38 can easily detect the bottom side B1b of the luggage B1 taken out from the loading platform 16. Then, the luggage B1 can be taken out by the moving mechanism 24 in a state where the support portion 40 prevents the luggage B3, ... Under the luggage B1 from collapsing. Then, the camera 38 can always continue to image the luggage B3, ... Of the loading platform 16 even when the luggage B1 and B2 are taken out. Therefore, it is possible to immediately start the operation of taking out the next baggage B3, ... Therefore, according to the present embodiment, when the work of taking out one or more packages from a loading platform having various shapes such as a box shape or a bag shape is repeated, the next one or more is taken out while preventing the load from collapsing. It is possible to provide an unloading device 114 capable of recognizing a load earlier.

(Modification example)
As shown in FIG. 13, the method of gripping the luggage B1, ... may be a method of gripping the back surface of the luggage B1, ...

In this modification, instead of the grip portion 74 that sucks and grips the luggage B1, the grip portion 76 that grips and grips the back surface of the luggage B1 is used. The gripping portion 76 can grip (pull) not only one baggage B1 but also a plurality of baggage B1 and B2 simultaneously with respect to the baggage B3 and B4 in the direction of taking out the plurality of baggage B1 and B2 from the loading platform 16 in the minus X-axis direction.

For example, as shown in FIG. 13, when a grip portion (rake-shaped scraping hand) 76 of a method of gripping the back surface of the luggage B1 is used, the presence of the shelf 16a shown in FIG. 9A causes the luggage on the lower side of the shelf 16a to be used. There is a possibility that the grip portion 76 does not enter the gap between the uppermost surface and the lower surface of the shelf 16a. Therefore, the method of sucking and gripping the front surfaces of the luggage B1 and B5 using the grip portion 74 is more versatile than the method of gripping the back surfaces of the luggage B1 and B5 using the grip portion 76.

On the other hand, the grip portion (rake-shaped scraping hand) 76 may be able to take out not only one but also a plurality of packages together from the loading platform 16 in the minus X-axis direction. That is, the grip portion 76 can easily grip one or more loads. Therefore, depending on the presence or absence of the shelf 16a, the shape of the luggage, and the like, it may be preferable for the device 114 to use the grip portion 76 instead of the grip portion 74.

In the example shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the front surface of the luggage B1 is sucked and gripped, and in the example shown in FIG. 13, the back surface of the luggage B1 is gripped. In addition, although not shown, it is also possible to grip the upper surface of the luggage B1 by friction or by suction. Depending on the weight of the luggage, the material of the exterior, etc., the upper surface of the luggage B2 on the back side of the luggage B1 may be gripped by friction or suction, and may be placed on the loading portion 36 together with the luggage B1 on the front side thereof. May be good.

As described above, when the load is pulled out from the loading platform 16 by using the grip portion, there are suction, pinching (friction gripping), scraping and the like. Specifically, in the case of a luggage having a large flat front surface such as a cardboard box, it is effective to use a grip portion 74 that sucks and pulls out the front surface. When there is no / few flat surfaces, for example, a baggage such as a paper bag, a grip part that is held by two large fingers is used, or a grip part 76 that scrapes out the baggage such as a rake is used. do.

(Third Embodiment)
The third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 to 17.

A different structure will be briefly described with respect to the second embodiment. The mounting portion 36 has a support portion 82 instead of the conveyor 52. The lower support portion 82 is arranged below the grip portion 74, and the load gripped by the grip portion 74 is placed on the lower support portion 82. The support portion 40 has a tip 82a of the lower support portion 82 instead of the sheet-shaped member 62. When gripping a load, suction, pinching (friction gripping), scraping, etc. can be appropriately used. In this embodiment, as an example, an example using a grip portion 74 for sucking and gripping a load will be described.

As shown in FIG. 14, the luggage unloading system 10 has an unloading device 214 and a loading platform 16. The unloading device 214 according to the present embodiment includes a mounting portion 36 (lower support portion 82), a moving mechanism 24 (arm 72 and grip portion 74), a camera (second camera) 38, and a support portion 40 (lower support portion). It has a tip 82a) of 82. The loading portion 36 is directed to the loading platform 16 on which one or more packages B1, B2, ... Are loaded, and is loaded when one or more packages B1, B2, ... Are taken out from the loading platform 16. The moving mechanism 24 moves one or more packages B1, B2, ... Toward the mounting portion 36. The camera 38 is attached to the lower side of the mounting portion 36 while facing the loading platform 16, and can detect the bottom B1b of one or more packages B1, B2, .... The support portion 40 is a base B1b of one or more luggage B1, B2, ... Detected by the camera 38 when one or more luggage B1, B2, ... Is taken out from the loading platform 16 and placed on the mounting portion 36. Preferably, the luggage B3 immediately adjacent to the luggage B3 is supported.
In this embodiment, not only the control unit 22 and the moving mechanism 24, but also the first camera 26 can be used as a part of the device 214. That is, the device 214 may include a control unit 22, a moving mechanism 24, and a first camera 26.

The support portion 82 according to the present embodiment is a very effective mechanism for pulling out the luggage. When the first camera 26 takes a picture of the luggage, the support portion 82 is inserted between the first camera 26 and the luggage. Therefore, the lower support portion 82 may make it difficult to recognize the bottom of the load to be taken out from the loading platform 16.

In the present embodiment, the second camera 38 is arranged under the lower support portion 82. Therefore, the second camera 38 moves with the movement of the support portion 82. Then, in the same manner as the second camera 38 is arranged under the conveyor 52, the second camera 38 has a bottom surface B1b of the luggage B1 to be taken out from the loading platform 16, a bottom side B3b of the luggage B3 below the luggage B1, and the like. The bottom of one or more packages can be recognized.

When the loading platform 16 is photographed only from the position of the first camera 26 (for example, diagonally above), the support portion 82 is retracted from the loading platform 16 each time a load is taken from the loading platform 16 to secure the field of view of the first camera 26. Work may be required. In the present embodiment, the camera 38 is attached to the lower side of the mounting portion 36 (lower support portion 82). Therefore, the position of the camera 38 can be appropriately closer to the luggage B1, B2, ... Than the first camera 26. Therefore, the camera 38 attached to the lower side of the mounting portion 36 makes it easy to detect the bottom side B1b of the luggage B1 taken out from the loading platform 16. Then, the luggage B1 can be taken out with the support portion 40 (the tip 82a of the lower support portion 82) preventing the luggage B3, ... Under the luggage B1 from collapsing. Then, the camera 38 can always continue to image the luggages B3, B5, ... Of the loading platform 16 even when the luggages B1 and B2 are taken out. Therefore, it is not necessary to retract the support portion 82 from the loading platform 16 every time the load is taken from the loading platform 16, and the state of the remaining baggage can be grasped. Then, by using this device 214, the work of taking out the next baggage can be started earlier, and the productivity of taking out the baggage can be improved.

In this embodiment, the block diagram shown in FIG. 10 of the apparatus 114 of the second embodiment can be used as it is.

The basic idea for mounting a plurality of packages B1, ... Mounted on the loading platform 16 on the support portion 82 by using the device 214 will be described.

The handling method of each baggage includes top surface adsorption, front surface adsorption, scraping and the like. The load B1 of the grip target is determined, and the grip portion 74 is brought as close as possible to the load B1. The control unit 22 preferentially takes out the luggage in the front row, the top-level luggage, and the luggage in the front row. If the control unit 22 can grip the luggage B2 in the back row in addition to the luggage B1 in the front row by using the grip portion 76 (see FIG. 13), the luggage B1 and B2 in the front row and the rear row are placed together on the support portion 82. do.

The control unit 22 brings the tip 82a of the lower support portion 82 into contact with the load B3 adjacent to the lower side of the bottom of the load B1 to be the gripping target. The control unit 22 confirms that the tip 82a of the lower support portion 82 is in contact with the load B3, pulls out the load B1 on the load B1 using the grip portion 74, and places the load B1 on the lower support portion 82. The support portion 82 moves the luggage B1 to another process by, for example, a conveyor (not shown).
For example, by performing image processing on the image obtained from the first camera 26 or the second camera 38, it is confirmed whether the luggage B2 at the uppermost stage has been taken out from the loading platform 16. If the luggage B2 at the uppermost stage has not been taken out from the loading platform 16, the tip 82a of the support portion 82 is brought into contact with the luggage B3 located below and in front of the bottom of the luggage B2 to be the gripping target. Then, the luggage B2 is taken out from the loading platform 16 by using the grip portion 74.
When the uppermost luggage B1 and B2 have been taken out, the second camera 38 attached to the lower support portion 82 searches for the position of the bottom of the luggage B3 under the second camera 38. The luggage 3 on the uppermost stage is taken out from the loading platform 16 as a gripping target. The luggage B4 in the back row is also taken out from the loading platform 16 in the same manner as described above.
By repeating such a process, all the packages B1, ...

An example of the transport processing flow of the packages B1, B2, ... Using the package take-out system 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 15A and 15B.

Here, it is described that the first camera 26 is mainly used up to the second stage (step S56), but even if the control unit 22 uses the second camera 38 to determine the luggage to be taken out earlier. good.

The control unit 22 takes a bird's-eye view of the loading platform 16 with, for example, the first camera 26. The control unit 22 detects whether or not there are luggage B1, B2, ... On the loading platform 16 (step S51).

When the control unit 22 determines that the load B1, B2, ... It is determined whether the bottom B1b of the can be found (step S52).

When the control unit 22 can find the bottom side B1b of the luggage B1 (step S52-Yes), the control unit 22 determines that the grip target of the grip portion 74 is the luggage B1, and determines that the grip target is the luggage B1, and the arm 72, the grip portion 74, and the lower support portion 82. Is appropriately moved (step S53). The control unit 22 moves the support unit 82 from the position shown in FIG. 16A to the position shown in FIG. 16B. At this time, the tip 82a of the lower support portion 82 is on the lower side of the bottom side B1b of the luggage B1 and is in contact with the front surface of the luggage B3. It is preferable that the tip 82a of the support portion 82 is adjacent to the bottom B1b of the luggage B1. The luggage B3 is prevented from moving in the minus X-axis direction by the tip 82a of the lower support portion 82. Then, the control unit 22 operates the pump 75 to suck and grip the front surface of the luggage B1 by the grip unit 74. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 16C, the luggage B1 is moved in the minus X-axis direction with respect to the luggage B3 and placed on the support portion 82. The control unit 22 stops the operation of the pump 75, and causes the lower support unit 82 to support the load B1. The control unit 22 moves the lower support unit 82 and conveys the cargo B1 to an appropriate position. Therefore, the luggage B1 is moved from the support portion 82 to another process.

In step S53, for example, when the grip portion 76 shown in FIG. 13 is used, not only the luggage B1 but also the luggage B2 on the back side thereof can be supported by the lower support portion 82. That is, among the luggage, the luggage in the front row and the luggage in the top row and the luggage in the front row are given priority, and if the luggage in the back row can be handled, the luggage in the back row is also taken. As described above, the baggage handling method includes top surface adsorption, front surface adsorption, scraping and the like.

Next, the control unit 22 again detects whether or not there are luggage B2, B3, ... On the loading platform 16 by the first camera 26 or the like (step S54).

When the control unit 22 determines that the luggage carrier 16 has the luggage B2, ... (Step S54-Yes), it determines whether the bottom B2b of the uppermost luggage B2 of the luggage carrier 16 can be found (step S55).

If the bottom B2b of the luggage B2 can be found (step S55-Yes), the luggage B2 is taken out from the loading platform 16 by the process of step S53.

When the bottom B2b of the luggage B2 cannot be found (step S55-No), the processing of the second stage using the second camera 38 is performed (step S56).

The processing of the second stage will be described with reference to FIG. 15B.
The control unit 22 determines whether the luggage B2, B3, ... Can be imaged by the second camera 38 (step S201). When the second camera 38 can capture images of the luggage B2, B3, ... (Step S201-Yes), the boundaries of the luggage B2, B3 and the boundaries of the luggage B3, B5 are extracted (step S202).

The control unit 22 determines whether or not the bottom B3b of the uppermost luggage B3 on the front side of the loading platform 16 can be found (step S203).

When the control unit 22 finds the bottom B3b of the uppermost luggage B3 on the front side of the loading platform 16 (step S203-Yes), the luggage B5 is supported by the tip 82a of the lower support portion 82 as described in step S53. In this state, the luggage B3 is pulled out (step S204).

The control unit 22 detects whether or not there are luggage B2, B4, ... On the loading platform 16 by, for example, the first camera 26 (step S57).

When the control unit 22 determines that the luggage B2 and B4 are on the loading platform 16 (step S57-Yes), it determines whether the bottom B2b of the uppermost luggage B2 on the loading platform 16 can be found (step S58).

If the bottom B2b of the luggage B2 can be found (step S58-Yes), the luggage B2 is taken out from the loading platform 16 by the process of step S53.

When the bottom B2b of the luggage B2 cannot be found (step S58-No), the processing of the second stage is performed.

In step S57, when the control unit 22 determines that there is no load on the loading platform 16 (step S57-No), it is determined whether or not the loading platform 16 has a shelf 16a (see FIG. 9A). When it is determined that there is a shelf 16a (step S59-Yes), whether there is luggage under the shelf 16a or the process of step S51 is performed.

By repeating such processing, the packages B1, B2, ... Loaded on the loading platform 16 are taken out from the loading platform 16 and transported to a predetermined position.

Then, when it is determined that there is no shelf 16a (step S59-No), the process of taking out the load from the loading platform 16 is completed.

By using the device 214 according to the present embodiment, even if the shelf 16a is present on the loading platform 16, it is possible to appropriately transport the load from the loading platform 16.

By arranging the second camera 38 under the support portion 82, the bottoms of the luggage that are difficult to catch by the first camera 26 can be recognized one after another. Therefore, the luggage can be reliably taken out from the loading platform 16.

Here, for example, with respect to the image information captured by the second camera 38, the control unit 22 may not be able to recognize the bottom side B1b of the luggage B1 shown in FIG.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 16A, the front surface of the luggage B1 is gripped by the grip portion 74 and moved in the minus X-axis direction, for example, by several millimeters. Then, the second camera 38 measures the change in the displacement of the luggage B1 and B3.

The distance of the luggage B1 to the second camera 38 changes, but the distance of the luggage B3 to the second camera 38 does not change. Therefore, even if the bottom B1b of the baggage B1 cannot be detected by simply photographing the baggage B1 and B3 with the camera 38, the control unit 22 moves the baggage B1 while maintaining the position of the camera 38 appropriately. , The position of the luggage B3 can be grasped. Therefore, the control unit 22 can grasp the bottom side B1b of the luggage B1.

(First modification)
The first modification will be described with reference to FIGS. 18A to 20B.

For example, the control unit 22 may not be able to recognize the bottom side B1b of the luggage B1 shown in FIG. 17 with respect to the image information captured by the second camera 38. Further, it is desired to confirm by other means whether the control unit 22 can recognize the bottom B1b of the luggage B1 or not is lower than an appropriate threshold value, or can recognize the bottom B1b of the B1 in order to surely prevent the load from collapsing. In some cases.

As shown in FIGS. 18A to 18D, the support portion 40 according to this modification has a displacement sensor 92 arranged at the tip 82a of the lower support portion 82. As the displacement sensor 92, a contact type or a non-contact type using light or the like can be appropriately used. Here, an example in which the displacement sensor 92 uses a contact type touch sensor will be described.

As shown in FIG. 19, a displacement sensor 92 is connected to the control unit 22. Therefore, the moving mechanism 24 can be appropriately moved based on the information of the displacement sensor 92.

The processing flow of this device 214 is the same as that shown in FIG. 15A. As an example, the second stage follows the flow shown in FIGS. 20A and 20B. In the flow shown in FIGS. 20A and 20B, for example, when the bottom side B1b of the load B1 taken out from the loading platform 16, that is, the boundary between the load B1 and B3 adjacent to each other in the Z-axis direction cannot be recognized, the tip 82a of the lower support portion 82 However, a method for detecting the gripped luggage / supported luggage for determining whether the luggage B1 is supported or the luggage B3 is supported will be described.

Steps S201 to S203 shown in FIG. 20A are the same as the processes shown in FIG. 15B.
When the control unit 22 finds the bottom B1b of the uppermost luggage B1 on the front side of the loading platform 16 (step S203-Yes), it determines whether the recognition accuracy of the bottom B1b of the luggage B3 is higher than an appropriate threshold value (step). S210). The appropriate threshold can be set by the user within a predetermined range.

When the control unit 22 determines that the recognition accuracy of the bottom side B1b of the luggage B1 is higher than an appropriate threshold value (step S210-Yes), a confirmation mode process for confirming whether the bottom side B1b of the luggage B1 has been detected is performed (step S210-Yes). Step S211-Step S213).

The control unit 22 performs a contact confirmation test of the displacement sensor 92. The control unit 22 arranges the lower support portion 82 on the lower side of the arm 72 and the grip portion 74, and brings the tip 82a of the lower support portion 82 into contact with the luggage B3 and the grip portion 74 with the luggage B1 (step S241).

The control unit 22 confirms whether or not the displacement sensor 92 arranged at the tip 82a of the lower support unit 82 has detected the contact with the load B3 (step S242). When the control unit 22 determines that the tip 82a of the lower support unit 82 is not in contact with the luggage B3 (step S242-No), the control unit 22 moves the lower support unit 82 toward the luggage B3.

When the control unit 22 determines that the tip 82a of the support portion 82 is in contact with the luggage B3 (step S242-Yes), the luggage B1 adsorbed by the grip portion 74 is slightly reduced by a predetermined distance, for example, several millimeters. (Step S212). The control unit 22 confirms the reaction of the displacement sensor 92 arranged on the support unit 82 (step S213). When the displacement sensor 92 detects the same or substantially the same displacement as the pulling amount of the load B1 adsorbed by the grip portion 74 (step S213-Yes), the control unit 22 does not have the tip 82a of the support portion 82 as the load B3. It is determined that the baggage B1 is in contact with the baggage B1, and the process returns to the process of step S201.

When the displacement sensor 92 does not detect the same or substantially the same displacement as the pulling amount of the load B1 sucked by the grip portion 74 (step S213-No), the control unit 22 supports the load B3 by the tip 82a of the support portion 82. Judge that you are doing. Then, in a state where the luggage B3 is supported by the tip 82a of the lower support portion 82, the front surface of the luggage B1 on the upper side thereof is attracted by the grip portion 74, and the luggage B1 is moved by a distance greatly exceeding the predetermined distance described in step S212 and pulled out. Step S230).

When the control unit 22 determines that the recognition accuracy of the bottom B3b of the luggage B3 is lower than an appropriate threshold value (step S210-No), the search mode process for searching the bottom B3b of the luggage B3 is performed (step S221-step S224). ).

The control unit 22 performs the same contact confirmation test as in step S211 (step S221).

When the control unit 22 determines that the tip 82a of the support portion 82 is in contact with the luggage B1 or the luggage B3 (step S242-Yes), the luggage 1 adsorbed by the grip portion 74 is held at a predetermined distance such as several millimeters. Only slightly pulled out (step S222). The reaction of the displacement sensor 92 arranged on the support portion 82 is confirmed (step S223). When the displacement sensor 92 detects the same or substantially the same displacement as the withdrawal amount of the load B1 sucked by the grip portion 74 (step S223-Yes), the control unit 22 supports the load B1 gripped by the grip portion 74 and the support. It is determined that the luggage B1 supported by the tip 82a of the portion 82 is the same. That is, when the movement amount of the grip portion 74 and the displacement amount detected by the displacement sensor 92 match or substantially match, the control unit 22 has a target supported by the tip 82a of the lower support portion 82, that is, the support portion 40. It is determined that the baggage is 1 or more. Therefore, the support portion 82 is lowered by an appropriate amount, for example, several centimeters (step S224). The process of step S222 is performed again. Therefore, the position of the displacement sensor 92 is lowered by a predetermined distance, the displacement sensor 92 is brought into contact with or close to one or more luggage B1 or the adjacent luggage B3, and one or more luggage B1 is gripped. Pull B1 again for a predetermined distance.

When the displacement sensor 92 does not detect the same or substantially the same displacement as the withdrawal amount of the load B1 sucked by the grip portion 74 (step S223-No), the load B3 is supported by the tip 82a of the support portion 82. The front surface of the upper luggage B1 is attracted by the grip portion 74, and is moved by a distance greatly exceeding the predetermined distance described in step S222 and pulled out (step S230). That is, when the amount of movement of the grip portion 74 and the amount of displacement detected by the displacement sensor 92 are different, the control unit 22 has the load B3 adjacent to the object supported by the tip 82a of the lower support portion 82, that is, the support portion 40. Judge that.

As described above, the bottom B1b of the luggage B1 to be taken out may not be detected by the camera 38. Even in this case, it can be detected by performing a sequence using the sensor 92 whether the load B1 is supported by the tip 82a of the lower support portion 82 or the load B3 is supported. Therefore, according to the apparatus 214 according to the present modification, the baggage taking-out process can be continued without stopping the baggage taking-out process from the loading platform 16.

Therefore, according to this modification, it is possible to provide a method for detecting one or more packages to be taken out next and the packages adjacent to the lower side thereof while preventing the load from collapsing.

(Second modification)
A second modification will be described with reference to FIG. 21A.
In order to increase the productivity of unloading (the amount of luggage that can be taken out in a unit time), the support portion 82 is enlarged, the number of grip portions 74 is increased, and the width of the grip portion (rake-shaped scraping hand) 76 is set to Y. It is necessary to spread it in the axial direction. For example, the luggage shown in FIG. 2A is placed on the loading platform 16. The border of the bottom of the load may be a polygonal line as shown in FIG. 2B. When the lower support portion 82 is applied to the lower side of such a load, it is preferable that the lower support portion 82 has plate-shaped members 83a, 83b, ..., 83p formed in a strip shape, as shown in FIG. 21A. ..

A plurality of plate-shaped members (lower support plates) 83a, 83b, ..., 83p extend in the X-axis direction. As shown in FIG. 2B, the control unit 22 can extract the uppermost side (thick one-dot chain line) of the luggage B1 in the front row based on the information obtained by the first camera 26. Each of the plurality of plate-shaped members 83a, 83b, ..., 83p of the lower support portion 82 can arrange the tips 82a on the uppermost luggage B1 in the front row. Therefore, with respect to the luggage B1 to be taken out shown in FIG. 21A, the plurality of plate-shaped members 83a, 83b, ..., 83p of the lower support portion 82 support the lower luggage B31. Therefore, when the luggage B1 is gripped and placed on the plurality of plate-shaped members 83a, 83b, ..., 83p by the grip portion 74, the luggage B31, B32, B33 on the lower side of the luggage B1 collapses. It is prevented from occurring.

(Third modification example)
A third modification will be described with reference to FIG. 21B. This modification is a further modification of the second modification.

As shown in FIG. 21B, in the lower support portion 82, three (plural) plate-shaped members (lower support plates) 84, 86, 88 extend in the X-axis direction. The plate-shaped members (lower support plates) 84, 86, 88 here have a larger width in the Y-axis direction than the plate-shaped members 83a, 83b, ..., 83p described in the second modification. When the widths of the plurality of plate-shaped members 83a, 83b, ..., 83p are combined, the width is substantially the same as, for example, the width of the plate-shaped member 84.

Further, the widths of the three (plural) plate-shaped members (lower support plates) 84, 86, 88 are slightly smaller than the widths of the loading platform 16 along the Y-axis direction. Therefore, the plate-shaped members (lower support plates) 84, 86, 88 can be inserted into the loading platform 16 in a state parallel to the XY plane.

With respect to the luggage B1 to be taken out, preferably, the luggage B31 directly below is supported by the tip 82a of the plate-shaped member 84, and the luggage B32 located at the position in the minus Y-axis direction thereof is supported by the tip 82a of another plate-shaped member 86. I support it with. Further, with respect to the luggage B1 to be taken out, not only the luggage B31 directly underneath is preferably supported by the tip 82a of the plate-shaped member 84, but also the luggage B33 located at the position in the plus Y-axis direction thereof is supported by yet another plate-shaped member 88. It is supported by the tip 82a of.

Therefore, when the luggage B1 is gripped and placed on the plate-shaped member 84 by the grip portion 74, it is possible to prevent the luggage B31, B32, and B33 under the luggage B1 from collapsing. Further, even if the load collapses, the load is prevented from entering the lower side of the lower support portion 82 having a width slightly smaller than the width of the loading platform 16.

(Fourth modification)
A fourth modification will be described with reference to FIG. 22.
In the first modification of the third embodiment, an example in which the displacement sensor 92 is arranged at the tip 82a of the support portion 82 has been described. Even if the displacement sensor 92 is disposed at the tip of the mounting portion 36 described in the second embodiment (cylindrical shaft (tip portion) 52a on the tip side of the conveyor 52) or the tip of the support portion 40 (cylinder 66). good. In this case, even if the bottom side B1b of the baggage B1 to be taken out cannot be confirmed by the image information of the second camera 38, the bottom side B1b of the baggage B1 to be taken out can be detected.

Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other embodiments, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

10 ... Luggage removal system, 14 ... Unloading device, 16 ... Loading platform, 22 ... Control unit, 24 ... Moving mechanism, 26 ... First camera, 32 ... Base, 34 ... Frame, 36 ... Mounting unit, 38 ... Second Camera, 40 ... Support, 52, 54, 56 ... Conveyor, B1, B2, ... Luggage, B1b, B2b, B3b, ... Bottom.

An embodiment of the present invention relates to an unloading device for unloading a load placed on a loading platform, and a method for detecting the load.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is that when the work of taking out a load from a loading platform having various shapes such as a box shape or a bag shape is repeated, the load to be taken out next is taken out earlier while preventing the load from collapsing. It is to provide an unloading device that can be recognized by the user and a method for detecting the package .

According to the embodiment, the unloading device has a mounting portion, a first sensor , and a support portion. Luggage is placed on the mounting section . The first sensor is attached to the lower side of the above - mentioned mounting portion and can detect the bottom of the baggage. When the luggage is placed on the above-mentioned storage portion, the support portion supports the luggage below the bottom of the luggage and enables the first sensor to detect the bottom of the luggage. ..

Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other embodiments, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.
The scope of claims at the time of filing is described below.
[Appendix 1]
A mounting unit that is directed toward the loading platform on which the luggage is loaded and is loaded when the luggage is taken out from the loading platform.
A moving mechanism that moves the luggage toward the above-mentioned storage part,
A camera that is attached to the underside of the above-mentioned storage part while facing the loading platform and can detect the bottom of the luggage.
When the luggage is taken out from the loading platform and placed on the above-mentioned storage portion, the camera can detect the bottom of the luggage while supporting the luggage adjacent to the bottom of the luggage below the bottom. , With support
Unloading device with.
[Appendix 2]
The unloading device according to Appendix 1, wherein the camera can detect the distance between the luggage and the adjacent luggage or the loading platform.
[Appendix 3]
The support portion has a size when one end attached to the previously described resting portion, the other end attached to the fixing portion, and the other end move with respect to the fixing portion according to the position of the previously described resting portion. The unloading device according to Appendix 1 or Appendix 2, comprising a sheet-like member that changes.
[Appendix 4]
The unloading device according to Appendix 3, wherein the sheet-shaped member has a bottom of the baggage and a window portion that enables the camera to take an image of the adjacent baggage.
[Appendix 5]
The unloading device according to Appendix 3 or Appendix 4, wherein the sheet-like member contains an infrared absorbing material.
[Appendix 6]
The unloading device according to Appendix 3 or Appendix 4, wherein the sheet-like member contains an infrared transmissive material.
[Appendix 7]
The unloading device according to any one of Supplementary note 1 to Supplementary note 6, wherein the above-mentioned storage unit has a conveyor that separates the luggage from the loading platform when the luggage is taken out from the loading platform and loaded.
[Appendix 8]
The moving mechanism can tilt the loading platform and the above-mentioned resting portion while the adjacent load is supported by the support portion.
When the moving mechanism is tilted while the adjacent luggage is supported by the support portion, the luggage of the loading platform is placed on the above-mentioned resting portion, according to any one of Supplementary note 1 to Supplementary note 7. The described unloading device.
[Appendix 9]
The unloading device according to Appendix 1, wherein the above-mentioned resting portion and the support portion support the adjacent load and are formed of a plurality of support plates on which the load is taken out from the loading platform and placed on the load.
[Appendix 10]
The moving mechanism is provided on the upper side of the above-mentioned placement portion, and has a grip portion for gripping the adjacent load.
The unloading device according to any one of Supplementary note 1 to Supplementary note 7, which has a control unit for controlling the grip portion, the camera, and the above-mentioned mounting portion.
[Appendix 11]
Controlled by the control unit and provided on at least one of the above-mentioned resting portion and the support portion, it detects contact with the cargo and / or the adjacent cargo and displacement with respect to the cargo and / or the adjacent cargo. The unloading device according to Appendix 10, which has a displacement sensor.
[Appendix 12]
When the movement amount of the grip portion and the displacement amount detected by the displacement sensor match or substantially match, the control unit determines that the target supported by the support portion is the luggage, and the control unit determines that the load is the baggage. The unloading device according to Appendix 11, which lowers the above-mentioned displacement portion toward an adjacent load.
[Appendix 13]
The control unit determines that the target supported by the support unit is the adjacent load when the movement amount of the grip unit and the displacement amount detected by the displacement sensor are different. The described unloading device.
[Appendix 14]
The loading section where the luggage taken out from the loading platform is placed,
A support portion that supports the load adjacent to the bottom of the load, and a support portion that supports the load.
A camera provided on the lower side of the above-mentioned resting portion and taking an image of the luggage on the loading platform from the underside of the above-mentioned front-end resting portion.
The pre-described rest and the camera are controlled, the bottom of the baggage is detected based on the information captured by the camera, and the tips of the pre-described rest and the support are placed below the bottom of the baggage. Place it in the adjacent luggage
A control unit that mounts the luggage on the above-mentioned storage portion while the adjacent luggage is supported by the support portion.
Has an unloading device.
[Appendix 15]
A gripping portion capable of gripping the baggage and pulling the baggage while gripping the baggage.
A displacement sensor provided on the support portion to detect the displacement of the luggage or the adjacent luggage with respect to the support portion.
Have,
The above-mentioned resting portion is provided below the grip portion, and the load pulled by the grip portion is placed on it.
The control unit
The luggage is gripped by the grip portion, and the displacement sensor is brought into contact with or close to the luggage or the adjacent luggage to support the luggage or the adjacent luggage by the support portion, and the luggage is predetermined. When the pulling amount of the luggage and the displacement measured by the displacement sensor match or substantially match when pulled by the distance, the displacement sensor contacts the same luggage as the luggage and the support portion is the same as the luggage. Judging that it supports the luggage,
The position of the displacement sensor is lowered by a predetermined distance, the displacement sensor is brought into contact with or close to the luggage or the adjacent luggage, and the luggage is pulled again by a predetermined distance while grasping the luggage.
When the pulling amount of the load and the displacement measured by the displacement sensor are different, it is determined that the displacement sensor is in contact with the adjacent load.
The unloading device according to Appendix 14.
[Appendix 16]
When the control unit determines that the displacement sensor is in contact with the adjacent load, the control unit moves the grip portion by a distance exceeding the predetermined distance, and places the load on the above-mentioned storage portion. The unloading device described in.
[Appendix 17]
Grasping luggage,
Supporting the luggage or the adjacent luggage by touching or bringing a displacement sensor to the luggage or a luggage adjacent to the lower side of the bottom of the luggage below the position where the luggage is gripped.
Pulling the baggage while holding the baggage,
When the pulling amount of the luggage and the displacement measured by the displacement sensor match or substantially match, the displacement sensor contacts the same luggage as the luggage and the displacement sensor supports the same luggage as the luggage. To judge,
To support the cargo or the adjacent cargo by lowering the position of the displacement sensor by a predetermined distance and bringing the displacement sensor into contact with or close to the cargo or the adjacent cargo.
Pulling the baggage while holding the baggage,
When the pulling amount of the load and the displacement measured by the displacement sensor are different, it is determined that the displacement sensor is in contact with the adjacent load.
A method of detecting a cargo / a cargo adjacent to the underside of the cargo.

Claims (17)

A mounting unit that is directed toward the loading platform on which the luggage is loaded and is placed when the luggage is taken out from the loading platform.
A moving mechanism that moves the luggage toward the above-mentioned storage part,
A camera that is attached to the underside of the above-mentioned storage part while facing the loading platform and can detect the bottom of the luggage.
When the luggage is taken out from the loading platform and placed on the above-mentioned storage portion, the camera can detect the bottom of the luggage while supporting the luggage adjacent to the bottom of the luggage below the bottom. An unloading device with a support and a support. The unloading device according to claim 1, wherein the camera can detect the distance between the luggage and the adjacent luggage or the loading platform. The support portion has a size when one end attached to the previously described resting portion, the other end attached to the fixing portion, and the other end move with respect to the fixing portion according to the position of the previously described resting portion. The unloading device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the unloading device has a sheet-like member that changes. The unloading device according to claim 3, wherein the sheet-shaped member has a bottom of the luggage and a window portion that allows the adjacent luggage to be imaged by the camera. The unloading device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the sheet-shaped member includes an infrared absorbing material. The unloading device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the sheet-shaped member includes an infrared transmissive material. The unloading device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the above-mentioned storage unit has a conveyor that separates the cargo from the loading platform when the cargo is taken out from the loading platform and loaded. The moving mechanism can incline the loading platform and the above-mentioned resting portion while the adjacent load is supported by the support portion.
One of claims 1 to 7, wherein when the moving mechanism is tilted while the adjacent load is supported by the support portion, the load on the loading platform is placed on the above-mentioned resting portion. The unloading device according to 1. The unloading device according to claim 1, wherein the above-mentioned resting portion and the support portion support the adjacent load and the load is taken out from the loading platform and placed on the support plate, which is formed of a plurality of support plates. .. The moving mechanism is provided on the upper side of the above-mentioned placement portion, and has a grip portion for gripping the adjacent load.
The unloading device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising a control unit that controls the grip portion, the camera, and the above-mentioned mounting portion. Controlled by the control unit and provided on at least one of the above-mentioned resting portion and the support portion, it detects contact with the cargo and / or the adjacent cargo and displacement with respect to the cargo and / or the adjacent cargo. The unloading device according to claim 10, further comprising a displacement sensor. When the movement amount of the grip portion and the displacement amount detected by the displacement sensor match or substantially match, the control unit determines that the target supported by the support portion is the luggage, and the control unit determines that the load is the baggage. The unloading device according to claim 11, which lowers the above-mentioned displacement portion toward an adjacent load. 11. The control unit determines that the target supported by the support unit is the adjacent load when the movement amount of the grip unit and the displacement amount detected by the displacement sensor are different. The unloading device described in. The loading section where the luggage taken out from the loading platform is placed,
A support portion that supports the luggage adjacent to the bottom of the luggage and
A camera provided on the lower side of the above-mentioned resting portion and taking an image of the luggage on the loading platform from the underside of the previously-described resting portion.
The front-described rest and the camera are controlled, the bottom of the luggage is detected based on the information captured by the camera, and the tips of the front-end and the support are placed below the bottom of the luggage. Place it in the adjacent luggage
A control unit that mounts the luggage on the above-mentioned storage portion while the adjacent luggage is supported by the support portion.
Has an unloading device. A gripping portion capable of gripping the luggage and pulling the luggage while gripping the luggage,
It has a displacement sensor provided on the support portion and detects the displacement of the luggage or the adjacent luggage with respect to the support portion.
The above-mentioned resting portion is provided below the grip portion, and the load pulled by the grip portion is placed on it.
The control unit
The cargo is gripped by the grip portion, and the displacement sensor is brought into contact with or close to the cargo or the adjacent cargo to support the cargo or the adjacent cargo by the support portion, and the cargo is predetermined. When the pulling amount of the luggage and the displacement measured by the displacement sensor match or substantially match when pulled by the distance, the displacement sensor contacts the same luggage as the luggage and the support portion is the same as the luggage. Judging that it supports the luggage,
The position of the displacement sensor is lowered by a predetermined distance, the displacement sensor is brought into contact with or close to the luggage or the adjacent luggage, and the luggage is pulled again by a predetermined distance while grasping the luggage.
When the pulling amount of the cargo and the displacement measured by the displacement sensor are different, it is determined that the displacement sensor is in contact with the adjacent cargo.
The unloading device according to claim 14. A claim that the control unit moves the grip portion by a distance exceeding the predetermined distance when the displacement sensor determines that the displacement sensor is in contact with the adjacent load, and places the load on the above-mentioned placement unit. The unloading device according to 15. Grasping luggage,
Supporting the cargo or the adjacent cargo by bringing a displacement sensor into contact with or close to the cargo or a cargo adjacent to the lower side of the bottom of the cargo below the position where the cargo is gripped.
Pulling the baggage while holding the baggage,
When the pulling amount of the luggage and the displacement measured by the displacement sensor match or substantially match, the displacement sensor contacts the same luggage as the luggage and the displacement sensor supports the same luggage as the luggage. To judge,
To support the cargo or the adjacent cargo by lowering the position of the displacement sensor by a predetermined distance and bringing the displacement sensor into contact with or close to the cargo or the adjacent cargo.
Pulling the baggage while holding the baggage,
When the pulling amount of the cargo and the displacement measured by the displacement sensor are different, it is determined that the displacement sensor is in contact with the adjacent cargo.
A method of detecting a cargo / a cargo adjacent to the underside of the cargo.

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