JP2023178914A - Weighing apparatus and article pickup system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a weighing apparatus and a pickup system that facilitate specification of a weighing unit on which an article should be arranged.SOLUTION: Provided is a weighing apparatus on which articles picked-up by a robot are arranged, said robot having at least one arm member. The weighing apparatus comprises: a plurality of weighing units on which the articles are arranged; and a controller. The robot has position information indicating a position of each of the weighing units. The controller transmits information indicating whether or not the articles can be arranged on each of the weighing units, to the robot. The robot arranges the articles on the weighing units on which articles are not arranged, on the basis of the received information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a weighing device and an article pickup system.

Patent Document 1 discloses a robot that drives an arm member, picks up noodle products stored in a bar with tongs provided at the tip of the arm member, and places them on a weighing tray.

Patent No. 6680387

However, when a plurality of measuring trays are provided, it is not easy to specify the tray on which the noodle product should be placed. Such a problem may occur not only when picking up noodle products but also when picking up articles in general.

The present invention was made in order to solve the above problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a weighing device and an article pickup system that can easily specify a weighing section in which an article is to be placed.

A weighing device of the present invention according to a first aspect is a weighing device in which an article picked up by a robot having at least one arm member is placed, the weighing device including a plurality of weighing sections in which the article is placed, and a control section. The robot has position information indicating the position of each of the weighing sections, and the control section has information indicating whether the article can be placed in each of the weighing sections. The robot is configured to transmit the information to the robot, and the robot is configured to place the article in the weighing section where the article is not placed based on the received information.

A weighing device of the present invention according to a second aspect is a weighing device in which an article picked up by a robot having at least one arm member is placed, and includes a plurality of weighing sections in which the article is placed, and a control section. The control unit is configured to transmit information indicating whether or not the article can be placed in each of the weighing units and the position of each of the weighing units to the robot, The robot is configured to place the article in the weighing section where the article is not placed, based on the received information.

In the weighing device of the present invention according to a third aspect, in the weighing device according to the first or second aspect, the information transmitted by the control section to the robot can be arranged such that the article can be placed in each weighing section. It includes whether it is or not as a voltage signal with different voltage levels.

In the weighing device of the present invention according to a fourth aspect, in the weighing device according to the first or second aspect, the control section transmits the information indicating the amount of the article on each weighing section to the robot. is configured to send to.

An article pickup system of the present invention according to a fifth aspect includes the weighing device according to the first or second aspect, and the robot.

An article pickup system of the present invention according to a sixth aspect includes the weighing device according to the first aspect and the robot, and the robot has model information regarding the model of the weighing device. , the model information and the location information are associated with each other.

According to the present invention, it is possible to easily specify the measuring section where the article is to be placed.

1 is a plan view of a pickup system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a voltage signal transmitted from a transport device. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a certain posture of a first robot according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a front view showing a certain posture of the first robot. It is a perspective view of an end effector. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically representing a first arm member. It is a top view which shows the preliminary operation by a 1st arm member. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a noodle product pick-up operation by the first arm member. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a noodle product pick-up operation by the first arm member. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a noodle product pick-up operation by the first arm member. It is a front view which shows the state before the 1st rotation operation of a 1st arm member. It is a front view which shows the 1st rotation operation of a 1st arm member. It is a front view which shows the 2nd rotation operation of a 1st arm member. FIG. 7 is a front view showing a vertical movement operation of the first arm member. FIG. 6 is a side view showing an operation of arranging noodle products by the first arm member. FIG. 6 is a side view showing an operation of arranging noodle products by the first arm member. FIG. 6 is a side view showing an operation of arranging noodle products by the first arm member. It is a figure which shows another example of the voltage signal transmitted from a conveyance apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which an article pickup system according to the present invention is applied to a noodle product pickup system will be described below with reference to the drawings. The noodle products mentioned here include, for example, pasta, udon, and soba noodles. 1 is a plan view of the pickup system according to this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a partial side view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of FIG. 1 (however, one robot is omitted). ). In the following, when explaining the conveyance device, the explanation will be made according to the directions shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. Furthermore, when explaining the robot, the explanation will be given in the direction shown in FIG. 5, which will be described later. However, the present invention is not limited to these directions, and can be set in various directions.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the pickup system according to the present embodiment includes a first robot 100, a second robot 200, and a noodle product N conveying device 300. The conveyance device 300 includes a plurality of weighing conveyors 311 to 317, 321 to 327, a first conveyor 33 that conveys the noodle products N supplied from each of the weighing conveyors 311 to 317, 321 to 327, A second conveyor 34 that conveys the noodle product N supplied from the noodle product N is provided. This transfer device 300 is placed between two robots 100 and 200. Between each robot 100, 200 and the conveyance device 300, storage members 41, 42 each containing a noodle product N are arranged. Each robot 100, 200 picks up a predetermined amount of noodle products N from the storage members 41, 42 and places them on one of the weighing conveyors 311-317, 321-327. The noodle products N placed on the weighing conveyors 311 to 317, 321 to 327 are supplied to the first conveyor 33 and conveyed, and then transferred to the second conveyor 34 for conveyance. . Below, the transport device 300 will be explained in detail first, and then the robots 100 and 200 will be explained in detail.

<1. Conveyance device>
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the conveyance device 300 has a pair of weighing conveyor groups 301 and 302 arranged apart in the left-right direction, and each weighing conveyor group 301 and 302 has a plurality of weighing conveyor groups 301 and 302, respectively. Weighing conveyors 311-317, 321-327 are provided. A first conveyor 33 extending in the front-rear direction is arranged between the weighing conveyor groups 301 and 302, and a second conveyor 34 extending in the left-right direction is arranged at the front end side of the first conveyor 33. Furthermore, an operation display 35 is arranged at the rear end side of the left weighing conveyor group 302. The operation of each of these devices is controlled by a control device (control unit).

Hereinafter, the weighing conveyor group on the right side of the first transport conveyor 33 will be referred to as a first weighing conveyor group 301, and the weighing conveyor group on the left side will be referred to as a second weighing conveyor group 302. The first robot 100 is placed on the right side of the first weighing conveyor group 301, and the noodle product N picked up by the first robot 100 is placed on one of the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 of the first weighing conveyor group 301. On the other hand, the second robot 200 is placed on the left side of the second weighing conveyor group 302, and the noodle product N picked up by the second robot 200 is placed on one of the weighing conveyors 321 to 327 of the second weighing conveyor group 302. Ru. Since the first weighing conveyor group 301 and the second weighing conveyor group 302 are arranged symmetrically and have substantially the same configuration, the first weighing conveyor group 301 will be mainly described below.

<1-1. Weighing conveyor group>
The first weighing conveyor group 301 includes a plurality of weighing conveyors 311 to 317 arranged in the front-rear direction. In this embodiment, seven weighing conveyors 311 to 317 are provided as an example, but for convenience of explanation, the weighing conveyors arranged from the front to the back are referred to as the first to seventh weighing conveyors 311 to 317, respectively. It shall be called. However, since each of the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 has substantially the same configuration, the first weighing conveyor 311 will be described below.

The first weighing conveyor 311 is constituted by a belt conveyor supported by a weight sensor (not shown) such as a load cell. The conveyance direction of the belt conveyor is the left-right direction, and the loaded noodle products N are conveyed to the first conveyor 33 disposed on the left side. Further, the weight of the noodle product N placed thereon is measured by the weight sensor, and the measured value (analog weight signal) is converted into a digital signal by the A/D converter and sent to the control device.

<1-2. Conveyor>
The first conveyor 33 is constituted by a belt conveyor, and conveys the noodle products N supplied from each of the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 and 321 to 327 forward. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the first conveyor 33 is arranged below each weighing conveyor group 301, 302. Further, a second conveyor 34 extending in the left-right direction is arranged at the front end of the first conveyor 33, and the noodle product N conveyed by the first conveyor 33 is transferred to the second conveyor 34. . Therefore, the second conveyor 34 is arranged below the first conveyor 33. The second conveyor 34 is constituted by a belt conveyor, and circulates in the left-right direction. Trays 341 are fixed on this belt conveyor at predetermined intervals in the conveyance direction. Each tray 341 is conveyed to the right side when it is above the circulating belt conveyor, and is conveyed to the left side when it is below the belt conveyor. That is, each tray 341 circulates in the left and right direction together with the belt conveyor. A collection container 38 is arranged on the right side of the second conveyor 34. The noodle products N accommodated in each tray 341 are packed into bags in the collection container 38 and collected.

The control device is composed of, for example, a microcontroller, and has an arithmetic control section composed of a CPU or the like, and a storage section composed of memories such as RAM and ROM. The storage unit stores various data such as operating programs and measurement data. Note that the control device may be configured by a single control device that performs centralized control, or may be configured by a plurality of control devices that cooperate with each other to perform distributed control.

In the control device, the arithmetic and control section executes an operating program stored in the storage section, thereby controlling the entire conveying device. For example, the weight values measured by each weight sensor are acquired as digital values via the A/D converter at any time, and are stored in the storage unit if necessary. Further, the control device controls the conveyance operation of each of the weighing conveyors 311 to 317, 321 to 327 and each of the conveyance conveyors 33 and 34 via the conveyor drive circuit section. Furthermore, the control device receives signals from the operation display 35 and outputs signals such as data to be displayed on the operation display 35.

The operation display 35 includes, for example, a touch screen display (display device), and on the screen of this display, operations such as starting and stopping the operation of the transport device 300, setting of operation parameters, etc. can be performed. Further, the results of operation (control) by the control device can be displayed on the display screen.

<1-3. Operation of transport device>
Next, an example of the operation of the transport device 300 configured as described above will be described. In this embodiment, as will be described later, the robots 100 and 200 perform work of supplying (placing) noodle products N to the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 and 321 to 327 on which no noodle products N are placed while the conveyance is stopped.

The conveyance device is configured to transmit the status of each weighing conveyor 311-317, 321-327 to the robot 100, 200 by parallel communication via a plurality of cables. More specifically, the control device is configured to send two types of voltage signals to the robots 100, 200 indicating the state of supply of noodle products N in each weighing conveyor 311-317, 321-327. For example, when noodle products N can be placed on each weighing conveyor 311-317, 321-327, a low voltage signal is transmitted, and when noodle products N cannot be placed, a high voltage signal is transmitted. It is configured.

Here, the control device acquires the weighing values of each weight sensor from the A/D converter at fixed time intervals, and controls the weighing conveyors 311 to 317, 321 to which the noodle products N are supplied based on the weighing values of the weight sensors. ~327 is recognized and the weight value of the noodle product N is recognized. Here, when recognizing the weighing conveyors 311 to 317, 321 to 327 to which the noodle products N are supplied, the measured value (weight value) is compared with a preset reference range, and if the measured value is within the reference range. If so, it is determined that an appropriate amount of noodle product N is being supplied, and a High voltage signal is transmitted. In this case, the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 and 321 to 327 are driven at predetermined timing to convey the loaded noodle products N to the first conveyor 33.

On the other hand, if the measured value is less than the first reference value, which is smaller than the reference range, it is determined that the noodle product N is not being supplied, and a Low voltage signal is transmitted. In this case, the robots 100, 200 place the noodle products N on the weighing conveyors 311-317, 321-327. Further, if the measured value is greater than or equal to the first reference value and less than the lower limit of the reference range, a Low voltage signal is continuously transmitted, and the robot 100, 200 determines that the noodle products N to be placed have not reached the predetermined amount. Noodle product N is added.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the control device transmits either a High or Low voltage signal to the robot for each of the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 and 321 to 327. As will be described later, the robots 100 and 200 have position information of each of the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 and 321 to 327. , 321 to 327, the noodle products N are arranged. At this time, for example, each robot 100, 200 can detect the nearest weighing conveyor on which no noodle products N are placed, and place noodle products N in order from that weighing conveyor.

Next, the control device transports the noodle products N from each of the weighing conveyors 311 to 317, 321 to 327 to the first transport conveyor 33 at a predetermined timing. Since the trays 341 are arranged at predetermined intervals on the second transport conveyor 34 located downstream of the first transport conveyor 33, the trays 341 are transferred from the first transport conveyor 33 to the second transport conveyor 34 at predetermined intervals. It is necessary to supply noodle product N. Therefore, the noodle products N need to be arranged on the first conveyor 33 at predetermined intervals.

For this control, the control device drives the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 and 321 to 327, on which an appropriate amount of noodle products N within a reference range are placed, at a predetermined timing to convey them onto the first conveyor 33. Then, the control device causes the noodle products N supplied from each of the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 and 321 to 327 to be arranged on the first conveyor 33 at predetermined intervals. Therefore, each weighing conveyor 311-317, 321-327 is stopped until the timing specified by the control device even if an appropriate amount of noodle products N are placed.

The noodle products N supplied to the first conveyor 33 are supplied to the tray of the second conveyor 34 downstream. The noodle products N on each tray 341 are then sequentially packed into bags by, for example, a worker, and sequentially collected into a collection container 38 on the right side of the second transport conveyor 34.

<2. Robot>
The first and second robots 100 and 200 used in this embodiment are the same, and are robots that imitate the upper body of a human. Each robot 100, 200 is arranged on bases 45, 46 adjacent to housing members 41, 42. Since the first and second robots 100 and 200 have the same structure, the first robot 100 will be described below.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a certain posture of the first robot according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a front view showing a certain posture of the first robot.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the first robot 100 has a body 101, a head 102, and a pair of arm members 103 and 104. A head 102 is provided at the upper end of the body 101 and is rotatable around an axis in the vertical direction. Further, a first camera 105 is provided on the upper part of the body 101 to take pictures of the lower part. It has become. That is, the camera 105 photographs the noodle product N inside the storage member 41 and calculates the portion to be picked up. Further, the head 102 is provided with a second camera 106 having the same function as the first camera. These first and second cameras 105 and 106 may be digital cameras equipped with image sensors using CCD (Charge-Coupled Device), CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor), etc., or RGB cameras capable of measuring depth. -D camera etc. may be used. The pickup of the noodle product N will be described later. In this embodiment, the body 101 and the head 102 correspond to the robot body of the present invention.

A first arm member 103 is provided on the right side of the body 101, and a second arm member 104 is provided on the left side. Since these arm members 103 and 104 have the same structure and differ only in being symmetrical, the first arm member 103 will be described below.

<2-1. Arm member>
The first arm member 103 has multiple joints having degrees of freedom in seven axes. This first arm member 103 is a general manipulator, and is a joint that connects a link, which is a skeletal member that does not move and is displaced integrally, and the links, and that displaces the connected links relative to each other based on a predetermined rotation axis. and alternately. Further, an end effector (grip portion) 3 is provided at the tip of the arm member 103.

The first arm member 103 has a built-in servo motor in each joint, and is connected via a signal line to a control device 108 that controls the rotation angle of the servo motor. The control device 108 may be built into the first robot 100 or may be externally attached. Further, the control device 108 may be a device that is connected via a communication network such as the Internet or a LAN (Local Area Network) and provides services on a so-called cloud. The servo motor in this embodiment may not have a built-in brake, for example.

The material of each link 11 to 17, etc. is not particularly limited, and resin, metal, carbon, etc. can be used. Further, the molding method is not particularly limited, and may be manufactured by plastic working or injection molding, or may be formed using a 3D printer.

Next, the detailed structure of the first arm member 103 will be explained. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the first arm member 103 has seven links 11 to 17 and seven joints 21 to 27 that connect them. Specifically, the first link 11 is a part of the torso 101 (shoulder part), the first joint 21 is connected to one end of the first link 11, and the first link 11 is connected to the first link 11 through the first joint 21. a second link 12 to which one end is connected; a second joint 22 to which the other end of the second link 12 is connected; and a third link 13 to which one end is connected to the second link 12 via the second joint 22. , a third joint 23 connected to the other end of the third link 13, a fourth link 14 whose one end is connected to the third link 13 via the third joint 23, and a fourth link 14 connected to the other end of the fourth link 14. a fifth link 15 whose one end is connected to the fourth link 14 via the fourth joint 24; a fifth joint 25 which is connected to the other end of the fifth link 15; The sixth link 16 has one end connected to the fifth link 15 via the joint 25, the sixth joint 26 connects to the other end of the sixth link 16, and the sixth link 16 connects to the sixth link 16 via the sixth joint 26. It has a seventh link 17 to which one end is connected, and a seventh joint 27 to which the other end of the seventh link 17 is connected.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the end effector provided at the tip of the arm member. As shown in FIG. 8, at the tip of the seventh joint 27, an end effector (grip portion) 3 made up of a two-finger gripper is provided. The seventh joint 27 is a joint rotatable around a rotation axis S extending in the axial direction of the seventh link 17, and the two-finger gripper includes a support portion 31 rotatably connected to the seventh joint 27, and a support portion 31 rotatably connected to the seventh joint 27. A pair of gripping members 32 and 33 are provided in the support portion 31 and are arranged with the rotation axis S therebetween. The end portions of each of the gripping members 32, 33 are swingably connected to the support portion 31, so that the tip portions of both the gripping members 32, 33 can move toward and away from each other. Therefore, the noodle product N can be gripped by both the gripping members 32 and 33. Note that the gripping members 32 and 33 can be swung by a servo motor or the like. Moreover, the gripping members 32 and 33 can be configured by, for example, tongs that can easily grip the noodle product N.

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing the first arm member 103. The first arm member 103 shown in FIG. 9 includes first to seventh links 11 to 17, first to seventh joints 21 to 27 connecting the links, and an end effector 3, and is connected to a control device 108. There is. Further, the fourth link 14 includes a first coupling portion 141 , and the sixth link 16 includes a second coupling portion 161 . In FIG. 11, links are represented by thick straight lines, and joints are represented by bicones or double circles (ellipses). A bicone represents a joint in which the rotational axis of a motor coincides with the central axis of a connected link, and rotates the connected link. That is, a joint represented by a bicone rotates the links connected to the vertices of the cone relative to each other around an axis (not shown) that connects the vertices of the cone, as shown by the dashed-dotted arrow. Note that a joint that rotates a connected link is also referred to as a "rotation joint" for convenience. Moreover, the double circle represents a joint that does not coincide with the central axis of the link to which the rotation axis of the motor is connected, and causes the link connected to the rotation axis to perform a pivoting motion (rotation). That is, the joints shown by the double circles rotate the links connected to each circle around a perpendicular line (not shown) passing through the center of the circle, as shown by the two-dot chain arrow. Note that a joint that rotates a connected link is also referred to as a "swivel joint" for convenience. In this way, the robot arm according to the present embodiment alternately includes rotary joints (joints 21, 23, 25, 27) and swivel joints (joints 22, 24, 26).

Control device 108 includes a processor 181 and a storage device 182. The processor 181 is an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and controls the operation of the first robot 100 by executing a program. The storage device 182 shown in FIG. 9 includes a main storage device such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory), and a main storage device such as HDD (Hard-disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), and flash memory. It is an auxiliary storage device (secondary storage device). The main storage device temporarily stores programs read out by the processor and secures a work area for the processor. The auxiliary storage device stores programs and the like executed by the processor. Note that the processor 181 and the storage device 182 may be a microcontroller with a built-in memory.

As described above, the storage devices of the robots 100 and 200 store the position information of each of the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 and 321 to 327. The position information here refers to, for example, the coordinates (X, Y, Z ).

<2-2. Robot movements>
Next, the operation of the first robot 100 picking up the noodle product N and arranging the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 20. Hereinafter, the operation of picking up the noodle product N from the storage member 41 will be referred to as a pick-up operation, and the operation of moving the picked-up noodle product N to the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 and placing it on the weighing conveyor will be referred to as a placement operation. Furthermore, these operations may be collectively referred to as a pickup operation.

In the following pickup operation, the first arm member 103 is operated by driving at least one of the above-mentioned joints 21 to 27. Therefore, as long as the first arm member 103 performs the operations described below, the joints 21 to 27 to be driven are not particularly limited. Further, although the operation of the first arm member 103 will be described below, the second arm member 104 also operates in the same manner. In this embodiment, the first arm member 103 places the noodle products N on the fifth to seventh weighing conveyors 315 to 317, and the second arm member 104 places the noodle products N on the first to fourth weighing conveyors 311 to 314. It is assumed that the settings are set so that .

First, the first robot 100 takes an image of the noodle product N inside the storage member 41 using the camera 105, and specifies the parts into which the gripping members 32 and 33 are to be inserted. For example, the depth can be calculated from the image of the noodle product N using the camera 105, and the part where the height of the noodle product N from the bottom surface of the storage member 41 is highest can be specified as the insertion location. Next, as shown in FIG. 10, with the gripping members 32 and 33 separated from each other, the end effector 3 is rotated from the initial position to one side (hereinafter referred to as the positive side) by a predetermined angle (for example, 90 to 180 degrees). (hereinafter referred to as the first angle, and this operation is referred to as the preliminary rotation). Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the end effector 3 is inserted into the noodle product N from this state. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 12, the gripping members 32 and 33 are moved close to each other to grip the noodle product N, and the end effector 3 is raised to a predetermined height. At this time, as shown in FIG. 13, the attitude of the first arm member 103 is adjusted so that the rotation axis S of the end effector 3 has a predetermined inclination θ from the horizontal direction H. For example, in many noodle products, this slope θ is preferably -80 degrees to +80 degrees, more preferably -40 degrees to +45 degrees. Note that, for example, -45 degrees here is an angle that is 45 degrees downward from the horizontal direction H, and +45 degrees is an angle that is 45 degrees above the horizontal direction H.

Next, the end effector 3 is rotated approximately twice the first angle to the side opposite to the plus side (hereinafter referred to as the minus side) so that the state shown in FIG. 14 becomes the state shown in FIG. (referred to as the first rotation operation). At this time, in the end effector 3, the noodle products N are hanging from the gripping members 32 and 33 on the positive side and the negative side, but all the noodle products N are gripped by the gripping members 32 and 33. Rather, some of the noodle products N may become entangled with the noodle products N held by the gripping members 32 and 33. Therefore, by rotating the end effector 3 in the minus side, downward acceleration can be applied to the noodle products N hanging on the minus side from the gripping members 32 and 33, so that the noodle products N entangled on the minus side can be shaken off. It can be dropped.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 15, the end effector 3 is rotated to the plus side by about twice the first angle (hereinafter referred to as a second rotation operation). Thereby, downward acceleration can be applied to the noodle products N hanging on the plus side from the gripping members 32 and 33, so that the noodle products N entangled on the plus side can be shaken off.

Thereafter, by moving the end effector 3 up and down, the entangled noodle products N are further shaken off (hereinafter referred to as up and down movement operation). For example, it is preferable to move the end effector 3 up and down about two to three times. At this time, as shown in FIG. 15, the end effector 3 is lowered by a predetermined distance from the initial position after the rotation operation described above, and then raised from the initial position as shown in FIG. 17. That is, in the process of raising the end effector 3, the end effector 3 is raised to a higher position than the highest point of the end effector 3 immediately before that. Thereby, the acceleration acting on the noodle products N when the end effector 3 is lowered can be increased, and the entangled noodle products N can be further shaken off. Note that the order in which the second rotation operation and the vertical movement operation are performed is not particularly limited, and may be performed in the opposite order to the above, or may be performed simultaneously.

In this way, when the work of shaking off the noodle product N is completed, the end effector 3 is moved to the weighing conveyor. As described above, the conveyance device 300 sequentially transmits voltage signals to the first robot 100 for the weighing conveyors on which the noodle product N is not placed among the first to seventh weighing conveyors 5311 to 317. For example, when a Low voltage signal is transmitted to any of the fifth to seventh weighing conveyors 315 to 317 assigned to the first arm member 103, the first robot 100 determines that the noodle product N is Assuming that the weighing conveyors 315 to 317 are not located, this is converted into position information indicating the positions of the weighing conveyors 315 to 317. Then, the first robot 100 places the noodle product N from the weighing conveyor closest to the first robot 100 based on this position information. The arrangement of the noodle products N will be explained below.

First, as shown in FIG. 18, the end effector 3 is turned upward (first turning operation). Thereby, it is possible to prevent the noodle products hanging downward from the gripping members 32 and 33 from interfering with the ends of the conveying device. Next, the first arm member 103 is moved to the target weighing conveyor side. As shown in FIG. 19, when the end effector 3 is located above the target weighing conveyor, the end effector 3 is rotated so that the operating direction (proximity and separation direction) of the gripping members 32 and 33 substantially coincides with the horizontal direction. Adjust the position. Then, as shown in FIG. 20, while rotating the end effector 3 downward above the target weighing conveyor (second rotating operation), the gripping members 32 and 33 are separated near the lowest point, and the noodle Product N is dropped onto the weighing conveyor. At this time, the end effector 3 is positioned above the front part of the weighing conveyor (transport conveyor side), and when it is turned downward while being slightly retracted from this position, the noodle products N are weighed in a U-shape. Can be placed on the conveyor.

In this way, when the noodle products N are placed on the weighing conveyors 315 to 317, the first arm member 103 is operated so that the end effector 3 moves above the storage member 41, and the next noodle product N is picked up. conduct. The second arm member 104 also performs the same operation as above. That is, the second arm member 104 picks up the noodle product N from the storage member 41 and places the noodle product N on any of the first to fourth weighing conveyors 311 to 314. Further, the second robot 200 performs a similar operation, picks up the noodle product N from the storage member 42, and places it on one of the weighing conveyors 321 to 327 of the second weighing conveyor group 302. The subsequent transportation of the noodle product N is as described above.

Note that if it is determined that the noodle products N placed on the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 are below the above-mentioned reference range, an additional pick-up operation can be performed. That is, depending on the weight of the weighed noodle products N, the insufficient amount of noodle products N is picked up from the storage member 41 and placed on the target weighing conveyor again. The method of picking up the noodle product N at this time is not particularly limited, and for example, the length of the gripping members 32 and 33 inserted into the noodle product N in the storage member 41 is made shorter than the specified length. The weight of the noodle product N can be adjusted.

Further, if the weight of the noodle products N on the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 exceeds the specified range, a part of the noodle products N placed on the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 is picked up by the gripping members 32 and 33. , the weight of the noodle product N can be reduced to within a specified range. At this time, the second camera 106 provided on the head 102 of the first robot 100 captures an image of the target noodle product N on the weighing conveyor, and similarly to the above, identifies the part where the noodle product N is to be picked up. . Then, based on the weighed weight of the noodle product N, the length of insertion of the gripping members 32 and 33 is adjusted, and a part of the noodle product N is picked up. As a result, when it is determined that the weight of the noodle product N on the weighing conveyor is within the reference range, the noodle product N is transported to the first transport conveyor 33 as described above. Thereby, the control device transmits a Low voltage signal to the first robot 100 as the state of the weighing conveyor.

In addition, if the noodle products N placed on the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 are not within the standard range, the noodle products N can also be collected. For example, a collection lane extending in the front-rear direction can be arranged between the first weighing conveyor group 301 and the storage member 41, that is, on the opposite side from the first conveyor 33. When it is determined that the weight of the noodle product N is not within the reference range, the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 are driven to transport the noodle product N to the collection lane. The collected noodle products N can be stored in the storage member 41. Or it can be discarded.

When the number of noodle products N in the storage member 41 becomes low, the storage member 41 can be directly replenished with noodle products N. In addition, since the housing member 41 is disposed between the transport device 300 and the first robot 100, it is movable in the front-back direction. Therefore, when the number of noodle products N in the storage member 41 decreases, the storage member 41 is moved either in the front or back direction, and instead, a replacement storage member filled with the noodle products N is moved from the front or rear direction. 1 robot 100. At this time, if the replacement housing member is operated to push out the housing member 41 in the front-rear direction, the efficiency of replenishing the noodle products N can be further improved. Further, in order to receive the noodle products N scattered during pickup, an empty receiving storage member can be arranged at least in one of the front and back directions of the storage member 41.

<3. Features＞
With the noodle product pickup system configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) In this embodiment, the noodle products N can be placed by having signals indicating the status of each weighing conveyor 311-317, 321-327 and position information of each weighing conveyor 311-317, 321-327. The weighing conveyor can be easily identified. That is, the conveyance device 300 transmits two voltage signals indicating the status of each weighing conveyor 311 to 317 and 321 to 327, and when a Low voltage signal is transmitted, it converts this into position information. , the robots 100, 200 can easily specify the weighing conveyor on which the noodle product N can be placed. Moreover, since the robot 100 arranges the noodle products N from the nearest weighing conveyor, the moving distance of the noodle products N can be shortened. Thereby, the risk of the noodle product N falling off can be reduced. Moreover, the efficiency of arranging the noodle products N can be improved, and the working time can be shortened.

(2) In this embodiment, the housing member 41 is arranged in front of the first robot 100, and the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 are further arranged in front of it. Therefore, after the first robot 100 picks up the noodle products N, if the arm members 103 and 104 are moved forward, the noodle products N can be placed on the weighing conveyors 311 to 317. Pick-up operations and placement operations can be performed without significantly changing the posture of the first robot 100. Therefore, the operation of picking up the noodle products N can be performed efficiently, and the working time can be shortened. Further, since the storage member 41 is arranged in front of the first robot 100, the noodle product N in the storage member 41 can be imaged while the first camera 105 of the first robot 100 remains fixed. Therefore, in this respect as well, the operation of picking up the noodle products N can be performed efficiently.

(3) In the present embodiment, in the pick-up operation, a first rotation operation, a second rotation operation, and an up-and-down movement operation are performed, and thereby the tangled noodle products N can be shaken off. The picked up noodle products N are moved to the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 and 321 to 327, but during this process, there is a risk that the tangled noodle products N that are not gripped by the gripping members 32 and 33 may fall off. Therefore, by shaking off the entangled noodle products N before the arrangement operation as described above, it is possible to prevent the noodle products N from falling between the storage member 41 and the weighing conveyors 311 to 317, 321 to 327. can. Further, an appropriate amount of noodle products N can be placed on the weighing conveyor. Furthermore, when the entangled noodle products N fall during the arrangement operation and the noodle products N are arranged across a plurality of weighing conveyors, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the weighing conveyors cannot correctly complete the weighing operation.

(4) In the operation of arranging the noodle product N, the end effector 3 is rotated downward while the gripping members 32 and 33 are released from the gripping state, and thereby the inertia acting on the noodle product N can be standardized. This allows the noodle products N to be accurately placed on the weighing conveyors 311-317, 321-327.

<4. Modified example>
Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various changes can be made without departing from the spirit thereof. Note that the following modifications can be combined as appropriate. In addition, although either one of the robots or one of the arm members is described below, unless otherwise specified, it means that the invention is also applicable to the other robot or arm member.

(1) In the above embodiment, the robot 100 has multi-jointed arm members 103 and 104 having seven degrees of freedom, but the configuration of the robot 100 is not particularly limited. That is, the configuration of the arm members 103 and 104 is not particularly limited as long as the above-mentioned picking-up operation of the noodle product N can be performed, and the arm members 103 and 104 may have multiple joints other than 7 degrees of freedom. Furthermore, the number of robots is not particularly limited.

(2) In the above embodiment, in the pick-up operation, in order to shake off the noodle product N, before performing the first rotation operation, the end effector 3 is rotated in advance from the initial position to the positive side, and the noodle product Although the gripping member is inserted in the first rotation operation, the first rotation operation can be performed without performing this preliminary operation.

(3) In the above embodiment, in the pick-up operation, the first rotation operation, the second rotation operation, and the vertical movement operation are performed in order to shake off the noodle product N, but at least the first rotation operation is performed. For example, the entangled noodle products N can be shaken off. Therefore, the second rotation operation and the vertical movement operation are not necessarily required, and at least one of these can be added as necessary. Further, the rotation angle in each rotation operation is not particularly limited. Furthermore, the noodle products are not limited to these operations, and the noodle products can also be picked up by other operations.

(4) The arrangement operation of the noodle product N is not particularly limited, and may be other than that shown in the above embodiment. That is, if the gripped noodle products N can be placed on the weighing conveyors 311-317, 321-327, the arrangement operation of the noodle products N can be set as appropriate.

(5) In the above embodiment, the first arm member 103 of the first robot 100 is set to place the noodle products N on the fifth to seventh weighing conveyors 315 to 317, and the second arm member 104 is set to place the noodle products N on the fifth to seventh weighing conveyors 315 to 317. Although the settings are such that the noodle products N are placed on the fourth weighing conveyors 311 to 314, other settings may be used. For example, some weighing conveyors can be set so that the noodle product N can be placed on either the first arm member 103 or the second arm member 104. Thereby, the efficiency of arranging the noodle products N can be improved. It is appropriate for such a weighing conveyor to be placed near the first robot 100. For example, for the fourth weighing conveyor 314 (third weighing unit group), the first arm member 103 and the second arm It can be set so that the noodle product N can be placed anywhere with the member 104. As a result, for example, when one of two arm members sharing the closest placement position is placing an article on a weighing conveyor away from the robot, the other arm member may move the article to the nearest weighing conveyor. can be placed. Various configurations are possible for such an operation in which crossing of the arm members can be avoided depending on the structure of the arm members and the number of common arrangement positions.

(6) The configuration of the robot 100 is not particularly limited, and the body 101 and head 102 do not need to be clearly distinguishable, and at least arm members 103 and 104 and a robot body that supports them may be provided. Bye. Further, the positions of the cameras 105 and 106 are not particularly limited, and the cameras may only take images of the storage member 41, as long as the operation to pick up a part of the noodle product N whose weight exceeds the reference range is performed. Alternatively, the position of the noodle product N to be picked up in the storage member 41 can also be calculated using various sensors other than the camera. Further, the number of arm members is not particularly limited, and may be one or three or more.

(7) In the above embodiment, the weighing conveyors 311 to 317, 321 to 327 on which no noodle product N is placed are identified by the High or Low voltage signal from the conveyance device 300, but the weighing conveyors 311 to 317, The amount of noodle product N on 321-327 can also be notified by a voltage signal.

For example, as shown in FIG. 21, the voltage signal can be defined depending on the amount of noodle products N placed on the weighing conveyors 311-317, 321-327. For example, a low voltage signal is transmitted when the noodle product N is not placed, and a high voltage signal is transmitted when the noodle product N is within the above reference range. Then, depending on the amount of noodle products N placed on the weighing conveyors 311-317, 321-327, a voltage signal with a voltage level between Low and High is transmitted. This voltage level indicates the ratio of the noodle products N on the weighing conveyor to the lower limit of the reference range. For example, if a ratio of 50% is indicated depending on the voltage level, this indicates that 50% of the noodle products N that can be arranged are placed on the weighing conveyor. This allows the robot to grasp the amount of noodle products N on the weighing conveyor, so it can perform a pick-up operation while adjusting the amount of noodle products N to be placed on the weighing conveyor.

At this time, the control devices of the robots 100 and 200 convert the voltage signal into position information and a ratio as described above, unless a High voltage signal is transmitted. Thereby, the robots 100 and 200 can specify the weighing conveyor on which the noodle product N should be placed and the amount of noodle products to be placed on the weighing conveyor.

(8) The method of specifying the weighing conveyor on which the noodle product N should be placed, as shown in the above embodiment, is an example and is not particularly limited. That is, if the robots 100 and 200 store position information in advance, they can specify the weighing conveyor on which the noodle product N should be placed by receiving information indicating the status of each weighing conveyor. Therefore, without converting the voltage signal into position information, for example, the position information of the specified weighing conveyor can be specified by referring to the storage unit. Further, to indicate the state of the weighing conveyor, a signal other than the above-mentioned High/Low digital voltage signal may be used, or an analog signal may be used. In addition, the status of each weighing conveyor can be indicated by, for example, an optical signal or a wireless signal. Further, in the above embodiment, the status of each weighing conveyor is transmitted to the robots 100, 200 by parallel communication via a plurality of cables, but the status of all weighing conveyors can be transmitted, for example, by one or more cables. The data may also be transmitted to the robots 100, 200 by serial communication via the robot.

(9) In the above embodiment, the robot stores the position information of the weighing conveyor in advance, but other methods may be used. Generally, the position of the weighing conveyor differs depending on the model of the transport device 300, so for example, the model information of the transport device 300 and the position information of the weighing conveyor installed therein are associated and stored in the storage unit of the robot. Then, by inputting the model of the transport device 300, the position of the weighing conveyor can be set.

(10) In the embodiments described above, the robots 100 and 200 store the position information of the weighing conveyor in advance, but the transport device 300 can also transmit the position information together with the state of the weighing conveyor. For example, if a conveyance device and a robot are connected by parallel communication so as to individually notify the status of each weighing conveyor, a digital or analog signal containing the status and position (e.g. coordinates) of each weighing conveyor may be sent. Can be sent in parallel. In the case of serial communication, digital or analog signals containing the status and position of each weighing conveyor can likewise be transmitted sequentially for each weighing conveyor, for example via one cable.

(11) If the measured value exceeds the standard range, it is determined that an excessive number of noodle products N are placed, and the robots 100 and 200 are controlled to remove a portion of the noodle products N that have been placed. . In addition, a collection lane extending in the front-rear direction is arranged between the first weighing conveyor group 301 and the storage member 41, that is, on the opposite side of the first conveyor 33, so that the measured value of the noodle products N exceeds the standard range. The removal control can also be performed by driving the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 to convey the noodle product N to the collection lane.

(12) In the above embodiment, the noodle products N are arranged from the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 and 321 to 327 closest to the robot 100, but the invention is not limited thereto. In other words, the noodle product N may be placed at a location other than the weighing conveyor closest to the robot 100.

(13) The configuration of the conveyance device 300 is not particularly limited, and as long as it is configured to convey at least noodle products, other configurations can be added as necessary. For example, in the above embodiment, the noodle products N are placed on the weighing conveyor, but the invention is not limited thereto. For example, it may be any weighing unit that can measure the weight of the noodle product N, and may not be a conveyor. Therefore, for example, the noodle product N can also be placed on a tray whose weight can be measured. Furthermore, after weighing, the tray can be tilted and fed to a conveyor.

(14) In the above embodiment, the robot is applied to pick up the noodle product N, but the invention is not limited to this, and in addition to noodle products, foods such as bean sprouts, kanpyo, namul, kinpira, electrical parts such as cords, etc. In addition, it can be applied to elongated and flexible string-like members, strips, and rod-like members such as threads and strings. Furthermore, other than these may be used, and the arm member can be used for all kinds of articles that can be conveyed.

(15) In the above embodiment, the control device supplies the noodle product N from the first conveyor 33 to the second conveyor 34 at predetermined intervals; 311 to 317 and 321 to 327 are driven at an arbitrary timing to convey the corresponding noodle products N to the first conveyor 33, and the second conveyor is moved so that the noodle products N conveyed from the first conveyor 33 enter the tray 341. The conveyor 34 may also be driven.

(16) In the above embodiment (paragraph 0029), the control device 36 drives the weighing conveyors 311 to 317 and 321 to 327 on which the appropriate amount of noodle products N in the reference range are arranged at a predetermined timing, and Although not limited to this, a combination calculation is performed based on the weighing value of each oak product N, and a combination of a plurality of weighing conveyors that is equal to or greater than a predetermined target weight and closest to the target weight is determined. They may be selected, driven at a predetermined timing, and transported so that they are placed at the same position on the first transport conveyor 33.

100 First robot 103 First arm member 104 Second arm member 200 Second robot 300 Transfer device (weighing device)
311-317, 321-327 Weighing conveyor (weighing section)

Claims (6)

A weighing device in which an article picked up by a robot having at least one arm member is placed, the weighing device comprising:
a plurality of measuring units in which the articles are arranged;
a control unit;
Equipped with
The robot has position information indicating the position of each measuring section,
The control unit includes:
configured to transmit information indicating whether or not the article can be placed in each of the weighing units to the robot;
The robot is configured to place the article in the weighing section where the article is not placed, based on the received information.
Weighing device. A weighing device in which an article picked up by a robot having at least one arm member is placed, the weighing device comprising:
a plurality of measuring units in which the articles are arranged;
a control unit;
Equipped with
The control unit includes:
The robot is configured to transmit information indicating whether the article can be placed in each measuring section and the position of each measuring section to the robot,
The robot is configured to place the article in the weighing section where the article is not placed, based on the received information.
Weighing device. 3. The information transmitted by the control unit to the robot includes voltage signals having different voltage levels for indicating whether or not the article can be placed in each measuring unit. Weighing device as described. The control unit includes:
configured to transmit the information indicating the amount of the article on each weighing unit to the robot;
The measuring device according to claim 1 or 2. A measuring device according to claim 1 or 2,
The robot;
A goods pickup system equipped with A measuring device according to claim 1;
The robot;
Equipped with
The robot has model information regarding the model of the weighing device,
the model information and the location information are associated;
Goods pickup system.