JP2508410B2 - Palletizing device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a robot system that uses a robot and loads cargo.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in most systems for loading cargo on pallets, most of the systems only load multiple cargos of the same size on one pallet. However, in the era of high-mix low-volume transportation, a system for loading multiple cargos with different sizes on one pallet is required.

In such a system, the loading position of each cargo is not taught in advance by teaching or the like, but is determined by calculation each time depending on the combination of cargoes, thereby providing a flexible system.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In such a system, there are the following problems.

It is necessary to load as much cargo as possible on one pallet. In other words, it is necessary to reduce the space between cargoes by loading calculation so that there is no wasted space. At this time, the entire system is composed of a host control device that performs overall palletizing planning and management, and a palletizing device that uses robots for loading. In addition to the above, a cargo supply device for cargo to be loaded may be added when the entire system becomes large. In such a case, the supply order of the cargo to be loaded is determined by the host controller, and the loading operation is performed by the palletizing device. In this case, it takes development time because two devices need to have almost the same calculation. Alternatively, there was a problem such as poor loading efficiency due to logic mismatch between the two devices. In order to solve the above problems, this palletizing device is cheaper and cheaper by creating data up to the supply order in the palletizing device and sending the data back to perform stowage calculation in the same device. , It is an object to provide a palletizing device with good loading efficiency.

[Means for Solving the Problem] The system of the present invention has at least the following functions.

1) Measures such as the size of cargo and these data
Memory means for storing 2) Type of cargo to be loaded on the pallet and input means for each quantity 3) First loading arithmetic means for calculating cargo supply information from the data of 1) and 2) 4) Means for outputting supply information from the calculation result of 3) 5) Second stowage arithmetic means for calculating the order and position of each cargo to be stowed on the corresponding pallet from the data of 1), 2) and 3) 6) 5 ) Based on the result, handling means such as a robot for loading cargo [Embodiment of the invention] Fig. 1 is a top view of the palletizing system, in which (1) is the main body of the robot and (2) is the robot. The hand part, (3), indicates the operation area of the robot. (4)
Is a pallet for loading cargo, and (5) is a pallet conveyor for transporting pallets. (6) is a pallet (4) is a cargo conveyor for supplying cargo to be loaded. That is, the pallet (4) is supplied as an empty pallet and positioned at a fixed position. Cargo of various sizes to be loaded is sequentially supplied from the conveyor (6) and loaded on the pallet (4) by the robot (1).

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the robot's hand (2).
a) is a gripping tool composed of an air suction pad or the like.

In Fig. 3, loading with this palletizing system is called mixed size loading.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the arithmetic device with product. This operation is demonstrated by an example. Suppose now that cargo A and cargo B are to be loaded at 11 and 12 respectively. In (110), a pattern is selected for each cargo A and B.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a pattern in which P4a and P4b are the same cargo when four pieces are placed, P6a and P6b are six pieces, and P8a and P8b are eight pieces. In this example, 11 pieces of cargo A are required, so the combination is as follows.

1) 8 patterns and 3 fractions, 2) 6 patterns, 4 patterns and 1 fraction, 3) 4 patterns, 4 patterns and 3 fractions For simplicity, 1) is written as A1 = AP8 + AH3. A1 means the first combination of the cargo A, AP8 means the eight patterns of the cargo A, and AH3 means that the fraction (H) of the cargo A is three.
Similarly, in 2), A2 = AP6 + AP4 + AH1,3), A3 = AP4 + AP4
It becomes + AH3.

Cargo B has B1 = BP8 + BP4, B2 = BP6 + BP4 + BH2, B3 = BP4
+ BP4 + BP4.

Next, in the case of the above AP8, it is necessary to decide whether it is P8a or P8b in FIG. Here, of course, the pattern of P8 may be registered not only in a and b but also in another. One example of this decision is based on the following rules.

1) The lateral dimension (Pw in Fig. 5) is within the pallet lateral dimension and is the longest in the dimension range.

2) The vertical dimension (P1) is the shortest and within the vertical dimension range of the pallet. In addition, if the second term or later (eg BP4 .. in B2), in addition to 1), 2), 3) 1 Place on the pattern determined in the previous section (BP6 of B2 to BP4).

From the above, A1 to A3 are determined.

From (120), the priority of A1 to A3 is determined. An example of this priority determination is based on an evaluation formula in which the following items are weighted and added.

1) Number of stacking steps (that is, number of terms above, 2 for B1, 3 for B2) 2) Shortness of vertical dimension (P1) of maximum pattern.

3) Small fraction.

The evaluation formula is calculated from these elements and the priority order is determined.

(130) determines the combination of patterns between cargoes.

We will create a concept called a base to explain this operation.

The base is a rectangular space on which cargo can be loaded. If cargo is loaded on the base, the rest of the space where the cargo is loaded and further the cargo just loaded will become a new base. Also, when the above pattern is stacked with the pattern, the base dimension on the pattern is defined. That is, the base has vertical and horizontal dimensions, height, and start position coordinates. That is, in the initial condition, the base is the pallet itself, the base dimension is the pallet dimension, the base height is 0 mm, and the start position coordinate is the pallet edge (see FIG. 6) (0,0).
This initial base is called base 1.

According to Fig. 7, when cargo is loaded on this base 1,
Explain how this base changes.

In the figure, (4) is a pallet, which is the base 1 here. When PA4 is stacked on top of this, when placed in the portion labeled Base 2 in the figure, Base 1 is divided into Base 2 and Base 4. That is, since the base 3 and the base 4 are the remaining space in which the PA 4 is placed and the definition of the base is a rectangle, there are two bases 3 and 4 as shown in FIG. At this time,
The base height of bases 3 and 4 remains 0 mm, and the start position coordinates are (73) and (74), respectively. The base 2 is a space above the PA4, and the start position coordinate is (72), and the base height is above the cargo A (PA4), so it is equal to the cargo A height. In this way, by loading cargo on the base, the base is divided.

Suppose now that cargoes A and B have been calculated to have priority destinations A3 and B3, respectively.

 An example of these combination operations is as follows.

Now, in this example, the consolidated cargo is A3 = AP4 + AP4 + AH3
And B3 = BP4 + BP4 + BP4. Explain how to combine these patterns.

1) Select the largest size pattern of each cargo and repeat the following calculation until all patterns are completed.

2) Select the smallest base on which the selected pattern can be placed, and perform the above base division. At this time, in the same case, the bases on the same cargo should be prioritized and selected so that the same type of cargo can be obtained in the upper and lower stages of the cargo.

By repeating the above, all patterns are loaded.

 Calculate the remaining fractional loading work at (140).

The loading of fractions is basically the same as the loading of (130), and fractional cargo is loaded by the division calculation of the base.
At this time, the selection order of the target cargo is generally the order of the plane dimensions of the cargo.

By the above calculation, the loading order of each cargo is determined,
That is, this is the order of freight supply.

According to the present invention, by sending back the data of the supply order to the host controller, it becomes possible to match the supply order request in the loading operation with the actual supply order. Therefore, the order of supply is determined by the host controller and this palletizing system,
It is clear that communicating this to a higher rank will result in more efficient loading. (Since the calculation is performed independently, it is necessary for the host controller to anticipate the calculation margin of the palletizing system in advance.) [Effect of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of A palletizing system that can automatically calculate the loading position command to the palletizing transfer robot in response to a mixed loading request for cargos of the same or different sizes can be constructed at a relatively low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view of a palletizing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a robot hand (2), and FIG.
Figure shows an example of cargo stowed by the palletizing system, Figure 4 is an operation flow chart of the stowage computing device, Figure 5 shows an example of selection pattern, and Figure 6 shows the position coordinates of the base dimensions. FIG. 7 and FIG. 7 are views for explaining changes in the base.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A robot system for loading a plurality of cargos of the same type or different types on top of a box-like equipping receiving device, and a package shape computing device for computing a loading position according to a combination of loaded cargos. In a palletizing device having a communication means with a host control device, the package form computing device is divided into a first computing unit and a second computing unit, and at least the information about the supply of cargo to the device is provided in the first computing unit. A palletizing device which is capable of receiving a work instruction from a host control device and returning the above information.