JP2755108B2 - Automatic cargo handling equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic loading apparatus for loading or unloading articles by an industrial robot.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 8 to 10 are views showing a conventional automatic cargo handling apparatus, FIG. 8 is a conceptual overall configuration diagram, FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the arrangement of an industrial robot and a loading pallet, FIG. Is a data configuration diagram of a loading procedure. In the figure, (1) is a supply means comprising a conveyor, (2) is an article supplied by the supply means (1), (3) is a supply means (1) provided with a handle (4) and a control device (5). (6) is a plurality of pallets arranged in the work area of the industrial robot (3).

[0003] (7) manages information of articles (2) to be stowed and pattern data defining the stowage arrangement of the articles (2) on a stowage pallet (6). A stowage indicating device for instructing the following stowage work, (8) is a control device (5)
The pallet position coordinates (absolute data) (9) and the stowage instruction data (10) are managed and created by the control device data managed and created in step (1). (11) is stowage instruction device data managed and created by the stowage instruction device (7), and includes stowage pattern information (12) including stowage order, article information (13), pallet information (14), and stowage information. Attachment position information (relative data) (15) is managed and created. Also, the number 1 surrounded by a circle of the article (2) in FIG.
Numerals 5 indicate the loading order on the loading pallet (6).

[0004] The conventional automatic cargo handling device is configured as described above, and the articles to be loaded are loaded by the loading instruction device (7).
Item information (13) holding the size and the like of (2), pallet information (14) holding the size and the like of the pallet to be stowed (6), and various types of information such as those shown in JIS Z0105. The stowage pattern information (12) that holds the stowage arrangement is managed. And goods (2), stow pallets
When (6) and stowage pattern are specified, stowage position information (relative data) (15) is created by a combination of stowage pattern information (12), article information (13), and pallet information (14). .

[0005] As shown in FIG. 3 described later, this data is used to store the position data of each article (2) when the specified article (2) is to be stowed on the specified stowage pallet (6) in a specified pattern. It is created as coordinate data with one vertex of the surface as the origin, and the order of stacking is also determined at this time.

The stowage instructing device (7) transmits the created stowage position information (relative data) (15) to the control device (5) of the industrial robot (3). The control device (5) uses an industrial robot
Pallet position coordinates (absolute data) (9) that define the position of the stow pallet (6) from the coordinate system of (3) are managed.

[0007] Data indicating the relative relationship between these industrial robots (3) and the stowage pallets (6), and stowage order and positions of the articles (2) transmitted from the stowage instruction device (7) are clearly indicated. The actual loading position data described in the coordinate system of the industrial robot (3), that is, the loading instruction data (10) by relative conversion with the obtained loading position information (relative data) (15)
Is calculated. As a result, the industrial robot (3) performs the loading operation using the loading instruction data (10).

[0008]

In the conventional automatic cargo handling apparatus as described above, the loading order of the articles (2) is determined when the loading pattern information (12) is created. Is set in consideration of the interference. For this reason, in the loading operation in the arrangement as shown in FIG. 9, both the loading pallets (6)
Although the appearance is the same, the loading order differs depending on the position of the industrial robot (3). For this reason,
It was necessary to create a loading pattern for each of the loading pallets (6).

That is, although the stowage pattern is exactly the same, the stowage order must be specified, so that it takes time and effort to create the pattern when designing a new pattern or changing the layout. There is a problem that a large amount of memory area is consumed for storing data.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and has an object by an optimum loading operation set based on a relative positional relationship between an industrial robot and a loading pallet for an arbitrary loading pattern. It is an object of the present invention to obtain an automatic cargo handling device in which the loading operation of the robot is instructed to an industrial robot.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic cargo handling apparatus, which is provided so as to face a supply means, and places articles on the supply means on a pallet in a predetermined manner. An input function is provided for inputting the relative position of the industrial robot to be loaded, the loading pallet and the industrial robot, and the optimum loading order and the loading order of the articles for each loading pallet are determined by the input relative positional specifications. A stowage instructing device is provided for calculating an optimum loading operation path and issuing an instruction for an article loading operation based on a result of the calculation to the industrial robot.

Further, in the automatic cargo handling apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the automatic cargo handling apparatus is provided so as to face the supply means and load articles on the supply means onto a pallet in a predetermined manner. An input function for inputting the relative positional relationship between the robot, the loading pallet and the industrial robot is provided, and the optimal loading order and the optimal loading operation of the articles for each loading pallet are performed based on the input relative positional relationship specifications. The route is calculated, the calculation result, the stowage pattern information of the articles, and the relative positional relationship information between the industrial robot and the stowage pallet are managed independently, and the stowage instruction information generated by a combination of these information is used. A stowage instructing device for issuing a command to load an article based on a predetermined procedure to the industrial robot is provided.

Further, in the automatic cargo handling apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, the automatic cargo handling apparatus is installed opposite to the supply means and loads the articles on the supply means onto the pallet in a predetermined manner. An input function for inputting the relative positional relationship between the robot, the loading pallet and the industrial robot is provided, and the optimal loading order and the optimal loading operation of the articles for each loading pallet are performed based on the input relative positional relationship specifications. A path is calculated, and symmetrical stowage pattern information based on point symmetry and line symmetry is generated from the calculation result and one stowage pattern information of the article, and the created stowage order corresponding to the symmetrical stowage pattern information is re-created. There is provided a stowage instruction device for issuing an instruction for loading the articles to the industrial robot in accordance with a predetermined procedure based on the planned stowage instruction information.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic cargo handling apparatus, comprising: an industrial robot installed opposite to an article loaded on a pallet for unloading the article according to a predetermined procedure; An input function for inputting the relative positional relationship between the loading pallet and the industrial robot is provided, and the optimal unloading order and the optimal unloading operation path of the goods for each loading pallet are determined based on the input relative positional relationship data. A loading / unloading instruction device that calculates the load and issues an unloading operation command to the industrial robot based on the calculation result based on a predetermined procedure is provided.

[0015]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an optimum loading order and an optimum loading operation path of articles for each loading pallet are calculated, and a loading operation is instructed to the industrial robot. This makes it possible to stack the same pattern in different stacking orders for each stacking pallet.

According to the second aspect of the present invention configured as described above, the optimal loading order and the optimal loading operation path of the articles for each loading pallet are calculated and the industrial robot is loaded. Is indicated, and the same pattern can be sorted for each stow pallet in a different stow order. In addition, it is possible to independently manage the product stacking pattern information and the relative positional relationship information between the industrial robot and the loading pallet, and to combine these information. It becomes possible to cope with the reversal alternate stacking of the stacking pattern.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the optimum loading sequence and the optimum loading operation path of the articles for each loading pallet are calculated, and the loading operation is performed on the industrial robot. Is indicated, and the same pattern can be sorted for each stow pallet in a different stow order. Further, symmetric stowage of the same stowage pattern can be performed from one stowage pattern information of the article.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, an optimum unloading order and an optimum unloading operation path of articles for each pallet are calculated, and the unloading operation is performed on the industrial robot. , And the same pattern can be unloaded for each pallet in a different unloading order.

[0019]

【Example】

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 to 7 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a data configuration diagram of a stowage procedure of an automatic cargo handling device, and FIG. 2 calculates a stowage order of the automatic cargo handling device of FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a stowage pattern and coordinates of the automatic cargo handling device of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a loading direction of the automatic cargo handling device of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a view showing another example of the loading direction of the automatic loading apparatus, FIG. 6 is a view showing loading position data of the automatic loading apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a case where an odd-numbered stage differs from an even-numbered stage, and has the same configuration as that of FIG. 8 described above except for FIGS.

In the figure, (8) is control device data managed and created by the control device (5), and pallet position coordinates (absolute data) (9) and stowage instruction data (10) are managed and created. . (11) is stowage instruction device data managed and created by the stowage instruction device (7), and includes stowage pattern information (12), article information (13), pallet information (14), and stowage position information (relative Data) (15), relative positional relationship information (16) and stowage information (17) between the industrial robot (3) and the stowage pallet (6) are managed and created.

In the automatic cargo handling device configured as described above, the loading is planned and the loading operation is performed by the industrial robot (3) as described below. That is, stow pattern information (12), article information (13) and pallet information (1
4) is input to the stowage instruction device (7) manually or from a higher-level production management system (not shown). And
In the stowage instruction device (7), stowage pattern information (12), article information (13), and pallet information
The loading position information (15) is created from (14). The stowage position information (15) is, as shown in FIG. 3, similar to the conventional automatic cargo handling apparatus shown in FIGS. Desired.

Next, the placement information shown in FIG. 9, that is, the relative positional relationship information (16) between the industrial robot (3) and the loading pallet (6) is manually or layout CADly loaded into the loading instruction device (7). Register by input from. Based on this data, the stowage operation direction of the industrial robot (3) for both stowage pallets (6) in FIG. 9 is determined. For example, in the arrangement as shown in FIG. 9, the left pallet (6) is moved from the direction of the arrow shown in FIG.
Regarding (6), packing is performed from the direction of the arrow shown in FIG.

Here, generation of the stow order based on the stow direction in FIG. 4 will be described. That is, first the goods
The center coordinates (P) of the article (2) as the loading position information (15) of (2)
_{i = (x i, y i} ) seek). This is obtained from the stow pattern information (12) and the article information (13).

Next, coordinates (x _iL , x _iR , y _iT , y _iB ) corresponding to the four vertices of each article (2) shown in FIG. 6 are obtained. Also goods
The distance from the origin of the center coordinates in (2) is obtained, and the approximate stowage order is calculated based on this distance. Then, based on the stacking order, the stacking order for preventing interference with the stacked articles (2) during the stacking operation is calculated according to the flowchart shown in FIG. This loading order data and loading location information
(15) is transmitted to the control device (5) of the industrial robot (3). As a result, in the control device (5) of the industrial robot (3), each article (5) is converted in a predetermined manner, that is, relative conversion of the corresponding stowage pallet (6) set by the teaching or the like with the absolute coordinate data for the industrial robot (3). It converts it to the position data in the coordinate system of the industrial robot (3) in 2) and performs the loading operation.

Thus, the stow pattern information (12) and
The stowage order on the stowage pattern is calculated from the relative positional relationship information (16) between the industrial robot (3) and the stowage pallet (6). The calculation result instructs the industrial robot (3) to perform a stowage operation, and the same stowage pattern can be stowed in a different stowage order. Also, loading pallets (6)
By calculating the optimal loading order and loading direction of the goods (2) for each, the loading work cycle of the industrial robot (3) can be shortened, and the goods (2) Interference can be prevented.

As described above, the stowage operation of the industrial robot (3) is calculated and set based on the relative positional relationship between the industrial robot (3) and the stowage pallet (6) for an arbitrary stowage pattern. The loading operation of the article (2) by the optimal loading operation is commanded to the industrial robot (3). This makes it possible to use industrial robots even if the loading pallets (6) have the same appearance.
When the loading order differs depending on the arrangement position with respect to (3), creation of a loading pattern on each of both loading pallets (6) is eliminated. Further, it is possible to reduce the number of steps required to create a pattern when a new pattern is designed or a layout is changed. In addition, it is possible to solve the problem that a large memory area is consumed for storing the pattern data.

Note that the industrial robot (3) and the pallet
If the relative positional relationship information (16) in (6) is data indicating a rough direction, the processing is as described above, but the relative positional relationship information (16) of the industrial robot (3) and the stow pallet (6) is used. ) Can be obtained as accurate position information,
It is also possible to convert the loading position information (15) to the industrial robot (3) coordinate system on the (7) side. In addition, by changing the relative position data of the industrial robot (3) and the pallet (6) and dynamically determining the stow order according to the situation, various Industrial robot
It is possible to flexibly cope with the arrangement of (3) and the pallet (6).

Also, stow position pattern information (12) and relative positional relationship information between the industrial robot (3) and the stow pallet (6)
By independently managing (16), any combination of these data is possible. This makes it easy to arrange various industrial robots (3) and pallet pallets (6), and the palletizing pattern for the odd-numbered and even-numbered tiers of goods (2) as shown in Fig. 7 can do.
In addition, the alternate stowage of the same pattern can also be achieved by alternately using the patterns for each stage when performing the stowage order calculation described above.

That is, when the arrangement of the loading pallets (6) is located symmetrically with respect to the industrial robot (3), or the slip between the articles (2) on the same loading pallet (6) is reduced. In order to stack a stowage pattern reverse to the predetermined stowage pattern on the predetermined stowage pattern, the stowage position information (15) is obtained by obtaining line symmetric data with respect to the X coordinate axis or the Y coordinate axis. The loading order can be re-planned in conjunction with. Thereby, it is possible to perform the loading with the loading pattern in which the collapse of the load hardly occurs with a small number of operations.

In the operation of unloading the article (2) from an appropriate pallet, the unloading instruction device having exactly the same function as that of the stowage instruction device (7) is used for the operation of the industrial robot (3). It is possible to cope by simply reversing the gripping and stacking operation of the article (2) on the control device (5) side. Then, it is possible to unload the same unloading pattern in different unloading orders, and it is possible to calculate an optimal taking-out order and a direction of the unloading operation of the industrial robot (3). Thereby, the number of steps for creating the unloading pattern can be reduced, and the number of steps for creating the pattern at the time of new design or layout change can be reduced. In addition, it is possible to solve the problem that a large memory area is consumed for storing the pattern data.

[0031]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, as described above, an industrial robot installed opposite a supply means and loading articles on the supply means on a pallet in a predetermined manner is provided. , An input function for inputting the relative positional relationship between the loading pallet and the industrial robot,
The optimum loading order and the optimum loading operation path of the goods for each loading pallet are calculated based on the input relative positional relationship data, and based on the calculation result, an instruction is given to the industrial robot to load the goods according to a predetermined procedure. And a stowage indicating device.

In this way, the optimum loading order and the optimum loading operation path of the articles for each loading pallet are calculated, the loading operation is instructed to the industrial robot, and the same pattern is applied to each loading pallet in different loading orders. It becomes possible to stack. Therefore, there is an effect that the trouble of creating the stowage pattern is reduced and that a large memory area is consumed for storing the pattern data.

Further, as described above, the invention according to claim 2 of the present invention relates to an industrial robot which is installed to face a supply means and loads articles on the supply means onto a pallet in a predetermined manner. , An input function for inputting the relative positional relationship between the loading pallet and the industrial robot is provided, and the optimal loading order and the optimal loading operation path of the articles for each loading pallet are determined based on the input relative positional relationship data. Calculate and calculate the result, the product stowage pattern information and the relative positional relationship information between the industrial robot and the stowage pallet, and independently manage the industrial robot based on the stowage instruction information generated by combining these information. And a stowage instructing device for issuing a command to load articles based on a predetermined procedure.

In this way, the optimum loading order and the optimum loading operation route of the articles for each loading pallet are calculated, the loading operation is instructed to the industrial robot, and the same pattern is applied to each loading pallet in a different loading order. It becomes possible to stack. In addition, the information on the stowage pattern of the articles and the information on the relative positional relationship between the industrial robot and the stowage pallet are independently managed, and these information can be combined. It becomes possible to cope with the reversal alternate stacking of the stacking pattern.
Therefore, there is an effect that the trouble of creating the stowage pattern is reduced and that a large memory area is consumed for storing the pattern data. In addition, there is an effect that the arrangement of various industrial robots and the stowage pallets and the change mode of the pattern can be flexibly handled by one stowage pattern information.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, as described above, there is provided an industrial robot which is installed to face a supply means and loads articles on the supply means onto a pallet in a predetermined manner. , An input function for inputting the relative positional relationship between the loading pallet and the industrial robot is provided, and the optimal loading order and the optimal loading operation path of the articles for each loading pallet are determined based on the input relative positional relationship data. Calculated, the result of the calculation, and the symmetrical stowage pattern information by point symmetry and line symmetry were generated from one stowage pattern information of the article, and the already created stowage order corresponding to the symmetrical stowage pattern information was re-planned. A stowage instructing device for issuing a command to load an article based on a predetermined procedure to an industrial robot based on stowage instruction information is provided.

Thus, the optimum loading sequence and the optimum loading operation route of the articles for each loading pallet are calculated, the loading operation is instructed to the industrial robot, and the same pattern is applied to each loading pallet in a different loading order. It becomes possible to stack. In addition, it becomes possible to cope with symmetric stowage of the same stowage pattern from one stowage pattern information of the article. Therefore, the labor for creating the stowage pattern is reduced,
Further, there is an effect of eliminating a problem that a large memory area is consumed for storing the pattern data. In addition, there is an effect that symmetrical stowage of the stowage pattern can be easily performed and stowage in which the collapse of the load hardly occurs is facilitated.

Further, as described above, the invention according to claim 4 of the present invention includes an industrial robot installed opposite to an article loaded on a pallet for unloading the article according to a predetermined procedure. An input function for inputting the relative positional relationship between the attached pallet and the industrial robot is provided,
Calculate the optimal unloading order and optimal unloading operation path of the goods for each loading pallet based on the input relative positional relationship specifications, and issue an unloading operation command for the goods based on the predetermined procedure to the industrial robot based on the calculation result. And an unloading instruction device.

In this way, the optimum unloading order and the optimum unloading operation route of the articles for each pallet are calculated, and the unloading operation is instructed to the industrial robot. It is possible to separate them. Therefore, there is an effect that the trouble of creating the unloading pattern can be reduced and that a large memory area is consumed for storing the pattern data.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a data configuration diagram of a stowage procedure showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for calculating a stowage order of the automatic cargo handling device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view showing a stowage pattern and its coordinates of the automatic cargo handling apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of a loading direction of the automatic cargo handling device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a view showing another example of the loading direction of the automatic cargo handling device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a view showing stow position data of the automatic cargo handling apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a case where the stowage pattern of the automatic cargo handling device of FIG. 1 is different between an odd-numbered stage and an even-numbered stage.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual overall configuration diagram showing a conventional automatic cargo handling device.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the arrangement of the industrial robot and the pallets in the automatic cargo handling apparatus of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a data configuration diagram of a loading procedure of the automatic cargo handling device of FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Supply means 2 Article 3 Industrial robot 6 Stowage pallet 7 Stowage indicating device

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An industrial robot which is installed facing a supply means and loads articles on the supply means onto a loading pallet in a predetermined manner, and inputs a relative positional relationship between the loading pallet and the industrial robot. An input function is provided to calculate an optimum loading order and an optimum loading operation path of the articles for each of the loading pallets based on the input relative positional relationship specifications, and to the industrial robot based on the calculation result. An automatic load handling device comprising: a loading instruction device for issuing a loading operation command for the articles based on a predetermined procedure. 2. An industrial robot which is installed facing the supply means and loads articles on the supply means onto a pallet in a predetermined manner, and inputs a relative positional relationship between the pallet and the industrial robot. An input function is provided to calculate an optimum loading order and an optimum loading operation route of the articles for each of the loading pallets based on the input relative positional relationship parameters, and to calculate the result, and a stacking of the articles. The loading pattern information and the relative positional relationship information between the industrial robot and the stowage pallet are independently managed, and the stowage instruction information generated by a combination of these pieces of information gives the industrial robot the article based on the predetermined procedure. And a loading instruction device for issuing a loading operation command. 3. An industrial robot which is installed opposite to the supply means and loads articles on the supply means onto a loading pallet in a predetermined manner, and inputs a relative positional relationship between the loading pallet and the industrial robot. An input function is provided to calculate an optimum loading order and an optimum loading operation path of the articles for each of the loading pallets based on the input relative positional relationship data, and to calculate the result,
From the two stowage pattern information, generating symmetric stowage pattern information based on point symmetry and line symmetry, and re-planning the stowage order corresponding to the symmetric stowage pattern information according to the stowage instruction information to the industrial robot. And a stowage instructing device for issuing a loading operation command for the articles based on the outline. 4. An industrial robot installed opposite an article loaded on a pallet for loading and unloading the article according to a predetermined procedure, and an input function for inputting a relative positional relationship between the pallet and the industrial robot. Is provided,
Calculate the optimal unloading order and optimal unloading operation path of the articles for each of the loading pallets based on the input relative positional relationship parameters, and use the calculation result to inform the industrial robot of the articles based on the predetermined procedure. An automatic unloading device including an unloading instruction device that issues an unloading operation command.