JP2929877B2 - 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 cargo handling apparatus for grasping and handling articles by an industrial robot.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG.
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a conventional automatic cargo handling device similar to the automatic cargo handling device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication. In the figure, (1)
Is an industrial robot having a handle (3) consisting of a suction pad provided on the working tip (2) of the arm, and (4) is an industrial robot (1)
Supply pallets located nearby, (5) supply pallets (4)
(6) is a pallet placed near the industrial robot (1), near the supply pallet (4), and (7) is a control that controls the industrial robot (1). apparatus,
(8) is command means for commanding the handling of the required article (5) to the industrial robot (1) via the control device (7).

[0003] The conventional automatic cargo handling device is configured as described above, and loads the required article (5) from the supply pallet (4) to the industrial robot (1) via the control device (7) by the command means (8). A command is issued for loading on the attached pallet (6). As a result, the industrial robot (1) performs a load handling operation of sucking and holding the center of the article (5) on the supply pallet (4) with the handle (3) and loading the article on the pallet (6). I have.

[0004]

In the conventional automatic cargo handling apparatus as described above, a control is performed in which the center of the article (5) is suction-held by the handle (3) when handling the article (5). For this reason, when the width of the surface to be sucked of the article (5) and the width of the operating end (2) of the arm of the industrial robot (1) are approximately the same, the side of the article (5) is sucked.
When loading and holding, and the loading condition of stowage to make the odd and even stages on the stowage pallet (6) symmetrical to each other
In such cases, the operating tip (2) may hit another article (5) placed close by due to an error such as a displacement of the loading operation of the industrial robot (1). The occurrence of such a state causes a problem that the article (5) being loaded is broken.

In the conventional automatic cargo handling device, the handle of the article (5) is restricted in order to avoid the situation where the handle (3) does not reach the article (5) due to the operating range of the industrial robot (1).
(3) The approach direction was limited. In addition, generally, there is no mechanism for correcting the operation of the handle (3) for the loading state of the article (5) by the visual sensor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problem, and has an automatic load in which the operating tip of the industrial robot does not hit other closely placed articles during a load handling operation. The aim is to obtain a handling device.

[0007]

In the automatic cargo handling apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, an industrial robot that grips and handles an article and performs a cargo handling operation of a required article to an industrial robot. A commanding means for instructing , and a setting parameter of a gripping procedure for a procedure of handling articles according to a command of the commanding means , and the number of stacking stages when stacking articles to be gripped
To the operating tip of the handle corresponding to the stow pattern in
There is provided a setting unit for setting a position to be set , and a control device for instructing the industrial robot to perform a load handling operation through the operation of the instruction unit and the setting unit.

[0008] In the automatic cargo handling apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an industrial robot which carries out a cargo handling operation by gripping an article with a handle which is displaceable with respect to an operating tip. Command the handling of required articles to the industrial robot , and the number of stacking stages when stacking the gripped articles
To the operating tip of the handle corresponding to the stow pattern in
Commanding means for setting a position to be handled, setting means for setting the position at the operating tip of the handle in accordance with the procedure for handling articles by the commanding means, And a control device for commanding the operation.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, as described above, the position of the handle at the operating tip portion is determined based on the set gripping procedure parameters.
When loading goods to be gripped and set according to
The article is gripped by the handle at a position where the industrial robot operating tip does not hit another article corresponding to the number of stacking stages .

Further, according to the invention described in claim 2 of the present invention, the gripping position at the operating tip is set according to the article handling procedure and the object to be gripped.
The article is gripped by the handle from a position where the industrial robot operating tip does not hit another article according to the number of stacking stages at the time of stacking the article.

[0011]

[Embodiment 1] FIGS. 1 and 2 show one embodiment of the present invention.
2 is an overall configuration diagram of the automatic cargo handling device, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the automatic cargo handling device of FIG. In the figure, (1) is an industrial robot having a handle (3) consisting of a suction pad provided on the operating tip (2) of the arm, (4) is a supply pallet arranged near the industrial robot (1), 5) is a plurality of articles stacked on the supply pallet (4), (6) is a loading pallet arranged on the side of the supply pallet (4) near the industrial robot (1), and (7) is an industrial pallet. A control device for controlling the robot (1), and (8) are command means for instructing the industrial robot (1) to handle a required article (5) through the control device (7). (9) is setting means for setting a gripping procedure parameter for a procedure for handling a load of the article (5) according to a command from the command means (8).

In the automatic cargo handling apparatus configured as described above, a command for loading the required articles (5) from the supply pallet (4) to the loading pallet (6) is transmitted to the control device by the command means (8).
Issued to the industrial robot (1) via (7). Further, together with this stowage command, a gripping procedure parameter for the procedure of handling the article (5) according to a command from the commanding means (8) is set by the setting means (9), and a gripping procedure is instructed to the control device (7).
As a result, the industrial robot (1) performs a load handling operation of sucking and holding the article (5) on the supply pallet (4) by the handle (3) and loading the article (5) on the stacking pallet (6) as described below.

That is, in the flowchart shown in FIG. 2, in step (101), the gripped article (5) according to the stowage command is searched, and the process proceeds to step (102) where the gripped article (5) is in an odd-numbered step or an even-numbered step. If the gripped article (5) is at an odd number of steps, the process proceeds to step (103), and the gripping position is determined by the gripping position parameter. In step (102), if the gripped article (5) is on the even-numbered step, the process proceeds to step (104) to determine a gripping position opposite to that of the odd-numbered step. Then, proceeding to step (105), the gripped article (5) is sucked and gripped, and step (1) is performed.
Go to 06) and transport the gripped article (5) to the stow pallet (6). Next, the article (5) grasped in step (107) is stowed on the stow pallet (6) based on the stow command, and
Proceed to (108) and return to step (101) if the stowage for the stowage command is not completed.

That is, on the supply pallet (4) shown in FIG.
The stacking pattern of goods (5) in
Then, they are formed opposite each other. For example, as shown in FIG.
If the stowage pattern is an even number, the state in FIG.
First, two articles (5) vertically stacked as shown in FIG.
The five articles (5) stacked horizontally on the left
It is stacked on the right side as in 1. On the other hand, odd-numbered stages
The stacking pattern of
Two long goods (5) are stowed on the right side in Fig. 1.
The five articles (5) in horizontal landscape are shown on the left side in FIG.
Will be stowed.

The product of the even-numbered stage and the odd-numbered stage of the article (5)
According to the attachment pattern ,
When the handle (3) grips the gripped article (5), the gripping position parameter is set so that the operating tip (2) of the industrial robot (1) does not hit another nearby article (5). A gripping operation is performed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem of breaking other articles (5) in the stacked state during the loading operation, and to improve the operation efficiency of the automatic cargo handling device. In addition, the industrial robot (1)
Since the gripping operation is performed from the direction where the operating tip (2) does not hit the product (5), it is possible to have a width in the way of arranging and stacking the articles (5) in the stacking of the articles (5), and the degree of freedom of the article handling means And the efficiency of handling cargo can be improved.

Embodiment 2 FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram showing a parameter setting screen for setting the position of the handle (3) at the operating tip (2) of the industrial robot (1). In addition, handle (3)
Is displaceably mounted on the operating tip (2) of the industrial robot (1) by a displacement mechanism such as a cylinder.
An automatic cargo handling device is configured similarly to FIG. In FIG. 3, the name of the article (5) and the stow pattern type are set. In addition to this, the loading stage of the article (5) to be gripped
As described above, the stacking pattern for even-numbered stages and odd-numbered stages
Are formed oppositely by the even and odd stages
Because there, the working apex of the article (5) of the stowage number of stages when <br/> odd stages articles (5) the handle (3) Industrial robot gripping position type by (1) of the gripping (2) Is set by selecting one of the center, right side, and left side.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, when the handle (3) grips the gripped article (5), the following operation is performed. That is, the article (5) according to the command of the command means (8)
Operating tip (2) of the industrial robot (1) according to the cargo handling procedure
In, the gripping position type by the selected handle (3) of the center, right side, and left side is set. And
With the handle (3) placed at the gripping position at the set operating tip (2), the industrial robot
The gripping operation is performed from the direction in which the operating tip (2) of (1) does not hit. Therefore, although detailed description is omitted, it is clear that the embodiment of FIG. 3 can obtain the same operation as the embodiment of FIGS.

[0018]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, as described above, an industrial robot that grips an article and performs a load operation, command means for instructing the industrial robot to load a required article, Set the grasping procedure parameters for the article handling procedure by the command of the command means , and grasp
It corresponds to the stowage pattern in the number of stowage steps when stowing goods.
There is provided a setting means for setting a position of the corresponding handle with respect to the operating front end , and a control device for instructing the industrial robot to perform a load handling operation through the operation of the instruction means and the setting means.

Thus, the position of the handle at the operating tip is determined based on the set gripping procedure parameters.
Of goods to be set and gripped according to
In accordance with the number of stacking stages at the time of loading, the article is gripped by the handle at a position where the industrial robot operating tip does not hit another article. Therefore, there is an effect that a problem of displacing other articles during the loading operation is prevented beforehand and operation efficiency is improved.

Further, as described above, the invention according to claim 2 of the present invention provides an industrial robot which grips an article with a handle displaceable with respect to an operating tip and performs a loading operation, and Commanding industrial robots to handle goods
And the number of stacking stages when stacking the articles to be gripped.
Position of the handle relative to the working tip corresponding to the stow pattern
Command means for setting the position of the handle at the operating tip in accordance with the procedure for handling the article according to the command of the command means; and handling the load handling operation to the industrial robot through the operation of the command means and the setting means. And a control device for instructing.

[0021] In this way, the stowage at the time of stowage of the articles set according to the article handling procedure and grasped is carried out .
In accordance with the number of steps, the position of the handle at the operating tip is arranged so that the industrial robot operating tip does not hit another article, and the article is gripped. Therefore, there is an effect that a problem of displacing other articles during the loading operation is prevented beforehand and operation efficiency is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an automatic cargo handling device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the automatic cargo handling device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view showing a second embodiment of the present invention, and is a view showing a parameter setting screen for setting a handle position at an industrial robot operating tip of the automatic cargo handling apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an overall configuration diagram showing a conventional automatic cargo handling device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Industrial robot 2 Operating tip part 3 Handle 5 Article 7 Control device 8 Command means 9 Setting means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B25J 9/16 B25J 9/22 B65G 61/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An industrial robot that grips and handles an article and performs a load operation, command means for instructing the industrial robot to handle a required load of the article, and gripping for a procedure for handling the load of the article according to a command from the command means. Set the parameters ,
And the number of stacking stages when stacking the articles to be gripped
For the above-mentioned operating tip of the above-mentioned handle corresponding to the stowage pattern,
An automatic cargo handling apparatus comprising: a setting unit for setting a position to be handled; and a control device for instructing the industrial robot to perform a cargo handling operation through the operation of the instruction unit and the setting unit. 2. An industrial robot that grips an article with a handle that is displaceable with respect to an operating tip and performs a load handling operation , and instructs the industrial robot to load a required article and handles it. The number of stacking stages when stacking the above articles
Operating tip of the handle corresponding to the loading pattern
Command means for setting a position with respect to the part, setting means for setting the position of the handle at the operating tip in accordance with a procedure for handling the article by the command of the command means, and operation of the command means and the setting means. An automatic cargo handling device comprising: a control device that commands a cargo handling operation to the industrial robot.