JP2970732B2 - Container alignment device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a container aligning apparatus, and more particularly, to a container aligning apparatus using a robot.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The applicant of the present invention has previously proposed Japanese Patent Application No. 5-71032 as a container alignment device using a robot. In the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 5-71032, the containers supplied at random are held by a holding member provided in the robot and moved to another position to align the containers. In the device of the prior application, the direction of the holding member is aligned such that the mouth of the container is always located on a predetermined side with respect to the holding member, and the container is held by the holding member.

[0003]

By the way, in the device of the prior application, when the container is held by the holding member and the mouth of the container is supplied in a direction opposite to the predetermined side, each time, It was necessary to rotate the holding member by a half turn. Therefore, conventionally, there was a drawback that the processing capability of the container alignment device was low.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In view of such circumstances,
The present invention comprises a holding member for holding a container with a bottom at the other end has a mouth portion on one longitudinal end, the container overturned state in a holding position for holding a container held by the holding member, the holding A robot that releases the holding state after moving the container held by the member to the release position, and an engagement member that engages with the mouth side of the container in a rolled-down state that is dropped from the holding member at the release position and correcting means for erecting and rotating the container so the mouth of the container is upward, of the container
A recognition unit for recognizing a rollover state, wherein the robot
Is the rollover state held according to the information of the recognition means.
Release the mouth of the container toward the engaging member.
And a container aligning device. In addition, the second departure
Ming has a mouth at one end in the longitudinal direction and a bottom at the other end
A first conveyor for transporting containers in a rollover state, and a first conveyor
Recognition means for recognizing the mounting state of the container on the
A holding member for holding the container on the first conveyor in a holding position.
And then move it to the release position before holding
And a robot for releasing the
Predetermined for the holding member based on the information of the recognition means
Hold the container in the rolled state in the direction
At the mouth of the container dropped from the holding member
Engage and rotate the container so that the mouth of the container is up.
And a straightening means for erecting the container.
Is what you do.

[0005]

According to such an arrangement, the amount of rotation of the holding member can be reduced as compared with the above-mentioned prior application in which the holding member is rotated so that the mouth of the container is on the same side.
The processing capability of the container alignment device can be improved.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiment. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a container aligning device, which vertically erects containers 3 supplied in a rolled state on a first transport conveyor 2 so as to be vertically aligned. It can be arranged. The container 3 of the present embodiment is a cylindrical plastic container having a circular cross section, a mouth 3a protruding from the center of the upper end, and the bottom 3b serving as the lower end is a flat surface. A large number of containers 3 stored in the hopper 4 are fed by a circulating inclined feeder 5.
After being sequentially taken out of the hopper 4, it falls on a chute 6 provided at the upstream end of the first conveyor 2. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the chute 6 is inclined so that the height on the downstream side is reduced. The upper region of the chute 6 has a wavy cross section, whereby a plurality of guide grooves 6 parallel to the conveying direction of the first conveyor 2 are provided.
a. A bar-shaped sliding guide 6b having a triangular cross section in accordance with the width of each guide groove 6a is mounted in parallel on the surface of the lower region of the chute 6. Further, an engaging brush 8 and an engaging roller 9 that are rotated by a motor 7 are provided above a central portion in the longitudinal direction of each guide groove 6a. Therefore, the container 3 sequentially taken out of the hopper 4 by the inclined feeder 5 and dropped onto the chute 6 first slides along the guide groove 6a, and then passes through the positions of the engaging brush 8 and the engaging roller 9. Then, after being guided by the slide guide 6, it is supplied onto the first transport conveyor 2. If the plurality of containers 3 that have fallen on the guide grooves 6a of the chute 6 are in a vertically folded state, the container 3 located on the upper side is engaged with the engagement brush 8 and the engagement roller 9. By doing so, the polymerization state is prevented. Therefore, each container 3 is supplied onto the first transport conveyor 2 in a single layer and in a state parallel to the transport direction of the first transport conveyor 2. On one side of the downstream end of the first conveyor 2,
A robot 13 whose operation is controlled by a control device 12 is provided, and an upstream end of a discharge conveyor 14 is located on the opposite side of the robot 13 across the first transport conveyor 2, and a container in a rolled state is provided. Correction means 15 for erecting 3 is provided. After holding the container 3 on the first conveyor 2 at the holding position A on the first conveyor 2, the robot 13 moves to the release position B on the discharge conveyor 14, and holds the container 3 at the release position B. The released container 3 is released and dropped on the discharge conveyor 14. The container 3 that falls onto the discharge conveyor 14 is erected from a rollover state by engaging the straightening means 15. A CCD camera 16 is arranged on the transport path of the first transport conveyor 2 which is on the upstream side of the position where the robot 13 is provided.
The D camera 16 is configured to photograph the placement status of each container 3 transported by the first transport conveyor 2 and input the image to the control device 12. A rotary encoder 17 is connected to the downstream end of the first conveyor 2, and a pulse signal detected by the rotary encoder 17 is input to the control device 12. Then, as will be described in detail later, the control device 12 moves the robot 13 to the holding position A and the release position B based on the image of the container 3 input from the CCD camera 16 and the pulse signal from the rotary encoder 17. It is designed to move back and forth. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the robot 13 of the present embodiment includes a first drive shaft 21 having a large diameter in the vertical direction, and a first arm 22 having a first drive shaft 21 oriented in the horizontal direction at the upper end of the first drive shaft 21.
Is connected to the base. At the tip of the first arm 22,
A second drive shaft 23 oriented vertically is rotatably provided, and the base of a second arm 24 oriented horizontally is connected to the second drive shaft 23. And this second arm 2
A small-diameter third drive shaft 25 is rotatably provided at the front end of the processing head 2.
6 is attached. As shown in FIG.
6 is provided with a rectangular plate-shaped support member 27,
The support member 27 is horizontally supported with its longitudinal center portion connected to the lower end of the third drive shaft 25. Therefore, when the third drive shaft 25 rotates, the support member 27 can rotate forward and backward on the horizontal plane. The support member 2
The air cylinders 28 are provided on the bottom surface of each of the air cylinders 28 at a position on the center line C in the longitudinal direction thereof and at a center portion of the center line C, that is, two places equidistant from the connection position of the third drive shaft 25. , 29 are attached. Vacuum pads 32 as holding members are respectively attached to the lower ends of the pistons of the air cylinders 28 and 29 directed vertically downward. In the present embodiment, these vacuum pads 3
2, the outer peripheral portion slightly shifted to the bottom side from the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the container 3 is sucked and held (see FIGS. 8 and 9). The operation of each of the air cylinders 28 and 29 is controlled by the control unit 12A of the control device 12. When each of the air cylinders 28 and 29 is in the non-operation state, each of the vacuum pads 32 is located at the rising end, and When the air cylinders 28 and 29 are operated, each vacuum pad 32 is lowered to the lower end position. The operation of supplying and discharging the negative pressure to and from the vacuum pad 32 is also controlled by the control unit 12A of the control device 12, and the control unit 12A
A negative pressure is introduced until the container 2 moves from the holding position A to the release position B and releases the holding state of the container 3. Until returning to the position A, the introduction of the negative pressure to each vacuum pad 32 is stopped. Therefore,
Each container 3 held by each vacuum pad 32 is
In the release position B, it falls on the lower discharge conveyor 14. Thus, the control device 12
Is provided with not only the control unit 12A but also a data storage unit 12B. The data storage unit 12B is turned over when the container 3 is sucked and held at the holding position A by the vacuum pads 32 of the air cylinders 28 and 29. The container 3 is stored in advance so as to hold the container 3 so that the longitudinal direction of the container 3 in the state is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the support member 27, and the container 3 is sucked by the vacuum pads 32 of the air cylinders 28 and 29. It is stored in advance that the location is a location shifted to the bottom 3a side from the center in the longitudinal direction as described above. Then, the control unit 12A of the control device 12
The operation of the processing head 26 of the robot 13 is controlled as follows while comparing signals input from the D camera 16 and the rotary encoder 17 with the data stored in the data storage unit 12B. That is, as shown in FIG. 8A, when the image of the first container 3 'photographed by the CCD camera 16 is input to the control device 12, the control unit 12A makes the image of the first container 3' The direction is compared with the direction stored in the storage unit 12B, and the processing head 26 is moved to a position where the leading container 3 'can be held in a direction orthogonal to the support member 27. As mentioned above,
In this embodiment, since the container 3 placed and transported on the first transport conveyor 2 is transported in a state substantially parallel to the transport direction of the first transport conveyor 2, the support member 27 is held at the holding position A. , The first conveyor 2 is supported in a direction orthogonal to the first conveyor 2. In this state, the control unit 12A operates the vacuum pad 32 on the cylinder device 28 side.
Is lowered to hold the leading container 3 'by suction. Next, since the image of the second container 3 captured by the CCD camera 16 has been input to the controller 12 by this time, the controller 12A moves the processing head 26 in the direction orthogonal to the first conveyor 2. After slightly moving the other cylinder device 29
Since the vacuum pad 32 on the side is lowered, the second container 3 is sucked and held by the vacuum pad 32. In this manner, the first container 3 'and the second container 3 are held by the vacuum pads 32 of the two cylinder devices 28 and 29. In the present embodiment, these containers 3' and 3 '
3 may be located on the same side, or may be located on opposite sides as shown in FIG. 8 (b). Therefore, the head of the container 3 to the second container 3 from holding the 'hits the holding suction, substantially supporting member 2
There is almost no need to rotate 7 and it is only necessary to translate the support member 27 by a required amount. Therefore, the two containers can be quickly held by the vacuum pads 32 of both the cylinder devices 28 and 29. In the case of this embodiment, when the mouth 3a of the container 3 is always positioned on one side and is held by the vacuum pads 32 of the two cylinder devices 28 and 29, at least the support member 27 must be at least two. It is necessary to make the rotation by a fraction, and the waiting time for holding the container 3 increases by that amount, and the processing speed decreases. Incidentally, the vacuum path of the first cylinder device 28
After the container 3 ′ is sucked by the pad 32, the vacuum pad 32 holding the container 3 ′ is raised to the rising end, so that the processing head 26 is held for holding the second container 3.
In moving the container 3, the container 3 ′ held first may not interfere with the outer container 3 on the first conveyor 4. As described above, when the two containers 3 'and 3 are held at the holding position A by the two vacuum pads 32 of the processing head 26, as shown in FIG.
B moves the processing head 26 to the release position B. At this time, the support member 27 is parallel to the transport direction of the discharge conveyor 14 and is located at a central position above the discharge conveyor 14. As a result, the two containers 3 ′ and 3 held on the vacuum pad 32 of the processing head 26 are horizontally supported at an upper position orthogonal to the discharge conveyor 14.
Thereafter, the controller 12B stops the supply of the negative pressure to the vacuum pad 32 at the release position B.
Since the containers 3 ′ and 3 are simultaneously released from the holding state by the vacuum pads 32, the containers 3 ′ and 3 fall down and are inverted by the correcting means 15. Thereafter, the processing head 26 having released the containers 3 ′ and 3 returns from the release position B to the holding position A, and then returns to the first position as described above.
The third container 4 and the fourth container 3 on the conveyor 2 are held by suction. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 10, the mounting surface of the discharge conveyor 14 at the release position B is set lower than the mounting surface of the first transport conveyor 2, and the upstream end of the discharge conveyor 14. A correction means 15 is provided to cover the portion. As shown in FIG. 9, the correcting means 15 includes a pair of left and right engaging members 33 and 34 supported in parallel and horizontally by a bracket, and discharges the lower positions of these engaging members 33 and 34. It has a number of buckets 35 that circulate along the conveyor 14 and prevent the container 3 after erecting from falling over. The pair of engaging members 33 and 34 are formed in a rod shape, and the interval between the two engaging members 33 and 34 is the distance between the container 3 and the opening 3a.
Is set slightly longer than the length in the axial direction. On the other hand, each bucket 35 is attached to a pair of upper and lower chains 36, 36 circulating and running in the direction of the arrow at equal intervals in the running direction, and the lower side of both engaging members 33, 34 and the mounting surface of the discharge conveyor 14. Along the discharge conveyor 14. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The containers 3 ′, 3 moved to the respective positions are the mouth portions 3 a ′, 3.
The outer peripheral portion on the side a is orthogonal to one of the engagement members 33 (34), and the bottom portions 3b 'and 3b are connected to the engagement members 33 (34).
And do not intersect. In this state, the holding state of both containers 3 ', 3 is released at the same time, so that only the outer peripheral portions on the sides of the mouth portions 3a', 3a are one of the engagement members 33, as shown in FIGS. (34),
The containers 3 ', 3 fall between the engaging members 33, 34 while the outer peripheral portions on the bottoms 3b', 3b side are not engaged with the engaging members 33 (34). Therefore, the containers 3 ', 3 in the rolled state are rotated so that their mouths 3a', 3a face upward, and fall into each bucket 35 in that state. In the present embodiment, a plate-shaped drop guide 37 whose upper part is inclined from the substantially central part of the discharge conveyor 14 to the lower side of the left engaging member 33 is provided. The bottoms 3b ', 3b of the containers 3', 3 which fall between the joining members 33, 34 serve as drop guides 37.
First, it comes into contact with the upper inclined portion, and then comes into sliding contact with the lower vertical portion. Therefore, each container 3 ',
3 is placed on the discharge conveyor 14 in an upright state in which the mouth portions 3a 'and 3a are directed vertically upward. In this way, when the containers 3a 'and 3a are placed on the discharge conveyor 14, the containers 3a' and 3a are aligned vertically in an upright state with the mouth 3a facing upward. It is discharged toward the process. In the above-described embodiment, each vacuum pad 3 of the robot 13 is held at the holding position A.
When the container 3 is held by the opening 2, the opening 3 a or the bottom 3
Regardless of which side b is located, the containers 3 are held parallel to one another. In addition, since the containers 3 conveyed by the first conveyor 2 are already conveyed by the chute 6 in a state parallel to the conveying direction of the first conveyor 2, the vacuum pads 32
When holding the container 3 with the support member 2 of the processing head 6,
There is almost no need to rotate 7. Therefore, the container 3 can be held very quickly at the holding position A. Further, since the holding state of the two containers 3 is released at the same time at the release position B, it is possible to provide the container alignment device 1 having a higher processing capacity than the conventional one. In the above embodiment, the direction of the container 3 to be supplied onto the first transport conveyor 2 is made parallel to the transport direction of the first transport conveyor 2 by the chute 6 provided on the first transport conveyor 2. However, the chute 6 may be omitted, and the container 3 oriented in an unspecified direction may be placed on the first conveyor 2. Second Embodiment Next, FIG. 11 is a simple schematic diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment, each air cylinder 28, 2
When the two containers 3 are held by the vacuum pad 32 of No. 9, the position shifted from the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the container 3 toward the bottom 3 b is held.
Is the vacuum pad 32 of each air cylinder 28, 29.
Thus, the central part in the longitudinal direction of the container 3 is held (FIG. 11A). When the holding state of the two containers 3 thus held is released at the release position B, first, the outer peripheral portion on the mouth 3a side of the first container 3 in which the mouth 3a is on the left side is engaged with the left side. The first orthogonal to the joining member 33
The first container 3 is released from the holding state by being positioned at the release position (FIG. 11B). Next, the outer peripheral portion on the mouth 3a side of the second container 3 in which the mouth 3a is on the right side is moved to a second release position orthogonal to the engaging member 34 on the right side, and this second
The container 3 is released from the holding state (FIG. 11C). In the second embodiment, even if both containers 3 are held so that the mouth 3a is on the left side or the right side, the first release position and the second release position are both set. Then, the processing head 26 may be moved. According to the second embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained. Third Embodiment Next, FIG. 12 is a simple schematic diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention. In the above two embodiments, a pair of left and right engagement members 3
In the third embodiment, a single engaging member 33 is provided at a position above the central portion of the discharge conveyor 14.
Is provided. In the third embodiment, the container 3 is provided by the vacuum pads 32 of the air cylinders 28 and 29.
Is held at an arbitrary position in the longitudinal direction. Then, in the release position B, first, the first container 3 with the mouth 3a facing right is positioned at the first release position where the outer peripheral portion on the mouth 3a side is orthogonal to the engaging member 33, At that position, the holding state of the first container 3 is released (FIG. 12B). Next, the second container 3 with the mouth 3a directed to the left is moved to a second release position in which the outer periphery of the mouth 3a is orthogonal to the engaging member 33, and the second container 3 is positioned at that position. 3 is released (FIG. 12)
(C)). As described above, in the third embodiment, when holding the container 3 at the holding position A, any position of the container 3 may be used. Even in such a third embodiment, it is possible to obtain the same operation and effects as those of the above-described two embodiments. In each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the processing head 26 includes the two vacuum pads 32 has been described.
Processing head 26 with one or more vacuum pads 32
Or a processing head 26 having only a single vacuum pad 32. Further, the vacuum pad 32 is used as a holding member for holding the container 3, but a gripper mechanism that can be opened and closed may be used instead of the vacuum pad. Further, each of the above embodiments is
Although the case where cylindrical containers 3 having a circular cross section are aligned has been described, the present invention can also be applied to a deformed container having an elliptical or polygonal cross section.

[0007]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is obtained an effect that the processing ability of the container aligning apparatus can be improved as compared with the conventional one.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a right side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line VV in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a main part of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a main part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view showing a processing step when holding the container 3 at the holding position A.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Container alignment apparatus 3 Container 3a Mouth 3b Bottom 13 Robot 32 Vacuum pad (holding member) 33 Engaging member (engaging means) 34 Engaging member (engaging means) A Holding position B Release position

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65G 47/24

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] [Claim 1, further comprising a holding member for holding a container having a longitudinal end to the mouth portion bottom at the other end has a of the container overturned state in a holding position for holding a container held by the holding member,
A robot that releases the holding state after moving the container held by the holding member to the release position, and an engagement member that engages with the mouth side of the container in a rolled-down state that is dropped from the holding member at the release position. a, a correcting means for erecting and rotating the container so the mouth of the container is upward, the volume
Recognizing means for recognizing the rollover state of the container.
The rollover state held according to the information of the recognition means.
Wherein the opening of the container is released toward the engaging member . 2. The robot according to claim 1, wherein the robot includes a plurality of holding members. When the holding members hold the containers in parallel with each other, the plurality of holding members are aligned on a straight line orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the containers. The container aligning device according to claim 1, wherein the container aligning device is disposed on the container. 3. The container according to claim 1, wherein the engaging member comprises a pair of left and right engaging members horizontally supported at a predetermined interval, and the container in the rolled state which is released from the holding member has one of its mouth sides. And the bottom side thereof is not engaged with any one of the engaging members, but falls between the two engaging members to be erected. The container alignment device according to claim 2. 4. The plurality of holding members are arranged such that the mouth side of the container is on the right side.
While holding the container so as to be left or right, the release position is such that the mouth side of the container held by the holding member intersects the left engagement member, and the bottom side of the container is the right engagement member. A first release position that does not intersect with the member, a mouth side of the container deviated from the first release position and held in the opposite direction by the holding member intersects the right engagement member, and a bottom side of the container is left. The container aligning device according to claim 3, comprising a second release position that does not intersect with the engagement member. 5. A position where the holding member holds the container is a position shifted to the bottom side by a predetermined dimension from a central portion in the longitudinal direction of the container, and the release position is such that the holding member is configured such that the pair of engagement members The container is moved to an intermediate position of the joining member, and the mouth side of the held container intersects with one of the engaging members, and the bottom side of the container is a position that does not intersect with the other engaging member. 4. The container alignment device according to 3. 6. The engaging member comprises a single horizontally supported engaging member, and the release position is such that the mouth of the container held by the holding member crosses the engaging member from the right side. The container aligning device according to claim 1, wherein the container aligning device comprises: a first release position to perform the operation; and a second release position in which the opening of the container held by the holding member intersects with the engagement member from the left side. 7. A longitudinal direction has an opening at one end and a bottom at the other end.
A first conveyor for transporting the container having the
Recognizing means for recognizing the mounting state of the container on one conveyor;
A container on a first conveyor, comprising a holding member for holding the container.
In the holding position and move it to the release position,
And a robot for releasing the holding state.
In the holding member based on the information of the recognition means.
Hold the container in the rolled-up state in the direction
Of the container dropped from the holding member in the release position.
The container is engaged with the mouth side so that the mouth of the container faces upward.
And a straightening means for rotating and erecting the erect.
Container alignment device.