JP4134667B2 - Depalletizing device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the present invention, three-dimensional panel parts are arranged in a pallet in a flat state and are arranged and stacked in a plurality of stages so that the panel parts do not contact each other, and the panel parts in the pallet are taken out in order from the lower ones. More particularly, the present invention relates to a depalletizing apparatus suitable for aligning and stacking back doors of automobiles incorporating a rear window glass.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a means of aligning and transporting automotive panel parts, etc., in addition to the type in which 3D-shaped panel parts are vertically arranged in a pallet, the 3D-shaped panel parts are placed flat in the pallet and between panel parts. There is known a palletizing technique in which a plurality of stages are aligned and stacked so as not to contact each other (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). In such a conventional technique, when so-called depalletizing to remove the palletized panel parts from the pallet, it is basically taken out in order from the uppermost panel part, and taking out in order from the lowermost panel part is completely considered. Thus, it is substantially impossible to take out the panel components from below.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 58-21528 A (FIGS. 1 and 2)
[0004]
[Patent Document 2]
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-64923 (FIGS. 2 and 4)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
On the other hand, for example, when assembling the depalletized panel parts as they are to the other member, the panel parts arranged and stacked in a plurality of stages in a flat state in a pallet so that the parts do not contact each other, When the lower surface of the panel component is used as a support surface, it is possible to improve the workability of the assembling work by taking out the panel components in order from the bottom.
[0006]
For example, when assembling the back door of an automobile to the opening on the vehicle body side, it is necessary to fasten the door hinge to the vehicle body side with bolts and nuts after the back door is in the open state. Back door assembly process in which the back doors (assumed that the door hinges are pre-installed on the back doors) are placed flat on the pallet and aligned and stacked in multiple stages so that the parts do not touch each other On the other hand, in the back door assembly process, the back door is taken out from the pallet with the mounting hand, etc. with the packaged state during palletizing, that is, close to the open state of the back door Thus, it is possible to efficiently perform the fastening operation of the door hinge by applying it to the back door opening.
[0007]
The present invention has been made to meet such a demand, and in particular , a plurality of stages such that a three-dimensional panel component such as a back door of an automobile is placed flat in a pallet and the panel components do not contact each other. The present invention provides a depalletizing device that can be smoothly taken out from the lowermost panel parts in order without causing mutual interference when they are aligned and stacked.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention described in claim 1 includes a pallet in which three-dimensional panel parts are placed flat and arranged in a plurality of stages so that the parts do not contact each other, and a hand for taking out the panel parts in the pallet. It is assumed that the depalletizing device is equipped with a hand so that the lower part of the panel part is taken as the supporting surface and the panel parts in the pallet are taken out in order from the lowest stage by allowing the hand to enter the lower side of the panel part. It is said. In addition, the pallet is provided with a plurality of fingers that can be moved up and down and rotated in a horizontal plane, and in the panel lamination state, each panel component is positioned and supported by a plurality of fingers that project to the panel lamination region side. In addition, the hand is provided with at least a guide member for guiding the retraction operation from the pallet. When a panel part is lifted up by a predetermined amount and supported by positioning, the guide member on the hand side lifts up the empty finger that previously supported the panel part to a position where it does not interfere with the panel part. When the guide is retracted with the hand in the direction opposite to the approach direction, the guide member is idle. The finger in the state is rotated to retract to a position where it does not interfere with the panel parts on the hand, and the finger positioned at the retracted position guides the subsequent retracting operation of the hand via the guide member. It is characterized by.
[0009]
In addition, as said panel components, the back door of the motor vehicle etc. which incorporated the rear window glass which was illustrated previously are assumed, for example. In addition, a gap is secured in advance between the aligned and stacked panel parts so that the panel part to be taken out does not interfere with the upper panel part even if the panel part to be taken out is lifted up by a predetermined amount. Needless to say.
[0010]
Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the panel components arranged and stacked in a flat state are taken out from the pallet one by one, the hand is moved under the lowermost panel component and lifted by a predetermined amount. If the guide member attached to the hand is automatically retracted to the position where it does not interfere with the panel part, the guide member attached to the hand will automatically push it to the position where it does not interfere with the panel part. It is possible to smoothly remove the panel parts in the packaged state during palletizing with a simple operation.
[0011]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, panel components that are aligned and stacked in a flat state can be taken out in order from the lowest stage in the packaged state at the time of palletizing. It is possible to take it out in the packing form at the time and attach it to the car body as it is, which can contribute to the improvement of assembling workability. In addition, the lift-up operation and the retraction operation of the fingers that supported the panel parts are performed following the movement of the guide member attached to the hand, so that not only an actuator is required, but also a manual operation is required. It is no longer necessary, and simplification of the structure and labor saving can be achieved. In addition, since the finger located at the retracted position serves to guide the subsequent retracting operation of the hand, it does not cause interference between the panel parts or between the panel part and the pallet, Deformation can be prevented in advance.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
1 and the following drawings show a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the entire depalletizing apparatus, FIGS. 2 and 3 show details of the pallet in FIG. 1, and FIG. 1 shows details of the mounted hand in FIG. In this embodiment, an example of an automobile resin back door (hereinafter referred to as a workpiece) in which a rear window glass is incorporated in advance as a three-dimensional panel component to be palletized and depalletized is shown.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 1, the depalletizing apparatus includes a substantially rectangular pallet 1 capable of aligning and stacking workpieces W, for example, in three stages, and a tip of a robot arm 2 (see FIG. 4) of a handling robot (not shown). And a mounting hand 3 for taking out the workpiece W in the pallet 1 in order from the lowest one. The mounting hand 3 applies the work W taken out from the pallet 1 to the opening on the vehicle body side as it is, and fastens the door hinge H attached to the work W in advance to the vehicle body side as will be described later. The role to prepare for.
[0014]
The pallet 1 has a shape that combines a box type and a post type with the pedestal portion 1a as the center. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in addition to FIG. The side plates 4 are bent in the vertical direction, and the back plate of each side plate 4 is provided with a contact plate 5 protruding inward from the inner surface of the side plate 4 in a vertical posture. The post 6 on the back side of the pallet 1 is provided with a fixed-position type gauge 7 for positioning and supporting the work W in three stages, and a support shaft 8 disposed outside the left and right side plates 4. Similarly, movable fingers 9 are provided in three stages. Therefore, the workpiece W in the pallet 1 is in a state where the workpieces W and W do not interfere with each other in the form of a three-point support by the gauge 7 and the finger 9 and the back door is opened. They are aligned and supported in an approximate flat package.
[0015]
Since the side plate 4 is bent in a generally U shape in plan view, the span between the side plates 4 and 4 is widened in a tapered shape on the side of the side plates 4 and 4. The span on the back side is set to be equal to or slightly larger than the lateral width of a guide bar 26 attached to the mounting hand 3 to be described later, and each side plate 4 has the mounting hand 3 in the pallet 1. It functions as a guide surface that controls relative positioning when entering and retracting. At the same time, the left and right contact plates 5 come into contact with the tip of the guide bar 26 when the mounting hand 3 enters the pallet 1 by a predetermined amount, and serve as contact surfaces for restricting the amount of the mounting hand 3 entering the pallet 1. To play a role.
[0016]
Here, as shown in FIG. 5, a door hinge H is attached to the workpiece W in advance, so that each gauge 7 protruding to the workpiece stacking region side supports and positions the workpiece W using the door hinge H as a positioning reference portion. On the other hand, the fingers 9 that similarly project to the workpiece lamination region side support the positioning of the side edges of the workpiece W as positioning reference portions.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 6 in addition to FIG. 1, each finger 9 extrapolates a sleeve 11 having the same diameter as the outer diameter of the general portion of the support shaft 8 to the small-diameter shaft portion 10 of the support shaft 8 so as to be rotatable and vertically movable. In addition, a horizontal finger arm 12 having an angular cross section is integrally extended from the sleeve 11 and a finger piece 13 is attached to the tip of the finger arm 12, and a stopper is provided in a direction opposite to the finger arm 12. The arm 14 is also integrally extended. As a result, the finger 9 as a whole can rotate around the support shaft 8 within a range of about 90 ° in the horizontal plane, that is, between the workpiece support position P1 and the retracted position P2 (see FIG. 9). At the same time, since the height dimension of the small diameter shaft portion 10 is set larger than the height dimension of the sleeve 11, the finger 9 can move up and down or move up and down within the range of the height of the small diameter shaft portion 10. The ascending limit position and the descending limit position are regulated by upper and lower step portions 15 a and 15 b formed by the small diameter shaft portion 10 and the general portion of the support shaft 8.
[0018]
In addition, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, in order to avoid interference with each finger 9, the window part 16 is formed in the side plate 4, and the stopper arm 14 is faced from this window part 16. The span formed between the left and right support shafts 8 and 8 is set to have substantially the same dimension as the span formed on the back side of the side plates 4 and 4. In addition to FIGS. 1 to 3, as shown in FIG. 6, a post 17 parallel to the support shaft is suspended on the back side of each side plate 4, and the finger 9 is retracted position P <b> 2 (see FIG. 9) as will be described later. ), The finger arms 12 are respectively brought into contact with the posts 17 and the positions of the fingers 9 are regulated to the retracted positions P2.
[0019]
In addition, a single claw portion 18 projects from the lower step portion 15b shown in FIG. 6, and the bottom edge of the sleeve 11 is shifted by about 90 ° to correspond to this. Notches 19 and 20 are formed. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 6, when the claw portion 18 and the one notch portion 19 are matched with the finger 9 in the workpiece support position P1, the finger 9 is restrained to be non-rotatable at the workpiece support position P1, As shown in FIG. 9, when the claw portion 18 and the other notch portion 20 are matched with the finger 9 in the retracted position P2, the finger 9 can be restrained to the retracted position P2 so as not to rotate. Yes.
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 4 in addition to FIG. 1, the mounting hand 3 has a substantially rectangular frame-shaped frame 21 as a mother body, and a pair of left and right pads 22 are attached to the mounting hand 3 and a pair of left and right like the locating pins 24 with a pair of left and right bases 23. The support block 25 is mounted. 3 and 4, when the work W is taken out, when the loading hand 3 is advanced to the lower side of the work W and hits the lower surface of the work W, it corresponds to the license plate mounting position of the work W. Each locating pin 24 is engaged with a pair of left and right locating holes Q set in the recessed portion E to be positioned relative to each other, and at the same time, the pad 22 contacts the rear window glass G and the support block 25 contacts the edge of the workpiece W. It contacts and supports the whole work W from the lower side.
[0021]
A pair of left and right guide bars 26 as guide members bent in a substantially L shape are mounted on the frame 21 of the mounting hand 3 symmetrically in a horizontal posture. The span is set to be equal to or slightly smaller than the span on the back side of the side plates 4 and 4 and the span formed by the left and right support shafts 8 and 8.
[0022]
According to the depalletizing device configured in this way, as described above, handling is performed (not shown) before the work W is applied to the back door opening on the vehicle body side and the door hinge H is fastened. The robot is activated and the workpieces W in the pallet 1 are taken out in order from the lowest one.
[0023]
When the handling robot is activated, the left and right guide bars 26 are placed along the side plate 4 as shown in FIGS. Enter gradually. At this time, the guide bar 26 of the mounting hand 3 passes through the lower side without interfering with the lowermost finger 9 or the like. When the mounting hand 3 enters a predetermined amount, the tip of the guide bar 26 comes into contact with the contact plate 5, so that the entering operation of the mounting hand 3 stops at that position. Instead, when the mounting hand 3 moves upward by a predetermined amount at that position, the locating pin 24 engages the locating hole Q on the workpiece W side, and the mounting hand 3 and the workpiece W are relatively positioned, and at the same time, the pad 22 is moved to the rear. The support block 25 is applied to the edge of the workpiece W on the window glass G. As a result, the workpiece W that has been supported by the gauge 7 and the finger 9 until then is transferred to the mounting hand 3 side, and the workpiece W rises from the gauge 7 and the finger 9. Then, if the loaded hand 3 is raised to such an extent that the transferred work W does not interfere with the upper work W, the raising operation stops at that position.
[0024]
In the ascending process of the mounting hand 3, as shown in FIG. 6, the left and right guide bars 26 come into contact with the lower surface of the finger arm 12 of the finger 9 that has previously supported the workpiece W, and the finger 9 together with the workpiece W is supported on the support shaft. 8 along the direction of arrow a1. In addition, the arrow a2 of the same figure has shown the approach direction of the mounting hand 3. FIG. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, the sleeve 11 of the finger 9 comes into contact with the upper step portion 15a before the mounting hand 3 reaches the ascending limit position, and further lift-up operation of the finger 9 is restricted. Therefore, as shown in the figure, the work W finally floats slightly from the finger piece 13. Note that the difference between the lift-up amount of the workpiece W itself and the lift-up amount of the finger 9 is absorbed by the self-elastic force of the guide bar 26.
[0025]
The loading hand 3 that has stopped the raising operation after receiving the workpiece W starts the retreating operation in the direction opposite to the previous entry direction a2, that is, in the direction of the arrow a3 in FIG. When the mounting hand 3 is retracted, the corner portions 26a of the left and right guide bars 26 come into contact with and push the fingers 9 in the idle state as shown in the figure, and are moved from the workpiece support position P1 to the retracted position P2 ( (See FIG. 9). Then, when the corner portion 26a of the guide bar 26 has completely passed through the finger 9, the finger 9 becomes parallel to the guide bar 26 and abuts on the post 17 as shown in FIG. Positioned at position P2. Therefore, after that, the empty finger 9 allows passage of the guide bar 26, and the loading hand 3 carrying the workpiece W is guided to the left and right fingers 9 through the guide bar 26. The workpiece W is withdrawn from the pallet 1, and the workpiece W is smoothly taken out from the pallet 1 in the packed state at the time of palletizing. That is, the finger 9 serves to regulate unnecessary movement of the mounting hand 3 in the lateral direction (arrow b1 direction in FIG. 9) and upward (also in the arrow b2 direction) in the process in which the mounting hand 3 takes out the workpiece W. become. 9 is lowered by its own weight when the guide bar 26 has completely passed, and is restrained to the position by the engagement between the claw portion 19 and the notch portion 20.
[0026]
More specifically, when the workpiece W is transferred from the finger 9 to the mounting hand 3 side, the finger 9 that has previously supported the workpiece W in the process of retracting the mounting hand 3 from the pallet 1 may hinder the removal of the workpiece W. Since the finger 9 pushed to the retracted position P2 autonomously pushes up to the retracted position P2 without any gap, and serves to guide the subsequent movement of the mounted hand 3, the workpieces W, W palletized in the pallet 1 Even if the clearance is small, the workpieces W can be taken out from the pallet 1 smoothly one by one without causing interference between the workpieces W.
[0027]
Thus, when one workpiece W is taken out from the pallet 1, the mounting hand 3 applies the workpiece W in its posture to the vehicle body side opening (not shown), and the vehicle body of the door hinge H attached to the workpiece W in advance. It plays the role of supporting the workpiece W until the fastening work with bolts and nuts to the side is completed.
[0028]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, when depalletizing a workpiece W that has been palletized in multiple stages in a flat state, the workpiece W can be taken out from the lowermost workpiece W while supporting the lower surface of the workpiece W. Since the retraction operation of each finger 9 which becomes an obstacle when taking out W is autonomously performed following the movement of the mounted hand 3, no actuator or the like for retreating the finger 9 is required.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of an entire depalletizing apparatus as a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part showing a relative positional relationship when the loading hand enters the pallet of FIG. 1;
3 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a relative positional relationship between a mounting hand and a back door as a work.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 3;
6 is an operation explanatory view of the finger shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and is an enlarged view of a main part as viewed in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1;
7 is an operation explanatory view of the finger from the state of FIG. 6. FIG.
FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory view of the finger from the state of FIG.
FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory view of the finger from the state of FIG. 8;
[Explanation of symbols]
1 ... pallet 3 ... mounted hand 4 ... side plate (guide surface)
5 ... Plate plate (Plate surface)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 ... Finger 12 ... Finger arm 13 ... Finger piece 14 ... Stopper arm 22 ... Pad 24 ... Locate pin 25 ... Support block 26 ... Guide bar (guide member)
G ... Rear window glass P1 ... Work support position P2 ... Retraction position Q ... Locate hole W ... Back door (work)

Claims (4)

It is equipped with a pallet in which three-dimensional panel parts are placed flat and arranged and stacked in multiple stages so that the parts do not come into contact with each other, and a hand for taking out the panel parts in this pallet. A depalletizing device that takes out the panel components in the pallet in order from the lowest one with the lower surface of the panel component as a supporting surface by allowing the lower part to enter the lower part,
The pallet is provided with a plurality of fingers that can move up and down and rotate in a horizontal plane, and in the panel lamination state, each panel component is positioned and supported by a plurality of fingers that project to the panel lamination region side,
The hand is provided with at least a guide member that guides at the time of retraction operation from the pallet,
When a hand is moved to the lower side of the corresponding panel part when the panel part is taken out and the panel part is lifted up by a predetermined amount and supported by positioning, the guide member on the hand side will hold the panel part until then. While lifting the finger in the empty state that was supported to a position where it does not interfere with the panel parts,
When the panel component is retracted with the hand in the direction opposite to the approach direction, the guide member rotates the empty finger to retract to a position where it does not interfere with the panel component on the hand and is positioned at the retracted position. A depalletizing device, wherein the finger guides a subsequent retraction operation of the hand through the guide member. The guide member has a function to guide the hand when entering and leaving the pallet.
The pallet is provided with a guide surface that abuts on the guide member when the hand enters and retreats and controls the relative positioning in the lateral direction, and a contact surface that abuts on the guide member and regulates the limit position of the hand entry. The depalletizing device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The depalletizing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lift-up amount of the finger by the guide member is set smaller than the lift-up amount of the panel component by the hand. The depalletizing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the panel component is a back door of an automobile in which a rear window glass is incorporated.

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