JP6167134B2 - Article assembly equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an article assembling apparatus.

  As an article alignment and supply apparatus, as described in Patent Document 1, there is an apparatus that uses a robot to supply a plurality of articles having the same shape and size to each other in an identical posture to an article supply destination.

  In an article alignment and supply apparatus using a robot, an image pickup camera is used to capture the position (x, y) and attitude (rotation angle θ) of each of a plurality of articles carried in an irregular position of an article carry-in unit in an irregular posture from the previous process. And an image processing unit. Then, based on the irregular position and irregular posture data acquired by the imaging means of each article, each article is fixed to the article gripping means (suction pad or the like) provided at the hand of the robot. Each article is gripped and picked up by the article gripping means so that the position and the rotation angle can be obtained. When the article gripping means actually grips each article, the position and rotation angle of the article with respect to the article gripping means are referred to as an actual gripping form. Then, each article gripped by the article gripping means provided at the hand of the robot is supplied to a fixed position determined as the article supply destination in a fixed alignment posture (target position x0, y0, and target rotation angle θ0).

JP 2000-233823 A

  In robots such as multi-axis parallel link robots and multi-axis multi-joint robots, gripping articles provided at the hand by operating each joint angle from the robot's fixed base to the hand with a motor controlled by a robot controller. The article gripped by the means is moved from the article carry-in section to the article supply destination so that it can be supplied to a fixed position in a fixed alignment posture.

  However, in a general robot, the amount of movement of each joint angle when each of a plurality of articles is gripped by the article carry-in section is the position and rotation angle of each article on the article carry-in section (particularly, the effect of the rotation angle is large). In other words, the movement amount of each joint angle causes a hand posture error.

  Therefore, for example, the irregular posture and irregular position carried into the article carry-in section of the first article are (x1, y1, θ1), but irregularly carried into the article carry-in section of the second article. If the posture and the irregular position are (x2, y2, θ2) and the joint angles θ1 and θ2 of each article are greatly different from each other, the amount of movement of each joint angle of the robot trying to grip each article at the article carry-in section is Therefore, the hand posture when the robot grips the first article is greatly different from the hand posture when the robot grips the second article.

  As a result, the actual gripping form in which the article gripping means provided on the hand of the robot grips the first article is significantly different from the actual gripping form in which the article gripping means grips the second article. Become. As a result, the article of each article when the article grasping means of the robot delivers the first and second articles to a certain position of the article supply destination so as to have a certain alignment posture (target position and target rotation angle). The actual position and rotation angle at the supply destination reflect a large difference in the actual gripping form in which the article gripping means grips each article as it is, and there is a considerable error with respect to the target fixed position and rotation angle. Present.

  In the article alignment and supply apparatus, when correcting the hand posture error caused by the difference in the movement amount of each joint angle of the robot by the correction program provided in the control system of the robot, the control system of the robot is complicated. High cost.

An object of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus with article assembly using robots, the carried-in article to irregular position irregular orientation, with a simple structure, high precision, assembled at the target position to the target position of the article supply destination There is.

According to claim 1 invention, in mutually apparatus with article assembly assembling supplied to the fixed position of the article supply destination in the same orientation a plurality of articles having the same shape and size, wherein the plurality of articles irregularly An article carry-in unit that is carried into an irregular position in a posture; a first imaging unit that images the article carried into the article carry-in unit and acquires data on the irregular posture and irregular position of the article; and The article carried into the article carry-in section is transferred and temporarily placed in the article temporary placement section, the article temporary placement section capable of temporarily placing the article at a substantially constant temporary placement position in a substantially constant temporary placement posture. Second imaging means for capturing an image of the article and acquiring data of a substantially constant provisional posture and a substantially constant temporary position of the article; and an irregular posture and irregularity of the article obtained by the first imaging means Based on the position data, the item carried into the article carry-in section The gripped taken up, by operating the respective joint angles of the first robot to the article is transferred to a certain temporary location position fixed provisional postures to target, the substantially constant article A first robot that temporarily puts the article in a temporarily fixed position of the article temporary placement unit, and a substantially fixed temporary position and a substantially fixed temporary position of the article acquired by the second imaging means. Each joint of the second robot so that the article temporarily placed on the article temporary placement unit is gripped and picked up and transferred to a certain position in a certain target posture. by operating the corners is obtained by the so a second robot for assembling the fixed position of the article supply destination by the article in a fixed position.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the article carry-in section further includes a carry-in conveyor for carrying the plurality of articles into the irregular position in the irregular posture, and a conveyance speed of the carry-in conveyor. A speed detector for detecting, wherein the first imaging means has an imaging unit arranged on the upstream side of the first robot along the transport direction of the carry-in conveyor, and the first robot A tracking operation is performed based on the transport speed of the carry-in conveyor detected by a detector so that each of the plurality of articles in the irregular posture and irregular position conveyed by the carry-in conveyor is gripped and picked up. is there.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the invention, the article temporary placement unit further includes a temporary conveyor that conveys the plurality of articles in the substantially constant temporary placement posture and the substantially constant temporary placement position. And a speed detector for detecting the conveyance speed of the temporary conveyor, and the second imaging means has an imaging unit arranged on the upstream side of the second robot along the conveyance direction of the temporary conveyor. The first robot performs a tracking operation based on the transport speed of the temporary conveyor detected by the speed detector, and temporarily places the article on the temporary conveyor.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the invention, the second robot further performs a tracking operation based on the transport speed of the temporary conveyor detected by the speed detector, so that the temporary conveyor moves to the temporary conveyor. The temporarily placed article is grasped and picked up.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the article is a blade and the article supply destination is a torque converter.

(Claim 1)
(a) The first robot grasps and picks up the article carried into the article carry-in section based on the irregular posture and irregular position data of the article acquired by the first imaging means, and the article is a target. By moving each joint angle of the first robot so as to be transferred to a fixed temporary position in a fixed temporary position, the article is placed in a substantially fixed temporary position. Is temporarily placed at a substantially fixed temporary position. The second robot grips the article temporarily placed on the article temporary placement unit based on the data of the substantially constant temporary placement posture and the substantially constant temporary placement position of the article acquired by the second imaging unit. By moving each joint angle of the second robot so that the article is transferred to a certain position in a certain target posture, the article is placed in a certain posture and the article supply destination assembled to a certain position.

  That is, since a plurality of articles carried into the article carry-in section at irregular positions and irregular postures have greatly different positions and postures (x, y, θ), the respective articles will be gripped by the article carry-in section. The movement amount of each joint angle of the first robot is greatly different, and as a result, the hand posture and the second article when the first robot grasps the first article by the article grasping means provided at the hand are determined. The hand posture when gripping is greatly different. Accordingly, the actual gripping form when the article gripping means provided at the hand of the first robot grips the first article and the actual gripping form when the article gripping means grips the second article are large. It will be different. Thereby, the temporary placement position and temporary placement posture of each article when the article gripping means of the first robot temporarily places the first and second articles at the target position of the article temporary placement unit at the target rotation angle, The article gripping means reflects a large difference in the actual gripping form in which each article is gripped as it is, and presents an error with respect to the target fixed temporary position and temporary temporary position, and is substantially constant. The position and the substantially fixed temporary posture (xa + Δx, ya + Δy, θa + Δθ). At this time, the difference between the rotation angles θa + Δθ1 and θa + Δθ2 of the articles on the article temporary placement section is smaller than the large difference between the rotation angles θ1 and θ2 when the articles are carried into the article carry-in section. ing.

  Next, the second robot grasps and picks up each article temporarily placed in a substantially fixed temporary position at a substantially fixed temporary position of the article temporary placement section, and supplies the articles in a fixed alignment posture. Supply to the fixed position. At this time, since each article temporarily placed in the article temporary placement section with a substantially constant temporary placement position and a substantially constant temporary placement attitude does not greatly differ from each other, The movement amounts of the joint angles of the second robot to be gripped by the temporary article storage section are substantially the same, and as a result, the hand posture when the second robot grips the first article by the article gripping means provided at the hand. The hand posture when gripping the second article is not greatly different. As a result, when the article gripping means of the second robot grips the first and second articles and supplies them to a certain position of the article supply destination in a constant alignment posture (target position and target rotation angle). The position and the rotation angle of each article reflect what the article gripping means has gripped each article in a substantially constant temporary placement position and substantially constant temporary placement posture on the article temporary placement section as it is. The error with respect to the alignment position and alignment attitude to be performed is minimized. That is, it is possible to easily control the alignment position and alignment attitude of each article at the article supply destination by the robot to a target position and attitude.

(Claims 2 and 3)
(b) Since the carry-in conveyor is provided as the article carry-in section and the temporary conveyor is provided as the temporary article placement section, the article carry-in operation, the article temporary placement work, and the article supply work can be continuously performed for a large number of articles without delay.

  (c) The first robot performs a tracking operation on the carry-in conveyor to grip and pick up each of the plurality of articles in the irregular posture and irregular position carried by the carry-in conveyor, and performs a tracking operation on the temporary conveyor to perform the tracking operation. These articles can be temporarily placed on the temporary conveyor, and the temporary placement work by the first robot can be facilitated.

(Claim 4)
(d) The second robot performs tracking operation on the temporary conveyor, grips and picks up each of the plurality of articles temporarily placed on the temporary conveyor, places the articles in a fixed alignment posture, and sets a constant supply destination of the articles. It can be supplied to the position, and the article supply work by the second robot can be smoothed.

(Claim 5)
(e) In the article alignment and supply apparatus for supplying the blade for the torque converter, the above (a) to (d) can be executed.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an article alignment and supply apparatus. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an article alignment and supply apparatus. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a blade for a torque converter. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a shell of the torque converter. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state where the blade is assembled to the torque converter shell. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the blade assembling apparatus. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a blade in an irregular posture carried into the article carry-in section.

  The article alignment and supply apparatus 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 uses the first and second robots 10 and 20 to place a plurality of articles 100 having the same shape and dimensions in the same posture with each other. 200 is supplied to a certain position.

  In this embodiment, the article 100 is the torque converter blade 101 shown in FIG. 3, and the article supply destination 200 is the torque converter impeller or turbine shell 201 shown in FIG. The blade 101 is gripped and picked up from the article carry-in section 30 of the article alignment and supply device 1 by the first robot 10, transferred to the article temporary placement section 50, and then moved from the article temporary placement section 50 by the second robot 20. The blade is picked up, transferred to the blade assembling apparatus 2, and assembled to the shell 201 held on the shell holding table 3 of the blade assembling apparatus 2. As shown in FIG. 6, the shell holding table 3 rotates the shell holding table 3 intermittently in the forward direction by the motor 4, and the blade assembly portion of the shell 201 held by the shell holding table 3 (the circumference of the shell 201 is A plurality of sets of groove rows 202) determined at respective positions along the direction are positioned at blade assembly work positions by the second robot 20. The second robot 20 sets a plurality of claws 101A to 101C provided on the outer edge of the blade 101 to each of a plurality of grooves 202A to 202C constituting a corresponding groove row 202 of the shell 201 as shown in FIG. wear.

  The article alignment and supply apparatus 1 includes an article carry-in unit 30 into which a plurality of articles 100 (blades 101) thrown from a previous process are carried in an irregular position in an irregular posture, and an article 100 carried into the article carry-in unit 30. First imaging means 40 that captures images and acquires data on irregular positions and irregular postures of the article 100 on the article carry-in section 30.

  The position (position x, y on the two-dimensional plane) and posture (rotation angle θ on the two-dimensional plane) of the article 100 carried on the article carrying section 30 on the article carry-in section 30 are irregular positions and irregular postures. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, when the posture of a certain article 100 is (x1, y1, θ1), the posture of the other article 100 is (x2, y2, θ2), and each article is particularly rotated. The angle θ is greatly different.

  Here, the article carry-in unit 30 includes a carry-in conveyor 31 that carries a plurality of articles 100 (blades 101) into an irregular position in an irregular posture, and a speed detector 32 that detects the conveyance speed of the carry-in conveyor 31. . The carry-in conveyor 31 includes an endless belt driven by a drive source (not shown). The speed detector 32 is composed of a pulse encoder or the like.

  The first imaging means 40 includes an imaging unit 41 disposed on the upstream side of the first robot 10 along the conveyance direction of the carry-in conveyor 31 and an image processing unit 42 connected to the imaging unit 41. The image processing unit 42 processes the two-dimensional images of the plurality of articles 100 in the irregular positions and the irregular postures imaged by the imaging unit 41, and position data (x, y) on the two-dimensional plan view of each article 100, Obtain rotation angle data (θ). Here, the first imaging means 40 acquires the position data and rotation angle data of the article 100 from, for example, the outline shape of the article 100.

  The article alignment and supply apparatus 1 has an article temporary placement in which an article 100 (blade 101) carried into the article carry-in section 30 is transferred, and the article 100 can be temporarily placed at a substantially constant temporary placement position in a substantially constant temporary placement posture. Image of the part 50 and the article 100 temporarily placed on the article temporary placement part 50, and acquiring data of a substantially constant temporary placement posture and a substantially constant temporary placement position of the article 100 on the article temporary placement part 50 2 imaging means 60.

  The position and posture of the article 100 temporarily placed on the article temporary placement section 50 on the article temporary placement section 50 are a substantially constant temporary placement position and a substantially constant temporary placement posture. As shown in FIG. Their rotation angles are made substantially constant.

  Here, the article temporary placement unit 50 transports a plurality of articles 100 (blades 101) in a substantially constant temporary placement position and a substantially constant temporary placement posture, and a transport speed of the temporary conveyor 51. And a speed detector 52 for detection. The temporary conveyor 51 includes an endless belt driven by a driving source (not shown). The speed detector 52 is composed of a pulse encoder or the like.

  In addition, the second imaging unit 60 includes an imaging unit 61 disposed on the upstream side of the second robot 20 along the transport direction of the temporary conveyor 51 and an image processing unit 62 connected to the imaging unit 61. The image processing unit 62 processes a two-dimensional image of a plurality of articles 100 having a substantially constant temporary position and a substantially constant temporary posture captured by the imaging unit 61, and position data of each article 100 on a two-dimensional plan view. (X, y) and rotation angle data (θ) are acquired. Here, the second imaging unit 60 acquires the position data and rotation angle data of the article 100 from the outline shape of the article 100, for example.

  The first robot 10 holds each article 100 carried into the article carry-in section 30 based on the irregular position and irregular posture data of the plurality of articles 100 (blades 101) acquired by the first imaging means 40. The article 100 is temporarily placed in a substantially constant temporary placement position of the article temporary placement unit 50 with the article 100 in a substantially constant temporary placement posture.

  The first robot 10 is composed of, for example, a multi-axis parallel link robot (may be a multi-axis multi-joint robot), and includes a mechanism unit such as a multi-joint manipulator and a robot controller that controls the operation of the mechanism unit. The That is, the first robot 10 is provided at the hand by being operated by the robot controller by operating each joint angle from the robot fixing base to the hand by a motor provided on each axis controlled by the robot controller. The article 100 having an irregular position and an irregular posture on the article carry-in section 30 is grasped and picked up by the article grasping means 11 (article adsorbing portion or the like) (not shown), and the article 100 is brought into a substantially constant temporary placement posture. The article temporary placement unit 50 can be transferred to a substantially fixed temporary placement position.

  Here, the first robot 10 performs a tracking operation based on the conveyance speed of the carry-in conveyor 31 detected by the speed detector 32, and each of the plurality of articles 100 having irregular positions and irregular postures conveyed by the carry-in conveyor 31. Grab and pick up.

  The first robot 10 performs a tracking operation based on the transport speed of the temporary conveyor 51 detected by the speed detector 52 and temporarily places the article 100 on the temporary conveyor 51.

  The second robot 20 is temporarily placed in the article temporary placement unit 50 based on the data of the substantially constant temporary placement positions and the substantially constant temporary placement postures of the plurality of articles 100 (blades 101) acquired by the second imaging unit 60. Each article 100 is gripped and picked up, and the article 100 is placed in a certain alignment posture and supplied to a certain position of the article supply destination 200 (the shell 201 held by the shell holding table 3 of the blade assembling apparatus 2).

  Here, the second robot 20 performs a tracking operation based on the transport speed of the temporary conveyor 51 detected by the speed detector 52 to grip each of the plurality of articles 100 temporarily placed on the temporary conveyor 51. take up.

  The second robot 20 is composed of, for example, a multi-axis parallel link robot (may be a multi-axis multi-joint robot), and includes a mechanism unit such as a multi-joint manipulator and a robot controller that controls the operation of the mechanism unit. . That is, the second robot 20 operates each joint angle from the robot fixing base to the hand using a motor controlled by a robot controller, and the article is gripped by the article gripping means 21 (article adsorbing unit or the like) provided on the hand. The article 100 with a substantially constant temporary placement position and a substantially constant temporary placement posture on the temporary placement unit 50 is gripped and picked up, and the article 100 can be transferred to a constant position of the article supply destination 200 with a constant alignment posture. To do.

  Hereinafter, an article supply procedure of the article 100 (blade 101) by the article alignment supply apparatus 1 will be described.

  (1) A plurality of articles 100 (blades 101) are carried into the article carry-in section 30 (the carry-in conveyor 31 and the speed detector 32) from the previous process. At this time, the position and posture of the article 100 carried into the article carry-in unit 30 are an irregular position and an irregular attitude, and the position and attitude data (x, y, θ) is the first imaging means 40 (imaging). Unit 41 and image processing unit 42).

  (2) Based on the irregular position and irregular posture data of the plurality of articles 100 on the article carry-in section 30 acquired by the first imaging means 40, the second robot 10 each article 100 on the article carry-in section 30. Are gripped and picked up by the article gripping means 11 of the first robot 10. At this time, the first robot 10 performs a tracking operation based on the conveyance speed of the carry-in conveyor 31 detected by the speed detector 32, and holds each of the irregularly-positioned and irregularly-shaped articles 100 conveyed by the carry-in conveyor 31. To take up.

  Note that an article 100 that is in an overlapping state on the carry-in conveyor 31 and whose article shape cannot be imaged by the first imaging means 40 is not a gripping target of the first robot 10.

  (3) Each article 100 picked up by the article gripping means 11 of the first robot 10 from the article carry-in unit 30 is set at each joint angle of the first robot 10 based on the control of the robot controller of the first robot 10. Temporary placement is performed so that a substantially constant temporary placement posture is formed at a substantially constant temporary placement position on the article temporary placement portion 50 by the operation. At this time, the first robot 10 performs a tracking operation based on the transport speed of the temporary conveyor 51 detected by the speed detector 52 and temporarily places each article 100 on the temporary conveyor 51.

  (4) The position and posture of the article 100 temporarily placed on the article temporary placement section 50 (temporary placement conveyor 51, speed detector 52) on the article temporary placement section 50 are substantially constant temporary placement position and substantially constant temporary placement. The position and orientation data (x, y, θ) is acquired by the second imaging means 60 (imaging unit 61, image processing unit 62).

  (5) The second robot 20 uses the provisional article temporary data and the provisional provisional attitude data of the plurality of articles 100 on the article temporary placement unit 50 acquired by the second imaging unit 60 to temporarily store the articles. Each article 100 on the placement unit 50 is picked up and picked up by the article gripping means 21 of the second robot 20. At this time, the second robot 20 performs a tracking operation based on the conveyance speed of the temporary conveyor 51 detected by the speed detector 52, and the substantially constant temporary position and the substantially constant temporary attitude that the temporary conveyor 51 conveys. Each article 100 is gripped and picked up.

  (6) The second robot 20 based on the control of the robot controller of the second robot 20 with respect to each article 100 (blade 101) picked up by the article gripping means 21 of the second robot 20 from the temporary article placement section 50. By the operation of each joint angle, a fixed alignment posture is supplied to a fixed position of the article supply destination 200 (blade assembly portion of the shell 201).

  In the present embodiment, the second robot 20 assembles the plurality of claws 101A to 101C provided on the outer edge of the blade 101 to each of the plurality of grooves 202A to 202C constituting the corresponding groove row 202 of the shell 201. To supply.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(a) Based on the irregular position and irregular posture data of the article 100 on the article carry-in unit 30 acquired by the first imaging means 40, the first robot 10 carries the article 100 carried into the article carry-in unit 30. The article 100 is placed in a substantially constant temporary placement position in the article temporary placement section 50 with the article 100 in a substantially constant temporary placement posture. The second robot 20 then selects the article temporary placement unit based on the substantially constant temporary placement position and the substantially constant temporary placement attitude data of the article 100 acquired by the second imaging unit 60 on the article temporary placement unit 50. The article 100 temporarily placed at 50 is gripped and picked up, and the article 100 is supplied to a fixed position of the article supply destination 200 in a fixed alignment posture.

  That is, since the plurality of articles 100 carried into the article carry-in section 30 at irregular positions and irregular postures have greatly different positions and postures (x, y, θ), each article 100 is placed in the article carry-in section. The movement amount of each joint angle of the first robot 10 to be gripped at 30 is greatly different. As a result, when the first robot 10 grips the first article 100 by the article gripping means 11 provided at its hand. The hand posture and the hand posture when gripping the second article 100 are greatly different. Therefore, the actual gripping mode when the article gripping means 11 provided at the hand of the first robot 10 grips the first article 100, for example, and the actual gripping mode when the article gripping means 11 grips the second article 100, for example. The gripping form of is greatly different. Accordingly, the temporary holding position of each article 100 when the article gripping means 11 of the first robot 10 temporarily places the first and second articles 100 at the target position of the article temporary placement unit 50 at the target rotation angle, and The temporary placement posture reflects a large difference in the actual gripping form in which the article gripping means 11 grips each article 100 as it is, and there is an error with respect to the target fixed placement position and temporary placement posture. Presented are a substantially constant temporary position and a substantially constant temporary posture (xa + Δx, ya + Δy, θa + Δθ). At this time, the difference between the rotation angles θa + Δθ1, θa + Δθ2 of the articles 100 on the temporary article placement section 50 is larger than the large difference between the rotation angles θ1 and θ2 when the articles 100 are carried into the article carry-in section 30. It is small.

  Next, the second robot 20 grips and picks up each article 100 temporarily placed in a substantially constant temporary placement position of the article temporary placement section 50 in a substantially constant temporary placement posture, and makes this a constant alignment posture. Then, the product is supplied to a certain position of the article supply destination 200. At this time, since the articles 100 temporarily placed in the article temporary placement section 50 with a substantially constant temporary placement position and a substantially constant temporary placement attitude are not greatly different from each other, The movement amount of each joint angle of the second robot 20 that tries to hold the article 100 with the article temporary placement unit 50 is substantially the same, and as a result, the first article is provided by the article holding means 11 provided on the hand of the second robot 20. The hand posture when gripping 100 and the hand posture when gripping the second article 100 are not significantly different. As a result, the article gripping means 21 of the second robot 20 grips the first and second articles 100 so that the article supply destination 200 is in a constant alignment posture (target position and target rotation angle) at a fixed position. The position and rotation angle of each article 100 when the article is supplied to the article 100 is such that the article gripping means 21 holds each article 100 in a substantially fixed temporary position and a substantially fixed temporary position on the temporary article placement section 50 as it is. The error with respect to the target alignment position and alignment posture is minimized. That is, it is possible to easily control the alignment position and alignment attitude of each article 100 at the article supply destination 200 by the robot to a target position and attitude.

  (b) Since the carry-in conveyor 31 is provided as the article carry-in section 30 and the temporary conveyer 51 is provided as the article temporary placement section, the article carry-in work, the article temporary placement work, and the article supply work are continuously performed for many articles 100 without delay. Can be

  (c) The first robot 10 performs a tracking operation on the carry-in conveyor 31 to grip and pick up each of the plurality of articles 100 in the irregular posture and irregular position carried by the carry-in conveyor 31, and to the temporary conveyor 51. The articles 100 can be temporarily placed on the temporary conveyor 51 by performing a tracking operation, and the temporary placement work by the first robot 10 can be facilitated.

  (d) The second robot 20 performs a tracking operation on the temporary conveyor 51 to grip and pick up each of the plurality of articles 100 temporarily placed on the temporary conveyor 51, and sets the article 100 to a fixed alignment posture. The article can be supplied to a certain position of the article supply destination 200, and the article supply work by the second robot 20 can be smoothed.

  (e) In the article alignment supply apparatus 1 that supplies the blade 101 for the torque converter, the above-described (a) to (d) can be executed.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and even if there is a design change or the like without departing from the gist of the present invention. It is included in the present invention. For example, the position and posture of the article on the article carry-in section 30 or the article temporary placement section 50 handled in the present invention may be a position and attitude in a three-dimensional space.

  In addition, the present invention is not limited to a torque converter blade as long as a plurality of articles having the same shape and dimensions are supplied to a fixed position of an article supply destination in the same posture. The present invention is widely applicable to general article alignment and supply devices.

  In addition, the first robot and the second robot may incorporate an imaging unit (camera) constituting the first imaging unit or the second imaging unit in the robot. The imaging units built into these robots image the area directly under the robot.

  In addition, the article carry-in section and the article temporary placement section do not necessarily require that the conveyors constituting them are always driven. When the first robot or the second robot has an image pickup section, the article on the conveyor is picked up by the image pickup section while the conveyor is stopped, and the article is picked up from the conveyor by the robot. May be taken up. In such a case, there is no need to provide speed detectors on those conveyors, and there is no need for the robots to track them.

  Moreover, it is not essential that the article carry-in section and the article temporary placement section are configured by a conveyor composed of an endless belt. The article carry-in section and the article temporary placement section may be configured, for example, by reciprocating the transport table on which the article is placed.

  According to the present invention, in an article alignment and supply apparatus, articles can be aligned and supplied with high accuracy by a robot with a simple configuration.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Article alignment supply apparatus 10 1st robot 11 Article holding means 20 Second robot 21 Article holding means 30 Article carrying-in part 31 Carry-in conveyor 32 Speed detector 40 First imaging means 41 Imaging part 42 Image processing part 50 Article temporary placement part 51 Temporary conveyor 52 Speed detector 60 Second imaging means 61 Imaging unit 62 Image processing unit 100 Article 101 Blade 200 Article supply destination 201 Shell

Claims (5)

In mutually apparatus with article assembly assembling supplied to the fixed position of the article supply destination in the same orientation a plurality of articles having the same shape and dimensions,
An article carry-in section in which the plurality of articles are carried into an irregular position in an irregular posture;
First imaging means for capturing an image of the article carried into the article carrying-in unit and acquiring data on an irregular posture and an irregular position of the article;
The article temporary placement unit which is transferred to the article carry-in section and can temporarily place the article at a substantially constant temporary placement position in a substantially constant temporary placement posture;
Second imaging means for capturing an image of the article temporarily placed in the article temporary placement unit and acquiring data of a substantially constant temporary placement posture and a substantially constant temporary placement position of the article;
Based on the irregular posture and irregular position data of the article acquired by the first imaging means, the article carried into the article carry-in section is gripped and picked up, and a fixed provisional posture targeted by the article By moving each joint angle of the first robot so as to be transferred to a certain temporary placement position, the article is placed in a substantially constant placement posture, and the article temporary placement portion has a substantially constant placement position. A first robot temporarily placed on
Based on the data of the substantially constant temporary placement posture and the substantially constant temporary placement position of the article acquired by the second imaging means, the article temporarily placed in the article temporary placement unit is gripped and taken up, and the article is by operating each joint angle of the second robot to be transferred in a fixed position in a certain posture to a target, assembled with the article in a fixed position to the fixed position of the article supply destination An article assembling apparatus comprising a second robot. The article carry-in unit includes a carry-in conveyor that carries the plurality of articles into the irregular position in the irregular posture, and a speed detector that detects a conveyance speed of the carry-in conveyor, and the first imaging unit includes the first imaging unit, An imaging unit is disposed upstream of the first robot along the transport direction of the carry-in conveyor, and the first robot performs a tracking operation based on the carry speed of the carry-in conveyor detected by the speed detector. The article assembling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of articles in the irregular posture and irregular position conveyed by the carry-in conveyor is gripped and picked up. The article temporary placement unit includes a temporary conveyor that conveys the plurality of articles at the substantially constant temporary placement posture and the substantially constant temporary placement position, and a speed detector that detects a transport speed of the temporary conveyor. The second imaging means has an imaging unit arranged on the upstream side of the second robot along the conveying direction of the temporary conveyor, and the first robot detects the temporary detector detected by the speed detector. The article assembly apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the article is temporarily placed on the temporary conveyor by performing a tracking operation based on the conveyance speed of the conveyor. 4. The second robot according to claim 3, wherein the second robot performs a tracking operation based on the transport speed of the temporary conveyor detected by the speed detector, and grips and picks up the article temporarily placed on the temporary conveyor. Article assembly device. The article assembling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the article is a blade, and the article supply destination is a torque converter.

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