JP6739212B2 - Goods supply equipment - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an item supply device, and more particularly to a device for picking and placing items.

Containers that are filled with shampoo, conditioner, household detergent, food, etc., can be used in various sizes and shapes depending on the amount of contents to maximize the function when the contents are used. Things exist.
In production facilities, various kinds of containers are handled and produced by using holders and hakama (conveyor members) that have an inner shape and dimensions that match the shape of the container and a constant outer shape. It is possible.
In such a production facility, it is difficult to automatically insert containers of various sizes and shapes into the transport member, and it is often done manually.

In some cases, it is possible to load containers of various sizes and shapes with a highly versatile automatic machine. However, there are limits to the size and shape of containers that automatic machines can handle. Even when the container is directly put into a conveyor such as a belt conveyor without using a hakama, there is a limit similar to the above.
Also, caps attached to containers have various sizes and shapes in terms of function and design.
As with the container, the cap has a limited range that can be handled by an automatic machine, and the cap is often supplied manually to the carrying member, the carrying device, or the container itself.

Pump caps and caps with dip tubes called trigger caps are especially difficult to handle with automated machinery.
Both caps and containers are supplied to manual workers or automatic machines directly from the delivered box, from the state of being stored in a hopper, or from a conveyor such as a belt conveyor.
Manual or automated machine work involves filling or capping the contents of a container with the container lying in one direction, in different orientations or in a completely random orientation. To be done. This work requires a complicated operation of erecting the container and placing it in a desired position.

In recent years, the price of robots capable of accurate positioning has been reduced. Since the robot can change the movement pattern, it has become possible to handle articles of various sizes and shapes.
Conventionally, the work pattern of the movement was performed by a mechanical device that was set in a certain range, and in particular, it is called pick and place, which grips and lifts (picks) the article and moves it to a predetermined position. Robots are also increasingly used in handling operations that place (place) in a desired direction.
By using a robot, it is possible to easily pick and place containers and caps of various sizes and shapes and supply them to the transport member.
For example, the container alignment device 1 described in Patent Document 1 has a first transfer conveyor 3 which is a bucket conveyor having a large number of partition members, on the downstream side of the robot 2 which aligns the containers 5. The first transport conveyor 3 is inclined as a whole so as to gradually become higher from the downstream side in the transport direction toward the upstream side (the robot 8 side). The containers 5 are placed one by one in each bucket, transported along the longitudinal direction of the first transport conveyor 3, and then picked by the robot 2 on the upstream side. Further, the detection means images the container in the vertical direction, and is arranged at a position separated from the pick position by the robot 2 on the downstream side.
Moreover, in the container alignment device 1 described in Patent Document 2, the flat container 3 is transferred to the robot 12 in a horizontal state (horizontal state) by the first transfer conveyor. The robot 12 picks the container 3 and drops it on the second transfer conveyor in a state parallel to the transfer direction of the second transfer conveyor (that is, in a horizontal state), and the dropped container 3 is erected by the bucket 28. It

JP, 9-40178, A JP-A-8-2654

When picking up an article, the pick position (pick location) of the article may shift from the target position (target location) due to movement on the pick surface on which the article is placed. In such a case, the place position may deviate from the original target position due to the influence of the deviation of the picked portion.
The problem is that, for example, if the pick surface is a horizontal surface, depending on the shape of the article, the article may contact the horizontal surface at a straight line, a point, or a small surface, so that the article rolls, shakes, or rotates on the pick surface. It may become easier and may occur.
In particular, it tends to occur when the article is a bottle having an elliptical or circular cross section in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. Alternatively, the above problem is likely to occur in the case of a bottle having a bulging cross section in the longitudinal direction.
In the container alignment device 1 described in Patent Document 1, the container 5 is moved by the first transfer conveyor 3 before reaching the robot 8, and thus requires a large installation space. Further, since the detection means and the robot 8 are separated from each other, in the case of a container having an easily movable shape, the container 5 may move during the movement and the robot 8 may fail to hold the container 5.
Further, also in the container alignment device 1 described in Patent Document 2, the container is moved by the first transfer conveyor before reaching the robot 12, and similarly, a large installation space is required. Furthermore, since the container 3 is erected while falling on the guide portion 28B of the bucket 28, the container may be obliquely blocked in the guide portion 28B. Further, since the mold of the guide portion 28B is matched with the shape of the container, one kind of guide portion 28B cannot deal with containers of various shapes and sizes.
An object of the present invention is to provide an article supply device that surely picks and places articles of various sizes and shapes.

The present invention is an article supply apparatus including a pick and place device that performs a pick operation for picking an article on a fixed slope and a place operation for placing the article at a place position,
An image pickup device for picking up the fixed slope portion, and a position deciding means for deciding a pick position of the article based on the picked-up image,
The fixed slope portion is erected from the lower end side of the fixed slope portion and contacts the lower side of the article placed on the fixed slope portion to hold the article on the fixed slope portion in a stationary state. A support member,
The imaging device has a fixed positional relationship with the fixed slope portion and its imaging direction,
The pick-and-place apparatus provides an article supply apparatus that picks the article at the pick position determined by the position determining means.

According to the present invention, articles of various shapes can be automatically supplied by picking and placing articles stopped on the fixed slope portion by the support member.

It is the figure which showed the whole article supply apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the effect of a fixed slope part and a support member. It is the figure which showed the structure of the illuminating device of a fixed slope part. It is the figure which showed the structure of another illuminating device of a fixed slope part. It is a figure showing about an angle of a fixed slope and a support member. It is the figure shown about the air blow nozzle with which the fixed slope part was equipped. It is a figure showing another example of a support member. It is a figure showing a contact state of a fixed slope part, a support member, and an article to hold. It is a figure shown about the width of a fixed slope part. It is the figure shown about another form of the surface of a fixed slope part. It is a figure showing arrangement of an article, a fixed slope, and an imaging device. It is a figure showing arrangement of a plurality of articles, a fixed slope, and an imaging device. It is the figure which showed the imaging process by the imaging means. It is the figure shown about the example of a carrying-out apparatus. It is the figure which showed the carrying-out apparatus and exit conveyance apparatus of the article supply apparatus which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the whole article supply apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the whole article supply apparatus which concerns on 4th Embodiment. It is the figure which showed an example of an article. It is the figure which showed an example of an article. It is the figure which showed an example of an article. It is the figure which showed an example of an article.

In the article supply apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the article 1 is dropped onto the fixed slope portion 20 having the support member 21 formed at the lower end. As a result, the article 1 stands still in the holding portion 201 including the fixed slope portion 20 and the supporting member 21 with the longitudinal direction aligned. The fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 are members that stop the article 1 that has dropped due to the weight of the article 1 so that the pick-and-place device 40 can pick up the article 1. Therefore, the fixed slope portion 20 does not have a function of applying a force to the article 1 to move the article 1 in the horizontal direction unlike a conveying device such as a belt conveyor. However, the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 may have a function of increasing the descending speed of the article 1. Specific examples of the function include vibration, vertical movement, and swing operation.
The imaging device 30 images the stationary article 1 from a predetermined fixed direction, that is, a predetermined imaging direction. The image processing device 31 performs image recognition that specifies the position of the article 1 and the direction of the neck 4 based on the image data Id transmitted from the imaging device 30.
Then, the pick-and-place device 40 picks up the article 1 at the position, and by the operation of determining the spatial position and the rotational movement of the three axes of the distal end of the arm portion 43, the neck portion of the article 1 is directed upward, and the carry-out device 50. Put in the hakama 51.

As described above, in the article supply apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment, the article 1 on the fixed slope portion 20 can be reliably stopped and held by the support member 21. Furthermore, the direction of the articles 1 can be aligned by lowering the fixed slope portion 20.
Therefore, articles of various shapes can be picked and placed, and the above problems can be effectively solved.

(Second embodiment)
As shown in FIG. 16, in the article supply device 100 according to the second embodiment, the place surface 62 on which the pick and place device 40 places the article 1 is inclined in the same direction as the fixed slope portion 20. Inclining in the same direction means that the contact portion between the fixed slope portion 20 and the place surface 62 of the article placed on the place surface 62 is substantially parallel. The pick-and-place device 40 can stably place the article 1 on the place surface 62 of the carry-out device 50 on the side surface of the article 1. That is, the article 1 can be laid down along the slope of the place surface 62 and stably placed. Note that the fixed slope portion 20 does not have a function of applying a force to the article 1 to move the article 1 in the horizontal direction unlike a conveyor device such as a belt conveyor.
Further, in the pick-and-place device 40, since the fixed slope portion 20 and the place surface 62 are inclined in substantially the same direction, the article 1 can be operated by the operation of determining the spatial position and the rotation operation of only the one axis of the tip of the arm portion 43. It can be placed on the place surface 62 with the neck portion 4 of the face up.

The first belt conveyor 66 forming the place surface 62 of the carry-out device 50 is twisted on the side of the exit transport device 55, and the article 1 is erected by this twist while being transported.
The article supply apparatus 100 can reduce the number of axes of the pick-and-place apparatus 40 by thus allowing the carry-out apparatus 50 to share the upright movement of the article 1.

In the third embodiment (see FIG. 15), the place surface 62 on which the pick and place device 40 (see FIG. 16) places the article 1 is inclined in the same direction as the support member 21. Therefore, the pick-and-place device 40 can stably place the article 1 on the place surface 62 of the carry-out device 50 on the side surface of the article 1 (tilting along the slope). The above-mentioned same direction means that the contact portion between the support member 21 and the place surface 62 of the article placed on the place surface 62 is substantially parallel.
Further, in the pick and place device 40, the support member 21 and the place surface 62 are inclined in substantially the same direction. Therefore, the neck portion 4 of the article 1 can be placed on the place surface 62 with the operation of determining the spatial position and the rotation operation of only the one axis of the tip of the arm portion 43 (see FIG. 12) facing upward. Note that the fixed slope portion 20 does not have a function of moving the article 1 in the horizontal direction by applying a force to the article 1 by a driving device, unlike a conveying device such as a belt conveyor.

The first belt conveyor 66 forming the place surface 62 of the carry-out device 50 is twisted on the side of the exit transport device 55, and the article 1 is erected by this twist while being transported.
The article supply apparatus 100 can reduce the number of axes of the pick-and-place apparatus 40 by thus allowing the carry-out apparatus 50 to share the standing motion of the article 1.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an entire article supply device 100 according to the first embodiment.
In the present embodiment, the article supply apparatus 100 is an apparatus that supplies the production line with the article 1 having a long shape and having one end side in the lengthwise direction as a bottom portion and the other end side as a neck portion. The article 1 put in an arbitrary position and direction is aligned by a pick and place operation so that the neck portion 4 of the article 1 is on the upper side and is carried out to a subsequent process.

The article 1 is not particularly limited. The long-shaped article 1 is made of resin, metal, or the like for filling fluid materials such as shampoo, liquid detergent, liquid medicine, and beverages, powdered materials such as powder detergents, powdered medicines, and confectionery. A bottle is given as an example. Also, for example, a wide-mouthed container for storing foods, tablets, liquid medicines, etc., a narrow-mouthed container, a cylindrical container, a box, a pillow packaged product, a PTP packaged product (press through pack), and a mount such as a blister pack. It may be a package. The bottle may be empty or filled with contents. When the article 1 is a bottle, the lengthwise direction is the height direction of the bottle, that is, the direction from the bottom to the neck or from the bottom to the filling port.
Further, a general lid (cap) or a lid having a special function can be cited as an example of the article 1. As a lid having a special function, there is a trigger cap with a dip tube for sucking or spraying a product by a user pulling a trigger to spray or discharge the product, a pump cap, and the like.

The article supply device 100 includes a container storage unit 11, a supply device 10, a fixed slope portion 20, a support member 21, image pickup devices 30a and 30b, an image processing device 31, a control device 32, pick and place devices 40a and 40b, and a carry-out device 50. Etc.
In addition, below, about the component of the same kind, it attaches a lower case letter to the number which identifies a component, and distinguishes it, and when not particularly distinguished, it shall be described only by a number.
For example, the imaging devices 30a and 30b and the pick and place devices 40a and 40b are simply referred to as the imaging device 30 and the pick and place device 40 unless otherwise distinguished.

The container storage unit 11 stores the articles 1 input from the article hopper or the like and provides the articles to the supply device 10. An inclined chute (not shown) is provided at the outlet of the container storage unit 11 so that the article 1 moves toward the supply device 10 by its own weight.
The position and direction of the articles 1 stored in the container storage section 11 are in a disordered state as they were when they were put in.

The supply device 10 functions as a device that supplies the article 1 to the fixed slope portion 20. In the supply direction S of the article 1, the supply device 10 is arranged adjacent to the end of the fixed slope portion 20 opposite to the support member 21. The supply direction of the article 1 is a direction toward the fixed slope portion 20 and is a direction indicated by an arrow S in FIG. Hereinafter, it is also referred to as the supply direction S.
The supply device 10 includes a floor surface inclined in the same direction as the fixed slope portion 20 and an elevating device (not shown) that raises and lowers the floor surface from a position lower than the fixed slope portion 20 to a height of the fixed slope portion 20. Specifically, this floor surface includes a wide vertical moving floor 12 in which the floor surface repeatedly moves up and down, and a wide fixed floor 13 in which the floor surface is fixed, which are arranged in a staircase shape toward the fixed slope portion 20. There is. Further, the vertically movable floor 14 and the fixed floor 15 having a fixed floor surface are arranged so as to climb toward the fixed slope portion 20 and alternate in a staircase pattern. Further, the floor surfaces of the wide vertical moving floor 12 and the wide fixed floor 13 and the floor surfaces of the vertical moving floor 14 and the fixed floor 15 are inclined so as to descend in the supply direction of the article 1 and the fixed slope portion 20 is provided with the article 1 It has a stair-like floor for supplying.

The supply device 10 conveys the article 1 to the fixed slope portion 20 by raising the floor surface with the article 1 placed on the floor surface and lowering the article 1 toward the fixed slope portion 20 by its own weight. A more detailed description is as follows.
The lowermost wide vertical moving floor 12 is adjacent to the outlet of the inclined chute of the container storage unit 11. The articles 1 picked up on the wide vertical moving floor 12 at the exit are moved to the wide fixed floor 13 adjacent to the upper side by the vertical movement of the wide vertical moving floor 12. Then, the wide fixed floor 13 is lowered by its own weight. Next, the vertically moving floor 14 is moved vertically to be moved to the fixed floor 15 adjacent to the upper side, and the fixed floor 15 is lowered by its own weight. Thereafter, the article 1 is similarly transferred to the fixed floor 15 adjacent to the upper side by the vertical movement of the vertical moving floor 14, and is fed to the fixed slope portion 20 while being sequentially relayed by lowering the fixed floor 15 by its own weight. To be done.

In the process of being transferred, the articles 1 are lowered on the inclined surfaces of the floor surfaces, so that the long direction is aligned at right angles to the supply direction S.
The vertical movement of the floor of the supply device 10 is independent of the pick-and-place device 40 and the unloading device 50, or is repeated in conjunction with the vertical movement.

The fixed slope portion 20 is configured by a fixed slope that extends horizontally in a direction substantially perpendicular to the supply direction S of the article 1 and is inclined so as to descend in the supply direction S of the article 1. Further, the fixed slope portion 20 receives the supply of the article 1 from the vertically moving floor 12 which constitutes the final stage of the supply device 10.
A support member 21 is provided at the lower end of the fixed slope 20 over the entire length of the lower end of the fixed slope 20. Then, the article 1 rolling down or sliding down the fixed slope portion 20 comes into contact with the support member 21, and stands still on the fixed slope portion 20 with its long direction oriented at right angles to the supply direction S of the article 1.

Each floor surface of the supply device 10 and the fixed slope portion 20 have a length at which the plurality of articles 1 can be arranged in a line along the longitudinal direction in a direction perpendicular to the supply direction S of the articles 1. .. Thereby, the fixed slope portion 20 can simultaneously hold the plurality of articles 1 in the direction in which the slope extends. That is, the extending direction of the slope is the direction of the contour line of the slope. Hereinafter, that direction is referred to as a longitudinal direction.
Further, in the present embodiment, the width of the fixed slope portion 20 in the inclination direction is set to the width of one article 1. Then, the supply device 10 prevents the product 1 from being further supplied to the position where the product 1 is already placed.

In this way, the supply device 10 supplies the fixed slope 20 with a plurality of articles one by one in the supply direction S of the article 1 and a plurality of articles in the direction orthogonal to the supply direction S.
In the present embodiment, other device such as a belt conveyor may be used as the supply device 10 as long as it can supply the article 1 to the fixed slope portion 20.

The image pickup device 30 is fixed by a bracket (not shown), and has a function of picking up an image of the article 1 supplied on the fixed slope portion 20. Therefore, the imaging device 30 is not installed in a robot as a device for moving the imaging device 30 or a pick and place device that is a device for moving the article 1. The imaging device has a fixed positional relationship with the fixed slope 20 and its imaging direction. Specifically, a camera is provided so as to be suspended from the ceiling of the building approximately vertically above the fixed slope portion 20, and a plurality of articles 1 that are stationary on the fixed slope portion 20 are imaged to obtain image data Id. To generate. Two or more images of the plurality of articles 1 on the fixed slope portion 20 that are stationary at the same time in the direction orthogonal to the supply direction S are imaged by one image capturing. Here, it is necessary to determine the position of the image pickup device 30 in consideration of the shooting range (viewing angle) so that two or more images can be picked up at the same time in order to simultaneously generate the article information and the pick and place processing efficiency described later. It is preferable from the viewpoint of improvement.
The imaging device 30 images the article 1 from a predetermined direction with respect to the fixed slope portion 20, more specifically, a substantially vertical direction as an imaging direction. That is, the imaging device 30 images the article 1 from a position substantially vertically above the fixed slope portion 20. Such imaging is preferable from the viewpoint of generating the later-described article information as one that contributes to more accurate pick processing. The term “approximately vertically above” as used herein means that the angle formed by the imaging direction of the imaging device 30 and the surface of the fixed slope portion 20 is 65° to 115°, preferably 75° with respect to the surface of the fixed slope portion 20. The angle is up to 105°, more preferably 80° to 100°, and refers to the position where the imaging device 30 is above the fixed slope portion 20. By making the angle formed by the imaging direction of the imaging device 30 and the surface of the fixed slope portion 20 close to 90° in the installable range, it is possible to image the article 1 with less distortion. In addition, when the distance from the fixed slope portion 20 to the upper side is longer, it is possible to reduce the influence of distortion when the image of the article 1 is captured. It is preferable that the imaging device 30 is installed at a height that does not hinder the operation of the pick and place device 40 and that allows easy adjustment of the imaging device 30.
The article supply apparatus 100 includes an imaging device 30a that images one end of the fixed slope 20 and an image that captures the other end of the fixed slope 20 in order to set the entire imaging area of the fixed slope 20 extending in the longitudinal direction. The device 30b is provided.

The imaging device 30 is, for example, a device that intermittently captures images by using a powerful strobe light, or a device that continuously captures images under extremely radiated light in an extremely short time of several msec to several tens msec. Can be used.
The type of the imaging device 30 is not particularly limited. It is preferable that the imaging device 30 be capable of high-speed processing and have high resolution.

The image processing device 31 analyzes the position and orientation (direction) of the article 1 (target object) placed on the fixed slope portion 20 based on the image signal or image data sent from the imaging device 30.
The image processing device 31 stores a registered image (basic image) for recognizing the shape of the article 1 as reference data, and performs image matching such as pattern matching between the image data Id sent from the imaging device 30 and the registered image. Perform processing. By this processing, the article 1 on the image is recognized, and article information indicating the position and direction of the article 1 is generated.

Then, the image processing device 31 transmits to the control device 32 the article information for calculating the target coordinate value to which the end effector 46 of the pick and place device 40 should go and the target direction to which it should go. The target coordinate value and the target direction are information necessary for the pick-and-place device 40 to pick up the article 1 and to erect the article 1 with the neck 4 facing upward after picking. In this way, the image processing apparatus 31 functions as an article information providing apparatus for the end effector 46 to pick the article 1. The control device 32 calculates the target coordinate value and the target direction based on the provided article information, and controls the operation of the pick and place device 40 by the control signal Sc as described later.
As described above, in the present embodiment, the image processing device 31 performs “analysis of the position and direction of the article 1.” The control device 32 performs “calculation of target coordinate values and target direction on which the end effector 46 acts”. In this way, the image processing device 31 and the control device 32 share the functions, and both serve as the position determining means 33 for the pick position. As described above, the position determining unit 33 has a function of analyzing the position and direction of the article 1 based on the imaged data captured by the image capturing apparatus 30. At the same time, the position determining means 33 calculates a target coordinate value and a target direction from the position information Ip of the article 1 obtained by analyzing the position and the direction, and instructs the end effector 46 of the calculation result. .. However, the position determining means 33 for the pick position is not limited to this form, and various forms may be adopted. For example, one of the image processing device 31 and the control device 32 performs “analysis of the position and direction of the article 1” and “calculation of target coordinate values and target direction on which the end effector 46 acts”, and the position of the pick position You may function as the determination means 33. One pick position is determined for each article 1 by calculation.

Various imaging methods can be used, for example, a color image is used to recognize the color of the article 1 or a monochrome binary image is used.
Whichever is used, a large amount of articles 1 is processed, so that one capable of high-accuracy and high-speed processing is desirable.

When the difference in brightness between the article 1 and the fixed slope portion 20 is large, the contour of the article 1 can be obtained with high contrast, and therefore high-speed processing can be performed by using imaging with a black-and-white binary image.
As in the present embodiment, the fixed slope portion 20 is made of a transparent member that is either a transparent member, a semitransparent member, or a member obtained by combining a transparent portion and a semitransparent portion. The fixed slope portion 20 is illuminated from the back surface thereof by a lighting device via a mirror as described later. Illuminating the fixed slope portion 20 by such a backlight method improves the recognition of the contour of the article 1, and is suitable for high-speed image processing. This backlight method will be described later with reference to FIG.

Further, the article 1 has a fixed shape. The article 1 has a degree of freedom in the longitudinal direction (at which position of the fixed slope portion 20 it stops) and orientation (which direction the neck portion is oriented), but the longitudinal direction is fixed at a fixed position of the fixed slope portion 20. Align and stop. Therefore, the imaging device 30 and the image processing device 31 may be of a general two-dimensional recognition type.

The control device 32 controls the operation of the pick and place device 40 by the control signal Sc.
Specifically, the control device 32 controls the operation of the pick and place device 40 by the control signal Sc generated by the control device 32 based on the article information from the image processing device 31. The operation is based on the target coordinate value and the target direction of the end effector 46 for picking, and picks up the article 1 from the fixed slope portion 20. Further, the article 1 is oriented in the designated target direction, and the posture of the article 1 is changed so that the bottom 3 of the article 1 is on the bottom and the neck 4 is on the top of the article 1. insert. As a result, the article 1 is placed in a standing state on the hakama 51 of the carry-out device 50.
At the time of placing, it is preferable that the control device 32 recognizes the position of the empty hakama 51 to be inserted by various sensors or the like, because failure of the place can be prevented.

In the article supply apparatus 100, two pick and place devices 40a and 40b are arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction of the fixed slope portion 20.
The control device 32 is usually provided in each of these two pick and place devices 40 (not shown). When the control devices 32 are collectively controlled, the two pick and place devices 40 can be controlled in an interlocking manner. That is, the pick-and-place devices 40a and 40b can be operated in parallel at the same time or can be operated in sequence. As a result, it is possible to prevent the empty hakama 51 without the article 1 from being generated in the hakama 51. At the same time, the processing capacities of the two pick and place devices 40 can be made equal. In order to equalize the processing capacities of the upstream pick-and-place apparatus 40b and the downstream pick-and-place apparatus 40a, the pick-and-place apparatus 40b repeats insertion of one piece and empty of one piece in the carry-out direction. The carry-out direction is the direction of arrow P shown in FIG. Hereinafter, it is also referred to as the carry-out direction P. The pick-and-place device 40a may insert the article 1 into every other vacant hakama 51. In addition, each control device 32 is operated individually. For example, the pick and place device 40b on the upstream side in the carry-out direction P is operated with the maximum capacity. In that case, the pick-and-place device 40a on the downstream side in the carry-out direction P places the article 1 on the empty hakama 51. In this way, the total capacity of the two pick and place devices 40 can be increased.

The pick-and-place device 40 is a robot that picks a target object and places the target object in a predetermined position and in a predetermined posture. For example, it is configured by a parallel link type robot.

The pick and place device 40 has an end effector 46 that picks up the article 1 at the tip of the arm 43. The end effector 46 of this embodiment is a vacuum suction type. The end effector 46 picks up the article 1 by adsorbing the article 1 placed on the fixed slope portion 20.
Then, the pick-and-place device 40 moves the article 1 toward the unloading device 50 by the arm portion 43, inserts the article 1 into the hakama 51 with the neck facing upward, and then stops the suction. Vacuum breaking is performed to release the article 1 into the hakama 51.

The carry-out device 50 includes a holder called a hakama 51 for holding the article 1 in an upright state, and a belt conveyor 52 for transferring and carrying out the article 1 together with the hakama 51.
The hakama 51 is formed with a recess for inserting the bottom side of the article 1 downward. Generally, placing the article 1 directly on a conveyor such as a belt conveyor tends to be unstable. On the other hand, by inserting into the hakama 51, the article 1 with the neck portion up can be stably stood.
Further, even in the case of the articles 1 having different shapes and sizes, the outer shape of the hakama 51 can be made the same, so that the processing after carrying out is easy. For example, since the filling port of the article 1 is positioned by positioning the hakama 51, it is possible to improve the efficiency of downstream processes such as filling of the liquid product and capping.

The belt conveyor 52 is installed next to the fixed slope portion 20 so that the discharge direction P is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the fixed slope portion 20, and moves the hakama 51 in the discharge direction P.
The belt conveyor 52 can be operated in various ways such as moving in the carry-out direction P or temporarily stopping when the pick and place device 40 places the article 1.

Next, the effect of the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2A is a front view (lower left) and a side view (right) showing a state in which the article 1 which is a cylindrical long container is placed on a flat surface 22 without the fixed slope portion 20 and the supporting member 21. , And a top view (upper left).
As shown in FIG. 2(a), the article 1 has a degree of freedom in the direction indicated by the double-headed arrow, that is, in the direction in which it rolls on the side surface, because the article 1 comes into contact with the plane 22 at the bottom of the side surface. ing. Therefore, the article 1 cannot be placed stably. If the article 1 is easily moved in this way, the article 1 may move during or after image capturing. Alternatively, when the article 1 moves during picking, there may be a difference between the position or direction of the article 1 that has undergone image recognition and the position or direction of the article 1 when the pick and place device 40 picks. is there. Due to this difference, the pick and place device 40 cannot pick the article 1. Alternatively, the picking is performed at a position or orientation different from the recognized article information. As a result, the place to place becomes different from the desired position.

On the other hand, the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 used in the present invention solve the above problems and contribute to the improvement of the accuracy of the picking process based on the article information.
FIG. 2B shows a front view of the state in which the article 1 is placed on the fixed slope portion 20 of the present invention as seen from the longitudinal direction of the fixed slope portion 20.
The fixed slope portion 20 has a gradient sufficient for the article 1 to descend the fixed slope portion 20 under its own weight.
In addition, at the lower end portion of the fixed slope portion 20, a support member which is a wall surface that extends from the fixed slope portion 20 by a bracket (not shown) from the fixed slope portion 20 and forms the holding portion 201 of the article 1 together with the fixed slope portion 20. 21 is provided.
For the article 1 that rolls down the fixed slope portion 20 and descends, it is possible to prevent the fall speed of the article 1 from becoming too fast by reducing the inclination angle that is the angle formed by the slope and the horizontal plane. Further, it is possible to prevent the article 1 descending from the fixed slope portion 20 from climbing over the support member 21. As a result, the article 1 can be reliably supported by the support member 21 of the fixed slope portion 20, which is preferable. For the article 1 sliding down on the fixed slope portion 20, if the inclination angle is adjusted so large that the article 1 slides down against the frictional force with the fixed slope portion 20, the article 1 is surely fixed. It is preferable because it reaches the support member 21 of 20.

Since the fixed slope portion 20 is inclined so as to be lowered in the supply direction, when the article 1 is supplied to the fixed slope portion 20, the article 1 descends the fixed slope portion 20, hits the support member 21, and stops.
Since the side surface of the article 1 contacts the fixed slope portion 20 in a straight line and also contacts the support member 21 in another straight line, the article 1 surely stops.
Therefore, the pick and place device 40 can reliably pick the article 1 at the position and direction specified by the image recognition.

Thus, the article 1 is likely to move due to the influence of a slight external force or vibration. Specifically, even if the article 1 is likely to roll, rotate, or vibrate, the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 reliably stop the article 1. Therefore, since the article 1 is prevented from moving during or after the image pickup, it is possible to prevent a difference between the article information from the image processing device 31 and the position or direction of the article 1 at the time of picking.

That is, the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 used in the present invention solve the above problems and contribute to the improvement of the accuracy of the pick processing based on the article information.
FIG. 2C is a front view, a side view, and a top view showing a state in which the article 1 having an elliptical cross section and rounded in the longitudinal direction is placed on the plane 22.
As shown in FIG. 2C, the article 1 contacts the plane 22 at the bottom of the side surface at a point or a small surface. Therefore, the article 1 has the instability of swaying or rotating in all directions around the point in contact with the plane 22 in the direction indicated by the double-headed arrow.

FIG. 2D shows a front view of the article 1 placed on the fixed slope portion 20 of the present invention as viewed from the longitudinal direction.
Even when the article 1 has the above-described elliptical cross section, the article 1 comes into contact with the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 at two positions by its own weight, and thus the article 1 stops stably. Moreover, the articles 1 are arranged to stop on the fixed slope portion 20 without overlapping in the supply direction.
Further, the stability of the article 1 is enhanced when the article 1 is stopped in a posture in which the major axis of the elliptical cross section of the article 1 is substantially parallel to the inclination of the fixed slope portion 20. Moreover, the trunk of the article 1 at a position where the article 1 can be picked up by vacuum suction can be flat and large with respect to the direction substantially perpendicular to the fixed slope portion 20, which is preferable.

As described above, if the place where the article 1 is placed is a horizontal plane, the article 1 may contact the horizontal plane in a straight line, a point, or a small surface depending on the shape of the article 1, and the article 1 may easily roll or shake. And easy to rotate. In particular, when the article 1 is an empty bottle (empty container), such instability easily occurs because the weight is light. Therefore, there is a possibility that the pick-and-place device 40 may move during a waiting time (for example, 0.2 seconds to 1 second) from picking up the article 1 to picking up the article 1. Therefore, it is necessary for the pick and place device 40 to wait until the shaking or rotation of the article 1 is stopped on a horizontal plane.

On the other hand, in the present invention, the fixed inclined surface portion 20 and the support member 21 form the holding portion 201 having an L-shaped, J-shaped, or V-shaped cross section at the lower end of the fixed inclined surface portion 20 in the article supply direction. To be done. The holding unit 201 allows the article 1 to be stopped quickly regardless of the shape or size of the article 1. That is, the holding unit 201 can stop the article 1 that descends along the fixed slope portion 20 and can also stop the article 1 while suppressing shaking and the like of the article 1 due to the stop.
For this reason, it is possible to prevent the article 1 from moving after the image capturing, which causes a difference between the information from the image processing device 31 and the actual position or direction of the article 1, and the pick operation is also stable. In particular, the picking operation of the pick-and-place device 40 is stable for lightweight articles such as empty bottles and caps. Further, as a result of this, it becomes possible to continuously and stably supply the lightweight articles as described above in time with the high speed operation of the pick and place apparatus 40.

Next, the configuration of the fixed slope portion 20 will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, the fixed slope portion 20 includes a transparent plate 23 as an upper slope member inclined with respect to the horizontal on which the article 1 is placed, and a transparent plate 23 below the transparent plate 23. It is composed of a translucent plate 24 as a lower slope member that is arranged in an overlapping manner. The semitransparent plate 24 is a translucent member having a light diffusing function, and has a function of diffusing incident light and emitting it.
A light source 25 for irradiating the article 1 and a mirror 26 for reflecting the light in the direction of the fixed slope portion 20 are housed in a region below the semitransparent plate 24 as an illuminating device.

The light emitted from the light source 25 is reflected by the mirror 26 toward the fixed slope portion 20 to change the optical path substantially perpendicular to the fixed slope portion 20. The light incident on the semi-transparent plate 24 of the fixed slope portion 20 averages out the variation in the illuminance that illuminates the transparent plate 23 due to the light diffusion function of the semi-transparent plate 24. Further, the light whose illuminance is averaged enters from the back side of the transparent plate 23 and illuminates the article 1 placed on the fixed slope portion 20 from the back. That is, in the present embodiment, by combining the light source 25 with the mirror 26, illumination by a backlight system is realized. Further, since the fixed slope portion 20 is illuminated via the mirror 26, the optical path length can be increased, and the illuminance can be easily averaged by light diffusion. With respect to the vertical direction of the above-described optical path, the illuminance does not decrease relative to the imaging device 30 installed in a direction substantially perpendicular (right angle) to the fixed slope portion 20 with respect to the vertical direction, so that the illuminance does not decrease. There is an acceptable range.

Since the imaging direction of the imaging device 30 is a direction substantially perpendicular (right angle) to the fixed slope portion 20, the light R from the backlight reaches the imaging device 30 after projecting a shadow due to the shape of the article 1.
In this way, the light source 25 functions as an illuminating device by being combined with the mirror 26, and irradiates the light R transmitted through the fixed slope portion 20 from behind the article 1. That is, the light R is emitted from the side opposite to the side where the imaging device 30 is installed with respect to the fixed slope portion 20. In this way, the illumination device provides the light R traveling from behind the fixed slope portion 20 toward the imaging device 30 so as to pass through the fixed slope portion 20.

Since the fixed slope 20 is illuminated by the backlight method, it is possible to efficiently capture the shadow of the article 1 even with a light source having a low light amount. Furthermore, the image of the article 1 can be captured with high contrast by using a light source having a normal light amount or a high light amount. Accordingly, the image processing device 31 can recognize the position and direction of the article 1 with high accuracy. Further, it becomes easy to perform image processing by black and white binarization. As a result, the image pickup device 30 and the image processing device 31 can be made into a simple configuration, and the article 1 can be recognized at high speed.
Further, since the light source 25 can be installed at a position away from the fixed slope 20 by using the mirror 26, maintenance can be easily performed.

The light source used as the light source 25 is not particularly limited, but a light emitting device such as an incandescent lamp, a fluorescent lamp, or a light emitting diode (also referred to as an LED) is used.
As the light source 25, it is preferable to use a light source capable of uniformly irradiating light in the imaging range. In particular, the LED is preferably used because it has low power consumption and the light quantity is stable over a long period of time.

As a material of the mirror 26 provided below the fixed slope portion 20, for example, glass, plastic, stainless steel, or the like can be used. The light reflecting surface of the mirror 26 is preferably a mirror surface on which the light R is easily reflected. For glass and plastic, a reflecting surface is formed by forming a film of silver or aluminum. The film deposition method includes a plating method, a physical vapor deposition method (evaporation method, ion plating, sputtering, etc.), and a chemical vapor deposition method (thermal CVD method, plasma CVD method, etc.).

In the present embodiment, a stainless polished product is used because of its high strength, high durability, easy maintenance, and close to specular reflection.
Further, a curved surface shape may be used such that the mirror 26 has a concave shape so that the light R emitted from the light source 25 is projected as parallel light on the semitransparent plate 24.

The transparent plate 23 is a transparent plate member made of glass or resin (for example, an acrylic plate), and functions as an upper fixed slope member.
Since the surface of the transparent plate 23 constitutes the fixed slope portion 20, it is preferable that the surface of the transparent plate 23 has high hardness and good slipping so that the surface will not be scratched by long-term use.
Further, the method for fixing the transparent plate 23 is not particularly limited. In this example, the translucent plate 24 and the fulcrum 27 are detachably joined. Therefore, when the transparent plate 23 is damaged, the transparent plate 23 can be easily removed from the fulcrum 27 and replaced.

The semi-transparent plate 24 is disposed below the transparent plate 23 (that is, on the back side of the fixed slope portion 20) so as to overlap the transparent plate 23.
The translucent plate 24 is a translucent plate member having a light diffusing function, which is made of glass or resin such as polycarbonate or polystyrene, and functions as a lower fixed slope member. The semi-transparent plate 24 has a light diffusing function by having a rough surface, for example.
The semi-transparent plate 24 disperses and transmits the light reflected by the mirror 26 and averages and irradiates the entire fixed slope portion 20.

If the transparent plate 23 or the semi-transparent plate 24 is scratched, it may cause erroneous recognition. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the fixed slope portion 20 is composed of a transparent and scratch-resistant transparent plate 23, and a semi-transparent plate 24 that is not in contact with the article 1 is stacked under the transparent plate 23 to form a double structure. It fulfills both diffusion and scratch prevention functions at the same time.

The transparent plate 23 is provided with a fulcrum 27 capable of adjusting the inclination angle of the fixed slope portion 20. With the fulcrum 27, the angle of the fixed slope portion 20 can be adjusted so that the posture of the article 1 supplied to the fixed slope portion 20 can be easily picked by the pick and place device 40. Further, the feeding speed at which the article 1 descends the fixed slope portion 20 can be adjusted.

The fixed slope portion 20 may have a double structure of a transparent plate 23 and a semitransparent plate 24 as in the present embodiment, or may have a single structure of a semitransparent plate.
In the case of the single-layer structure, the semitransparent plate 24 simultaneously configures the fixed slope portion 20 and uniformizes the light, so that the structure of the fixed slope portion 20 can be simplified.
Further, it is preferable to provide a protective film for preventing scratches on the surface of the fixed slope portion 20. As the protective film for preventing scratches, for example, a high-molecular polyethylene tape, a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-impregnated glass cloth tape, or the like, which has a light-transmitting property of visible light and has good slipperiness, is used.
Further, even with a single structure, the angle of the fixed slope portion 20 can be adjustable.

Next, another form of illumination device will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4A, the lighting device includes a light source 25. For the light source 25, for example, a light emitting diode (LED) can be used as a semiconductor light emitting element. Alternatively, a fluorescent tube, a light bulb or the like may be used. A plurality of optical fibers 91 are connected to the light source 25. At the exit end of each optical fiber 91, a light diffusing section 92 for diffusing the light transmitted in the optical fiber 91 is arranged. The light diffusing section 92 may have a light diffusing function, and the tip of the optical fiber 91 may be a spherical body. Further, a convex lens or a concave lens (not shown) may be arranged, or an optical system in which a convex lens and a concave lens (not shown) are combined may be arranged. Further, a convex mirror may be arranged at the tip of the optical fiber 91 to diffuse the light. The exit end of each optical fiber 91 is arranged so that the emitted light is incident on the fixed slope 20 in a direction perpendicular to the back surface of the fixed slope 20. For example, it is preferable that the exit ends of the optical fibers 91 are arranged at equal intervals over the entire surface of the fixed slope portion 20 in the longitudinal direction of the fixed slope portion 20 and in the width direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C, a side surface emission type optical fiber 93 is connected to the exit end of the optical fiber 91 connected to the light source 25 by a method such as mixing a light scattering material in the clad. Alternatively, it may be installed on the back surface of the fixed slope portion 20. By arranging the side surface light emitting type optical fibers 93 at equal intervals, uniform irradiation light can be obtained, which is preferable.
By using the optical fibers 91 and 93 in this manner, it becomes easy to uniformly spread the light particularly to the corners of the fixed slope portion 20.

Further, an LED light emitting panel (not shown) may be used instead of the semitransparent plate 24 of the fixed slope portion 20. In this case, since the LED light emitting panel itself emits surface light, the light source 25 and the mirror 26 are unnecessary.

If the backlight system is used as in the present embodiment, it is possible to irradiate the article 1 with light from below the fixed slope portion 20. Therefore, the influence of sunlight or changing external light can be minimized, and the outer shape of the article 1 can be surely raised, which is preferable because it is possible to suppress a decrease in the image recognition rate.

That is, in the fixed slope portion 20 of the present embodiment, the light R is emitted from the light source 25 in the lower region of the fixed slope portion 20, and the light R is incident on the fixed slope portion 20 by the mirror 26 in the region. reflect. Then, the reflected light R passes through the fixed slope portion 20 and is emitted toward the image pickup device 30 installed in the traveling direction of the light R. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently image the article 1 even with a light source having a low light amount.
Further, when the amount of normal light or the amount of light is high, the article 1 can be imaged with high contrast, so that the position and direction of the article 1 can be recognized with high accuracy.

The wavelength of the light R used by the light source 25 is generally in the visible light wavelength range. However, depending on the light reflection characteristics, absorption characteristics, or environment of the article 1, light having a wavelength in the infrared region or the ultraviolet region may be used. In that case, the imaging device 30 also uses the one corresponding to the wavelength of the light R.

When illuminating with a front light system, it is preferable to provide a light source above the article 1 and near the imaging device 30. Further, in order to eliminate the shadow of the article 1, it is more preferable to provide a plurality of the image pickup apparatuses 30 at positions apart from the image pickup apparatus 30 such as the left and right and the upper and lower sides of the image pickup apparatus 30 because the reduction of the image recognition rate can be suppressed.

The mounting angle and the like of the fixed slope portion 20 will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the inclination angle α of the fixed slope portion 20 may be 5° (degrees) to 75°, and is preferably 15° to 65°.
By setting the angle to be 15° or more, it becomes possible to surely and quickly lower the article 1. Further, by setting the angle to be within 65°, it is possible to prevent the article 1 descending from the fixed slope portion 20 from passing over the support member 21. Further, the support member 21 of the fixed slope portion 20 is quickly and surely stopped.

The support member 21 is composed of a plate-shaped member. From the inclination angle α of the fixed slope portion 20 and the angle β formed by the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 described later, λ=180°−α−β. The inclination angle λ of the support member 21 is preferably 20° (degrees) or more in order to prevent the falling article 1 from jumping out. The material of the support member 21 is not particularly limited. It is preferable to stretch the surface of the supporting member 21 with a member such as rubber having a shock absorbing function of preventing the article 1 from bouncing.
As a result, the article 1 supplied to the fixed slope portion 20 comes to stop more quickly. Therefore, the image recognition process can be started immediately after supplying the article 1 to perform image recognition, and the pick operation by the pick and place device 40 can be performed.
In addition, for example, the support member 21 may be formed of a member having another shape such as a cylindrical rod or a pipe, or the support member 21 itself may be formed of a member having a shock absorbing function.

Further, the support member 21 may be a combination of the fixed slope portion 20 and a separate member. Alternatively, it may be a gutter having an L-shaped, J-shaped, or V-shaped cross section continuously formed by the constituent members of the fixed slope portion 20.
Furthermore, the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 may be provided with a function of increasing the descending speed of the article 1. Examples of such functions include a vibrator that vibrates the fixed slope portion 20 itself, an electric device or an air cylinder that moves up and down, a rotary motor or an electric device or an air cylinder that performs a swing operation, and the like.

As the angle β formed by the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 becomes smaller, the space between the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 becomes narrower to sandwich the article 1, and the article 1 can be stopped more reliably. Therefore, the angle β is preferably 130° or less.

Further, as the angle β is larger, the support member 21 is less likely to get in the way when the pick and place device 40 lifts the article 1, and the article 1 can be processed at a high speed in the shortest path. Therefore, the angle β is preferably 50° or more.
When handling a bottle having an ordinary circular or elliptical cross section, the support member 21 is preferably set substantially perpendicular to the slope, that is, the angle β is about 90°.

The height H of the support member 21 in the vertical direction from the fixed slope portion 20 is equal to the height (width) h of the article 1 (see FIGS. 5 and 7), or 0.5 times h to 2 h. 0.0 times is preferable. By setting it to be 0.5 times or more of h, it becomes possible to reliably stop the article. Further, by setting it to be within 2.0 times h, it is possible to prevent or suppress the support member 21 from interfering with and interfering with the pick and place device 40 when picking and operating an article.

An example in which the air blow nozzle 28 is provided below the fixed slope portion 20 will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, it is preferable to provide an air blow nozzle 28 that penetrates the support member 21 below the fixed slope portion 20. The air blow nozzle 28 can be removed by blowing high pressure air from the air blow nozzle 28 to blow the article 1 off the fixed slope 20 when the article 1 remaining on the fixed slope 20 is in the way. Examples of the case where the article 1 is in the way include the case where the article 1 has a bad posture and cannot be picked by the pick and place device 40, or the case where the articles 1 overlap and the image recognition is difficult.

The removed article 1 is returned to the supply device 10, the container storage unit 11 or an article hopper (not shown) further upstream by air and is carried into the supply device 10 again.
The carrying-in operation again may be performed by providing a conveying device such as a belt conveyor for returning the blown-off article 1 to the supply device 10, the container storage unit 11, the article hopper, and the like. Alternatively, the material once discharged outside the system may be manually returned.

The support member 21 may be a rod-shaped support member 21 including a plurality of columnar members, as shown in FIGS.
The cross-sectional shape of the rod-shaped support member 21 is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a square rod or a round rod. The portion where the surface of the rod-shaped support member 21 contacts the article 1 is preferably a smooth flat surface or a curved surface because it does not damage the article 1. The material of the rod-shaped support member 21 is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include resin, metal, rubber and the like. The support member 21 is preferably a member having a shock absorbing function of preventing the article 1 from bouncing, or a member having a shock absorbing function is preferably stretched over the support member 21. By setting the distance Db between the rod-shaped support members 21 to be less than 60% of the length Lc of the article 1, it is possible to prevent the article 1 from falling from between the rod-shaped support members 21. The length Lc refers to the length from the bottom 3 of the article 1 to the upper end of the neck 4. In other words, it is the height of the article 1. By setting the height H of the rod-shaped support member 21 to be 90% or more of the article height h, it is possible to prevent the article 1 from overcoming the rod-shaped support member 21 and dropping. Further, it is preferable that the height h of the article is less than 150% because the rod-shaped support member 21 can be easily avoided when the robot picks up and moves the article 1.

As the shape of the rod-shaped support member 21, the tip may be slightly bent in the upward direction in which the article falls. If the tip of the rod-shaped support member 21 is bent, the article 1 gets over the rod-shaped support member 21 and falls even if the height H of the rod-shaped support member 21 in the direction perpendicular to the fixed slope portion 20 is lowered. Can be prevented. For example, the bending angle of the tip is set to 10° to 30°, and by bending it, the height H of the rod-shaped support member 21 can be lowered to about 80% to 120% of the article height h (same as above). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7C, when the robot (not shown) picks up and moves the article 1, the rod-shaped support member 21 can be avoided by a slight rise. Further, the rod-shaped support member 21 can be deformed by the article 1 as long as it is a member having a shock absorbing function without avoiding the bent portion, and therefore the constraint on the operation of the robot is the smallest, which is particularly preferable.

Next, the contact state of the fixed slope portion 20, the support member 21, and the article 1 to be held will be described.
The article 1 contacts the support member and the fixed slope portion 20 at a plurality of points such as points and lines, points and surfaces, lines and lines, or surfaces and surfaces. That is, by contacting the article 1 at least at two places, the article 1 can be held more stably from the image recognition to the picking. In addition, when the article 1 comes into contact with the fixed slope 20 and the support member 21 at three or more points by lines, points, surfaces, or a combination thereof, the article 1 can be held more stably.

Here, “stable holding” means that when the article 1 is supplied to the fixed slope portion 20, the article 1 does not vibrate or shake, and even if it occurs, the article 1 does not continue and remains stationary in a short time. Means to be.

When the article 1 is quickly stabilized on the fixed slope portion 20, image recognition can be performed immediately. Then, the picking operation can be performed without waiting the pick and place device 40, and the work can be efficiently performed.
Further, when the pick-and-place device 40 performs a pick operation, it is possible to prevent the article 1 from moving and deviating from the target coordinate values to which the end effector 46 calculated by the control device 32 should go and the target direction of the end effector 46. Can also If these shifts occur during picking, the pick itself cannot be performed, or the position or posture of the article 1 is shifted from the target when the article 1 is placed due to an incorrect pick, which causes the place to fail. On the other hand, the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 used in the present invention can stably hold the article 1 as described above in order to avoid the above problems. Therefore, it is possible to provide the stationary state of the article 1 that enables accurate picking.

As for the position where the article 1 comes into contact with the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 due to the line, the point, and the surface, the more distant from each other, the more the center of gravity of the article 1 is surrounded, and the article 1 is stably provided. Can be held.
Further, the wider the surface contact portion and the longer the line contact portion, the more stably the article 1 can be held.

In order to hold the article 1 stably, when the shape of the article 1 to be handled is limited, it is preferable that the fixed sloped portion 20 is formed in a shape other than a flat plate according to the shape.
For example, the fixed slope portion 20 may be a curved surface curved in the inclination direction, a flat plate portion (flat surface portion) and a curved portion (curved surface portion) may be combined, or a three-dimensionally more complicated shape may be used.

For example, it is preferable that the shape of the surface of the fixed slope portion 20 that comes into contact with the article 1 is a shape that follows the surface of the article 1 because contact at three or more locations is easy.
On the other hand, it is preferable to form the fixed slope portion 20 into a flat plate shape because the fixed slope portion 20 can be easily processed and the articles 1 having various shapes can be held.

A specific example of the contact state of the fixed slope portion 20, the support member 21, and the article 1 held by the support member 21 described above will be described with reference to the drawings of FIG. 8.
FIG. 8A is a diagram showing a case where the article 1 having a small cross-sectional shape change in the longitudinal direction is held by the fixed slope portion 20 curved in the tilt direction. The drawing on the left side of each drawing of FIG. 8 (hereinafter referred to as the left drawing) is a front view seen from the longitudinal direction of the fixed slope portion 20, and the drawing on the right side of each drawing (hereinafter referred to as the right drawing) is the upper surface of the article 1. It is a figure.
As shown in FIG. 8A, the fixed slope portion 20 is curved in the inclination direction along the side surface of the article 1, and the cross section viewed from the longitudinal direction is a curve. The article 1 has a tubular shape with an elliptical cross section.

As shown in the left figure, the article 1 contacts the fixed slope portion 20 at, for example, the points 2a and 2b, and contacts the support member 21 at the point 2c.
These points 2a to 2c are three parallel straight lines extending in the longitudinal direction of the article 1 as shown in the right figure. In this manner, when the change in the cross-sectional shape of the article 1 in the longitudinal direction is small, the article 1 can be brought into contact with the fixed inclined surface portion 20 curved only in the inclining direction at a plurality of straight lines and can be stably stopped.

FIG. 8B is a diagram showing a case where the article 1 having a more complicated shape such as a large change in the cross-sectional shape in the longitudinal direction is held by the fixed slope portion 20 curved in the inclination direction. .. The left view is a front view as seen from the longitudinal direction of the fixed slope portion 20, and the right view is a top view of the article 1.

As shown in the left figure, the article 1 contacts, for example, the fixed slope portion 20 at the points 2a and 2b and contacts the support member 21 at the point 2c.
These points 2a to 2c are three points that are not on the same straight line as shown in the right figure. The center of gravity of the article 1 is inside the triangle having these three points as vertices. Therefore, the article 1 is stably held by contacting the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 at these three dot-shaped portions 2a to 2c.
When the change in the cross-sectional shape in the longitudinal direction of the article 1 is large as described above, the fixed slope portion 20 has a cross-sectional shape in the width direction with respect to the longitudinal direction thereof that corresponds to the outer shape of the article 1. The article 1 can come into contact with the fixed slope portion 20 curved in the inclination direction at a plurality of points, and can be stably stopped.

FIG. 8C is a diagram showing a case where the article 1 whose cross-sectional shape change in the longitudinal direction is small is held by the flat plate (planar) fixed slope portion 20, and the article 1 corresponds to FIG. 8A. Is the same. The left view is a front view of the fixed slope portion 20 as viewed in the longitudinal direction, and the right view is a top view of the article 1.
As shown in FIG. 4, the article 1 contacts the fixed slope portion 20 at the location 2a and contacts the support member 21 at the location 2b. Even when the cross-sectional shape change in the longitudinal direction of the article 1 is small, the fixed slope portion 20 has a cross-sectional shape in the width direction with respect to the longitudinal direction thereof that corresponds to the outer shape of the article 1. The article 1 can come into contact with the fixed slope portion 20 curved in the inclination direction at a plurality of points and can be stably stopped.

The points 2a and 2b at which the article 1 comes into contact with the fixed slope 20 and the support member 21 are two parallel straight lines extending in the longitudinal direction of the article 1 as shown in the right figure, and the center of gravity of the article 1 is It is between two parallel straight lines 2a, 2b. Therefore, the article 1 is stably held by these two linear portions 2a and 2b.
Since the place where the article 1 contacts the fixed slope 20 is two parallel straight lines, the article 1 can be stably held even by the flat fixed slope 20.

The case where the fixed slope portion 20 is curved in the slope direction has been described above. Further, the article 1 may be stably held by providing the fixed slope portion 20 with irregularities of other shapes such as a triangular shape, a trapezoidal shape, and a rectangular shape.
Further, even if the supporting member 21 is similarly provided with an uneven shape such as a curved shape, a triangular shape, a trapezoidal shape, or a rectangular shape, the article 1 can be stably held. By providing the supporting member 21 with such a concavo-convex shape, it is possible to prevent the article 1 from swinging in the left-right direction with respect to the supply direction during imaging or picking.

Furthermore, the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 can be combined in various ways, for example, the fixed slope portion 20 can be a curved surface (curved surface) and the support member 21 can be provided with a triangular recess. A combination can be selected according to the shape.

As described above, the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 support the article 1 by contacting the article 1 at a plurality of points. For example, the fixed slope portion 20 has a flat surface portion that is inclined so as to descend in the supply direction of the article 1, and a curved surface portion that connects the flat surface portion and the support member 21. There may be a clear boundary between the flat portion and the curved portion. It may have a J-shaped cross section by continuously changing the surface shape from a flat surface portion to a curved surface portion without a boundary.
Further, it is also possible to form irregularities on the upper surface of at least one of the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 in contact with the article 1.

Next, the width of the fixed slope portion 20 will be described with reference to FIG.
The width L of the fixed slope portion 20 (the length in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the pick-side member forming the fixed slope portion 20: the length in the inclination direction) is the length in the supply direction of the article 1, that is, the article 1 is fixed. It is preferable that the width of the article 1 when placed on the slope portion 20, that is, the length in the width L direction is 0.8 times or more and 1.8 times or less.

By setting the width L to be 0.8 times the width of the article 1 or more, it is possible to prevent the article 1 from returning from the fixed slope portion 20 to the upstream side in the supply direction and dropping, and to reliably secure the article 1 It can be held on the fixed slope portion 20.

Further, by setting the width L to be 1.8 times or less the width of the article 1, it is possible to prevent a plurality of articles 1 from being placed on the fixed slope portion 20 in the width L direction. Then, it is possible to prevent the articles 1 from coming into contact with each other and prevent the image recognition rate from being lowered due to the contact between the articles 1. Further, it is possible to prevent the picking operation from failing due to the interference of the article 1 which is not the picking target at the time of picking.

On the other hand, the length W in the longitudinal direction of the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 needs to be 1.05 times or more the length in the longitudinal direction of the article 1.
As a result, the article 1 can be stored within the range of the length of the fixed slope portion 20. Moreover, when it is desired to mount n articles 1 in the longitudinal direction of the fixed slope portion 20 at the same time, it is desirable that the length W be equal to or more than the length of the article 1 in the longitudinal direction×n×1.05.
In this figure, the support member 21 is divided into two parts. The support member 21 may be of a split type or an integrated type, and may be one that can be easily manufactured.

At both ends of the fixed inclined surface portion 20 and the supporting member 21 in the longitudinal direction, side surface guides 29, 29 constituting wall surfaces formed by planes perpendicular to the fixed inclined surface portion 20 and the supporting member 21 are arranged. Each side guide 29 prevents the article 1 from falling from both ends of the fixed slope portion 20 when the article 1 is supplied to the fixed slope portion 20.

The side guide 29 has a smooth surface and uses a member made of a material having a low friction with the article 1 and having a good sliding property. This makes it possible to prevent the posture of the article 1 from becoming unstable.
The material of the side surface guide 29 is not particularly limited, but a polished stainless plate, a resin having good sliding property, or the like can be selected.
If the side surface guide 29 is made of a transparent member, it becomes easy for an operator to check the supply status of the article 1, so that the supply amount of the article 1 to the fixed slope portion 20 can be easily adjusted.

Next, another form of the surface of the fixed slope portion 20 will be described with reference to FIG.
In the example shown in FIG. 10A, a plurality of rod-shaped vertical members 18 are provided on the surface of the fixed slope portion 20.
The longitudinal member 18 is a slender rod-shaped projection having a trapezoidal cross section and extending in the direction of the slope. The upper part (the side far from the slope and parallel to the slope) has a narrow width and a flat upper end surface. A certain peak portion 16 is formed.

The plurality of vertical members 18 are provided in parallel on the surface of the fixed slope portion 20 at equal intervals, and the articles to be supplied are provided at the tip end portion located on the upper end side of the slope (that is, the upstream side of the supply of the article 1). A notch 17 is formed by obliquely cutting the peak 1 so that the height from the slope becomes lower toward the top so that the peak 1 can easily move to the peak 16.

The tip of the notch portion 17 reaches the surface of the fixed slope portion 20, and a flat slope portion 202 in which the vertical member 18 does not exist extends from the tip to the upper end of the fixed slope portion 20.
The article 1 supplied from the supply device 10 rides on the ridge portion 16 of the vertical member 18 via the cutout portion 17. Thereafter, the article 1 descends along the ridge portion 16 along the fixed slope portion 20 and comes into contact with the support member 21 to stop.

Since the ridge portion 16 extends in the direction in which gravity acts on the slope (slope direction), the article 1 placed on the vertical member 18 quickly moves along the ridge portion 16 to the fixed slope portion 20. It descends, contacts the support member 21, and stops.
The article 1 supplied from the supply device 10 to the upper end portion of the fixed slope portion 20 is smoothly guided from the upper surface of the fixed slope portion 20 to the cutout portion 17, and further from the cutout portion 17 to the peak portion 16. Therefore, the supply of the article 1 from the supply device 10 to the fixed slope portion 20 is smoothly performed.
It is preferable that the length of the longitudinal member 18 be substantially in the entire supply direction within a range that does not hinder the supply so that the contact points can be increased wherever the article 1 is located on the fixed slope portion 20.

As described above, it is preferable to provide a plurality of concave and convex portions extending in the slope direction of the fixed slope portion 20 by the vertical member 18 or the like. The irregularities make it easier for the article 1 to slide on the fixed slope portion 20 and increase the number of contact portions between the article 1 and the fixed slope portion 20, so that the stability of the article 1 stopped on the fixed slope portion 20 is improved. Increase.

The vertical member 18 in the above example has a trapezoidal cross section. The cross-sectional shape is not limited to a trapezoidal shape, and a concave-convex portion extending in the inclination direction of the fixed slope 20 may be formed in various cross-sectional shapes such as a rectangular shape, a triangular shape, or a semicircular shape. You can

It is preferable to perform chamfering such as diagonal cutting or R cutting so that the width of the peak portion 16 of the uneven portion becomes narrow. The oblique cut is, for example, a cut having a trapezoidal cross section, and the R cut is, for example, a cut having an arcuate cross section. By performing such an oblique cut or an R cut, a long linear contact portion is obtained, and the load per unit area due to the own weight of the article at the contact section is increased to stably hold the article. be able to.

The effect can be exhibited particularly when the width d of the ridge portion 16 (see FIG. 10B) is 5 mm or less, preferably 2 mm or less.
It is preferable that the longitudinal member 18 is provided in almost the entire area in the supply direction within a range that does not hinder the supply so that the contact points can be increased no matter where the article 1 is on the fixed slope portion 20.
It is preferable that a plurality of the longitudinal members 18 extend parallel to the supply direction of the article 1 and are arranged. The pitch D (see FIG. 10B) of the arrangement is such that the finer the contact point with the article 1, the smaller the contact point with the article 1. It can be increased, which is preferable.

The pitch D is selected as an appropriate value so as not to increase the number of the vertical members 18 and prevent the article 1 from rotating on the fixed slope portion 20 so that the longitudinal direction is inclined more than the longitudinal direction of the fixed slope portion 20. R.
Specifically, the pitch D is preferably 10% to 40% of the length of the article 1 in the longitudinal direction, and more preferably 20% to 30%. The pitches D may be all the same or different pitches D may be mixed.

The material of the vertical member 18 is not particularly limited, and it is preferable that the vertical member 18 does not hinder the descent of the article 1 on the fixed slope portion 20 and does not scratch the surface of the article 1. Further, it is preferable that the backlight light from the light source 25 is transmitted. For example, a transparent resin having a smooth surface is preferably used.
In the case of a front light type illumination that illuminates the article 1 from the imaging device 30 side instead of the back light type, in order to prevent glare and halation, a metal plate such as a stainless plate having low reflectivity such as 2B material, or a surface A so-called reflex plate such as a matte resin plate having a high brightness may be used.

The vertical member 18 may be provided separately from the fixed slope portion 20 and attached to the surface of the fixed slope portion 20, or may be integrally formed with the fixed slope portion 20.
When the vertical member 18 is a separate member, it may be attached to the fixed slope portion 20 or may be detachably fitted by providing a bracket.
When the vertical member 18 is detachably formed from the fixed slope portion 20, when the vertical member 18 is worn, the performance can be maintained simply by replacing the vertical member 18, and the cost can be reduced.

Further, when it is desired to match the shape of the article 1, the fixed slope portion 20 is a curved surface that matches the shape of the article 1. Alternatively, the height of each of the vertical members 18 provided on the flat surface may be different, and the peak portion 16 of the vertical member 18 may be a curved surface that matches the shape of the article 1.

Further, instead of forming the fixed slope portion 20 with a flat plate, the longitudinal member 18 is arranged in a comb shape on a beam member installed in the longitudinal direction. You may comprise a fixed slope part.
When the substantially fixed slope portion is formed by using only the vertical member 18 in this manner, dust such as dust passes through between the vertical members 18 and falls to the floor surface, so that cleaning is facilitated and the fixed slope portion is formed. Can be kept clean.
Although the case where the vertical member 18 is provided and the fixed slope portion 20 is formed has been described above, the surface of the support member 21 may have the same shape.

Next, the pick and place device 40 will be described.
The pick and place device 40 moves the article 1 from the pick position to the place position in a desired direction, and includes an arm portion (arm) 43.
In the article supply apparatus 100, the pick-and-place apparatus 40 is used to pick the long-sided article 1 lying horizontally at the pick position recognized by the image processing apparatus 31. Then, by the operation of determining the spatial position and the rotation operation of the tip end of the arm portion 43, the neck portion 4 of the article 1 is directed upward, and the article 1 is aligned in a certain direction so that the bottom surface 3 faces downward, and the carry-out device 50. Place in the hakama 51.
The installation position of the pick and place device 40 is not particularly limited, but it is arranged either vertically above the fixed slope portion 20 or on the opposite side to the image pickup device 30 side above the fixed slope portion 20 vertically. It is preferable because the installation area of the entire equipment can be made compact. The arm 43 of the pick-and-place device 40 allows the tip of the arm 43 to be located near the pick position and near the place so that the article 1 can be picked and placed freely. The pick-and-place device 40 must be arranged so that it can be traversed.

As the pick and place device 40, an automatic mechanical device may be used. When the article 1 is placed at arbitrary positions in the longitudinal direction on the fixed slope portion 20 and the orientations thereof are not uniform, as in the present embodiment, it is preferable to use a robot.

The robot that can be used in the article supply device 100 is not particularly limited.
Although the vertical articulated robot used for industry has a slightly slower motion speed, it generally has five to seven axes of freedom, and thus can take various postures in a wide range. Therefore, it can be preferably used when the article 1 is placed at various positions in various postures. Further, the robot can be easily arranged, and furthermore, the article 1 can be picked in such a posture that the arm is extended, so that the field of view of the imaging device 30 is hard to be blocked.

The horizontal articulated robot generally has three axes for spatial positioning of XYZ coordinates and one axis for rotating the tip of the arm 43, that is, four axes in total. Since the operation speed is high, the article 1 can be efficiently processed. Further, the time required for the robot to evacuate for imaging can be reduced. The horizontal articulated robot is also called a scalar robot.

The parallel link type robot is a robot using a parallel link mechanism, and has various numbers of axes.
The parallel link type four-axis robot generally has three axes for performing spatial positioning of XYZ coordinates and one axis for rotating the distal end of the arm portion 43, for a total of four axes. Since the moving range of the Z-axis (height) is smaller than the moving range of the XY-axis (horizontal plane), the place and posture of placing the article are somewhat limited.
Since the operation speed is faster than that of the SCARA type robot, the article 1 can be efficiently processed. Since the arm portion 43 is thin with respect to the SCARA type robot and the vertical articulated type robot, the range in which the field of view of the imaging device 30 is blocked is small. Furthermore, since the operation is very fast, the time required for the robot to evacuate for imaging can be reduced, and sufficient imaging time can be obtained.

The parallel link type 6-axis robot has 3 axes for spatial positioning of the XYZ coordinates of the tip of the arm and 3 axes for determining the attitude of the tip of the arm by rotation, and can take various postures. It is possible. Therefore, the parallel link type 6-axis robot can place the article 1 in any posture. Moreover, since the operation speed is higher than that of the SCARA robot, the article 1 can be efficiently processed. Further, since the arm portion 43 is thinner than the scalar type or the vertical articulated type, the range of blocking the field of view is small. Further, since the operation is fast, the time required for the robot to evacuate for imaging can be reduced.
As described above, the parallel-link type 6-axis robot can take various postures at high speed, and its influence on the image recognition processing is limited. It is suitable.

Next, the end effector (hand part of the robot) 46 that is attached to the tip of the arm 43 of the robot and picks up the article 1 will be described.
The end effector 46 that picks up the article 1 is generally of an open/close type or a vacuum suction type.

In the open/close type, the article 1 is sandwiched between a fluid such as air or a member that is opened and closed by an electric motor to grip the article 1 for picking. The open/close type end effector 46 using a fluid such as air has a high gripping force. The electric open/close type end effector 46 can adjust the opening according to the pick target.

On the other hand, in the vacuum suction type, the suction portion is brought into contact with the article 1 and the article 1 is sucked by bringing the space inside the suction portion close to a vacuum by a rotary or reciprocating vacuum pump or an ejector vacuum generator. And then adsorb. The vacuum suction type end effector 46 has a high-speed response with respect to suction and release.
As another form, when the article 1 contains a ferromagnetic material such as iron and can be attracted by a magnet, the attraction and release may be performed by turning on and off the electromagnet.
As described above, the methods of picking the article 1 by the end effector 46 include “grasping” and “suctioning”.

In general, when the article 1 is heavy, has irregularities on the surface, or has a small number of suction surfaces, it is preferable to use the open-close type end effector 46.
On the other hand, when the article 1 is light and has a flat surface or a curved surface having a sufficient width for suction, and a suction position can be secured, and when handling this at a high speed, a vacuum suction type end effector 46 capable of quick suction and release is provided. It is preferably used.
In the article supply apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, since the empty bottle mainly made of resin and having a long shape is mainly used as the article 1, it is preferable to use the adsorption type end effector 46.

The suction part of the suction-type end effector 46 that contacts the article 1 is a vacuum pad. The type of vacuum pad is not particularly limited. The flat vacuum pad is preferable because it can quickly return the vacuum state in the pad to the normal pressure state at the time of placing, and thus the time for releasing the article from the suction state is short and the responsiveness is excellent. Further, the bellows-type vacuum pad is preferable because it can be deformed to accommodate a slight shift in the relative position between the tip portion of the vacuum pad and the article 1 at the time of picking, so that a suction error can be prevented.

A buffer portion formed of a spring or the like that can be expanded and contracted in the vertical direction by an external force may be provided at the attachment portion between the vacuum pad and the main body of the end effector 46. By installing the buffer portion, it becomes possible to deal with a slight shift in the relative position between the tip portion of the vacuum pad and the article 1. For example, even if the article 1 to be picked is on top of another article 1 and the height is different from usual, it is possible to cope with it.

Further, when the suction surface of the article 1 has a complicated shape, it is preferable that the end effector 46 has a plurality of bellows type vacuum pads, and each of them has a buffer portion. In such a configuration, the difference in the individual suction angle is adjusted by the curvature of the bellows, and the difference in the height of the suction position is adjusted by the expansion and contraction of the buffer portion. Therefore, the vacuum pad can be reliably pressed against the article 1 to adsorb the article 1.

Next, the positional relationship between the fixed slope portion 20 and the imaging device 30 will be described.

In the article supply apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, the imaging device 30 is installed in a direction facing the fixed slope portion 20 and above the fixed slope portion 20 substantially vertically, that is, obliquely upward. Therefore, the imaging device 30 is fixed to a wall (not shown), a column, or the like, and images the article 1 obliquely downward.
As a result, the image area of the article 1 that is blocked by the arm 43 and the end effector 46 when picking up the article 1 can be minimized. Further, it is possible to capture an image from the front of the picked side of the article 1 placed along the fixed slope portion 20, that is, the side surface of the article 1.

Next, the arrangement of the fixed slope portion 20 and the imaging device 30 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 11A shows a bottom view (left view), a side view (middle view), and a top view (right view) of the article 1 used in the following description.
As shown in FIG. 11, the article 1 has, for example, a cylindrical shape, and the bottom portion 3 is arranged on one end side and the neck portion 4 is arranged on the other end side.

FIG. 11B shows the article 1 placed on the fixed slope portion 20 as viewed in the longitudinal direction of the fixed slope portion 20.
As shown in FIG. 11B, a vertical articulated robot is used as the pick and place device 40. However, the following description is valid without limiting the type of the pick and place device 40.

In image recognition when picking from above or diagonally above the article 1, the imaging device 30 is generally arranged vertically above the article to be recognized. In that case, the imaging device 30c is arranged at the position shown by the dotted line in FIG. In this case, as shown in the figure, the arm portion 43 enters the imaging range 130c of the imaging device 30c and blocks the field of view of the imaging device 30c.
On the other hand, in the article supply apparatus 100 of the present invention, the imaging device 30a is installed above the fixed slope portion 20 in a substantially vertical direction. The imaging device 30b shown in FIG. 1 is similar to the imaging device 30a.
This makes it possible to prevent the arm 43 of the pick and place device 40 from obstructing the field of view of the imaging device 30a. Further, the end effector 46 can only slightly block the field of view, which facilitates image recognition.

FIG. 11D shows an example of the image recognition range when the image is picked up by the image pickup device 30a.
In this example, since the picking direction and the imaging direction are different, when the end effector 46 picks up the article 1, the end effector 46 and the arm portion 43 hardly interfere with the image of the article 1 in the image recognition range 131a. Therefore, it is possible to image a larger range of the article 1 than when the image is captured by the image capturing device 30c (see FIG. 11C).
Accordingly, it is possible to dramatically increase the image recognition rate by performing processing such as pattern matching with the registered image.

Next, with reference to FIG. 12, the effect of the fixed slope portion 20 and the support member 21 and the merit of a plurality of treatments will be described.
FIG. 12A is a view of the article 1 placed on the fixed slope portion 20 before the pick and place device 40 picks the article 1 as viewed in the longitudinal direction of the fixed slope portion 20. FIG. 12B is a diagram of this state viewed from the direction of the image pickup apparatus 30.
As shown in FIG. 12B, the fixed slope portion 20 is supplied with, for example, three articles 1 from the article 1a to the article 1c in the longitudinal direction. The articles 1a to 1c are all within the image recognition range 131.

FIG. 12C shows a fixed slope where the image processing apparatus 31 performs image processing on the article 1b among the three articles 1a to 1c, and the pick and place apparatus 40 picks up the article 1b based on the image processing. It is the figure seen in the longitudinal direction of the part 20. FIG. 12D is a diagram of this state viewed from the direction of the image pickup apparatus 30.

FIG. 12E is a view of the pick-and-place device 40 in which the article 1 b placed on the fixed slope portion 20 is placed in the longitudinal direction of the fixed slope portion 20. FIG. 12F is a diagram of this state viewed from the direction of the imaging device 30.
As shown in FIGS. 12C to 12F, the arm 43 and the end effector 46 enter the imaging range 130 while the pick and place device 40 picks and places the article 1b, and an image is displayed. The image in the recognition range 131 is damaged.

However, in the case of the arrangement of the pick-and-place device 40 in the present embodiment, the image recognition range 131 includes the articles 1a and 1c that do not interfere with the pick-and-place apparatus 40 in the field of view of the imaging device 30. Therefore, the image processing device 31 can perform image recognition on the article 1a and the article 1c.
If only one article 1 can be placed on the fixed slope portion 20 at a time, the following restrictions occur. That is, while the pick-and-place apparatus 40 is processing the article 1, it is necessary to wait until the arm 43 or the end effector 46 of the pick-and-place apparatus 40 retracts outside the image recognition range 131. Also, even when the article 1 is supplied to the fixed slope portion 20 and the pick and place device 40 is in the image recognition range 131, similarly, it is necessary to wait until the pick and place device 40 saves outside the image recognition range 131. I have to. That is, in the example of FIG. 12, if only one article 1 can be placed on the fixed slope portion 20 at a time, one image recognition is required to process one article 1 and three article 1 Image processing is required three times.

Therefore, while the plurality of articles 1 are present on the fixed slope portion 20, while the one article 1 is being processed by the pick and place apparatus 40, another article 1 is operating by the pick and place apparatus 40. It is outside the area. Therefore, the image processing apparatus 31 can image-recognize another article 1 while the pick and place apparatus 40 is processing the article 1. That is, in the example of FIG. 12, one image recognition is sufficient even when processing three articles 1 concerned. This is possible by supplying a plurality of articles 1 to the fixed slope portion 20 in the supply direction S of the articles 1, in other words, in a direction orthogonal to the operating directions of the arm 43 and the end effector 46, and making them stationary. Become.
Therefore, the pick-and-place apparatus 40 does not need to be saved outside the image recognition range 131 for each pick-and-place operation. Therefore, the pick-and-place device 40 can pick the next article 1 immediately after placing the article 1, and can improve the work efficiency.

Next, the image capturing process performed by the image capturing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 13A is a top view (top view), front view (middle left view), right side view (middle right view), and bottom view (bottommost view) of the article 1 used in the following description. Figure) is shown.
As shown in the figure, the article 1 has a tubular shape with an elliptical cross section, and has a wide surface 6 corresponding to the major axis of the ellipse and a narrow surface 5 corresponding to the minor axis of the ellipse. ing.

FIG. 13B shows that the article 1 is supplied to the fixed slope portion 20. Since the article 1 is stable when stopped so that the major axis of the elliptical shape is parallel to the fixed inclined surface portion 20, the wide surface 6 is easily placed along the fixed inclined surface portion 20.
Therefore, when the image of the article 1 is picked up by the image pickup device 30a arranged so as to face the fixed slope portion 20, the wide surface 6 is picked up so as to be the front side as shown in FIG. This corresponds to imaging from the direction 30a shown in FIG.

On the other hand, when the image pickup device is installed in a general arrangement, that is, when the image pickup device is installed right above (vertically above) the fixed slope portion 20, the image pickup device 30c is placed at the position shown by the dotted line in FIG. It is installed. At this time, as shown in FIG. 13E, the image pickup device 30c picks up an image of the side surface of the article 1 from an oblique direction, and the image pickup device 30c is distorted to be thinner than the portion indicated by the broken line which is the original width when viewed from the front. Recognized in. This corresponds to imaging from the direction 30c shown in FIG.

FIG. 13C is a registered image of the article 1 and is an image corresponding to the wide surface 6 of the article 1.
Therefore, when the image of FIG. 13D captured by the image capturing apparatus 30a is image-recognized by using the registered image of FIG. 13C, both images correspond well and the image recognition rate is increased.
On the other hand, when the image is captured by the image capturing device 30c, the captured image is as shown by the solid line in FIG. 13E, the shape does not match the captured image captured from the front of the article 1, and the image recognition rate is Is reduced.

As described above, when the article 1 has a shape that easily follows the fixed slope portion 20, the image of the article 1 is captured from the front by the imaging device 30a installed in the direction perpendicular to the fixed slope portion 20. Therefore, the distortion of the image can be suppressed to be small for the registered image, and the image recognition rate can be increased.

Next, the carry-out device 50 will be described.
A chute or a carrier is used as the carry-out device 50.
Generally, in the case of a chute, a process such as direction adjustment is performed on the article 1 during the chute or at the chute exit. The inclination direction of the chute and the movement direction of the transport device, that is, the direction in which the article 1 is moved and carried out are laid out according to the site and are not particularly limited.

The carry-out device includes one that can place the article 1 at an arbitrary position and one that places the article 1 at a predetermined position.
As the article 1 that can be placed at an arbitrary position, there is a belt conveyor, a top chain conveyor, a roller conveyor, or the like in which the pick and place device 40 places the article 1 continuously.
Such an unloading device is generally arranged horizontally. Further, when the article 1 is a long one, it may be obliquely arranged for more stable transportation or for standing up while being transported.
Such oblique arrangement will be described in the second and third embodiments.

On the other hand, examples in which the position to place the article 1 is fixed include a profile, a crosspiece, a partition called an attach, and a belt conveyor provided with a bucket having a depression. Such an unloading device is generally arranged horizontally. Further, when the article 1 is a long one, it may be obliquely arranged so that it can be more stably conveyed and can be raised while being conveyed.
In addition, a holder or hakama having an inner shape and dimensions matching the shape of the container and having a constant outer shape is also generally arranged horizontally such that the charging portion is in the vertical direction.
Alternatively, a screw conveyor can also be used as the transport device. Since the screw conveyor has an inclined surface, it can be used in the same manner as the above-mentioned obliquely arranged conveying device.
Furthermore, it is possible to carry out more stable transportation by combining these transportation devices.
In the transport mode in which the places to be placed are determined, the pick-and-place device 40 places the article 1 at a determined location in the transport device, and therefore it is necessary to control the timing.

For the timing control, for example, the position of the hakama 51, the profile, or the like is detected by a sensor, or an optical sensor is installed at a moving position of the transport device, and the detected value is used. Alternatively, an encoder may be provided in the drive unit of the transfer device and the movement state of the transfer device relative to the reference position calculated from the detected value may be used. Highly accurate control can be achieved by using a sensor and an encoder together.

In addition, there are two types of operation modes of the transfer device: one for placing the transfer device while moving the transfer device and one for placing the transfer device while stopping the transfer device.
In the form of placing while moving the transfer device, it is not necessary to stop the transfer device at the time of placing, and the degree of freedom on the transfer device side is improved.

In this operation mode, the article 1 is placed while moving the end effector 46 together with the transport device. Specifically, by synchronizing the operation of the pick and place device 40 with the moving speed of the transport device, the article 1 can be placed more stably. As the synchronization method, the method using the optical sensor or encoder described above can be used.

On the other hand, in the mode in which the transport device is stopped and placed, since the target position for placing the article 1 is stopped, the pick and place device 40 can place the article 1 stably at high speed.
Depending on the breadth of the operating range of the pick and place device 40, the plurality of articles 1 may be placed at a plurality of target positions by stopping the transport device once.

Next, with reference to FIG. 14, an example of the carry-out device 50 for placing the article 1 in an upright state will be described.

FIGS. 14A and 14B show an example in which the unloader 50 is composed of the hakama 51 and the belt conveyor 52. FIG. 14A is a top view, and FIG. 14B is a view seen from the carry-out direction P.
In this example, the place of the article 1 is the hakama 51 placed on the conveyor belt surface which is the conveyance surface of the belt conveyor 52.

The conveying surface of the belt conveyor 52 is installed horizontally, and the hakama 51 is placed on the upper surface at equal intervals. The hakama 51 arranged continuously may be in contact with each other. The article 1 picked from the fixed slope portion 20 by the pick and place device 40 (not shown) is erected so that the bottom portion 3 is on the lower side and the neck portion 4 is on the upper side, and is inserted into the hakama 51.
After that, the article 1 is stably carried out by the belt conveyor 52 in the standing state inserted in the hakama 51 in the direction indicated by the arrow P parallel to the fixed slope 20.

14C and 14D are examples in which the carry-out device 50 is configured by the belt conveyor 52. 14C is a top view, and FIG. 14D is a view seen from the carry-out direction P.
In this example, the place where the article 1 is placed is the conveyance surface of the belt conveyor 52 installed horizontally, and is moving in the direction indicated by the arrow P parallel to the fixed slope portion 20.
A guide 53b for preventing the article 1 from tipping over the entire length of the belt conveyor 52 is arranged on the side of the belt conveyor 52 remote from the fixed slope portion 20.

On the other hand, a guide 53 a is arranged on the downstream side of the belt conveyor 52 on the side of the belt conveyor 52 close to the fixed slope 20 except for the section running parallel to the fixed slope 20.
The end portion of the guide 53a on the side closer to the fixed slope portion 20 comes into contact with and aligns when the position of the article 1 is displaced to the side of the fixed slope portion 20, so that the end of the guide 53a gently moves to the side of the fixed slope portion 20. Is curved.
The article 1 is placed in a section in which the guide 53a does not exist and only the guide 53b exists in the carry-out direction P on the belt conveyor 52, and is stably conveyed while standing on the belt conveyor 52.

Next, a series of operations of the article supply apparatus 100 configured as above will be described.
First, the supply device 10 supplies one article 1 from above to the fixed slope portion 20 having the support member 21 in the supply direction. That is, the articles 1 are supplied so as to be one in the tilt direction of the fixed slope portion 20. Note that this means one in the width L direction (see FIG. 9), which is the tilt direction of the fixed slope portion 20, and there may be a plurality in the longitudinal direction.
An image of the article 1 on the fixed slope portion 20 is picked up by an image pickup device 30 provided above the fixed slope portion 20 so as to be substantially vertical, and image data is sent to the image processing device 31 as the information.

At the time of imaging, the arm 43 and the end effector 46 of the pick and place device 40 are retracted out of the visual field of the imaging device 30. At that time, in the image pickup by the image pickup device 30, since there is little or no influence of the arm part 43 and the end effector 46, if the image recognition of the article 1 is possible, the arm part 43 and the end effector are within the visual field of the image pickup device 30. A part of 46 may be included.

The image processing device 31 compares the registered image registered in advance with the received image data by pattern matching or the like to obtain the position and direction of the article 1 on the fixed slope portion 20.
Then, the image processing device 31 transmits the obtained information regarding the position and direction of the article, that is, the position information Ip to the control device 32.

The control device 32 uses the position information Ip to calculate a target coordinate value to which the end effector 46 of the pick and place device 40 should face, and an orientation direction that is a target direction to which the end effector 46 should face, and to control the pick and place device 40. Control. Thereby, the pick-and-place device 40 uses the end effector 46 to pick the article 1 at the target coordinate value and the target direction.
Then, the pick-and-place device 40 moves the picked article 1 to a predetermined position and changes the posture of the article 1 so that the neck 1 is oriented so that the neck 4 faces upward, and then the article 1 is placed. ..

Subsequently, when the article 1 on the fixed slope portion 20 disappears, the supply device 10 supplies the article 1 again to the fixed slope portion 20 having the support member 21 from above. Then, the above processing is repeated.
This supply is performed without waiting for the place of the article 1 at a timing when the article 1 is lifted from the fixed slope portion 20 by the pick and place device 40 and the fixed slope portion 20 becomes empty. The empty timing is a timing at which the article 1 to be newly processed and the article 1 currently being processed do not interfere with each other on the fixed slope portion 20. Therefore, the processing time can be shortened.

When the article 1 placed on the fixed slope portion 20 cannot be image-recognized or cannot be processed by the pick and place device 40, the article 1 as described above is eliminated by air blow.
The fixed slope portion 20 extends substantially horizontally in a direction orthogonal to the supply direction of the article 1, that is, a direction orthogonal to the supply direction. When a plurality of articles 1 are simultaneously supplied to the fixed slope portion 20, after one article 1 is placed, the other articles 1 remaining on the fixed slope portion 20 are also processed. ..

(Second embodiment)
The article supply apparatus 100 according to the second embodiment is different from the delivery apparatus 50 according to the first embodiment in that the exit delivery apparatus 55 is added. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment. That is, the supply device 10, the fixed slope portion 20, the support member 21, the imaging device 30, the pick and place device 40, the position determining means 33, and the like have the same configuration.
Therefore, in the second embodiment, the carry-out device 50 and the outlet transporting device 55 having different configurations from those of the first embodiment will be described, and the description of the other configurations will be omitted.

The article supply device 100 according to the second embodiment includes a carry-out device 50 and an exit carrier device 55.
The carry-out device 50 and the outlet carrying device 55 are devices intended to finally stand up and carry out the long-shaped article 1. The carry-out device 50 includes a lower fixed guide 65 and a first belt conveyor 66. The outlet transport device 55 includes a first belt conveyor 66, a second belt conveyor 67, a side guide 68, and the like.
The first belt conveyor 66 is installed from the carry-out device 50 to the exit carrier device 55.

Each of the first belt conveyor 66 and the second belt conveyor 67 has a conveyor belt in which the longitudinal direction of the fixed slope 20 and the carry-out direction are parallel to each other. These transport surfaces 66S and 67S that transport the article 1 are moving in the unloading direction P at the same speed.
Below, the side of the transport source is called the upstream side, and the side of the transport destination is called the downstream side.

The first belt conveyor 66 is an endless belt stretched by rollers 64a, 64b, and 64c, and the transport surface 66S is driven in the unloading direction P.
The second belt conveyor 67 is an endless belt stretched by rollers (not shown) and rollers 64d, and the transport surface 67S is driven in the unloading direction P.
The rollers 64a and 64b are respectively installed at the upstream end portion and the downstream end portion of the carry-out device 50, and the rotation axes thereof are inclined in substantially the same direction as the inclination direction of the fixed slope portion 20.
The roller 64c is installed on the downstream side of the outlet transport device 55, and its rotation axis is oriented in the vertical direction.

As a result, the first belt conveyor 66 forms the place surface 62 in which the transport surface 66S of the carry-out device 50 is inclined in the same direction and at the same angle as the fixed slope portion 20. Moreover, the carry-out device 50 supports the placed article by the place surface 62 of the first belt conveyor 66 and the receiving surface 69 of the lower fixed guide 65. Therefore, a hakama 51 and a box (carton, container, etc.) for inserting and carrying the article 1 are not required. Further, the first belt conveyor 66 gradually rises due to the conveyance surface 66S being twisted in the exit conveyance device 55, and finally becomes a vertical surface with respect to the horizontal. The rising start position of the transport surface 66S is defined by pressing the transport surface 66S with a free roller (not shown). In this case, the conveying surface 66S may be extended in the upward direction and/or the downward direction in which the article 1 is not placed, and the position of the conveying surface 66S where the article 1 does not pass may be pressed by the free roller. Further, when the crosspiece 63 exists, the pressing position of the free roller on the transport surface 66S needs to be set so that the crosspiece 63 does not exist so as not to interfere with the free roller, and the length of the crosspiece 63 is shortened. To do.
Hereinafter, the section of the unloading device 50 of the first belt conveyor 66 will be referred to as a slope section, and the section of the outlet conveying device 55 will be referred to as a twist section. The first belt conveyor 66 functions as a moving device for the article 1 in the slope section and as a standing device for the article 1 in the twist section.

The conveyance surface 66S in the inclined section is a place surface 62 that receives the place of the article 1 by receiving the side surface of the article 1 in a state where the article 1 is tilted. At the same time, the first belt conveyor 66 in the slope section also functions as a moving device for the article 1. When placed, the side guide 68 serves as a receiving surface 69 for receiving the bottom surface 3 of the article 1. In this way, the pick-and-place device 40 changes the posture of the article 1 and places it so that the place surface 62 and the receiving surface 69 receive the article 1.
In order to facilitate the standing of the article 1 in the next step and to minimize the operation of the pick and place device 40, the inclination angle γ of the slope section is the same as the inclination angle α of the fixed slope portion 20 or steeper than this. It is an angle.

A lower fixed guide 65 having a supporting surface substantially perpendicular to the conveying surface 66S is arranged at the lower end of the slope section of the first belt conveyor 66 over the entire length of the slope section.
The lower fixed guide 65 contacts the bottom 3 of the article 1 to support the article 1 when the pick and place device 40 places the article 1 on the first belt conveyor 66, and the article 1 is stabilized by the first belt conveyor 66. So that they will be transported properly.

On the other hand, the second belt conveyor 67 is an endless belt stretched by a roller 64d installed at the downstream end of the exit carrier 55 and a roller (not shown) installed at the upstream end of the exit carrier 55. is there. The second belt conveyor 67 is driven such that the conveyance surface 67S on which the article 1 is conveyed is directed in the carry-out direction P. The rotation shafts of the roller 64d and the roller (not shown) are both set in the horizontal direction, so that the conveyance surface of the second belt conveyor 67 on which the article 1 is conveyed is a horizontal plane.

The side guide 68 is a guide member that is provided so as to face the twisting section of the first belt conveyor 66, and forms a wall surface that prevents the article 1 from falling over to the outside of the second belt conveyor 67.
After the article 1 is delivered from the unloading apparatus 50, the exit transporting apparatus 55 conveys the article 1 by the second belt conveyor 67 and raises it by twisting the first belt conveyor 66.

The carry-out device 50 and the exit carrier device 55 configured as described above operate in cooperation with each other as follows.
First, the pick and place device 40 picks the article 1 from the fixed slope portion 20. Then, the pick-and-place device 40 puts the article 1 on the side surface so that the bottom of the article 1 is on the place surface 62, which is the transport surface of the unloading device 50 that is inclined at the inclination angle of the fixed slope portion 20 or more. I'm placing it.

A conveying force is applied to the side surface of the placed article 1 by the first belt conveyor 66, whereby the article 1 is conveyed while sliding on the lower fixed guide 65 while being supported by the lower fixed guide 65 at the bottom.
In this way, the first belt conveyor 66 in the slope section functions as a moving device.

When the article 1 passes through the slope section of the carry-out device 50 and shifts to the twist section of the exit transport device 55, the bottom portion 3 of the product 1 moves from the lower fixed guide 65 of the carry-out device 50 to the second belt conveyor 67 of the exit transport device 55. To be delivered to.
The article 1 is conveyed by the second belt conveyor 67 while being prevented from falling by the side guides 68, and gradually stands up by the twisted conveyance surface 67S of the first belt conveyor 66.

As described above, the first belt conveyor 66 in the twisting section functions as an upright device having a conveying surface that is inclined at a position where the articles 1 are supplied and that is twisted so as to approach vertically as it moves toward the downstream side. ..
Then, the article 1 is erected on the second belt conveyor 67, and is conveyed by the second belt conveyor 67 with a conveying force applied thereto to be conveyed from the outlet conveying device 55.
In this way, the slope section receives the supply of the plurality of articles 1 over the moving direction while moving at a constant speed, and the twist section sequentially erects the plurality of articles 1 that have received the supply.
As described above, the first belt conveyor 66 functions as a moving device and a standing device for the article 1.

(Third Embodiment)
Next, with reference to FIG. 15, the forms of the carry-out device 50 and the outlet carrying device 55 of the article supply device according to the third embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the place surface is an inclined surface.
FIG. 15A shows a top view of the downstream side of the carry-out device 50 and the upstream side of the outlet transport device 55. FIG. 15B shows a view of the AA′ cross section of FIG. 15A viewed in the arrow direction.

The carry-out device 50 and the outlet carrying device 55 are devices intended to finally stand up and carry out the long-shaped article 1. The carry-out device 50 includes a lower fixed guide 65 and a first belt conveyor 66. The outlet transport device 55 includes a first belt conveyor 66, a second belt conveyor 67, a side guide 68, and the like.
That is, the first belt conveyor 66 is installed from the carry-out device 50 to the exit transport device 55.

Each of the first belt conveyor 66 and the second belt conveyor 67 has a conveyor belt in which the longitudinal direction of the fixed slope 20 and the carry-out direction are parallel to each other. These transport surfaces 66S and 67S that transport the article 1 are moving in the unloading direction P at the same speed.
Below, the side of the transport source is called the upstream side, and the side of the transport destination is called the downstream side.

The first belt conveyor 66 is an endless belt stretched by rollers 64a, 64b, and 64c, and the transport surface 66S is driven in the unloading direction P.
The rollers 64a and 64b are respectively installed at the upstream end and the downstream end of the carry-out device 50, and the rotation axes thereof are tilted in the same direction as the tilt direction of the support member 21.
The roller 64c is installed on the downstream side of the outlet transport device 55, and its rotation axis is oriented in the vertical direction.

As a result, in the first belt conveyor 66, in the carry-out device 50, the transport surface 66S is inclined to maintain the same direction and the same angle as the support member 21 to form the place surface 62. Moreover, the carry-out device 50 supports the placed article by the place surface 62 of the first belt conveyor 66 and the receiving surface 69 of the lower fixed guide 65. Therefore, a box (carton, container, etc.) for inserting and carrying the article 1 is not required. In the exit conveyor 55, the first belt conveyor 66 gradually rises as the conveyor surface 67S twists, and finally becomes a vertical surface with respect to the horizontal. The rising start position of the transport surface 67S is defined by pressing the transport surface 67S with a free roller (not shown) as described above.
Hereinafter, the section of the unloading device 50 of the first belt conveyor 66 will be referred to as a slope section, and the section of the outlet conveying device 55 will be referred to as a twist section. The first belt conveyor 66 functions as a moving device for the article 1 in the slope section and as a standing device for the article 1 in the twist section.

The conveyance surface 66S in the inclined section is a place surface 62 that receives the place of the article 1 by receiving the side surface of the article 1 in a state where the article 1 is tilted. At the same time, the first belt conveyor 66 in the slope section also functions as a moving device for the article 1. When placed, the side guide 68 serves as a receiving surface 69 for receiving the bottom surface 3 of the article 1. In this way, the pick-and-place device 40 changes the posture of the article 1 and places it so that the place surface 62 and the receiving surface 69 receive the article 1.
In order to facilitate the standing of the article 1 in the next step and to minimize the operation of the pick and place device 40, the inclination angle δ of the slope section is approximately the same as the inclination angle λ of the support member 21 (see FIG. 5). The angle is steeper than this.

A lower fixed guide 65 having a supporting surface substantially perpendicular to the conveying surface 66S is arranged at the lower end of the slope section of the first belt conveyor 66 over the entire length of the slope section.
The lower fixed guide 65 contacts the bottom 3 of the article 1 to support the article 1 when the pick and place device 40 places the article 1 on the first belt conveyor 66, and the article 1 is stabilized by the first belt conveyor 66. So that they will be transported properly.

On the other hand, the second belt conveyor 67 is an endless belt stretched by a roller 64d installed at the downstream end of the exit carrier 55 and a roller (not shown) installed at the upstream end of the exit carrier 55. is there. The second belt conveyor 67 is driven such that the conveyance surface 67S on which the article 1 is conveyed is directed in the unloading direction P. The rotation shafts of the roller 64d and a roller (not shown) are both set in the horizontal direction, whereby the conveyance surface 67S of the second belt conveyor 67 on which the article 1 is conveyed is a horizontal plane.

The side guide 68 is a guide member that is provided so as to face the twisting section of the first belt conveyor 66, and forms a wall surface that prevents the article 1 from falling over to the outside of the second belt conveyor 67.
After the article 1 is delivered from the unloading apparatus 50, the exit transporting apparatus 55 conveys the article 1 by the second belt conveyor 67 and raises it by twisting the first belt conveyor 66.

As shown in FIGS. 15(a) and 15(b), it is preferable that the conveying surfaces 66S of the first belt conveyor 66 have bars 63 extending in a direction perpendicular to the conveying surface 66S at equal intervals. .. The belt conveyor surface divided by the adjacent crosspieces 63 serves as a receiving surface 69 that receives the place of the article 1 and transfers the article 1.
When the article 1 is placed on the receiving surface 69 in this way, the article 1 can be pushed by the crosspiece 63 when the exit conveyor 55 rises in the twisted section to transmit the conveyance force. In addition, it is possible to prevent the article 1 from falling over in the front and rear in the carry-out direction. Therefore, the article 1 can be raised more effectively and stably.

In order to facilitate the standing in the next step and minimize the operation of the pick and place device 40, the inclination angle δ of the transport surface 66S with respect to the horizontal plane is also the inclination angle λ of the support member 21 with respect to the horizontal plane (FIG. 5). And FIG. 15B), the angle is substantially the same as or steeper than this.

In the first belt conveyor 66 including the crosspiece 63 that configures the carry-out device 50 of FIGS. 15A and 15B, the inclination direction of the conveyance surface 66S of the first belt conveyor 66 in the slope section is the inclination of the fixed slope portion 20. Facing the direction.
That is, “to face” means that an extension line extending downward along the conveying surface 66S of the first belt conveyor 66 and an extension line extending downward along the slope of the fixed slope portion 20 intersect. In other words, the transport surface 66S of the first belt conveyor 66 is inclined in substantially the same direction as the support member 21. Alternatively, the conveyance surface 66S of the first belt conveyor 66 and the fixed slope portion 20 are inclined in opposite directions with the virtual vertical plane 301 along the carry-out direction P interposed therebetween.

In the embodiment described above, the article 1 is erected by utilizing the twist of the conveyor belt. The method of standing up the article 1 is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIGS. 15C and 15D, the standing guide 71 can be used to stand the article 1. In this aspect, a standing guide 71 is provided as a standing device separately from the moving device, and the standing guide 71 is used to stand the article 1.
FIG. 15C shows a top view of the downstream side of the carry-out device 50 and the upstream side of the outlet transport device 55 using the standing guide. FIG. 15D shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA′ of FIG.
In this example, the carry-out device 50 and the outlet transport device 55 are connected. A screw conveyor including a screw 72, a lower guide 73, and a side lower guide 74 and a standing guide 71 are installed. In this example, the screw conveyor functions as a moving device for the article 1.

The screw 72 is a shaft member in which the entire shape is a substantially columnar shape, and a spiral groove portion 75 is formed on the peripheral wall of the cylinder, and is installed so that the axial direction is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the fixed slope portion 20. There is.
The groove width and depth of the groove portion 75 are set so that the article 1 can be accommodated in the groove when the article 1 is leaned against.
The pitch of the groove portions 75 is gradually reduced in the transport direction P near the exit of the screw 72, so that the pitch of the article 1 after standing is narrowed. Further, the pitch of the groove portions 75 may be gradually increased with respect to the transport direction P or may be unchanged depending on the desired pitch of the article 1 after standing.
The groove portion 75 constitutes a conveyance surface (place surface) that receives the place of the article 1 by the pick and place device 40.

A lower guide 73 and a side surface lower guide 74, which extend parallel to the longitudinal direction of the fixed slope portion 20, are disposed on the fixed slope portion 20 side of the screw 72 and on the lower portion on the conveying surface side.
The lower guide 73 has a horizontal plate surface, and the side surface lower guide 74 is arranged at an end of the lower guide 73 on the side far from the screw 72 and has a plate surface perpendicular to the plate surface of the lower guide 73. doing.

The lower guide 73 supports the bottom portion 3 of the article 1 when the side surface of the article 1 is placed in the groove portion 75.
The side surface lower guide 74 contacts the bottom portion 3 of the article 1 from a side opposite to the screw 72 in a vertical plane so that the bottom portion 3 of the article 1 does not slide in the lower guide 73 and move away from the screw 72. There is.

In this manner, the article 1 leans against the groove portion 75 while the bottom portion 3 is supported by the lower guide 73, and is held by the side surface lower guide 74 so that the article 1 does not slide down from the groove portion 75 (FIG. 15 ( See d)).
In this state, when the screw 72 is rotated around the rotation axis in the direction in which the concave shape of the groove portion 75 moves in the carry-out direction P, the force for transferring the article 1 from the groove portion 75 in the carry-out direction P acts. The article 1 is moved in the carry-out direction P by.

On the downstream side of the screw 72, a standing guide 71 is horizontally installed above the screw 72.
The standing guide 71 is formed of a rod-shaped member, and extends in the downstream direction from a position corresponding to the vicinity of the downstream end of the fixed slope portion 20.

The upstream end of the upright guide 71 is closer to the rotation shaft side than the bottom of the groove 75, and is arranged to move away from the rotation shaft toward the downstream side. In this way, the standing guide 71 has a twisted positional relationship with respect to the carrying-out direction P of the article 1.
The upstream end of the standing guide 71 is curved toward the rotating shaft, so that the standing guide 71 can easily receive the article 1 conveyed by the screw 72.

The carry-out device 50 configured as described above operates as follows.
First, the pick and place device 40 picks up the article 1 from the fixed slope portion 20, and places the article 1 in the groove portion 75 so that the neck portion 4 is on the upper side while lowering the bottom portion 3.
The placed article 1 slides on the bottom 3 while the bottom 3 is supported by the lower guide 73 and the side lower guide 74, and by the conveying force generated by being pushed by the inner surface of the groove 75 by the rotation of the screw 72. It is transported by sliding on the inner surface of 75.

When the article 1 is conveyed to the position where the standing guide 71 is installed, the side surface of the article 1 opposite to the standing direction comes into contact with the curved portion of the standing guide 71.
Since the contact point between the article 1 and the erection guide 71 moves in the erection direction along with the conveyance, a moment in the erection direction acts on the article 1 along with the movement, and the article 1 is erected at the exit conveyance device 55.

In the above description, the outlet carrying-out device 55 is configured by using one screw 72 and the standing guide 71. The outlet carry-out device 55 may be configured such that two screws 72 are arranged in parallel, and they are rotated in synchronization with each other so that the article 1 is erected at the interval.
Further, instead of the lower guide 73, a belt conveyor having a horizontal transport surface may be arranged. Alternatively, if the article 1 is transferred from the lower guide 73 to a belt conveyor having a horizontal transport surface on the way, the article 1 can be erected more stably.

Further, in the screw 72 that constitutes the unloading device 50 of FIG. 15C, the inclination direction of the conveying surface formed by the groove portion 75 faces the inclination direction of the fixed slope portion 20.
That is, “to face” means that an extension line extending downward of the conveying surface formed by the groove portion 75 and an extension line extending downward along the slope of the fixed slope portion 20 intersect. In other words, the transport surface formed by the groove portion 75 is inclined in substantially the same direction as the support member 21. Alternatively, the conveyance surface constituted by the groove portion 75 and the fixed inclined surface portion 20 are inclined in opposite directions with the virtual vertical plane 301 along the carry-out direction P interposed therebetween.

As shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B, when the place surface is set so as to face the pick surface, the posture of the article 1 at the time of placing is required to stand the article 1 completely vertically with the neck 4 facing upward. Instead, it is sufficient that the neck portion 4 is directed substantially diagonally upward. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a failure that occurs when the article 1 is vertically set up at the time of placing, for example, a fall on the belt conveyor.

(Fourth Embodiment)
In the article supply apparatus 100 according to the fourth embodiment, the belt conveyor of the carry-out apparatus 50 and the belt conveyor of the exit conveyance apparatus 55 that raises the article 1 are configured by different belt conveyors. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to FIG.

The carry-out device 50 and the outlet carrying device 55 are devices intended to finally stand up and carry out the long-shaped article 1. The carry-out device 50 includes a lower fixed guide 65 and a first belt conveyor 66. The outlet transport device 55 includes a second belt conveyor 67, a side guide 68, a third belt conveyor 70, and the like.
Further, a transition guide 80 is arranged between the first belt conveyor 66 and the third belt conveyor 70. The transition guide 80 is made of a flat plate having a smooth surface. The second belt conveyor 67 is arranged below the third belt conveyor 70.

Each of the first belt conveyor 66, the second belt conveyor 67, and the third belt conveyor 70 has a conveyor belt in which the longitudinal direction of the fixed slope portion 20 and the carry-out direction are set in parallel. The transport surfaces 66S, 67S, and 70S that transport these articles 1 are set to move in the transport direction P at the same speed.
Below, the side of the transport source is called the upstream side, and the side of the transport destination is called the downstream side.

The first belt conveyor 66 is an endless belt stretched by rollers 64a and 64b, and the transport surface 66S is driven in the unloading direction P.
The rollers 64a and 64b are respectively installed at the upstream end portion and the downstream end portion of the carry-out device 50, and the rotation axes thereof are inclined in substantially the same direction as the inclination direction of the fixed slope portion 20.
The second belt conveyor 67 is an endless belt stretched by a roller 64c installed at the upstream end of the exit transport device 55 and a 64d installed at the downstream end of the exit transport device 55. The surface 67S is driven in the carry-out direction P. The rotation axes of the rollers 64c and 64d are horizontal. As a result, the transfer surface of the second belt conveyor 67 is a horizontal surface.
Further, the third belt conveyor 70 is an endless belt stretched by rollers 64e and 64f, and the transport surface 70S is driven in the unloading direction P. Like the rollers 64a and 64b, the roller 64e is inclined in the same direction as the inclination direction of the fixed slope portion 20. The roller 64f is installed on the downstream side of the outlet transport device 55, and its rotation axis is oriented in the vertical direction. As a result, in the third belt conveyor 70, the conveying surface 70S is twisted and gradually rises, and finally becomes a vertical surface with respect to the horizontal. Further, it is preferable that the rollers 64b and 64e are arranged as close to each other as possible without hindering the rotation of the first belt conveyor 66 and the third belt conveyor 70.

In the first belt conveyor 66, the conveying surface 66S is inclined in substantially the same direction as the fixed inclined surface portion 20 to form the place surface 62.
Hereinafter, the section of the first belt conveyor 66 will be referred to as a slope section, and the section of the third belt conveyor 70 will be referred to as a twist section. The first belt conveyor 66 functions as a moving device for the article 1 in the slope section, and the second and third belt conveyors 67, 70 function as a standing device for the article 1 in the twisting section.

The conveyance surface 66S in the inclined section is a place surface 62 that receives the place of the article 1 by receiving the side surface of the article 1 in a state where the article 1 is tilted. The second belt conveyor 67 in the slope section functions as a moving device for the article 1. When the above-mentioned place is performed, the side guide 65 serves as a receiving surface 69 that receives the bottom surface 3 of the article 1.
In order to facilitate the standing of the article 1 in the next step and to minimize the operation of the pick and place device 40, the inclination angle δ of the slope section is the same as the inclination angle α of the fixed slope portion 20 (see FIG. 5). The angle is steeper than this.

A lower fixed guide 65 having a supporting surface substantially perpendicular to the conveying surface 66S is arranged at the lower end of the slope section of the first belt conveyor 66 over the entire length of the slope section.
The lower fixed guide 65 contacts the bottom 3 of the article 1 to support the article 1 when the pick and place device 40 places the article 1 on the first belt conveyor 66, and the article 1 is stabilized by the first belt conveyor 66. So that they will be transported properly.

On the other hand, the second belt conveyor 67 is an endless belt stretched by a roller 64d installed at the downstream end of the exit carrier 55 and a roller (not shown) installed at the upstream end of the exit carrier 55. is there. The second belt conveyor 67 is driven such that the conveyance surface 67S on which the article 1 is conveyed is directed in the unloading direction P. The rotation shafts of the roller 64d and a roller (not shown) are both set in the horizontal direction, whereby the conveyance surface 67S of the second belt conveyor 67 on which the article 1 is conveyed is a horizontal plane.

The side guide 68 is a guide member that extends further downstream from the twisted section of the third belt conveyor 70 and faces the third belt conveyor 70. The side surface guide 68 constitutes a wall surface that prevents the article 1 from falling over to the outside of the second belt conveyor 67.

The exit conveyance device 55 receives the article 1 from the carry-out device 50 onto the conveyance surface 70S of the third belt conveyor 70, and then gradually raises the article 1 by twisting the third belt conveyor 70, The bottom surface 3 of the article 1 is brought into contact with the conveyance surface 67S of 67. Before the exit of the third belt conveyor 70, the article 1 completely stands up by its own weight and is conveyed by the second belt conveyor 67. The side guides 68 prevent the fall of the outside due to the momentum of standing.

In the present example, the carrying-out device 50 and the exit carrying device 55 for raising the article 1 are installed as separate devices, so that different carrying speeds can be provided. As a result, it becomes possible to adjust the pitch of the front and rear articles in the exit carry-out device 55.

As a method of raising the article 1, besides raising the article 1 while it is being conveyed as described above, there is a method of stopping the conveyance and raising the article 1.
For example, the outlet unloading device 55 is a pair of belt conveyors whose transport surfaces face each other in parallel. The conveying surfaces of the pair of belt conveyors are inclined at the same angle as the unloading device 50. A plurality of articles are accumulated between the pair of belt conveyors and the conveyance is temporarily stopped, and the outlet conveyance device 55 is rotated around a direction in which the articles stand, for example, an axis parallel to the conveyance direction. After that, there is a method in which the article is delivered by restarting the conveyance, and the article is received with the original inclination even if the article is rotated in the opposite direction.
In the method of stopping the conveyance and raising the article 1, it is possible to surely raise the article 1, and it is possible to prevent trouble such as falling of the article at the time of standing.
Since the conveyance is stopped, pick and place is also stopped during that time, and the overall processing capacity is reduced. In order to prevent the reduction of the processing capacity, it is sufficient to install a conveying device for narrowing the pitch of the articles 1 and retaining them between the exit conveying device 55 and the unloading device 50 so that the pick and place is not stopped. As the transfer device, for example, a top chain type conveyor whose transfer surface is a resin having a good slip property is selected. On the conveying surface, articles can be slid and retained without falling.

In addition, the method of raising the article 1 while it is being transported can be raised with a high ability because the time for stopping the pick-and-place is unnecessary as compared with the method of raising the article 1 by stopping the transportation of the article 1. It is possible. Further, there is an advantage that a conveying device for accumulating articles is not required between the carry-out device 50 and the outlet conveying device 55, and the entire device can be made compact.

Further, the upright direction of the article 1 may be the direction of the finally desired article 1 or may be turned upside down from the finally desired direction of the article 1 in order to facilitate the midway conveyance. Sometimes inverted.

Next, an example of the shape of the article 1 will be described.
Since the articles 1 are fed to the pick-and-place apparatus 40, most of the articles 1 being conveyed lie down so that the side surface portions having the maximum length LC come in contact with the fixed inclined surface portions 20 to be picked. Further, depending on the shape, the contact surface is stabilized in a direction such that the contact surface is maximized. The height at that time is the height h of the article when it is laid down.
There are various shapes of articles 1 that are the target articles of the article supply apparatus 100, and FIG. 18 shows some examples of the articles 1 being bottles.

FIG. 18A shows an example of a bottle in which the article 1 has an elliptical cross section. The left figure is a top view of the article 1, and the right figure is a side view seen from two directions.
FIG. 18( b) shows an example of a bottle in which the article 1 has an elliptical cross section and is further swollen. The left figure is a top view and the right figure is a side view as seen from two directions.
FIG. 18C shows an example of a bottle in which the article 1 has an oval shape and an asymmetrical cross section, and has a large bottom cross section. The left figure is a top view and the right figure is a side view.

FIG. 18D shows an example of the bottle of which the article 1 has a circular cross section. The left figure is a top view and the right figure is a side view.
FIG. 19E shows an example of the cap of the article 1. The left figure and the right figure are a top view and a side view, respectively.

FIG. 20F shows an example of the pump cap with the dip tube in which the article 1 is of a type in which the nozzle portion rises during use. The upper drawing shows a top view, and the lower three drawings are side views seen from three directions.
FIG. 20( g) is an example in which the article 1 is an example of a pump cap with a dip tube, and the type of which the nozzle portion is raised beforehand. The upper drawing shows a top view, and the lower three drawings are side views seen from three directions.

FIG. 21(h) shows an example of the article 1 as a trigger cap with a dip tube. The upper drawing shows a top view, and the lower three drawings are side views seen from three directions.
In FIG. 21(i), the article 1 is also an example of a trigger cap with a dip tube. The upper drawing shows a top view, and the lower three drawings are side views seen from three directions.

The article 1 is not limited to a bottle, and various items such as a box, a blister container, or a bottle lid can be handled in the present invention.

Regarding each of the above-described embodiments, the present invention further discloses the following article supply device.
<1>
An article supply device comprising a pick and place device for performing a pick operation for picking an article on a fixed slope portion and a place operation for placing the article in a place position,
An image pickup device for picking up the fixed slope portion, and a position deciding means for deciding a pick position of the article based on the picked-up image,
The fixed slope portion is erected from the lower end side of the fixed slope portion and contacts the lower side of the article placed on the fixed slope portion to hold the article on the fixed slope portion in a stationary state. A support member,
The imaging device has a fixed positional relationship with the fixed slope portion and its imaging direction,
An article supply apparatus in which the pick-and-place apparatus picks the article at the pick position determined by the position determination unit.

<2>
The article supply device according to <1>, wherein the fixed slope portion and the support member support the article at a plurality of points to make the article stand still on the fixed slope portion.
<3>
The article supply device according to <1> or <2>, wherein the imaging direction of the imaging device is from a position vertically above the slope of the fixed slope portion toward the fixed slope portion.
<4>
A lighting device for providing light, which is directed from the rear of the fixed slope portion toward the imaging device, so as to pass through the fixed slope portion;
The article supply apparatus according to any one of <1> to <3>.
<5>
The pick-and-place device is arranged vertically above the fixed slope portion, or on the opposite side of the fixed slope portion from the image pickup device side.
The arm of the pick-and-place device straddles vertically above the fixed slope portion and is movably arranged between the image pickup device side and the opposite side thereof, according to any one of <1> to <4>. Article supply device.
<6>
A supply device for supplying the article to the fixed slope portion is arranged adjacent to the upper end side of the fixed slope portion,
The fixed slope portion can receive the article supplied by the supply device,
The article supply device according to any one of <1> to <5>, wherein the fixed slope portion is inclined downward from the supply device side.
<7>
The article supply device according to any one of <1> to <6>, wherein the fixed slope portion is a flat surface, and the support member is a plate material.
<8>
The article supply device according to any one of <1> to <7>, wherein the fixed slope portion is a flat surface, and the support member is a plurality of columnar members.
<9>
The article supply device according to any one of <1> to <5>, wherein the fixed slope portion has a cross-sectional shape in a width direction with respect to a longitudinal direction thereof that corresponds to the outer shape of the article.
<10>
The article supply apparatus according to any one of <1> to <9>, in which the articles are supplied so as to be one in the inclination direction of the fixed slope portion.
<11>
The pick-and-place apparatus is the article supply apparatus according to any one of <1> to <10>, in which picked articles are aligned in a certain direction and placed.
<12>
The fixed slope portion makes a plurality of articles stand still at the same time in a direction orthogonal to the supply direction of the article supply device,
The said imaging device is an article supply apparatus in any one of <1> to <11> which image|photographs two or more said stationary articles simultaneously.
<13>
The article supply device according to <4>, wherein the fixed slope portion is made of a translucent member having a light diffusion function.
<14>
The lighting device has a light source and a mirror,
The mirror reflects the light from the light source and makes the light incident on the fixed slope portion in a vertical direction.
The article supply apparatus according to <4> or <13>.
<15>
A supply device for conveying the article to the fixed slope portion,
The supply device includes a floor surface inclined in the same direction as the fixed slope portion, and an elevating device for elevating the floor surface from a position lower than the fixed slope portion to a height of the fixed slope portion,
The lifting device raises the floor surface in a state where the article is placed on the floor surface, the floor surface lowers the article toward the fixed slope portion by its own weight, and The article supply device according to <5> or <9>, which is moved to a fixed slope portion.
<16>
The article supply device according to any one of <1> to <15>, in which the support member has a shock absorbing function.
<17>
The article supply device according to <9>, wherein the fixed slope portion is provided with unevenness at a position on the upper surface thereof that comes into contact with the article.
<18>
The fixed slope portion is composed of an upper slope member in contact with the article, and a lower slope member disposed below the upper slope member,
The article supply device according to <13> or <14>, wherein the upper slope member is a translucent member, and the lower slope member is a translucent member having a light diffusion function.
<19>
The pick-and-place device is a robot that moves the article from the pick position to the place position in a desired direction, and includes an arm that performs the pick operation and the place operation. 1> to the article supply device according to any one of <18>.
<20>
The pick and place device is the article supply device according to any one of <1> to <19>, which grips or sucks the article and picks the article.
<21>
The article supply device according to any one of <1> to <20>, wherein the position and the imaging direction of the imaging device are fixed with respect to the fixed slope portion.
<22>
The article supply device according to any one of <1> to <21>, wherein the article has an elongated shape.
<23>
The article supply device according to <22>, wherein the article is a bottle.

1 Items 2 Places 3 Bottom 4 Neck 5 Narrow Surface 6 Wide Surface 10 Supply Device 11 Container Storage 12 Wide Vertical Moving Floor 13 Wide Fixed Floor 14 Vertical Moving Floor 15 Fixed Floor 16 Peak 17 Notch 18 Vertical Member 20 Fixed slope part 21 Support member 22 Plane 23 Transparent plate 24 Semi-transparent plate 25 Light source 26 Mirror 27 Support point 28 Air blow nozzle 29 Side guide 30 Imaging device 31 Image processing device 32 Control device 33 Positioning device 40 Pick and place device 43 Arm part 46 End effector 50 Unloading device 51 Hakama 52 Belt conveyor 55 Outlet transfer device 62 Place surface 64a, 64b, 64c, 64d, 64e, 64f Roller 65 Lower fixed guide 66 First belt conveyor 66S Transfer surface 67 Second belt conveyor 67S Transfer surface 68 Side guide 69 Receiving surface 70 Third belt conveyor 70S Conveying surface 71 Standing guide 72 Screw 73 Lower guide 74 Side lower guide 80 Crossing guide 100 Article feeding device 130 Imaging range 131 Image recognition range 201 Holding section 202 Plane slope section 301 Virtual vertical surface

Claims (22)

An article supply device including a pick and place device that performs a pick operation for picking an article on a fixed slope and a place operation for placing the article in a place position,
An image pickup device for picking up the fixed slope portion, and a position deciding means for deciding a pick position of the article based on the picked-up image,
The fixed slope portion is erected from the lower end side of the fixed slope portion and contacts the lower side of the article placed on the fixed slope portion to hold the article on the fixed slope portion in a stationary state. A support member,
The imaging device has a fixed positional relationship with the fixed slope portion and its imaging direction,
The imaging direction of the imaging device is from a position vertically above the slope of the fixed slope portion toward the fixed slope portion,
An article supply apparatus in which the pick-and-place apparatus picks the article at the pick position determined by the position determination unit. The article supply device according to claim 1, wherein the fixed slope portion and the support member support the article at a plurality of points to make the article stand still on the fixed slope portion. A lighting device that gives light from the rear of the fixed slope portion toward the imaging device so as to pass through the fixed slope portion;
The article supply apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The pick-and-place device is disposed vertically above the fixed slope portion, or on the side opposite to the imaging device side with respect to the vertical upper side of the fixed slope portion,
Arm of the pick-and-place device, across vertically upward of the fixed slope portion, as set forth in the imaging apparatus as defined in Claim 1 that has a opposite arranged movably in any one of 3 Goods supply equipment. A supply device for supplying the article to the fixed slope portion is arranged adjacent to the upper end side of the fixed slope portion,
The fixed slope portion can receive the article supplied by the supply device,
The fixed slope portion the article supply apparatus according to any one of 4 claims 1 inclined so as down from the supply apparatus side. The fixed slope portion is planar and said support member is an article supply apparatus according to any one of claims 1-5 which is a plate. The fixed slope portion is planar and said support member is an article supply apparatus according to any one of claims 1 6 is a plurality of columnar members. The article supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein a cross-sectional shape of the fixed slope portion in a width direction with respect to a longitudinal direction thereof corresponds to an outer shape of the article. The article supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 8 , wherein the articles are supplied so that the number of the articles is one in the inclination direction of the fixed slope portion. The article supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 9 , wherein the pick and place device aligns and places picked articles in a certain direction. The fixed slope portion makes a plurality of articles stand still at the same time in a direction orthogonal to the supply direction of the article supply device,
The article supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 10 , wherein the imaging device images two or more of the plurality of stationary articles at the same time. The article supply device according to claim 3 , wherein the fixed slope portion is made of a translucent member having a light diffusion function. The lighting device has a light source and a mirror,
The mirror reflects the light from the light source and makes the light incident on the fixed slope portion in a vertical direction.
The article supply device according to claim 3 or 12 . A supply device for conveying the article to the fixed slope portion,
The supply device includes a floor surface inclined in the same direction as the fixed slope portion, and an elevating device for elevating the floor surface from a position lower than the fixed slope portion to a height of the fixed slope portion,
The lifting device raises the floor surface in a state where the article is placed on the floor surface, the floor surface lowers the article toward the fixed slope portion by its own weight, and the article the article supply apparatus according to claim 4 or 8 is moved into the fixed slope portion. Wherein the support member, the article supply apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to have an impact absorbing function 14. The article supply device according to claim 8 , wherein the fixed slope portion is provided with unevenness at a position on the upper surface thereof that comes into contact with the article. The fixed slope portion is composed of an upper slope member in contact with the article and a lower slope member arranged below the upper slope member,
The upper slope member is translucent member, the lower slope member is an article supply apparatus according to claim 12 or 13 which is a translucent member having a light diffusing function. The pick-and-place device is a robot, moves the article from the pick position to the place position in a desired direction, and includes an arm that performs the pick operation and the place operation. Item 18. The article supply apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 17 . The article supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 18 , wherein the pick and place device grips or sucks the article to pick the article. The article supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 19 , wherein a position and an imaging direction of the imaging device are fixed with respect to the fixed slope portion. The article article supply apparatus according to any one of 20 claims 1 to have an elongated shape. The article supply device according to claim 21 , wherein the article is a bottle.

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