JP6894353B2 - Goods delivery unit - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an article delivery unit and an article delivery method, and in particular, allows a plurality of articles with front and back sides supplied to an article supply unit to be sent out side by side in a line with the front side or the back side facing upward. It relates to an article delivery unit and an article delivery method.

In recent years, due to the labor shortage due to the declining birthrate and aging population, it is required to automate the manual packaging work. On the other hand, for example, containers, which are articles to be packaged, are generally produced in high-mix low-volume production, and their materials, shapes, and sizes are also diverse. In the current packaging technology using automatic machines such as robots, various containers such as tube containers and bottle containers that have been primarily packaged by an automated machine that stores the contents are further stored in bags and small boxes for secondary packaging. Since there are a wide variety of container shapes and sizes after primary packaging, and there are also a wide variety of materials, shapes, and sizes for secondary packaging bags and small boxes, secondary packaging With regard to, there is almost no automation, and it is usually a manual work.

In addition, performing the secondary packaging immediately after the automated primary packaging is a manual process for performing the secondary packaging with the same or higher ability for the articles that have been primarily packaged with high efficiency. And because it is difficult to prepare packaging materials, it is not done, and in general, for example, items that have undergone primary packaging are put together in a temporary storage box and stocked, and then manually or packed. With the materials ready, they are sent to the process of secondary packaging. Also, when the secondary packaging is automated, for example, the articles that have undergone the primary packaging are collectively stocked, and the stocked articles after the primary packaging are sent to the process of performing the secondary packaging. It is preferable because it can be carried out with a capacity equal to or higher than the capacity of the primary packaging.

For example, when the articles after the primary packaging stocked together in the temporary storage box are supplied to the next step of performing the secondary packaging, the articles after the primary packaging are neatly arranged in the temporary storage box. If they are stocked together in a state, it is easy to take them out with an automatic machine such as a robot and smoothly supply them to the process of performing secondary packaging, but the articles after primary packaging are temporarily placed in random directions. Since it is generally stocked inside a box for use, especially for items with front and back sides, secondary packaging is performed manually or by automatic machinery from the state of being supplied in such a random orientation. It is desirable to send the articles in an aligned state to the process of performing the secondary packaging so that the articles can be efficiently performed.

On the other hand, there is disclosed an aligning device that aligns articles supplied to an article supply unit in random directions by a robot hand unit and sends them out in a predetermined posture (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the alignment device of Patent Document 1, caps of various shapes and dimensions, which are articles supplied and sent in random directions, are grasped by the hand portion of the robot, and the front and back sides are inverted as necessary. , The robots are sent to the next process via the discharge conveyor in a state of being aligned in a row in a predetermined posture.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-89093

However, in the alignment device of Patent Document 1, in addition to the function as a pick-and-place device such that the robot simply picks an article by the hand portion and then turns and places it in a predetermined place, the robot keeps holding the article. Since it is necessary to have a function of inverting the front and back as necessary in the state of, the time for holding each item becomes longer, which affects the speed as a pick-and-place device and also. The control for inverting the front and back of the gripped article becomes complicated. For this reason, it is desired to develop a technology that makes it possible to align the front and back articles more speedily and efficiently and send them to the next process, and to facilitate the control of the hand portion that grips the articles. ing.

The present invention is an article delivery unit and an article delivery that can speedily and efficiently align front and back articles and send them to the next process without complicating the control of the pick and place device. The purpose is to provide a method.

In the present invention, a plurality of articles having front and back surfaces supplied to an article supply unit are picked up and transferred by a pick-and-place device, and placed on a delivery device provided with a conveyor unit that moves in the transport direction, whereby the front side or the back side is set. An article delivery unit that enables the items to be sent out in a row in a state of being aligned upward. The pick-and-place device determines the front and back of the articles and faces the side opposite to the side to be aligned upward. With the opposite side facing up, the article is transferred to the front / back reversing mechanism arranged on the side of the conveyor portion of the delivery device, and the front / back reversing mechanism is used. By lifting the portion of the article on the side opposite to the portion on the conveyor portion side, the placed article passes the portion on the side opposite to the portion on the conveyor portion side above the portion on the conveyor portion side. The above object is achieved by providing an article delivery unit that is placed on the conveyor unit in an inverted state by tilting it toward the conveyor unit.

Further, according to the present invention, a plurality of articles having front and back surfaces supplied to the article supply section are picked up and transferred by a pick-and-place device, and placed on a delivery device provided with a conveyor section that moves in the transport direction, thereby placing the articles on the front side or the front side or. This is a method of delivering articles arranged in a row with the back side facing upward, and the pick-and-place device has the side opposite to the aligned side of the articles whose front and back are determined by image recognition facing upward. With the opposite side facing up, the article was transferred to a front-back reversing mechanism arranged on the side of the conveyor portion of the delivery device, and then flipped by the front-back reversing mechanism. Provided is a method for delivering an article which is placed on the conveyor unit in a state and is placed on the conveyor unit with the aligning side facing up and the aligning side facing up. As a result, the above objectives have been achieved.

According to the article delivery unit or the article delivery method of the present invention, the pick-and-place device can speedily and efficiently align the front and back articles without complicating the control of the pick-and-place device, and the next step. Can be sent to.

A configuration of an article delivery unit according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described, (a) is a schematic plan view, and (b) is a schematic front view along AA of (a). Illustrate a tube container as an article, (a) is a front side top view, (b) is a side view, (c) is a back side top view, (d) is an end side view of (b) viewed from the left side, ( e) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of (b). (A) is a partial front view explaining a state in which a tube container which is an article is placed on an inversion plate, and (b) is a partial front view explaining a state in which a tube container which is an article is placed on an inclined sliding plate. (A) to (d) are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating a situation in which a tube container, which is an article placed on an inversion plate, is inverted and placed on a conveyor portion. (A) to (c) are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating a situation in which a tube container, which is an article on which an inclined sliding plate is placed, is slid and placed on a conveyor portion. (A) and (b) are abbreviations of a comparative example different from the preferred embodiment of the present invention, which describes a defect when the tube container, which is an article, is placed on the conveyor portion without being tilted diagonally. It is a side view. Illustrate other articles, (a) is a front top view, (b) is a side view, (c) is an end side view of (b) viewed from the left side, and (d) is a side view of (b) viewed from the right side. It is a side view of the end portion. Examples of other articles are (a) a front top view, (b) a side view, (c) a back top view, (d) an end side view of (b) viewed from the left side, (e). Is an end side view of (b) viewed from the right side. Illustrate other articles, (a) is a front top view, (b) is a side view, (c) is an end side view of (b) viewed from the left side, and (d) is a side view of (b) viewed from the right side. It is a side view of the end portion. Examples of other articles are (a) a front top view, (b) a side view, and (c) a bottom view. Illustrating other pick-and-place devices, (a) is a schematic plan view and (b) is a schematic front view along CC of (a).

The article delivery unit 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B is used by being incorporated in a system for commercializing, for example, cosmetics, for example, in an article commercialization factory or the like. When the tube container 20 that contains the contents such as cosmetics and is primarily packaged is sent to the next step for secondary packaging to be stored in a box or bag by, for example, manual work or automatic machine work, 2 The tube container 20 is incorporated as a unit so that the tube container 20 can be sent out in a row with the front and back sides and the orientation aligned so that the next packaging can be performed efficiently. The article delivery unit 10 of the present embodiment uses a robot 30 that functions as a pick-and-place device for a plurality of tube containers 20 that are articles having front and back surfaces and are supplied to the article supply unit 11 at random front and back surfaces and directions. Each can be picked (picked up) and quickly placed (placed in a predetermined position and direction) on the delivery device 12 provided with the conveyor unit 13, and the front and back of the tube container 20 can be inverted by the delivery device 12. By using the front-back reversing mechanism 14 provided in the above, the robot 30 has a function of efficiently arranging the articles 20 having the front and back and sending them to the next process without complicating the control of the robot 30. There is.

Then, the article delivery unit 10 of the present embodiment picks up and transfers a plurality of tube containers 20 which are articles with front and back surfaces supplied to the article supply unit 11 by a robot 30 which functions as a pick-and-place device. Then, by placing the device 12 on the delivery device 12 including the conveyor unit 13 that moves in the transport direction X, the front side 20a or the back side 20b (in this embodiment, the front side 20a) can be fed side by side in a line with the front side 20a facing upward. For example, it is a unit used by being incorporated in a system for commercializing cosmetics. The robot 30 which is a pick-and-place device discriminates between the front and back sides of the tube container 20 which is an article, and makes the tube container 20 which is the side to be aligned, for example, the back side 20b opposite to the front side 20a facing upward, to the back side 20b. Is transferred to the front / back reversing mechanism 14 arranged on the side of the conveyor unit 13 of the delivery device 12 with the head facing upward (see FIGS. 1 (a) and 3). .. As shown in FIGS. 4A to 4D, the front-back reversing mechanism 14 lifts the placed tube container 20 to the portion 20d opposite to the portion 20c on the conveyor portion 13 side of the tube container 20. Then, the portion 20d on the side opposite to the portion 20c on the conveyor portion 13 side (hereinafter, also referred to as “reversing base portion”) 20c is passed above the reversing base portion 20c of the tube container 20 and tilted toward the conveyor portion 13. It is placed on the conveyor unit 13 in an inverted state.

Further, in the present embodiment, the front / back reversing mechanism 14 is integrally joined to the rotating shaft portion 15 arranged along the sending direction X on the side of the conveyor portion 13 of the sending device 12. A reversing plate 16 that rotates about the rotating shaft portion 15 is provided, and the reversing plate 16 has a long overhang length from the rotating shaft portion 15 as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4D. It is composed of a surface portion 16a and a short surface portion 16b having a short overhang length from the rotating shaft portion 15 that is bent and extended from an end edge portion of the long surface portion 16a on the rotating shaft portion 15 side. The reversing plate 16 locks the reversing base portion 20c, which is a portion of the tube container 20 on the conveyor portion 13 side, to the short surface portion 16b, and holds the tube container 20 with the back side 20b placed on the long surface portion 16a facing up. (See FIG. 4A), by rotating the reversing plate 16, the front-back reversing mechanism 14 lifts the portion 20d of the article 20 opposite to the reversing base 20c (see FIG. 4B). By passing over the reversing base 20c and tilting it toward the conveyor 13 (see FIG. 4 (c)), it can be placed on the conveyor 13 in a state of being inverted so that the front side faces upward. (See FIG. 4 (d)).

Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 (a), 1 (b) and 3, the front and back reversing mechanisms 14 are arranged side by side in the delivery direction X on the side of the conveyor unit 13 of the delivery device 12. The inclined sliding plate 17 is provided. As shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, the inclined sliding plate 17 is transferred and placed by the robot 30 which is a pick-and-place device (see FIG. 5A), and is the front side which is the aligning side. The tube container 20 with the 20a facing up is slid (see FIG. 5B) and placed on the conveyor unit 13 with the front side 20a facing up (FIG. 5). 5 (c)).

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 4A to 4D, a pair of conveyors is conveyed above the conveyor surface of the conveyor portion 13 of the delivery device 12. The guides 13a are provided so as to extend in the transport direction X at intervals in the direction perpendicular to the feed method X, which is the transport direction. These pair of transport guides 13a are provided at intervals W2 smaller than the maximum width W1 of the tube container 20 which is the article to be sent out (see FIGS. 4 (d) and 5 (a)).

In the present embodiment, the pick-and-place device 30 constituting the article delivery unit 10 includes a horizontal moving mechanism that enables movement in the horizontal plane direction, a vertical moving mechanism that enables vertical movement, and an article 20. It is a known device including a turning mechanism that enables turning of the hand portion 32 that grips the robot 30, and as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a robot 30 can be preferably used. Further, the robot 30 is preferably a dual-arm robot provided with a pair of arm portions 31 and hand portions 32 on both the left and right sides. When a dual-arm robot is used as the robot 30 that constitutes the pick-and-place device, and two or more sets (two sets in this embodiment) of the front-back reversing mechanism 14 and the inclined sliding plate 17 are installed as described later. However, the pick-and-place device by the robot 30 can be provided more compactly and at high density, and the processing capacity for arranging the tube containers 20 side by side can be increased.

Here, the types of robots 30 that make up the pick-and-place device are not particularly limited, and for example, serial link robots such as vertical articulated robots and horizontal articulated robots (SCARA robots), parallel link robots, and the like can be preferably used. .. Since the vertical articulated robot can perform a wide range of movements and can freely move the direction of the hand portion 32, it is possible to perform all the movements required in the present embodiment. Horizontal articulated robots (SCARA robots) are capable of high-speed operation and are inexpensive. The horizontal articulated robot can freely tilt the hand portion 32 by providing an additional rotation axis at the tip of the arm portion 31. The parallel link robot is capable of particularly high-speed operation. For the parallel link robot, select a robot having a large number of rotation axes, such as providing an additional rotation axis at the tip of the arm unit 31 or transmitting the drive from the additional drive unit to the arm unit 31 by an additional rotation rod. Therefore, the tilt of the hand portion 32 can be freely adjusted.

In these robots 30, when two or more sets of the front-back reversing mechanism 14 and the inclined sliding plate 17 are provided, the robots 30 are arranged for each set to place the article 20, and the tube is placed. It is possible to increase the processing capacity for arranging the containers 20 side by side. It is preferable that each robot 30 shifts the pick timing or limits the pick area by control so that the hand portions 32 do not interfere with each other at the time of picking. Further, each robot 30 may be provided with an independent supply unit for the article 20. When each robot 30 is provided with an independent supply unit for the article 20, the robot 30 arranged on the downstream side of the transport direction X by the conveyor unit 13 of the delivery device 12 is placed and transmitted by the robot 30 on the upstream side. The article 20 can be placed on the inclined sliding plate 17 so that the article 20 is placed on the conveyor portion 13 from the inclined sliding plate 17 at a timing that does not interfere with the article 20 conveyed to the downstream side by the device 12. is necessary. Further, the article 20 is placed on the front / back reversing mechanism 14 so that the article 20 is placed on the conveyor portion 13 from the front / back reversing mechanism 14 at a timing that does not interfere with the article 20 transported from the upstream side to the downstream side. It is necessary.

When two or more sets of the front-back reversing mechanism 14 and the inclined sliding plate 17 are provided, the robot 30 is a dual-arm robot having a pair of arm portions 31 and hand portions 32 on both the left and right sides as described above. This is preferable because a plurality of pick-and-place devices can be installed compactly and at high density. Controls for shifting the pick timing of the article 20 and limiting the pick areas to each other can be easily incorporated into the dual-arm robot. By using the dual-arm robot 30 provided with the vertical articulated robots as the left and right arm portions 31 as the pick-and-place device, the operation required in the present embodiment can be easily performed, and a plurality of pick-and-and-use robots can be performed. It is even more preferable because the place device can be provided more compactly.

The hand portion 32 of the robot 30 is provided with means and a mechanism for gripping the article 20, but the method is not particularly limited, and various known gripping means and gripping mechanisms can be used. As an example, a vacuum pad, an air-driven or electric opening / closing chuck, an electromagnet type gripping mechanism, or the like can be used. Since the vacuum pad can be gripped only by contacting the article 20, the gripping operation can be performed in a short time. The air-driven or electric opening / closing chuck can easily grip the article 20 by sandwiching the article 20 even when the article 20 does not have a surface that can be easily sucked. Further, when the article 20 has physical properties that can be adsorbed by a magnetic material, it can be gripped by an electromagnet type gripping mechanism regardless of the shape and surface condition of the article 20. Normally, one set of gripping mechanism and gripping means is installed in one hand portion 32, but by providing two or more sets of gripping mechanisms and gripping means, the number of movements from the picked position to the place of the article 20 Therefore, it becomes possible to transfer a large number of articles 20 in a short time.

Further, in the present embodiment, the robot 30 functioning as a pick-and-place device can take an image of the tube container 20 which is an article supplied to the article supply unit 11 by the image pickup device 33. By sending the captured image to an image processing device (not shown) and performing image processing, the position and direction of the tube container 20 and the front and back are image-recognized, and the information of the recognized image is sent to the robot 30 again. As a result, the robot 30 can individually pick up (pick) the target tube container 20. As the image pickup device 33, various known devices capable of photographing the article 20 can be used, and the installation position is not particularly limited, but for example, the pair of arm portions 31 of the robot 30 which is a dual-arm robot. It is preferable to install it on the head 34, which is the central portion of the base, because it is possible to image the range in which both arms can work (see FIG. 1 (b)). By installing the image pickup device 33 on the head 34 of the dual-arm robot 30, it becomes possible to keep the relative positional relationship between the arm portion 31 and the image pickup device 33 constant, and the captured image and the arm portion. Since the positional relationship of 31 can be easily adjusted by using a marker or the like, even when the robot 30 is moved, for example, fine adjustment regarding the information from the image pickup device 33 and the movement of the hand unit 32 is minimized. It becomes possible to do.

The image pickup device can also be provided above the article supply unit 11. By providing the image pickup device above the article supply section 11, it is possible to image the entire article supply section 11 with less distortion, so that the position, direction, and front and back of the tube container 20 which is an article can be more easily determined. Moreover, it becomes possible to accurately recognize the image.

The front and back judgments made by recognizing the image of the tube container 20 as an article may be made at the same time when the image processing device recognizes the position and direction of the tube container 20, and another imaging device or image processing device may be used. It may be done using. Depending on the article 20, the place where the barcode should be is confirmed by the barcode reader, and the front and back are judged by whether the barcode can be read or not, or the front and back are judged by the sensor that determines the color of the front and back, or the article. It is also possible to judge the front and back through a sensor that can easily detect the presence or absence of an object, which can confirm the shape difference between the front and back.

In the present embodiment, the article supply unit 11 to which the plurality of primary packaged tube containers 20 are supplied has a large number within a range that can be imaged by the image pickup device 33 and can be picked by the hand unit 32 of the robot 30. It is preferable to have a region where the article 20 can exist. For example, when performing image processing, the article supply unit 11 prevents misrecognition due to the articles coming into contact with each other or overlapping each other, and the article that overlaps the article to be picked at the time of picking causes the article to be sucked off and picked. The articles 20 overlap or come into contact with each other so that the items that overlap with the item to be picked are not skipped, resulting in loss of the item, or the skipped item poses a danger to the peripheral device. It is preferable to have a function capable of allowing the article 20 to be present in an appropriately dispersed manner so as to avoid the problem. As shown in FIG. 1A, the article supply section 11 disperses the belt conveyor section 11a to which the tube container 20 after the primary packaging is conveyed and the article 20 supplied via the belt conveyor section 11a. It is configured to include the part 11b. When the sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the article 20 provided in the image pickup apparatus or the dispersion section 11b recognizes that the article 20 is not in the dispersion section 11b, the belt conveyor portion 11a is stocked in the primary packaging. The latter article 20 is conveyed, and an appropriate amount of the article 20 is supplied to the dispersion portion 11b.

The dispersion portion 11b is arranged at a position one step lower adjacent to the belt conveyor portion 11a so that one short side portion overlaps the downstream end portion of the belt conveyor portion 11a so that the article does not fall out of the compartment. As described above, it is a plate-shaped portion having a rectangular planar shape surrounded by a partition wall 11c. Since the upper surface of the dispersion portion 11b has an appropriately slippery surface, the article 20 supplied from the belt conveyor portion 11a can be easily scattered over the entire area of the dispersion portion 11b. By forming the upper surface of the dispersion portion 11b with a resin having a small coefficient of friction, attaching a slippery tape to the upper surface of the dispersion portion 11b, or arranging a plurality of rollers over the entire surface of the dispersion portion 11b, the upper surface of the dispersion portion 11b is formed. Can be a moderately slippery surface. If the upper surface of the dispersion portion 11b is not slippery, the supplied articles 20 are pushed by other supplied articles 20 and gather near the downstream end of the belt conveyor portion 11a, and overlap or come into contact with each other. It is easy to be in a state. If the slip is too good, the articles 20 tend to gather at the peripheral edge of the dispersion portion 11b, and similarly, they tend to overlap or come into contact with each other. Therefore, it is preferable that the slipperiness of the upper surface of the dispersion portion 11b is appropriately adjusted according to the shape and surface condition of the article 20, the supply speed by the belt conveyor portion 11a, and the like. In order to enhance the dispersibility of the article 20 in the dispersion portion 11b, a mechanism for vibrating the dispersion portion 11b and a mechanism for shaking the dispersion portion 11b in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction may be provided. These mechanisms can be provided in combination as appropriate.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the pick-and-place device is composed of the robot 30, preferably, the hand portion 32 of the robot 30 is moved by the portion directly above the dispersion portion 11b of the article supply portion 11, for example. It is also possible to disperse the articles 20 by the tip of the gripping mechanism provided on the hand portion 32 so that the articles 20 supplied to the article dispersing portion 11 do not overlap. If the articles 20 are in close contact with each other or overlap each other in the dispersion portion 11b, it may be difficult to accurately recognize the individual articles 20 from the images captured by the image pickup apparatus 33. Further, when a plurality of pick-and-place devices 30 and a plurality of hand portions 32 are used, for example, the article 20 exists only near the downstream end portion of the belt conveyor portion 11a in the dispersion portion 11b, and the belt conveyor portion 11a and the belt conveyor portion 11a. If the article 20 is not present on the distant side, the pick-and-place device 30 or the hand portion 32 on the side distant from the belt conveyor portion 11a may not be able to pick the article 20. In such a case, the hand portion 32 is moved by the portion directly above the dispersion portion 11b and acts on the article 20 to disperse the article 20 through the tip portion of the gripping mechanism such as a vacuum pad, and between the articles 20. The individual articles 20 can be easily and accurately recognized from the images captured by the image pickup device 33 by giving a distance to the articles and dispersing the articles in the entire area of the dispersion unit 11b. Each of the plurality of pick-and-place devices 30 and the hand portion 32 makes it possible to easily pick the individual articles 20.

When the hand portion 32 of the robot 30 is moved by the portion directly above the dispersion portion 11b to disperse the article 20, for example, the direction of action by the gripping mechanism is not particularly limited, but the direction in which the presence of the article 20 is dense to sparse. It is preferable to act on. In the present embodiment, for example, when the article 20 is supplied by the belt conveyor portion 11a from the one short side portion side of the dispersion portion 11b having a rectangular planar shape, it is preferably in the long side portion of the dispersion portion 11b. Proceed from the place where the article 20 is clearly not present, move it to the vicinity of one short side where the article 20 is supplied from the belt conveyor portion 11a, and further move the article 20 to the vicinity of the one short side where the article 20 is densely present. By moving the belt conveyor portion 11a, which is sparsely present, to the extension side in the supply direction, it is possible to efficiently disperse the plurality of articles 20 over the entire area of the dispersion portion 11b.

Further, when the gripping mechanism provided on the hand portion 32 of the robot 30 is based on the vacuum pad, the article 20 can be scattered by causing the vacuum pad to act on the article 20. When the gripping mechanism is based on an openable / closable chuck, the article 20 can be scattered by causing the tip portion thereof to act on the article 20. It is also possible to attach a plate-shaped or rod-shaped dispersion member for scattering the article 20 to the hand portion 32 to disperse the article 20. Since the vacuum pad is made of a soft material, it is particularly preferable to use the vacuum pad because it can disperse the article 20 without damaging it and does not require an additional dispersal member. When the tip of the opening / closing chuck or the member for dispersion is used, it is possible to prevent the article 20 from being damaged by attaching an elastic rubber, a sponge, or the like to the portion acting on the article 20.

In the present embodiment, the dispersion unit 11b of the article supply unit 11 is arranged on the opposite side of the pick-and-place device 30 by the robot 30 with the delivery device 12 described later including the conveyor unit 13 moving in the transport direction X interposed therebetween. Therefore, it is preferable that the rectangular planar shape is provided so that the long side direction is along the transport direction X. By arranging the dispersion portion 11b and the robot 30 in this way, the hand portion 32 of the robot 30 picks the tube container 20 which is an article from the dispersion portion 11b by lifting it, and the picked tube container 20 is picked by the robot 30. After pulling it back to the side, it descends and places it on the front-back reversing mechanism 14 of the sending device 12, the inclined sliding plate 17, and the belt conveyor portion 11a, and then goes to the dispersion portion 11b to pick up the next tube container 20, for example. When viewed from the downstream side of the transport direction X, each tube container 20 can be placed in the delivery device 12 by repeating an operation such as a circular motion in the clockwise direction. This makes it possible to more efficiently perform the work of aligning the front and back sides of the tube container 20 with the front and back directions in a line.

The height at which the dispersion portion 11b is arranged is not particularly limited, but other tubes left in the dispersion portion 11b when the tube container 20 picked from the dispersion portion 11b is transferred and placed in the delivery device 12. It is preferable that the height is the minimum that does not interfere with the tube container 20, and the height is substantially the same as the height at the time of placement in the delivery device 12. This makes it possible to minimize the time for moving the hand portion 32 of the robot 30 in the height direction at the time of picking and the time for adjusting the height of the tube container 20 at the time of placing.

Here, in the present embodiment, the product is taken out from the dispersion unit 11b of the article supply unit 11 and placed on the conveyor unit 13 of the delivery device 12, so that the product is sent to the next step of performing secondary packaging to be stored in, for example, a box or a bag. The article is a tube container 20 containing, for example, cosmetics as the contents by primary packaging. As shown in FIGS. 2A to 2E, the tube container 20 is attached to a tube body 20e formed by using a flexible synthetic resin sheet material and one end of the tube body 20e. It is formed to include a cap member 20f made of synthetic resin that is detachably attached so as to cover the spout member (not shown). The tube body 20e is sealed and joined as a seal joint 20 g so that the other end on the side opposite to the side to which the spout member is attached is crushed thinly and flatly, and the seal joint 20 g has a linear shape. The other part has an elliptical cross-sectional shape. As a result, the tube body 20a is provided with a portion that becomes the front side 20a and a portion that becomes the back side 20b of the tube container 20, and the tube container 20 is an article having both sides. Further, the tube container 20 is an article having front and rear sides, for example, with the side on which the cap member 20f is mounted as the front side and the side of the seal joint portion 20g as the rear side.

The surface of the front side 20a of the tube container 20 by the tube body 20a is decorated, for example, by printing so that decoration, product name, product features, etc. are conspicuous, and the surface of the back side 20b is decorated with the product name, usage, and raw materials. Noh writing such as is given in fine letters, and the serial number and bar code are displayed. As a result, the front and back and front and back of each tube container 20 can be easily discriminated from the image of the tube container 20 captured by the image pickup device 33 by the article supply unit 11 by image recognition by the image processing device.

In the present embodiment, the delivery device 12 in which the tube container 20 picked by the robot 30 is placed in the article supply unit 11 places the tube container 20 which is an article with front and back or front and back placed, for example, the front side 20a facing up. It is a device that aligns the cap members 20f side toward the front side of the transport direction X and aligns the front and rear sides in a line for the next process. The delivery device 12 is arranged on both sides of a strip-shaped conveyor portion 13 that moves the upper surface, which is a transport surface, in the transport direction X at a predetermined speed, and the conveyor portion 13 via a rotating roller or the like. It is configured to include a pair of support frame portions 18 that support rotatably. A plurality of support plate pieces 18a are joined and fixed to the support frame portion 18 at predetermined intervals in the transport direction X in a state of projecting to the upper side of the support frame portion 18. One end is fixed to the protruding portion of these support plate pieces 18a, and the overhanging support rod 18b is attached in a state of projecting inward up to the upper part of the conveyor portion 13 (FIGS. 4A to 4A). d) See). Supported by these overhanging support rods 18b, the pair of transport guides 13a are spaced in a direction perpendicular to the feed method X, which is the transport direction, and extend in the transport direction X to extend the transport surface of the conveyor unit 13. It is located above the. Here, the transport surface of the conveyor unit 13 is generally arranged along a horizontal plane, but may be an ascending or descending inclined surface in the transport direction X, if necessary.

Here, in the present embodiment, the distance W2 in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction X, which is preferably the inner width of the pair of transport guides 13a, is smaller than the maximum width W1 of the tube container 20 (FIG. 4 (d)). ), See FIG. 5 (a)). As a result, as shown in FIGS. 4 (d) and 5 (c), one side portion of the tube container 20 is aligned with the inner side surface of one transport guide 13a, and the other side portion is aligned with the other transport guide 13a. The tube container 20 can be placed on the conveyor unit 13 in a state of being slanted and laid on the conveyor. Further, as a result, for example, at the end portion of the conveyor portion 13, when the movement of the tube container 20 placed on the conveyor portion 13 is stopped by the stopper portion 13b while the conveyor portion 13 is being moved in the transport direction X, the front is forwarded. It is possible to effectively prevent the rear tube container from riding on the tube container and overlapping the top and bottom, which hinders, for example, the upward removal work performed in the next step. 6 (a) and 6 (b) are comparative examples, in which the distance W2 in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction X is larger than the maximum width W1 of the tube container 20. In this case, the tube container 20 is placed flat on the conveyor portion 13 without being tilted diagonally, and when stopped by the stopper portion 13b, the thickness of the front tube container 20 becomes thin. When the tip end portion of the rear tube container 20 rides on the rear end portion on the 20 g side of the seal joint portion, the tip portion of the rear tube container 20 is placed on top of each other, which may interfere with the work performed in the next step.

From the viewpoint of preventing such troubles, the distance W2 in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction X of the pair of transport guides 13a is preferably about 60 to 80% of the maximum width W1 of the tube container 20. .. Since the distance W2 between the pair of transport guides 13a is 60% or more of the maximum width W1 of the tube container 20, the article 20 is reliably and stably transported in the feeding direction X in a state of being inclined at an angle. It becomes possible to do. Since the distance W2 between the pair of transport guides 13a is within 80% of the maximum width W1 of the tube container 20, the angle at which the tube container 20 is tilted becomes too large, and the tube container 20 stands up or in the opposite direction. It becomes possible to effectively avoid falling over.

Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, one of the pair of support frame portions 18 provided on the side of the conveyor portion 13 on the side on which the robot 30 is arranged. The delivery device 12 is provided with a front-back reversing mechanism 14 so as to be supported by the support frame portion 18. A pair of front-back reversing mechanisms 14 are provided on both sides of a portion where the head 34 of the robot 30 is arranged. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 (a) to 4 (d), the front-back reversing mechanism 14 is a mounting base portion that is fixed to one of the support frame portions 18 and has a drive control mechanism for the rotating shaft portion 15 inside. 19 and the rotating shaft portion 15 extending from the base portion 19 in parallel with the feeding direction X by the conveyor portion 13 and arranged along the side of the conveyor portion 13 and the rotating shaft portion 15 are integrally fixed to the rotating shaft portion 15. It is configured to include an inversion plate 16 that rotates about a rotation shaft portion 15.

The reversing plate 16 of the front-back reversing mechanism 14 has an angle θ1 of less than 90 ° from the long surface portion 16a having a long overhang length from the rotating shaft portion 15 and the edge portion of the long surface portion 16a on the rotating shaft portion 15 side (FIG. 4 (FIG. 4). It is a plate-shaped member having a substantially L-shaped cross-sectional shape, which is composed of a short surface portion 16b having a short overhang length from the rotating shaft portion 15 which is bent and extended in (see a)). The reversing plate 16 has a rotation shaft on the back surface portion of the long surface portion 16a on the side opposite to the side where the short surface portion 16b is bent at a portion close to the end edge portion on the side where the short surface portion 16b is bent and continuously provided. By joining the portions 15, the bent portion between the short surface portion 16b and the short surface portion 16b is arranged in parallel with the rotating shaft portion 15 and is integrally fixed to the rotating shaft portion 15.

Here, the bending angle θ1 of the short surface portion 16b with respect to the long surface portion 16a is preferably less than 90 ° and 20 ° or more, and the optimum angle can be appropriately selected according to the thickness and shape of the article 20. .. Further, it is particularly preferable that the bending angle θ1 of the short surface portion 16b with respect to the long surface portion 16a is 30 to 60 °. By setting the bending angle θ1 of the short surface portion 16b to 60 ° or less, the placed article 20 can easily protrude from the portion between the short surface portion 16b and the long surface portion 16a, and the article 20 can easily protrude during the rotation of the reversing plate 16. It is possible to effectively avoid the instability of the front and back of the article 20 due to rattling. By setting the bending angle θ1 of the short surface portion 16b to 30 ° or more, it becomes difficult for the placed article 20 to fit in the portion between the short surface portion 16b and the long surface portion 16a. It is possible to effectively prevent the article 20 from easily falling from the reversing plate 16 in a state where the reversing is insufficient when the article 20 is placed on the reversing plate 16.

Further, the inclination angle θ2 of the long surface portion 16a of the reversing plate 16 on which the tube container 20 with the picked back side 20b facing upward is placed with respect to the transport surface of the conveyor portion 13 before rotating the reversing plate 16 (FIG. 4). (See (a)) is preferably 20 to 60 °. Since the inclination angle θ2 of the long surface portion 16a of the reversing plate 16 with respect to the transport surface is 20 ° or more, the placed tube container 20 becomes slippery downward along the long surface portion 16a, so that the tube container 20 Even if the place position is above the long surface portion 16a or the tube container 20 is placed in an oblique state, the long surface portion 16a can be easily slid to the short surface portion 16b at the lower end portion of the reversing plate 16. The inverted base portion 20a, which is a portion of the placed tube container 20 on the conveyor portion 13 side, can be easily locked and supported. Since the inclination angle θ2 of the long surface portion 16a of the reversing plate 16 with respect to the transport surface is 60 ° or less, when the tube container 20 is replaced, the long surface portion 16a where the tube container 20 becomes a steep slope is unexpected. It is possible to effectively avoid the tendency to fall in the direction.

When the tube container 20 placed on the reversing plate 16 is inverted and placed on the conveyor portion 13, the rotation angle at which the reversing plate 16 is rotated is the folding between the short surface portion 16b and the long surface portion 16a of the reversing plate 16. In consideration of the bending angle θ1 and the inclination angle θ2 of the long surface portion 16a of the reversing plate 16 before rotation with respect to the transport surface of the conveyor portion 13, it is possible to appropriately adjust the tube container 20 so that the tube container 20 is reliably inverted. it can. The rotation angle for rotating the reversing plate 16 is preferably 70 to 110 °. By setting the rotation angle of the reversing plate 16 to 70 ° or more, it is possible to make a difference in the inclination of the long surface portion 16a between the time of placing the tube container 20 and the time after reversing. It becomes possible to improve the stability of the behavior of the tube container 20 of the above. By setting the rotation angle of the reversing plate 16 to 110 ° or less, the rotation angle at the target time becomes small, and as a result, the rotation angular velocity can be reduced. It will be possible to be

Further, in the present embodiment, the length of the inverted plate 16 from the bent portion of the long surface portion 16a having a preferably rectangular shape with the short surface portion 16b is 1.5 of the maximum width W1 of the tube container 20 which is an article. It is preferably about 3.0 times as long. Since the length of the long surface portion 16a from the bent portion is 1.5 times or more the maximum width W1 of the article 20, the article may protrude from the long surface portion 16a and fall at the time of placement, or the long surface portion 16a may fall. It is possible to effectively avoid a long placement time for accurately placing an article on the top, which tends to reduce the processing capacity. Since the length of the long surface portion 16a from the bent portion is 3.0 times or less of the maximum width W1 of the article 20, the reversing plate 16 is rotated in order to reverse the front and back of the tube container 20 which is the article. The tip of the long surface portion 16a draws a large locus on the dispersion portion 11b side of the article supply portion 11 and interferes with the hand portion 32 of the robot 30 picking the tube container 20 at the dispersion portion 11b. Can be effectively avoided.

The length of the short surface portion 16b having a preferably rectangular shape of the reversing plate 16 from the bent portion with the long surface portion 16a is the transport direction when the reversing plate 16 is rotated to reverse the front and back of the tube container 20. It can be appropriately set in consideration of the relationship with the center of gravity position G of the tube container 20 as seen from the upstream side or the downstream side of X. For example, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the reversing plate 16 is rotated at a predetermined rotation angle, the line Z drawn in the vertical direction from the center of gravity position G of the tube container 20 which is an article and the short surface portion 16b. By providing the short surface portion 16b so that the tip does not interfere with each other, it is possible to smoothly reverse the front and back of the tube container 20.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the length of the long surface portion 16a and the short surface portion 16b forming the reversing plate 16 in the transport direction X by the conveyor portion 13 is the length L of the tube container 20 which is an article (FIG. 2 (a). ) Is preferably 80 to 150%. By setting the length of the transport direction X of the long surface portion 16a and the short surface portion 16b to 80% or more of the length L of the tube container 20, the tube container 20 has the length of the long surface portion 16a and the short surface portion 16b due to the displacement at the time of placement. It is possible to prevent the movement of the protruding side from becoming unstable at the time of reversal and not being able to be reversed well by suppressing the large protrusion in the vertical direction. By setting the length to 150% or less, it is possible to prevent the size of the reversing plate 16 in the length direction from becoming too large with respect to the tube container 20 which is an article, and the robot including the portion of the inclined sliding plate 17 described later. It is possible to use a smaller robot 30 as a pick-and-place device by preventing the placement range of the tube container 20 performed by the hand portion 32 of 30 from becoming too wide.

In the present embodiment, in order to place the tube container 20, which is an article with the back side facing upward, picked by the hand portion 32 of the robot 30 on the reversing plate 16 of the front / back reversing mechanism 14, the tube container to be placed is placed. The tube container 20 can be placed directly under the long surface portion 16a so that the reversing base portion 20a, which is a portion of the 20 on the conveyor portion 13 side, is locked and supported by the short surface portion 16b. Further, after the tube container 20 is placed on the upper portion of the long surface portion 16a apart from the short surface portion 16b, the tube container 20 is slid downward along the long surface portion 16a, and the reversing base portion 20a, which is a portion on the conveyor portion 13 side, is the short surface portion. It can also be locked to 16b. By placing the tube container 20 directly under the long surface 16a so that the reversing base 20a is locked to the short surface 16b, the tube container 20 moves on the reversing plate 16 until the reversing plate 16 is rotated. Therefore, it is possible to avoid an unstable state due to misalignment before the reversing plate 16 is rotated. By placing the tube container 20 on the upper portion of the long surface portion 16a at a distance from the short surface portion 16b, it is not necessary to accurately position the tube container 20 at the time of placement. Therefore, the placement time can be shortened and the plurality of tube containers 20 can be placed. , It becomes possible to efficiently arrange them side by side on the conveyor unit 13 of the delivery device 12.

Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, when the tube container 20 is placed, the center of gravity position G of the tube container 20 which is an article is set in the longitudinal direction of the tube container 20. Since it is biased to one side (cap member 20f side), it is preferable to place it on the long surface portion 16a of the reversing plate 16 in a state where the center of gravity position G is biased toward the cap member 20f side and tilted diagonally. The placed tube container 20 in which the center of gravity position G is deviated slides down the long surface portion 16a of the reversing plate 16 while the cap member 20f side is arranged downward and tilted diagonally. As a result, for example, even if the position of the tube container 20 shifts when the reversing plate 16 is placed on the long surface portion 16a, the tube container 20 slides stably on the long surface portion 16a, and the cap member 20f side having the center of gravity position G first moves. Since the tube container 20 is contacted and locked in contact with the short surface portion 16b, and then the opposite seal joint portion 20g side is contacted and locked in contact with the short surface portion 16b, the tube container 20 may rotate by itself when sliding on the long surface portion 16a. It is possible to effectively prevent the tube container 20 from popping out from the reversing plate 16, and it is possible to make the tube container 20 move stably.

Here, the surface of the long surface portion 16a and the short surface portion 16b forming the reversing plate 16 on the side where the tube container 20 is placed may be a smooth surface so as not to damage the tube container 20 which is an article. preferable. The smooth surface can be formed by using, for example, a stainless steel polishing plate, an engineering plastic having a small surface friction coefficient, or the like. Further, the drive control mechanism provided inside the mounting base portion 19 that controls the drive of the rotating shaft portion 15 to which the reversing plate 16 is integrally mounted is to rotate the reversing plate 16 together with the rotating shaft portion 15. Various known mechanisms capable of this can be adopted. For example, a mechanism including a speed reducer and a motor, a mechanism for converting linear drive by an air cylinder or the like into rotary drive via a link mechanism, or the like can be used. In the case of a drive mechanism using a motor, the rotation angle can be easily adjusted by the amount of rotation, and in the case of a mechanism that converts linear drive into rotary drive via a link mechanism, the linear movement distance of linear drive The rotation angle can be easily adjusted by changing the length of the arm of the link mechanism or the link mechanism. In the present embodiment, the rotation of the rotating shaft portion 15 is preferably controlled by a drive mechanism that rotates the motor via, for example, a speed reducer fixed by a bracket.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the delivery device 12 is further transferred and placed by the robot 30 which is a pick-and-place device, and the front side 20c which is the side to be aligned. An inclined sliding plate 17 is provided on which the tube container 20 is slid and placed on the conveyor portion 13. The inclined sliding plate 17 is provided on the side of the conveyor portion 13 of the delivery device 12 so as to be arranged side by side with the front-back reversing mechanism 14 along the delivery direction X by the conveyor portion 13. That is, the inclined sliding plate 17 is supported by one of the pair of transport guides 13a provided above the conveyor portion 13 on the side where the robot 30 is arranged (FIGS. 5A to 5A). c)), a pair is provided on both sides of the delivery direction X of the portion where the head 34 of the robot 30 is arranged, adjacent to the downstream side of each front / back reversing mechanism 14. As a result, in the present embodiment, as described above, a pair of the front / back reversing mechanism 14 and the inclined sliding plate 17 is provided for each hand portion 32 arranged on the left and right sides of the robot 30 which is a dual-arm robot. It will be provided.

As shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, the inclined sliding plate 17 is formed by bending an edge portion along one long side portion of a plate member having a rectangular front shape as a bent edge portion 17b. It is a plate-shaped member having a rectangular cross-sectional shape. The inclined sliding plate 17 has a main body portion 17a extending from the bent edge portion 17b by joining and fixing the surface of the bent edge portion 17b on the bent side to the upper inner side surface of one of the transport guides 13a. , One of the transport guides 13a is attached to the one of the transport guides 13a in a state of projecting diagonally upward from the upper end of the one of the transport guides 13a at a predetermined angle.

Here, the inclination angle θ3 (see FIG. 5A) of the main body portion 17a of the inclined sliding plate 17 with respect to the transport surface of the conveyor portion 13 is preferably 20 to 60 °. By setting the inclination angle θ3 of the main body 17a to 20 ° or more, the placed tube container 20 can easily slide down the main body 17a, so that the tube container 20 can be moved up to the conveyor 13 with the front side 20c facing up. It can be easily moved. By setting the inclination angle θ3 of the main body 17a to 60 ° or less, it is possible to effectively prevent the placed tube container 20 from easily falling in an unexpected direction due to the steeply inclined main body 17a. become.

Further, it is preferable that the lower end portion of the inclined sliding plate 17 extends below the upper end surface of one of the transport guides 13a. In the present embodiment, the inclined sliding plate 17 is formed by having a bent and continuous bent edge portion 17b bent at the lower end of the main body portion 17a of the inclined sliding plate 17 and being joined and fixed to the upper inner side surface of one of the transport guides 13a. The lower end portion extends below the upper end surface of the transport guide 13a. As a result, the tube container 20 with the front side 20c facing up can slide down to the conveyor guide 13a via the main body 17a of the inclined sliding plate 17 having no step, so that the tube container 20 is stable with the front side 20c facing up. It is possible to move it onto the conveyor unit 13 in this state. The bent edge portion 17b of the inclined sliding plate 17 joined to the upper inner side surface of one of the transport guides 13a is made as thin as possible, or the upstream portion is tapered to X in the transport direction X. The tube container 20, which is an article whose front and back are inverted by the front-back reversing mechanism 14 and is placed on the conveyor section 13, and the inclined sliding plate 17 on the upstream side are slid down and placed on the conveyor section 13. It is possible to effectively prevent the placed tube container 20 from being caught by the upstream end of the bent edge portion 17b and causing the conveyor section 13 to become unstable in the transport state of the plurality of tube containers 20. become.

The overhang length from the upper end of one of the transport guides 13a of the main body 17a of the inclined sliding plate 17 is the same as the length of the long surface 16a of the reversing plate 16 from the bent portion with the short surface 16b. The length is preferably 1.5 to 3.0 times the maximum width of a certain tube container 20. Since the overhang length of the main body 17a of the inclined sliding plate 17 from the upper end of the transport guide 13a is 1.5 times or more the maximum width of the article 20, the article protrudes from the main body 17a at the time of placement. It is possible to effectively avoid falling or a long place time for accurately placing an article on the main body 17a, which tends to reduce the processing capacity. Since the overhang length of the main body 17a from the upper end of the transport guide 13a is 3.0 times or less the maximum width of the article 20, the occupied area occupied by the feeding device 12 can be kept small. Become.

Further, the length of the transport direction X by the conveyor portion 13 of the inclined sliding plate 17 is 80 to 150% of the length L of the tube container 20 which is an article, similarly to the length of the transport direction X of the reversing plate 16. It is preferable to have. By setting the length of the transport direction X of the inclined sliding plate 17 to 80% or more of the length L of the tube container 20, the tube container 20 is moved in the length direction of the main body 17a of the inclined sliding plate 17 due to the displacement at the time of placement. It is possible to effectively prevent the front and back sides from being exchanged due to unstable movement of the article when the tube container 20 slides on the main body 17a. Become. By setting the length to 150% or less, it is possible to prevent the size of the main body 17a in the length direction from becoming too large with respect to the tube container 20 which is an article, and the robot including the portion of the front-back reversing mechanism 14 described above is included. It is possible to use a smaller robot 30 as a pick-and-place device by preventing the placement range of the tube container 20 performed by the hand portion 32 of 30 from becoming too wide.

Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the tube container 20 is placed, the tube container 20 which is an article has the center of gravity position G of the tube container 20 as described above. In the longitudinal direction, since it is biased to one side (cap member 20f side), the center of gravity position G is placed on the main body 17a of the inclined sliding plate 17 in a state of being tilted diagonally with the cap member 20f side biased downward. It is preferable to do so. The placed tube container 20 in which the center of gravity position G is deviated slides down the main body 17a of the inclined sliding plate 17 while the cap member 20f side is arranged downward and tilted diagonally. As a result, for example, even if the position of the tube container 20 shifts when the inclined sliding plate 17 is placed on the main body portion 17a, the tube container 20 slides stably on the main body portion 17a, and the cap member 20f having the center of gravity position G first. The side is placed on the conveyor portion 13 along the inner side surface of one transport guide 13a, and then the opposite seal joint 20 g side is placed on the conveyor portion 13 along the inner surface of the one transport guide 13a. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the tube container 20 from rotating by itself or popping out from the main body 17a when sliding on the main body 17a, and the tube container 20 is stabilized. It becomes possible to make a movement like that.

Then, in the present embodiment, in the article delivery unit 10 having the above-described configuration, the tube container 20 which is an article having both sides supplied to the article supply unit is picked up and transferred by the robot 30 which is a pick-and-place device. Then, by placing the device 12 on the delivery device 12 including the conveyor unit 13 that moves in the transport direction X, for example, the front side 20a is arranged in a line with the front side 20a facing upward. Further, in the present embodiment, the tube container 20 which is an article having the front and back sides is an article having front and back sides, and the robot 30 which is a pick-and-place device reverses the front and back sides with the front and back sides of the tube container 20 aligned. It is placed on the mechanism 14, the conveyor unit 13, or the inclined slide plate 17, and is sent out in a line.

That is, in the present embodiment, each tube container 20 supplied to the dispersion unit 11b of the article supply unit 11 is imaged by the image pickup device 33, and image processing is performed by the image processing device, so that the position, direction, and front and back are changed. Of the image-recognized tube containers 20, the tube container 20 with the back side 20b opposite to the front side 20a on the alignment side facing upward is picked by being gripped by the hand portion 32 of the robot 30, and the back side 20b is picked up. The front-back reversing mechanism 14 arranged on the side of the conveyor portion 13 of the delivery device 12 in a state where the cap member 20f side is oriented toward the upstream side in the transport direction X and the front and back are aligned with each other while facing upward. And place it on the reversing plate 16. As shown in FIGS. 4A to 4D, the reversing plate 16 of the front / back reversing mechanism 14 in which the tube container 20 is placed has a reversing base portion 20c which is a portion of the tube container 20 on the conveyor portion 13 side and a short surface portion 16b. By rotating the reversing plate 16 with the back side 20b placed on the long surface portion 16a facing up (see FIG. 4A) in the state of being locked to the tube container. The portion 20d opposite to the reversing base portion 20c of 20 is lifted so that the line Z drawn in the vertical direction from the center of gravity position G of the tube container 20 is separated from the tip of the short surface portion 16b (see FIG. 4B). By tilting the tube container 20 toward the conveyor portion 13 so that the opposite portion 20d exceeds the reversing base portion 20c (see FIG. 4C), the tube container 20 is placed on the conveyor portion 13 in a state of being inverted to the front side. (See FIG. 4 (d)).

Further, in the present embodiment, of the tube containers 20 whose positions, directions, and front and back are image-recognized, the tube container 20 with the front side 20a, which is the alignment side, facing upward is gripped by the hand portion 32 of the robot 30. With the front side 20a facing up and the cap member 20f side aligned with the front and back facing the upstream side of the transport direction X, to the side of the conveyor portion 13 of the delivery device 12. It is transferred to the arranged slanted sliding plate 17 and placed on the inverted plate 16. As shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, the inclined sliding plate 17 on which the tube container 20 is placed slides the tube container 20 with the front side 20a, which is the alignment side, facing upward (FIG. 5 (b). ), With the front side 20a facing up, it is placed on the conveyor unit 13 (see FIG. 4C).

As a result, in the present embodiment, a plurality of tube containers 20 which are articles with front and back surfaces supplied to the article supply unit 11 are aligned with the front side 20a facing upward as shown in FIG. 1A. In addition, with the cap member 20f side aligned toward the upstream side of the transport direction X, the cap members can be arranged in a line for the next process and sequentially fed in the transport direction X.

Then, according to the article delivery unit 10 or the article delivery method of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration, a complicated operation such as inverting the front and back of the tube container 20 by the movement of only the robot 30 which is a pick-and-place device can be performed. By the simple movement of the robot 30, it is possible to speedily and efficiently align the front and back articles and send them to the next process.

That is, according to the present embodiment, in the robot 30, the front and back sides are discriminated, and the tube container 20 with the back side 20b on the side opposite to the front side 20a on the aligning side facing up and the back side 20b facing up. In the same state, it is transferred to the front-back reversing mechanism 14 and placed, and the front-back reversing mechanism 14 reverses the placed tube container 20 and the portion of the tube container 20 on the conveyor portion 13 side to the reversing base 20c. By lifting the portion 20d opposite to the reversing base portion 20c, the portion 20d opposite to the reversing base portion 20c was passed above the reversing base portion 20c and tilted toward the conveyor portion 13 to be inverted. It is designed to be placed on the conveyor unit 13 in this state.

Thereby, according to the present embodiment, the robot 30 which is a pick-and-place device does not require a complicated operation of inverting the front and back of the gripped tube container 20, and the selected front / back reversing mechanism 14 or the inclined sliding plate. It is possible to concentrate on the movement for the original function as a pick-and-place device, such as placing the tube container 20 on the 17 with the front and back aligned, and the operation of inverting the front and back of the tube container 20 is a robot. Since the tube container 20 is selected by the 30 and the tube container 20 is placed by the front / back reversing mechanism 14 having a simple configuration different from that of the robot 30, the control of the robot 30 is not complicated and the robot 30 does not complicate the control of the robot 30. , It becomes possible to align the primary packaged tube containers 20 having the front and back sides in a speedy and efficient manner and send them to the next process for secondary packaging, for example.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, it is not always necessary to provide an inclined sliding plate by arranging it side by side with the front-back reversing mechanism on the side of the conveyor portion of the delivery device, and articles with the aligning side facing upward are aligned without using the inclined sliding plate. It is also possible to place it directly on the conveyor unit by a pick-and-place device with the side facing up. Even in this case, the article whose side opposite to the aligning side faces upward can be reversed by the front-back reversing mechanism, so that the same action and effect as described above can be obtained.

Further, the article delivered by the article delivery unit with the front side or the back side facing upward is not particularly limited. The article to be sent out does not necessarily have to be a tube container containing the contents and first packaged. For example, as shown in FIGS. 7 (a) to 7 (d), the cross-sectional area gradually increases toward the flat bottom 25b. The main body 26a extends to the flat bottom 26b as shown in FIGS. 8 (a) to 8 (d) and the bottle container 25 containing no contents having the main body 25a having an elliptical cross-sectional shape. It may be a bottle container 26 or the like having a similar elliptical cross-sectional shape. The content is not limited to the cosmetics shown in the above embodiments, and may be, for example, an ultraviolet inhibitor, liquid soap, shampoo or conditioner, detergent, food, or a powder or solid-liquid mixture other than liquid. It may be. Further, the article does not necessarily have to be a container with front and rear sides for accommodating the contents in the primary packaging, and as shown in FIGS. 9 (a) to 9 (d), it has a flat plate shape with front and back sides but no front and back sides. An article 27 such as a box or a plate, or a cap member 28 having a circular flat shape having upper and lower sides (front and back) but no front and back, as shown in FIGS. 10 (a) to 10 (d), may be used.

In the above embodiment, the front side of the article is aligned upward and sent out, but the back side may be aligned upward and sent out.

Further, the pick-and-place device does not necessarily have to be a robot, and has vertical movement mechanisms 40 and 41 that enable movement in the horizontal plane direction, as shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, for example, in the vertical direction. Various known pick-and-place devices can also be used, including a vertical moving mechanism 42 that allows movement to and a swivel mechanism 44 that allows the hand portion 43 that grips the article 20 to swivel.

10 Goods delivery unit 11 Goods supply part 11a Belt conveyor part 11b Dispersion part 11c Section wall 12 Delivery device 13 Conveyor part 13a Conveyor guide 14 Front and back reversing mechanism 14a Side sheet part 14b Bottom sheet part 15 Rotating shaft part 16 Reversing plate 16a Length Face 16b Short side 17 Inclined sliding plate 17a Main body 17b Bent edge 18 Support frame 19 Base 20 Tube container (article)
20a Front side 20b Back side 20c Conveyor side part of the placed article (reversing base)
20d The part opposite to the part on the conveyor part of the placed article 20e Tube body 20f Cap member 20g Seal joint 21 Conveyor conveyor 22 Vertical movement device 23 Robot arm 23a Suction device 30 Robot (pick and place device)
31 Arm part 32 Hand part 33 Imaging device 34 Head L Tube Container length X Transport direction (delivery direction)
W1 Maximum width of tube container W2 Spacing between a pair of transport guides θ1 Bending angle of the short surface with respect to the long surface θ2 Inclination angle of the long surface θ3 Inclination angle of the main body of the inclined sliding plate

Claims (13)

A plurality of articles with front and back sides supplied to the article supply section are picked up and transferred by a pick-and-place device, and placed on a delivery device provided with a conveyor section that moves in the transport direction, so that the front side or the back side faces upward. It is an article delivery unit that allows you to send out items in a line in a aligned state.
The pick-and-place device discriminates between the front and back sides of the article, and keeps the article facing up on the side opposite to the side to be aligned, with the opposite side facing up, and the conveyor unit of the sending device. It is designed to be transferred to the front and back inversion mechanism located on the side of
The front-back reversing mechanism lifts a portion of the article on the side opposite to the portion on the conveyor portion side of the article, so that the portion on the side opposite to the portion on the conveyor portion side is on the conveyor portion side. An article delivery unit that is placed on the conveyor unit in an inverted state by passing over the portion and tilting it toward the conveyor unit. The front-back reversing mechanism is integrally joined to the rotating shaft portion arranged along the feeding direction on the side of the conveyor portion of the feeding device, and rotates around the rotating shaft portion. The reversing plate is provided with a long surface portion having a long overhang length from the rotating shaft portion, and the inverted plate is bent and extended from the end edge portion of the long surface portion on the rotating shaft portion side. It consists of a short surface portion having a short overhang length from the rotating shaft portion, the conveyor portion side portion of the article is locked to the short surface portion, and the opposite side placed on the long surface portion remains facing up. By rotating the reversing plate, the portion opposite to the portion on the conveyor portion side is lifted, and the article is passed over the portion on the conveyor portion side and tilted toward the conveyor portion. The article delivery unit according to claim 1, wherein the article delivery unit is placed on the conveyor unit in an inverted state. The article delivery unit according to claim 2, wherein the bending angle of the short surface portion of the reversing rotating plate with respect to the long surface portion is less than 90 °. An inclined sliding plate is provided on the side of the conveyor portion of the sending device so as to be arranged side by side with the front-back reversing mechanism in the feeding direction, and the inclined sliding plate is transferred by the pick-and-place device. Any one of claims 1 to 3 in which the article placed on the conveyor is slid and placed on the conveyor unit with the aligning side facing up. The article delivery unit described. The first to fourth aspects of claim 1 to 4, wherein a pair of transfer guides are provided above the transfer surface of the conveyor portion of the delivery device so as to extend in the transfer direction at intervals in a direction perpendicular to the transfer direction. The article delivery unit according to any one of the items. The article delivery unit according to claim 5, wherein the pair of transfer guides are provided at intervals smaller than the maximum width of the article to be delivered. The article delivery unit according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the pick-and-place device is composed of a robot. The article delivery unit according to claim 7, wherein the robot is a dual-arm robot. 7. According to claim 7, the robot is arranged on the side of the conveyor unit, and the article supply unit is arranged on the side opposite to the side on which the robot is arranged with the conveyor unit in between. Goods delivery unit. A plurality of articles with front and back sides supplied to the article supply section are picked up and transferred by a pick-and-place device, and placed on a delivery device provided with a conveyor section that moves in the transport direction, so that the front side or the back side faces upward. It is a method of sending goods that are sent out in a row in a aligned state.
In the pick-and-place device, among the articles whose front and back are determined by image recognition, the articles with the side opposite to the aligning side facing up are kept facing upward, and the delivery device is said to have the same. By transferring and placing it on the front-back reversing mechanism arranged on the side of the conveyor unit, the article is placed on the conveyor unit in a state of being inverted by the front-rear reversing mechanism, and the article with the aligning side facing upward is placed. A method of delivering an article to be placed on the conveyor unit with the alignment side facing upward. In the pick-and-place device, among the articles whose front and back are determined by image recognition, the articles with the aligning side facing up are placed on the side of the conveyor portion of the sending device with the aligning side facing up. By transferring and placing it on the arranged inclined sliding plate, the article facing the aligning side is slid on the inclined sliding plate, and the article is placed on the conveyor portion with the aligning side facing upward. The method of delivering an article according to claim 10, wherein the article is to be placed. 10. The pick-and-place device claims that a front and rear article whose front and rear are determined by image recognition is placed on the front and back reversing mechanism, the conveyor portion, or the inclined slide plate in a state where the front and back are aligned. Or the article delivery method according to 11. The pick-and-place device is composed of a robot, and the hand portion of the robot is moved by a portion directly above the article distribution section of the article supply section to act on the article, so that the article is supplied to the article dispersion section. The article delivery method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the articles are dispersed so as not to overlap each other.

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