JP6914528B2 - Tire moving device and waste tire disposal system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a tire moving device and a waste tire treatment system.

A conventional bead wire removing device for waste tires is disclosed in Patent Document 1. This bead wire removing device sequentially conveys waste tires to the tire supply unit by a belt conveyor. The tire supply unit temporarily holds the waste tires in a rollable state, and then sends them to the tire holding means in order. The tire holding means holds the waste tire in a standing posture in a rollable state, and pulls out the hook body from both sides by engaging with the bead of the waste tire. Then, the waste tire after the bead is pulled out is dropped downward and put into the inlet hopper of the crusher to perform the crushing process.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-220610

However, if the waste tire is placed on the belt conveyor incorrectly, it may roll in the wrong direction or fall during transportation. It was difficult to replace the work of placing waste tires on a belt conveyor with a machine, and it had to be done manually. Since the work of placing the waste tires on the belt conveyor is hard work, continuous work cannot be performed, and improvement of work efficiency has been required.

An object of the present invention is to provide a tire moving device capable of appropriately placing waste tires on a belt conveyor and a waste tire processing system having the tire moving device.

In order to achieve the above object, the tire moving device of one aspect of the present invention includes a robot hand, a control unit that controls the robot hand so as to pick up waste tires at a collection site and move them to a belt conveyor, and a robot hand. The robot has a handheld camera that captures the scrap tires picked up by the robot, and the control unit acquires the posture of the scrap tires based on the image of the hand camera and releases the scrap tires at a position corresponding to the posture. Control the hand.

According to the tire moving device of the present invention, the waste tire is picked up and the waste tire is released at a position corresponding to the posture. From this, depending on the posture, for example, (1) the waste tires are dropped directly on the belt conveyor, or (2) if the belt conveyor has a hopper installed, the hopper is applied to the hopper for posture. After changing it, it can be dropped on a belt conveyor, or (3) the height at which waste tires are dropped can be changed. Therefore, the posture of the waste tire when it falls on the belt conveyor can be made almost constant, or the waste tire can be dropped with relatively little impact by moving the waste tire closer to the belt conveyor and then moving it away. It can be properly placed on a conveyor belt.

In the present invention, the posture of the waste tire includes a vertical posture in which the central axis is horizontal and a horizontal posture in which the central axis is vertical, and when the control unit is in the vertical posture, the waste tire is installed on the belt conveyor. Release at the position where it falls directly on the belt conveyor at the time of the hopper, and in the horizontal position, after a part of the waste tire hits the hopper, release it at the position where it falls on the belt conveyor with the other part facing down. It is preferable to control the robot hand. By doing so, the waste tire can be dropped on the belt conveyor with the tread portion of the waste tire facing down in both the vertical posture and the horizontal posture, and the waste tire can be more appropriately placed on the belt conveyor. Further, since the waste tire can be dropped from a relatively high position, the moving distance of the waste tire can be reduced.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the hopper is composed of a plurality of rollers. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the waste tire that hits the hopper from being caught in the middle and slide down from the tread portion, so that the waste tire can be more appropriately placed on the belt conveyor.

In the present invention, an overall camera for photographing the waste tires at the accumulation location is further provided, and the control unit acquires the height position of the waste tires at the accumulation location based on the image of the entire camera, and based on the height position. It is preferable to select waste tires to be picked up by the robot hand. By doing so, it is possible to pick up the waste tires piled up at the collection site from a relatively high position, and therefore move efficiently without significantly destroying the piled up waste tires. can do.

In order to achieve the above object, the waste tire treatment system of another aspect of the present invention includes a belt conveyor, a waste tire crushing device arranged downstream of the belt conveyor, and the tire moving device described above. It is characterized by. According to the present invention, since the tire moving device is provided, waste tires can be appropriately placed on a belt conveyor.

According to the present invention, the waste tire can be appropriately placed on the belt conveyor, so that the work efficiency can be effectively improved.

It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the waste tire processing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the tire moving apparatus which the waste tire processing system of FIG. 1 has. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process executed by the control part of the tire moving device of FIG. It is a figure explaining the example of the posture when the tire moving device of FIG. 2 picks up a waste tire. It is a figure which shows an example of the case where the waste tire of a vertical posture is put into a hopper. It is a figure which shows an example of the case where the waste tire of a lateral posture is put into a hopper. It is a figure which shows another example in the case of throwing a waste tire of a lateral posture into a hopper.

Hereinafter, the waste tire treatment system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to each figure.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a waste tire treatment system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) is a view seen from above, and FIG. 1 (b) is a view seen from the side. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a tire moving device included in the waste tire processing system of FIG. FIG. 2A is a side view of the robot hand included in the tire moving device. FIG. 2B is a front view of the robot hand. FIG. 2C is a functional block diagram of the tire moving device.

The waste tire processing system 1 of the present embodiment includes a transport unit 2, transport devices 10 and 10, a waste tire crushing device 18, and tire moving devices 20 and 20.

The transport unit 2 has a first conveyor 3 and a second conveyor 4 arranged downstream thereof so that the transport direction bends at a right angle. The first conveyor 3 conveys the waste tire T loaded by a wheel loader (not shown) and drops it onto the second conveyor 4. When the waste tires T are accumulated, the second transport conveyor 4 transports the waste tires T to the tire moving device 20, which will be described later. The second conveyor 4 corresponds to a collection site.

The transport device 10 includes a belt conveyor 11, a hopper 12, and a guide portion 15.

The belt conveyor 11 conveys the waste tires T placed with the sidewall portion Tb facing down to the waste tire crushing device 18 one by one.

The hopper 12 is arranged at the upstream end of the belt conveyor 11, and the waste tire T is thrown in by the tire moving device 20 described later. The hopper 12 has an upstream end wall portion 13 arranged at the upstream end of the belt conveyor 11 and side wall portions 14, 14 arranged on both sides of the belt conveyor 11. The upstream end wall portion 13 and the side wall portions 14, 14 surround the upstream end portion of the belt conveyor 11 on three sides. The upstream end wall portion 13 and the side wall portions 14, 14 are composed of a plurality of rollers. These plurality of rollers are arranged side by side in an inclined manner in which the rotation axis is parallel to the belt conveyor 11 and gradually approaches the belt conveyor 11 from the upper side to the lower side.

The guide portion 15 is arranged adjacent to the downstream side of the hopper 12, and the waste tire T protruding outside moves downstream while being in contact with the guide portion 15 to return the guide portion 15 onto the belt conveyor 11. The guide portion 15 is composed of a plurality of rollers arranged on both sides of the belt conveyor 11. These plurality of rollers are arranged side by side so that the rotation axis is orthogonal to the belt conveyor 11 and gradually approaches the belt conveyor 11 from upstream to downstream.

The waste tire crushing device 18 pulls out the bead wire of the waste tire T conveyed by the conveying device 10 to separate it from the rubber portion, and crushes the rubber portion into chips.

The tire moving device 20 moves the waste tires T accumulated on the second conveyor 4 to the belt conveyor 11 one by one. The tire moving device 20 includes a robot hand 21, a hand camera 25, an overall camera 27, and a control unit 28.

The robot hand 21 has a swivel portion 22, an articulated arm portion 23 erected on the upper surface thereof, and a hand portion 24 provided at the tip of the arm portion 23 to grip the waste tire T. The swivel mechanism of the swivel portion 22, the joint mechanism of the arm portion 23, and the opening / closing mechanism of the hand portion 24 have an actuator 26 such as a servomotor. The robot hand 21 performs a turning operation, a joint bending / extending operation, and an opening / closing operation by the actuator 26.

The hand camera 25 is attached to the arm portion 23 of the robot hand 21, and photographs the waste tire T grasped by the hand portion 24.

The overall camera 27 is installed in front of the robot hand 21 with the second conveyor 4 interposed therebetween. The overall camera 27 captures the entire working range (range within reach of the hand portion 24) of the robot hand 21 on the second conveyor 4.

The control unit 28 includes a computer. The control unit 28 controls the operation of the entire tire moving device 20. The control unit 28 is connected to the actuator 26, the hand camera 25, and the overall camera 27. The control unit 28 may be composed of one computer, or may be composed of a plurality of computers provided on the robot hand 21 and the overall camera 27, respectively.

Here, the processing performed by the control unit 28 and the state of the waste tire T when the waste tire T is put into the hopper 12 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the tire movement process executed by the control unit 28. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a posture when the waste tire T is picked up. In FIGS. 4A to 4F, the upper figure is a view when the hand portion 24 is viewed from the turning portion 22 side of the robot hand 21, and the lower figure is a view of the waste tire T at that time with a hand camera. This is an example of a captured image.

FIG. 4A shows a vertical posture in which the central axis P of the waste tire T is horizontal. FIG. 4B shows a left-sided lateral posture in which the central axis of the waste tire T is vertical and the whole is left-sided. FIG. 4C shows a right-sided lateral posture in which the central axis P of the waste tire T is vertical and the whole is on the right side. FIG. 4D shows a posture in which the central axis P of the waste tire T rises to the left with respect to the horizontal and is tilted at 15 degrees. FIG. 4 (e) shows a posture in which the central axis P of the waste tire T is inclined to the left and 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal. FIG. 4 (f) shows a posture in which the central axis P of the waste tire T is tilted upward to the right by 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal. Here, the left and right means when the hand portion 24 is viewed from the turning portion 22 side of the robot hand 21. In the present embodiment, when the central axis P of the waste tire T is 45 degrees or more with respect to the horizontal, it is treated as a horizontal posture, and when it is less than 45 degrees, it is treated as a vertical posture. The threshold values for the horizontal posture and the vertical posture (45 degrees in the present embodiment) can be arbitrarily set according to the configuration of the waste tire processing system 1.

5 to 7 are views showing an example of throwing a waste tire into a hopper, FIG. 5 shows a vertical posture, FIG. 6 shows a left-sided horizontal posture, and FIG. 7 shows a right-sided horizontal posture.

First, the control unit 28 analyzes the image taken by the overall camera 27 to acquire the height positions of the plurality of waste tires T accumulated on the second conveyor 4, and the waste tire at the highest position. T is specified (step S110).

Next, the control unit 28 transmits a control signal to the actuator 26, selects the specified waste tire T as a movement target, grasps the waste tire T with the hand unit 24, and lifts the waste tire T with the arm unit 23 (step S120). ).

Next, the control unit 28 analyzes the image taken by the hand camera 25 and acquires the posture of the scrap tire T that has been picked up (step S130). As an image analysis method for acquiring the posture of the waste tire T, for example, the posture can be detected by detecting an edge and comparing it with an image prepared in advance, or machine learning can be performed by inputting a large number of images of different postures. Various image analysis methods can be used, such as detecting the posture using the training data generated by the operation.

Then, the control unit 28 transmits a control signal to the actuator 26, turns the turning unit 22 to move the hand unit 24 to the upper part of the hopper 12, separates the waste tire T, and puts the waste tire T into the hopper 12.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5A, if the waste tire T is in the vertical posture (vertical posture in step S140), the hand portion 24 is moved upward at the upstream end wall portion 13 of the belt conveyor 11. do. Then, as shown in FIG. 5B, the waste tire T is directly dropped onto the belt conveyor 11 with the tread portion Ta facing down (step S150). After that, as shown in FIGS. 5 (c) to 5 (e), the waste tire T that fell on the belt conveyor 11 fell to the upstream end wall portion 13 and was dragged to the downstream side by the belt conveyor 11 to move the sidewall portion Tb. It is placed on a belt conveyor 11 with its face down and conveyed downstream.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6A, if the waste tire T is in the left-side lateral posture (left-side lateral posture in step S140), the hand portion 24 is slightly downstream of the upstream end wall portion 13 in the belt conveyor 11. The waste tire T is released by moving it to the upper side of the position and turning the sidewall portion Tb downward (step S160). At this time, as shown in FIG. 6B, the left side portion of the waste tire T is above the upstream end wall portion 13, and the left portion hits the upstream end wall portion 13 so that the waste tire T changes its posture and is on the right side. It falls on the belt conveyor 11 with the tread portion Ta of the portion facing down. After that, as shown in FIGS. 6 (c) to 6 (e), the waste tire T that fell on the belt conveyor 11 overlaps the sidewall portion Tb on the upstream end wall portion 13 and is dragged to the downstream side by the belt conveyor 11. It is placed on the belt conveyor 11 with the sidewall portion Tb facing down and conveyed downstream.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 7A, if the waste tire T is in the rightward lateral posture (rightward lateral posture in step S140), the hand portion 24 is moved to the upper side of the upstream end wall portion 13 and the sidewall portion Tb. Release the waste tire T (step S170). At this time, as shown in FIG. 7B, the left side portion of the waste tire T is above the upstream end wall portion 13, and the left portion hits the upstream end wall portion 13 so that the waste tire T changes its posture and is on the right side. It falls on the belt conveyor 11 with the tread portion Ta of the portion facing down. After that, as shown in FIGS. 7 (c) to 7 (e), the waste tire T that fell on the belt conveyor 11 overlaps the sidewall portion Tb on the upstream end wall portion 13 and is dragged to the downstream side by the belt conveyor 11. It is placed on the belt conveyor 11 with the sidewall portion Tb facing down and conveyed downstream.

In this way, the tire moving device 20 can drop the waste tire T from the tread portion Ta onto the belt conveyor 11 by releasing the waste tire T at a position corresponding to the posture of the scrap tire T that has been picked up.

From the above, according to the waste tire processing system 1 of the present embodiment, the tire moving device 20 picks up the waste tire T and releases the waste tire T at a position corresponding to the posture. Therefore, depending on the posture, the waste tire T can be dropped directly on the belt conveyor 11 or can be dropped on the belt conveyor 11 after being hit by the hopper 12 to change the posture. Therefore, the posture of the waste tire T when it falls on the belt conveyor 11 can be made substantially constant, and the waste tire T can be appropriately placed on the belt conveyor 11.

Further, the posture of the waste tire T includes a vertical posture in which the central axis is horizontal and a horizontal posture in which the central axis is vertical. Then, in the vertical posture, the waste tire T is separated at the upstream end wall portion 13 of the hopper 12 installed on the belt conveyor 11 and at a position where it directly falls on the belt conveyor 11, and in the horizontal posture, the left side of the waste tire T is left. After the portion hits the upstream end wall portion 13 of the hopper 12, the right portion different from the left portion is turned down and separated at a position where it falls on the belt conveyor 11. By doing so, the tread portion Ta of the waste tire T can be dropped onto the belt conveyor 11 and overlapped with the upstream end wall portion 13 in both the vertical posture and the horizontal posture. As a result, the waste tire T overlapping the upstream end wall portion 13 can be more appropriately placed on the belt conveyor by dragging and knocking down the waste tire T on the belt conveyor 11. Further, since the waste tire T can be dropped from a relatively high position, the moving distance of the waste tire T can be reduced, and the work efficiency can be effectively improved.

Further, the upstream end wall portion 13 and the side wall portions 14, 14 of the hopper 12 are composed of a plurality of rollers. By doing so, the waste tire T that hits the upstream end wall portion 13 is suppressed from being caught in the middle and slides downward from the tread portion Ta, so that the waste tire T is more appropriately placed on the belt conveyor 11. Can be done. Further, the waste tire T that hits the side wall portions 14 and 14 is also prevented from being caught in the middle and slides down.

Further, the height position of the waste tire T accumulated on the second conveyor 4 is acquired based on the image of the entire camera 27, and the waste tire to be picked up by the robot hand is selected based on the height position. By doing so, it is possible to pick up the waste tires T piled up on the second conveyor 4 from a relatively high position, and therefore the piled up waste tires T are greatly destroyed. It is possible to move efficiently.

In the above-described embodiment, when the central axis P of the waste tire T is 45 degrees or more with respect to the horizontal, it is treated as a horizontal posture, and when it is less than 45 degrees, it is treated as a vertical posture and separated at a position corresponding to the horizontal posture and the vertical posture. However, it is not limited to this. For example, the waste tire T may be separated at a position corresponding to the angle of the central axis P of the waste tire T with respect to the horizontal. By doing so, the position can be finely adjusted and the waste tire T can be released at a more appropriate position. Therefore, the variation in the posture of the waste tire T when it falls on the belt conveyor 11 is further suppressed and is constant. The waste tire T can be more appropriately placed on the belt conveyor 11. Alternatively, depending on the posture, the waste tire T may be moved as close as possible to the belt conveyor 11 and then separated. By doing so, the impact can be relatively reduced and dropped, and the waste tire T can be appropriately placed on the belt conveyor 11.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the upstream end wall portion 13 and the side wall portions 14, 14 of the hopper 12 are composed of a plurality of rollers, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, each wall portion may be formed. , An iron plate or an iron bar may be used instead of the roller.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these examples. As long as the gist of the present invention is provided, a person skilled in the art appropriately adding, deleting, or changing the design of the above-described embodiment, or combining the features of the embodiment as appropriate is also present. Included in the scope of the invention.

1 ... Waste tire processing system, 2 ... Conveyor, 3 ... 1st conveyor, 4 ... 2nd conveyor, 10 ... Conveyor, 11 ... Belt conveyor, 12 ... Hopper, 13 ... Upstream end wall, 14 ... Side wall Part, 15 ... Guide part, 18 ... Waste tire crushing device, 20 ... Tire moving device, 21 ... Robot hand, 22 ... Turning part, 23 ... Arm part, 24 ... Hand part, 25 ... Hand camera, 26 ... Actuator, 27 ... Overall camera, 28 ... Control unit, T ... Waste tires

Claims (5)

With a robot hand
A control unit that controls the robot hand to pick up the waste tires at the collection site and move them to the belt conveyor.
It has a handheld camera that shoots the scrap tires picked up by the robot hand,
A tire moving device characterized in that a control unit acquires a posture of a waste tire based on an image of a hand camera and controls a robot hand so as to release the waste tire at a position corresponding to the posture. The posture of the scrap tire includes a vertical posture with the central axis horizontal and a horizontal posture with the central axis vertical.
The control unit
In the vertical position, release the waste tire at the hopper installed on the belt conveyor and at the position where it falls directly on the belt conveyor.
The first aspect of the present invention is to control the robot hand so that after a part of the waste tire hits the hopper in the lateral posture, the other part other than the part is turned down and released at a position where the tire falls on the belt conveyor. The described tire moving device. The tire moving device according to claim 2, wherein the hopper is composed of a plurality of rollers. Equipped with an entire camera that captures the waste tires at the collection site,
Claims 1 to 1, wherein the control unit acquires the height position of the waste tire at the accumulation location based on the image of the entire camera, and selects the waste tire to be picked up by the robot hand based on the height position. The tire moving device according to any one of claims 3. A waste tire processing system comprising a belt conveyor, a waste tire crushing device arranged downstream of the belt conveyor, and a tire moving device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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