JP6954786B2 - Food robot hand - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a food robot hand capable of responding to the takt time of an industrial robot used by being incorporated in a production line of a food factory or the like.

Traditionally, industrial robots have been incorporated into boxes, palletizers, etc. on production lines of food factories. In order to grasp, align, and transport food prepared foods placed on a conveyor using an industrial robot, a food robot hand capable of increasing the tact time of the industrial robot is required. There is.

In relation to this, for example, in Patent Document 1 below, a suction-type gripping device provided with a work holding portion at the tip of a robot arm for sucking and holding a work by an air suction force to move the work at high speed. A suction holding device for holding and releasing with is disclosed. Such a suction type gripping device is not preferable in terms of hygiene because it comes into contact with food prepared foods and holds it, and the nozzle for suction may be clogged with an object, which may impair the suction performance. be.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-290386

Conventionally, as a transfer of high-precision parts such as semiconductor wafers, hard disks, and ceramic plates, Bernoulli chucks that incorporate the strong negative pressure generation function of the ejector and the repulsion function of the pressure type air cushion instead of the suction transfer using the vacuum suction pad. Non-contact type transport such as cyclone type is used. In non-contact transfer such as Bernoulli chuck, a plate-shaped work whose surface is mirror-finished or finely processed on the surface is held and transported, and it is not necessary to consider the binding force in the horizontal direction. When a non-contact type gripping device such as a Bernoulli chuck or a cyclone type is provided at the tip of the robot arm to pick food at high speed, an object such as a food side dish is gripped in a non-contact state. The horizontal binding force does not work. Therefore, when the non-contact hand is holding the object and the non-contact hand is moved horizontally or rotated around the vertical axis, the object slides sideways with respect to the non-contact hand, and the non-contact hand is non-contact. There is a risk that the object will fall out of the contact hand.

The present invention has been invented to solve the above problems, and a non-contact hand is obtained by gripping a food side dish or the like placed on a conveyor in a non-contact manner, and an object such as the food side dish slides sideways. It is an object of the present invention to provide a food robot hand capable of grasping, aligning, and transporting an object without falling off from the robot, and capable of increasing the tact time of an industrial robot.

The food robot hand that achieves the above object is a non-contact hand that ejects gas toward an object and grips the object in a non-contact manner, and a non-contact hand that grips the object in a state where the non-contact hand grips the object. It has a guide member provided so as to cover the outer periphery of the object. The guide member has a flat surface portion fixed to the non-contact hand and extending in the horizontal direction, and a vertical wall portion extending downward in the vertical direction from the flat surface portion. The vertical wall portion is configured to follow the shape of the object when viewed from below in the vertical direction.

According to the food robot hand configured as described above, since the guide member is provided so as to cover the outer circumference of the object, when the object gripped by the non-contact hand tries to skid, the guide member It is possible to prevent the robot from contacting and skidding. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the object from falling off from the non-contact hand. Therefore, the food side dish or the like placed on the conveyor is gripped non-contactly, and the object such as the food side dish slides sideways, and the object is adapted to gripping, aligning, and transporting without falling off from the non-contact hand. , It is possible to provide a food robot hand capable of increasing the tact time of an industrial robot.

It is the schematic which shows the transport device which concerns on this embodiment. It is schematic cross-sectional view which shows the non-contact hand of the transport device which concerns on this embodiment. It is a bottom view which shows the robot hand for food which concerns on this embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the transport device which concerns on modification 1. FIG. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the guide member of the transport device which concerns on modification 2. FIG.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted. The dimensional ratios in the drawings are exaggerated for convenience of explanation and may differ from the actual ratios.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a transport device 1 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a non-contact hand 10 of the transport device 1 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a bottom view showing the food robot hand 5 according to the present embodiment.

The transport device 1 transports an object F (see FIG. 1 and the like) such as a food side dish to a predetermined position while being gripped. Examples of the object F to be transported include various objects such as oval-shaped frozen croquettes, taiyaki, and pork cutlets.

As shown in FIG. 1, the transport device 1 is an elastic member 40 of a food robot hand 5, a robot arm 30 for moving the food robot hand 5 to a predetermined position, a robot arm 30, and a food robot hand 5. It has a connecting portion 50 and a connecting portion 50 which are connected via the above.

The food robot hand 5 has a non-contact hand 10 that grips the object F, and a guide member 20 that is provided so as to cover the outer periphery of the object F.

The non-contact hand 10 ejects gas toward the object F and grips the object F in a non-contact manner. As shown in FIG. 2, the non-contact hand 10 has a main body portion 11 to which a compressed fluid is supplied, and a disk-shaped interpolating portion 12 fixed inside the lower side of the main body portion 11.

The main body 11 has a cylindrical shape having a convex outer shape. As shown in FIG. 2, the main body portion 11 includes a first flow path 111 provided inside and through which a gas flows, a groove portion 112 forming a second flow path 13 together with the upper surface 12A of the interpolation portion 12, and a groove portion 112. It has a tapered portion 113 provided at the lower end and expanding downward in the vertical direction, and a holding surface 114 provided on the outer side of the tapered portion 113 and provided on the lower surface of the main body portion 11 to hold the object F.

As shown in FIG. 2, the first flow path 111 is provided along the vertical direction. A supply port 111a for supplying gas is provided above the first flow path 111. A straight type or L type pipe joint (not shown) for supplying gas is fixed to the supply port 111a.

The interpolation portion 12 is fixed to the main body portion 11 in a state of being inserted into the groove portion 112 of the main body portion 11. The method of fixing the interpolation portion 12 to the main body portion 11 is not particularly limited, but for example, fastening with a fastening member.

As the material constituting the main body portion 11 and the interpolation portion 12, a stainless steel material such as SUS304 is used in order to handle an object such as a food side dish. In order to operate the robot arm 30 at high speed, it is important to reduce the weight. Therefore, by suppressing the weight of the non-contact hand 10 in the state of gripping the object F to 1 kg or less, the robot arm 30 can move the non-contact hand 10 at high speed.

Hereinafter, the mechanism by which the non-contact hand 10 grips the object F in a non-contact manner will be described with reference to FIG.

The gas supplied from the supply port 111a flows in the order of the first flow path 111 and the second flow path 13, and then passes through the gap C1 between the main body portion 11 and the insertion portion 12. Then, the gas that has passed through the gap C1 flows along the tapered shape of the tapered portion 113, and flows outward in the radial direction below the holding surface 114. As a result, by generating a suction force due to a negative pressure and a pulling force due to the discharge fluid between the non-contact hand 10 and the object F, the non-contact hand 10 has a good balance between the suction force and the pulling force. In this state, the object F is gripped in a non-contact manner.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the guide member 20 is provided on the outer periphery of the object F in a state where the non-contact hand 10 holds the object F, and prevents the object F from skidding with respect to the non-contact hand 10. do. As shown in FIG. 1, the guide member 20 has a flat surface portion 21 extending in the horizontal direction and a vertical wall portion 22 extending downward in the vertical direction from the flat surface portion 21. The guide member 20 is formed by pressing a thin plate, and the flat surface portion 21 and the vertical wall portion 22 are integrally formed. The thickness of the guide member 20 is not particularly limited, but is, for example, 0.6 mm to 1.0 mm. By making the guide member 20 thin in this way, the weight of the guide member 20 can be reduced.

The flat surface portion 21 includes a through hole 21A into which the upper portion of the main body portion 11 formed in a convex shape is inserted. The flat surface portion 21 is fixed to the non-contact hand 10 with the upper portion of the main body portion 11 inserted into the through hole 21A. The method of fixing the flat surface portion 21 to the non-contact hand 10 is not particularly limited, but is, for example, fastening by a fastening member.

As shown in FIG. 3, the vertical wall portion 22 is continuously configured in the circumferential direction so as to follow the shape of the object F when viewed from the lower side in the vertical direction. In a state where the non-contact hand 10 is holding the object F, the gap C2 (see FIG. 3) between the vertical wall portion 22 and the object F is not particularly limited, but is preferably 5 to 10 mm. For example, when the gap C2 is smaller than 5 mm, when the non-contact hand 10 is brought close to the object F, the vertical wall portion 22 may crush the object F. Further, when the gap C2 is larger than 10 mm, there is a possibility that the object F does not preferably come into contact with the vertical wall portion 22 when it tries to skid with respect to the non-contact hand 10. Therefore, by setting the gap C2 between the vertical wall portion 22 and the object F to 5 to 10 mm, it is possible to preferably prevent the object F from skidding with respect to the non-contact hand 10, and the object F falls off from the non-contact hand 10. Can be prevented. A configuration in which the gap C2 is smaller than 5 mm and a configuration in which the gap C2 is larger than 10 mm are also included in the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the lower end 22A of the vertical wall portion 22 is located above the lower surface of the object F (for example, 3 to 5 mm), and the object F projects downward from the vertical wall portion 22. Is preferable. According to this configuration, the vertical wall portion 22 does not hit the conveyor belt surface to damage the conveyor belt, and when the object F tries to skid with respect to the non-contact hand 10, the object F touches the vertical wall portion 22. Since the contact with the object F is surely made, the side slip of the object F can be surely prevented. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the object F from falling off from the non-contact hand 10.

As the material constituting the guide member 20, a stainless steel material such as SUS304 is used in order to handle an object such as a food side dish.

With the non-contact hand 10 holding the object F, the robot arm 30 moves the food robot hand 5 in the horizontal and vertical directions or rotates it around the vertical axis to rotate the object F. Is transported to a predetermined position at a desired angle. The robot arm 30 is controlled by a control unit (not shown). Since a known robot arm 30 can be used as the robot arm 30, a detailed description of the robot arm 30 will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the elastic member 40 is provided between the connecting portion 50 and the flat surface portion 21 of the guide member 20. The elastic member 40 is preferably fixed to the flat surface portion 21 of the connecting portion 50 and the guide member 20 so as not to cause a positional deviation.

For example, when the robot arm 30 and the food robot hand 5 are connected without the intervention of the elastic member 40, the food robot hand 5 has a protrusion such as a hump when gripping the object F. On the other hand, since the position of the guide member 20 does not tilt with respect to the protrusions such as the hump, the gap between the guide member 20 and the object F may become large in the portion of the object F other than the protrusions, and the gripping performance may be impaired. On the other hand, according to the transport device 1 according to the present embodiment, since the robot arm 30 and the food robot hand 5 are connected via the elastic member 40, the guide member 20 has protrusions such as humps. Since it is tilted in accordance with the object F, the gap between the guide member 20 and the object F becomes small in the portion of the object F other than the protrusion, and there is no possibility that the gripping performance is impaired. Therefore, it is possible to suitably deal with the object F having protrusions such as humps.

The connecting portion 50 connects the robot arm 30 and the elastic member 40. The connecting portion 50 has a lower surface 51 to which the elastic member 40 is fixed, an upper surface 52 to which the robot arm 30 is fixed, and a continuous portion 53 in which the lower surface 51 and the upper surface 52 are continuous. The connecting portion 50 has a substantially U-shape. Vibration may occur depending on the high-speed picking of the robot arm 30, and ribs 54 may be inserted to supplement the strength of the connecting portion 50.

Next, the operation of the transport device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.

First, the position of the object F is recognized by a camera (not shown), the food robot hand 5 is brought close to the object F by the robot arm 30, and the object F is gripped. The mechanism by which the non-contact hand 10 grips the object F is as described above.

Then, the robot arm 30 moves the food robot hand 5 in a state of gripping the object F in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, and rotates the object F around the axis in the vertical direction to bring the object F into a predetermined position. Place at the desired angle. At this time, when the food robot hand 5 accelerates immediately after gripping, stops at a predetermined position, and further rotates around an axis in the vertical direction, an inertial force acts on the object F to act on the object. The object F tries to skid with respect to the non-contact hand 10. According to the food robot hand 5 according to the present embodiment, since the guide member 20 is provided so as to cover the outer circumference of the object F, when the object F gripped by the non-contact hand 10 tries to skid. In addition, it is possible to prevent the object F from coming into contact with the guide member 20 and slipping sideways. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the object F from falling off from the non-contact hand 10. Further, since the guide member 20 can prevent the object F from skidding, the robot arm 30 can be moved at high speed, and the transport efficiency of the object F can be improved. For example, 100 objects F discharged from the continuous transfer type freezer can be picked per minute.

In order to release the gripping state of the object F in the non-contact hand 10, the solenoid valve (not shown) is stopped to stop the gas supply. Holding and detachment corresponding to high-speed picking of the robot arm 30 can be realized.

As described above, the food robot hand 5 according to the present embodiment targets the non-contact hand 10 that ejects gas toward the object F and grips the object F in a non-contact manner, and the non-contact hand 10. It has a guide member 20 provided so as to cover the outer periphery of the object F in a state where the object F is gripped. According to the food robot hand 5 configured in this way, since the guide member 20 is provided so as to cover the outer periphery of the object F, the object F gripped by the non-contact hand 10 tried to skid. At this time, it is possible to prevent the guide member 20 from coming into contact with the guide member 20 and slipping sideways. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the object F from falling off from the non-contact hand 10. Therefore, the object F placed on the conveyor is gripped non-contactly, and the object F slides sideways, and the object F adapts to gripping, aligning, and transporting without falling off from the non-contact hand 10. It is possible to provide a food robot hand 5 capable of increasing the tact time of an industrial robot.

Further, when the non-contact hand 10 holds the object F, the gap C2 between the guide member 20 and the object F is 5 mm to 10 mm. According to the food robot hand 5 configured in this way, as described above, it is possible to more preferably prevent the object F from falling off from the non-contact hand 10.

Further, the guide member 20 has a flat surface portion 21 fixed to the non-contact hand 10 and extending in the horizontal direction, and a vertical wall portion 22 extending downward in the vertical direction from the flat surface portion 21. According to the food robot hand 5 configured in this way, it is possible to prevent the object F from falling off from the non-contact hand 10 by the guide member 20 having a simple configuration.

Further, in the transport device 1 according to the present embodiment, the above-mentioned food robot hand 5, the robot arm 30 for moving the food robot hand 5, the food robot hand 5 and the robot arm 30 are connected via an elastic member 40. It has a connecting portion 50 and a connecting portion 50 to be connected to the robot. According to the transport device 1 configured in this way, when the non-contact hand 10 grips an object having protrusions such as humps, the gripping performance is impaired because the non-contact hand 10 tilts in accordance with the object having protrusions such as humps. There is no fear. It is also possible to suitably deal with an object having protrusions such as a hump.

Further, as described above, in the guide member 20 according to the present embodiment, the non-contact hand 10 that ejects gas toward the object F and grips the object F in a non-contact manner grips the object F. In the state, it is provided so as to cover the outer periphery of the object F. According to the guide member 20 configured in this way, since the guide member 20 is provided so as to cover the outer circumference of the object F, when the object F gripped by the non-contact hand 10 tries to skid. It is possible to prevent the guide member 20 from coming into contact with the guide member 20 and slipping sideways. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the object F from falling off from the non-contact hand 10.

<Modification example 1>
Next, the configuration of the transport device 2 according to the first modification will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the transport device 2 according to the modified example 1.

The transfer device 2 according to the first modification is different from the transfer device 1 according to the above-described embodiment in the position where the guide member 120 is arranged. Hereinafter, the configuration of the guide member 120 of the transport device 2 according to the first modification will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, the guide member 120 has a flat surface portion 121 and a vertical wall portion 122. The flat surface portion 121 includes a through hole 121A into which the lower portion of the main body portion 11 formed in a convex shape is inserted. The flat surface portion 121 is attached to the lower end of the non-contact hand 10. According to the transport device 2 configured in this way, when the object F is, for example, a croquette, it is possible to prevent the croquette clothes from accumulating in the vicinity of the boundary portion between the flat surface portion 121 and the vertical wall portion 122, and thus hygiene. Above preferred.

<Modification 2>
Next, the configuration of the transport device according to the second modification will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a guide member 220 of the transport device according to the second modification.

The transport device according to the second modification has a different configuration of the guide member 220 as compared with the transport device 1 according to the above-described embodiment. Hereinafter, the configuration of the guide member 220 of the transport device according to the second modification will be described.

As shown in FIG. 5, the guide member 220 has a flat surface portion 221, a first vertical wall portion 222, and a second vertical wall portion 223. In the second modification, the flat surface portion 221 and the first vertical wall portion 222 and the second vertical wall portion 223 are configured as separate bodies from each other.

As shown in FIG. 5, the first vertical wall portion 222 has a first extending surface 222A that covers a part of the flat surface portion 221 and extends in the horizontal direction, and extends vertically downward from the first extending surface 222A. The second extending surface 222B, the third extending surface 222B extending horizontally inward from the second extending surface 222B, and the third extending surface 222C extending vertically downward from the third extending surface 222C. It has 4 extending surfaces 222D and. The first vertical wall portion 222 is formed by pressing a thin plate.

As shown in FIG. 5, the second vertical wall portion 223 covers a part of the flat surface portion 221 and extends horizontally to the first extending surface 223A and extends vertically downward from the first extending surface 223A. It has a second extending surface 223B and the like. The second vertical wall portion 223 is formed in an L shape by pressing a thin plate.

According to the guide member 220 configured in this way, the first vertical wall portion 222 and the second vertical wall portion 223 are slid in the X direction or the Y direction according to the size of the object F to a desired position. Can be fixed with. Therefore, even if the size of the object F is changed, it is possible to prevent the object F from falling off from the non-contact hand 10.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the transport device 1 has the elastic member 40, but the elastic member 40 may not be provided.

Further, the configuration of the non-contact hand 10 is not limited to the above-described configuration, and any non-contact hand 10 may be gripped by a non-contact gripping device such as a Bernoulli chuck or a cyclone type.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the guide member 20 is made of a thin plate, and the flat surface portion 21 and the vertical wall portion 22 are integrally formed. However, the flat surface portion 21 and the vertical wall portion 22 may be configured as separate bodies.

Further, in the above-described embodiment described above, the main body portion 11 has a cylindrical shape having a convex outer shape, but the main body portion may have a cylindrical shape having a non-convex outer diameter and a constant outer diameter.

1, 2 transport device,
5 Food robot hand,
10 non-contact hand,
11 Main body,
12 Interpolation part,
20, 120, 220 guide members,
21,221 flat surface,
22 Vertical wall,
222 1st vertical wall,
223 Second vertical wall,
30 robot arm,
40 elastic member,
50 connections,
123 Radiant part,
Gap between C2 guide member and object,
F Object.

Claims (6)

A non-contact hand that ejects gas toward an object and grips the object in a non-contact manner.
In a state in which the non-contact hand grips the object, have a, a guide member provided so as to cover the outer periphery of the object,
The guide member
A flat surface portion fixed to the non-contact hand and extending in the horizontal direction,
It has a vertical wall portion extending downward in the vertical direction from the flat surface portion.
The vertical wall portion, when viewed from the lower side in the vertical direction, food robot hand that is configured so as to conform to the shape of the object. The food robot hand according to claim 1, wherein the gap between the guide member and the object is 5 mm to 10 mm when the non-contact hand grips the object. The food robot hand according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the flat surface portion is attached to the lower end of the non-contact hand. The food robot hand according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the vertical wall portion is slidably fixed in a horizontal direction with respect to the flat surface portion. The food robot hand according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A robot arm that moves the food robot hand and
A transport device having a connecting portion for connecting the food robot hand and the robot arm via an elastic member. A guide member provided so as to cover the outer periphery of the object when a non-contact hand that ejects gas toward the object and grips the object in a non-contact manner grips the object .
A flat surface portion fixed to the non-contact hand and extending in the horizontal direction,
It has a vertical wall portion extending downward in the vertical direction from the flat surface portion.
The vertical wall portion is a guide member configured to follow the shape of the object when viewed from below in the vertical direction.

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