JP7263809B2 - Holding mechanism and transport device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a holding mechanism and a conveying device, and more particularly to a holding mechanism and a conveying device used for holding and conveying articles.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an article holding device disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, has been proposed for transporting various articles. The article holding device of Patent Literature 1 includes a suction holding body that sucks and holds the upper surface of an article, and a clamping body that clamps the article sucked and held by the suction holding body from both sides.

JP 2013-39644 A

In Patent Literature 1, although the clamping bodies clamp the article from both sides, there is no structure for supporting the article from below. Therefore, when the entire article holding apparatus is moved, if the suction holding force of the suction holding body is not sufficient, problems such as the suction holding body separating from the article due to acceleration and inertia during movement may occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a holding mechanism and a conveying apparatus that can stably hold an article whose upper surface is sucked by a suction portion.

A holding mechanism according to one aspect of the present invention is a holding mechanism that sucks and holds an article from the upper surface side, comprising: a suction unit that sucks the upper surface of the article; a holding assist state that assists holding of the article by the suction unit; and a holding assisting portion capable of switching between a retracted state for canceling the assisting state, the holding assisting portion biasing the rotation support shaft, the pressing member that abuts on the article in the holding assisting state , and the pressing member. The rotation support shaft is provided so as to be switchable between the holding assistance state and the retracted state of the holding assisting portion by rotating the holding member, and the holding member moves the holding assisting state. In this state, the spring member abuts on the side portion of the article inside the outermost peripheral edge in the horizontal direction and below the upper end of the outermost peripheral edge, and the one end side of the spring member is fixed to the tip side of the pressing member. 1. The pressing member exerts an obliquely upward force to approach the article until at least a position where the pressing member is horizontal .

Further, a holding mechanism according to one aspect of the present invention is a holding mechanism that sucks and holds an article from the upper surface side, and includes a suction section that sucks the upper surface of the article and a holding assist state that assists holding of the article by the suction section. and a holding assisting portion capable of switching between a retracted state for canceling the holding assisting state, the holding assisting portion including a rotation support shaft, a pressing member that abuts on the article in the holding assisting state , and the pressing member. The rotation support shaft is provided so as to be able to switch between the holding assisting state and the retracted state of the holding assisting portion by rotating the holding member, and the holding member is provided with the In the holding assistance state, the spring member abuts against the side portion of the article at the outermost peripheral edge in the horizontal direction of the article, and is at least partially disposed inside the outermost peripheral edge and below the upper end of the outermost peripheral edge. (1) is characterized in that one end side is fixed to the tip side of the pressing member, and the tip of the pressing member exerts an oblique upward force to approach the article at least to a position where the pressing member becomes horizontal.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a conveying apparatus including: the holding mechanism; and a moving mechanism that moves the holding mechanism so that the sucked and held article can be conveyed.

According to the present invention, since the pressing member abuts and is arranged as described above with respect to the article whose upper surface is sucked by suction, the pressing member is obliquely downward to upward with respect to the article sucked by the sucking section. A pressing force can be applied. As a result, even if a force is applied to the article due to the movement of the holding mechanism, it is possible to prevent the adsorption section from being separated from the upper surface of the article, resulting in poor adsorption, and to stably hold the article.

1 is a schematic perspective view of a holding mechanism according to an embodiment; FIG. It is the front view which carried out the sectional view of a part of holding mechanism which concerns on embodiment. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state immediately before an article is sucked by a suction unit; FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a state immediately after an article is sucked by a suction unit; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the state just before the article is held down by the holding aid; 3 is a front view similar to FIG. 2 when holding an article having another shape; FIG.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Below, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and can be modified appropriately without changing the gist of the invention. In the following diagrams, part of the configuration may be omitted for convenience of explanation. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, "up", "down", "left", "right", "front", and "back" are based on directions indicated by arrows in each drawing. However, the orientation of each configuration is merely an example, and can be changed to any orientation.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a holding mechanism according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a front view showing a cross-section of part of the holding mechanism according to the embodiment. 1 and 2 show a state in which the holding mechanism holds an article (holding assistance state). As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the holding mechanism 1 includes a support plate 2 provided at the rear and extending in the vertical direction, and an elevating mechanism 3 fixed to the front surface of the support plate 2 . The support plate 2 is a portion connected to a robot arm such as a multi-joint arm, a two-axis or three-axis moving device, and a moving mechanism such as a rail in a transport device (not shown). used for Therefore, it is possible to configure a conveying apparatus including the holding mechanism 1 of the present embodiment and the moving mechanism.

Here, as an example, the article W held by the holding mechanism 1 of the present embodiment is a bento box having a substantially circular top view. The article W of the present embodiment includes a lower storage portion Wa and a lid portion Wb that closes the upper portion of the storage portion Wa. A flange portion Wc is formed on the side surface of the article W and on the outer peripheral side of the lid portion Wb so as to protrude outward. A side surface of the housing portion Wa is formed by a tapered inclined surface that widens upward from the lower end. Here, the entire side area of the article W between the outer edge of the lower surface (bottom surface) of the container portion Wa of the article W and the outer edge of the upper surface of the lid portion Wb is defined as the side portion of the article W. As shown in FIG. Accordingly, such side portions include the outer edge, the flange portion Wc, and the inclined surface of the accommodation portion Wa.

The elevating mechanism 3 is composed of a single-axis robot or the like that vertically moves a slider 3a on the front surface, and a bracket 4 is fixed to the slider 3a and extends obliquely forward and downward from the front surface of the slider 3a. A hand portion 10 is connected to the lower surface of the bracket 4, and the bracket 4 and the hand portion 10 can move up and down by moving the slider 3a up and down.

The hand unit 10 includes a base plate 11 formed in a substantially circular plate shape and oriented in the horizontal direction, and a suction unit 12 (not shown in FIG. 1) provided in the in-plane center region on the lower surface side of the base plate 11. there is A horizontally oriented connection plate 13 is connected to the upper surface of the base plate 11 via a plurality of support rods 14 , and the connection plate 13 is connected to the lower surface of the bracket 4 to support the hand section 10 .

The suction unit 12 includes a plurality of suction pads 12a provided below the base plate 11 and having a suction cup shape or a bellows shape. In the suction unit 12, for example, suction pads 12a are provided side by side at four locations on the front, rear, left and right sides. Each suction pad 12a is connected to a hose (none of which is shown) that communicates with a suction source, which will be described later. Suction through these hoses creates a negative pressure on the suction surface, which is the lower surface of the suction pads 12a, to lift the article W from the upper surface. It becomes possible to hold by adsorption from the side.

The holding mechanism 1 further includes a holding assisting portion 20 capable of switching between a holding assisting state for assisting the holding of the article W by the suction portion 12 and a retracted state for canceling the holding assisting state. The holding assisting portion 20 includes a frame body 21 formed in a rectangular shape elongated in the left-right direction when viewed from above. The frame body 21 includes a front frame 22, a rear frame 23, a left frame 24, and a right frame 25, each having an elongated plate shape. The rear frame 23 is connected to the support plate 2 on both left and right sides of the lifting mechanism 3 via U-shaped connecting members 26 (not shown in FIG. 2). Therefore, even if the hand part 10 is moved up and down by the elevating mechanism 3 , the holding assisting part 20 (frame body 21 ) does not move, and the hand part 10 (suction part 12 ) moves relative to the holding assisting part 20 . It can be raised and lowered independently.

The holding assisting portion 20 has a pair of left and right holding members 28 that contact the article W from the sides thereof. The pressing member 28 is generally plate-shaped and has a shape extending in the front-rear direction. 1 and 2, the pressing member 28 is oriented in an inclined direction that descends as it approaches the article W in the left-right direction.

Here, in the pressing member 28, the surface facing the article W is defined as the front surface, and the opposite surface is defined as the back surface. The pressing member 28 is rotatably supported via a rotation support shaft 30 at a position near its upper end. Specifically, a bearing body 28a is formed in a raised state on the upper side of the surface of the pressing member 28, and the rotation support shaft 30 is arranged so as to pass through the bearing body 28a. Both ends of the rotation support shaft 30 are connected to the front frame 22 and the rear frame 23 . The pressing member 28 is provided so as to be rotatable in a direction in which the lower end swings in the left-right direction with the rotation support shaft 30 as the center position. As a result, the lower end side of the pressing member 28 can be rotated in a direction in which the lower end side of the holding member 28 moves away from the article W adsorbed by the adsorption portion 12 .

The pressing member 28 has a cushioning sheet 31 attached to substantially the entire area below the bearing body 28a on the surface side thereof. The buffer sheet 31 is made of an elastic material such as rubber, and acts to absorb the impact caused by contact with the article W. As shown in FIG.

The pressing member 28 is biased by a spring member 32 . The spring members 32 are composed of tension springs and are provided on both front and rear sides of each pressing member 28 .

One end (upper end) of the spring member 32 is fixed to the frame 21 via an upper fixed shaft 33 . The upper fixed shaft 33 extends in the front-rear direction and is fixed to the inner surfaces of the front frame 22 and the rear frame 23. The upper end sides of two spring members 32 arranged in the front-rear direction are fixed to one upper fixed shaft 33. be done.

The other end (lower end) of the spring member 32 is fixed to the pressing member 28 via the lower fixed shaft 34 . Specifically, a shaft holder 28b is formed in a raised state on the lower side of the back surface of the pressing member 28, and the lower fixed shaft 34 is arranged so as to pass through the shaft holder 28b. The lower fixed shaft 34 extends in the front-rear direction and protrudes on both front and rear sides of the pressing member 28 , and the lower end sides of the two spring members 32 arranged in the front-rear direction are fixed to one lower fixed shaft 34 . The spring member 32 exerts an obliquely upward force that causes the lower end (tip) of the pressing member 28 to approach the article W at least until the pressing member 28 becomes horizontal.

The holding assisting portion 20 is provided with drive mechanisms 36 on both left and right sides for driving the pressing member 28 in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation by the spring member 32 . The drive mechanism 36 is configured by an air cylinder or the like. Specifically, the drive mechanism 36 includes a cylinder body 36a fixed to the outer surface side of the left frame 24 and the right frame 25, a rod 36b inserted into the cylinder body 36a and moving in the left-right direction, and a and a roller 36c provided.

The drive mechanism 36 drives the rod 36b so as to move the roller 36c and the rod 36b between the retracted position and the pressing position (see FIG. 3). At the retracted position, the rod 36b is arranged so that the roller 36c is separated from the back surface of the pressing member 28 as shown in FIG. At the pressing position, the rod 36b is arranged so that the roller 36c presses the pressing member 28 as shown in FIG. The contact position of the roller 36 c with the pressing member 28 at the pressing position is a position above the rotation support shaft 30 . By pressing the driving mechanism 36 to the pressing position, the pressing member 28 is arranged along the substantially vertical direction.

Here, a rotation support shaft 30 that rotatably supports the pressing member 28, a spring member 32 that exerts a force in the direction in which the pressing member 28 approaches the article W, and a drive mechanism that drives the pressing member 28 in the direction opposite to this direction. 36 constitutes a rotating portion for driving the pressing member 28 .

Next, the operation of holding an article by the holding mechanism 1 of the present embodiment and the conveying method using the holding mechanism 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5. FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the state immediately before the suction unit picks up an article. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the state immediately after the article is sucked by the suction unit. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing just before the article is held down by the holding aid. In addition, FIG. 2 shows a state in which an article is held down by the holding assisting portion.

In the transport method of the present embodiment, first, the adsorption step is performed. As shown in FIG. 3, before the suction process is performed, the rod 36b and the roller 36c of the drive mechanism 36 are at the pressing position, and the left and right pressing members 28 are arranged to face the vertical direction (retracted state). .

In the suction step, the coordinate values in the front-rear and left-right directions of the article W placed in the case C1 of the transfer source are obtained in advance, and based on these coordinate values, the holding mechanism 1 moves the article by a robot arm or the like (not shown). It is moved above W and then positioned. Due to this positioning, the suction section 12 is arranged at a position spaced upward from the central region of the upper surface of the article W. As shown in FIG.

After this positioning, the elevating mechanism 3 is driven to lower the bracket 4 and the hand portion 10 . Due to this descent, the suction unit 12 is also lowered, and the descent of the hand unit 10 is stopped at a height position where the suction pad 12a of the suction unit 12 contacts the upper surface of the article W as shown in FIG.

When the suction pad 12a is brought into contact with the upper surface of the article W, the suction pad 12a of the suction unit 12 communicating with a suction source (not shown) generates a negative pressure, and the upper surface of the article W is held by suction. After the article W is sucked and held, the lifting mechanism 3 is driven to lift the bracket 4 and the hand portion 10 as shown in FIG. Due to such a rise, the suction portion 12 and the article W held by the suction portion 12 are also raised, and the lifting of the hand portion 10 is stopped at a height position where the article W is positioned between the left and right pressing members 28 . At this time, the article W is taken out above the case C1.

After the adsorption step is performed, a holding assisting step is performed in which the holding assisting portion 20 assists the adsorption and holding of the article W by the adsorption portion 12 . In the holding assistance step, as shown in FIG. 2, the driving mechanism 36 drives the rod 36b to a retracted position where the roller 36c separates from the back surface of the pressing member 28. As shown in FIG. As a result, the pressing member 28 is rotated around the rotation support shaft 30 by the tensile force of the spring member 32 . Due to this rotation, the pressing member 28 is displaced from the right and left sides of the article W so as to rotate obliquely upward and approach the article W. As shown in FIG. Then, the tip of the pressing member 28 (buffer sheet 31) abuts on the inclined side surface (side portion) of the storage portion Wa of the article W at the abutting position T. As shown in FIG. Due to this contact, the spring member 32 and the pressing member 28 act to lift the article W obliquely downward and upward, so that the article W is pressed from below and sandwiched from the left and right to restrict displacement in the left and right directions. Become. In this manner, the suction and holding of the article W by the suction portion 12 is assisted by the pressing member 28, and the holding assisting portion 20 can be switched from the retracted state to the holding assisting state.

Here, in the illustrated article W, the outermost edge in the horizontal direction is the outer edge of the collar Wc, and the contact position T is inside the outer edge of the collar Wc and below the upper end of the outer edge. In this state of abutting and supporting the article W, the upper end side of the pressing member 28 is arranged outside the article W in the horizontal direction, and the lower end side of the pressing member 28 is arranged inside the article W in the horizontal direction. placed in In other words, the pressing member 28 is arranged from the outer side of the article W to the lower inner side across the contact position T in the horizontal direction.

After the holding assistance step is performed, the transfer step of transferring the article W by moving the holding mechanism 1 by driving the robot arm is performed. In the transfer process, first, the holding mechanism 1 is moved from the state shown in FIG. 2 toward the transfer destination (sorting destination). At this time, the holding mechanism 1 is moved in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, and the article W tends to tilt and swing due to the inertia of the article W during the horizontal movement. However, since the upper surface of the article W is sucked by the suction portion 12 and the article W is held by the holding members 28 so as to be sandwiched from the left and right directions, the horizontal movement of the article W is regulated.

Further, when the article W moves in the vertical direction, the inertia of the article W acts upon the article W during its acceleration or deceleration, causing the article W to move away from the adsorption section 12 . However, since the pressing member 28 presses the article W with the force directed upward from below, it is possible to prevent the article W from being separated from the suction section 12 and resulting in poor suction.

The transfer destination of the article W in the transfer process is a predetermined distance away from the transfer source case C1 within the movable range of the robot arm. Here, for the sake of convenience of description, the destination case is referred to as "C2", and the case C1 is also written in parentheses in order to be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, the holding mechanism 1 and the article W held by the holding mechanism 1 are horizontally moved and positioned above the case C2 by a robot arm or the like.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the driving mechanism 36 drives the rod 36b to a pressing position where the roller 36c presses the back surface of the pressing member 28. As shown in FIG. As a result, the pressing member 28 is rotated about the rotation support shaft 30, and the left and right pressing members 28 are arranged so as to face the vertical direction away from the outermost periphery of the article W in the horizontal direction to the left and right sides (outside). be. As a result, the holding assisting portion 20 can be switched from the holding assisting state to the retracted state. After that, as shown in FIG. 4, the elevating mechanism 3 is driven to lower the bracket 4 and the hand portion 10 . Due to this descent, the suction unit 12 is also lowered, and as shown in FIG. 4, the descent of the hand unit 10 is stopped with the article W sucked by the suction unit 12 placed on the bottom of the case C2.

Then, the supply of the negative pressure to the suction pad 12a is released, the suction and holding of the article W by the suction portion 12 is released, and as shown in FIG. Then, the transfer of the article W is completed. Subsequently, the holding mechanism 1 is moved and positioned above the next article W to be conveyed on the case C1 serving as the conveyance source.

As described above, in the present embodiment, after the suction unit 12 sucks and holds the upper surface of the article W, the holding member 28 of the holding auxiliary unit 20 presses the sucked and held article W obliquely downward. be able to. As a result, the article W can be clamped from the left and right while being held down from below, and even if the article W is moved away from the suction section 12 by the movement of the entire holding mechanism 1 or is shaken, the article W is attracted. It is possible to avoid leaving the upper surface of the article W from the pad 12a. As a result, it is possible to stably hold the article W while preventing the occurrence of suction failure, and it becomes easy to cope with an increase in the conveying speed.

Further, since the pressing member 28 is rotated as described above and displaced in the direction of separating and approaching the article W, for example, even with the article W2 shown in FIG. can be pressed with The article W2 in FIG. 6 has a larger lateral width and a smaller vertical height than the article W, and the angle of the pressing member 28 with respect to the vertical direction is reduced from θ1 (see FIG. 2) to θ2. Further, the pressing force of the pressing member 28 can be applied similarly to the article W, although the contact position T with the pressing member 28 is changed to the outermost peripheral edge of the flange portion Wc.

In this embodiment, the side portion of the article W held by the suction portion 12 and raised to the holding auxiliary portion 20 is applied to all the articles that fall within the rotation area A of the holding member 28 shown in FIG. pressing force can be applied. Therefore, the pressing member 28 comes into contact with articles W of various shapes to assist the adsorption and holding of the articles W by the adsorption section 12, and excellent versatility can be exhibited.

Further, since the pressing member 28 is formed in a plate shape, the horizontal width when oriented in the vertical direction as shown in FIG.

Moreover, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes, substitutions, and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the technical idea of the present invention. Furthermore, if the technical idea of the present invention can be realized in another way by advances in technology or another derived technology, the method may be used for implementation. Therefore, the claims cover all embodiments that can be included within the scope of the technical concept of the present invention.

In the above-described embodiment, the article W to be held is a bento box, but any article that can be adsorbed and held by the holding mechanism 1 may be shaped like a square box when viewed from above. For example, sandwiches, bread, other foods such as boxed lunches, various electric devices, devices, and parts thereof, or packed in boxes or trays other than boxed lunch containers may be used. Furthermore, the portion where the pressing member 28 presses the article W may be another portion as long as it is a side portion of the article W. FIG.

Further, in the above embodiment, the pressing member 28 is configured to rotate, but the present invention is not limited to this.

Further, the number and locations of installation of the pressing members 28 are not limited to two locations on the left and right. Depending on the shape of the article W, the suction position of the suction unit 12, etc., there are four positions on the front, back, left and right, or three positions at intervals of 120° in a top view, increasing or decreasing the number of installations, and changing the installation locations. You may

Further, although the drive mechanism 36 of the holding assisting portion 20 is a cylinder, it may be changed to a direct-acting motor or the like as long as the holding member 28 can be rotated in the same manner as described above.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 holding mechanism 12 suction portion 20 holding auxiliary portion 28 pressing member 30 rotation support shaft T contact position W article W2 article

Claims (6)

A holding mechanism for sucking and holding an article from the upper surface side,
an adsorption unit that adsorbs the upper surface of an article;
a holding assisting section capable of switching between a holding assisting state for assisting holding of the article by the suction section and a retracted state for canceling the holding assisting state;
The holding assisting part includes a rotation support shaft, a holding member that contacts the article in the holding assisting state , and a spring member that biases the holding member ,
The rotation support shaft is provided so as to be switchable between the holding assisting state and the retracted state of the holding assisting portion by rotating the pressing member,
The holding member abuts on a side portion of the article in the horizontal direction of the outermost peripheral edge of the article and below an upper end of the outermost peripheral edge of the article in the holding assistance state,
One end side of the spring member is fixed to the tip side of the pressing member, and the tip of the pressing member exerts an obliquely upward force to approach the article at least until the pressing member becomes horizontal. retention mechanism. A holding mechanism for sucking and holding an article from the upper surface side,
an adsorption unit that adsorbs the upper surface of an article;
a holding assisting section capable of switching between a holding assisting state for assisting holding of the article by the suction section and a retracted state for canceling the holding assisting state;
The holding assisting part includes a rotation support shaft, a holding member that contacts the article in the holding assisting state , and a spring member that biases the holding member ,
The rotation support shaft is provided so as to be switchable between the holding assisting state and the retracted state of the holding assisting portion by rotating the pressing member,
The pressing member abuts on the side portion of the article at the outermost peripheral edge in the horizontal direction of the article in the holding assistance state, and at least a part thereof extends inside the outermost peripheral edge and below the upper end of the outermost peripheral edge. placed and
One end of the spring member is fixed to the tip side of the pressing member, and the tip of the pressing member exerts an obliquely upward force to approach the article at least until the pressing member becomes horizontal. retention mechanism. 3. The holding mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member is arranged outside the outermost edge in the horizontal direction in the retracted state. 4. The holding mechanism according to claim 1 , wherein the pressing members are provided in pairs, and the spring member is fixed to each of the pressing members . 5. The holding member according to claim 4 , wherein the pressing member is formed in a plate shape and has a shape extending parallel to the rotation support shaft, and the spring members are provided on both sides of the extending direction. mechanism. a holding mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 5;
and a moving mechanism capable of transporting the sucked and held article by moving the holding mechanism.

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