JP7282590B2 - Goods loading device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a loading device for loading articles such as luggage of passengers of an aircraft into a container for transporting them to the cargo compartment of the aircraft, for example in an airport terminal building.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-300002 discloses a conveying apparatus for gripping and unloading a large number of box-shaped articles loaded in a cargo room of a truck one by one. According to this conveying apparatus, a large number of articles can be unloaded from the cargo compartment of the truck by the operation of the robot arm while using the image processing means.

JP 2017-206318 A

However, various improvements need to be made in order to save labor by applying the above-described conventional conveying apparatus to the conveying route from the make-up conveyor to the loading of the passenger's baggage onto the aircraft in, for example, an airport terminal building. be.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide various improvements to conventional conveyors so that, for example, on a conveyor route at an airport, cargo can be safely loaded into a container while avoiding damage to baggage.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a loading device positioned between an upstream transport path and a downstream transport path for loading items from the upstream transport path to containers on the downstream transport path. The loading device includes an article holding hand that holds an article, and a robot arm that moves the article holding hand between an upstream conveying path and a downstream conveying path. The article holding hand is coupled to the robot arm via a vacuum coupling and a magnetic coupling. A configuration in which coupling of the article holding hand to the robot arm by the vacuum coupling section is released by supplying air to the vacuum coupling section, and coupling of the article holding hand to the robot arm by the magnetic coupling section is released by an external force applied to the article holding hand. It's becoming

Therefore, the loading operation from the upstream transport route to the downstream transport route into the container is performed by the loading device.

In addition, since the article holding hand is maintained in a coupled state with respect to the robot arm by both the vacuum coupling portion and the magnetic coupling portion, even if the attractive force of the vacuum coupling portion disappears, the magnetic coupling portion will not be able to hold the object. The attraction force keeps the article holding hand connected to the robot arm. If the article-holding hand is connected to the robot arm only by the suction force of the vacuum connection part, when the suction force disappears, the article-holding hand is separated from the robot arm by the moment due to its own weight and falls. do. In this regard, according to the present disclosure, since the attraction force of the magnetic coupling portion acts in addition to the attraction force of the vacuum coupling portion, even if the attraction force of the vacuum coupling portion disappears due to, for example, a power failure or air leakage, the magnetic The connection state of the article holding hand to the robot arm is maintained by the attraction force of the connecting portion. For this reason, for example, in a baggage transportation route at an airport, even if the vacuuming of the vacuum coupling portion is stopped as a result of the power supply being shut off at night, the article holding hand will remain supported at the tip of the robot arm. It can be maintained, and subsequent resumption of loading operations can be performed quickly.

Furthermore, in the stage of loading an article into a container, if the picked article collides with the container wall or the like, the impact (external force) displaces the article holding hand with respect to the robot arm, resulting in air supply to the vacuum joint. When the magnetic force of the magnetic coupling portion ceases to act, the article holding hand is released from the coupled state with the robot arm and separated. When an article collides with a wall surface of a container or the like, the article holding hand is separated from the robot arm, so that the impact received by the article can be suppressed and the article can be protected.

According to another feature of the present disclosure, a vacuum coupling and a magnetic coupling are provided between a base base on the robot arm and a coupling base on the object holding hand.

Therefore, the base base and the coupling base are mutually attracted by the attraction force of the vacuum coupling portion and the magnetic coupling portion, and the article holding hand is coupled to the robot arm. By releasing the attraction forces of the vacuum coupling portion and the magnetic coupling portion, the coupled state of the article holding hand to the robot arm is released.

According to another feature of the present disclosure, a stopper portion is provided between the base base and the coupling base to restrict displacement of one of them in the plane direction with respect to the other.

Therefore, by tilting the connecting base with respect to the base base with the stopper portion as a fulcrum, air is supplied to the vacuum connecting portion, and the magnetic coupling portion no longer acts on the attracting force, thereby separating the connecting base and the base base. The attraction force between the object holding hand and the robot arm is released, so that the connection base can be detached from the base base, and the connection state of the article holding hand to the robot arm is released.

According to another feature of the present disclosure, the article holding hand includes a vacuum suction part that contacts the article and is displaceable in the X-axis direction relative to the hand body. Air is supplied to the vacuum coupling portion by relatively displacing the vacuum suction portion in the X-axis direction, and the coupling state of the article holding hand to the robot arm by the vacuum coupling portion is released.

Therefore, when the article is relatively displaced in the X-axis direction by colliding with another part while the article is being sucked and held by the vacuum suction unit, an external force in the X-axis direction is applied to the article-holding hand, and the hand is coupled to the robot arm. is released. The article holding hand is disconnected from the robot arm to protect the article against an external force in the X-axis direction.

According to another feature of the present disclosure, a plunger for holding the relative position of the vacuum suction unit in the X-axis direction and detection means for detecting a change in the relative position are provided between the vacuum suction unit and the hand body. was placed.

Therefore, while the position of the vacuum suction portion is held by the plunger in a normal state, the vacuum suction portion is displaced in the X-axis direction against the holding force of the plunger in an emergency such as when receiving an impact. . When the vacuum suction portion displaces relative to the hand body in the X-axis direction against the holding force of the plunger, this relative displacement is detected by the detection means. When the relative displacement is detected by the detecting means, air is supplied to the vacuum connecting portion, so that the connecting state of the article holding hand to the robot arm can be released.

According to another feature of the present disclosure, a mechanical on-off valve is used as the sensing means to supply air to the vacuum coupling.

Therefore, air is reliably supplied to the vacuum coupling portion using the relative displacement of the suction portion with a simple and inexpensive structure.

It is a schematic plan view of the whole conveying apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a side view of an article holding hand, which is the tip of the loading device. 3 is a plan view of the article holding hand viewed from the direction of arrow (III) in FIG. 2; FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line (IV)-(IV) in FIG. 2 and is a front view of the base. Fig. 3 is a view of the article holding hand taken along the line (V)-(V) in Fig. 2; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line (VI)-(VI) in FIG. 3 and is a vertical cross-sectional view of the article holding hand. FIG. 3 is a view in the direction of the arrow (VII) in FIG. 2, which is a plan view of the adsorption section and the slide mechanism; FIG. 3 is a plan view of the suction portion as seen from the arrow (VIII) in FIG. 2 ; FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line (IX)-(IX) in FIG. This figure is a vertical cross-sectional view of the adsorption part and the slide mechanism, and is a view of a cross section passing through the plunger as seen from the front. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line (X)-(X) in FIG. 6. FIG. This figure is a vertical cross-sectional view of the suction part and the slide mechanism, and is a view of the cross section passing through the hose connecting part as seen from the front. FIG. 4 is an air circuit diagram of the hand support section;

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11. FIG. In the present embodiment, a conveying device 1 used in a conveying route for conveying a passenger's baggage W from a check-in counter to a cargo compartment of an aircraft 4 at an airport is illustrated. In the present embodiment, the article to be loaded is a carrier case (travel bag) with casters, and baggage of an aircraft passenger is exemplified. Hereinafter, it is simply referred to as baggage W. As shown in FIG. 1, the conveying apparatus 1 of this embodiment includes a make conveyor 2 corresponding to an upstream conveying route, and a downstream conveying route from a plurality of containers 3 to the cargo compartment of an aircraft 4. . A picking device 10, a size conveyor 30, a return conveyor 39, and a loading device 40 are arranged between the make conveyor 2 as the upstream transport path and the container 3 as the downstream transport path.

The picking device 10 includes an article holding hand that sucks and holds the baggage W by vacuum suction, and a moving device 6 that displaces the article holding hand in the conveying direction of the baggage W and in the conveying width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction and in the vertical direction. there is The picking device 10 transfers the baggage W on the make conveyor 2 to the downstream conveying route.

As shown in FIG. 1, on the make conveyor 2, a large number of pieces of baggage W are conveyed. A large number of pieces of baggage W are sequentially conveyed onto the make conveyor 2 from a check-in counter (not shown) via a conveyor. The make conveyor 2 has an oval loop shape, and the conveying direction thereof is counterclockwise as indicated by the white arrow in FIG. Therefore, on the right side of the make conveyor 2 in FIG. 1, the baggage W is conveyed upward in the figure (forward in the conveying direction).

In FIG. 1, a transport state recognition means 5 is arranged on the upper right side of the loop-shaped make conveyor 2 . A 2D camera or a 3D camera is used for the transport state recognition means 5 . Information about the size (width, length, height (thickness)) of the baggage W conveyed on the makeup conveyor 2, the conveyance attitude, etc. is obtained by the conveying state recognition means 5 . Information about the baggage W obtained by the transportation state recognition means 5 is provided to the picking device 10 side. As a result, the picking device 10 advances the article holding hand in the conveying direction in synchronism with the baggage W and moves it close to the baggage W, thereby sucking and holding the article.

As shown in FIG. 1, the baggage W is transferred onto the revolving conveyor 31 by the picking device 10 . The revolving conveyor 31 is capable of revolving in a range of approximately 90 degrees, and has a function of switching the baggage W to the side of the size conveyor 30 or the side of the return conveyor 39 and conveying it. When the conveying direction of the revolving conveyor 31 is switched to the size conveyor 30 side, the baggage W is conveyed to the size conveyor 30 side. A lift conveyor 32 a is arranged downstream of the revolving conveyor 31 via an extension conveyor 32 . A curve conveyor 33 is arranged downstream of the lift conveyor 32a via an extension conveyor 33a arranged across the make conveyor 2. As shown in FIG. A carry-in conveyor 34 is arranged downstream of the curved conveyor 33 . Baggage W is conveyed to the size conveyor 30 via the carry-in conveyor 34 . A traverser 20 with a conveyor is arranged downstream of the size conveyor 30 . Baggage W transferred from a size-specific conveyor 30 onto a traverser 20 is loaded into a container 3 by a loading device 40 having an article holding hand 50 mounted on an articulated robot arm 45.例文帳に追加Baggage W loaded into the container 3 is loaded into the cargo compartment of the aircraft 4 .

Baggage W is distributed on the size conveyor 30 mainly by size. The size conveyor 30 is determined by the stop position of the input conveyor 34 . The conveyors 30 by size are, from the top in FIG. It is divided into four stages, an M2 size conveyor 37 and an L size conveyor 38 for large baggage W. The carry-in conveyor 34 stops behind the arbitrary size conveyors 35, 36, 37, 38 in the conveying direction, and carries the baggage W received from the curved conveyor 33 to the size conveyors 35, 36, 37, 38 that match its size. be carried into

Retaining stoppers 35a, 36a, 37a and 38a are provided at front portions of the respective size conveyors 35, 36, 37 and 38 in the conveying direction. A plurality of pieces of baggage W whose sizes are roughly aligned on each size conveyor 35, 36, 37, 38 are retained. A traverser 20 with a conveyor moves across the front of each size conveyor 35, 36, 37, 38 to receive baggage W from each size conveyor 35, 36, 37, 38. When baggage W on the forward end side of each size conveyor 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 is conveyed onto the traverser 20 , it is sucked and held by the article holding hand 50 of the loading device 40 and sequentially loaded into the container 3 . A container 3 full of baggage W is loaded into the cargo compartment of an aircraft as it is, or the baggage W is manually transferred into the cargo compartment.

When the conveying direction of the revolving conveyor 31 is switched to the return conveyor 39 side, the baggage W transferred by the picking device 10 is carried onto the return conveyor 39 . The baggage W carried onto the return conveyor 39 is determined to be priority baggage or the like, and is returned to the make conveyor 2 for manual loading, for example. This embodiment is characterized by a loading device 40 that loads baggage W into a container 3 serving as a downstream transport route.

The loading device 40 is arranged along the ceiling of the backyard building. The loading device 40 is supported by the movable base 41 in a suspended state. The movable base 41 includes an X-axis frame 42 for moving the loading device 40 in the X-axis direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1) and a Y-axis frame 43 for moving the loading device 40 in the Y-axis direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 1). It is equipped with a slide table mechanism that connects the The loading device 40 is moved in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, or a composite direction thereof by the movable base 41 to load the baggage W into the container 3 .

The loading device 40 has an articulated robot arm 45 and an article holding hand 50 . As the robot arm 45, one having joints around three mutually parallel axes and a plurality of joints around axes perpendicular thereto is used. From FIG. 2 onward, only the joints around the X-axis and Y-axis on the distal end side are shown.

A base 46 having a rectangular flat plate shape is attached to the front portion of the robot arm 45 . A coupling base 51 having a rectangular flat plate shape is attached to the rear portion of the article holding hand 50 . The article holding hand 50 is coupled to the tip of the robot arm 45 by integrating the coupling base 51 with the base base 46 in an overlapping state.

The article holding hand 50 has a hand body 52 and a vacuum suction portion 53 . The connection base 51 described above is provided on the rear portion of the hand main body 52 so as to protrude vertically and horizontally. A vacuum coupling portion 47 and a magnetic coupling portion 48 are provided between the coupling base 51 and the base base 46 . The vacuum coupling portion 47 has a configuration for generating an attraction force (coupling force) to the coupling base 51 by evacuating an evacuation area 47 a provided on the base base 46 side. A seal ring 47b is attached to the entire circumference of the evacuation area 47a. The connection base 51 is brought into contact with the seal ring 47b to airtightly seal the evacuation area 47a. One evacuation hole 47c is provided in the evacuation area 47a. A vacuum generator 60 is connected to the evacuation hole 47c. The evacuation area 47a is evacuated by the vacuum generator 60 through the evacuation hole 47c. As shown in FIG. 5, the vacuum generator 60 is attached to the rear surface of the pedestal base 46 .

A magnetic coupling portion 48 is provided on the upper portion of the base 46 . In this embodiment, a magnet (permanent magnet) is attached as the magnetic coupling portion 48 . A pair of magnetic coupling portions 48 are attached to the left and right. Due to the magnetic force of the magnetic coupling portion 48 , the coupling base 51 of the article holding hand 50 is attracted and held on the base base 46 in a superimposed state. The magnetic force of the magnetic coupling portion 48 maintains the overlapping state of the coupling base 51 and the base base 46 even when the vacuum coupling portion 47 loses its attractive force when the object holding hand 50 is stationary and does not receive an external impact. It is set to the necessary and sufficient magnetic force to be Therefore, when an external impact is applied to the article holding hand 50 as will be described later, the magnetic force of the magnetic coupling portion 48 causes the coupling base 51 and the base base 46 to be attracted (supposed). Therefore, the connection base 51 is separated from the base base 46 and the connection of the article holding hand 50 to the robot arm 45 is released.

As shown in FIG. 4, stopper portions 46a, 46b, 46c, and 46d are provided on the upper, lower, left, and right side portions of the base 46. As shown in FIG. Each of the stopper portions 46a, 46b, 46c, and 46d protrudes forward and extends to the sides of the connecting bases 51 in the overlapped state. The upward relative displacement of the coupling base 51 is restricted by the upper stopper portion 46a. The downward relative displacement of the coupling base 51 is restricted by the lower stopper portion 46b. The left stopper portion 46c restricts the relative displacement of the coupling base 51 to the left. The right stopper portion 46d restricts the relative displacement of the coupling base 51 to the right.

Baggage W adsorbed and held by the vacuum adsorption portion 53 interferes with other parts, and impact is applied. When the attraction force of 48 is released, the article holding hand 50 is displaced vertically and horizontally with respect to the robot arm 45, and the coupled state is released. When a downward external force is applied to the article holding hand 50 in the Z-axis direction, the article holding hand 50 rotates downward with the lower stopper portion 46b as a fulcrum, and the robot arm 45 moves downward. is released. When an external force directed upward in the Z-axis direction is applied to the article holding hand 50 , the article holding hand 50 rotates upward about the upper stopper portion 46 a to move toward the robot arm 45 . The connection state is canceled.

When an external force in the Y-axis direction directed from the left to the right is applied to the article holding hand 50, the article holding hand 50 rotates to the right around the right stopper portion 46d as a fulcrum, thereby moving the robot. The coupled state with respect to the arm 45 is released. When an external force in the direction of the Y-axis is applied to the article holding hand 50 from the right to the left, the article holding hand 50 rotates leftward about the left stopper portion 46c and moves toward the robot. The coupled state with respect to the arm 45 is released. In this way, when the sucked and held baggage W receives an impact in the Y-axis (horizontal direction) or Z-axis direction (vertical direction), the article holding hand 50 pushes the stopper portion 46a (or 46b, 46c, 46d). As a result, the airtightness of the vacuum coupling portion 47 is released and air is forcibly supplied, and the suction state of the magnetic coupling portion 48 is released by an impact (external force), thereby holding an article. The hand 50 is separated from the robot arm 45 so that the baggage W can be protected.

Separate means such as a proximity sensor detects that the connecting base 51 is separated from the base base 46 and the overlapping state (connecting state) is released. is stopped, the protection of baggage W is ensured.

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, a vacuum suction portion 53 is supported on the lower surface side of the hand main body 52. As shown in FIGS. A slide mechanism 54 is interposed between the hand body 52 and the vacuum suction portion 53 . The vacuum suction part 53 is supported by the slide mechanism 54 so as to be displaceable in the X-axis direction (front-rear direction) with respect to the hand body 52 . A support 55 of the slide mechanism 54 is screwed to the lower surface side of the hand main body 52 . A slide body 56 of the slide mechanism 54 is screwed to the upper surface of the vacuum suction portion 53 . Between the left and right side portions of the support body 55 and the left and right side portions of the slide body 56, linear motion bearings 54a with rolling elements interposed are interposed. The slide body 56 is supported by the left and right linear motion bearings 54a so as to be slidable forward and backward with substantially no play or backlash with respect to the support body 55 .

Two hose connection portions 57 are provided on the upper surface of the vacuum suction portion 53 . As shown in FIG. 6, each of the two hose connection portions 57 is integrally provided with a nozzle portion 57a for evacuation. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 10 , the two nozzle portions 57 a extend downward from the hose connection portion 57 and communicate with the vacuum drawing area 53 a of the vacuum suction portion 53 . The vacuum suction unit 53 includes a downwardly opening rectangular box-shaped frame 53b and a suction pad 53c attached along the opening on the bottom side of the frame 53b. An evacuation area 53a is provided inside the frame 53b and the suction pad 53c.

The nozzle portion 57a is immovably fixed to the frame 53b of the vacuum suction portion 53 by tightening the fixing nut 57b. A hose connecting portion 57 coupled to the upper portion of the nozzle portion 57 a is positioned on the upper surface of the hand body 52 . As shown in FIG. 3, the hand body 52 and the support 55 of the slide mechanism 54 are provided with relief windows 52a and 55a for allowing displacement of the nozzle portion 57a as the vacuum suction portion 53 moves in the X-axis direction. is provided.

A vacuum hose 58 is connected to each of the two hose connection portions 57 . The two vacuum hoses 58 are connected to relay ducts 59 provided at left and right corners on the upper side of the base 46, respectively. As shown in FIG. 3, the piping paths of the two vacuum hoses 58 from the hose connecting portion 57 to the relay duct 59 intersect each other in an X shape and are laid on opposite sides. Thus, as will be described later, the vacuum hose 58 is prevented from forcibly extending or bending when the vacuum suction portion 53 slides back and forth with respect to the hand main body 52, and is routed so as to smoothly extend back and forth. there is

Two vacuum hoses 58 are piped to the robot arm 45 side via a relay duct 59 . The left and right corners on the upper side of the coupling base 51 are cut in an arc shape to allow the hose connecting portion 57 to escape. The two vacuum hoses 58 are connected to a vacuum generator 44 for sucking and holding an article provided separately from the vacuum generator 60 . The relatively small vacuum generator 60 evacuates the vacuum coupling portion 47 , while the relatively large vacuum generator 44 evacuates the vacuum area 53 a of the vacuum chucking portion 53 . A vacuum generator 44 for the vacuum suction unit 53 is installed on a mobile base 41 that supports a robot arm 45 .

A plunger 61 is interposed between the support 55 and the slide 56 of the slide mechanism 54 . As shown in FIGS. 6 and 9, in this embodiment, three plungers 61 are attached to the slide body 56 by tightening nuts 61a. Each plunger 61 is a ball plunger having a spring-biased steel ball at its tip. A tip portion (steel ball) of each plunger 61 is elastically fitted in an engaging recess 55 b provided on the lower surface of the support 55 .

By elastically fitting the tip portions of the three plungers 61 into the engagement recesses 55b of the support 55, the vacuum suction portion 53 is elastically held at the forward end position in the X-axis direction with respect to the hand body 52. be. The vacuum suction unit 53 is normally held at this forward end position to suck and hold the baggage W and to load it into the container 3 .

When an external force in the X-axis direction is applied to the baggage W from the front to the rear during the loading operation, the tips of the three plungers 61 resist the elastic force and are released from the engaging recesses 55b at the same time. The vacuum suction portion 53 is displaced rearward with respect to the hand main body 52 as indicated by the chain double-dashed lines in FIGS. 2 and 3 .

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a detector 62 is attached to the rear portion of the slide body 56 of the slide mechanism 54 . The detection body 62 extends long rearward. An opening/closing valve 63 is arranged behind the detection body 62 . As the opening/closing valve 63, a roller lever type mechanical opening/closing valve which is a normally closed air opening/closing valve is used. The open/close valve 63 functions as detection means for detecting rearward relative displacement of the vacuum suction portion 53 with respect to the hand body 52 . As shown in FIG. 11, an air compressor P as a compressed air supply source is connected to the input side of the open/close valve 63 . The output side of the opening/closing valve 63 is connected to the evacuation area 47a through the air supply hole 47d. When the open/close valve 63 is turned on, air is supplied from the air compressor P to the vacuum suction area 47a, and the suction force of the vacuum coupling portion 47 is released.

As described above, when the vacuum suction portion 53 is displaced rearward due to the impact being applied to the baggage W sucked and held, the detection body 62 is integrally displaced rearward. The detection lever 63a is pushed by the detection body 62 displaced rearward, and the open/close valve 63 is turned on and switched to the open side. When the open/close valve 63 is switched to the open side, compressed air is supplied to the vacuum coupling portion 47 from the air compressor P, which is the compressed air supply source. By supplying air to the vacuum coupling portion 47, the adsorption force to the coupling base 51 is released. By applying an impact in the X-axis direction to the baggage W being held by suction, the suction force of the vacuum coupling portion 47 is released, and the suction force of the magnetic coupling portion 48 is also released. 45 to protect baggage W.

When the attraction forces of the vacuum coupling portion 47 and the magnetic coupling portion 48 are released and the coupled state of the article holding hand 50 with the robot arm 45 is released, the article holding hand 50 moves the lower portion of the coupling base 51 to the lower stopper portion. 46b, and rotates downward by its own weight with this placing portion as a fulcrum, thereby separating the baggage W from the collision portion. Further, when air is supplied to the vacuum coupling portion 47 and the coupled state of the article holding hand 50 with the robot arm 45 is released, the robot arm 45 is stopped and the luggage W is protected.

As shown in FIG. 6, the vacuum suction unit 53 is provided with a detection rod 65 for detecting that the baggage W is held by suction. The detection rod 65 is a vertically long bar and is supported on the upper portion of the frame 53b so as to be vertically displaceable. The detection rod 65 is biased downward by a compression spring. The lower side of the detection rod 65 reaches the inner peripheral side of the suction pad 53c. When the suction pad 53c is not in contact with the baggage W, the lower end of the detection rod 65 is urged to protrude slightly below the suction pad 53c. When the suction pad 53c is brought into contact with the baggage W, the detection rod 65 abuts against the baggage W and is relatively displaced upward against the spring biasing force. The upward displacement of the detection rod 65 is detected by a proximity magnetic sensor 66 . When the magnetic sensor 66 detects the upward displacement of the detection rod 65, it is determined that the suction pad 53c has come into contact with the baggage W. The lowering motion is stopped. Since the vacuum area 53a is always evacuated by the vacuum generator 44 during operation, the baggage W is attracted and held by the article holding hand 50 by the vacuum suction force when the suction pad 53c is brought into contact.

According to the conveying apparatus 1 of the present embodiment configured as described above, the work of loading the baggage W into the container 3 on the upstream conveying route is performed by the loading apparatus 40. Labor saving and unmanned operation of the transport device 1 can be achieved.

An article holding hand 50 of the loading device 40 is coupled to the robot arm 45 via a vacuum coupling section 47 and a magnetic coupling section 48 . The adsorption force of the vacuum coupling portion 47 is released by supplying air to the vacuum coupling portion 47, and the adsorption force of the magnetic coupling portion 48 is canceled by the external force (impact) applied to the article holding hand 50, so that the robot arm of the article holding hand 50 moves. 45 is released.

For this reason, even if the attraction force of the vacuum coupling portion 47 is lost due to, for example, a power failure or air leakage, the magnetic coupling portion 48 remains permanently attached to the article holding hand 50 in a state where no special external force (impact) is applied. The combined state of the article holding hand 50 is maintained by using a magnet. Therefore, even when the loading device 40 is in a resting state when the power supply is cut off at night in the baggage transportation route at the airport, the article holding hand 50 can be kept connected to the tip of the robot arm 45. After that, the loading operation can be restarted quickly.

Furthermore, according to the illustrated loading device 40, for example, when the baggage W sucked and gripped by the vacuum suction unit 53 is loaded into the container 3, if an impact such as a contact of the baggage W with another part is applied, the vacuum coupling is performed. The attraction force between the portion 47 and the magnetic coupling portion 48 is released, and the coupling of the article holding hand 50 to the robot arm 45 is released, thereby reducing or avoiding damage to the baggage W and protecting it.

When the article holding hand 50 is disconnected from the robot arm 45 when an impact is applied to the baggage W, the open/close valve 63 is turned on to supply air to the vacuum coupling portion 47 for an impact in the X-axis direction. In response to impacts in the Y-axis and Z-axis directions, the article holding hand 50 is relatively displaced, and the connection base 51 is separated from the base base 46, whereby the airtightness of the vacuum connection portion 47 is lost. This is achieved by forced air supply. The article holding hand 50 is detached from the robot arm 45 to release the baggage W from any impact in the XYZ axial direction, thereby protecting the baggage W.

Further, according to the exemplified loading device 40, the base base 46 of the robot arm 45 is provided with stopper portions 46a, 46b, 46c, and 46d for restricting displacement of the connecting base 51 in the planar direction (vertical direction and lateral direction). It is As a result, the separation operation of the article holding hand 50 from the robot arm 45 is performed by rotating (tilting) the article holding hand 50 about the abutting portion of the coupling base 51 against the stoppers 46a, 46b, 46c, and 46d. be. Since the article holding hand 50 is disengaged from the robot arm 45 not by parallel movement but by tilting, the article holding hand 50 is reliably disengaged from the robot arm 45 with a relatively small displacement. made to

Various modifications can be added to the embodiments described above. For example, the magnetic coupling portion 48 may be omitted. When the suction force of the vacuum coupling portion 47 does not occur at the time of nighttime power cutoff as illustrated above, the base 46 and the base 46 are separated by using coupling means that do not require electric power, such as separate clamping means and screw coupling means. It is possible to maintain the overlapping state of the connection base 51 (the state of connection of the article holding hand 50 to the robot arm 45). In this case, the clamp means and the screw connection means can be removed when the connection state is maintained by the suction force of the vacuum connection portion 47 (during operation of the loading device 40).

In addition, in the article holding hand 50, the vacuum suction portion 53 that holds the baggage W as an article by vacuum suction is illustrated as a means for holding the baggage W as an article. may be configured.

Furthermore, although the configuration using the three plungers 61 for holding the position of the vacuum suction part 53 in the X-axis direction with respect to the hand body 52 has been illustrated, a magnet, for example, can be used instead of the plungers for holding the position. . Further, by changing the number of plungers and magnets to be used, the position holding force of the vacuum suction portion can be adjusted, and the condition for canceling the coupling state of the article holding hand 50 to the robot arm 45 is that: By appropriately setting the reference external force for the external force in the X-axis direction, the baggage W can be protected more reliably.

In addition, as an article to be transported, a suitcase with casters (baggage W) for an aircraft passenger was exemplified. Alternatively, vegetables, foodstuffs, and the like can be transported. Therefore, although the conveying route for loading passenger's baggage W into the cargo compartment of the aircraft 4 in the airport terminal building has been illustrated, the conveying apparatus illustrated as the conveying route in the collection point of parcels for home delivery can be applied.

W... Baggage (goods)
P... Air compressor 1... Conveyor 2... Make conveyor (conveyance route on the upstream side)
3...Container (transport route on the downstream side)
4...Aircraft 5...Transportation state recognition means (3D camera)
6... Moving device 10... Picking device 20... Traverser 30... Size-specific conveyor 31... Turning conveyor 32... Extension conveyor 32a... Lift conveyor 33... Curve conveyor 33a... Extension conveyor 34... Carry-in conveyor 35... S size conveyor 36... M1 size conveyor 37... M2 size conveyor 38... L size conveyor 35a to 38a... Stopper for staying 39... Return conveyor 40... Loading device 41... Moving base 42... X axis frame 43... Y axis frame 44... Vacuum generator 45... Robot arm 46 ... base base 46a... stopper portion (upper), 46b... stopper portion (lower)
46c... stopper portion (left), 46d... stopper portion (right)
47 Vacuum coupling portion 47a Evacuation area 47b Seal ring 47c Evacuation hole 47d Air supply hole 48 Magnetic coupling portion (magnet)
50 --- Article holding hand 51 --- Coupling base 52 --- Hand main body 52a --- Escape window 53 --- Vacuum adsorption part 53a --- Evacuation area 53b --- Frame 53c --- Suction pad 54 --- Slide mechanism 55 --- Support body 55a --- Escape window Part 55b Engagement recess 56 Slide body 57 Hose connection part 57a Nozzle part 57b Fixed nut 58 Vacuum hose 59 Relay duct 60 Vacuum generator 61 Plunger 61a Nut 62 Detector 63 Open/close valve 63a...Detection lever 65...Detection rod 66...Magnetic sensor

Claims (5)

A loading device that is disposed between an upstream transport route and a downstream transport route and loads articles from the upstream transport route into containers on the downstream transport route,
an article holding hand that holds the article; and a robot arm that moves the article holding hand between the upstream transport path and the downstream transport path,
The article holding hand is coupled to the robot arm via a vacuum coupling portion and a magnetic coupling portion, and the coupling of the article holding hand to the robot arm by the vacuum coupling portion is released by supplying air to the vacuum coupling portion. and the coupling of the article holding hand to the robot arm by the magnetic coupling portion is released by an external force applied to the article holding hand,
The article holding hand includes a hand main body coupled to the robot arm via the vacuum coupling portion and the magnetic coupling portion, and a vacuum suction portion that abuts on the article, wherein the vacuum suction portion is the hand main body. is relatively displaceable in the X-axis direction perpendicular to the coupling surface of the hand body with respect to the robot arm, and based on the relative displacement of the vacuum suction unit in the X-axis direction, the vacuum coupling unit A pick-up device to which the air supply is made . The loading device of claim 1, comprising:
A loading device, wherein the vacuum coupling portion and the magnetic coupling portion are provided between a base base provided on the robot arm and a coupling base provided on the article holding hand. The loading device of claim 2, wherein
A loading device, wherein a stopper portion is provided between the base base and the connecting base for restricting displacement of one relative to the other in a plane direction. The loading device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
A plunger for holding the relative position of the vacuum suction unit in the X-axis direction, and detection means for detecting a change in the relative position of the vacuum suction unit are provided between the vacuum suction unit and the hand body. Deployed loading device. 5. A loading device according to claim 4 , wherein said detecting means is a mechanical open/close valve.

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