JP7326559B2 - Article mover and controller - Google Patents

Description

The embodiments of the present invention relate to an article moving device (hereinafter referred to as an article moving device) for moving articles from a stacking area to a desired area, and a control device thereof.

For example, in an article distribution center, various articles such as unloaded packages, parts, and products are accumulated in an accumulation area and moved to a desired area by an article moving device. The article moving device picks up the accumulated articles with a manipulator (robot arm) and moves them to a conveying device or the like. The transport device transports the articles to the next process such as sorting and assembly.

As a conveying device, a belt conveyor (hereinafter referred to as a conveyer) is widely used. In order to improve work efficiency in the next process, for example, it may be necessary to adjust the posture (conveyance posture) of an article on a conveyor to a desired posture. In this case, if the posture (placement posture) of the article when the robot arm places the article on the transport conveyor is controlled with high accuracy, the transport posture can be set to a desired posture.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2017-19100

However, in the case of controlling the placement posture of the article with high accuracy, the control of the robot arm becomes complicated, and there is a risk of reducing the work efficiency of the robot arm. In addition, as the shape, size, type, etc. of the articles to be handled become more diverse, the control of the placement posture becomes more complicated, and the work efficiency of the robot arm is likely to be lowered.

Therefore, there is a demand for an article moving apparatus that can easily and accurately adjust the article conveying posture to a desired posture without lowering the working efficiency of the robot arm.

An article moving apparatus according to an embodiment includes a robot arm, a detection device, a transport device, and a control device. A robotic arm releasably grasps an item from the item accumulation area and moves the item out of the accumulation area. The detection device detects the shape of the article gripped by the robot arm. The transport device transports the article released by the robot arm to the first transport section. A controller controls the operation of the robot arm, the detection device, and the transport device, respectively. The conveying device includes a second conveying unit that conveys an article to the first conveying unit, an attitude adjusting unit that changes the orientation of the article conveyed by the second conveying unit, and a an article tipping section configured to include a ramp that slopes forward at an angle to tip and feed the article to the second transport section. Based on the form of the article detected by the detection device, the control device determines a tipping condition as to whether or not to tip and move the article, and determines the release destination of the article gripped by the robot arm according to the tipping condition determination result. Depending on the situation, the articles are distributed to the article tipping section or the second conveying section.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the article moving device of the embodiment from above in the vertical direction; 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an article whose shape is detected by the detection device of the article moving device according to the embodiment; FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which a robot arm (end effector) of the article moving apparatus of the embodiment is gripping (adsorbing) an article, where (a) is the first surface, (b) is the second surface, and (c) 4A and 4B are diagrams respectively showing states in which the third surface serves as an attraction surface; FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the conveying device of the article moving device according to the embodiment; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of rollers in the conveying device of the article moving device according to the embodiment; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an article tipping portion of the article moving device of the embodiment, in which (a) is a view from the horizontal direction, (b) is a view from above in the vertical direction, and (c) is the article tipping portion. The figure which shows an example of the aspect in which articles|goods fall. 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams showing the configuration of the posture adjusting unit of the article moving device according to the embodiment, where (a) shows a state in which the interference member is lowered, and (b) is a diagram showing a state in which the interference member is raised. FIG. 4 is a control flow diagram of article attitude adjustment control performed by the control device of the article moving apparatus according to the embodiment; FIG. 10A is a schematic diagram showing an example of an interference mode between an article and an interference member in the posture adjusting section of the article moving apparatus of the embodiment along a time series, in which (a) shows an article sent from the article tipping section to the sub-conveyor; (b) is the state in which the article interferes (contacts) with the interference member, (c) is the state in which the article rotates around the interference member, and (d) is the article adjusted to the desired posture (reference merging posture). The figure which shows each state. In the article moving device of the embodiment, when the posture adjustment condition is not satisfied, there are schematic diagrams showing an example of the flow mode of the articles flowing on the sub-conveyor in chronological order. (b) shows the state in which the article is turned by its own weight and the propulsive force of the sub-conveyor, and (c) shows the state in which the article assumes the desired posture (reference merging posture). . FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a posture adjusting section including two interference members and two elevating members in the article moving device of the embodiment;

An article moving device and its control device according to embodiments will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11. FIG. An article moving device is a device that moves articles from a stacking area to a desired area, and is one of the devices that constitute a physical distribution system that operates in, for example, a distribution center. The control device is a device that controls movement of articles in such an article moving device. Articles are tangible objects that can be moved, such as parcels, parcels, packages including postal items, and various parts and products. It is assumed that the form of the article (size, shape, weight, packing state, etc.) is not uniform but diverse, but may be uniform.

FIG. 1 schematically shows an article moving device 1 of this embodiment from above in the vertical direction. As shown in FIG. 1, the article moving device 1 comprises a robot arm 2, a detecting device 3, a conveying device 4, and a control device 5. As shown in FIG.

The robot arm 2 picks the articles 6 accumulated in the accumulation area 60 and moves the picked articles 6 from the accumulation area 60 to the transport device 4 . As shown in FIG. 1, the robot arm 2 includes a base portion 21, an arm portion 22, and an end effector 23. As shown in FIG.

The base unit 21 is positioned and fixed to, for example, the floor surface of the building of the distribution center. However, the base portion 21 may be movable with respect to the floor without being positioned and fixed in this way. For example, the base 21 may be slidably supported along a guide rail laid on the floor. This makes it possible to move the robot arm 2 with respect to the floor surface.

The arm portion 22 extends from a proximal end, which is a connecting portion with the base portion 21 , to a distal end while being connected by a plurality of joint portions. The arm part 22 is subdivided into a plurality of parts by joint parts, and each part is rotatable around a predetermined axis at the joint part. As a result, the arm portion 22 assumes a desired posture with respect to the base portion 21 and is freely displaced (operated) within a predetermined range. The predetermined range (that is, the movable range) includes the stacking area 60 of the articles 6 and the conveying device 4 to which the articles 6 are moved. Therefore, by rotating each portion of the arm portion 22 around the axis, the arm portion 22 can be displaced with respect to the stacking area 60 and the conveying device 4 . Note that the number of joints and axes may be arbitrarily set according to the operational accuracy and movable range required for the arm 22 .

The end effector 23 is detachably attached to the tip of the arm portion 22 and has a gripping mechanism for releasably gripping the article 6 . Grasping is defined as a concept that encompasses all manners of holding the article 6, such as sucking and pinching. In this embodiment, as an example, the end effector 23 adsorbs and releases the article 6 with air. Therefore, the grasping mechanism includes a base portion, a suction portion, a vacuum generator, a compressor, an electromagnetic valve, a pressure sensor (all not shown), and the like. As a result, the robot arm 2 sucks the articles 6 stacked in the stacking area 60 with the suction part of the gripping mechanism, and releases the sucked articles 6 from the stacking area 60 to the transport apparatus 4 . It is possible to move the article 6 to. Details of the movement of the article 6 will be described later.

The detection device 3 detects the gripping state of the article 6 by the robot arm 2 and the shape of the gripped article 6 . Specifically, it detects whether or not the article 6 is attached to the end effector 23, and if so, the size of the article 6 is detected. The size of the article 6 is the length of two directions (hereafter referred to as length and width) that are perpendicular to each other on a predetermined plane and the length of three directions that are perpendicular to these directions (hereafter referred to as height). For detection, the detection device 3 defines the suction surface of the article 6 that is suctioned by the end effector 23 as a predetermined plane, and measures the length and width of the two sides that the suction surface intersects, and the length of the side that continues to the intersection of the two sides. is defined as the height (height to the adsorption surface). The detection device 3 detects the ratio of length, width, and height of the article 6 and also detects the center of gravity of the article 6 .

The detection of the shape of the article 6 by the detection device 3 will be further described by taking the article 6a (hexahedron) shown in FIG. 2 as an example. In the article 6a, the adsorption surface that can be adsorbed by the end effector 23 is any one of the first surface 61s, the second surface 62s, and the third surface 63s (including the surface opposite to each surface). Which surface is to be the suction surface is determined according to how the articles 6a are stacked in the stacking area 60. FIG. That is, the surface that is positioned highest in the stacking area 60 becomes the attracting surface.

FIG. 3 shows the end effector 23 sucking the article 6a. FIG. 3(a) shows the first surface 61s, FIG. 3(b) the second surface 62s, and FIG. 3(c) the third surface 63s, respectively. The detection device 3 detects the form of the article 6a in the current suction state of the article 6a (either of FIGS. 3(a), (b), and (c)).

For example, in the state shown in FIG. 3(a), the detection device 3 sets the length of each side of the article 6a with the length of the first side 61d, the width of the second side 62d, and the height of the third side 63d. Detect these ratios and centroids. Similarly, in the state shown in FIG. 3B, the first side 61d is vertical, the third side 63d is horizontal, and the second side 62d is high. With three sides 63d as length, a second side 62d as width, and a first side 61d as height, detecting device 3 detects the length of each side, their ratio, and the center of gravity.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the detection device 3 detects the stacking mode of the article group 6s in the stacking area 60. FIG. The article group 6s is defined as a plurality of articles 6 accumulated in the accumulation area 60, but also includes the case where only one article 6 is accumulated. The stacking area 60 is an area in which the articles 6 are temporarily collected before being moved to the conveying device 4, and is a storage area of a basket in which unloaded articles 6, articles 6 that have undergone a previous process, and the like are stored, for example. , the loading area of the trolley on which the article 6 is loaded, and the like. The stacking mode of the item group 6s is, for example, the outline, size, orientation, overlap, boundary, and the like of each of the stacked items 6 . The article 6 to be picked up by the end effector 23 and its suction surface are determined based on the stacking mode of the article group 6s detected by the detection device 3 . These decisions are made by the controller 5 .

In addition, the detection device 3 detects a situation in which the article 6 gripped (adsorbed) by the robot arm 2 is released and is conveyed (merged) from the conveying device 4 to the main conveyor 7 described later, in other words, from the conveying device 4. to detect the sending status of The control device 5 determines whether or not the article 6 has been sent out from the conveying device 4 and is flowing on the main conveyor 7 based on the delivery status of the article 6 detected by the detection device 3 .

In order to perform each detection described above, the detection device 3 includes a camera as a detection unit. For example, when a 3D camera is used as the detection unit, the form of the articles 6 is captured three-dimensionally, and the accumulated state of the article group 6s, the grasping state of the articles 6, the form of the grasped articles 6, and the delivery of the articles 6 from the conveying device 4 are detected. Each situation can be detected more accurately. A plurality of 3D cameras may be installed according to each detection target. However, the detection unit may be a 2D camera. In this case, a plurality of 2D cameras may be used to capture the article group 6s in the stacking area, the grasping state and form of the articles 6, and the delivery state from the conveying device 4 from different angles. Note that the detection unit may include various non-contact sensors other than the camera.

The transport device 4 is a device that transports the article 6 released by the robot arm 2 to the main conveyor 7 . The main conveyor 7 is a device installed in a distribution center or the like where a distribution system in which the article moving device 1 is incorporated operates, and sends the articles 6 moved by the article moving device 1 to the next process such as sorting and assembly. A conveying path (first conveying section) 70 for the articles 6 on the main conveyor 7 is configured in a loop shape, a linear shape, or the like.

FIG. 4 schematically shows the configuration of the conveying device 4. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4 , the transport device 4 includes a transport section (second transport section) 41 , an article tipping section 42 , and an attitude adjustment section 43 . The transport section 41 is a conveyor (hereinafter referred to as a sub-conveyor 41 ) that has a transport path connected to a transport path (first transport section) 70 of the main conveyor 7 and transports articles 6 to the transport path 70 . The conveying road surface of the sub-conveyor 41 is connected to the conveying road surface of the main conveyor 7 on the same plane parallel to the horizontal plane.

The sub-conveyor 41 has a frame 41a, a plurality of rollers 41b, and an actuator 41c for rotating these rollers 41b. The frame 41a includes four frame parts. The first frame portion 411 and the second frame portion 412 are arranged parallel to each other along the direction in which the sub-conveyor 41 conveys the article 6 (the direction indicated by the arrow SC in FIG. 4; hereinafter referred to as the flow direction SC). there is The third frame portion 413 and the fourth frame portion 414 are arranged parallel to each other along the direction in which the main conveyor 7 conveys the article 6 (the direction indicated by the arrow MC in FIG. 4; hereinafter referred to as the flow direction MC). .

The angle at which the flow direction SC merges with the flow direction MC (θ1 shown in FIG. 4) is not particularly limited. The angle θ1 may be set to an acute angle according to, for example, the length (conveyance length) of the sub-conveyor 41 in the flow direction SC, the installation space of the article moving device 1, and the like. The conveying device 4 is arranged such that the flow direction SC joins the flow direction MC at an angle θ1. In this state, the conveying device 4 is positioned with the third frame portion 413 slightly separated from the main conveyor 7 .

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the roller 41b is a cylindrical member whose peripheral surface corresponds to a conveying surface that contacts the article 6a, and is rotatable about an axis 41x. A plurality of rollers 41b are arranged in a frame area surrounded by four frame portions 411, 412, 413 and 414 so that the axis 41x is orthogonal to the flow direction SC. These rollers 41b are laid over the frame area in parallel with a predetermined interval.

The actuator 41c is a driving mechanism that rotates each roller 41b around the axis 41x. When the article 6 is conveyed by the sub-conveyor 41, the operation of the actuator 41c is controlled by the control device 5 to rotate the rollers 41b in synchronization with each other.

The article tipping section 42 tipped the article 6 and sent it to the sub-conveyor 41 (entered).
FIG. 6 schematically shows the configuration of the article tipping section 42. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6( a ), the article tipping portion 42 includes an inclined path 42 a that inclines forward (falls) toward the sub-conveyor 41 . The angle (the angle θ2 shown in FIG. 6(a)) at which the inclined path 42a inclines forward with respect to the sub-conveyor 41 is not particularly limited. The angle θ2 may be arbitrarily set according to the size of the article 6 within a range that does not interfere with the movement of the robot arm 2, for example. The ramp 42 a receives the article 6 released from the end effector 23 of the robot arm 2 and slides the received article 6 toward the sub-conveyor 41 . The article 6 is received by the ramp 42a and overturns (overturns) when sliding down the ramp 42a.

As shown in FIG. 6(b), there are a plurality of inclined paths 42a (one example) along the feeding direction of the article 6 (the direction indicated by the arrow SL in FIGS. 6(a) and (b); hereinafter referred to as the feeding direction SL). , and 3 rows) of feeding units 421 . In each row of the feeding section 421, a plurality of rotating bodies 42b are arranged so that the shaft core 42x is perpendicular to the feeding direction SL and can rotate around the shaft core 42x (FIG. 6A). The rotating body 42b is a roller whose dimension in the direction of the axis 42x is short with respect to the diameter. One row of the three rows of the feeding portions 421 is positioned in the middle of the slope 42a in the width direction (the direction orthogonal to the feeding direction SL), and the feeding portions 421 are positioned on both sides of the row at regular intervals. A dashed line L1 shown in FIGS. 4 and 6(b) is an intermediate line in the width direction of the ramp 42a in the article tipping portion 42. As shown in FIG.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 6(c), the article 6a (indicated by the two-dot chain line) received by the ramp 42a comes into contact with the rotating bodies 42b as it slides down the ramp 42a due to its own weight. to rotate them. By rotating the rotating body 42b, the article 6a is sent toward the sub-conveyor 41 while falling (the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 6(c)).

The number of feeding units 421 may be two or less, or four or more. The number of rotating bodies 42b of the feeding unit 421 is also not particularly limited. Also, in the present embodiment, the slope 42a has the feeding portion 421, but the feeding portion 421 may be omitted if the articles 6 can be overturned when sliding down the ramp. For example, it is possible to omit the feeding part 421 by adjusting the angle θ2 at which the inclined road inclines forward or by making the inclined road smooth.

The article tipping portion 42 is fixed to the frame 41a of the sub-conveyor 41 by a fixing member 42c, for example, so that the feeding direction SL is inclined with respect to both the flow direction MC and the flow direction SC. In this embodiment, as an example, the angle at which the feed direction SL joins the flow direction MC (θ3 shown in FIG. 6B) is smaller than the angle θ1 at which the flow direction SC joins the flow direction MC.

The posture adjustment unit 43 changes the orientation of the articles 6 conveyed (flowing) on the sub-conveyor 41 . In this case, the posture adjustment unit 43 adjusts the posture of the articles 6 flowing on the sub-conveyor 41 so that the posture of the articles 6 conveyed (flowing) on the main conveyor 7 (hereinafter referred to as the transport posture) becomes a desired posture. hereinafter referred to as a merging posture) is adjusted to a desired posture. A desired posture of the transport posture is a posture in which the longitudinal direction of the article 6 is along the flow direction MC (hereinafter referred to as a reference transport posture). The desired merging posture is a posture in which the longitudinal direction of the articles 6 is along the flow direction SC (hereinafter referred to as a reference merging posture). That is, by joining the articles 6 from the sub-conveyor 41 to the main conveyor 7 in the standard merging posture, the joined articles 6 flow on the main conveyor 7 in the standard conveying posture.

FIG. 7 schematically shows the configuration of the posture adjusting section 43. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the posture adjusting section 43 includes an interference member 43a capable of interfering with the articles 6 flowing on the sub-conveyor 41, and an elevating mechanism 43b for elevating the interference member 43a. The lifting mechanism 43b is a displacement mechanism that displaces the interference member 43a between a state in which it interferes with the articles 6 flowing on the sub-conveyor 41 and a state in which it does not interfere. 7A shows a state in which the interference member 43a is lowered so as not to interfere with the article 6, and FIG. 7B shows a state in which the interference member 43a is raised so as to interfere with the article 6. FIG.

The form of the interference member 43a is not limited as long as it can interfere with the article 6 flowing on the sub-conveyor 41 without damaging it. In this embodiment, as an example, the interference member 43a is a round bar. The interference member 43a is arranged between adjacent rollers 41b and moves up and down from between these rollers 41b (see FIG. 4). Therefore, the diameter of the interference member 43a is smaller than the shortest distance between the adjacent rollers 41b. The arrangement of the interference member 43a is set based on a predetermined reference line. The reference line is a boundary extending along the flow direction SC from the point of intersection P between the line of intersection of the ramp 42a with the sub-conveyor 41 and the middle line in the width direction of the ramp 42a (one-dot chain line L1 shown in FIG. 4). line (straight line L2 indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 4). The intersection line is a line where the end side of the feeding direction SL and the sub-conveyor 41 intersect when the inclined path 42a is viewed from the normal direction (above) of the conveying road surface of the sub-conveyor 41 (double-dot chain line LC shown in FIG. 4). is. In the present embodiment, the intersection line (LC) corresponds to the lower edge of the slope 42a in the feeding direction SL. As shown in FIG. 4, the interfering member 43a is located downstream of the two areas of the sub-conveyor 41 separated by the boundary line (L2) (hereinafter referred to as the arrangement area). ). The interference member 43a may be arranged at any position in the arrangement area, but is preferably arranged so as to be positioned near the main conveyor 7 in the arrangement area.

The elevating mechanism 43b elevates the interfering member 43a in the direction normal to the conveying road surface of the sub-conveyor 41 (however, the orientation is not considered). In this embodiment, since the conveying road surface of the sub-conveyor 41 is parallel to the horizontal plane, the elevating mechanism 43b vertically elevates the interference member 43a along the vertical direction. As a result, the interfering member 43a transitions between the adjacent rollers 41b to either a protruded state or a recessed state with respect to the conveying road surface of the sub-conveyor 41. As shown in FIG.

The configuration of the elevating mechanism 43b is not particularly limited as long as it can elevate the interference member 43a. In this embodiment, as an example, the lift mechanism 43b is an air cylinder. In addition, for example, a hydraulic cylinder, an electric actuator, or the like may be used as the lifting mechanism.

As shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the lifting mechanism 43b includes a cylinder body 431, an air pump 432, an on-off valve 433, and an interference member support 434. As shown in FIG.
The cylinder main body 431 is internally provided with, for example, an ascending chamber and a descending chamber, and a movable body (piston) that partitions these chambers is interposed between these chambers. An interference member 43a is attached to the movable body so as to be able to move up and down. The air pump 432 supplies and discharges air to and from the cylinder main body 431 via the on-off valve 433 . The on-off valve 433 is, for example, an electromagnetic valve that opens with respect to the rising chamber when the interference member 43a is raised and opens with respect to the lowering chamber when the interference member 43a is lowered. The operations of both the air pump 432 and the on-off valve 433 are controlled by the controller 5 (FIG. 1). Thereby, the lifting mechanism 43b lifts and lowers the interference member 43a at a predetermined timing (details will be described later). The interference member support portion 434 is a member (eg, a linear bush) that supports the inserted interference member 43a so that the interference member 43a is inserted therethrough and can be raised and lowered. The interference member support portion 434 is fixed to the frame 41a of the sub-conveyor 41, for example.

A control device 5 controls the operations of the robot arm 2, the detection device 3, and the transport device 4, respectively. The control device 5 includes an arithmetic processing section (not shown) including a CPU, a memory, a storage device (non-volatile memory), an input/output circuit, a timer, and the like. The arithmetic processing unit reads various data through an input/output circuit, performs arithmetic processing with a CPU using a program read from a storage device to a memory, and performs control (posture adjustment control of the article 6) based on the processing result. In this embodiment, the control device 5 is connected to the robot arm 2, the detection device 3, and the transfer device 4 by wire or wirelessly, and transmits and receives various data, calculation results, and the like to and from these devices.

As a result, the control device 5 reads the data (detection results) detected by controlling the operation of the detection device 3 by the input/output circuit, performs calculations by the CPU using the program read from the memory, and controls the robot based on the calculation results. It controls the operations of the arm 2 and the transport device 4 (attitude adjusting unit 43).

The operation and effect of the article moving device 1 having such a configuration will be described according to the control flow of the control device 5 for the robot arm 2, the detection device 3, and the transport device 4. FIG. FIG. 8 shows control flows of the control device 5 for the robot arm 2, the detection device 3, and the transport device 4 in the article moving device 1 of this embodiment. Note that the control device 5 repeats the attitude adjustment control of the articles 6 while the articles 6 are being accumulated in the accumulation area 60 (until the accumulated articles 6 are gone), for example.

The control device 5 selects an article 6 from the article group 6s in the stacking area 60 and causes the robot arm 2 (end effector 23) to grip it (S101). At that time, the control device 5 analyzes the data (for example, image data) of the stacking mode of the group of articles 6s in the stacking area 60 detected by the detection device 3, and the analyzed stacking mode (contour, size, orientation, overlap , boundaries, etc.) to select an item 6 to grip.

When the article 6 is gripped, the control device 5 determines a tipping condition (S102). The tipping condition is a condition for determining whether or not the gripped article 6 should be released by the article tipping section 42, in other words, whether or not it should be dropped onto the slope 42a. The control device 5 determines the tipping condition based on the shape data of the article 6 detected by the detection device 3, specifically length, width, height and their ratio. In this embodiment, as an example, the ratio of the height to the length of the short side of the gripped article 6 (hereafter referred to as height ratio) is a predetermined threshold (hereafter referred to as height reference value). If so, the fall condition is satisfied. The height reference value can be arbitrarily set, and can be set to 2 or more, for example. The height reference value may be a fixed value or a variable value that varies depending on the form of the article 6 . The height reference value is stored, for example, in the storage device of the control device 5, and read out as a parameter when judging the toppling condition.

For example, in each of the states shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C, when the height reference value is 2 as an example, the overturn condition is determined as follows.
When the article 6a is gripped as shown in FIG. 3(a), the short side is the first side 61d, the height is the third side 63d, and the height ratio (L63/L61) is 2 or more. . Therefore, this case satisfies the tipping condition. Similarly, in the case shown in FIG. 3B, the short side is the first side 61d, the height is the second side 62d, and the height ratio (L62/L61) is 2 or more. Therefore, this case also satisfies the tipping condition.
On the other hand, in the case shown in FIG. 3C, the short side is the third side 63d, the height is the first side 61d, and the height ratio (L61/L63) is less than two. Therefore, in this case, the overturn condition is not satisfied.

If the tipping condition is satisfied in S102, that is, if the height ratio is equal to or higher than the height reference value, the control device 5 sets the article tipping section 42 as the movement destination (release destination) of the article 6 (S103).

Next, the control device 5 operates the robot arm 2 so that the gripped article 6 assumes a predetermined posture (hereinafter referred to as a first release posture) (S104). In the first release posture, the short side direction of the gripping surface (suction surface) of the article 6 is parallel to the feed direction SL of the inclined path 42a, and the center of gravity of the article 6 is on the middle line in the width direction of the inclined path 42a (Fig. 6(b) on the dashed line L1). The control device 5 operates the robot arm 2 based on the data of the shape of the article 6 detected by the detection device 3, specifically the direction of the short side of the attraction surface and the center of gravity, to move the article 6 to the first release posture. position.

For example, when the article 6a is gripped as shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b), the short side direction of the gripping surface (suction surface) is the direction along the first side 61d. In this case, the robot arm 2 positions the first side 61d of the gripped article 6a in parallel with the feed direction SL and the center of gravity C on the middle line in the width direction of the ramp 42a, and places the article 6a in the first release posture. .

With the article 6 positioned in the first release posture, the control device 5 determines the posture adjustment condition of the article 6 (S105). The attitude adjustment condition is a condition for determining whether or not the orientation of the article 6 needs to be adjusted by the attitude adjustment section 43 when the article 6 flows on the sub-conveyor 41 . That is, it is a condition for determining whether or not it is necessary to adjust the merging posture of the articles 6 to the reference merging posture.

The control device 5 determines the attitude adjustment condition based on the data of the shape of the article 6 detected by the detection device 3, specifically, the ratio of the short side to the long side of the gripping surface (suction surface). In this embodiment, as an example, if the length ratio of the long side to the short side of the gripped article 6 (hereinafter referred to as aspect ratio) is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value (hereinafter referred to as aspect reference value), the attitude adjustment condition is It is filled. The aspect reference value can be set arbitrarily, and can be set to 3 or more, for example. The aspect reference value may be a fixed value or a variable value that varies depending on the form of the article 6 . The aspect reference value is stored, for example, in the storage device of the control device 5, and read as a parameter when determining the attitude adjustment condition.

For example, in each state shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, when the aspect reference value is set to 3 as an example, the attitude adjustment condition is determined as follows. Note that the state shown in FIG. 3C satisfies the overturning condition and is excluded from the determination of the posture adjustment condition.
When the article 6a is held as shown in FIG. 3A, the short side is the first side 61d, the long side is the second side 62d, and the aspect ratio (L62/L61) is 3 or more. Therefore, in this case, the attitude adjustment condition is satisfied. Similarly, in the case shown in FIG. 3B, the short side is the first side 61d, the long side is the third side 63d, and the aspect ratio (L63/L61) is less than 3. Therefore, in this case, the attitude adjustment condition is not satisfied.

If the attitude adjustment condition is satisfied in S105, that is, if the aspect ratio is equal to or greater than the aspect reference value, the control device 5 operates the attitude adjustment section 43 (S106). In this case, the control device 5 operates the lifting mechanism 43b to lift the interference member 43a. As a result, the interfering member 43a protrudes from the conveying road surface of the sub-conveyor 41 between the adjacent rollers 41b. In this case, the control device 5, for example, turns on the rising flag of the interference member 43a and holds the value in the memory. The value of the held rise flag is read out as a parameter when the attitude adjustment end condition is determined (S111), which will be described later. The initial value of the rising flag is OFF.

On the other hand, if the attitude adjustment condition is not satisfied in S105, that is, if the aspect ratio is less than the aspect reference value, the control device 5 does not operate the attitude adjustment section 43. FIG. Therefore, in this case, the interfering member 43a does not rise, and remains in a retracted state with respect to the conveying road surface of the sub-conveyor 41. As shown in FIG.

Then, the controller 5 causes the robot arm 2 to release the gripped article 6 (S107). That is, the robot arm 2 releases the article 6 on the article tipping portion 42 in the first release posture. As a result, the released article 6 drops onto the ramp 42a in the first release posture.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3(a), when the gripped article 6a falls on the slope 42a in the first release posture, the dropped article 6a slides down the slope 42a and moves the third surface 63s to the rotating body. 42b is overturned (overturned) (see FIG. 4x(c)). At this time, the short third side 63d of the article 6a is parallel to the feed direction SL, and the long second side 62d is parallel to the width direction of the ramp 42a. Then, the article 6a that has fallen in this way is sent to the sub-conveyor 41. As shown in FIG.

In the gripping state shown in FIG. 3A, the interference member 43a protrudes from the conveying road surface of the sub-conveyor 41 in order to satisfy the attitude adjustment condition (S106). Therefore, the article 6a sent to the sub-conveyor 41 interferes with the interference member 43a.

FIG. 9 shows an example of an interference mode between the article 6a and the interference member 43a in chronological order. When the article 6a overturns on the slope 42a and is sent to the sub-conveyor 41 (FIG. 9(a)), the article 6a interferes with the interfering member 43a ( contact) (FIG. 9(b)). Then, the article 6a rotates around the interference member 43a by the reaction force of the propulsive force acting on the article 6a (FIG. 9(c)). As a result, the merging posture of the articles 6a flowing on the sub-conveyor 41 is adjusted to the reference merging posture (FIG. 9(d)). As a result, the article 6a joins the main conveyor 7 from the sub-conveyor 41 in the standard merging posture, and flows on the main conveyor 7 in the standard conveying posture.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3(b), when the gripped article 6a drops onto the slope 42a in the first release posture, the dropped article 6a slides down the slope 42a and moves the third surface 63s to the rotating body. 42b to fall over. At this time, unlike the case of FIG. 3A, the article 6a has a second long side 62d parallel to the feed direction SL and a third short side 63d parallel to the width direction of the ramp 42a. becomes. In the state shown in FIG. 3B, the interference member 43a is retracted from the conveying road surface of the sub-conveyor 41 because the posture adjustment condition is not satisfied (S106). Therefore, when the articles 6a are sent to the sub-conveyor 41, they do not interfere with the interfering member 43a and receive the driving force in the flow direction SC due to the rotational force of the rollers 41b and assume the reference merging posture.

FIG. 10 shows, in chronological order, an example of how the article 6a that has fallen onto the slope 42a in the first release posture flows on the sub-conveyor 41. As shown in FIG. When the article 6a in the first release posture drops onto the slope 42a and falls (FIG. 10(a)), the article 6a is pulled by the sub-conveyor 41 due to its own weight and the driving force in the flow direction SC due to the rotational force of the roller 41b. to change direction (Fig. 10(b)). When the article 6a is further pulled and sent from the inclined path 42a to the sub-conveyor 41, the article 6a assumes the reference merging posture and continues to flow on the sub-conveyor 41 (FIG. 10(c)).

If the tipping condition is not satisfied in S102, that is, if the height ratio is less than the height reference value, the control device 5 sets the destination (release destination) of the article 6 to the sub-conveyor 41 (S108).

Next, the control device 5 operates the robot arm 2 so that the gripped article 6 assumes a predetermined posture (hereinafter referred to as a second release posture) (S109). In the second release posture, the short side direction of the article 6 is parallel to the flow direction SC, and the center of gravity of the article 6 is positioned on the middle line in the width direction (direction perpendicular to the flow direction SC) of the sub-conveyor 41. Posture. The control device 5 operates the robot arm 2 based on the shape data of the article 6 detected by the detection device 3, specifically, the short side direction and the center of gravity of the gripping surface (attraction surface) to move the article 6 to the second position. position in the release position.

For example, when the article 6a is held as shown in FIG. 3(c), the short side direction of the article 6a is the direction along the third side 63d. In this case, the robot arm 2 positions the third side 63d of the gripped article 6a parallel to the flow direction and the center of gravity C on the middle line in the width direction of the sub-conveyor 41, and places the article 6a in the second release posture.

Then, the controller 5 causes the robot arm 2 to release the gripped article 6 (S107). That is, the robot arm 2 releases the article 6 on the sub-conveyor 41 in the second release posture. As a result, the released articles 6 drop onto the sub-conveyor 41 in the second release posture.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3(c), when the gripped article 6a drops onto the sub-conveyor 41 in the second release posture, the dropped article 6a moves along the sub-conveyor so that the third surface 63s contacts the roller 41b. 41 flows. At this time, the second long side 62d of the article 6a is parallel to the flow direction SC, and the third short side 63d is parallel to the width direction of the sub-conveyor 41, that is, the article 6a assumes a reference merging posture (FIG. 1). state of the article 6a indicated by a solid line in FIG. Therefore, the articles 6a join the main conveyor 7 from the sub-conveyor 41 in the reference merging posture, and flow on the main conveyor 7 in the reference conveying posture (the state of the articles 6a indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1).

When the gripped article 6 is released, the control device 5 determines the delivery conditions (S110). The delivery condition is a condition for judging whether or not the released article 6 has joined the main conveyor 7 from the conveying device 4 (sub-conveyor 41 ), in other words, whether or not it has been delivered from the sub-conveyor 41 . The control device 5 analyzes the data (for example, image data) of the merging state (delivery state) of the articles 6 detected by the detection device 3, and determines the delivery conditions. For example, in the image data, if the article 6 disappears from the sub-conveyor 41, the delivery condition is satisfied. On the other hand, if the article 6 exists on the sub-conveyor 41, the delivery condition is not satisfied. The control device 5 repeats determination of the delivery conditions until the delivery conditions are satisfied.

If the sending condition is satisfied in S110, the control device 5 determines the attitude adjustment end condition (S111). The attitude adjustment end condition is a condition for determining whether or not the orientation of the article 6 has been adjusted by the attitude adjustment section 43 when the article 6 flows on the sub-conveyor 41 . In the present embodiment, whether or not the interference member 43a is rising, for example, whether or not the rising flag is ON is determined as the attitude adjustment end condition. The rise flag is set from the initial value (OFF) to ON based on, for example, the ON/OFF state of the air pump 432 and the opening/closing state of the on-off valve 433 .

If the attitude adjustment end condition is satisfied in S111, that is, if the interference member 43a is raised, the control device 5 operates the attitude adjustment section 43 again (S112). In this case, the control device 5 operates the lifting mechanism 43b to lower the interference member 43a. As a result, the interfering member 43a is retracted from the conveying road surface of the sub-conveyor 41 between the adjacent rollers 41b. In this case, the controller 5 resets the rise flag to OFF.

On the other hand, if the attitude adjustment termination condition is not satisfied in S111, that is, if the interference member 43a remains lowered, the control device 5 does not operate the attitude adjustment section 43. FIG. As a result, the interference member 43a is maintained in a recessed state with respect to the conveying road surface of the sub-conveyor 41 between the adjacent rollers 41b. In this case, the control device 5 keeps the rise flag OFF.

Regardless of the posture end adjustment condition, the control device 5 ends the posture adjustment control of the article 6 while the interference member 43a is lowered. As described above, the control device 5 may repeat the attitude adjustment control of the articles 6 while the articles 6 are being accumulated in the accumulation area 60 (until the accumulated articles 6 are gone).

As described above, according to the article moving apparatus 1 equipped with the control device 5 of the present embodiment, the tipping condition is determined based on the form of the article 6, and the movement destination (release destination) of the article 6 is determined according to the determination result. can be distributed to either the transport device 4 or the article tipping section 42 (inclined path 42a). At that time, when the height ratio of the article 6 is equal to or higher than the height reference value, the article 6 can be overturned on the slope 42 a and sent to the sub-conveyor 41 . Therefore, the height of the articles 6 flowing on the sub-conveyor 41 can be reduced and the articles 6 can be stabilized.

In addition, the attitude adjustment condition can be determined, and the merging attitude of the articles 6 can be adjusted by the attitude adjustment unit 43 according to the result. At this time, when the aspect ratio of the article 6 is equal to or greater than the aspect reference value, the interference member 43 a can be raised to project from the conveying road surface of the sub-conveyor 41 . As a result, the articles 6 flowing on the sub-conveyor 41 can be caused to interfere with the interference member 43a, and the attitude (merging attitude) can be adjusted to the reference merging attitude.

When the height ratio of the articles 6 is less than the height reference value and when the aspect ratio is less than the aspect reference value, the merging posture of the articles 6 is set to the reference merging posture by the operation of the robot arm 2. can be done.

Therefore, for example, as in each state shown in FIG. 3, even if any one of the first surface 61s, the second surface 62s, and the third surface 63s on which the article 6a can be attracted becomes the attraction surface, the article 6 can be set as a reference merging posture. That is, regardless of how the article group 6s is stacked in the stacking area 60, the articles 6 (6a) are joined from the sub-conveyor 41 to the main conveyor 7 in the standard merging posture, and the main conveyor 7 is placed in the desired posture (reference conveying posture). can flow to Therefore, the work load on the robot arm 2 can be reduced, and the transport posture of the article 6 on the main conveyor 7 can be more easily and accurately adjusted to the reference transport posture without lowering the work efficiency.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above-described embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalents.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the posture adjusting section 43 (interference member 43a and lifting mechanism 43b) is fixed, but it may be movable so that its position can be changed according to the shape of the article 6 or the like. For example, the attitude adjustment section can be configured by including a moving mechanism (guide rail, slider, etc.) that slides the interference member 43a and the lifting mechanism 43b in the width direction of the sub-conveyor 41 .

In addition, in the present embodiment, one posture adjusting unit 43 (interference member 43a and lifting mechanism 43b) is used, but a plurality of posture adjusting units 43 may be provided. In this case, one elevating mechanism may elevate all the interference members, or a plurality of elevating mechanisms may elevate a plurality of interference members. FIG. 11 shows a configuration example of a conveying device 4a having two posture adjusting units 43. As shown in FIG. Each posture adjusting section 43 includes one interference member and one elevating member. The interference member 43c is the same as the interference member 43a, and the lifting mechanism 43d is the same as the lifting mechanism 43b. The interference member 43c is arranged in the same area as the interference member 43a in the two areas of the sub-conveyor 41 that are partitioned across the boundary line (L2), and is spaced further from the boundary line (L2) than the interference member 43a. are positioned. The configuration of the conveying device 4a other than the posture adjusting section 43 is the same as that of the conveying device 4 (FIG. 4), and is denoted by the same reference numerals in FIG.

When providing a plurality of interference members, the control device 5 determines selection conditions based on the form of the article 6 detected by the detection device 3 . The selection condition is a condition for determining which one of the plurality of posture adjustment units 43 should be operated. The control device 5 operates the attitude adjustment section 43 selected according to the determination result of the selection condition. For example, the interference member to be lifted may be determined according to the length of the long side of the contact surface where the article 6 contacts the roller 41 b of the sub-conveyor 41 . At that time, the control device 5 compares the length of the long side with at least one predetermined threshold value, and selects and determines the interference member to be raised based on the comparison result. These comparison and determination steps are added between S105 and S106 in the control flow shown in FIG. The number of thresholds may be arbitrarily set according to the number of interfering members. By providing a plurality of interference members in this manner, even when articles 6 of different sizes are mixed in the article group 6s, the merging posture can be set to the reference merging with higher accuracy according to the size of the articles 6. It can be posture.

Further, in this embodiment, the displacement mechanism is the elevating mechanism 43b, and the interfering member 43a is elevated along the normal direction (vertical direction) of the conveying road surface of the sub-conveyor 41. As shown in FIG. That is, the interfering member 43a transitions between the adjacent rollers 41b to either a protruded state or a recessed state with respect to the conveying road surface of the sub-conveyor 41. As shown in FIG. Instead of this, for example, a covering member such as a cover or a shade that covers the conveying road surface is provided above the sub-conveyor 41 so that the sub-conveyor 41 has a structure having a tunnel-like space. Then, the interference member may be displaced from the inner surface upper portion or the inner surface of the covering member by the displacement mechanism. For example, the displacement mechanism pushes the interference member into the tunnel-shaped space when it interferes with the article 6 , and lifts the interference member out of the tunnel-shaped space when it does not interfere with the article 6 .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Article moving apparatus, 2... Robot arm, 3... Detecting apparatus, 4, 4a... Conveying apparatus, 5... Control apparatus, 6, 6a... Articles, 6s... Article group, 7... Main conveyor, 21... Base part, 22 Arm portion 23 End effector 41 Second conveying portion (sub-conveyor) 41a Frame 41b Roller 41c Actuator 41x Roller axis 42 Article tipping portion 42a Inclination Path 42b Rotating body 42c Fixed member 42x Rotating body axis 43 Attitude adjustment unit 43a, 43c Interference member 43b, 43d Displacement mechanism (elevating mechanism) 60 Article stacking area , 61d... first side, 62d... second side, 63d... third side, 61s... first surface, 62s... second surface, 63s... third surface, 70... first transport section, 411... first frame Part 412... Second frame part 413... Third frame part 414... Fourth frame part 421... Sending part 431... Cylinder body part 432... Air pump 433... On-off valve 434... Interference member support part L61d... length of the first side, L62d... length of the second side, L63d... length of the third side, C... center of gravity of the article, L1... middle line in the width direction of the ramp, L2... arrangement of interference members reference line (boundary line) of , LC . position of intersection with line L1, MC...flow direction of main conveyor, SC...flow direction of sub-conveyor, SL...feed direction of ramp, .theta.1...joint angle of SC with MC, .theta.2...forward inclination angle of ramp with respect to sub-conveyor. , θ3 . . . confluence angle of SL with respect to MC.

Claims (8)

a robotic arm for releasably gripping and removing the item from an item accumulation area;
a detection device that detects the shape of the article gripped by the robot arm;
a transport device that transports the article released by the robot arm to a first transport unit;
a control device that controls operations of the robot arm, the detection device, and the transport device, respectively;
The conveying device includes a second conveying section that conveys the article to the first conveying section, an attitude adjusting section that changes the orientation of the article conveyed by the second conveying section, and the second conveying section. an article tipping section configured to include an inclined path that slopes forward toward the conveying section, and for tipping and sending the article to the second conveying section;
Based on the form of the article detected by the detection device, the control device determines a tipping condition as to whether or not to tip and move the article, and determines a release destination of the article gripped by the robot arm. , sorting to the article tipping section or the second transport section according to the determination result of the tipping condition;
Goods mover. The ramp has a feeding section in which a plurality of rotating bodies are rotatably arranged,
An article moving device according to claim 1. The second transport unit is arranged in parallel and includes a plurality of rotatable rollers,
The posture adjusting section includes an interference member disposed between the adjacent rollers and capable of interfering with the article conveyed on the second conveying section, and an interference member arranged in a direction normal to the second conveying section. and a lifting mechanism that raises and lowers to
An article moving device according to claim 1 or 2. The interference member is provided between a line intersecting the end side of the article feeding direction and the second transport section when the inclined path is viewed from the normal direction, and an intermediate line in the width direction of the inclined path. Of the two areas of the second transport section partitioned across a boundary line extending from the intersection position along the direction in which the second transport section transports the article, the first transport section arranged in a region located further downstream in the direction in which the article is conveyed,
An article moving device according to claim 3. The detection device detects the length of the short side of the gripping surface of the article gripped by the robot arm and the height to the gripping surface, and detects the height of the height with respect to the length of the short side. detect the ratio,
The control device determines whether the height ratio is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold as the overturn condition.
An article moving device according to claim 1 or 2. The robot arm sets the short side direction of the gripping surface parallel to the direction in which the article tipping section feeds the article or the direction in which the second conveying section conveys the article, and releases the gripped article. ,
An article moving device according to claim 5. The detection device detects the center of gravity of the article gripped by the robot arm,
The robot arm is
if the tipping condition is met, releasing the article on the article tipping part by positioning the center of gravity on the midline in the width direction of the article tipping part;
if the tipping condition is not met, releasing the article on the second transport by positioning the center of gravity on the widthwise midline of the second transport.
7. An article moving device according to claim 6. means for causing a robot arm to releasably grasp the article from an article accumulation area and move the article from the article accumulation area;
means for causing a detection device to detect the form of the gripped article;
means for causing the robotic arm to release the article over a conveying device based on the detected configuration of the article;
means for transporting the released item to a first transport to a second transport of the transport apparatus;
means for determining a tipping condition as to whether or not to tip and move the article based on the shape of the article detected by the detection device;
The robot arm includes a ramp that tilts forward toward the second conveying unit according to a determination result of the overturning condition, and the article is released from the robot arm. a means for distributing the article to an article tipping unit or the second conveying unit for tipping and sending the article,
Control device.

Images