JPH0494314A - Parts supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the constraint of the kind of identification allowable parts and interference between an industrial robot and an image sensing section by applying a light-transmissive plate at a preset position on a parts carrying truck and arranging a lighting device above the plate and an image sensing means below, respectively. CONSTITUTION:When a number of parts are put into the bowl 1a of a circulation-type bowl feeder 1 for movement, the parts are separated by a parts carrying truck 1b and carried. The parts are fed onto the truck 1b in sequence and arrives on a light-transmissive plate 1c. In such a state, as the parts are lit from the upper side by a lighting device 2, transmissive light showing the outline of the parts is received by an image sensing section 3a to allow recognition of the kind and position of the parts located on the plate 1c. On this account, by informing an industrial robot 4 of the parts position to be supplied to a conveyor line 5, the robot 4 is activated and necessary parts are clamped and supplied to the line 5, so that assembling work can be done.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a parts supply device, and more specifically, a part conveying track for separating and arranging parts is provided around a bowl for storing parts. , a mechanism in which the parts that come out on the parts transport truck are taken out by an industrial robot, and if the parts that come out on the parts transport truck are not suitable for assembly work, they are returned to the bowl and recirculated. The present invention relates to a parts feeding device which is formed by adding a bowl feeder to a bowl feeder.

<Prior Art and Problems to be Solved by the Invention> Conventionally, a bowl feeder has been generally used as a parts feeding device for automatic assembly.

Most of these bowl feeders are non-circulating bowl feeders that have a parts transport track around a bowl where parts are stored and a parts alignment mechanism that is continuous with the parts transport track, but the equipment is becoming more versatile. With the increasing demand for parts, parts transport trucks are installed around the bowl where parts are stored, and sensors are used to determine the shape of the parts that come out onto the parts transport truck to determine whether the parts are suitable for assembly work. Circulating bowl feeders have been proposed that are equipped with a mechanism for returning the food to the bowl and recirculating it when the food is not in use.

Since the bowl feeder with the former configuration aligns the parts in the bowl using a mechanical parts alignment mechanism, it is suitable for supplying a large number of parts of one type, and is mainly installed in small-product mass production lines. . Conversely, a bowl feeder with the latter configuration separates the parts in the bowl and sends them to a parts transport truck, and from among the parts located on the parts transport track, only those parts suitable for assembly work are taken out by an industrial robot. Because it is possible to
It is suitable for supplying a wide variety of parts, and is mainly incorporated into a high-mix, low-volume production line.

By the way, in a bowl feeder with the latter configuration, it is necessary to accurately identify the types of multiple parts that are present on the parts transport track at the same time, so image detection is performed by directly facing a predetermined position on the parts transport track. We are trying to set up a section. Then, in order to ensure component identification by the image detection unit, a white material is selected as the target component,
The parts transport truck is painted black to make the contrast clear. (Refer to the 62nd Research Presentation of the Society's Automated Assembly Expert Committee).

If such a configuration is adopted, the image on the parts transport truck is captured by the image detection unit in a clear contrast state, so the type of part can be accurately identified and the desired part can be taken out by the industrial robot. I can do it.

However, depending on the product to which it is applied, there is no guarantee that the parts are made of white material, so the contrast is not clear and the accuracy of parts identification decreases. Due to the fact that
Since the reflected light is taken into the image detection section, the state of the reflected light changes depending on the surface condition caused by the material of the part.
There is an inconvenience that the parts identification accuracy fluctuates greatly. Therefore, the types of parts to which it can be applied are largely limited. Furthermore, since the illumination device and the image detection section are disposed above the parts transport truck, there is also a disadvantage that there is a high possibility that interference will occur with the industrial robot that takes out the parts. In order to eliminate this inconvenience, the illumination device and the image detection unit must be placed at a significantly higher position, which makes the support of these devices unstable, and it is difficult to prevent the support from becoming unstable. For example, it becomes necessary to strengthen the support portion, which leads to an increase in cost.

<Object of the invention> This invention was made in view of the above problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a parts supply device that can eliminate restrictions on the types of parts that can be identified and can also eliminate interference between an industrial robot and an image detection unit.

<Means for Solving the Problems> In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the parts feeding device of the present invention uses a translucent structure for a predetermined position of the parts transport track of a circulating bowl feeder that does not have a mechanical parts alignment mechanism. The illumination device is arranged above the translucent plate, and the image detection means is disposed below the translucent plate.

However, an industrial robot that takes out parts based on the part recognition result by the image detection means may also be disposed.

With the parts supply device configured as described above, the parts stored in the bowl are separated and led to the parts transport truck, and the parts are illuminated from above by the lighting device, and the parts are illuminated by the light-transmitting plate Since the image detection means captures the outline of the part due to the transmitted light through the part, the part can be identified without being affected by the part's color, material, surface condition, etc.
Can easily handle a wide variety of parts.

In the parts supply device of the second invention, since the image detection means is arranged below the light-transmitting plate, the industrial robot and the image detection means can be used when the industrial robot takes out the parts. It is possible to reliably eliminate interference between the robot coordinate system and the vision coordinate system, and also to reliably prevent misalignment between the robot coordinate system and the vision coordinate system due to misalignment of the support of the image detecting means due to vibration or the like.

Further, although the lighting device requires a support, the support can be made of an inexpensive material because even if the position of the lighting device is slightly shifted, the removal of parts is not affected.

<Example> Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings showing examples.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing an assembly system incorporating the parts supply device of the present invention, which includes a circulating bowl feeder (1), a lighting device port, a vision device (3), a CCD camera, etc. It has an image detection section (3a), an assembly robot (4), and a conveyor line (5).

FIG. 3(A) is a plan view showing the configuration of the circulating bowl feeder (1), and FIG. 3(B), (C), and (D) are respectively (
A) B-B line, C-C line, D-D line sectional view, the same figure (E
) is a view taken in the direction of arrow E in FIG. 2A, and includes a parts transport track (1b) for separating and arranging parts around a bowl (la) for storing parts. This component transport truck (1b) has a narrow width that gradually increases in width near the component delivery section from the bowl (la), and also
As shown in B), it is formed into a tapered surface in the radial direction, and the remaining part is formed into a wide, almost flat surface. A certain board (1c) is provided (see figure (
(See D). Then, a predetermined position on the downstream side of the translucent plate (1c) is recessed into a V-shaped cross section over a predetermined range (
(see figure (C)), the parts are reversed.

Then, the most downstream side of the wide portion is formed into a tapered surface in the radial direction (see (E) in the same figure), and the parts are smoothly returned to the bowl (1a) and recirculated.

Figure 1 is a diagram showing the relationship between the light-transmitting plate (1c), the illumination device (1), and the image detection unit (3a), and the entire area of the light-transmitting plate (1c) is is illuminated, and the transmitted light from the translucent plate (1c) is received by the image detection section (3a).

The operation of the assembly system having the above configuration is as follows. If a large number of parts are put into the bowl (1a) of the circulating bowl feeder (1) and operated, the parts transport truck (
In 1b) the parts are separated and transported. and,
The parts are sequentially conveyed on the parts transport track (1b) and reach the top of the transparent plate (1c). In this state, since the illumination device 0 is illuminating from above, the transmitted light showing the outline of the component is received by the image detection unit (3a), and the component located on the transparent plate (1c) is be able to recognize the type and location of

Therefore, by informing the industrial robot (4) of the location of the parts to be fed to the conveyor line (5),
Assembly work can be performed by operating the industrial robot (4), gripping the necessary parts, and supplying them to the conveyor line 6).

In addition, if the necessary parts are not present on the transparent plate (1c), the operation of the circulating bowl feeder (1) is continued and the corresponding parts are not present on the transparent plate (1c). ) and then operate the industrial robot (4).

As is clear from the above explanation, since the image detection unit (3a) is arranged below the parts transport track (1b), the industrial robot (4) that takes out the parts from the upper side of the parts transport track (1b) ) can be completely eliminated. Furthermore, the contour image captured by the image detection unit (3a) is completely unaffected by the surface condition of the part, such as color, material, glossy or non-glossy surface, etc., so posture can be determined from the contour image obtained by transmitted light. The shape, orientation, position, etc. of any part can be accurately recognized by the image detection unit (3a) as long as it can be used. As a result, even when many types of parts are fed into the circulation bowl feeder (1) at the same time, only the desired parts are reliably taken out by the industrial robot (4) and fed to the conveyor line 6). be able to.

Also, because the parts are upside down, it may not be possible to assemble them as is, but in such cases, the V-shaped recess after passing through the transparent plate (1c) When it falls, it is turned over and returned to the bowl (1a) again, so it is placed on the parts transport truck (1b) again.
), it can definitely be applied to assembly.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, a transparent plate or a semi-transparent plate may be used as the translucent plate (1c). Various design changes can be made within the same range.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, the first invention captures the outline of the component below the light-transmitting plate using the image detection means, and therefore the surface of the component is determined by the color, material, surface condition, and loft of the component. It has the unique effect of being able to identify parts without being affected by changes in plating condition, etc., and being able to easily handle a wide variety of parts. Furthermore, when the present invention is incorporated into a parts handling system that includes an industrial robot, interference between the industrial robot and the image detection means can be reliably eliminated.

In the second invention, since the image detection means is placed below the transparent plate, interference between the industrial robot and the image detection means is reliably eliminated when the industrial robot takes out parts. Moreover, since there is no need to make the pillar of the image detecting means strong to prevent vibration, it has the unique effect of reducing costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the relationship between a translucent plate, an illumination device, and an image detection section, Fig. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing an assembly system incorporating the parts supply device of the present invention, and Fig. 3 (A) is a plan view showing the configuration of a circulating bowl feeder, and (B), (C), and (D) are B--B in the same figure (A), respectively.
B line, C-C line, D-D line sectional view, the same figure (E) is the same figure (
A) E arrow view. (1)...Circulating bowl feeder, (le)...Translucent plate, ■...Lighting device, (3a)...Image detection unit, (4)
・・・Industrial robot

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A predetermined position of a parts conveyance track (1b) of a circulating bowl feeder (1) that does not have a mechanical parts alignment mechanism is constructed with a translucent plate (1c). A component characterized in that an illumination device (2) is disposed above a translucent plate (1c), and an image detection means (3a) is disposed below the translucent plate (1c). Feeding device. 2. The component supply device according to claim 1, further comprising an industrial robot (4) that takes out the components based on the component recognition result by the image detection means (3a).