JPH06100147A - Part arranging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a part arranging device by which a part in a prescribed posture and a part being not in the prescribed posture can be discriminated reliably from each other when the parts pass by the side of a line type image sensor in a mutually continued condition. CONSTITUTION:A line image sensor (CCD camera) 30 is situated in a position opposed to a light source 20 while sandwiching a carrying device 10 between them, and photographs a part W irradiated by the light source 20, and the image data is inputted to a picture processing device 40. At this time, when the sensor 30 detects an image continuously beyond the overall length in a transfer direction of the part W stored beforehand, the part W continues to be excluded by blowout air from an air blowout nozzle 102 until the sensor 30 becomes unable to detect the image.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a component aligning device for discriminating and aligning the posture of moving components or works.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an automatic assembly line or the like, when a component to be fed (hereinafter referred to as a work) has a direction, its posture is determined during feeding, and a work not in a predetermined posture is sorted by a sorting mechanism. Try to eliminate it.

Conventionally, the work posture is discriminated using a mechanical means such as an attachment provided on the work feeding path. However, there are some mechanical means which cannot discriminate the posture depending on the shape of the work. When the shape of the work changes, the attachment must be changed, so
Changing the work was troublesome.

In recent years, an image sensor and an image processing technique for processing the image output thereof have been developed. Therefore, a moving work is imaged by using a two-dimensional image sensor (especially, a CCD camera) and the image of the image sensor is taken. A method of processing the output to determine the work posture has been proposed, but the image input time of this type of image sensor is large, for example, 1/60 sec, and the processing of the image output also takes time. There is a problem that the processing capacity of the drive assembly line and the like cannot be sufficiently enhanced due to restrictions on the speed and the work transfer interval, and the work is an image sensor because the image processing device gives a timing to take in the image data. It was necessary to separately install a position sensor that detects that the camera entered the field of view.

In view of the above problems, the applicant of the present invention can previously obtain a two-dimensional image of a moving work without using the position sensor by using a line type CCD image sensor having a high image input speed. For the purpose of discriminating the work posture, even in the case of a work shape which is difficult by the mechanical means described above, it is possible to accurately perform the work at a high speed in a short time and without being influenced by the work moving speed. The device was developed. The present apparatus will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 13, numeral 10 is a conveyer (conveyor) for automatically transferring a work (one example of which is shown in FIG. 16) W from the work supply line A to the sorting line B side. Reference numeral 12 is a pulse encoder connected to a pulley 11 of the transport device 10. The work W has a shape including a base W1 and a base W2 that projects from one end surface of the base W1 with a reduced diameter. In the following description, the direction in which the base W2 side is the leading side in the moving direction will be referred to. The forward posture of W is used. Reference numeral 20 denotes an illumination light source, which irradiates the work W transferred to the transfer device 10 from a horizontal direction that is perpendicular to the work moving direction (arrow direction). 30 is a line type image sensor (in this example, a line type CCD camera)
FIG. 14 shows an image of the work W which is located on the conveying device 10 and is placed on the conveying device 10 with the conveying device 10 interposed therebetween and which is irradiated with the light source 20. The image data is shown in FIG. It is input to the object detection circuit 42 of the image processing device 40. As the CCD camera 30, for example, an effective pixel number: 128 pixels, a clock frequency: 1 MHz, and an image input time: 250 μsec are used.

The image processing apparatus 40 further includes an image memory 50 for teaching, a template memory 51, a matching memory 52, and a determination circuit (including a comparison circuit) 53.

With this structure, first, the work W moving in the forward posture is imaged by the CCD camera 30, the two-dimensional image data is stored in the image memory 50, and then the image data is taught from the image memory 50. The image is read out to the device 48 and the image of the work W is displayed on the screen of the teaching device 48. Vertically-oriented (long in Y direction) rectangular frames extending outside the image and inside the image are set on both sides of a predetermined position on the image projected on the screen, that is, a changing position where the shape changes.
In this example, as shown in FIG. 16, a rectangular frame 61 is set on the base W1 of the work W, and a rectangular frame 62 is set on the base W2 of the work W. Although the rectangular frames 61 and 62 have different coordinates in the X direction, they have the same size and the same coordinates in the Y direction. Image data of the set rectangular frame 61 (FORWARD template),
The image data (BACKWARD template) in the rectangular frame 62 is stored in the template memory 51.

After the above preparations, the postures of the works W sequentially transferred from the work supply line A onto the transfer device 10 are determined. The image data output by the object detection circuit 42 is stored in the matching memory 52.
The matching memory 52 receives the image data for one line sequentially sent by the object detection circuit 42, and stores the image data for matching which can judge the matching / mismatching with the template. The determination circuit 53 compares the template stored in the template memory 51 with the matching image data captured by the matching memory 52 at each timing when the object detection circuit 42 outputs the image data for one line. A difference in the number of "black pixels" is detected, and if this difference is less than or equal to a threshold value, it is determined that matching (matching) has occurred, and if it is more than the threshold value, it is determined that there is no matching. That is, first, an operation of comparing the matching image data stored in the matching memory 52 with the FORWARD template is performed, and when the matching is obtained, then the matching image data in the matching memory 52 that is sequentially updated is compared. Compared with the BACKWARD template, the decision circuit 53 determines that the matching order is FO first.
When the RWARD template and then the BACKWARD template are in this order, it is determined that the posture of the work W is the forward posture, and a pass signal is generated. In other cases, a fail signal is generated.

Specifically, in order to prevent deterioration of the determination accuracy due to noise, for example, the width of the rectangular frames 61 and 62 is set to 5 dots, and n (in this example, n = 5) lines are formed as shown in FIG. Template consisting of memories 51 _{M1 to} 51 _M5
The FORWARD template is stored in the memory 51. Similarly, although not shown, the above BACKWARD template is stored in the other n line memories. The matching memory 52 is a first-in first-out (FIFO) memory having line memories 52 _{M1 to} 52 _M5 of the same size as the template memory 51. These line memories have a memory capacity for storing image data for one scanning line of the CCD camera 30. Reference numeral 54 is a pulse generation circuit that gives a timing for reading the data for one pixel of the CCD camera 30. Each time each of the line memories 52 _{M1 to} 52 _M5 of the matching memory 52 receives the pulse of the pulse generation circuit 54, it sends the data of one pixel stored first to the memory of the preceding stage and the above-mentioned 1 sent by the memory of the succeeding stage. Stores pixel data.

The determination circuit 53 is a matching memory 52.
Data of the line memory 52 _{M1 in} the template memory 51 _M1 , data in the line memory 52 _{M2 in} the template memory 51 _M2 , and data in the line memory 52 _{M3 in} the template memory 51 _M3.
Data of the line memory 52 _{M4 and} the data of the template memory 51 _M4 , and the data of the line memory 52 _M5
Data in the template memory 51 _M5 is compared with the data in the template memory 51 _M5 .

With such a hardware configuration, the collation operation can be performed while the image data for one scanning line is being captured from the CCD camera 30, so that the determination processing time can be shortened.

As described above, this conventional apparatus is supposed to reliably determine the transfer posture of the part W. As shown in FIG. 13, the part W precedes the part W on the conveyor (belt conveyor). Alternatively, as long as a sufficient space is provided between the parts W and the succeeding parts, there is no problem. However, as shown in FIG. The device cannot determine the posture of the component. That is, in the above apparatus, the object detection circuit 42 starts sending out the image data input from the first timing when the black pixel exists in the image data to the state where the black pixel exists, and the state where the black pixel exists. From the above, the transmission of the image data input at the second timing when the black pixel has disappeared is interrupted, and the object detection circuit 42 detects the work W during both the above timings. As shown in the figure, when the parts W are connected to each other,
The timing of shifting from the state without black pixels to the state with black pixels is not obtained corresponding to the entire length of one component in the transfer direction, that is, the black pixels are detected within the detection period T of one workpiece or more. This means that each line is continuously counted for a predetermined value or more, and this makes it impossible to determine the posture of the component in detail.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and ensures that a predetermined posture is maintained even when parts W pass sideways of a line type image sensor in a state of being connected to each other. An object of the present invention is to provide a parts aligning device capable of distinguishing between parts and parts that are not.

[0015]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The above object is to identify a component that is transported in a certain direction by a line type image sensor disposed laterally in the transport direction to determine the posture of the component. And a component sorting device that removes a component that is not in a predetermined posture from the transfer path by the output of the component determining unit, in the component transfer direction stored in advance by the line image sensor. When images are continuously detected over the entire length, the parts are continuously removed from the transfer path by the parts selection means until the line type image sensor no longer detects the images by the parts selection device. Alignment device.

Alternatively, a component discriminating means for discriminating the posture of the component to be transported in a fixed direction by a line type image sensor arranged laterally in the transport direction,
In a component aligning device including a component selecting unit that removes a component that is not in a predetermined posture from the transfer path by the output of the component determining unit, the integrated value of the image data for one line sequentially sent by the line image sensor is previously calculated. When an image is continuously detected over the stored image area of one component, the component is transferred by the component selection means until the line type image sensor no longer detects the image by the component selection device. It is achieved by a component aligner characterized by continued exclusion from the path.

Alternatively, a component discriminating means for discriminating the posture of the component conveyed in a certain direction by a line type image sensor arranged laterally in the conveying direction,
In a component aligning device configured by a component selecting unit that excludes a component that is not in a predetermined posture from a transfer path by the output of the component determining unit, the line type image sensor exceeds the total length in the transfer direction of the component stored in advance. When the images are continuously detected by the component aligning device, the component discriminating means is operated each time the component is transported a distance corresponding to the entire length.

Alternatively, a component discriminating means for discriminating the posture of the component to be transported in a certain direction by a line type image sensor arranged laterally in the transport direction,
In a component aligning device including a component selecting unit that removes a component that is not in a predetermined posture from the transfer path by the output of the component determining unit, the integrated value of the image data for one line sequentially sent by the line image sensor is previously calculated. When the images are continuously detected over the stored image area of one component, the component determining means is operated every time the component is transported a distance corresponding to the entire length. This is achieved by the component aligning device.

[0019]

Operation: Over the entire length of one part in the transfer direction,
Alternatively, the integrated value of the image data for one line sequentially sent by the image sensor exceeds the image area of one component, and the line type image sensor detects the image. That is, when a black pixel is detected, this corresponds to the fact that parts are in close contact with each other. Therefore, on the downstream side of the line-type image sensor, activate the air ejecting means as a part selecting means provided in the vicinity. Is sequentially blown out of the transfer path by the jet air, and this is continued until the image of the part is no longer obtained, that is, until the black pixel does not exist in one line, so it is in close contact. By excluding all the one group of parts from the transfer path to the outside by the jetted air, the posture of one part can be reliably determined thereafter.

Alternatively, the component can be surely supplied in a predetermined posture in the next step by operating the component discriminating means every time when the component is moved a distance corresponding to the entire length.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A component aligning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

It is assumed that the device to which the present invention is applied is almost the same as the above conventional device. That is, it is assumed that the parts W pass in front of the line-type image sensor 30 in a state in which the parts W are in substantial contact with each other on the carrying device 10 shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, if the length of the component W in the transfer direction is L, L ′, which is greater than the predetermined value (for example, 10%), is continuously detected as a black pixel, and the L ′ is provided on the downstream side of the line image sensor 30. Air is ejected by supplying an electromagnetic signal from a computer to the solenoid 101a of the electromagnetic valve 101 from the air ejection nozzle 102 provided in the vicinity.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the belt conveyor 10
A pulse encoder 12 is connected to the roller 11 of FIG. 1, and a pulse as shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the length of L ′ in FIG. 1 is detected when counting up to 5 sync pulses from the sync pulses shown in FIG. 2B synchronized with the rising and falling edges of this pulse. In the line image of the fifth synchronization pulse, when a predetermined number or more of black pixels are detected, it is determined that the part W is in contact with the part W and is transferred on the conveyor. It should be noted that even if the total length L of the component is equal to the fourth synchronization pulse, the component W is not linearly aligned in the transfer direction (as shown in the figure), that is, as shown in FIG.
When the belt conveyor 10 shown in FIG. 3 is inclined in the width direction, the total length as an image is L ″, which is larger than the correct total length L, as shown by W ′ in FIG. is there.

The present invention is constructed as described above. Next, this operation will be described. A part W of which the posture is to be discriminated on the conveying device (belt conveyor) 10 shown in FIG. 13 is transferred in the direction of arrow R as shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, when the first part W ₁ reaches the front of the line-type image sensor, a predetermined number or more of black pixels are counted for each line, and a black value equal to or more than a predetermined value is obtained in the fifth synchronization pulse. Since the pixels are counted, at this time, the part W ₁
Has already passed the front of the line-type image sensor 20, but the front end of the part W ₂ following this has been imaged by the line-image sensor 20, and a part of this has been taken for the fifth time. The image is captured by the sync pulse.

As described above, the solenoid 10 of the solenoid valve 101
An excitation signal from a computer is supplied to 1a, which activates the air ejection nozzle 102 to eject air.
Therefore, the front end of the component W ₁ has already been blown out by the air ejection nozzle 10
Although it is passing in front of 2, the air is jetted out when the center of gravity of the belt 2 almost reaches the front, and is blown to the side of the belt conveyor 10. After that, the air jet nozzle 102 is continuously driven, and as shown in FIG. 1, the continuous components W ₁ , W ₂ , W _3, ... Are sequentially blown to the side of the belt conveyor 10. Pulse encoder 1
When it is detected that there is no black pixel of a predetermined value or more in the line image synchronized with the rising or falling of a certain pulse of No. 2, the solenoid unit 10 of the solenoid valve 101 is detected.
The excitation of 1a is stopped. After that, as described above, as long as there are no more than a predetermined value of black pixels in the line image read in synchronization with the fifth rising pulse of the encoder,
It is determined that the parts are separated and transferred, and the postures of the parts are sequentially determined.

The embodiment of the present invention is configured as described above,
In addition to the above, it is clear that the posture of the component can be reliably discriminated from the above.

In the above embodiment, in order to discriminate one component, a length L'which is larger than the total length of the component in the transfer direction.
Although it is determined that the parts are connected to each other by detecting, the image having an area larger than the entire area imaged by one image sensor 20 of the part W by a predetermined value is used instead. If continuously detected, it may be determined that the parts W are transferred in a continuous phase. In this case, the number of black pixels in each line of the image sensor 20 is integrated, and when the total value or the integrated value exceeds a predetermined value, it is determined that the parts W are connected to each other. , Air ejection nozzle 102
Is operated to blow the parts W sequentially to the side of the conveyor as described above.

3 to 12 show a parts aligning device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the entire parts aligning apparatus of this embodiment. In the figures, the uppermost portion 58a of a bowl 51 having a substantially cylindrical shape is integrated with the upper edge of the bowl 51. The inclined disk 58 is provided so as to be substantially at the same level as the horizontally formed horizontal flange portion 51a, and the rotary shaft 5 fixed at this central portion is fixed.
9 extends downward through a central opening 51b formed at the bottom of the bowl 51, and is coupled to a motor 63 by a coupling 62. The rotary shaft 59 is rotatably supported by a long bearing member 60 fixed to the stationary portion 61.

A pulley 52 is integrally fixed to a bottom wall of the bowl 51 via a bearing B, and a belt 53 is wound around a groove formed in the peripheral portion of the bowl 52, which is wound around a motor pulley 54. It is equipped. The rotary shaft 55 integrally fixed to the motor pulley 54 is integrated with the rotary shaft of the motor 56. An arcuate side wall forming member 64 is fixed to the stationary portion 57 by a mounting member 65 along the outer edge portion of the flange portion 51a of the bowl 51 and with a gap. The bowl 51 is rotated in the arrow direction shown in FIG. 5 by the motor 56 via the pulleys 52, 54 and the belt 53. The disk 58 is rotated in the same direction by the motor 63 via the coupling 62, but the rotation speed is higher than that of the bowl 51. Further, although the flange portion 51a is formed horizontally, the belt conveyor device 66 is also horizontally arranged so as to extend in the tangential direction.

In the belt conveyor device 66, the belt conveyor main body 71 is so long that it is slidably mounted on the support block 70, as shown in FIG. It is abutted against, but it is driven by a motor 67, and a cross section is formed on both sides of the upper traveling portion 71a so that the component m to be fed can be transported with its longitudinal direction oriented in the transport direction. 10 is a pair of L-shaped side wall forming members 72a and 72b.
The horizontal arm portions are fixed to the block 70 by screws 74, as shown in FIG.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a projector 68 and a receiver 69 are provided near the upstream end of the belt conveyor 66.
An overflow detection device consisting of and is provided, and for this reason, as shown in FIG.
Small holes 73a and 73b are formed so as to be aligned with each other. Therefore, when the component m passes through here, the projector 68
By blocking the light from the
Is detected at this position. That is, when the component m is continuously detected for a predetermined time or longer, it is recognized as an overflow.

Next, the attitude determination device 80 will be described with reference to FIG.
And FIG. 7 will be described.

The bowl 51 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and the side wall forming member 64 arranged concentrically with the flange portion 51a is fixed to the stationary portion 57 by a mounting member 65. However, this is 3 as shown in FIG.
It consists of three segments, each of which is adjustable by loosening the screw of the mounting member 65 in the radial direction. As shown in FIG. 7, in the posture determination device 80, a narrow side wall forming plate 64A is provided, and a small gap s is provided between the large arc-shaped segments 64B and 64C on both sides. The side wall forming plate 64A is also attached to the mounting member 88 by loosening the screw 85.
The movement is adjustable within the range of the long hole 88a formed in the above, that is, in the left-right direction in the drawing. That is, it can be adjusted in the radial direction. As a result, when the diameter of the component m is larger than that shown in the drawing, the side walls forming members 64B and 64C and the side wall forming plate 64A are also moved radially outward by loosening the screws 85. If the diameter is small, the screw 85 is loosened to move inward.

Further, a wire 79 is attached to the inner edge of the flange portion 51a of the bowl 51, whereby the component m on the flange portion 51a is restrained from moving in the width direction while lying in a lying position. The paper is conveyed in this rotation direction with the rotation of.

As shown in FIG. 6, the side wall forming plate 64
A has a slit 64 perpendicular to the flange portion 51a.
a is formed, and its height is sufficiently larger than the diameter of the part m. Further, a CCD camera (Charge Coupled Dvise) 83 fixed to the stationary portion 57 via a mounting member 81 is arranged outside the stationary portion 57 as an imaging device.
This can also be adjusted to the left or right in FIG. 6 within the range of the long hole 81a by loosening the screw 82, thereby providing a zoom function and changing the magnification of a certain component m. The stationary portion 57 is provided with an opening 57a facing the lens portion 83a of the CCD camera 83, which is aligned with the above-described slit 64a. Light source 8
4 are provided. The light source 84 irradiates the component m passing in front of the light source 84, and the CCD camera 83 captures the shadow of the component m through the slit 64a. That is, according to the present embodiment, the shape of the component m passing through the slit 64a is captured by the CCD camera 83, which serves as a line sensor, and the shadow of the component m is sequentially changed. Is supplied to the controller 110 shown in FIG. As is well known as a line sensor, a CCD as one pixel has a slit 64a.
Are arranged in parallel with each other in one row or several rows, and these are arranged depending on whether the light from the light source 84 is irradiated or not.
The computer in the controller 110 calculates the shadow based on the temporal change of the shadow in the slit 64a.

Further, as clearly shown in FIG. 5, a component removing device 90 is provided on the downstream side by a predetermined angle from the position of the component attitude determining device 80. The details are shown in FIG. An air ejection nozzle 92 attached to the tip portion of 91 is fixed to the stationary portion 57 and faces a round hole 64b formed in the lower end portion of the side wall forming member 64,
The parts m passing through here, which are not in a predetermined posture, are removed into the bowl 51 by the air blown from the jet nozzle 92.

Further, as clearly shown in FIG. 9, the encoder 100 is fixed to the bottom wall portion 57a of the stationary portion 57 in the vicinity of the outer wall portion 51b of the bowl 51, and the rubber roller fixed to the tip portion of this rotating shaft. 100a is the outer wall 5 of the bowl 51
It is pressed against 1b. That is, the rotation amount of the bowl 51 is converted into the rotation of the roller 100a, and the encoder 100 detects how many times the bowl 51 has rotated from this rotation angle. This detection signal is supplied to the controller 110 as shown in FIG.

Although the controller 110 is shown in FIG. 11, a predetermined posture is displayed on the display 111. That is, various function buttons, a power switch, and the like are provided on the front panel of the controller 110. By selectively operating these buttons, the component attitude determination device 80 actually causes the component m to flow in a predetermined attitude. The slit 64a is passed through the side of the slit 64a and the predetermined posture is stored in the computer of the controller 110. Then, the controller 11 outputs an image pickup signal of the CCD camera 83 for the predetermined posture and the posture of the component actually flowing in the component posture determination device 80.
By supplying 0, it is compared with the stored posture. When not in a predetermined posture, the solenoid portion 114 of the solenoid valve 113 is excited to eject the compressed air from the compression tank 112 from the air ejection nozzle 92, and the part m passing in front of the air ejection nozzle 92 is bowled. It is designed to be discharged into 51. The operation timing of the air ejection nozzle 92 is such that the solenoid portion 114 thereof is excited in synchronization with the detection signal of the encoder 110.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a second air ejection nozzle G is provided on the downstream side of the attitude determination device 30 and in the vicinity thereof.
Similar to the first embodiment, it is activated when it is detected that the parts m are connected to each other.

The configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Next, this operation will be described.

Now, description will be given of a case where the component m as shown in FIG. 3 is placed in a predetermined posture and supplied to the next step.

Now, it is possible to consider two postures, that is, the postures of FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B. The component m has a small height cylindrical portion a and a large height cylindrical portion b. A case will be described in which the diameter-reduced portion c is joined, but the material is supplied to the next step in a posture as shown by A in FIG. In this case,
In the posture determination device 80, the component m in the posture indicated by A of
The side of the slit 64a is actually passed by rotating the bowl 51, and at this time, the image is taken by the camera 83,
This video signal is supplied to the computer in the controller 110, and this is displayed on the display 111. The operator confirms this and presses the function button on the front panel to determine the posture to be supplied to the next process. Remember.

When the motors 56 and 63 are driven, the rotating disk 5
8 rotates at a high speed in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 5, and the bowl 51 concentrically disposed outwardly of this also moves in the same direction.
But it rotates at a slower speed. Although shown only in a scattered manner for the sake of clarity, a large number of parts m to be fed are stored on the disk 58. Due to the high speed rotation of the rotating disk 58, the disk 130 is centrifugally propelled radially outward, and the flange portion 51 of the bowl 51 extends from the upper edge 58a thereof.
a is transferred to a. The flange portion 5a also rotates at a low speed, but rotates in the same direction. Therefore, the component m placed on the flange portion 5a forms a line along the rotation of the bowl 51 along the component transfer path formed by the wire 79 and the side wall forming member 64. Be transported in. When reaching the side of the posture determination device 80, the component m is slit 64a.
When passing through the camera, the camera 83 as a line sensor reads a shadow that changes in accordance with the posture in terms of time, the image pickup signal is supplied to the controller 110, and the predetermined posture stored in the controller 110 is read. On the other hand, by the encoder 100,
The rotation angle of the bowl 51 is detected, and the slit 64a
The part m that is not in the specified posture when it is conveyed from the
Excites the solenoid portion 114 by an excitation signal from the controller 110, operates the solenoid valve 113 to eject the ejected air from the nozzle 92, and when this component m passes through the side of the round hole 64b, the component m is stored in the bowl 51. It is arranged to be excluded on the disc 58.

As described above, only the component m having a predetermined posture is supplied from the flange portion 51a of the bowl 51 to the belt conveyor device 66 that follows, and the length of the belt main body 71 is directed in the transfer direction. A predetermined posture is maintained and one piece is supplied to the next process.

As described above, also in the second embodiment, if there is a sufficient distance between the component m and the following component m, the posture of the component m is definitely the predetermined posture or the predetermined posture. It is possible to reliably determine whether or not the component m is on the transfer path and at the detection position of the component attitude determination device 30 as shown in FIG. , The black pixels are detected by the CCD camera in each image line by a predetermined value or more, and the predetermined pulse number synchronized with the rising and falling edges of the pulse of the encoder 50 stored in the computer 60 is detected. Even when the number of counts is reached and the number of black pixels of a predetermined value or more is continuously counted for each line, the second air arranged close to the downstream side of the component attitude determination device 30. By driving the output device G,
The components m that are connected to each other are sequentially removed from the rotary disk 8. Therefore, it is possible to surely supply one component m to the downstream side, the orientation of which is accurately determined.

Also in this embodiment, a length M ′ that is, for example, 10% larger than the total length M of the component m in the transfer direction is set, and the number of rising and falling pulses of the encoder pulse corresponding to this is set in the computer. Although it is set, instead of this, the line type image sensor is used to count the number of black pixels, and even if the number of black pixels corresponding to one shadow of the component m is exceeded, it is still continuous. To 1
When counting a predetermined number or more of black pixels for each line, the air ejection nozzle G may be operated.

Further, a length which is larger than the total length of one component for discriminating the posture in the transfer direction by a predetermined percentage is set, and even if the length is exceeded, from the first state to the second state, that is, black pixels are line by line. Although the air jetting means is operated when the state of not exceeding the predetermined value does not change to the state of being less than the predetermined value, the encoder is made more precise and the transfer direction of the parts is strictly constant. In that case, it goes without saying that the air jetting means may be operated when the black pixel for each line is not less than a predetermined value beyond the length itself in the transfer direction of the component.

In the third embodiment of the present invention as well, the entire length of the part W in the transfer direction or the image area of one part W is stored, but when the image is continuously detected beyond this, the part W is detected. Is moved by a distance corresponding to the entire length (this is detected by counting the number of sync pulses synchronized with the rising and falling edges of the output pulse of the pulse encoder 12). This is because, for example, in the circuit of FIG. 14, the determination circuit 53 outputs a determination output each time the number of synchronization pulses corresponding to the distance corresponding to the total length of the component is counted, and based on this, when the posture is not desired, The ejection nozzle may be activated. However, in this embodiment, the operation is performed only for the time when only one component is removed. The position of the air ejection nozzle is not limited to that of the first embodiment, and any position may be used as long as it is possible to reliably exclude only the components determined to have different postures, and in any case, the determination output is generated. After counting a predetermined number of sync pulses,
It suffices to operate the air ejection nozzle only for the time required to remove the individual pieces.

Although the respective embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

For example, in the above-mentioned embodiments, the belt conveyor and the rotary parts feeder are explained as the parts transferring device, but instead of this, as in the case of the vibrating parts feeder or the linear vibrating parts feeder, the parts are moved by vibration along a predetermined direction. The present invention is also applicable to an apparatus for transferring parts.

Further, in the first embodiment, a length that is larger than the total length in the transfer direction of one component for determining the posture by a predetermined percentage is set, and if the length is exceeded, from the first state to the second state, that is, 1 The air jetting means was activated when the black pixels for each line did not change from being greater than a prescribed value to being less than the prescribed value, but the encoder was made more precise and the component transfer direction was changed. If it is strictly constant, it will be 1
Of course, the air ejection means may be activated when the black pixel for each line is not less than the predetermined value.

[0053]

As described above, according to the component aligning apparatus of the present invention, the posture of one component can be reliably discriminated even when the components are supplied at such a high efficiency that they are transferred in an interconnected state. Can be sent.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a transfer path and a component according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and B is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the transfer path and a component in another posture according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 2A is a pulse of an encoder in the same apparatus, and B is a chart of a synchronous image pulse for synchronizing a rising edge and a falling edge of the pulse and capturing a line image.

FIG. 3A is one of the components applied to the second embodiment of the present invention
It is a perspective view which shows one attitude | position, B is a perspective view of the component which shows another attitude | position.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of a parts feeding device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the same.

6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part, [6]-in FIG.
[6] A sectional view taken along the line arrow.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged front view of the posture determination unit in FIG.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of another main part.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of another main part.

10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line [10]-[10] in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a front view of a controller for this embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged front view showing a state in which components are connected to each other in the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a work transfer line installed in a conventional example.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing the conventional example.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing further details of the block.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a work of the conventional example.

FIG. 17 is an enlarged front view showing a state in which parts are connected to each other in the conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 30 image sensor 80 attitude determination device 83 CCD camera 84 light source 100 encoder 102 air ejection nozzle

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A component discriminating means for discriminating the posture of the component to be conveyed in a constant direction by a line type image sensor arranged laterally in the conveying direction, and an output of the component discriminating means. In a parts aligning device including a parts selecting means for excluding parts not in a predetermined posture from a transfer path, the line type image sensor continuously detects an image over the entire length in the transfer direction of the parts stored in advance. In this case, the component sorting device continues to remove the components from the transfer path by the component sorting means until the line type image sensor no longer detects an image by the component sorting device. 2. A component discriminating means for discriminating the posture of the component conveyed in a fixed direction by a line type image sensor arranged laterally in the conveying direction, and an output of the component discriminating means. In the component aligning device, which comprises a component selecting means for eliminating components not in a predetermined posture from the transfer path, one integrated value of the image data for one line sequentially sent by the line image sensor is stored in advance. When an image is continuously detected over the image area of the component, the component sorting device must continuously remove the component from the transfer path until the line type image sensor no longer detects the image. Characterized parts alignment device. 3. A component discriminating means for discriminating the posture of the component conveyed in a fixed direction by a line type image sensor arranged laterally in the conveying direction, and an output of the component discriminating means. In a parts aligning device including a parts selecting means for excluding parts not in a predetermined posture from a transfer path, the line type image sensor continuously detects an image over the entire length in the transfer direction of the parts stored in advance. In this case, the component discriminating device is operated each time the component is transported a distance corresponding to the entire length. 4. A component discriminating means for discriminating the posture of the component conveyed in a fixed direction by a line type image sensor arranged laterally in the conveying direction, and an output of the component discriminating means. In the component aligning device, which comprises a component selecting means for eliminating components not in a predetermined posture from the transfer path, one integrated value of the image data for one line sequentially sent by the line image sensor is stored in advance. When the images are continuously detected over the image area of the component, the component discriminating device is operated each time the component is moved a distance corresponding to the entire length.