JPH06170657A - Part supplier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a part supplier wherein parts can be supplied in bulk and many kinds of parts can be picked up by a single robot. CONSTITUTION:Parts are supplied from a hopper 15 into a cognition vessel 13 and scattered. An attitude of the part in the cognition vessel 13 is recognized by a visual recognizer 14, and based on a result, the part is picked by a robot 6. A driving means 17 is attached to the cognition vessel 13, to change the attitude of the part by shaking the cognition vessel 13, when difficult to recognize the part, and to return the part to the hopper 15 by tilting the cognition vessel 13 when having recognized the part excessively received by the visual recognizer 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a component supply device used in an article assembling apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When picking up a part with a robot, there is a device which always grasps the part correctly with the aid of a visual recognition device. JP-A-56-39839,
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 64-5742 has an example of such a device. JP-A-2-190225 and JP-A-3-245.
The device described in Japanese Patent No. 926 also checks the parts by optical means, but it focuses on the remaining amount monitoring of the parts.

[0003]

Problems to be Solved by the Invention JP-A-56-3938
The device described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 9 is designed so that parts are sent out from a magazine feeder, and the kinds of parts are limited because they are parts that can be put in the magazine, and it is necessary to properly pack the parts in the magazine. JP-A-64-5742
The device described in the publication does not require care in aligning the parts because it uses a bowl feeder, but since the bowl feeder occupies a considerable space by itself, it is used for one picking machine. It is difficult to combine many bowl feeders with a robot, that is, to pick many kinds of parts from one robot. The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to supply parts in bulk, and moreover, it is possible to pick up many kinds of parts for one robot without taking a space as large as a bowl feeder. It is intended to provide a device.

[0004]

According to the present invention, parts are fed from a hopper into a recognition container, the posture of the parts in the container is recognized by a visual recognition device, and the parts are picked by a robot based on the result. I decided. Further, the recognition container is displaced by the driving means.

[0005]

[Operation] Parts are dropped from the hopper into the recognition container and scattered. If necessary, rock the container with a drive to ensure proper recognition of the individual parts. If too many parts are put in, the recognition container is largely displaced, and excess parts are returned to the hopper. When an appropriate amount of parts are scattered in the recognition container, the visual recognition device recognizes the part and the robot picks the part.

[0006]

Embodiment An embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the assembling apparatus 1 using the component supplying apparatus of the present invention. The assembling apparatus 1 is configured by connecting a plurality of assembling modules 2 in one row, and each module 2 has a parts supply unit 3 at the center and conveyors 4 and 5 arranged at both sides thereof. It has become. The component supply unit 3 has one robot 6 for both component picking and component assembly, and four matrix trays 7 and five component recognition device with visual recognition devices 8 are provided in front of and behind it. It is arranged.
The conveyor 4 flows a pallet 9 on which a base for assembling the parts is placed. In the state shown in the figure, the pallet 9 stops right beside the robot 6, and its position becomes the assembly work station. The robot 6 picks the required components from the matrix tray 7 or the component supply device 8 with a visual recognition device, and assembles them to the base on the pallet 9. Conveyor 5
Is used to return the empty pallet 9 after the assembling work to the starting point of the process.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the robot 6 and the component supply device 8 with a visual recognition device. The robot 6 is a horizontal articulated type, and the tip hand part 10 is a turret type.
Multiple chucks can be selected and used. A rack 12 is provided on a side surface of a base 11 to which the robot 6 is fixed, and a component supplying device 8 with a visual recognition device is supported on the shelf 12. The component supply device 8 with a visual recognition device includes a recognition container 13, a visual recognition device 14, and a hopper 15. The bottom surface of the recognition container 13 is made of a substance that transmits light. The recognition container 13 and the hopper 15 are connected by a link 16, and the recognition container 13 and the shelf 1 are connected.
2 are connected by an air cylinder 17, and a hopper 15 and a shelf 12 are connected.
Are connected by an air cylinder 18. The air cylinder 17 constitutes a drive device for the recognition container 13. Visual recognition device 14
Has a camera 19, which is shaped to look into the recognition container 13 from below. Directly above the recognition container 13 is arranged an illumination device 20 for producing a silhouette of the part on the bottom of the recognition container. Reference numeral 21 denotes a control box for the robot 6 and the visual recognition device-equipped component supply device 8 in which the arithmetic processing unit, which is the brain of the visual recognition device 14, is also placed.

The parts are taken out from the parts supply device 8 with the visual recognition device as follows. When a command for picking a component is issued from the specific visual recognition device-equipped component supply device 8, first, the visual recognition device 14 can immediately pick into the components scattered in the recognition container 15. Check for parts. If there is such a part, the robot 6 picks it up and assembles it on the base on the pallet 9. Although there are parts in the recognition container 13, when the parts are not in a posture suitable for picking due to overlapping parts, the air cylinder 17 causes the recognition container 1 to move.
Shake 3 gently to change the posture of the parts. When the posture of the part is corrected, the robot 6 takes it away. If the amount of the parts remaining in the recognition container 13 is small, FIG.
The air cylinder 18 extends the rod, and the hopper 15 is erected to put the parts into the recognition container 13 as shown in FIG. When the visual recognition device 14 recognizes that the parts have entered too much, the image shown in FIG.
After the air cylinder 18 retracts the rod, the air cylinder 17 extends the rod and tilts the recognition container largely to return the component to the hopper 15, as shown in FIG.

[0009]

According to the present invention, a hopper is used for supplying components. However, since the shape of the hopper can be set freely, the width of the hopper can be cut down to combine many robots into one robot. Yes, and as a result, one robot can supply many kinds of parts.
Parts can be simply thrown into the hopper, which facilitates setup before work. Also, it is not necessary to accurately count the number of parts and pay them out, because the parts that are overfilled are returned to the hopper.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a component supply device.

FIG. 2 is likewise a side view of the component supply device, but showing different operating states.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the component supply device, showing a different operation state.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an assembling apparatus incorporating the component supply device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 13 recognition container 14 visual recognition device 6 robot 15 hopper 17 air cylinder (driving means)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A component supply device having the following configuration. a. A recognition container that holds parts in a scattered state. b. A visual recognition device for recognizing the posture of a part in the recognition container. c. A robot that picks a part based on information from the visual recognition device. d. A hopper that drops parts into the recognition container. e. Driving means for displacing the recognition container and returning excessively supplied components to the hopper.