JPH07214437A - Parts feeding method and its device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the average parts taking out number by setting the upper limit number of parts to be taken out continuously from a parts feeder whose parts taking out time is long in comparison with a parts feeder whose parts taking out time is the shortest. CONSTITUTION:At a second feeder 2 (a side whose parts taking out time is longer than that of a first feeder 1), parts that can be taken out are searched by the image processing portion of a feeder controller 31, and the number of parts that can be taken out is discriminated. Next, whether or not the number thus discriminated is smaller than the upper limit number of parts set beforehand is discriminated. In a case in which a smaller number is discriminated, parts are taken out in regard to all of the discriminated number, and a series of processing is finished. Meanwhile, in a case in which it is discriminated that this discriminated number is not smaller than the upper limit number set beforehand (equal to the upper limit number or more than the upper limit number), parts enough only for the upper limit number are taken out, and a series of processing is finished.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a component supplying method and an apparatus therefor, and more particularly to a component supplying method and an apparatus for supplying a component using a plurality of component supplying feeders.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a bowl feeder has been generally used as a component feeder for automatic assembly. In addition, the image of a predetermined area of the parts transporting truck provided around the bowl for storing the parts, which has a bowl feeder as a main part, is detected by an image detecting unit such as a CCD camera, and the parts are detected based on the detected image. A component supply device has been proposed in which a desired component is supplied to a desired position by identifying a type, a position, etc., and operating an industrial robot or the like based on the identification result (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 60-60). (See Japanese Patent No. 118479).

Further, in view of the demand for supplying one kind of parts at high speed, the present applicant arranges a plurality of bowl feeders for supplying one kind of parts, and the parts are fed from the plurality of bowl feeders. There has already been proposed a component supply device which can arrange a single industrial robot to take out a component and supply the component in accordance with the required amount of the component (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-256533).

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing an example of a component supply device proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-256533.
It shows a case where two circulation type bowl feeders are controlled by one image processing device. This component supply device is provided with two circulating bowl feeders 72, 73 having an image detection unit 71 for capturing an image of a part of the component transport truck 70.
And an industrial robot 74 arranged at a position where components can be taken out from the component transfer trucks 70 of the respective circulating bowl feeders 72 and 73, a robot controller 75, and vibrations of the circulating bowl feeders 72 and 73 are controlled. The amplitude controllers 76 and 77, and the image detection unit 7
It has an image processing unit 78 that identifies the supply state of the component based on the image detection signal from 1.

According to the component supply apparatus having the above-mentioned configuration, while the image taken from the image detecting section 71 of the one bowl feeder 72 is image-processed by the image processing section 78 to identify the removable parts, From the other bowl feeder 73, which has already completed image acquisition, to the industrial robot 7.
Since parts can be taken out by means of No. 4, the number of parts taken out can be increased with a simple structure (Fig. 9).
(See (a)). In the case of this configuration, the time for picking up parts by the industrial robot 74 is two bowl feeders 72, 7
In the arrangement configuration in which there is no difference in 3, the image processing unit 7
8, ts is an average part search time, ns is an average number of parts identified by one image search that can be taken out, and robot takes out time (between the pick-up position of the bowl feeder and the part placement position). If ts <tr.ns, the time t0 required to take out one part is t0 = tr, and ts> tr.
・ If ns, t0 is takt time ta (ts / ns) on the bowl feeder side. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9B, when the parts are picked up by the industrial robot using only one bowl feeder, the industrial robot must wait while the parts are searched by the image processing unit. Therefore, the time t0 required to take out one part is t
Since 0 = ta + tr, the number of parts taken out is reduced as compared with the configuration of FIG. In this way, by combining a plurality of bowl feeders and an industrial robot that takes out parts from those bowl feeders, the number of parts taken out per unit time can be significantly improved.

[0006]

However, due to restrictions such as the position where the parts taken out by the industrial robot are placed, the parts picking time by one bowl feeder and the parts picking time by the other bowl feeder match. However, in this case, there is a problem that the number of parts to be taken out cannot be significantly improved by a method of simply and alternately taking out the parts identified by both bowl feeders.

More specifically, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 10, the distance from the component pick-up position P1 of one bowl feeder 72 and the component pick-up position P2 of the other bowl feeder 73 to the component placement position P0, respectively. Even if they are the same, an obstacle 80 near the component placement position P0 that interferes with component placement (for example, an accessory in an index table in which the component placement position P0 is designated in advance, or a component supply device If there is a peripheral member that cannot be changed due to the configuration, as shown in FIG.
Robot 74 from P1 to P0 so as not to interfere with 0
It is necessary to provide an intermediate point P3 in the movement of the arm. However, providing the waypoint P3 on the way in this way increases the moving distance of the arm of the robot 74, which is disadvantageous in terms of tact, and may cause the arm and the obstacle 80 to interfere with each other for some reason. ,
It cannot be said that the device configuration is preferable.

On the other hand, in order to avoid the apparatus configuration shown in FIG. 10, two bowl feeders 1 and 2 are provided as shown in FIG.
2 and the arrangement of the component mounting position P0 of the index table 20 and the obstacle (defective product discharging mechanism 22) are set as shown in FIG. 2, the two bowl feeders 1 and 2 always have the same arm posture. Thus, the component can be placed at the component placement position P0, and there is no fear of interference with an obstacle. If such an arrangement is adopted, the component placement position P0
As compared with the time taken to remove the parts from the bowl feeder 1 on the side closer to, the time taken to remove the parts from the bowl feeder 2 on the far side becomes longer.

From the two bowl feeders 1 and 2 to FIG.
When parts are alternately taken out as shown in (a), it is most efficient to take out parts from one bowl feeder immediately after the parts are taken out from the bowl feeder. However, since the number of appearances of parts that can be taken out normally varies stochastically, a large number of parts that can be taken out appear on the P2 side, which takes time, and the part search has already ended on the P1 side. However, there may be a case where the parts are continuously taken out from the P2 side. In such a case, it means that the operating time in the state where the component take-out speed is slow increases, and as a result, the average number of taken-out components in the entire system decreases.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and can improve the average number of parts to be taken out when a plurality of parts supply feeders take out parts by one industrial robot. A supply method and an apparatus therefor are provided.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, a parts supply method according to claim 1 is a plurality of parts supply feeders for supplying the same kind of parts, and parts are taken out from all the parts supply feeders. In a parts supply device that has an industrial robot installed in the position where the parts are picked up and the parts pick-up time is not the same for all parts supply feeders, the parts supply time is longer than the parts supply feeder that has the shortest parts pick-up time. Set the maximum number of parts that can be taken out continuously from the feeder.

According to a second aspect of the component supply method, a lower limit number of components to be continuously extracted from the component supply feeder having the shortest component extraction time is set. According to the third aspect of the component supply method, the upper limit number or the lower limit number is set by preventing the component supply feeder from sending predetermined retrievable component data to the industrial robot side.

In order to achieve the above object, the component supply apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of component supply feeders for supplying the same type of components, in which image detection means is arranged at a predetermined position of the component conveyance path, and image detection. Component supply state identifying means for identifying the component supply state in each component supply feeder by receiving an image detection signal from the means, an industrial robot provided at a position where components can be taken out from all component supply feeders, and component supply state identification And an industrial robot control means for controlling the industrial robot so as to take out a part from the part conveyance path of the corresponding part supply feeder based on the result of identifying the part supply state of the means, and the part take-out time of all the part supply feeders. In the component supply device where the parts are not the same, the component extraction time is longer than the component supply feeder with the shortest component extraction time. Having a feed quantity control means for setting an upper limit number of parts taken out continuously from the goods supply feeder.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a supply number control means for setting a lower limit number of parts to be continuously extracted from the component supply feeder having the shortest component extraction time. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a supply number control means for preventing the supply state identification result of the predetermined component by the component supply state identification means from being sent to the industrial robot control means.

[0015]

According to the component supply method of the first aspect, since the upper limit number of components to be continuously extracted from the component supply feeder whose component extraction time is longer than that of the component supply feeder having the shortest component extraction time is set, It is possible to prevent the number of parts exceeding the upper limit number from being continuously and continuously taken out from the part supply feeder having a long part taking time. Therefore, of the operating time of the entire system, it is possible to relatively reduce the operating time of the component supply feeder, which takes a long time to take out the component, so that it is possible to improve the average number of taking out components of the entire system.

According to the component supply method of claim 2, since the lower limit number of components to be continuously extracted from the component supply feeder with the shortest component extraction time is set, the component supply feeder with the shortest component extraction time is set. At least the lower limit number of parts is always taken out. Therefore, the operating time of the component supply feeder, which has the shortest component taking-out time, can be relatively increased in the operating time of the entire system, so that the average number of taking-out components in the entire system can be improved.

According to the third aspect of the component supply method, the upper limit number and the lower limit number are set by preventing the component supply feeder from sending predetermined retrievable component data to the industrial robot side. There is an advantage that the data transmission time from the parts supply feeder to the industrial robot can be shortened and the control of the industrial robot does not become complicated.

In the component supply device according to the fourth aspect, the supply number control means sets the upper limit number of components to be continuously extracted from the component supply feeder having a longer component extraction time than the component supply feeder having the shortest component extraction time. Since the setting is performed, the number of parts exceeding the upper limit number is not continuously taken out endlessly from the part supply feeder having a long part picking time. Therefore, of the operating time of the entire system, it is possible to relatively reduce the operating time of the component supply feeder, which takes a long time to take out the component, so that it is possible to improve the average number of taking out components of the entire system.

According to the fifth aspect of the component supply method, the supply number control means sets the lower limit number of components to be continuously extracted from the component supply feeder with the shortest component extraction time. From the supply feeder, the lower limit number of parts is always taken out. Therefore, the operating time of the component supply feeder, which has the shortest component taking-out time, can be relatively increased in the operating time of the entire system, so that the average number of taking-out components in the entire system can be improved.

According to the sixth aspect of the component supply method, the supply number control means does not send the supply state identification result of the predetermined component of the component supply state identification means to the industrial robot control means. There is an advantage that the data transmission time from the identification means to the industrial robot control means can be shortened and the control of the industrial robot control means does not become complicated.

[0021]

Embodiments will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings showing embodiments. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a component supply apparatus to which the component supply method of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a partial plan view thereof. This component supply device includes two circulating bowl feeders 1 and 2 (hereinafter referred to as feeders) arranged in parallel with each other, and an industrial robot arranged at a position where components can be taken out from either feeder 1 or 2. 3, an index table 20 to which parts are attached, a feeder controller 31 including an image processing unit for processing an image detection signal from an image detection unit provided at a predetermined position of the feeders 1 and 2, and a feeder controller 31. It has a robot controller (not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) that drives the industrial robot 3 in response to a command signal.

Each of the feeders 1 and 2 accommodates a bowl feeder 12 inside a casing 11 made of a non-translucent material, and arranges a component transport track 13 so as to surround the bowl 12a of the bowl feeder 12, A translucent plate 14 is provided to cover the opening formed at a predetermined position of the component transport track 13. Also, the transparent plate 1
Light sources 15a and 15b are arranged above and below 4, respectively. Then, the transparent plate 14 and the light source 15
a half mirror 16a is arranged between the half mirror 16b and b, and an image of a region including the translucent plate 14 is detected via the half mirror 16a and the reflection mirror 16b.
An image detection unit 16 including a CD camera or the like is arranged.
The casing 11 has an opening directly above the translucent plate 14 and is capable of reciprocating between a position where the opening is closed and a position where the opening is opened (see FIG. 2). have. The upper light source 15a is the door member 1
7 is provided on the inner side surface.

As the industrial robot 3, a SCARA robot or the like is used, and the movable arm 3a on the distal end side is provided with a suction portion 3b for sucking a component by a method such as vacuum suction. The index table 20 is a disk-shaped turntable 21.
The component mounting position P0 for mounting the component taken out by the industrial robot 3 is provided at a predetermined position of the index table 20. When a component is placed at the component placement position P0, the rotary table 21 rotates by a predetermined angle to move the component one after another, and the component is taken out at a predetermined position on the index table 20. A mechanism 22 for inspecting a component on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the rotary table 21 from the component mounting position P0 and discharging a defective product 22.
Is provided, in order to prevent the defective product discharge mechanism 22 from interfering with the movable arm 3a of the industrial robot 3,
The arrangement is as shown in FIG. Therefore, the component take-out time between the component placement position P0 of the index table 20 and the component take-out position P1 of the feeder 1 (hereinafter referred to as the first feeder) on the side closer to the index table 20 is set to t1, and the index take-out time of the index table 20 is set to t1. When the component take-out time between the component placement position P0 and the component take-out position P2 of the feeder 2 on the side farther from the index table 20 (hereinafter referred to as the second feeder) is t2, t2> t1. As described above, when the number of parts taken out from the second feeder 2 increases, the influence of the part taking-out time difference Δt = t2-t1 cannot be ignored.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of a parts supply method for solving the above problems. First, in step SP1, the second feeder 2 (P with a long take-out time is
(2 side), the image processing unit searches for retrievable parts to identify the number of retrievable components, and it is determined whether the number identified in step SP2 is less than a preset upper limit number. If it is determined that the parts are taken out from all the identified numbers, the series of processes is ended. On the other hand, when it is determined that the number identified in step SP2 is not less than the preset upper limit number (equal to the upper limit number or more than the upper limit number), only the upper limit number of parts is taken out in step SP4. Then, a series of processing is ended.

The component supply method of this embodiment will be described in more detail. Table 1 shows the component search time in the image detection unit 16 of the first and second feeders 1 and 2 and the number of components identified as the retrievable state in the component search time in the component supply device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. It is a table which shows a relationship.

[0026]

[Table 1]

The operating time of the feeder is 0.5 sec.
c, the stop time was set to 0.4 sec, and the number of initial parts in the bowl of the feeder was set to 464, and the experiment was conducted. Then, as shown in Table 1, data was collected, and an experiment was conducted until finally 100 removable parts could be identified. As a result, the average part search time required to perform one search was 6.62 seconds / time, and the average number of appearance parts was 4.64 / time.

The time required for one round trip between P1 and P0 (closer round trip time) is 1.5 seconds, and the time required for one round trip between P2 and P0 (farther round trip time) is 1.8 seconds. Suppose there is a case. Assuming that nine parts that can be taken out from the second feeder 2 side are identified, the time required to take out from P2 is 1.8 × 9 = 16.2 seconds. Within this component take-out time, the image search time on the P1 side is 5 seconds to 9 seconds as shown in Table 1 (average search time 6.
62 seconds). Therefore, even though the part search is already completed on the side of P1 where parts can be taken out in a short time, P
When parts are to be taken out from the second side, the parts take-out time difference (1.8-1.5
== 0.3 seconds), which is a time loss. Therefore, even if 5 or more parts can be identified on the P2 side, the upper limit number on the P2 side is limited to 5 (1.8 × 5 = 9).
Then, when the parts are taken out from the P1 side, if there are nine parts that can be taken out, 0.3
The time required for taking out can be shortened by × (9−5) = 1.2 seconds. In this case, the upper limit number is preferably set so that the time required for one round trip on the P2 side × the upper limit number is slightly longer than the average component search time.

In this way, considering the average part search time, the average number of parts appearing, and the difference Δt in the part picking time of the robot arm, the upper limit of the number of parts to be picked up on the feeder side, which has a long part picking time, is set. Even if it can be identified on the second feeder side, the average number of parts taken out per unit time can be increased by limiting the number of picked-up parts to the upper limit.

[0030]

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing a control system of the component supply apparatus of the present invention. This component supply device has two feeders 1 and 2, an industrial robot 3, a feeder controller 31, and a robot controller 40 that controls the industrial robot 3.

The feeder controller 31 discriminates the component state in the region of the translucent plate 14 based on the image detection signal from the image detection section 16 (see FIG. 1) provided in each feeder 1, 2. Only when the image processing unit 42, the upper limit number setting unit 43 for setting the upper limit number to be taken out from the second feeder 1 by an operator input, and the image detection signal from the image detection unit of the second feeder 2, the upper limit number is set. The upper limit number set by the setting unit 43 and the image processing unit 42
Based on the number of retrievable parts identified by, the size determination unit 44 that determines whether the number of identified components is less than the upper limit number, and the number of identified components by the size determination unit 44 is the upper limit number. In response to determining that the number is smaller than the upper limit, the first controller 45 instructing the robot controller 40 to take out the identified number of components, and the size discriminating unit 44 must identify the number of components less than the upper limit. In response to the determination, the robot controller 4
It has a second controller 46 for instructing 0 to take out the upper limit number of parts. The first control unit 45 and the second
The control unit 46 has a function of sending a command signal to the robot controller 40, and a function of sending a vibration control signal to each of the feeders 1 and 2 so as to control the vibration of the feeder corresponding to the parts removal by the industrial robot 3. In addition,
In this component supply device, the image processing unit 42 has two systems of a first channel and a second channel, the first channel is assigned to the first feeder 1, and the second channel is assigned to the second feeder 2. By adjusting the timing so that the two processes do not overlap with each other as shown in a), only one expensive image processing unit 42 is required.

The operation of the component supplying apparatus having the above structure will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4. First, when parts are supplied to the bowls 12a of the first feeder 1 and the second feeder 2 to drive the feeders 1 and 2, the parts 3 in the bowl 12a are
1 is sent to the component transport track 13 and the component 31 moves on the component transport track 13 in a predetermined direction, so that the components 31 can be separated from each other. When the first and second bowl feeders 1 and 2 are operated for a predetermined time, the component 31 reaches the translucent plate 14, so that the upper light source 15a or the lower light source 15b is turned on to turn on the first feeder 1. The image detecting section 16 captures the image of the component on the transparent plate 14, and the image processing section 42
Identify the number of parts that can be taken out and the coordinate position. Since the component search process of the second feeder 2 has already been completed prior to the component search process of the first feeder 1, within the component search time of the first feeder 1, from the component outlet of the second feeder 2, The industrial robot 3 can be driven to take out parts.

In this case, since the operator has previously set the upper limit number of the parts to be continuously taken out from the second feeder 2 in the upper limit number setting section 43, the judgment processing of the size judging section 44 causes the upper limit number of parts or more. Will no longer be taken out from the second feeder 2. Therefore, it is not necessary to take out the parts from the second feeder 2 that takes a long time to take out the parts, and the average number of taken out parts can be increased. When the size determining unit 44 determines that the number of identified components is equal to or greater than the upper limit number, the second control unit 46 prevents the data of the components exceeding the upper limit number from being transmitted to the robot controller 40. Therefore, the serial communication time can be shortened. It should be noted that the robot controller 40 side receives all data (number, component coordinate data) of the components exceeding the upper limit number,
Although it is possible to ignore only the data of the parts exceeding the upper limit number, in consideration of the communication speed of the serial communication which can be configured at a lower cost than the parallel communication, the feeder controller 31 side should not transmit the upper limit number of the part data in advance. This is advantageous in terms of system takt time because communication time is shortened.

[0034]

Third Embodiment FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing another embodiment of the component supply method of the present invention. This component supply method is also applied to the component supply device as shown in FIG.
First, in step SP1, the image processing unit searches the first feeder (P1 side having a short take-out time) for a retrievable component to identify the number of retrievable components, and the number identified in step SP2 is preset. It is determined whether or not the number is less than the lower limit number, and when it is determined that the number is less than the lower limit number, the parts search process of step SP1 is repeated. Then, when it is determined that the number identified in step SP2 is not less than the preset lower limit number, all the component numbers identified as retrievable in step SP3 are retrieved, and the series of processes is ended.

The component supply method of this embodiment will be described in more detail. With the same settings as in the first embodiment, as described above, the time required for one round trip between P1 and P0 (closer round trip time) is 1.5 seconds, and the time required for one round trip between P2 and P0 (farther round trip). Time) is assumed to be 1.8 seconds. If only one part that can be taken out on the P1 side can be identified, the P2 side cannot search for a part in 1.5 seconds, so 3.5 seconds to 7.5 seconds {(5.0
The robot is stopped for a period of −1.5) seconds to (9-1.5) seconds, and this waiting time is wasted. Therefore, the component search is terminated only when three or more components are identified during the previous component search on the P1 side, and when the number of components is two or less, the component search is performed again. By controlling in this way, even if the component search process is performed twice and the component search time becomes longer than the average search time (6.62 seconds), the robot continues to take out the component from the P2 side without stopping. If it is possible, it is temporally advantageous to search for the component twice on the P1 side. For example, when three parts are identified, the worst case is 0.5 × 3 = 4.5 seconds.
With the robot waiting time of 5 seconds {(5-4.5) seconds}, it is possible to move to the next P2 side part removal. Since there is no upper limit on the number of parts to be taken out from the P1 side, all the identified parts will be taken out from the P1 side.

[0036]

[Fourth Embodiment] FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing still another embodiment of the component supplying method according to the present invention. This part supply method is different from the part supply method shown in FIG.
The only difference is that when it is determined that the number identified in P2 is less than the preset lower limit number, the number of component searches is limited to a predetermined number and no further component search is performed. That is, the processing from step SP1 to step SP3 is the same as that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, and when it is determined that the number identified in step SP2 is less than the preset lower limit number, the parts are determined in step SP2a. It is determined whether or not the number of searches reaches a predetermined number (for example, three times), and if it is determined that the number of searches has not reached the predetermined number, the component search process of step SP1 is repeated. On the other hand, if it is not possible to identify the number of components equal to or more than the lower limit number even if the component search is performed a predetermined number of times (YES in step SP2a), it is determined that the lower limit number setting value is inappropriate or some abnormality has occurred on the feeder side. Since it can be considered, the abnormality is notified in step SP2b, and the series of processes is ended.

According to the component supply method of this embodiment, since the search process is not performed more than the preset number of times, the improper setting of the lower limit number and the abnormality of the component supply state of the feeder can be immediately detected. There is an advantage that you can.

[0038]

[Embodiment 5] FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram showing a control system of another component supply apparatus according to the present invention. This parts feeder is
It has two feeders 1 and 2, an industrial robot 3, a feeder controller 51, and a robot controller 40 that controls the industrial robot 3. The feeder controller 51 is an image processing unit for identifying the component state in the region of the translucent plate 14 based on the image detection signal from the image detection unit 16 (see FIG. 1) provided in each feeder 1, 2. 42 and a lower limit number setting unit 53 for setting the lower limit number to be taken out from the first feeder 1 by an operator input.
Based on the lower limit number set by the lower limit number setting unit 53 and the number of retrievable parts identified by the image processing unit 42 only when the image detection signal is from the image detection unit of the first feeder 2. And the size discriminating unit 54 for discriminating whether or not the number of identified parts is less than the lower limit number.
Then, in response to the magnitude discriminating unit 54 discriminating that the number of the identified components is less than the lower limit number, the first feeder 1 is again oscillated for a predetermined time and the image processing unit 42 searches for the component. In response to the first controller 55 controlling the first feeder 1 and the image processor 42 and the size determining unit 54 determining that the number of identified components is not less than the lower limit number, the robot controller 40 identifies the number. Second control unit 56 for instructing to take out all the removed parts
have. It should be noted that, also in this component supply device, it is the same that there are two systems of the first channel and the second channel.

The operation of the component supplying apparatus having the above structure will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. When the component 31 reaches the translucent plate 14, the image detection unit 16 of the first feeder 1 can capture the image of the component on the translucent plate 14 and the image processing unit 42 can retrieve the image. Identify the number of parts and the coordinate position. In this case, since the operator has previously set the lower limit number of the parts to be continuously taken out from the first feeder 2 in the lower limit number setting unit 53, the number of identified parts is determined by the determination processing of the size determining unit 54. If it is less than the above, the image search is performed again by the first control unit 55, so that the number of components less than the lower limit number is not taken out. Also,
When the size determining unit 54 determines that the number of identified components is equal to or greater than the lower limit number, the second control unit 56.
Controls to take out the lower limit number of parts or all the parts exceeding the lower limit number.
More parts can be taken out from the feeder 1. If the identified number is less than the limit number, it is better not to send such component data on the feeder controller 51 side in advance.
This is advantageous in that the communication time is shortened as compared with the case of processing on the side.

By adding the component supply apparatus of this embodiment to the component supply apparatus shown in FIG. 4, a feeder having a long component take-out time is provided with an upper limit number, and a feeder having a short component take-out time is provided with a lower limit number. Can
Together, they can further improve the average number of parts taken out. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment,
Various modifications and applications are possible. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the component supply device configured such that the feeder controller does not transmit the unnecessary component data to the robot controller has been exemplified. However, in the component supply device adopting parallel communication, the control is performed on the robot controller side. It is also possible. Further, in the above embodiment, the number of feeders is two.
The case of three units is shown, but three or more parts supply devices
It is obvious that the present invention can be similarly applied to an apparatus configured to take out with one industrial robot.

[0041]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the operating time of the component supply feeder having a long component take-out time can be relatively reduced in the operating time of the entire system. It has a unique effect that the average number of parts taken out can be improved.

According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1, the operating time of the component supply feeder having the shortest component taking-out time in the operating time of the entire system can be relatively increased. Further, there is a peculiar effect that the average number of parts taken out as the entire system can be improved. The invention of claim 3 relates to claim 1
In addition to the effect of the invention of claim 2 or claim 2, there is a unique effect that the data transmission time from the component supply feeder to the industrial robot can be shortened and the control of the industrial robot does not become complicated. According to the invention of claim 4, of the operating time of the entire system, the operating time of the component supply feeder, which has a long component removing time, can be relatively reduced, so that the average number of component removals of the entire system is improved. It has the unique effect of being able to.

According to the invention of claim 5, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 4, among the operating times of the entire system, the operating time of the component supply feeder having the shortest component taking-out time can be relatively increased. Further, there is a peculiar effect that the average number of parts taken out as the entire system can be improved. The invention of claim 6 relates to claim 4
In addition to the effect of the invention of claim 5 or claim 5, there is a unique effect that the data transmission time from the component supply feeder to the industrial robot can be shortened and the control of the industrial robot does not become complicated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a component supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of an embodiment of the component supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the component supply method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing a control system of an embodiment of the component supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing another embodiment of the component supply method of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing still another embodiment of the component supply method of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram showing a control system of another embodiment of the component supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a component supply device proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-256533.

FIG. 9A is a time chart when components are supplied by using two bowl feeders, and FIG. 9B is a time chart when components are supplied by using one bowl feeder.

FIG. 10 is a plan view for explaining a problem when components are supplied by using two bowl feeders.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Circulating Bowl Feeder 2 Circulating Bowl Feeder 3 Industrial Robot 13 Parts Transport Truck 16 Image Detection Unit 40 Robot Controller 42 Image Processing Unit 43 Upper Limit Quantity Setting Unit 44 Large / Small Discrimination Unit 45 First Control Unit 46 Second Control Unit 55 1 control unit 56 2nd control unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of component supply feeders (1) (2) for supplying components of the same type, and an industrial robot (wherein components can be taken out from all the component supply feeders (1), (2)). 3), and in the component supply device in which the component extraction times of all component supply feeders are not the same, the component supply feeder (2) having a longer component extraction time than the component supply feeder (1) having the shortest component extraction time. A component supply method characterized by setting an upper limit number of components to be continuously extracted from the. 2. The component supply method according to claim 1, wherein a lower limit number of components to be continuously extracted from the component supply feeder (1) having the shortest component extraction time is set. 3. The setting of the upper limit number or the lower limit number,
The component supply method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the component supply feeder (1) (2) does not send predetermined retrievable component data to the industrial robot (3) side. 4. A plurality of component supply feeders (1) (2) for supplying components of the same type, in which the image detection means (16) is arranged at a predetermined position of the component conveyance path (13), and the image detection means (16). ) To detect the component supply state in each component supply feeder (1) (2) and all the component supply feeders (1) (2) to identify the component supply state. An industrial robot (3) provided at a position where it can be taken out, and a component supply state identification means (4
And an industrial robot control means (40) for controlling the industrial robot (3) so as to take out a component from the component conveying path (13) of the corresponding component supply feeder based on the component supply state identification result of 2). , In the component supply device in which the component extraction times of all the component supply feeders are not the same, the components are continuously extracted from the component supply feeder (2) having a longer component extraction time than the component supply feeder (1) having the shortest component extraction time. The component supply device, which comprises supply number control means (43) (44) (45) (46) for setting the upper limit number of the above. 5. A supply quantity control means (53) (54) (55) (5) for setting a lower limit quantity of the parts continuously taken out from the parts supply feeder (1) having the shortest parts taking time.
The component supply device according to claim 4, including 6). 6. The industrial robot control means (4) uses the result of identifying the supply state of a predetermined component by the component supply state identifying means (42).
0) supply quantity control means (43)
(44) (45) (46) (53) (54) (55)
The component supply device according to claim 4 or 5, which has (56).