JPH0724661A - Parts supplying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To discriminate the back and the front face of a part whose back and front faces are hard to be discriminated rapidly and supply those parts with both faces discriminated. CONSTITUTION:A part 31 is taken out from a part supplying part by a robot 4 without discriminating its back face and the front face and then a designated position of the part 31 is irradiated by laser beam by a laser beam radiating part 2. The back and front faces of the part 31 are discriminated by examining if the reflected light is detected at a light detecting part 3 and the part 31 is moved to a designated part mounting position only when it is in front face state.

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,
More specifically, the present invention relates to a component supply device having a function of capturing a component image in an image detection device and identifying the type, direction, etc. of the component.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a component feeder having a bowl feeder as a main part, instead of providing a mechanical component aligning mechanism to align the components, the components provided around the bowl for storing the components. By detecting an image of a predetermined area of the transport truck with an image detection device such as a CCD camera, identifying the type, position, etc. of the component based on the detected image, and operating an industrial robot or the like based on the identification result. There has been proposed a structure in which desired parts are supplied to desired positions. However, the component transfer trucks provided around the bowl are configured so that overlapping components can be returned to the bowl again (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-118479).

In the component supplying apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, the image of the component on the component transporting track is illuminated by the light source provided above the component transporting path, and the image of the component is captured by the image detecting device such as a CCD camera. It is common to identify the type, position, etc. of a component based on the detected image. As described above, the states of the parts to be identified for taking out the parts by the robot include the type, position, direction, front and back of the parts. When determining the front and back of a component, the industrial robot takes out the component from the component transfer truck in a state where the front and back of the component are significantly different from each other.

The applicant has also provided a light-transmitting plate that covers the opening formed at a predetermined position of the component transporting track, and arranges light sources above and below the light-transmitting plate and supplies the components. There has already been proposed a component supply device in which an image detection unit such as a CCD camera for detecting an image of a region including a translucent plate is arranged at a predetermined position of the device (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-94314, etc.). According to this component supply device, the upper light source is turned on while the lower light source is turned off, and the position, posture, etc. of the component are determined by a so-called shadow image (silhouette image) that is not affected by the surface condition such as the color and gloss of the component. In addition to being able to obtain the data of, the color of the component can be obtained by capturing the reflected image of the component surface on the transparent plate by turning on the lower light source with the upper light source turned off.
It is possible to detect areas with different gloss and reflectance.

According to the component supply apparatus proposed by the present applicant, even a component having a relatively small difference in front and back can be discriminated based on both the silhouette image and the reflection image. Therefore, it is possible to increase the types of parts that can be taken out by discriminating between the front and back of the parts as compared with the above-described general part supply device. That is, by identifying the type, direction, and position of the component from the silhouette image and then detecting the difference in the shape, color, and reflectance of the back and front from the reflection image, the front and back of the component can be determined.

[0006]

However, parts colored in brown or the like with poor reflectance, parts with gloss on the surface but with a shallow dug in which the front and back are distinguished, and small letters on the surface of the part In the case of parts that are formed on the surface and need to distinguish the difference in the characters, the front and back cannot be distinguished by the reflection image, and such parts cannot be supplied by distinguishing the front and back. Is the current situation.

To solve this problem, the reflection image of the surface of the component is CC
A method of detecting a subtle difference between the front and back of a component by largely incorporating it into the visual field area of a D camera or the like can be considered. Is reduced, and the number of parts taken out per unit time is reduced, which is not a realistic method.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is possible to quickly identify a part whose front and back sides are difficult to discriminate by normal discrimination and to expand the target parts that can be used by the component supply apparatus. An object of the present invention is to provide a component supply device capable of ensuring the same number of supplied components as the number of normal components, which is not difficult to distinguish between front and back.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the component supply device according to claim 1 is an image detecting means for detecting an image of a component on a component conveying path, and an image detected by the image detecting means. Image processing means for identifying the type and state of the part based on the above, and taking out the part from the part conveying path based on the type and state of the part identified by the image processing means Robot control means for controlling the robot so as to hold it at a position, laser light irradiation means for irradiating a predetermined position of a component held at a predetermined position with laser light, and the predetermined laser light irradiation by the laser light irradiation means. Light detection means for detecting the reflected light from a location, front and back discrimination means for discriminating the front and back of a component based on the signal of the light detection means, and the front and rear discrimination means for indicating the state of the component And a robot control unit for controlling the robot to move the component held in position when it is determined that there is up to a predetermined component mounting position.

In the component supply device according to the second aspect, when the front and back discriminating means discriminates the state of the component to be the back state, the back state is converted into the front state and is supplied to the component mounting position. Have means. According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the front / back side determination means determines that the state of the component is the reverse state, the component supply device controls the robot to return the component so that the component is conveyed again on the component conveyance path. It has robot control means.

[0011]

According to the component supply apparatus of the first aspect, the image detecting means detects the image of the component on the component conveying path, and the image processing means determines the type and state of the component based on the image detected by the image detecting means. Identify. Then, the robot control means takes out the part from the part conveying path based on the type and state of the part identified by the image processing means, and controls the robot so as to hold the taken out part at a predetermined position set in advance. . On the other hand, when the laser light irradiating means irradiates the predetermined position of the component held at the predetermined position with the laser light,
The light detecting means detects the reflected light of the laser light emitted by the laser light irradiating means from the predetermined portion, and the front / back surface discriminating means discriminates the front / back surface of the component based on the signal from the light detecting means. Then, when the front and back discriminating means determines that the state of the component is the front state, the robot control means controls the robot to move the component held at the predetermined position to the predetermined component mounting position. Therefore, since it is possible to immediately determine the front and back of a component by the intensity of the reflected light reflected from the predetermined location, the characteristics such as the pattern, the presence or absence of the reflected light, etc. It is possible to distinguish at high speed, and it is possible to expand the target components that can be used by the component supply device.

According to the second aspect of the component supply device, when the front / back surface determination means determines that the state of the component is the back state, the back state is converted to the front state and supplied to the component mounting position. Since it has a reversing means for turning on and off, all parts taken out by the robot regardless of the state of the front and back can be supplied to the part placement position, and it is not difficult to distinguish front and back The number of supplies can be secured.

In the component supply device according to the third aspect, when the front and back discriminating means discriminates the state of the component as the back condition, the component is returned so that the component is conveyed again on the component conveying path. Since the robot control means for controlling the robot is provided accordingly, the components taken out in the back state can be returned to the component transfer path without manual labor, and the component supply work can be efficiently performed. .

[0014]

Embodiments will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings showing embodiments. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the component supply device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the component supply device. This component supply device identifies a type, a direction and a position of a component and supplies the component, and a component supply unit 1
A laser light irradiation unit 2 for irradiating the component taken out from the device with laser light, a photodetector 3 for receiving the laser light reflected from the component, a component supply unit 1, a laser light irradiation position, and a component placement position 35. Robot 4 for moving a component to the device, a device controller 5 for controlling the component supply unit 1 and the laser light irradiation unit 2, and a robot controller 6 for controlling the robot 4 based on a control signal from the device controller 5.
(Not shown in FIG. 1).

The component supply unit 1 accommodates a bowl feeder 12 inside a casing 11 made of a non-translucent material, and arranges a component transfer track 13 so as to surround the bowl 12a of the bowl feeder 12, A translucent plate 14 is provided to cover an opening formed at a predetermined position of the component transport track 13. Light sources 15a and 15b are arranged above and below the translucent plate 14, respectively. A half mirror 16a is arranged between the translucent plate 14 and the light source 15b, and an image of an area including the translucent plate 14 is detected via the half mirror 16a and the reflection mirror 16b. An image detection unit 16 including a CCD camera is arranged. Also,
The casing 11 has an opening directly above the translucent plate 14, and also has a door member 11b that can reciprocate between a position where the opening is closed and a position where the opening is opened. In addition, the casing 1 is provided at a predetermined position of the casing 11.
A chute part 17 for returning parts from the outside of 1 to the bowl 12a of the bowl feeder 12 is provided.

The laser light irradiation unit 2 and the light detection unit 3 are provided at predetermined positions within the operation range of the movable arm of the robot 4, and the laser light from the laser light irradiation unit 2 is positioned by the robot 4 at the predetermined light irradiation position. It is irradiated to a predetermined place of the part. The device controller 5 discriminates between the front and back of a component based on the signal from the image processing unit 5a that performs the component type and component state identification processing based on the image obtained by the image detection unit 16 of the component supply unit 1 and the light detection unit 3. Front and back discriminating unit 5
b, the control for generating the control signal of the robot 4 based on the result of identification of the component type and the component position, and controlling each operation of the light sources 15a and 15b, the door member 11b, and the laser light irradiation unit 2. It generates signals and so on.

The robot controller 6, based on the robot control signal generated by the device controller 5,
The robot 4 is controlled so as to perform each operation of taking out the component from the component supply unit 1, positioning the component at the light irradiation position, and moving the component to the component mounting position 35. As the industrial robot 4, a SCARA robot or the like is used, and the movable arm on the distal end side is attached with a suction portion 4a for sucking a component by a method such as vacuum suction.

The operation of the component supplying apparatus having the above construction will be described by taking the case of supplying the component 31 shown in FIG. 3 as an example. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an outline of the operation of this component supply device. The component 31 shown in FIG. 3 is a component whose front and back are distinguished by forming a shallow carved pattern 31a only on the back surface of the component. It is difficult to determine the front and back of such a component even if the lower light source 15b is turned on to detect the surface condition of the component.

First, by opening the door member 11b provided in the casing 11 of the component supply unit 1 and supplying the component 31 to the bowl 12a of the bowl feeder 12 to drive the bowl feeder 12, the component 31 in the bowl 12a is driven. Are sent to the component transport track 13 and the components 31 move on the component transport track 13 in a predetermined direction, so that the components 31 can be separated from each other. Bowl feeder 12
If the component 31 is operated for a predetermined time, the component 31 becomes a translucent plate 1.
4, the device controller 5 outputs a control signal for instructing the lower light source 15a to turn on, and at the same time the image detector 16 is synchronized with the stop period of the bowl feeder 12. Since a control signal for instructing that an image should be captured is supplied, the silhouette image of the stopped component 31 can be detected by the image detection unit 16.

The detected silhouette image is an image processing section 5a.
After being binarized, the characteristic value extraction processing or the like is performed based on the binarized image to identify the type, direction, position, etc. of the component (see step SP1 in FIG. 4). However,
In the case of this part 31, the type of part is determined by the silhouette image,
Although it is possible to detect the position and direction, it is difficult to distinguish the front and back sides by image detection using a reflected image. Therefore, regardless of the front and back of the component 31, only the direction of the component 31 is discriminated by the suction unit 4a of the robot 4.
Is sucked and the component 31 is taken out from the component supply unit 1 (see step SP2 in FIG. 4). Next, the arm of the robot 4 is moved to move the part 31 to a predetermined light irradiation position for front / back discrimination of the part 31, and the part 31 is moved at that position.
Is stopped (see step SP3 in FIG. 4). And
A pattern 31a of the component 31 is provided with laser light from the laser light irradiation unit 2.
Irradiate a predetermined part of the part with a mark (step SP in FIG. 4).
4). 3 (b) and 3 (d) are diagrams showing a state where the component 31 is irradiated with the laser beam in the front state and the back state, respectively, and the component 31 is irradiated with the light aiming at the concave portion where the pattern 31a is formed. Then, as shown in FIG.
When it is in the back state, the irradiated laser light is reflected by the side surface of the concave portion, and the reflected light can be detected by the photodetection unit 3, as shown in FIG.
When the component is in the front state as shown in (3), the photodetector 3 cannot detect the reflected light because there is no recess. In this way, the front / back surface determination unit 5a of the device controller 5 determines the front / back surface of the component 31 depending on whether or not the light detection unit 3 detects the reflected light from the component 31 (step SP5 in FIG. 4).

When it is determined that the state of the component 31 sucked by the robot 4 is the front state, the component is moved to the component placement position 35 (see FIG. 1) where the component 31 is placed (see FIG. 1). In step SP6 of 4), when it is determined that the state of the component 31 is the back state, the component 31 cannot be supplied to the component placement position 35, so the component 31 is fed from the chute portion 17 of the component supply unit 1 to the bowl 12a or It returns to the parts conveyance truck 13 (step SP7 of FIG. 4).

According to this embodiment, the type, position and direction of the component are identified by the silhouette image in the component supply unit 1 and the component is taken out regardless of whether it is the front side or the back side. By irradiating the laser light from the direction to determine whether the reflected light can be detected or not, it is configured to determine the front and back of the parts. Parts can be supplied at. Also, since the robot 4 is stopped at the light irradiation position for a short time of 0.5 seconds or less,
It is possible to expand the supply target components of the component supply device without reducing the number of supplied components.

Further, since the positions of the laser light irradiating section 2 and the light detecting section 3 are fixed, when searching for a predetermined location where the parts have different shapes on the front and back, while monitoring by the light detecting section 3,
This can be done by actually driving the robot 4 and designating coordinate positions where the output of the photodetector 3 greatly differs depending on the state of the back side and the state of the front side. Therefore, when supplying other parts having different shapes. There is an advantage that the setting work is also easy.

Further, since the directional laser light is used, it is possible to accurately irradiate light on predetermined places having different shapes on the front and back sides, and to change the color of the surface of the component (brown, silver white, etc.). There is an advantage that it can be applied to a resin-formed product as long as it is a part having unevenness on the front and back sides and having a predetermined reflectance without being affected.

[0025]

[Embodiment 2] FIGS. 5 and 6 are views for explaining another embodiment of the component supply apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of this embodiment, and FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the outline of operation | movement of a supply apparatus. The difference between this embodiment and the above-mentioned embodiment is that after irradiating a predetermined portion of a component with laser light to determine the front and back sides, if the component is in the back state where it cannot be supplied, the back state is the front state. It is only the point that the reversing machine 41 for reversing is used to supply both the back side and the front side to the component mounting position.

The reversing machine 41 includes a reversing table 42 pivotally supported on the base and a reversing table 42 based on a signal from the front / back discriminating section 5b that the state of the parts 31 of the reversing table 42 is reverse.
And a motor 43 for driving the. And part 3
When it is determined that the state of 1 is the front side, the movement of the robot 4 causes the component mounting position 4 of the index table 44 to move.
When the component 31 is placed on the 4a and it is determined that the state of the component 31 is the back side, the robot 4 attaches the component 31 to the component holding portion 42a of the reversing table 42, and then the motor 43 is driven to move the reversing table 42. By reversing, the component 31 is placed on the component placement position 44a of the index table 44.

Referring to FIG. 6, step SP1
The process from step SP6 to step SP6 is the same as that of the flowchart of FIG. 4. If it is determined in step SP5 that the state of the component is the back side, the component is attached to the reversing machine 41 in step SP7, and the reversing machine 41 is used in step SP8. The state of the component is reversed from the state of the back to the state of the front, and then the state is supplied to the component mounting position 44a.

According to this embodiment, since all the parts taken out by the robot can be supplied to the parts placement positions regardless of the front and back, it is assumed that the appearance probability of both the front and back of the parts is 50%. The number of parts supplied in this embodiment can be doubled as compared with the number of parts supplied in the first embodiment. The specific configuration of the reversing machine is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 5, and various configurations can be adopted.

[0029]

[Third Embodiment] FIGS. 7 and 8 are views for explaining still another embodiment of the component supply apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a schematic arrangement of this embodiment, and FIG. It is a time chart which shows the outline of operation | movement of this component supply apparatus.
This embodiment is characteristic in comparison with the previous embodiment in that two component supply units are installed, the same components requiring front / back discrimination are put into two component supply units, and the components are alternately arranged every predetermined number. The point is that the number of parts taken out is improved by taking out parts.

7 and 8, the component take-out position of the first equipment supply unit 1a is P1, the component take-out position of the second equipment supply unit 1b is P2, the laser light irradiation unit 2 and the light detection unit 3 are The light irradiation position of a certain component is Ps, and the reversing machine 41
Is set to P3, and the component mounting position 44a of the index table 44 is set to P5. In the following, according to a time chart, first, in the image capturing area on the translucent plate 14 of the first component supply unit 1a, a plurality of removable components (in this embodiment, three components are provided). )
The direction and the position of the robot are identified (indicated by reference numeral 51 in FIG. 8), and when the identification signal is received, the suction portion 4a of the robot 4 sucks the first component at the P1 position to determine the front and back sides at the Ps position, Since it is determined to be a table, the first part is placed at the P5 position, and the second part is moved to the P1 position again. Then, similarly, the front and back of the second component are determined at the Ps position, and since it is determined to be the back, the second component is placed at the P3 position, and the reversing machine 41 inverts the component to the front state and places it at the P5 position (inverted in FIG. 8). Machine first action 54). Similarly, at the same time when the third component is taken out from the P1 position, the first component supply unit 1
The image of the part a is captured (reference numeral 5 in FIG. 8).
2). Then, since the directions and positions of the plurality of retrievable components in the image capturing area of the second component supply unit 1b have already been identified (indicated by reference numeral 53 in FIG. 8), this time from the P2 position. First
Take out the above parts and perform the same process. That is, if it is in the front state, it is moved to the position P5 as it is, and if it is in the back state, it is inverted by the reversing machine 41 to place the component. In this embodiment, the image processing unit 5a has two systems of channel 1 (CH1) and channel 2 (CH2), and channel 1 is assigned to the first component supply unit 1a,
By allocating the channel 2 to the first component supply unit 1b and adjusting the timing so that the two processes do not overlap with each other, only one expensive image processing unit 5a is required.

According to this embodiment, the number of parts that can be supplied can be increased by alternately taking out the parts that can be taken out from the two parts supply units. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various design changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, in the first embodiment, the laser light irradiation unit 2
Is provided at a predetermined position apart from the component supply unit 1, but may be provided at a position such as on the casing 11 of the component supply unit 1 within the movable range of the robot 4.

Further, the predetermined position for distinguishing the front and back is one of the parts.
The position is not limited to only one, and a plurality of positions to be held by the robot 4 may be provided so that the laser light irradiator 2 determines the front and back. For parts whose front and back are extremely difficult to discriminate, the front and back can be discriminated from the light intensity pattern on the scanning line by scanning by moving the robot 4 while irradiating the laser beam from the laser beam irradiator 2. it can.

[0033]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the front and back of a component can be immediately discriminated, and the component whose front and back are difficult to discriminate can be discriminated at high speed with a normal component supply device. The unique effect that the target parts that can be used by the parts supply device can be expanded is obtained.

According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1, it is possible to supply all the parts taken out by the robot to the parts placement position regardless of the state of the inside and outside, and to distinguish the inside and outside. It has a unique effect that the same number of supplied parts as normal parts can be secured. According to the invention of claim 3, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1, the parts taken out in the back state can be returned to the parts conveying path without manpower, and the parts supplying work can be performed efficiently. It has the unique effect of being able to do it.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the component supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 3A to FIG. 3D are diagrams showing an example of parts that require front and back discrimination.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of an embodiment of the component supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of another embodiment of the component supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an outline of operation of another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of still another embodiment of the component supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a time chart showing an outline of operation of still another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Laser Light Irradiation Unit 3 Light Detection Unit 4 Robot 5 Device Controller 5a Image Processing Unit 5b Back / Front Discrimination Unit 6 Robot Controller 13 Component Transport Truck 16 Image Detection Unit 35 Component Placement Position 41 Reversing Machine 44a Component Placement Position

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image detecting means (16) for detecting an image of a component on a component conveying path (13), and an image detecting means (16).
An image processing means (5a) for identifying the type and state of the part based on the image detected by the image processing means (5).
A robot that takes out a part from the part conveyance path (13) based on the type and state of the part identified in a) and controls the robot (4) so as to hold the taken out part at a preset predetermined position. Control means (5) (6)
A laser beam irradiating means (2) for irradiating a predetermined portion of a component held at a predetermined position with a laser beam, and a reflected light of the laser beam emitted by the laser light irradiating means (2) from the predetermined portion. The light detecting means (3), the front / back side determining means (5b) for determining the front / back side of the component based on the signal of the light detecting means (3), and the front / back side determining means (5b) indicate the state of the component as a front side state. And a robot control means (5) (6) for controlling the robot (4) to move the component held at the predetermined position to the predetermined component placement position (35) (44a) when it is determined that The component supply device characterized in that 2. When the front and back discriminating means (5b) discriminates the state of the component into the back state, the back state is converted into the front state and supplied to the component placement positions (35) (44a). The component supply device according to claim 1, further comprising a reversing means (41) for performing. 3. A robot for returning a part so that the part is conveyed again on the part conveying path (13) when the front and back discriminating means (5b) discriminates the state of the part from the back side. Robot control means (5) for controlling (4)
The component supply device according to claim 1, further comprising (6).