JPH0768426A - Parts supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a parts supply device capable of supplying parts in bulk, and allowing a robot to pick up various types of parts. CONSTITUTION:A drum type part hopper 2 is rotated by a first driving means 22 to drop parts in it on an identification tape 3. The identification tape 3 having received the parts is moved horizontally by an air cylinder 34 to move the parts onto its own identification area. A visual identification part 4 identifies the position and the attitude of each part in the identification area, and based on the identified results, a robot 10 picks the parts. The parts which are not accepted by the identification tape drop away from the tape, and then are returned to the part hopper 2 by a part recovering part consisting of a part guidance means 5, a part returning means 6, and a temporarily part retaining means 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a component supplying 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 consideration of such a problem, and parts can be supplied 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. The present invention is intended to provide a simple component supply device.

[0004]

According to the present invention, a component is supplied from a component hopper onto a recognition table, the posture of the component existing in the recognition area of the recognition table is recognized by a visual recognition device, and based on the result, The parts are picked by a robot. The parts hopper used is a drum type that is supported in a tilted state, and is configured to drop the parts by rotating it, and the dropped parts are sequentially moved to the recognition area, and parts that were not picked by the robot As for the above, they were dropped from the recognition table, collected, and returned to the parts hopper.

[0005]

With the rotation of the component hopper, a proper amount of components are dropped on the recognition table, and the recognition table that has received the components sequentially moves it onto its own recognition area. When an appropriate amount of parts are scattered in the recognition area, the visual recognition device recognizes the part and the robot picks the part. The parts that have not been picked are collected and returned to the parts hopper.

[0006]

Embodiment An embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 is a robot, and only the hand portion is shown. 1
Is a component supply device, which has a component hopper 2, a recognition table 3, a visual recognition unit 4, a component collection unit including a component guiding unit 5, a component returning unit 6, and the like in a housing 11, and drives these components. Is also equipped.

The component hopper 2 has a drum shape and is rotatably supported by two rotation transmission rollers 20, as shown in FIG. The rotation axis is not horizontal but inclined, and the component supply port 21 faces obliquely upward. Reference numeral 22 denotes a first driving means including a pulley, a belt, a motor, etc., which is supported by a support plate 220 fixed between the inner walls of the housing 11 in accordance with the inclination of the component hopper. The support plate 220 is
A shaft 201 of each roller 20 is rotatably supported on the upper side, and a motor 221 is mounted on the lower side. One of two pulleys 222 fixed to the drive shaft of the motor is one shaft 2
The pulley 202 fixed to 01 is connected with a belt, and the other is connected with the pulley 202 of the other shaft 201 with a belt. Thus, when the motor 221 rotates, the rotation is transmitted to each roller 20, and the component hopper 12 supported by this rotates around the axis.

The component discharge port 23 of the component hopper 2 is on the opposite side of the component supply port 21 and faces obliquely downward, and a shutter 24 is provided as shown in FIG. Shutter 2
The reference numeral 4 includes a cross-shaped fixing plate 25 that extends across the central portion of the component discharge port 23, and trapezoidal shutter plates 27 and 28 that are fixed by bolts 26. The bolt through holes of the shutter plates 27 and 28 are elongated holes. By loosening the bolts 26 and shifting the shutter plates 27 and 28, the distance between the inner wall of the component hopper 2 and the shutter plates 27 and 28 can be adjusted. The outflow amount of parts can be adjusted.

The recognition table 3 is arranged at a position facing the component discharge port 23 of the component hopper 2, and the component discharge port 23.
The parts received from are received, and the received parts are gradually moved forward (in FIG. 1, the left side is the front side, the right side is the rear side, the front side is the right side, and the back side is the left side). The recognition table 3 can reciprocate in the front-back direction, and its mechanism is as follows. Reference numeral 30 is a horizontal slide guide fixed to the inner wall of the housing 11 through angles 301 and 302, 31 and 32 are sliders that slide along the slide guide 30, and 33 is sliders 31 and 3.
A connecting plate connecting the two, and 34 is an air cylinder (second driving means) for reciprocating the slider 32 to reciprocate the connecting plate 33 in the horizontal direction. Air cylinder 34
Is attached to the angle 302 in a horizontally forward direction, and its rod 341 is connected to the slider 32 via a joint. As shown in FIG. 2, the connecting plate 33 supports and fixes one side of the rectangular light-transmitting plate 35, and the opposite side is supported by the plate 36 of the same shape. The plate 36 is
The rollers are in rolling contact with a plurality of guide rollers attached to the inner wall of the housing 11, and the translucent plate 35 can reciprocate in the front-rear direction while maintaining the horizontal state. The recognition table 3 has a recognition area in the visual field on the translucent plate 35 that can be imaged by the visual recognition unit 4 described later.

The visual recognizing unit 4 is provided under the light transmitting plate 35 by 45 °.
The half mirror 41 fixed at an angle of, the lighting device 42 arranged directly below the half mirror 41 via the diffusion plate 421, faces the rear half mirror 41 at an angle of 45 °, and vertically reflects the image reflected by the half mirror 41 downward. The mirror 43 includes a mirror 43 for reflecting the image in the horizontal direction, a mirror 44 that faces directly below the mirror 43 at an angle of 45 °, and reflects the image reflected by the mirror 43 in a forward horizontal direction, and a camera 45 for capturing the image reflected by the mirror 44. The camera 45 has a housing 1
The shading plates 401, 402, 403 are installed on the mounting plate 40 fixed between the inner walls of the first light shielding plate 40, and the mounting plate 40 is used as a bottom to prevent external light from entering the imaging path from the recognition table 3 to the camera 45. , Between the inner walls of the housing 11. The image captured by the camera 45 is sent to an image recognition circuit in the controller of the component supply device 1 (not shown), and the recognition information is transmitted to the controller of the robot 10.

The component collection unit guides the components falling from the recognition table 3 to a predetermined place, the component returning unit 6 that receives the guided components and returns them to the component hopper 2, and the component returning unit. During the operation of 6, the temporary guide means 7 temporarily blocks the path of the parts of the parts guide means to hold the parts. The component guiding means 5 receives the component dropped from the recognition table 3 on the movable guide plate 50 through the space between the front plate of the housing 11 and the light shielding plate 401,
This is reciprocated in the front-rear direction to guide the parts obliquely downward. The mechanism is almost the same as the reciprocating mechanism of the recognition table 3. That is, the horizontal slide guide 51 fixed to the inner wall of the housing 11 through the angles 511 and 512, and the slide guide 51.
Sliders 52 and 53, which slide along
An air cylinder 54 for reciprocating the 2 is provided. The air cylinder 54 is attached to the angle 511 in a horizontal rearward direction, and its rod 541 is connected to the slider 52 via a joint. The movable guide plate 50 is fixed to the pedestal 501 so as to have a rearwardly downward inclination.
Sliders 52 and 53 are attached to the left side edge of 1 at a predetermined interval, and the right side edge is brought into rolling contact with a plurality of guide rollers (not shown) attached to the inner wall of the housing 11. Thus, by driving the air cylinder 54, the movable guide plate 50 reciprocates in the front-rear direction while keeping the rearward downward inclination.

The parts returning means 6 comprises a bucket 60 and a drive mechanism for moving the bucket 60 up and down and discharging the parts. The drive mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 (a view of the component returning means of FIG. 1 as viewed from the rear side). 61 is a rodless cylinder vertically supported on the inner wall of the housing 11 through an angle 611, 62 is a slider that slides along the rodless cylinder 61, 621 is a bracket having an L-shaped cross section attached to the slider 62, 601
Is a support bracket fixed to the lower surface of the bracket 621 and having a U-shaped cross section. The bucket 60 has a width slightly smaller than the horizontal width of the horizontal plane of the bracket 621, and the width in the front-rear direction is larger than the width in the front-rear direction of the bracket 621.
It protrudes to the front side as shown in. Along with this, the support metal fitting 601 also projects forward from the end surface of the bracket 621,
It extends below the end surface of the bucket 60, and the pins 602 are horizontally fixed to the left and right vertical surfaces, respectively. Then, the stays 603 fixed to the front sides of the left and right side surfaces of the bucket 60 are rotatably engaged with the pin 602, and as a result, the bucket 60 turns around the pin 602. Reference numeral 604 denotes a bolt fixed to the rear upper portion of the right side surface of the bucket 60 and a tension coil spring hung between the front end portions of the bracket 621 on the horizontal plane.
With the pin 602 as a fulcrum, and presses against the bracket 621. Reference numeral 63 denotes a roller attached to the rear of the right vertical surface of the support fitting 601 and fixed vertically to the right inner wall of the housing 11 and having a U-shaped cross section.
It is fitted in the concave portion of the bracket and guides the raising and lowering of the bracket 621.

Reference numeral 65 is a roller attached to the upper portion of the left lever 603, and 66 is a posture changing plate that appears in the rising space of the roller 65 and contacts the roller 65 when the slider 62 moves up to a predetermined position. The attitude changing plate 66 is fixed to the inner wall of the left side of the housing 11 with a forward rising inclination, and the roller 65 is pressed along the inclination by further raising the slider 62 after the roller 65 abuts. As a result, the lever 603 is swung forward with the pin 602 as a fulcrum, and the bucket 60 functions to tilt forward and downward. The position where this bucket 60 tilts
The attitude changing plate 66 is positioned so as to correspond to the component supply port 21 of the component hopper 2.

The temporary retention means 7 is composed of a stopper 70 and a mechanism for supporting the stopper 70 so as to be movable up and down, and the vertical movement is given by a bucket 60. FIG. 4 is a view of the temporary retention means seen from the rear as in FIG. 3, but the component return means 6 is removed and shown, and description will be made based on this. 71
Is a guide shaft vertically supported on the right inner wall of the housing 11 through an angle 711, 72 is a slider which slides up and down along the guide shaft 71, and 73 is a tension coil spring hung between the slider 72 and the upper angle 711. Is. The stopper 70 has a cross-section as shown in FIG. 1, has an inclined surface whose rear surface is lowered downward, and a protruding surface 701 which extends rearward from the bottom surface, and the rear surface right side is fixed to the slider 72. The projecting surface 701 engages with the lower surface of the bucket 60 when the bucket 60 is descending, and functions to lower the stopper 70 against the tension coil spring. When the bucket 60 and the stopper 70 are located at the descending end, the inclined surface of the stopper is located between the bucket 60 and the rear end of the movable guide plate 50 described above.
Parts falling from 0 will be guided to the bucket 60. 74 is a roller fixed to the left side of the stopper 70,
It is vertically fixed to the left inner wall of the housing 11 and is fitted into a concave portion of a guide rail 75 having a U-shaped cross section to guide the stopper 70 to move up and down. 502 is a movable guide plate 5
Install a pair of left and right on the upper surface of
It is a straightening plate that narrows according to the horizontal width of 0.

The operation of taking out parts from the part supply device 1 is as follows. First, the parts hopper 2 is rotated to drop the parts on the recognition table 3. The recognition table 3 vibrates in the horizontal direction by the rod advancing / retreating operation of the air cylinder 34, and gradually sends the dropped parts to its own recognition area and temporarily stops them. (This air cylinder 34
Is controlled so that the rod moves relatively slowly when pushing out, which is the feeding direction of parts, and moves rapidly when retracting, which is the returning direction, and makes the recognition table 3 function like a straight type parts feeder.) And
When a part picking command is issued, the visual recognition unit 4
Picks up an image of the part in the recognition area, calculates the position and orientation of the part from the part silhouette image, and teaches the robot controller which parts can be picked. Based on the information, the robot 10 picks up the parts and carries them to the assembly place. On the other hand, the first driving means 22 rotates the component hopper 2 to drop an appropriate amount of components onto the recognition table 3. For the rotation amount, an appropriate value is determined for each component according to the picking frequency (component supply cycle of the assembly system) and the size of the component relative to the recognition area, and input to a control device (not shown) in advance to specify the component. The rotation amount can be changed automatically by.

When there are no more pickable parts in the recognition area, the air cylinder 34 is driven again to vibrate the recognition table 3 in the horizontal direction, and new parts are sent to the recognition area. At this time, the parts determined to be not suitable for picking are sent out from the recognition area and fall in front of the recognition table 3. While the robot 10, the parts hopper 2, the recognition table 3, and the visual recognition unit 4 repeat the above-described operations to transfer the parts, the parts group continuously falling from the recognition table 3 is collected as follows. To be done.

The parts dropped from the recognition table 3 are received by the movable guide plate 50 and roll backward along the inclination thereof. If the component is hard to roll, the movable guide plate 50 may be vibrated in the horizontal direction by driving the air cylinder 54 to move the rod 541 forward and backward, and the component may slip off. (This air cylinder 54, like the air cylinder 34, is controlled so as to move the rod relatively slowly when it is pushed out, which is the feeding direction of the parts, and rapidly when it is retracted, which is the return direction, and moves straight on the movable guide plate 50. Function like a mold parts feeder)
The parts dropped from the movable guide plate 50 pass through the inclined surface of the stopper 70, are housed in the bucket 60, and are stacked. When the parts are accumulated in the bucket, the movable guide plate 50 is stopped, the rodless cylinder 61 is driven, the slider 62 is raised, and the bucket 60 is raised.
Along with this, the stopper 7 engaged with the bucket 60
0 is pulled by the tension coil spring 73 and rises,
The front surface will appear immediately after the rear end of the movable guide plate 50. Therefore, while the bucket 60 is away from the descending end, the component falling path from the movable guide plate 50 is blocked and the component does not spill out of the bucket.

The bucket 60 is raised to the vicinity of the component hopper 2 and the roller 65 is brought into contact with the posture changing plate 66. It is further raised and the stay 603 is swung with the pin 602 as a fulcrum, and the bucket 60 is tilted forward and downward toward the component supply port 21 of the component hopper. Then, most of the components in the bucket 60 are returned to the component hopper 2, and the components not picked are given another chance to be picked. In this way, the parts are automatically circulated and taken out by the robot.

[0019]

According to the present invention, a slender drum-shaped hopper can be used for supplying components, and the hopper, the recognition table and the component collecting means are arranged on the same vertical plane to form a circulation path for the components. Therefore, the occupied area in the width direction is small, and it is possible to combine many component supply devices with one robot. In addition, when the hopper is rotated to spill parts, the number of rotations is controlled according to the parts and parts supply cycle, so the density of the parts is scattered to make it easy to recognize images, and the machine cycle of the assembly system is adjusted. It can be a parts supply cycle. Therefore, according to the present invention, the number of robots can be reduced and the efficiency is improved in the case of producing a small amount of products in which many parts are assembled.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the inside of a component supply device.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a component supply device.

FIG. 3 is a rear view illustrating a component returning unit of the component supply device.

FIG. 4 is a rear view illustrating a temporary retention unit of the component supply device.

FIG. 5 is a rear view illustrating the drive mechanism of the component hopper.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a component hopper.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Component supply device 2 Component hopper 22 1st drive means 24 Shutter 3 Recognition table 34 Air cylinder (2nd drive means) 4 Visual recognition part 5 Component guide means (component recovery part) 50 Movable guide plate 6 Component return means (part recovery) Part) 60 bucket 7 temporary retention means (parts collection part) 70 stopper 10 robot

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A component supply device having the following configuration. a. A drum-type component hopper that is supported in an inclined state with the component discharge port diagonally downward and the component supply port diagonally upward. b. First driving means for dropping a component from the component discharge port by applying rotation to the component hopper. c. A recognition table for receiving the parts dropped from the parts hopper in a scattered state. d. The recognition table is displaced, and the received parts are
Second driving means for sequentially moving to the recognition area provided in the recognition table. e. A visual recognition device for recognizing the posture of a component on the recognition area. f. A robot that picks a part based on information from the visual recognition device. g. A component collection unit that collects a component that has not been picked by the robot and has fallen from the recognition table and returns it to the component supply port of the component hopper. 2. The component supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the component discharge port of the component hopper is provided with a shutter for adjusting the amount of component outflow. 3. The component supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the component hopper, the recognition table, and the component collection means are arranged on the same vertical plane to form a component circulation path. 4. The component supply apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the number of revolutions given to the component hopper by the first drive means is changed according to a component or a component supply cycle.