JPH08298976A - Device for holding tobacco leaf and apparatus for arranging tobacco leaf using the same device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an apparatus for arranging tobacco leaves capable of holding the tobacco leaves from a tobacco leaf group formed in a large pile one by one and conveying the tobacco leaves in an arranged posture thereof into a prescribed tool for housing the tobacco leaves. CONSTITUTION: This device 50 for holding tobacco leaves comprises a sensing means capable of sensing the position of a midrib of each tobacco leaf in a noncontact manner, preferably a color sensor and a tobacco leaf holding means designed to operate on a sensed signal from the sensing means and hold the tobacco leaves in which the midrib is sensed. The device 50 is capable of freely moving on moving rails 11a, 11b and 12 laid on a frame unit 10. The tobacco leaves T are sensed with the sensing means, held in the midrib part, separated from a tobacco leaf group Ta, conveyed into a tool 30 for housing the tobacco leaves and piled up thereon.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tobacco leaf gripping device and a tobacco leaf aligning device using the device, and more particularly to gripping tobacco leaves one by one from a stack of a plurality of tobacco leaves to obtain a predetermined tobacco leaf. The present invention relates to a tobacco leaf gripping device that can be suitably used for transporting tobacco leaves in a tobacco leaf container with the postures thereof aligned, and a tobacco leaf aligning device using the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When drying tobacco leaves of conventional and Burley tobaccos, the tobacco leaves are sandwiched between the twists of a rope or a metal hanger, and then carried into a drying chamber and suspended and dried. Conventionally, this pinching is a simple task of manually feeding tobacco leaves one by one, and automation and mechanization of the task have been required from the viewpoint of labor saving. The present applicant has conducted many studies and experiments to meet this demand, and has already proposed several tobacco leaf feeders (for example, JP-A-5-260942 and JP-A-6-189).
No. 731, etc.).

[0003]

These feeders are provided on the tobacco leaf treating device side such as a leaf knitting machine after the topmost tobacco leaf stacked on the tobacco leaf placement table is lifted by vacuum adsorption. It is designed to be conveyed to a predetermined position, and tobacco leaves can be continuously supplied without human intervention, which greatly contributes to labor saving of work, but due to its configuration, the top tobacco leaves are placed. If the table is not arranged at a predetermined position in a predetermined position, there is a disadvantage that the accuracy of suction and leaf knitting work is reduced.

After being harvested in the field, the tobacco leaves are wrapped in a tobacco leaf harvesting cloth in a posture in which the orientations thereof are aligned with each other, and transferred to a required place. When a worker operating the above tobacco leaf supply device releases the tobacco leaf harvesting cloth wrapping the tobacco leaves in order to arrange the tobacco leaves below the vacuum suction part of the device, the tobacco leaves in the same direction are partially In a state where they are overlapped with each other, they are piled up in a predetermined width. Since it is not possible to supply highly accurate tobacco leaves in such a dispersed state, in order to cause the tobacco leaf processing device to perform highly accurate braiding, the worker unwraps the tobacco leaves one by one. It was necessary to carry out the work of stacking on the tobacco leaf mounting table of the tobacco leaf supply device while adjusting the posture, that is, while aligning the leaves.

Therefore, like a tobacco leaf group wrapped in a harvest cloth, a plurality of tobacco leaf groups, which have the same direction but are partially overlapped in a certain range, are dispersed manually. There has been a demand for a device that can take out the sheets one by one and stack them by aligning the leaves on a predetermined tobacco leaf mounting table or in a tobacco leaf container. An object of the present invention is to provide a tobacco leaf gripping device and a tobacco leaf aligning device using the device, which can effectively solve the above problems.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] As described above, the tobacco leaf groups taken out from the tobacco leaf harvesting cloth have the same direction but are dispersed in a partially overlapping posture within a certain range. To take out the tobacco leaves one by one from the tobacco leaf group without hand and stack them up and down in a state in which they are aligned on a predetermined tobacco leaf mounting table or in a tobacco leaf container, each of them is dispersed in the width direction. It is necessary to accurately recognize each position of the tobacco leaves, separate the recognized tobacco leaves from the tobacco leaf group one by one, and convey the separated tobacco leaves to a predetermined place.

[0007] Therefore, first of all, the present inventors conducted many experiments and studies on the recognition of the position of each tobacco leaf, and found that each tobacco leaf in a plurality of partially overlapping tobacco leaf groups was identified. The authors perceived that the reliable detection of the position was performed by a detection means capable of recognizing the position of the mid-bone of each tobacco leaf. By further experimenting, using a contact type as the detection means
Since the piled tobacco leaf groups are rich in undulations,
We have found that it is extremely difficult to reliably detect only the mid-bony portion, and that it lacks practicality.

The present invention is based on the above findings,
Basically, the tobacco leaf gripping device according to the present invention operates by the first detection means capable of detecting the mid-bone position of the tobacco leaf in a non-contact manner and the detection signal from the first detection means. The tobacco leaf gripping means for gripping the tobacco leaf whose position is detected, and the moving means for vertically moving the tobacco leaf gripping means independently of the first sensing means. And

Further, the tobacco leaf aligning apparatus according to the present invention is
A frame on which a robot for moving the tobacco leaf gripping device in two horizontal directions is mounted, a tobacco leaf mounting table attached to the frame, and preferably, the tobacco leaf gripping device grips and conveys the tobacco leaf. And a tobacco leaf container for accommodating an incoming tobacco leaf. The first detecting means for detecting the mid-bone position of the tobacco leaf in a non-contact manner may be any one, but it is detected by processing the image signal input from the CCD camera, the light projected on the tobacco leaf surface. What is detected by measuring and analyzing the reflected light is effective.

As an example of the case of using a CCD camera,
It is an image processing means that takes in the original image signal input by the CCD camera in the green color which is the leaf color, removes the background of the tobacco leaf, and then binarizes the image level to recognize the white midrib line. You may At this time, the middle bones of the tobacco leaves located at the top of the stack of tobacco leaves are recognized as the longest, so the image processing means emits a position signal corresponding to the position of the longest middle bone. To do so.

In the mesophyll and the mesophyll of the tobacco leaf,
Since the reflectance of light is different, a means for detecting the middle bone by measuring the ratio of the light incident on the detector with respect to the light projection and comparing the value with a set value may be used. As the light source used, LEDs, white light, infrared rays, lasers, etc. are effective. In this case, the detection means scans the partially overlapped tobacco leaf groups in the width direction. Then, when the midbone is detected as described above, a required signal is emitted.

As another means, a means for separating the reflected light of the light from the tobacco leaf into RGB components by a color sensor and detecting the middle bone from the spectral characteristics thereof may be used. For example, first, the reflected light applied to the tobacco leaf is decomposed into three components of RGB by a voltage by a color sensor, amplified by each operational amplifier and A / D converted, and then the total of the voltage values (total amount) is stored in the memory of the microprocessor. Value). Then, the microprocessor multiplies and adjusts the total voltage value in the memory by a predetermined ratio to set upper and lower reference values (threshold values).

When detecting the mid-bone of a tobacco leaf whose position is to be recognized, the detecting means having the color sensor is moved in the width direction over the partially overlapped tobacco leaf group to scan. The microprocessor adds RGB voltage values obtained from the color sensor every moment and compares whether the total amount value T is within the range of the threshold value. If the lower limit value <T <upper limit value, A predetermined signal is emitted as a detection signal. In this method, since the total RGB voltage value of the sampled object to be detected is an addition, the number of calculation steps of the microprocessor is significantly smaller than the division in which the ratio of RGB colors is calculated each time. There is an advantage that the comparison with the value becomes easy and the response speed becomes faster.

The tobacco leaf gripping device according to the present invention further comprises a tobacco leaf gripping means adapted to grip the tobacco leaf whose mid bone is detected based on the mid bone detection signal from the first detecting means. Have. This gripping means is optional,
It is preferable that the tobacco rod is composed of a lateral rod and a claw member that sandwich the middle bone portion from the left and right in the vicinity of the leaf base portion. Further, it is desirable that the claw member is made of an elastic material.

The first detecting means is fixedly mounted on the main frame of the tobacco leaf gripping device, and the tobacco leaf gripping means is mounted on a base which is vertically movable with respect to the main frame. The base can be vertically moved and fixed along the main frame by an appropriate driving means.

In a preferred embodiment, the tobacco leaf gripping device according to the present invention further comprises second detecting means for detecting the presence of a tobacco leaf, which is the object to be detected, by contact, and the device for detecting the presence of the tobacco based on the signal from the second detecting means. The distance between the tobacco leaf, which is the object to be detected, and the first detecting means is controlled to be a predetermined distance. As a result, the accuracy of detecting the middle bones by the first detecting means is improved.

In the tobacco leaf aligning device according to the present invention, the above-mentioned tobacco leaf gripping device is supported by a frame body in a state in which the position of the tobacco leaf gripping device is freely changeable in two horizontal axis directions through an appropriate robot, and the tobacco to be gripped. A tobacco leaf mounting table for mounting a leaf group and a tobacco leaf container for accommodating a tobacco leaf gripped by the tobacco leaf gripping device and conveyed from the tobacco leaf mounting table are arranged. Usually, the tobacco leaf container is configured as a member separable from the frame or as a separate member. In a preferred embodiment,
The tobacco leaf mounting table is movably supported in the vertical direction by a frame body, and is stopped at a predetermined position by a level sensor attached to the frame body. Further, in the tobacco leaf aligning device according to the present invention, preferably, for sequence control of movement of the tobacco leaf gripping device in the frame and movement of the base and tobacco leaf gripping means in the tobacco leaf gripping device. A control mechanism is provided.

[0018]

In operation of the tobacco leaf aligning device according to the present invention, first, the robot is driven to set the tobacco leaf gripping device to an initial position which is one corner of the frame. In that state, the harvested tobacco leaf group is placed on the tobacco leaf placement table together with the harvested cloth so that the direction of the inner bone thereof is substantially perpendicular to the movement of the tobacco leaf gripping device by the robot in the X-axis direction. Place and unpack the harvest cloth. At that time, at the lower position of the movement locus in the X-axis direction at the initial position of the tobacco leaf gripping device, 1/3 to 1/4 of the leaf length of the tobacco leaf from the root portion.
Arrange the leaf bases so that some areas are located. Further, the width of the tobacco leaf group in the X-axis direction is set to be narrower than the moving width of the tobacco leaf gripping device.

After arranging the tobacco leaf group, the tobacco leaf mounting base is raised and stopped at a predetermined height. If the level sensor is attached to the frame, the top of the tobacco leaves placed on the tobacco placement table is stopped when the level sensor detects the highest one of the tobacco leaves. .

Next, the robot is operated to move the tobacco leaf gripping device in the X-axis direction. At that time, the height of the base of the tobacco leaf gripping device is adjusted so that a predetermined space (distance) optimal for detection is maintained between the first detection means and the uppermost tobacco leaf. To do. In this state, the whole is designed so that the tip of the gripping claw of the tobacco leaf gripping means attached to the base does not come into contact with the uppermost tobacco leaf.

In a preferred embodiment of the tobacco leaf gripping device of the present invention, the tobacco leaf gripping device further comprises a contact type second detecting means supported by the main frame. In that case, the height of the base of the tobacco leaf gripping device at the start of movement of the tobacco leaf gripping device in the X-axis direction may be arbitrary. The tobacco leaf gripping device is moved in the X-axis direction, and if the second detecting means does not come into contact with the tobacco leaf group, the tobacco leaf mounting table is further lifted. When the second detection means comes into contact with the tobacco leaf group, the movement of the tobacco leaf mounting table in the X-axis direction is stopped. Then, the tobacco leaf placement table is lowered to control so that a predetermined space (distance) optimal for detection is formed between the first detection means and the topmost tobacco leaf of the piled tobacco leaf group. To do.

In this state, the tobacco leaf gripping device further scans the piled tobacco leaf group in the width direction thereof, and in the process, the first detecting means detects the mid-bone of the tobacco leaf.
In response to the detection signal, the control device stops the movement of the robot and also lowers the tobacco leaf gripping means of the tobacco leaf gripping device to bring the middle bone into contact with the detected tobacco leaf. You may make it raise a tobacco leaf mounting base with the fall of a holding means.

The tobacco leaf gripping device preferably has a third detection means supported on the base side of the gripping means, and when the third detection means detects the tobacco leaf which has detected the middle bone. Then, the control device stops the movement of the base (tobacco leaf gripping means). The third detecting means is preferably a contact type, and the contact position with the tobacco leaf is preferably located slightly above the tip position of the gripping claw of the tobacco gripping means. Thereby, the impact between the tobacco leaf gripping means and the tobacco leaf is relieved and the tobacco leaf is prevented from being damaged.

At that time, the tobacco leaf gripping means is operated to clamp the tobacco leaf by the gripping claws. It is highly recommended to control the holding part so that it is only the mid-bony part and to construct the gripping claw from an elastic material because it does not damage the tobacco leaf. After gripping the tobacco leaf, the gripped tobacco leaf is separated from the tobacco leaf group on the placing table by raising the base to which the tobacco leaf gripping means is attached.
After the separation, the robot is operated again to move the tobacco leaf gripping device in the Y-axis direction to a position above the tobacco leaf container, and at that position, the gripping of the tobacco leaf by the gripping claw is released. The tobacco leaf that is released from the grip is dropped and stored in the tobacco leaf container.

The robot operates again to return the tobacco leaf gripping device to the initial standby position, and thereafter, the same operation is repeated for gripping the next tobacco leaf. As a result, the tobacco leaves are stacked in the tobacco leaf container in a state where the leaves are aligned. As the work progresses, the height of the tobacco leaf group on the tobacco leaf mounting table becomes lower. By controlling so that the tobacco leaf mounting table is lifted by the reduced amount, the gripping height of the tobacco leaf by the tobacco leaf gripping means can be made substantially constant, and the gripping operation becomes reliable. Preferably, the frame is provided with an upper limit switch for the tobacco leaf mounting table, and the limit switch is activated when there are no tobacco leaves on the tobacco sheet mounting table. The operation of the limit switch lowers the tobacco leaf mounting table and also stops the operation of the robot and the tobacco leaf gripping device. In that state, the next tobacco leaf containing cloth is placed on the tobacco leaf mounting table and unwrapped.

[0026]

EXAMPLE A tobacco leaf gripping device and a tobacco leaf aligning device using the device according to the present invention are three primary colors as first detecting means capable of detecting the mid-bone position of a tobacco leaf in a non-contact manner. The case where a color sensor capable of detecting RGB components (hereinafter, simply referred to as a color sensor) is used will be described in detail as an example.

First, the spectral components of tobacco leaves will be described. According to the research conducted by the present inventors, the spectral characteristics of tobacco leaves are as shown in FIG. That is, the mid-bone and mesophyll of a tobacco leaf clearly have different colors at wavelengths in the visible region (400 to 700 nm), and the reflectance for each wavelength also varies in association with the color.
In the near-infrared region (800 to 2000 nm), the reflectance depends on the water content, but since tobacco leaves contain water, they have unique spectral characteristics depending on their respective parts. Therefore, it is possible to detect the middle bones by utilizing the spectral characteristics of tobacco leaves in the visible / near infrared region. But,
Since the detection method using the near infrared wavelength region is invisible to the human eye, it has a drawback that the reflectance of the middle bones and mesophyll cannot be visually confirmed by the human eye, and it can be said that the detection with visible light is more suitable.

Further, from FIG. 1, RGB of the middle bones of tobacco leaves
It can be seen that the reflectance in the region (400 to 700 nm) is high at each wavelength with respect to the mesophyll, is particularly remarkable at the wavelengths of G and R (460 to 700 nm), and is white. A color sensor was selected based on the above analysis results.
The color sensor is classified into a spectrophotometric method, a photoconductive type, and a photovoltaic type based on the principle of detecting light.

The spectrocolorimetric method is a method in which a reflectance is measured by operating a monochromatic spectroscope on an object to discriminate colors, and although the accuracy is high, the time required for the measurement is long and the cost is high.

The photoconductive type is a sensor that utilizes the change in the conductivity of the photosensitive section. When a general CdS cell is used,
Spectral sensitivity in the visible range (400-700 nm) at low cost
Has some advantages. However, the response speed is 10 ms, which is about four times slower than that of the photovoltaic type, and the sensitivity is affected by the ambient temperature.

The photovoltaic type sensor is a sensor utilizing the photovoltaic effect generated when light is applied to the pn bond of a semiconductor. For example, a Si photodiode has a reflection sensitivity of 60.
A high-speed response can be obtained at 0 to 900 nm, but the cost is high because it is a single crystal. However, the amorphous Si photodiode is close to the visual sensitivity and the response speed is as fast as 2 μs.
Since the detection unit is not a single crystal, it does not require a special package and has an advantage of low cost.

As described above, since the determination in the visible region is highly reliable because of the spectral characteristics of the middle bones and mesophyll of tobacco leaves,
In this example, as the color sensor element, a photovoltaic type amorphous Si photodiode element (AM-33RGB-01 manufactured by Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.), which has a reflection sensitivity in the visible wavelength region, a low cost and a fast reaction rate, is selected. used.

Table 1 below shows an example of the voltage value obtained by receiving the reflected light applied to the mid-bone and mesophyll of the tobacco leaf using the color sensor element and amplifying it by the amplifier. RG which is a value which is sensitive (equivalent to photoelectric conversion rate) of the color sensor element
It can be clearly seen that the voltage output from the B terminal is proportional to the spectral characteristics of the tobacco leaf, and that the detected value is stable with little variation in the population. The color of the mesophyll is greenish, while the middle bone is whiteish, and any of the RGB color components is high. The photoelectrically converted voltage value and its added value (total value) are higher in the middle bone than in the mesophyll, and the method of distinguishing between the middle bone and mesophyll using the difference in the wavelength band of RGB is highly reliable. Is shown.

[0034]

[Table 1]

In the actual detection, there is an influence of unstable factors such as the posture of the tobacco leaf, the variation of the color of each leaf, the dirt of the lens of the sensor, the non-uniformity of the resolution, and the change of the ambient illumination.・ It is desirable to set a lower threshold. In this example, the setting of the threshold value was calculated based on the investigation of the RGB components of the mid-bone and mesophyll of tobacco leaves (Table 2 below). According to the survey, RGB of the mid-bone and mesophyll of tobacco leaves
The standard deviation σ showing the variation of the total voltage value of is 3 of the average value.
~ 6%. Moreover, the range of the upper and lower limits of the variation of the sample at the risk rate of 0.01 is expressed by the formula: u (0.01) · σ / n
^Calculated by ^1/2 (where u (0.01) is the value of 0.01 in the normal distribution and n is the number of samples), ± 3 of the average value
It is distributed in the range of ~ 7%.

[0036]

[Table 2]

In general, the average / variation of the population of the midribs and mesophyll of the tobacco leaves to be detected generally depends on the sitting position and the tobacco variety. Therefore, in practice, among the tobacco leaves to be detected, the standard RGB of the middle bones is selected.
The total voltage value of is measured and adopted as the average of the threshold,
The threshold value is obtained by calculating the variation of the upper and lower limits with respect to the average value. If the ratio of the upper and lower limits to the average is 10% in the tobacco leaf survey, it is considered that errors due to population variations and changes in lighting are included, and a reliability of 0.99 or higher is maintained. . Therefore, the upper and lower limits of the threshold value to be registered in the microprocessor were obtained by the following formula.

Upper limit = x (1 + 0.1) Lower limit = x (1-0.1) x: Sum of RGB voltage values of the middle bones of a standard tobacco leaf.

When the position and quality of tobacco leaves change,
By registering the standard RGB threshold values of the middle bones in the microprocessor each time by the above equation, the middle bones can be detected with a probability of 0.99 or more. The specifications of the color sensor element, which is the point of measurement accuracy, are as follows:
It has a sensitivity of 0 to 700 nm) and a spectral sensitivity close to human visual sensitivity. Therefore, colors that are distinctly different to the human eye can be detected.

Next, referring to FIG. 2, the principle of measurement using the color sensor will be described. As shown in FIG.
Light emitted from a light source such as a halogen lamp to a detection target (tobacco leaf) is reflected and focused on a color sensor element by a lens. The condensed light is photoelectrically converted into RGB components by the color sensor element, and the voltage is amplified by the amplifier and A / D converted. Microprocessor is A /
D-converted RGB voltage values are read and added to obtain a total voltage value. Therefore, it is compared whether the total voltage value is within the range of the upper and lower thresholds, and if it is within the range,
The microprocessor outputs as a bone detection signal.

If the focal length of the lens is long, then 10
Although a detection distance of about 0 mm is possible, in this example, since identification is performed by reflected light, if the detection distance is increased, disturbance light from other than the object to be detected becomes noticeable and the accuracy deteriorates. According to the experiment, the reasonable detection distance is about 60 mm or less, and as will be described later, the distance between the color sensor and the tobacco leaf is fixed by raising and lowering the tobacco leaf mounting table on which the tobacco leaf is mounted in real time. It is desirable to keep it. Read the middle ribs of a standard tobacco leaf through the color sensor element within a certain distance between the color sensor and the tobacco leaf, obtain a threshold value based on that voltage value, and compare it with the voltage value of the detected object. With this, it is possible to accurately detect the middle bones. The diameter of the middle bone is about 10 mm, and the diameter of the supporting bone is about 2 mm. To avoid misidentification, it is preferable that the diameter of the photometric spot to be detected is about 10 mm.

Next, an embodiment of an apparatus for gripping the mid-bones of tobacco leaves and aligning the leaves using the above-described detection method will be described. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the entire tobacco leaf aligning apparatus according to the present invention. A pair of first rails 11a, 11b are provided on opposing longitudinal sides of a rectangular frame 10 having an open upper side.
Is arranged, and the second rails 12 are arranged on the first rails 11a and 11b so as to cross them in an orthogonal manner. Then, the second rail 12 is actuated by the drive motor My attached to the first rail 11a side, so that the first rail 1
The second rail 12 is provided with a slider 13 which is movable on the rails 1a and 11b, and the slider 13 is attached to the second rail 12 by the operation of a drive motor Mx attached to the second rail 12. It is possible to move along.

Therefore, the slider 13 can be moved to an arbitrary position in the upper open space of the frame body 10 by appropriately operating the two drive motors Mx and My by an appropriate control mechanism. Note that this two-axis direction moving mechanism is conventionally known, and in the following, the above-mentioned moving mechanism is referred to as a robot R, and the movement of the robot R in the first rails 11a and 11b direction is referred to as the Y-axis direction. Move, second
The movement in the rail 12 direction will be described as movement in the X-axis direction.

On the one end side of the lower space of the frame body 10, a tobacco leaf mounting table 20 is arranged.
Is movable up and down along rails (not shown) provided on the two legs of the frame body 10, and can be stopped at any vertical position by a conventionally known drive mechanism (not shown). ing. Further, a limit switch 21 for controlling the upper limit position of the tobacco leaf placement table 20 is attached to the leg portion of the frame body 10, and the tobacco leaf group Ta placed on the tobacco leaf placement table 20 is attached to the frame body 10. A level sensor 15 for detecting the level of is provided.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a tobacco leaf container, which comprises a plate member 32 having wheels 31 attached to the back surface thereof, and a tobacco leaf guide 33 attached to the upper surface of the plate member 32. The tobacco leaf guide 33 stably holds the attitude of the tobacco leaf T to be accommodated, and has a shape along the outer shape of the tobacco leaf T. The tobacco leaf guide 33 may be attached to the plate member 32 such that the position thereof can be freely changed. In that case, the attachment position is adjusted according to the size and shape of the tobacco leaf to be stored.

FIG. 4 shows a tobacco leaf gripping device 50 according to the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a first motor Ma arranged at an upper end of a main frame 51 integrally fixed to a slider 13 movably attached to the second rail 12 described above;
And a base 52 that moves up and down along the main frame 51 by driving the first motor Ma. That is, the first motor Ma that rotates in the normal and reverse directions by a control mechanism (not shown).
The ball-like screw rod 53 connected to the rotating shaft of
It extends downward through a bearing 54 fixed to the main frame 51, and the screw rod 53 has a screw engaging hole 55 at the upper end.
An inverted L-shaped member 56 having a threaded structure is screw-engaged, and the base 52 is fixed to the lower end of the inverted L-shaped member 56. A linear rail 57 is integrally attached to the back surface of the inverted L-shaped member 56, and the linear rail 57 is slidable in the vertical direction with respect to the main frame 51. Therefore, when the first motor Ma rotates forward and backward, the reverse L-shaped member 5
6 moves in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) along the main frame 51, and the base 52 moves vertically.

As well shown in FIG. 5, the base 52
A pair of timing pulleys 6 near the longitudinal end of the
1, 62 are rotatably supported, and a timing belt 63 is wound around them. Further, a rectangular opening 64 is formed between the timing belts 63 running in parallel on the base 52. A second motor Mb is attached to one of the timing pulleys 61, and a control mechanism (not shown) repeatedly performs a predetermined number of forward and reverse rotations. As a result, the timing belt 63 repeats the clockwise movement of the predetermined distance and the counterclockwise movement of the same distance.

At both outer positions of the timing belt 63, the support base 52 is provided in parallel with the timing belt 63.
Book guide rods 65a, 65b are fixedly provided, and the timing belt 63 portion facing the guide rods 65a, 65b has locking bodies 66a, 66b slidably engaged with the guide rods 65a, 65b. Can be attached together. Furthermore, on the inner surface side of the parallel running portion of the timing belt 63,
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the first gripping claw member 67a and the second gripping claw member 67b, which have the gripping claws in a U-shape downward, are separated from each other by a predetermined distance and are relative to each other. Fixed toward each other, the first and second gripping claw members 67a, 6
The grip claw portion 7b extends downward in the opening 64, and the lower end thereof is located below the back surface of the base 52.

Therefore, as can be seen from FIG. 5, when the timing belt 63 rotates counterclockwise, the first gripping claw member 67a and the second gripping claw member 67b move in a direction in which they approach each other. When there is an object to be grasped between them, the object can be grasped between both grasping claws. If the timing belt 63 is rotated in the opposite direction, that is, clockwise, from that state, the two gripping claw members 67a, 67a.
b separates from each other and releases the object that was being held.

As best shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, a color sensor 70 as an example of the above-mentioned mid-bone portion detecting means of the tobacco leaf is provided on the side of the main frame 51.
The support rod 7 with the detection end facing the opening 64 formed in
1 and 71, a supporting rod 72 is supported on the lower end of the main frame 51 on the back surface side so as to be vertically swingable, and the tip of the supporting rod 72 is provided with a first rod. One disk 73 is rotatably supported. In the drawing, 74 is a guide body having a vertically long slot 74a for regulating the lower limit position of the first disk 73 and stabilizing the vertical swing of the support rod 72, and its upper end has The first disk 73
A limit switch 75 that repeats contact and non-contact by swinging upward is attached. In addition, the mounting position of the color sensor 70 is preferably such that the detection portion thereof is substantially at the center position in the longitudinal direction of the opening 64.

Further, the inverted L-shaped member 56 of the base 52.
The side opposite to the mounting side of the color sensor 7
The guide / support member 76 is provided at a position corresponding to the side of the detection unit 0.
A support rod 77 is pivotally supported on the guide / support body 76 so as to be vertically swingable, and a second disk 78 is rotatably supported on the tip thereof. The guide / support body 76 is formed with a vertically long hole 76a, whereby the lower limit position of the second disk 78 is regulated, and the vertical swing of the support rod 77 is stabilized. In addition, a limit switch 79 is repeatedly provided on the upper end of the guide / support body 76 so that contact and non-contact are repeated by swinging the second disk 78 upward.
Is attached.

The base 52, the color sensor 70, the first and second discs 73, 7 of the tobacco leaf gripping device 50 described above.
The positional relationship of 8 is as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, with the base 52 in a predetermined upper position,
In the color sensor 70, the lower end detection portion thereof is positioned so as to enter the opening 64 formed in the base 52.
In the lower limit position where the support rod 72 of the disk 73 is horizontal, the lowermost end of the disk 73 is somewhat lower than the lower end positions of the grip claws of the grip claw members 67a and 67b fixed to the tamping belt 63. (Preferably, the thickness of the mid-bone of the tobacco leaf) is set to a lower position, and the second disk 78 has the lowermost end of the disk 78 at the lower limit position where the supporting rod 77 is in the horizontal state. , Gripping claw members 67a, 6
The position is set to be slightly above the lower end position of the gripping claw 7b (similarly to the thickness of the mid-bone of the tobacco leaf). In the above embodiment, the color sensor 70 corresponds to the first detecting means in the present invention, and the first disc corresponds to the second detecting means.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of the above embodiment will be described. First, the robot R is operated to set the tobacco leaf gripping device 50 to the initial position which is one corner of the frame 10 on the tobacco leaf mounting table 20 side. At that time, the base 52 of the tobacco leaf gripping device 50 is set at a predetermined upper position shown in FIG. Further, a tobacco leaf container 30 is arranged near the central portion on the opposite side of the frame body 10. Then, the harvested tobacco leaf group Ta is placed together with the harvesting cloth on the tobacco leaf mounting table 20 in a posture in which the direction of the inner bone is the Y-axis direction and the leaf base side is directed to the tobacco leaf container 30, and the harvesting cloth is unwound. To wrap. At this time, it is preferable that the tobacco leaf gripping device 50 is unpacked so that a position slightly higher than the root portion of the tobacco leaf group Ta is located below the movement locus in the X-axis direction at the initial position.

After unpacking the tobacco leaf group Ta, the tobacco leaf mounting table 20 is raised, and when the level switch 15 detects the uppermost tobacco leaf T, the raising is stopped.
After stopping, the robot R is operated to move the tobacco leaf gripping device 50 in the X-axis direction. As described above, in this state, the first frame attached to the main frame 51 of the tobacco leaf gripping device 50 is
The lower end of the disc 73 is at the lowest level, and the first disc 73 first comes into contact with the tobacco leaf T when moving in the X-axis direction. If the positional relationship is such that movement in the X-axis direction can be performed without contact as shown in FIG. 7A, the tobacco leaf mounting table 20 is further raised.

As shown in FIG. 7b, the first disk 73 swings upward due to the contact with the tobacco leaf group Ta. As a result, the first disk 73 contacts the limit switch 75,
A signal to that effect is issued, and based on the signal, the control device lowers the tobacco leaf mount 20 by a predetermined distance (FIG. 7c). The descending distance is set so that the color sensor 70 mounted on the tobacco leaf gripping device 50 can exert the highest detection accuracy.

In this state, the tobacco leaf gripping device 50 further moves on the tobacco leaf group Ta in the X-axis direction. In the process, the color sensor 70 detects the mid-bone position of the tobacco leaf T located at the uppermost position and issues a signal to that effect. The control device stops the movement of the robot R based on the signal and drives the first motor Ma of the tobacco leaf gripping device 50 to drive the base 52.
Is lowered (FIG. 7d). Due to the lowering, the gripping claws of the gripping claw devices 67a and 67b attached to the base 52 come into contact with the tobacco leaf in a posture in which the middle bones of the tobacco leaf that has detected the middle bones are sandwiched from the left and right, and almost simultaneously. The second disk 78 also comes into contact with the tobacco leaf, swings upward, and comes into contact with the limit switch 79.

A signal is generated by the contact, and the control device stops the first motor Ma and causes the second motor Mb to stop.
Is driven to rotate the timing belt 63 counterclockwise. By the rotation of the timing belt 63, the gripping claw devices 67a and 67b come close to each other to be in a posture of gripping the middle rib of the tobacco leaf T between the gripping claws (see FIG. 8). Second
Since the disk 78 of FIG. 7 functions as the third detecting means, it is possible to prevent the grasping claw from descending toward the tobacco leaf more than necessary and damaging the tobacco leaf.

When the grasping of the tobacco leaf T by the grasping claws in which the middle bones are detected is secured, the control device again controls the motor Ma.
Is rotated in the opposite direction to raise the base 52 to the initial height. Thereby, the grasped tobacco leaf T is separated from the tobacco leaf group Ta on the mounting table 20. After that, or at the same time as the ascent, the robot R operates to move the tobacco leaf gripping device 50 to a position above the tobacco leaf container 30. At that position, the motor Mb is reversely rotated to rotate the timing belt 63 in the clockwise direction, and the grip of the tobacco leaf by the grip claw is released. As a result, the tobacco leaf T falls and is stored in the tobacco leaf container 30.

The robot R operates again to return the tobacco leaf gripping device 50 to the initial standby position, and thereafter, the same operation is repeated for gripping the next tobacco leaf. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the movement locus of the above-described tobacco leaf gripping device 50. From the above description and FIG. 9, the tobacco leaf group Ta aligns the leaf base directions within the movement range W of the tobacco leaf gripping device in the X-axis direction. If it is placed in a closed state, even if there is some deviation in its direction,
It will be well understood that the mid-bones are stacked in a predetermined position (position of the tobacco leaf container) in the same direction while being held by the gripping claws.

When the tobacco leaves on the tobacco placement table 20 have been exhausted, the tobacco placement table 20 has a limit switch 21.
To contact. As a result, the tobacco leaf mounting table 20 starts to descend, and the robot R and the tobacco leaf gripping device 50 are started.
Is stopped, and the tobacco leaf group Ta is again placed on the tobacco leaf placement table 20. The above description is based on an embodiment of the tobacco leaf gripping device and the tobacco leaf aligning device using the device according to the present invention, and there are many other modifications within the scope of the claims. Of course, there can be.

[0061]

As described above, according to the tobacco leaf gripping device and the tobacco leaf aligning device using the device of the present invention, the directions are the same, but partially overlapped within a certain range. It is possible to take out the tobacco leaf group dispersed in large numbers one by one without hand, and stack the leaves by aligning them on a predetermined tobacco leaf mounting table or in a tobacco leaf container, like a leaf tobacco knitting machine. This can greatly contribute to the improvement of the accuracy of supplying tobacco leaves to the tobacco processing apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the spectral characteristics of tobacco leaves.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a measurement flow of tobacco leaf mid-bone using a color sensor.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the entire tobacco leaf aligning apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the entire tobacco leaf gripping device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a main part of the tobacco leaf gripping device.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the tobacco leaf gripping device.

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining the operation of the tobacco leaf aligning device.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a state where the tobacco leaf gripping device grips a tobacco leaf.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the movement trajectory of the tobacco leaf gripping device in the tobacco leaf aligning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Frame body, 20 ... Tobacco leaf mounting stand, 30 ... Tobacco leaf container, 50 ... Tobacco leaf holding device, 11a, 11b, 12
... moving rail of the tobacco leaf gripping device, 50 ... first detecting means (color sensor), 63 ... timing belt, 67
a, 67b ... Claw means for gripping tobacco leaves.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A first detection means capable of detecting the mid-bone position of a tobacco leaf in a non-contact manner, and a tobacco leaf in which the mid-bone is detected by being operated by a detection signal from the first detection means. A tobacco leaf gripping device comprising: a tobacco leaf gripping means configured to do so; and a moving means for vertically moving the tobacco leaf gripping means independently of the first detection means. 2. A second detection means for detecting the presence of a tobacco leaf which is an object to be detected by contact, and a tobacco leaf which is the object to be detected and a first detection means based on a signal from the second detection means. The tobacco leaf gripping device according to claim 1, further comprising a mechanism for controlling the distance to a predetermined distance. 3. The first detecting means is means for identifying the amount of reflection of light from the tobacco leaf and detecting the mid-bone position of the tobacco leaf in a non-contact manner. The tobacco leaf gripping device according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The first detecting means is means for separating the reflected light of the light from the tobacco leaf into RGB components and detecting the middle bone from the spectral characteristics. Alternatively, the tobacco leaf gripping device according to item 2. 5. A frame body on which a robot for moving the tobacco leaf gripping device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is mounted in a horizontal two-axis direction, and a tobacco leaf mounting table attached to the frame body. A tobacco leaf aligning device. 6. The tobacco leaf aligning device according to claim 5, wherein the tobacco leaf mounting table is supported by a frame body so as to be vertically movable.