JPH08336787A - Workpiece feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a workpiece feeder using a tray ensuring image recognition for grasping the position or direction of workpieces in the tray. CONSTITUTION: In a workpiece feeder for feeding workpieces W placed on a tray T, the workpiece placing face of the tray T is provided with surface emission light source 2, and an elevating type tray magazine 4 is provided to enclose a plurarity of trays T in multiple stages and to pull out each tray individually. A pullout device B for pulling out one of the trays T is provided on a stage where the tray is pulled out. A camera means (CCD camera 22) for photographing the workpiece W in order to grasp the position or direction of the workpiece W is provided on the stage in such a way as to be movable in an optional position in X-Y directions by a robot 23, and a chuck unit D is provided to chuck the workpiece Won the basis of the image data obtained by the camera means 22.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a work supply device for supplying a work placed on a tray to an assembly line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a work supply device, when a work placed on a tray is image-recognized and its position or orientation is grasped, image recognition is performed while illuminating the work. As a method of illuminating the work, for example, X
Epi-illumination is performed from the CCD camera side equipped on the Y robot to the upper surface of the work by a fluorescent ring light or an optical fiber of a halogen lamp light source, or from the lower surface of the work by a light source arranged below the tray. A configuration in which transmitted illumination is performed has been adopted.

[0003]

The conventional work supply device does not have a light source on the tray itself. Therefore, when the work is placed on the tray of the work supply device and supplied, it is necessary to illuminate from outside the tray as described above, which has the following problems.

That is, when the epi-illumination is performed from the upper surface side of the work which is the CCD camera side, the light source can be provided on the CCD camera side so that the light source can be installed relatively easily. The image data is affected by the color, material, surface state, etc. of the work, and thus it is difficult to adjust the level for binarization.

Further, in the case where the transmitted illumination is performed from the lower surface side of the work, there is an advantage that it is not easily affected by the color, material, surface condition, etc. of the work. You have to use sex stuff,
There are restrictions on the material of the tray. Further, when a large tray is used, it is difficult to uniformly illuminate the entire surface of the work placement surface.
In the case of providing the pulling-out device for each pulling out, there is a problem that the presence of the pulling-out device influences and uneven illumination is likely to occur.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to simply and inexpensively construct a tray having a backlight used for grasping the position or direction of a work placed on the tray by image recognition, and use the tray. To provide a work supply device.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, in a work supply device for supplying a work placed on a tray, a surface emitting light source is provided on the work placing surface of the tray. An elevating tray magazine is provided for accommodating a plurality of trays in multiple stages and each of which can be separately pulled out, and a drawer device for pulling out one of the trays is provided on the stage from which the trays are pulled out. On the stage, an image pickup means for picking up an image of the work in order to grasp the position or direction of the work is provided by a robot so as to be movable to any position in the XY directions.
A chuck unit for chucking the work based on the image data obtained by the image pickup means is provided.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, in the work supply device of the present invention, a surface emitting light source 2 is laid on the inner bottom surface 1a of the lower tray 1 of the tray T with the light emitting surface facing upward. In this embodiment, the surface emitting light source 2 is used.
A sheet-shaped EL light-emitting body 2 is adopted as the above, and a partition frame 3 having a partition wall 3a is provided on the upper surface of the EL light-emitting body 2. In this embodiment, the partition frame 3 has a bottom surface 3b for the purpose of protecting the EL light-emitting body 2, and therefore at least the bottom surface 3b is made of a translucent material. In addition, EL, which is a surface-emitting light source
The light emitter 2 is provided with a power supply terminal 2a formed of a metal elastic material such as stainless steel or phosphor bronze, and emits light by receiving power from a power source (not shown) provided outside the tray T. Is configured to.

The lower tray 1 of the tray T which constitutes the work supply apparatus of the present invention may be a commercially available one, not a special tray. Further, when the light emitting surface of the surface emitting light source 2 is provided with some protective means, the partition frame 3 provided on the work mounting surface Ta does not have to have the bottom surface 3b.

Next, the work supply device equipped with the work supply unit A in which the tray T of the present invention is used will be described. The work supply unit A will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, trays T are stored in the tray magazine 4 in a multi-tiered manner and separately. The tray magazine 4 is a frame 4a of the tray magazine 4.
A linear motion nut (not shown) attached to the shaft is axially supported by a linear motion guide shaft 5 provided in the vertical direction,
In addition, the motor 6 installed above the tray magazine 4
A ball screw 8 connected to the frame magazine 4a of the tray magazine 4 is screwed with a ball screw nut (not shown) attached to the frame body 4a of the tray magazine 4. Therefore, by rotating the motor 6, it is possible to vertically move each tray T to a position facing the drawer device B described below.

The stage on the base 9 of the main body of the automatic assembly machine is provided with a drawer device B for pulling out the trays T stored in the tray magazine 4 one by one onto the stage. As shown in FIG. 4, the pull-out device B includes a U-shaped mounting member 12 provided on a linear motion nut 11 which is slidably supported by a linear motion guide shaft 10 provided on a base 9. A chuck 14 is mounted on the mounting member 12 via a bracket 13. The chuck 14 has a chuck claw 15 for gripping the front edge of the tray T at its tip. The motor 1 is provided on the side surface of the U-shaped mounting member 12.
8 is attached, and a pinion 17 of this motor meshes with a rack 16 provided parallel to the linear guide shaft 10. Rails 19 for guiding and holding both left and right sides of the tray T movably in the left and right directions in FIG.

The power supply terminal 2 of the EL light-emitting body 2 of the tray T which is pulled out onto the stage by the drawer B.
A probe 21 is provided above a. Probe 21
Is connected to a power source (not shown) via a cable 21a, and is connected to and separated from the power supply terminal 2a of the EL light emitter 2,
It is provided so that it can be raised and lowered by a cylinder (not shown).

Besides, above the stage, the CCD of the image recognition unit C for recognizing the image of the work W on the tray T is provided.
The camera 22 is provided to be movable to arbitrary positions in the XY directions by the XY robot 23, and the chuck 24 of the chuck unit D that chucks the work W on the tray T.
Is provided by the scalar robot 25 so as to be movable in any plane position and in the vertical direction.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The tray T in which works are randomly placed in the respective partition walls 3a of the partition frame 3 of the tray T is the tray magazine 4
Is set to. The motor 6 above the tray magazine 4 rotates to move the tray magazine 4 in the vertical direction, and the tray T is brought to a position facing the drawer B. When the motor 18 of the drawer device B rotates, the pinion 17 that meshes with the rack 16 rotates and the chuck 14 advances, and the chuck claw 15 holds the front edge of the tray T in the tray magazine 4. When the motor 18 rotates in the reverse direction and the chuck 14 retracts, the tray T is guided and held by the rails 19 and pulled out onto the stage as shown in FIG. Then, the probe 21 connected to the power source provided outside the lower plate 1 descends and comes into contact with the power supply terminal 2a of the EL light emitter 2 of the tray T on the stage. Therefore, the EL light emitting body 2 emits light, and the workpiece supply preparation is completed.

In this state, the CCD camera 22 is moved in the XY directions by the XY robot 23, and the work W on the tray T is image-recognized. Based on the data obtained by the image recognition, the chuck 24 moves in the plane direction and the vertical direction by the scalar robot 25 to chuck the work W appropriately. The chucked work W is carried to a desired place.

When all the works W in one tray T are assembled and loaded, the probe 21 is raised and the drawer device B returns the empty tray T to the original position in the tray magazine 4. With the chuck claw 15 opening the empty tray T and pulling it to a position where it does not interfere, the motor 6 above the tray magazine 4 rotates to move the tray magazine 4 in the vertical direction. The tray T is brought to a position facing the drawer B. Thereafter, the assembling work is similarly performed.

According to the present embodiment, the illumination for recognizing the image of the work W on the tray T by the CCD camera 22 is the transmissive illumination performed by using the EL luminous body 2, so that the entire surface of the tray T is made uniform. It is possible to illuminate, and therefore it is possible to reliably perform image recognition under favorable conditions.

[0018]

According to the structure of the present invention, since the CCD camera uses the surface emitting light source for illumination when recognizing the image of the work on the tray, even if it is large, the entire surface of the tray is covered. It is possible to uniformly illuminate, and it is possible to surely perform image recognition for grasping the position or direction of the work under favorable conditions. Furthermore, it is possible to save space because there is no need to provide a light source on the device side that pulls out the tray, and since the tray itself does not have a light source, a commercially available tray (lower plate) can be used. There is.

By providing a partition frame having a partition wall for individually partitioning a plurality of works on the work supply tray, image recognition can be efficiently performed, and the bottom wall is provided together with the partition wall. , If at least the bottom surface is made of a transparent partition frame, the effect of protecting the surface emitting light source can be obtained, and the power supply terminal that is supplied from the power supply provided outside the tray. Since the surface emitting light source is provided, the power feeding means can be shared without providing a power source for each tray, which leads to power saving.

If an EL light-emitting body is used as a surface-emitting light source, the tray can be made compact, especially thin.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a tray used in a work supply apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the tray shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of the work supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 3 showing the tray in cross section.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Surface emitting light source (EL light emitter) 4 Tray magazine 22 Imaging means (CCD camera) 23 Robot B Drawer D Duck unit T Tray Ta Workpiece mounting surface W Workpiece

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A work supply device for supplying a work placed on a tray, wherein a surface emitting light source is provided on a work placement surface of the tray, and a plurality of the trays are arranged in multiple stages. An elevating tray magazine that can be stored and separately pulled out is provided, a drawer device that pulls out one of the trays is provided on the stage from which the tray is pulled out, and the work piece is placed on the stage. The image pickup means for picking up the work for grasping the position or the direction of the work is provided by a robot so as to be movable to any position in the XY directions, and the work is chucked based on the image data obtained by the image pickup means. A work supply device characterized in that a chuck unit is provided.