JPH085960Y2 - Robot for palletizing goods - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a robot for palletizing articles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various kinds of goods are piled up on individual pallets, and desired kinds are picked up from individual pallets, and various kinds are taken into specific empty pallets. There is palletizing work to mix and load.

[0003] Then, by automating such work, the articles are picked up from individual pallets and piled up on empty pallets accurately, and the piled state on the pallets that have been loaded is tidy. It is convenient to use an industrial robot for this purpose, especially when the shape of the article is a special shape such as buckets that fit each other vertically so that they can be stacked in multiple stages. Since accuracy is required, it cannot be realized without using an industrial robot.

However, if the above-mentioned palletizing work is carried out while traversing by using, for example, an ordinary cylindrical coordinate type robot (1) as shown in FIG. The article (3) is picked up accurately (depallet operation) and the final stacking empty pallet (4) is palletized (palletizing operation) accurately, and the article (3) is piled up in an orderly manner without any load collapse. However, on the other hand, the number of articles that can be conveyed in one conveyance operation is limited to 2-3 at most, and the robot itself traverses the 2-3 articles that it picks up. Since it has to be transported to an empty pallet, the processing efficiency per hour is extremely low.

Further, in order to increase the number of articles that can be handled in one depalleting operation or palletizing operation, even if an attempt is made to make the hand portion of the robot into a hand capable of holding a large number of so-called double hands or more, in that case. Only the parts are too large and heavy to be constructed costly or structurally, or the essential depalleting and palletizing operations cannot be performed smoothly. It is extremely difficult to grasp a large number of articles that are being held simultaneously at the same time, or the casing of the hand part itself interferes with articles other than the target article on the pallet, making it difficult for the hand to approach the target article. It causes trouble.

[0006]

The present invention solves the problem of low processing efficiency per hour when using an industrial robot for the above palletizing work without causing the above new obstacles. Is what you are trying to do.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a loading cart having a loading section for a final stacking pallet and a temporary placement table can be connected and disconnected to a frame for moving a hand section of a robot in a direction in which articles are arranged. It is characterized by being provided.

[0008]

First, a plastic case palletizing robot in which appropriate articles (bottled beverages, etc.) are stored will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the palletizing robot of this example, as shown in a plan view in FIG. 1, there are provided eight substantially rectangular parallelepiped plastic cases (5) accommodating articles at eight locations (A).
(B) (C) (D) (E) (F) (G) (H) On the large pallet (6), the appropriate number of each is depalletized by the Cartesian coordinate type robot (7), and the moving carriage (loading described later) Trolley) (8)
Eight places are to be mixed and stacked on various small pallets (final stacking pallets) (9) above.
The articles in each of the plastic cases (5) of (A), (B) to (H) are different in kind, and the Cartesian robot (7) of this example has the number of products instructed by a higher-order controller not shown. The case (5) is picked up and transferred from the large pallet (6) at each position onto the small pallet (9).

(11) is a carriage for moving and carrying in / out the large pallets (6) running in parallel to the above-mentioned eight large pallet (6) storage areas, and the large pallets (6) on the carriage (11).
Is carried in by a forklift or the like, and the transfer from each position (A), (B) to (H) to the large pallet storage area on the carriage (11) is carried out by the roller conveyor (12) on the carriage (11). Be seen. A large number of free balls (13) are provided on the upper surface of each large pallet storage area (Fig. 2).

Further, (14) is a slat conveyor as a loading / unloading station for the small pallet (9) provided at one end of the large pallet (6) storage area, and the small pallet (9) to the slat conveyor (14) Carrying in and out of the product is carried out by a forklift.

The Cartesian coordinate type robot (7) and the mobile carriage (8) will be described in detail below.

That is, the gate type X-axis frame (17) of the Cartesian coordinate type robot (7) of this example is a large pallet (6).
The movable Y-axis frame (18) has a long length so that it can be moved in a long stroke according to the place of use, and the rollers (23) are attached to the upper and lower rails (21) (22) on the X-axis frame (17). ) (2
A moving frame (2) in which hands (25) (26) described later are supported on the Y-axis frame (18) which is rollingly supported via 4).
7) is movably provided.

Reference numeral (28) is a moving rail of the moving frame (27) on the Y-axis frame (18).

The moving frame (27) has two lifting arms (31) and (32) supported thereon.
1) (32) A hand (25) for grasping and lifting the plastic case (5) and a hand (26) for sucking and lifting a cardboard box are attached to the lower ends,
Even if the items to be handled are changed, the hands (25) and (26) can be selectively used to palletize any type of items. The hand (26) has a vacuum pad (33) and is a normal robot hand capable of sucking and lifting three boxes at a time. The hand (25) for grasping a case is as follows. It has a structure.

That is, the plastic case (5) on each large pallet (6) is placed on the pallet (6) at a predetermined preset position and orientation, but its positional accuracy is rough (X, The hand (25) picks up the case (5) loaded with this rough positioning accuracy and moves it to a predetermined accurate position on the small pallet (9) after movement. They must be stacked on top of each other, and the bottom and top of the case (5) are shaped to fit into each other (5a), and each pallet (6) (9)
All of the upper cases must be loaded with the upper case (5) fitted to the lower case (5), and the hand (25) has the following characteristics in order to satisfy this requirement. It has a unique structure.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the hand (25) is a so-called double hand and has a pair of grip claws (35) (36) which are driven to open and close by a cylinder (34). A moving frame (37) (38) that supports the moving frame (37) (38) and a supporting frame that slidably supports the moving frame (37) (38) itself in a direction orthogonal to the opening and closing direction of the grip claws (35) (36). 39), and the lifting arm (31) is connected to the support frame (39).

Reference numerals (37a) and (38a) are guide rods that form a part of the moving frames (37) and (38), and (39a) is a guide rod that forms a part of the support frame (39). Rod (37a)
A stopper portion (41) is provided at an intermediate portion of (38a), and depending on the stopper portion (41), a moving end (closing width) when the grip claws (35) and (36) are closed by the opening / closing cylinder (34). )
Is regulated, and the grip claws (35) and (36) are opened to grip the case (5). The entire grip cylinder (35) (36) case (5) is integrated into the positioning cylinder (42).
As a result, the right-hand end when moving to the right in FIG. 3 is regulated, that is, the position of the case (5) with respect to the hand (25) in the right direction in FIG. 3 is regulated.

That is, when the left-right direction in FIG. 3 is the X-axis direction, the case (5) held by the grip claws (35) (36) is located at the position of the cylinder (42) in the X-axis direction with respect to the hand (25). The grip claw (35) is positioned by the abutment of the base end of the grip claw (35) with the stopper (41) by the retracting operation.

Reference numeral (43) is a mounting bracket for the positioning cylinder (42) protruding from the moving frames (37) and (38).

A compression spring (44) is interposed between the moving frame (38) and the support frame (39), and the moving frame (3
A cylinder (45) that expands and contracts in the left-right direction (Y-axis direction) in FIG. 4 is connected between the support frame (39) and the support frame (39). When the cylinder (45) contracts, the case is in the state illustrated in FIG. (5) The grip claws (35) (36) and the moving frames (37) (38) are united as a whole and moved to the right in FIG. 4 and is supported by the moving frame (38). The inner surface of () comes into contact with a positioning bracket (46) vertically extending from the support frame (39) for positioning.

Reference numerals (47) and (48) are stoppers provided on the guide rod (39a), respectively, and are views of the moving frames (37) and (38) when the cylinder (45) and the spring (44) are extended. Four
The leftward position (Y-axis direction position) is restricted.

The hand (25) is designed so that the outer edge of the hand (25) in plan view is smaller than the outer edge of the case (5) in which two edges are lined up, and the hand (25) surrounds the desired case (5) to be gripped. Even when another case (5) is present in a high stack, the hand (25) can descend and approach the position directly above the desired case (5) to be gripped.

The positioning of the case (5) gripped by the grip claws (35) (36) with respect to the hand (25) in the X-axis direction may be performed by extending the positioning cylinder (42).

Next, the moving carriage (8) will be described. The moving carriage (8) is mounted on a rail (15) laid parallel to the X-axis direction rails (21) and (22) of the robot (7). The upper surface of the slat conveyor (loading section) has a half part for loading small pallets (9 ).
(49), the other half is configured as a case (5) or a temporary storage stand (51) for articles such as boxes.

The movable carriage (8) does not have a driving device itself, and a movable pin (5) provided on the Y-axis frame (18) of the robot is provided in a concave hole formed on the side surface.
Only when 2) is projected and fitted, the rail (15) is moved along with the Y-axis frame (18), and the connecting pin (52) is moved to the Y-axis frame (18) side. In the state where the carriage (8) is retracted and disengaged, the carriage (8) continues to stop at the disengaged position.

Since the movable carriage (8) is connected to the lower portion of the Y-axis frame (18), the Y-axis frame (18) is stable and the Y-axis frame (18) is prevented from falling. .

Further, an input shaft of the slat conveyor (49) is projected as a clutch piece (53) on the side of the carriage (8), and the carriage (8) is arranged as described above to the Y-axis frame (18). At a position where the input shaft clutch piece (53) is coupled to the rightmost end in the X-axis direction (one-dot chain line in FIG. 1), the input shaft clutch piece (53) meshes with the clutch piece (54) as a rotation output shaft provided on the floor. In this state, the slat conveyor (49) on the carriage (8) is rotated for the first time.

Reference numeral (55) is a wheel, and reference numeral (56) is a cylinder for advancing and retracting the connecting pin (52).

The mounting position of the case (5) on the temporary mounting table (51) is divided into eight, like the mounting position on the small pallet (9), as shown by the chain line in FIG. Cases (5) of the top four varieties that are frequently handled in the system (for example, cases on the large pallet (6) at positions (A) (B) (C) (D)) are given priority to the temporary placing table (51). Cases (5) of four varieties that are temporarily placed in the above predetermined placement areas (51a) (51b) (51c) (51d) and are handled less frequently (eg (E)
(A case on the large pallet (6) at the (F), (G), and (H) positions)
1 is temporarily placed on a fixed temporary placing table (57) provided at the leftmost end in FIG. 1 of the large pallet (6) yard.

Further, the mounting position of the case (5) on the fixed temporary placing table (57) is also divided into eight as shown by the chain line, and each kind of product has a specific placing section (57e) (57f) (57g). ) (57h), the presence or absence of a case for each product type on the temporary placing table (51) and the fixed temporary placing table (57) depends on the type (5
1) It is detected by a detector (not shown) such as a micro switch or photoelectric switch provided on (57).

Next, the operation of the palletizing robot will be described.

That is, first, prior to the operation of the robot, each position (A) (B) is set by using the transfer carriage (11).
Large pallets (6) loaded with a large amount of cases (5) are loaded and loaded in the large pallet storage areas (H) to (H).

At this time, if the system is loaded in order from the right side to the left side in FIG. 1 according to the order in which the system is handled frequently, the Y-axis frame (18), that is, the robot hand (2
5) The travel distance of (26) can be further shortened.

The products in the case (5) on the large pallet (6) at the respective positions loaded as described above will be described below in accordance with the respective positions (A), (B) to (H). B type ……
H type.

Further, the small pallet (9) is loaded onto the slat conveyor (49) of the moving carriage (8) by using the slat conveyor (14).

That is, the movable carriage (8) connected to the Y-axis frame (18) is moved to the position indicated by the chain line in FIG.
After the clutch pieces (53) (54) are meshed with each other, the slat conveyor (49) on the dolly (8) and the slat conveyor (14) as a loading / unloading station are simultaneously driven to drive the slat conveyor (14). The empty small pallet (9) is loaded on the dolly (8).

After preparing the above initial state, the Cartesian coordinate type robot (7) is operated by a host controller according to a program. The operation command of this robot (7) is Y A command for connecting and disconnecting the axis frame (18) and the moving carriage (8) (that is, a command for advancing / retreating timing of the pin (52)) is also included, and the movement of the moving carriage (8) is performed by the robot (7). Case (5)
It is performed in perfect synchronization with the palletizing operation of.

That is, for example, there are 15 cases of type A and B
When 8 kinds of products and 9 kinds of C products are stacked on the small pallet (9), the Y-axis frame (18) is first moved to the (A) position with the movable carriage (8) connected.
At this position, the connection is temporarily disconnected and the moving carriage (8) is stopped, and then the Y-axis frame (18), the lifting arm (31) and the hand (25) are operated to move the large pallet at the (A) position. (6) Grasp 14 cases (5) from the top and transfer them onto the small pallet (9) (of course, 2 each is 7
Divide into times).

When the loading of the 14 types of A-type products is completed, the Y-axis frame (18) and the moving carriage (8) are then reconnected to each other and the moving carriage (8) is held at the (B) position. After that, the connection is released again and the moving carriage (8) is stopped at the (B) position this time. Then, similarly to the above, the Y-axis frame (1
8) Then, the lifting arm (31) and the hand (25) are operated to transfer the eight cases (5) from the large pallet (6) at the (B) position onto the small pallet (9).

Further, in the same manner as above, the movable carriage (8) is held at the (C) position, and the eight cases (5) are placed on the small pallet (9) from the large pallet (6) at the (C) position. ) Transfer to the top.

By the above operation, most of the loading except the fraction of the number of loading cases for each type is finished, but next, the fraction (that is, since the robot hand (25) of this example is a double hand, the fraction is always Processing is performed as follows.

That is, after the loading of the number of cases other than the fraction of the C type is completed, the case (5) is picked up by the hand (25) at the same position (C) and the two cases (5) are grasped. One of them is placed in a predetermined placement section (51c) of the temporary placing table (51), and the remaining grasped case (5) is placed on the case (5) on the already stacked small pallet (9). Then, the Y-axis frame (18) and the movable carriage (8) are connected to each other and held at the position (A), and at that position, similarly, the two cases (5) are grabbed by the hand. Place one of the raised and grabbed cases (5) on a predetermined placement section (51a) of the temporary placing table (51), and stack the remaining grabbed cases (5) on the small pallet (9). The rounding process ends.

By the above operation, 15 kinds of A kinds, 8 kinds of B kinds, and 9 kinds of C kinds are loaded on the small pallet (9) as planned, and A kinds and C kinds are put on the temporary stand (51). The cases are temporarily placed one by one, but in this state the small pallet (9) is full, so move the moving carriage (8) to the slat conveyor (14) position, and as described above. The clutch pieces (53) and (54) are meshed with each other to drive the slat conveyor (49) to carry out the full pallet (9).

The structure of the hand (25) positions the case (5) by the hand (25) for picking up the case (5) (depallet operation) and placing it on the small pallet (9) (palletizing operation) as described above. Since it has a function, it can be satisfactorily picked up even if the case position on the large pallet (6) is rough.
Moreover, it is placed on the small pallet (9) at a predetermined accurate position, and the fitting portion (5a) on the bottom surface of the case (5) can be fitted well (described in detail later).

Then, the next small pallet (9) is carried onto the movable carriage (8), and this time, 15 cases of A type, 9 cases of B type, and 8 cases of C type, the small pallet (9). When loading up, most of the loading except for the fraction is done by the same operation as above, but the loading operation for the fraction remains on the temporary stand (H) due to the previous palletizing work (5). Is performed as follows.

That is, according to the same procedure as the previous time, A type
The 14 cases, 8 kinds of B kinds, and 8 cases of C kinds are loaded prior to the rounding process, and after the operation is finished, the A kinds and the B kinds must be loaded one by one. Stop moving the moving carriage (8) to the position (B), pick up two cases (5) of type B by the hand (25), and one of the cases (5) is type B on the temporary table (51). The case (5) of type B on the temporary stand (51) is placed by the empty grip claws (35) (36) while holding the case (5) of type B of the other side ( 5) is picked up, and in this way, the hand (25) has a case of different varieties of A type and B type (5).
While holding one by one at the same time, they are transferred onto the small pallet (9) and placed in a lump.

Therefore, the cases (5) of B type and C type remain on the temporary storage table (51), and the cases (5) of B type and C type are also used in the subsequent palletizing work.

The presence or absence of the case of each placement section on the temporary placement table (51) is detected by a micro switch or the like as described above. However, each placement section (51a) (51b) (51c) (51d) Since each case (5) has an area equivalent to that of two pieces, one of the grips (35) (36) is used as in the above-mentioned rounding operation, for example.
With the case (5) held, the other case (5) on the temporary placing table (51) can be grasped and operated.

In the above operation example, the case (5) is depalleted only from the large pallets (6) at the positions (A), (B) and (C), but it is depalleted from the large pallets (6) at other positions. The same applies to the case, and in this example, (E) (F)
When performing the depallet operation for rounding from the large pallet (6) at the (G) and (H) positions, the fixed temporary placement table (5)
7), each type (E, F,
G, H) case (5) is temporarily placed, but when the type of large pallet (6), that is, the number of types is small, it is not necessary to provide the fixed temporary placement table (57), Even if there are many types of large pallets (6), if the area of the temporary placing table (51) on the moving dolly (8) is increased, the products from all the large pallets (6) can be transferred to the moving dolly (8). ) Can be temporarily placed on top.

Next, the case (5) is picked up by the hand (25) (depallet operation) and placed on the small pallet (9) (palletizing operation).
Will be explained.

That is, as described above, each of the plastic cases (5) is loaded on the large pallet (6) with a positioning accuracy of about ± 20 mm, and the top and bottom surfaces thereof are fitted to each other. So the hand (25)
Closes the grip claws (35) (36), and the movable frames (37) (38) descend while abutting on the left side of FIG.
5) (36) Insert the tip into the case (5) first, then supply the low pressure oil to the open / close cylinder (34) to supply the grip claw (3
5) Open the (36) at low pressure to engage the handle hole (5b) of the case (5).

Case (5) of this grip claw (35) (36)
Of the grip claws (35) and (36) in the horizontal plane (movement in both the X and Y axes) when engaging with the guide rod (37).
Since it is held movably by a) (38a) (39a) (the cylinders (42) (45) freely expand and contract at this point), even if the position of the case (5) deviates from the normal position. , The grip claws (35) and (36) are opened so as to be aligned with the position of the case (5), and the case (5) is fitted to the lower case (5) without exerting an excessive force on the case (5). Even if they match, the grip is carried out without any problem (in this example, since the handle hole (5b) is wide in the Y-axis direction, there is no problem in the Y-axis direction).

Then, as described above, the grip claws (35) (3
When the hand (25) is raised while the 6) is open and engaged at a low pressure and the case (5) is lifted, the return part at the tip of the grip claws (35) (36) becomes the handle hole ( Five
The upper surface of b) is securely engaged, and at this time, the supply pressure to the opening / closing cylinder (34) is switched to high pressure, and the cylinders (42) and (45) are contracted to make the case (as described above). 5) is positioned in the X and Y axis directions.

The case (5) picked up as described above is positioned with respect to the hand (25), and by the positioning, the next small pallet (9) or the temporary placing table (51) (57) is positioned. Loading on top is performed exactly according to the set position, and the upper and lower cases (5) are smoothly fitted to each other to be stacked.

Further, the above description of the operation has been for the palletizing of the plastic case (5) by the hand (25), but by the vacuum hand (26),
The same operation is performed when palletizing a plurality of cardboard boxes stacked on each large pallet (6) onto the small pallet (9).

In the above system, the Cartesian coordinate type is used as the robot, and the movable carriage (8) for loading the small pallets is connected to the movable Y-axis frame (18). Therefore, the robot is attached to the movable carriage (8) in the connected state. The hands (25) (26) have only two degrees of freedom in the directions of the two axes (Y, Z axes), and therefore the moving carriage (8) can be operated by operating the cylinder (56) with respect to the Y axis frame (18). For example, when the small pallet (9) is loaded, the moving dolly (8) is unconnected. However, in the following cases, for example, the small pallet loading dolly (8) is connected. ) Can always be fixed to the Y-axis frame of the robot.

That is, as schematically shown in FIGS.
When the case (5) on each large pallet (6) is placed on the small pallet (9), the hand (25) can be moved only in the Y and Z axis directions, that is, the large and small pallets (6) ( 9) When the upper case (5) is stacked in only one row along the Y-axis direction (FIG. 5), or the case (5) on each large pallet (6) is moved to the small pallet (9). When the movement of the hand (25) at the time of transfer can be covered by the rotation movement of the wrist of the hand (25) in addition to the movement in the Y and Z axis directions, that is, the case (5) on the large and small pallets (6) (9). ) Is displaced by 90 degrees (Fig. 6), etc., and when a cylindrical coordinate type or multi-joint type robot having a traverse device is used as the robot, the stacking specifications as described above are used. It can be implemented as follows without restriction.

That is, as shown in FIG. 7, for example, a cylindrical coordinate type robot (62) mounted on a trolley type traverse device (61) is used, and the robot is moved along the traverse route (63) of the robot (62). A pallet (6) storage area is provided, and a moving carriage (8) for loading a small pallet is integrally connected to the traverse device (61). The robot (62) hand (64) on the traverse device (61). Can always move in three-dimensional directions, so the cart (8) can be moved to the robot traverse device (6) without any restrictions on the loading specifications of the case (5) as described above.
1) can be integrally connected.

The depalleting operation of the article (5) from the large pallet (6) and the palletizing operation on the small pallet (9) by the robot (62) are performed on the temporary table on the trolley (8) as in the above example. (51) is used.

Further, the conveyor (49) on the moving carriage (8) of the above example is also driven by clutching the input shaft (53) to the output shaft (54) on the floor at the moving end. Drive the conveyor (49) by a traverse device (6
It may be the drive source in 1).

Since the movable carriage (8) is connected to the traverse device (62), the cylindrical coordinate type robot (6
The center of gravity of 2) can be lowered and stabilized, and its fall can be prevented.

[0063]

As is apparent from the above description, the article palletizing robot according to the present invention can perform the palletizing work as described above with high processing efficiency.

In order to change the palletizing position,
When traveling, set the robot frame and loading cart
Because it is connected, it stabilizes the robot and prevents its fall.
You can stop. Furthermore, the final stacking pallet
A loading trolley with a loading section and a temporary stand
To move to the palletizing position
Work can be done efficiently. Also, the robot
The ram and loading cart can now be disconnected.
Change the position of the robot frame with respect to the loading carriage
Therefore, the operating range of the hand itself is wide.
The pallet for final stacking and temporary
It is possible to access the entire range of the table,
The size and weight of the product can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall plan view showing a palletizing robot using a Cartesian coordinate type robot.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a robot hand.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a transfer state of articles when the movable carriage is integrally fixed to the Y-axis frame.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a transfer state of articles when the movable carriage is integrally fixed to the Y-axis frame.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a palletizing robot using a cylindrical coordinate type robot.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional palletizing method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Plastic cases (articles) 7 Cartesian coordinate robots 8 Mobile carts (loading carts) 9 Small pallets (final stacking pallets) 17 X-axis frames 18 Movable Y-axis frames 25 Robot hands 26 Robot hands 27 Moving frames 31 Lifting arms 32 Lifting and lowering Arm 52 connecting pin

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location B66C 1/28 D 9147-3F 1/54 9147-3F

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A robot having a hand section for gripping, picking up and unloading articles, and a frame for supporting the hand section and moving in the article arrangement direction, wherein a final stacking pallet is loaded on the frame. Part and temporary table
A robot for article palletizing, comprising a loading carriage provided so as to be freely connectable and disconnectable .