JPH10120152A - Method and device for assorting conveyed article - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the processing speed in assorting of articles on a transport conveyor by the specified number of articles. SOLUTION: A first camera 14 for picking up images of many parts 12 to be transferred by a conveyor 10 in the random state is arranged above the transport conveyor 10. The first camera 14 picks up the image of the first pickup image range 15 in the specified range on the transport conveyor 10. The first camera 14 is electrically connected to a first data processing part. The first data processing part takes the image data of the first pickup image range 15 picked up by the first camera 14 and obtains information of the positions and the number of the articles 12 in the pickup image range 15. A fist robot 20 for moving the articles 12 downstream in the conveying direction and gathering the preset specified number of parts on the basis of the recognition of the first data processing part and the counted result is arranged downstream in the article conveying direction of the first camera 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for sorting articles to be conveyed, and more particularly, to a method in which a large number of articles conveyed by a conveyer are collected on the conveyer in predetermined numbers. The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for sorting transported articles to be sorted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A large number of articles conveyed at random on a conveyor are gathered in predetermined numbers to form an article group, and this article group is transferred to a packaging machine disposed at the downstream end of the conveyor. Supplying is taking place. When a large number of articles placed in a random state on this conveyor are collected and sorted by a predetermined number, guides on the conveyor that become narrower from the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveyance direction are provided with guides. It is arranged and a number of articles are aligned in a row through this guide. Then, the individual articles arranged in a line are conveyed toward a stopper while being separated via a speed-up conveyor, a separation conveyor, or the like, and are moved together by regulating the movement by the stopper in the closed state. In addition, a configuration is adopted in which articles separated by a counting mechanism such as a photoelectric tube arranged at a position upstream of the stopper are counted, and the stopper is opened each time a predetermined number is reached, so that a predetermined number of article groups are collected and divided. ing.

[0003]

In the above configuration, when the number of articles conveyed from the upstream side increases,
On the downstream end side of the guide, articles are densely packed in a dango state, and may not be conveyed to the downstream side, so that it has been difficult to increase the processing speed. In addition, when many articles conveyed by the conveyor are aligned in a line by a guide, the articles are pressed against each other or against the guide, so that application to a soft article is extremely difficult. Further, it is pointed out that a guide, a speed-increasing or separation conveyor, and the like are arranged in series, so that the whole apparatus becomes longer.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and has been proposed in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. It is desirable to increase the processing speed when sorting articles into a predetermined number on a conveyor. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for sorting transported articles.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to overcome the above-mentioned problems and appropriately achieve the intended purpose, the present invention provides a method in which a number of articles conveyed by a conveyor are set to a predetermined number set on the conveyor. A method of assembling and sorting as a group of articles for each, wherein the position and number of a large number of articles conveyed on the conveyor are recognized and counted by using image processing means, and are counted by the image processing means. Based on the recognition and counting results, an article positioned upstream in the transport direction in a group of articles to be assembled in a predetermined number is set to have a predetermined interval between articles following the group of articles. By moving the moving means to the downstream side in the transport direction, the articles are gathered by a predetermined number and the article group is divided into the following articles.

Another object of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned problems and appropriately achieve the intended purpose by providing a large number of articles conveyed by a conveyor on a predetermined number of articles set on the conveyor. An apparatus for collecting and sorting as a group of articles, an imaging unit for imaging a large number of articles conveyed by the conveyor, and a position of each article on the conveyor by processing image data from the imaging unit. A data processing unit for recognizing and counting the number, and a data processing unit that is located downstream of the imaging unit in the transport direction and is collected in a predetermined number based on the result of recognition and counting by the data processing unit. By moving an article located on the upstream side in the conveying direction in the group of articles to be moved to the downstream side in the conveying direction so as to generate a predetermined gap between the article and the article following the group of articles, Characterized by being composed of a moving means for dividing the group of articles for subsequent articles as well as a set for each constant number.

[0007]

The position of the article on the conveyor conveyed by the image pickup means is recognized by the data processing section connected to the image pickup means and the number is counted. When the articles imaged by the imaging means are transported to the moving area of the moving means by the transport conveyor, the transport direction in the article group to be assembled in a predetermined number based on the recognition and count result in the data processing unit. The article located on the upstream side is moved to the downstream side in the transport direction by the moving means. As a result, a predetermined number of articles are collected on the transport conveyor, and the group of collected articles and subsequent articles are separated at a predetermined interval.

[0008] Further, the shape and size of the article are compared with a reference value by another data processing section which processes image data from another image pickup means disposed upstream of the image pickup means in the transport direction, Based on the result of the determination, the article is removed from the conveyor by another moving means or the position of the article is corrected, so that the mixing of defective products and the change in the number of sets are prevented. Furthermore, when the number of articles conveyed per unit time exceeds the sorting processing capacity of the moving means,
A part of the articles on the conveyor is removed by another moving means, and the sorting by the moving means is performed efficiently.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a method and an apparatus for sorting articles to be conveyed according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of preferred embodiments. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sorting apparatus for transported articles according to the embodiment includes a large number of articles 12 transported in a random state by the transport conveyor 10 above a horizontally disposed transport conveyor 10.
A first camera 14 is provided as an image pickup means for picking up an image. The first camera 14 is disposed via a supporting member (not shown) at a position separated from the article conveying surface of the conveying conveyor 10 by a required height via a supporting member (not shown), and corresponds to the position where the camera 14 is installed. It is set so that the first imaging area 15 in a required range on the image 10 is imaged.

The first camera 14 is, as shown in FIG.
It is electrically connected to the first data processing unit 16. The first data processing unit 16 fetches image data of the first imaging area 15 captured by the first camera 14 and performs processing of the article 12 in the imaging area 15 as generally performed in the related art. So-called image processing for obtaining information such as the position and the number is performed. That is, when the articles 12 pass through the first imaging area 15, the positions of the articles 12 on the conveyor 10 are recognized and the number of the articles 12 is counted.
Then, the first image processing means F ₁ consisting of the first camera 14 and the first data processing unit 16, configured as a first robot 20 which will be described later, to be operated controlled via the control unit. The number of articles 12 to be gathered is set and input to the first data processing unit 16 in advance, and the first robot 20 assembles the number of articles 12. In addition, the number of articles 12 to be assembled is determined by input means when changing the order.
(Not shown) or the like so that the setting can be easily changed.

On the downstream side of the first camera 14 in the article transport direction, a predetermined number of articles 12 set in advance based on the result of recognition and counting by the first data processing section 16 is set.
Robot 2 as moving means for moving and assembling
0 is provided. The first robot 20 is provided on a side of the transport conveyor 10 and extends along a transport direction (X direction). A traveling beam 24 is movably disposed on the traveling beam 24. The guide beam 22 is separated from the transfer surface by a required height and extends horizontally in a direction (Y direction) perpendicular to the article transfer direction, and a grip portion 26 movably disposed on the guide beam 22. The gripper 26 is configured to be controlled to move in the X and Y directions by driving means (not shown) such as a servomotor. In addition, the gripper 26
At the lower end of a rod 44 extending freely from below,
A suction disk 46 is connected to a suction source (not shown). The suction disk 46 is lowered to suck and hold the article 12 on the conveyor 10, and the suction disk 46 is raised to lift the article 12 from the conveyance surface. It is constituted so that it can be moved with. Then, the first robot 20 moves the articles 12 located on the upstream side in the transport direction in the article group 28 to be assembled in a predetermined number set in advance on the transport conveyor 10 to the downstream side in the transport direction, and A predetermined interval K between
Is controlled so that the articles 12 are gathered and sorted in a state in which is opened.

At a position separated from the first robot 20 on the downstream side in the transport direction, there is provided a stopping means 18 for sequentially contacting the articles 12 transported by the transport conveyor 10 and temporarily retaining the articles 12. I have. As shown in FIG. 2, the stopping means 18 is provided at the tip of a rod 31 of an actuator 29 such as an air cylinder, which is disposed in an inverted state at a required height above the conveying surface of the conveying conveyor 10. A stop plate 30 sized approximately the same length as the width is mounted. The actuator 29 is urged to raise the stop plate 30 at a predetermined timing when the articles 28 are gathered and divided by the first robot 20, so that the articles 28 are conveyed to the downstream side. ing. Further, at the downstream end of the conveyor 10, a shutter mechanism 32 to which the group of articles 28 collected and sorted is sequentially supplied is arranged, and the shutter mechanism 32 is opened and arranged below the shutter mechanism 32. The article group 28 is dropped and supplied to a packaging machine 34 such as a vertical bag making and filling machine or a bag filling machine.

As shown in FIG. 3, an area in the X direction from the position where the gripper 26 of the first robot 20 has moved to the most upstream side of the traveling beam 24 to the stopping means 18 and the guide beam 2
The area in the Y direction over the entire length of the conveyor 10 in the width direction (the direction orthogonal to the transport direction) in 2 is set as a movement area 36 in which the first robot 20 can move the articles 12 on the conveyor 10. . When the article 12 imaged by the first camera 14 is conveyed to the movement area 36, the first robot 20 moves the article 12 toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction. In the drive system of the conveyor 10, an encoder 17 is provided as a means for detecting the position at which the article 12 is transported. The encoder 17 is electrically connected to a control unit of the first robot 20. The position of each article 12 conveyed downstream after passing through the first imaging area 15 is determined by the position recognized by the first data processing unit 16 and the position of the article 12 obtained based on a signal from the encoder 17. Calculated from the transport distance,
The operation of the first robot 20 is controlled.

[0014] the conveying direction upstream side of the arrangement position of the first image processing means F _1, as shown in FIG. 2, the unit F ₁ and the second image processing means F ₂ of the same configuration is disposed, the image data of the article 12 in the second imaging area 39 on the conveyor 10 which is captured by the second camera 38 of another imaging means in means F ₂ is a second data processing unit 40 as a separate data processing unit It is configured to be processed. Further, a second robot 42 as another moving means is disposed between the first camera 14 and the second camera 38, and the second robot 42 is controlled by a second image processing means F via its control unit. _The operation is controlled by ₂ . Since the configuration of the second robot 42 is the same as that of the first robot 20, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In the second data processing unit 40, the first data
Similarly to the data processing unit 16, by processing image data captured by the second camera 38,
The position of the article 12 above is recognized, and the number is counted. Then, based on the number of articles 12 transported per unit time by the transport conveyor 10, the second robot 4
The second robot 2 is configured to exclude a part of the articles 12 on the conveyor 10 and control the number of articles 12 conveyed per unit time to a number that can be sorted and processed by the first robot 20. The second data processing unit 40 compares and determines the shape, size, and the like of the article 12 captured by the second camera 38 with a reference value set and input in advance, and for example, deviates from the chipped article 12 or a predetermined dimension. Non-standard goods 12
Is removed from the conveyor, or the second robot 42 is controlled to move the overlapping articles 12 and correct the positions thereof. The encoder 17 is also electrically connected to the control unit of the second robot 42, and the position of each article 12 that is conveyed to the downstream side through the second imaging area 39 is determined by the second data processing unit. 40
The operation of the second robot 42 is controlled based on the recognition position in the above and the transport distance of the article 12 obtained based on the signal from the encoder 17. The second data processing unit 4
The reference values such as the shape and size of the article 12 set and input to 0 can be easily changed through input means (not shown) when changing the order.

[0016]

Next, the operation of the apparatus for sorting conveying articles according to the embodiment will be described in relation to a sorting method. A large number of articles 12 conveyed in a random state by the conveyor 10 are first imaged by the second camera 38 of the second image processing means F ₂ , and pass through the second imaging area 39 in the second data processing unit 40. Goods 1 per unit time
The number 2 is counted, and the shape, size, and the like of the imaged article 12 are compared and determined with a preset reference value. If it is determined that the number of articles 12 conveyed per unit time exceeds the number that can be sorted and processed by the first robot 20, the articles 12 conveyed by the conveyor 10 are transferred by the second robot 42. When the robot 42 arrives at the moving area, some of the articles 12 are eliminated by the robot 42, and the number of articles 12 conveyed toward the first robot 20 is adjusted. Further, when the defective article 12 or the non-standard article 12 is confirmed, the second robot 42 removes the article 12 out of the conveyor when the article 12 reaches the moving area. In addition, the article 1 conveyed per unit time
Even if the number of 2 is processed by the second robot 42, the first
When it is determined that the processing capacity of the robot 20 does not fall below, the transport conveyor 10 is controlled to be stopped.

Further, when it is determined by the image processing in the second data processing section 40 that a plurality of articles 12 overlap, the upper article 12 overlapped by the second robot 42 is vacant. By moving to the position, the processing by the first image processing means F ₁ and the first robot 20 on the downstream side can be performed accurately and efficiently.

The number of articles 12 transported per unit time after passing the position where the second robot 42 is disposed is within the number that can be sorted and processed by the first robot 20, and defective products are eliminated and there is no overlap. Article 12 conveyed in a state
Are grouped and divided by the first image processing means F ₁ and the first robot 20 for each predetermined number. In addition,
As shown in FIG. 3, articles 12 conveyed by the conveyor 10 have three modes of “dense state”, “intermediate state between dense and sparse”, and “sparse state”. The work will be described individually. In addition, the case where the number of the articles 12 to be collected and sorted is set to 5 is exemplified. Here, the number that can be sorted by the first robot 20 is the number of articles 12 located at the most downstream side of the group of articles 28 to be collected, and the number of articles 1 following the group of articles 28.
The number per unit time when the articles 12 are conveyed in a state where the distance between the two is wider than the interval K.

The article 12 in the dense state conveyed by the conveyor 10 arrives at the first image pickup area 15 of the first camera 14 (when the article is in a dense state). The first data processing unit 16 recognizes the position of each article 12 from the image data and counts the number. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the article No. 1 located at the most downstream side in the transport direction.
The positions of the article 12 from No. 2 to No. 14 are recognized. At this time, NO. 1 to NO.
No. 4 and No. 5 articles 12 located on the upstream side in the transport direction in the article group 28 including the articles 12 up to 5,
It is determined that it is not separated from the subsequent article No. 6 by the interval K for dividing the article group 28, and
The amount of movement required to separate by the interval K is determined. In the same manner, NO. 6 to NO.
No. 10 article 12 located on the upstream side in the transport direction in an article group 28 consisting of up to 10 articles 12 and N
It is determined that the article 12 is not separated from the article 12 of O.11 by the interval K, and the amount of movement required to separate the article 12 by the interval K is determined.

The position of each article 12 conveyed downstream after passing through the first imaging area 15 is determined by the first data processing section 16.
Is tracked from the recognition position of the object 12 and the transport distance of the article 12 obtained based on the signal from the encoder 17. And
The articles 12 of No. 4 and No. 5 are shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4B, when the robot 12 reaches the moving area 36 of the first robot 20, the articles 12 of No. 4 and No. 5 are moved by the robot 20 based on the obtained moving amounts. c)
As shown in FIG.
Are respectively moved toward the downstream side in the transport direction so that As a result, the article group 28 in which the five articles 12 of No. 1 to No. 5 are collected is separated from the subsequent article 12 (No. 6) by a distance K. The first
While the articles 12 (NO.4 and NO.5) are being moved by the robot 20, the articles 12 of No. 6 are conveyed to the downstream side by the conveyor 10 so that the first robot 20 The article 12 (N) is moved toward the position corrected downstream by the conveyance distance of the article 12 of No. 6 conveyed during the movement.
O.4, NO.5). Also,
In the group of articles 28 collected and divided, each article 12
Even if they overlap, there is no problem in the subsequent process, so that in this collective operation, the overlapping of the articles 12 is allowed.

When the movement of the No. 5 article 12 on the most upstream side in the transport direction constituting the article group 28 is completed, the stop plate 30 is opened, and the article group 28 is moved as shown in FIG. , Is conveyed to the downstream side through the position where the stop plate 30 is provided. When the article group 28 passes through the position where the stop plate 30 is provided, the stop plate 30 is closed.

Next, as shown in FIG.
When the article 12 of No. 0 reaches the movement area 36 of the first robot 20, the article 12 of No. 10 is moved by the robot 20 between the subsequent article 12 of No. 11 as shown in FIG. Is moved toward the downstream side in the transport direction such that an interval K occurs. As a result, the article group 28 in which the five articles 12 of No. 6 to No.
1) are separated from each other by a distance K. The article group 28 is conveyed to the downstream side while being separated from the preceding article group 28 by an interval K by opening the stop plate 30 (see FIG. 5C). Similarly, N
When the articles 12 of O.11 to NO.15 are collected and sorted, based on the image processing result at the first data processing unit 16, FIGS. 6 (a), (b), (c) and FIG. As shown in (a),
The articles 12, NO. 14, and NO. 15, which are not separated from the subsequent article 12 (NO. 16) by the interval K, are respectively moved downstream by the first robot 20. Further, when the articles 12 of No. 16 to No. 20 are collected and divided, as shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C, they are not separated from the subsequent article 12 (No. 21) by the interval K. NO.
The articles 19 of No. 19 and No. 20 are respectively moved toward the downstream side by the first robot 20. As a result, the articles 12 conveyed in the “dense state” are collected and divided with the article groups 28, 28 separated by the interval K, and conveyed downstream.

When the articles 12 are conveyed in a "dense state", the articles 12 located at the head of the group of articles 28 to be collected / sorted are located immediately before or substantially in contact with the stop plate 30. By the time, the moving speed of the gripper 26 is set so that the movement of the article 12 on the upstream side is completed. Therefore, in this "dense state", even if the stop plate 30 is always in the open state, the articles 28 can be gathered and separated in a state where they are separated by the interval K.
Can be omitted.

(When the article is in an intermediate state between dense and sparse)
The articles 12 conveyed by the conveyor 10 are in the "intermediate state between dense and sparse" as indicated by NO.21 to NO.35 shown in FIG.
In the case where the upstream articles 12 constituting each article group 28 and the subsequent articles 12 are not separated by the interval K, the assembling / sorting operation is performed as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 8 (a), the next group of articles 28 is formed with respect to the stop plate 30 closed as the articles 12 of NO. The article 12 of the leading No. 21 is abutted and temporarily stays. At this time, since the article 12 of No. 25 on the upstream side, which should constitute the article group 28, has not reached the moving area 36 of the first robot 20, each article 12 located on the downstream side is moved to the stop plate 30. They come into contact with each other to form a partially assembled state.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8B, when the article 12 of No. 25 reaches the moving area 36, the first data processing section 16 performs the same operation as in the above-mentioned "case where the article is in a dense state". The first robot 20 is operated based on the image processing result of (1) and the obtained moving amount, and as shown in FIG.
25 articles 12 are moved downstream in the transport direction, and
A gap K is generated between the O.26 article 12 and the article 12. Also in this case, the article 12 of No. 25 is moved to a position corrected by a distance that allows for the transport distance of the article 12 of No. 26 being conveyed during the movement, and is moved between the article 12 of No. 26 The interval K is definitely defined. This NO.
When the movement of the articles 12 of No. 25 is completed, the article group 28 including the articles 12 of NO. 21 to NO. Transported downstream.

The stop plate 30 is closed at the timing when the group of articles 28 that have been assembled and divided pass through the stop plate 30,
Subsequent articles 12 (NO. 26 to) abut the stop plate 30 and temporarily stay there. When the group of articles 28 including the articles 12 of No. 21 to No. 25 is collected and sorted, the articles 12 on the downstream side are temporarily retained by the stop plate 30 so that the stop plate 30 has already been stopped. Is conveyed in a state in which the distance from the preceding article group 28 (comprising the articles 12 of No. 16 to No. 20) that has passed through is larger than the distance K as shown in FIG.

Similarly, when the articles 12 of No. 26 to No. 30 and the articles 12 of No. 31 to No. 35 are to be grouped and classified, respectively, the image processing result in the first data processing unit 16 is used. 9 (a), (b), (c) and FIG. 10 (a), the NO.
When the articles 12 of No. 30 and No. 35 reach the movement area 36 of the first robot 20, the robot 20 separates the following articles 12 (No. 31 and No. 36) from the subsequent articles 12 (No. 31 and No. 36) by a distance K, respectively. Moved toward. When the groups of articles 28 are assembled, a part of the articles 12
, And is conveyed in a state where it is wider than the interval K with the preceding article group 28 that has already passed through the stop plate 30. That is, the articles 12 conveyed in the “intermediate state between dense and sparse” are collected and divided in a state in which an interval larger than the interval K occurs between the article groups 28, 28.

(In the case where the articles are sparse) The articles 12 conveyed by the conveyor 10 are N
In the “sparse state” as in O.36 to NO.48, each article group 2
In the case where the upstream article 12 and the succeeding article 12 that constitute the part 8 are separated from each other by more than the interval K, the group
A sorting operation is performed. That is, the preceding article group 2
As shown in FIG. 10 (b), the subsequent articles 12 of Nos. 36 to 39 are sequentially brought into contact with the stop plate 30 closed by the passage of No. 8 and temporarily stay there. In this state, N on the upstream side in the transport direction to constitute the article group 28
When the O. 40 (fifth) article 12 reaches the moving area 36 of the first robot 20, the first robot 20 operates and the NO.
Forty articles 12 are stored in the stop plate 30 4
It is moved to the downstream side so as to gather into individual articles 12 (FIG. 1
0 (c)). When the movement of the article 12 of No. 40 is completed, the stop plate 30 is opened, and the article group 28 is conveyed to the downstream side.

The stop plate 30 is closed at the timing when the group of articles 28 that have been assembled and divided pass through the stop plate 30,
The following four articles 12 of No. 41 to No. 44 sequentially contact the stop plate 30 and temporarily stay there. And 5
As shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, when the second object No. 45 reaches the moving area 36 of the first robot 20, the first object
The robot 20 operates to move the No. 45 article 12 to the downstream side so as to gather into the four articles 12 already retained on the stop plate 30. When the movement of the article 12 of No. 45 is completed, the stop plate 30 is opened and
The article group 28 including the sorted articles 12 of No. 41 to No. 45 is conveyed to the downstream side through the position where the stop plate 30 is provided (see FIG. 11C). When collecting and sorting the articles 12 conveyed in a “sparse state”, a plurality of articles 12
Is temporarily retained by the stop plate 30, so that each article group 2
They are grouped and divided in a state where an interval wider than the interval K occurs between 8, 28.

Here, in the case of "sparse state", each article group 2
Since the article 12 on the upstream side and the following article 12 that constitute the part 8 are separated by the distance K, it is possible to bring the articles 12 into an aggregated state only by the action of the stop plate 30,
Since the interval of 2 is wide, it takes time to wait for the five articles 12 to be assembled at the stop plate 30. Therefore, by moving the article 12 on the most upstream side constituting the article group 28 to the downstream side by the first robot 20 as in the embodiment, the time can be shortened, and the residence time of the article 12 is shortened to cause damage. Can be reduced.

In the above-described three embodiments, the group of articles 28 obtained by assembling and sorting the five articles 12 are supplied to a shutter mechanism 32 provided on the downstream side of the conveyor 10 as shown in FIG. You. By opening the shutter mechanism 32 in accordance with the supply timing of the packaging machine 34, the packaging is supplied to the packaging machine 34 for each article group 28 and packaging is performed.

[0032]

The image processing in the second image processing means F ₂ which is arranged on the upstream side in the embodiment About modifications], an article 12 or articles 12 in the non-standard dimensions with a missing, conveyor 10 on the second robot 42 It was to be excluded from, when the article 12 without such defects Hinto basically is transported without overlapping is possible to omit the second image processing means F ₂ and the second robot 42 Can also. Then, the number of articles 12 conveyed per unit time is counted by the image processing in the first image processing means F ₁ , and when it is determined that the result exceeds the processing capability of the first robot 20, This can be dealt with by controlling the conveyor 10 to stop.

[0033] In the case of the above-described condition, the second robot 42 only omitted, counts the number of articles 12 conveyed by the image processing per unit time in the second image processing means F _2, as a result Is determined to exceed the processing capacity of the first robot 20, the conveyor 10 can be controlled to stop. Further, instead of the second robot 42, on the conveying surface of the conveyor 10 as a separate moving means provided removing means of the pusher or the like moves in the Y direction, based on the image processing result in the second image processing means F ₂ It is also possible to remove a part of the article 12 from the conveyor 10 by operating the elimination means, and adjust the number of articles to be transported so that the first robot 20 on the downstream side can sort and process.

The first robot 20 and the second robot 4
The means for holding the article 12 in the second holding section 26 is not limited to the suction disk 46 as in the embodiment, but may be the article 12.
For example, a chuck for holding the sheet 12 or a pressing plate for sliding the article 12 on the conveying surface can be used as appropriate according to the properties of the article 12. Alternatively, a plurality of gripping portions 26 may be provided on the robots 20 and 42 to move or remove a plurality of articles 12 at once. Furthermore, if the direction of movement of the article 12 is such that the article 12 can be moved downstream and a space K can be generated between the article 12 and the following article 12 in the X direction,
You may make it move in a diagonal X direction.

[0035]

As described above, according to the method and the apparatus for separating articles to be conveyed according to the present invention, even if articles are conveyed in a large amount and random state from the upstream side by the conveying conveyor, images can be transferred. The moving means can be controlled quickly and accurately by the image processing in the processing means, so that the assembling and sorting of the articles can be performed at high speed. In addition, since it is not necessary to arrange the articles in a line with a guide or the like, the entire apparatus can be configured to be short to save space, and
Flexible articles can be assembled and sorted without damaging them. Further, there is an advantage that it is easy to cope with a case where the shape, size, number of pieces to be assembled, and the like of the articles are changed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of an apparatus for sorting conveyed articles according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating a schematic configuration of a transported article sorting apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an apparatus for sorting conveying articles according to an embodiment;
It is explanatory drawing which shows schematically the arrangement state of the article conveyed on a conveyance conveyor.

FIG. 4 is a device for sorting conveyed articles according to an embodiment;
It is a flowchart showing a process of collecting and sorting articles conveyed in “dense state”.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an apparatus for sorting conveying articles according to an embodiment;
It is a flowchart showing a process of collecting and sorting articles conveyed in “dense state”.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an apparatus for sorting conveying articles according to an embodiment;
It is a flowchart showing a process of collecting and sorting articles conveyed in “dense state”.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an apparatus for sorting conveyed articles according to an embodiment;
It is a flowchart showing a process of collecting and sorting articles conveyed in “dense state”.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an apparatus for sorting conveying articles according to an embodiment;
FIG. 9 is a process diagram showing a process of collecting and sorting articles conveyed in an “intermediate state between dense and sparse”.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an apparatus for sorting conveyed articles according to an embodiment;
FIG. 9 is a process diagram showing a process of collecting and sorting articles conveyed in an “intermediate state between dense and sparse”.

FIG. 10 is a process diagram showing a process of collecting and sorting articles conveyed in a “sparse state” in the conveying article sorting apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a process diagram showing a process of assembling / sorting articles conveyed in a “sparse state” in the conveying article sorting apparatus according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Conveyor 12 Article 14 1st camera (imaging means) 16 1st data processing part 18 Stopping means 20 1st robot (moving means) 28 Article group 38 2nd camera (another imaging means) 40 2nd data processing part ( Another data processing unit) 42 Second robot (another moving means) F ₁ First image processing means K Interval

Claims (8)

[Claims] A method in which a large number of articles (12) conveyed by a conveyor (10) are collected and sorted as a group of articles (28) of a predetermined number set in advance on the conveyor (10). there are, the location and number of conveyor (10) a number of articles conveyed on the (12) counts as well as recognized using the image processing means (F _1), said image processing means (F ₁₎ Based on the recognition and counting results in the above, a group of articles (2
The article (12) positioned on the upstream side in the transport direction in (8) is a predetermined distance (K) between the article (12) following the article group (28).
By moving the moving means (20) to the downstream side in the transport direction so as to generate the articles, the articles (12) are grouped by a predetermined number and the article group (28) is separated from the subsequent articles (12). A method for sorting articles to be conveyed, the method comprising: 2. An article (12) is removed from the transport conveyor (10) and transported per unit time on the upstream side in the transport direction from a position where the article group (28) is collected and sorted. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the number of the articles is controlled. 3. An apparatus for assembling and sorting a large number of articles (12) conveyed by a conveyor (10) as a predetermined number of articles (28) on the conveyor (10). An imaging unit (14) for imaging a large number of articles (12) conveyed by the conveyor (10); and processing image data from the imaging unit (14) on the conveyor (10). A data processing unit (16) for recognizing the position of each of the articles (12) and counting the number thereof, and a data processing unit (16) located downstream of the imaging unit (14) in the transport direction and recognizing the data processing unit (16). Based on the count result, the articles (12) located on the upstream side in the transport direction in the articles (28) to be collected in a predetermined number are set in the article group (2
The article (1) is moved downstream in the transport direction so as to generate a predetermined distance (K) with the article (12) following the article (8).
2. A transporting article sorting apparatus, comprising: moving means (20) for assembling 2) pieces for each predetermined number and sorting the article group (28) with respect to subsequent articles (12). 4. A downstream side of the moving means (20) in the transport direction.
The apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a stopping means (18) for allowing the articles (12) conveyed by the conveyor (10) to abut and temporarily staying the articles (12). 5. The data processing section (16) includes:
5. The apparatus for sorting transported articles according to claim 3, wherein the apparatus processes the image data from (14) and counts the number of articles (12) transported by the transport conveyor (10) per unit time. 6. An upstream side in the transport direction of the imaging means (14),
Another imaging means (38) for imaging a large number of articles (12) conveyed by the conveyance conveyor (10) is provided, and the other imaging means (3
5. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the number of articles conveyed per unit time on the conveyor is counted by another data processing section for processing the image data from the conveyor. Equipment for sorting transported goods. 7. Another moving means (42) for moving an article (12) on the transport conveyor (10) is provided between the imaging means (14) and another imaging means (38). , Said another data processing unit (4
(0), based on the number of articles (12) conveyed per unit time on the conveyor (10) counted by the conveyor (10), the article (12) on the conveyor (10) by the another moving means (42). 7. An apparatus for sorting transported articles according to claim 6, wherein a part of the articles is conveyed per unit time and the number of articles transported per unit time is controlled to a number that can be sorted and processed by said moving means. 8. A different data processing unit (40) for processing image data from said another image pickup means (38) compares and determines the shape and size of the article (12) with a reference value, and the result of the determination The goods (12) are transported on another conveyor (42) based on
8. The sorting apparatus for conveyed articles according to claim 7, wherein the apparatus is configured to remove the article from above or to correct the position of the article.