JPH10296675A - Grasping method of heavy soft object - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To safely grasp a heavy soft object while reducing danger of dropping by providing a soft contact body contacting with the surface of a sphere or a cylindrical body, and grasping the heavy soft object so as to hold up it from the obliquely lower side with a pair of mechanical hands rotatably opposite to each other along the surface of the heavy soft object. SOLUTION: On the grasping extreme end part, a doughnut-shaped pneumatic rubber tube (soft contact body) 2 being soft and of large contact area against the surface of a watermelon A is fixed to the outer circumferential part of a disc-like fitting frame 3. The fitting frame 3 is supported with a rotary shaft 8 rotatably in the longitudinal direction, the tube 2 and the fitting frame 3 are clockwisely (anticlockwisely on the opposite side) rotated around the rotary shaft 8, and made rotatable within the movable range 10 abutting to the upper fitting part 6a of a grasping base part 6. The base part 6b of the grasping base part 6 is supported with the extreme end part of an opening/closing arm, and together with the other grasping base part 6, the tubes 2 can be moved to the position contacting with the watermelon A and the position separating from it. Hereby, grasping force can be enlarged for executing safe handling.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for gripping a heavy and flexible object such as a watermelon such as a watermelon, which is used for harvesting, sorting, sorting, and shipping.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when handling flexible crops such as watermelon, gangan, pumpkin, etc., they have been put together in containers or the like and then handled manually. Research on the method of handling with mechanical power is ongoing, but has not yet been put to practical use. In addition, mechanical hands that handle crops alone
Watermelon with a smooth surface is handled by a vacuum suction device in a sorting facility where the surrounding environment is maintained. However, it is not mechanized at the time of harvesting.

[0003]

The above prior art (prior art)
In the method of gripping watermelon adsorption, it cannot be used when there are leaves or foreign substances that are easily sucked around at the time of harvesting or the like. In addition, a vacuum generator is required for the adsorption, and it is difficult to reduce the size of the entire apparatus, and it is difficult to use a material having an uneven surface. On the other hand, at the time of a power failure, the operation of the vacuum generating device stops, and the watermelon falls, causing damage.

The present invention has a simple mechanism and is applicable to crops having irregularities.
An object of the present invention is to provide a gripping method that can be used even when it is necessary to grip an industrial product or a living thing without applying force and has a wide application range, and can solve the above-mentioned conventional problems. .

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides: A sphere or a cylindrical flexible material that is easily damaged by a heavy material such as watermelon and that is fragile and has a flexible contact body that is in soft contact with the surface of the flexible material. The weight-flexible object is gripped from below by a pair of mechanical hands that are rotatable along the line and that sandwich the weight-flexible object.

B. The flexible contact body is a donut-shaped pneumatic rubber tube.

C. A guide is provided on the outer periphery of the flexible contact body to restrict the amount of deformation of the flexible contact body and improve the gripping force.

[0008]

According to the above-mentioned means, the following actions are performed in the method for gripping a weight-flexible object according to the present invention.

[0009] The above A. By the means described above, the gripping portion is held in such a manner that the tip of the gripping portion holds the position below the equatorial plane of the weight-flexible object, and the holding force is increased, so that the weight-flexible object is not damaged. In addition, the larger the weight and the shape of the flexible object, the more it will be held from below and grasped, so that it will be in the same state as a human being, and it will be possible to grasp safely with less danger of falling. The mechanization of handling work becomes possible.

[0010] B. above. By this means, the rubber tube does not softly touch the surface of the object to be grasped (weight-flexible object) and does not damage the surface. Further, by adjusting the air pressure, it is possible to correspond to the size and weight of the weight-flexible object.

[0011] B. above. By means of the above, even if the bulge outward is unstable such as a donut-shaped pneumatic rubber tube, the bulge is regulated by the guide to the outer periphery of the rubber tube, and the gripping force is stabilized, especially Increase gripping force for heavy objects.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a mechanical hand for holding a sphere or a cylindrical flexible material (weight flexible material) which is a heavy object such as watermelon A, and whose surface is easily damaged and easily broken. The hand 1 is composed of a pair of hands opposed to each other with the watermelon A to be grasped interposed therebetween. Since both hands have the same configuration, only one of them will be described.

The mechanical hand 1 has a donut-shaped pneumatic rubber tube (flexible contact body) 2 which is in contact with the surface of the watermelon A at the tip of the grip so as to have a large contact area. 3 is fixed to the outer peripheral portion by bonding. The rubber tube is provided with an air pressure adjusting port 4 for adjusting the air pressure. A pair of bearings 5 are fixed to the mounting frame 3 with bolts and nuts at predetermined intervals at a central portion opposite to the side to which the rubber tube 2 is fixed, and a grip base is provided between the bearings 5. A rotation support piece 7 attached so as to protrude forward from 6 is inserted and supported by a rotation shaft 8 so as to be rotatable in the front-rear direction.

A stopper 9 projecting forward from the lower end of the gripping base 6 is provided, and the mounting frame 3 and the rubber tube 2 are provided.
1 is substantially vertical, the lower mounting portion 5a of the bearing 5 is in contact with the stopper 9. And the rubber tube 2 and the mounting frame 3
1 rotates in the clockwise (arrow) direction (the other direction is opposite) around the rotation axis 8 from the solid line position in FIG. 1 and the mounting frame 3 abuts on the upper mounting portion 6a of the grip base 6 in FIG. It is rotatable within a movement range 10 indicated by. The base 6b of the grip base 6 is supported by the tip of an opening / closing arm (not shown), and is movable together with the other grip base 6 between a position where the rubber tube 2 is in contact with the watermelon A and a position where the rubber tube 2 is separated from the watermelon A.

Here, the rubber tube 2 in this embodiment has an outer diameter R = 175 mm, an inner diameter r = 105 mm, and a thickness S = 35 mm, but can be changed together with the mounting frame 3 depending on the shape and size of the object to be handled. It is. The air pressure of the rubber tube 2 is adjusted by the air pressure adjusting port 4.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show watermelons A of different sizes.
Is held by the mechanical hands 1 and 1. FIG. 2 shows that watermelon A is small (diameter = 233 mm,
Weight = approximately 6.5 kg), and the rubber tube 2 is gripped so as to hold the watermelon A from below by making the outer diameter of the rubber tube 2 smaller than the outer diameter of the watermelon A. FIG.
Means that watermelon A is large (diameter = 272 mm, weight = about 1
0 kg), but it is held in such a way that it is held from below in the case of FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the case of a spherical object such as watermelon A, an air-filled rubber tube 2 having a large contact area is used even if the shape is distorted. doing. For example, in the case of a cylindrical object, a sponge rubber or the like smaller than the diameter is used.

As shown in FIG. 4, an annular guide 9 for regulating the deformation of the tube may be provided on the outer periphery of the rubber tube 2 in order to increase the gripping force when the tube is gripped by the pneumatic rubber tube 2. .

[0019]

As described above, according to the method for gripping a weight-flexible object of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

[0020] A sphere or a cylindrical flexible material that is easily damaged by a heavy material such as watermelon and that is fragile and has a flexible contact body that is in soft contact with the surface of the flexible material. The weight-flexible object is gripped from below by a pair of mechanical hands that are rotatable along the body and that sandwich the weight-flexible object. The gripping force is increased to about 1.5 times or more as compared with the case where the watermelon is not used, and a large gripping force can be obtained even with a heavy watermelon, and safe handling can be performed.

[0021] Since the doughnut-shaped pneumatic rubber tube is used as the flexible contact body, the contact area with the weight-flexible object (watermelon) increases, and the watermelon can be gripped without being damaged.

[0022] Since a guide is provided on the outer periphery of the flexible contact body (rubber tube) to regulate the amount of deformation of the rubber tube and improve the gripping force, the gripping force of the watermelon can be increased by two to three times or more.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a gripping mechanism for a weight-flexible object according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a gripping mechanism when a small watermelon is gripped.

FIG. 3 is a partial side view of a gripping mechanism when a large watermelon is gripped.

FIG. 4 is a side view of another embodiment of a gripping mechanism equipped with an additional component for increasing a gripping force.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mechanical hand 2 Donut type pneumatic rubber tube (flexible contact body) 3 Disc-shaped mounting frame 4 Pneumatic pressure adjusting port 5 Bearing 5a Lower mounting part 6 Gripping base 6a Upper mounting part 6b Base 7 Rotation support piece 8 Rotating shaft 9 Stopper 10 Moving range of rubber tube and mounting frame 11 Guide of rubber tube A Watermelon R Outer diameter of rubber tube r Inner diameter of rubber tube S Thickness of rubber tube

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] July 15, 1998

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0005

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an A.I. A ring-shaped flexible contact body 2 which is in contact with the surface of a spherical or cylindrical flexible material A which is easily damaged and broken easily by a heavy material such as watermelon.
The flexible body 2 is rotatable along the surface of the flexible body A, and the mechanically flexible body A is held by the pair of mechanical hands 1 opposed to each other across the flexible body A. It is characterized in that it is gripped while being held diagonally from below.

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0006

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

B. The flexible contact body 2 is a donut-shaped pneumatic rubber tube.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0007

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

C. A feature of the present invention is that a frame-shaped guide 11 is provided on the outer periphery of the flexible contact body 2 to restrict the amount of deformation of the flexible contact body 2 to the outside and improve the gripping force.

[Procedure amendment 5]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0009

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0009] The above A. By the means described above, the gripping end is gripped in such a manner that the position below the equatorial plane of the weight-flexible material A is lifted, and the holding force is increased, so that the weight-flexible material A is not damaged. In addition, since the larger the shape of the weight-flexible object A is, the more it is held and gripped from below, the state becomes the same as that held by a human, and the danger of falling can be reduced and the gripping can be performed safely.・ Mechanization of handling work becomes possible.

[Procedure amendment 6]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0010

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0010] B. above. By this means, the rubber tube 2 does not softly touch the surface of the object to be gripped (the weight-flexible object A) and does not damage the surface. In addition, by adjusting the air pressure in advance, it is possible to correspond to the size and weight of the weight-flexible object A.

[Procedure amendment 7]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0011

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0011] C. above. By means of (1), even if the swelling to the outside is unstable such as the donut-shaped pneumatic rubber tube 2, the swelling to the outer periphery of the rubber tube 2 is regulated by the guide 11 and the gripping force is stable. In particular, the gripping force is increased for heavy objects.

[Procedure amendment 8]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0020

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0020] Spherical or cylindrical flexible material A that is easily damaged with a heavy material such as watermelon and easily broken
Has a ring-shaped flexible contact body 2 that is in soft contact with the surface thereof, the flexible contact body 2 is rotatable along the surface of the weight-flexible object A, and sandwiches the weight-flexible object A. By the pair of mechanical hands 1 facing each other, the weight-flexible object A
Of the watermelon A, the gripping force of the watermelon A is about 1.5 times or more that of the case where the mechanical hand 1 of the present invention is not used. Power is obtained and safe handling can be performed.

[Procedure amendment 9]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0021

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0021] Since the flexible contact body 2 is a doughnut-type pneumatic rubber tube, the contact area with the weight flexible object (watermelon) A is increased, and the watermelon A can be gripped without being damaged.

[Procedure amendment 10]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0022

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0022] Since a guide is provided on the outer periphery of the flexible contact body (rubber tube) 2 to restrict the amount of deformation of the rubber tube 2 to the outside and improve the gripping force, the gripping force of the watermelon A is increased by two to three times or more. be able to.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A sphere or a cylindrical flexible material which is easily damaged by a heavy object such as watermelon and whose surface is apt to be broken, and has a flexible contact member which is in soft contact with the surface thereof. The weight is characterized by being rotatable along the surface of the weight-flexible object, and holding the weight-flexible object from below by a pair of mechanical hands opposed to each other with the weight-flexible object interposed therebetween. How to grip a flexible object. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the flexible contact body is a donut-shaped pneumatic rubber tube. 3. A gripper according to claim 1, wherein a guide is provided on an outer periphery of said flexible contact body to regulate a deformation amount of said flexible contact body to improve a gripping force. Method.