JPH11254373A - Article handling tool - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain various article guiding shapes by a simple structure so as to perform stable and sure guiding for the articles of various shapes by providing a shape memory member having an article guiding shape for matching an article guiding member with a desired article shape. SOLUTION: A bolt guiding member 21 is provided with a guiding shape for matching with the barrel part 1A of a bolt 1, and a bolt guiding member 22 is provided with a guiding shape for matching with a neck part 1B of the bolt 1. The bolt guiding members 21 and 22 are set to holding postures by the adsorbing chuck 31 of the bolt 1 so as to secure an adsorption holding state by the chuck 31, then the free shaking of the bolt 1 during the carrying of the bolt 1 is suppressed, and the falling-off of the bolt 1 is prevented. At this time, the bolt guiding members 21 and 22 are selectively provided with an article guiding shape composed of a shape memory member to match with a desired article shape, and types are changed according to the bolts 1 of various shapes to allow repeated use. Thus, various bolt guiding shapes are obtained to perform stable and sure guiding for the bolts of various shapes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article handling tool suitable for handling articles such as containers and a method for forming the article guide member.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an article handling robot hand, etc.
When an article is held by holding means such as a suction chuck, there is an apparatus provided with an article guide member for adjusting a holding posture of the article by the holding means. The article guide member adjusts the holding posture of the article by the holding means to ensure the holding state of the holding means, and suppresses the free swinging movement of the article during the subsequent article transport, thereby preventing the article from falling off unexpectedly. This is to prevent it.

[0003]

However, when changing the type of the article to be handled by the article handling robot, an article guide member provided with an article guide shape suitable for a new article is used every time the article shape changes. In addition, it is necessary to replace the article guide member.

However, the conventional article guide member is made of a hard material such as metal, and can only provide an article guide shape that can be brought into contact with a specific article shape. For this reason, in the prior art, it is necessary to keep a large number of different article guide members for each type of article, which is complicated.

An object of the present invention is to provide an article guiding member of an article handling tool with a simple configuration to obtain a variety of article guiding shapes and to stably and reliably guide articles of various shapes.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article handling tool provided with an article guide member, wherein the article guide member is provided with an article guide shape capable of abutting a desired article shape. It is configured by a storage member.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the shape memory member constituting the article guide member can be deformed into a desired article guide shape at a temperature higher than a certain temperature. The article guide shape is fixed in a use temperature range lower than the temperature.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the shape memory member is made of a shape memory resin.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the surface of the shape memory resin is further subjected to a water-repellent treatment.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the shape memory member is made of a shape memory alloy.

The present invention described in claim 6 provides the invention according to claims 1-4.
The present invention according to any one of the above, further comprising suction means for sucking the article guided by the article guide member.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect, the suction means is a vacuum suction chuck.

[0013] The present invention described in claim 8 provides the invention according to claims 1 to 7.
In the present invention described in any one of the above, the article handling tool further includes a plurality of article guide members corresponding to a plurality of parts of the article.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the eighth aspect, the article to be handled by the article handling tool is a bottle, and an article guide member capable of abutting against the body of the bottle. And an article guide member which can be brought into contact with the neck of the bottle.

[0015] According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the eighth or ninth aspect of the present invention, the suction means is further disposed between a plurality of article guide members.

The present invention described in claim 11 provides the present invention according to claims 6 to
In the invention according to any one of the tenth to thirteenth aspects, the suction means is arranged on the same plane as a guide surface provided to the article by the article guide member.

The present invention according to claim 12 provides the invention according to claims 6 to
In the invention according to any one of the eleventh to eleventh aspects, the suction means is incorporated in the article guide member.

The present invention described in claim 13 provides the present invention
In the invention according to any one of the above 12, the article handling tool may be further coupled to an article handling head driven by a drive unit in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, the Z-axis direction, and the rotation direction of the robot. It was done.

The present invention described in claim 14 provides the present invention
13.A method for molding an article guide member of an article handling tool according to any one of 13, wherein the article guide member is heated from a certain temperature to be softened by heating means to have an initial memory shape.
A step of providing an article guide shape to the article guide member heated above a certain temperature, and a step of fixing the article guide shape given to the article guide member by lowering the temperature of the article guide member below a certain temperature by a cooling device. It is intended to have.

The present invention described in claim 15 provides the present invention according to claim 14.
In the present invention, the article guide member is further sandwiched between an article model and a pressing die to give an article guide shape.

[0021]

According to the present invention described in claims 1 and 2, the following (1)
Has the effect of (1) The shape memory member constituting the article guide member can be variously deformed into an article guide shape corresponding to various desired article shapes (article models), and the article guide shape can be fixed. That is, with a simple configuration in which the article guide member is simply constituted by the shape memory member, various article guide shapes can be obtained and articles of various shapes can be guided stably and reliably.

At this time, a shape memory resin and a shape memory alloy can be used as the shape memory member. Both of them return to an initial memory shape (for example, flat) by raising the temperature from a certain temperature, and can be freely deformed into an article guide shape that can abut an article model. And, both
When the temperature falls to a use temperature range lower than a certain temperature, the article guide shape is fixed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the following (2)
Has the effect of (2) Since the shape memory member constituting the article guide member is made of a shape memory resin, the article guide member has flexibility due to the resin. For this reason, even if the initial introduction position of the article relative to the article handling tool is shifted from the target position, the article guide member does not flaw the surface of the article, and is deformed to some extent so as to absorb the shift, thereby deforming the article. Capture,
Thereafter, the article can be positioned at a regular guide position (target position) (eg, a regular holding position for a holding unit such as a suction unit) by the deformation restoring force.

According to the present invention, the following (3)
Has the effect of (3) By applying a water repellent treatment to the surface of the shape memory resin of (2) above, swelling of the resin due to moisture absorption can be avoided.

According to the present invention described in claim 5, the following (4)
Has the effect of (4) A shape memory alloy can be adopted as a shape memory member constituting the article guide member.

According to the present invention described in claim 6, the following (5)
Has the effect of (5) The article guide member guides the article using the article suction position by the suction means as a guide position for the article. Thereby, the article guide member adjusts the holding posture by the suction means to ensure the holding state by the suction means, and suppresses the free swing movement of the article during the subsequent article conveyance, thereby preventing the article from being unexpectedly moved. Prevention of falling off can be achieved.

According to the present invention described in claim 7, the following (6)
Has the effect of (6) By using a vacuum suction chuck as the suction means of (5), the article can be surely suction-held with a vacuum suction force.

According to the present invention as set forth in claims 8 and 9,
(7). (7) Since the article handling tool guides a plurality of parts of the article by the plurality of article guide members, it is possible to stably and reliably guide an article having a complicated shape.

According to the present invention as set forth in claim 10, the following is provided.
(8). (8) The suction means is arranged between the plurality of article guide members. For this reason, the guidance of the article by the plurality of article guide members becomes more reliable and appropriate. Thereby, the article is guided accurately by the article suction position by the suction means, and the swinging movement during conveyance is more accurately suppressed.

According to the present invention as set forth in claim 11, the following is provided.
(9). (9) The suction means is arranged on the article guide surface provided to the article by the article guide member. Accordingly, the suction means always stands by at the article guide positioning position of the article guide member, and the article guide to the suction means by the article guide member (delivery) is more reliable.

According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, the following (1)
0). (10) The article handling tool can be made compact by incorporating the suction means in the article guide member.

According to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the following (1)
There is the action of 1). (11) When the article handling tool is coupled to the article handling head of the robot, the article guided by the article guide member and, if necessary, the article sucked and held by the suction means can be variously moved.

According to the present invention, the following (1)
There is the action of 2). (12) By heating the article guide member of the article handling tool, imparting a guide shape, and cooling, it is possible to easily change a variety of article guide shapes.

According to the present invention described in claim 15, the following (1)
There is the action of 3). (13) By squeezing the article guide member between the article model and the presser die, the article guide shape can be easily and accurately provided.

[0035]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an article feeder,
2 is a schematic view showing an article handling tool, FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a shape memory process of an article guide member,
FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing examples of various article guide shapes of the article guide member.

Although the article handling tool of the present invention can handle various articles such as bottles and caps, in this embodiment, the bottle 1 will be described as an article to be handled.

As shown in FIG. 1, the bottle feeder 10 converts the bottle 1 sent by the bottle feed conveyor 11 into a bottle.
The bottle 1 is sucked and held by the bottle handling tool 13 of the bottle supply robot 12, and the bottle 1 is supplied to the bottle transporting tool 15 on the bottle transporting path 14.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the bottle supply robot 12 is provided with a bottle handling head 17 driven by a drive unit 16 having motors in the X-axis, Y-axis, Z-axis, and rotation directions. Equipped with elevating slides 18, 18,
The bottle handling tool 13 is connected to each lifting slide 18 with a pin (pin 13A), and a bottle swing cylinder 19 that allows the bottle handling tool 13 to be turned, for example, 90 degrees between the lifting slide 18 and the bottle handling tool 13 is provided. It is provided. The bottle supply robot 12 sucks the horizontally placed bottle 1 sent by the bottle supply conveyor 11 in a state where the suction surface of the suction chuck 31 described later of the bottle handling tool 13 is set horizontally by the bottle swing cylinder 19, Thereafter, the bottle 1 in the vertical state in which the bottle handling tool 13 is turned 90 degrees around the pin 13A by the bottle swing cylinder 19 is transferred to the bottle transporting tool 15.

However, the bottle handling tool 13 is similar to that shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus includes bottle guide members 21 and 22 and a vacuum suction chuck 31.

The bottle guide member 21 is provided for the body 1 of the bottle 1.
A is provided with a guide shape that can abut against the bottle guide member 2.
2 is provided with a guide shape capable of abutting against the neck 1B of the bottle 1. The bottle handling tool 13 adjusts the holding posture of the bottle 1 by the suction chuck 31 by guiding the bottle guide members 21 and 22 when the bottle 1 is suction-held by the suction power of the suction chuck 31. The bottle guide members 21 and 22 adjust the holding posture of the bottle 1 by the suction chuck 31 to ensure the suction holding state by the chuck 31 and suppress the free swing movement of the bottle 1 during the subsequent transport of the bottle 1. In particular, it is intended to prevent accidental dropping of the bottle 1.

At this time, the bottle guide members 21 and 22
Shape memory member, more specifically, shape memory resin (eg, shape memory polymer "Diary" manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.)
And an article guide shape capable of abutting a desired article shape can be selectively given, and can be repeatedly used after being changed in shape according to the bottle 1 of various shapes. That is,
The bottle guide members 21 and 22 (a) return to an initial memory shape (for example, a flat plate) at a temperature higher than a certain temperature (glass transition temperature Tg), and can be freely deformed into an article guide shape that can abut an article model. (B) The article guide shape is fixed in a use temperature range (normal temperature) lower than a certain temperature (glass transition temperature Tg).

Accordingly, the procedure for changing the bottle guide members 21 and 22 is as follows (FIG. 4). (1) The bottle guide members 21 and 22 of the bottle handling tool 13 are heated by a heating device (not shown) from a certain temperature to soften and return to the initial memory shape (flat shape in the figure) (FIG. 4). (A)).

(2) Each of the bottle guide members 21 and 22 whose temperature has been raised from the constant temperature of (1) is replaced with a bottle model 2
Pressing is performed between each of the body part 2A and the neck part 2B (model of the bottle 1) and each of the pressing dies 3A and 3B. Thus, each of the bottle guide members 21 and 22 is provided with a guide shape for the body 1A and the neck 1B of the bottle 1 (FIGS. 4B and 4C).

(3) The article guide shapes of the bottle guide members 21 and 22 are cooled down from a certain temperature and fixed by a cooling device (not shown).

The bottle guide member 21 of the bottle handling tool 13
22 can be provided with various guide shapes for the square bottle of FIG. 5 (A), the elliptical bottle of FIG. 5 (B), the circular bottle of FIG. Becomes

In the bottle handling tool 13, the suction chuck 31 is disposed between the two bottle guide members 21 and 22. Further, the suction chuck 31 is arranged on the same plane as the guide surface provided to the bottle 1 by the bottle guide member 21 (FIG. 3).

In the practice of the present invention, the article handling tool of the present invention may have a built-in suction means in an article guide member formed of a shape memory member.

Further, the article handling tool of the present invention does not necessarily need to have article holding means. The article holding means is not limited to the suction means, but may be a mechanical holding means.

The shape memory resin used as the shape memory member constituting the article guide member of the present invention is preferably used after being subjected to a water repellent treatment in order to avoid swelling due to moisture absorption of the resin.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the following operations are provided. (1) The shape memory members constituting the bottle guide members 21 and 22 can be variously transformed into bottle guide shapes corresponding to various desired bottle shapes (bottle models), and the bottle guide shapes can be fixed. That is, with a simple configuration in which the bottle guide members 21 and 22 are simply constituted by the shape memory members, various bottle guide shapes can be obtained, and bottles of various shapes can be guided stably and reliably.

At this time, a shape memory resin and a shape memory alloy can be used as the shape memory member. Both of them return to the initial memory shape (for example, flat) by raising the temperature from a certain temperature, and can be freely deformed into a bottle guide shape that can abut a bottle model. Then, when the temperature is lowered to a use temperature range lower than a certain temperature, both fix the bottle guide shape.

(2) Since the shape memory members constituting the bottle guide members 21 and 22 are made of a shape memory resin, the bottle guide members 21 and 22 have flexibility due to the resin. For this reason, even if the initial introduction position of the bottle with respect to the bottle handling tool 13 is shifted from the target position, the bottle guide members 21 and 22 are deformed to some extent so as to absorb the shift without damaging the bottle surface. Then, the bottle can be taken in, and then the bottle can be positioned at a regular guide position (target position) (eg, a regular holding position for a holding unit such as a suction unit) by the deformation restoring force.

(3) By using a water repellent treatment on the surface of the shape memory resin of the above (2), swelling of the resin due to moisture absorption can be avoided.

(4) A shape memory alloy can be adopted as the shape memory member constituting the bottle guide members 21 and 22.

(5) The bottle guide members 21 and 22 guide the bottle with the bottle suction position by the suction chuck 31 as the guide position for the bottle. Thereby, the bottle guide members 21 and 22 adjust the holding posture by the suction chuck 31 to ensure the holding state by the suction chuck 31, and suppress the free swing movement of the bottle during the subsequent bottle conveyance. The accidental dropping of the bottle can be prevented.

(6) By using the vacuum suction chuck 31, the bottle can be reliably sucked and held by the vacuum suction force.

(7) The bottle handling device 13 guides a plurality of portions of the bottle by the plurality of bottle guide members 21 and 22, so that articles having complicated shapes can be guided stably and reliably.

(8) The suction chuck 31 is disposed between the two bottle guide members 21 and 22. Therefore, the guidance of the bottle by the two bottle guide members 21 and 22 becomes more reliable and appropriate. Thereby, the bottle is guided accurately by the position where the bottle is sucked by the suction chuck 31, and the deflection of the bottle during conveyance is more accurately suppressed.

(9) The suction chuck 31 is arranged on the bottle guide surface provided by the bottle guide member 21 to the bottle. Therefore, the suction chuck 31 always stands by at the bottle guide positioning position by the bottle guide member 21, and the bottle suction chuck 3 by the bottle guide member 21.
Guidance (delivery) to 1 is more reliable.

(10) Move the suction chuck 31 to the bottle guide member 2
By incorporating the bottle handling tool into the bottle handling tools 1 and 22, the bottle handling tool 13 can be made compact.

(11) The bottle handling tool 13 is connected to the bottle handling head 17 of the robot 12 to be guided by the bottle guide members 21 and 22 and, if necessary, to diversify the bottle sucked and held by the suction chuck 31. You can move.

(12) Bottle guide member 2 of bottle handling tool 13
By heating 1, 22 and giving a guide shape, and cooling, various article guide shapes can be easily changed.

(13) By sandwiching the bottle guide members 21 and 22 between the bottle model 2 and the press dies 3A and 3B, an article guide shape can be easily and accurately provided.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and the design can be changed within a range not departing from the gist of the present invention. The present invention is also included in the present invention.

[0065]

As described above, according to the present invention, in an article guide member of an article handling tool, various article guide shapes can be obtained with a simple configuration, and articles of various shapes can be guided stably and reliably. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an article supply device.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an article handling tool.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a shape storage process of the article guide member.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing examples of various article guide shapes of an article guide member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bottle (article) 2 Bottle model (article model) 3A, 3B Holding type 12 Robot 13 Bottle handling tool (article handling tool) 21, 22 Bottle guide member (article guide member) 31 Suction chuck (suction means)

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. An article handling tool provided with an article guide member, wherein the article guide member is constituted by a shape memory member provided with an article guide shape capable of abutting a desired article shape. Utensils. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the shape memory member constituting the article guide member can be deformed into a desired article guide shape at a temperature higher than a certain temperature, and the article guide shape is fixed in a use temperature range lower than the certain temperature. The article handling tool according to 1. 3. The article handling tool according to claim 2, wherein the shape memory member is made of a shape memory resin. 4. The article handling tool according to claim 3, wherein the shape memory resin is subjected to a water repellent treatment on a surface. 5. The article handling tool according to claim 2, wherein said shape memory member is made of a shape memory alloy. 6. The article handling tool according to claim 1, further comprising suction means for sucking an article guided by said article guide member. 7. The article handling tool according to claim 6, wherein said suction means is a vacuum suction chuck. 8. The article handling tool according to claim 1, wherein the article handling tool includes a plurality of article guide members corresponding to a plurality of parts of the article. 9. The article to be handled by the article handling tool is a bottle, comprising: an article guide member capable of abutting against the body of the bottle; and an article guide member capable of abutting against the neck of the bottle. 8. The article handling tool according to 8. 10. An article handling tool according to claim 8, wherein said suction means is arranged between a plurality of article guide members. 11. The suction means is arranged on the same plane as a guide surface provided to an article by an article guide member.
An article handling tool according to any one of claims 10 to 10. 12. The article handling tool according to claim 6, wherein said suction means is built in an article guide member. 13. The article handling device according to claim 1, wherein said article handling tool is coupled to an article handling head driven by a drive unit in a X-axis direction, a Y-axis direction, a Z-axis direction, and a rotation direction of the robot.
An article handling tool according to any one of the above. 14. A method for forming an article guide member of an article handling tool according to claim 1, wherein the article guide member is heated from a certain temperature by a heating means to be softened to an initial memory shape. Performing the step of providing an article guide shape to the article guide member heated above a certain temperature; and cooling the article guide member below a certain temperature by a cooling device to fix the article guide shape given to the article guide member. And forming the article guide member. 15. The article guide member is pressed between an article model and a holding die to give an article guide shape.
A method for forming an article guide member according to the above.