JPH11301854A - Pallet automatic supply/discharge device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pallet automatic supply/discharge device capable of efficiently utilizing a work space. SOLUTION: A device is provided with a cartonnier 2, automatic supply/ discharge part 13, and a robot work bench 6, to be constituted by integrally forming these members. The cartonnier 2 is formed in a multi-step rack structure, and a plurality of pallets 1 can be set by piling up. The automatic supply/ discharge part 13 has upper/lower step conveyers 3, 10 capable of lifting. The upper step conveyer 3 has a hook pawl 4 which can be protruded, and the pallet 1 is taken out by hooking its handle 5 and supplied to the robot work bench 6. The lower step conveyer 10, in reverse, fetches the pallet 1 in the robot work bench 6 returned to the cartonnier 2 by operation of this conveyer and a press-in pawl 11 which can be protruded. A vegetable of the pallet 1 is held and carried to the other prescribed position by a hold robot in the robot work bench 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pallet automatic supply / discharge device for automatically supplying / discharging a pallet on which an object to be gripped, for example, food, is loaded to a gripping robot.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a conventional operation for supplying and discharging a pallet on which prepared foods are placed. Conventionally, a pallet 22 is placed on a supply conveyor 21 and transported to a robot workbench 23. After the work by the gripping robot 24 is completed, the pallet 22 is discharged by a pallet discharge pusher 25 to another conveyor 26 for discharge. Had been discharged to the place. That is, as shown in the figure, the supply direction and the discharge direction of the pallet 22 were different. Note that the broken line in the figure is the boundary line of the work area space of the gripping robot 24.

[0003]

However, in this case, the area of the conveyors 21 and 26 is long, and a lot of space is required for discharging the pallets 22.
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to provide an automatic pallet supply / discharge device capable of efficiently using a work space.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, and a plurality of pallets on which objects to be grasped are placed are set in a cartoner, and the pallets are supplied through an automatic supply device. Then, the pallet of the robot work table is returned to the cartoner via an automatic discharge device. Further, the cartoner body may be automatically supplied to the automatic supply device and the automatic discharge device. That is, the prepared food is put on a pallet, the pallet is set on a cartoner, and the robot is moved to a robot work table by an automatic supply device, and the robot grips the prepared food (object to be gripped). When the contents of the pallet (side dishes) are exhausted, it is automatically discharged by the vision sensor (image processing), the pallet is returned to the cartoner, and the cartoner itself can be automatically supplied. As described above, the apparatus of the present invention is composed of the cartoner, the automatic supply apparatus, the automatic discharge apparatus, and the robot work table, and is integrated to enable compact automatic supply and discharge. In addition, the pallet contained in the cartoner is taken out by the automatic supply device and supplied onto the robot work table, and the pallets that are no longer needed are removed from the robot work table by the automatic discharge device and returned to the cartoner. Thus, the apparatus can be made compact, the work space can be widened, and the pallet can be changed quickly.

In addition, when a pallet with a handle on a cartoner is pulled (pulled) into the automatic supply device, a claw that tilts on one side is extended from the automatic supply device, and the pallet is hooked and carried, and the robot operation with the automatic supply device is performed. The table has a conveyor, and supplies pallets with the conveyor,
In the discharge, the conveyor takes the conveyor to the discharge part of the automatic discharge device, and the cartoner can return the pallet to the specified position by pressing the pallet handle with the conveyor and claw of the automatic discharge device May be configured.

Further, if this pallet is used in a prepared food cooker (eg, oven, fryer), it is possible to further expand the automation range.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of an automatic pallet supply / discharge apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of an automatic pallet supply / discharge device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view thereof, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the pallet pull-in operation in FIG. 1 in time series, FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the pallet pushing operation in FIG. 1 in time series, and FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the case of the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a plan view of the third embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the pallet automatic supply / discharge device according to the first embodiment includes a cartoner 2, an automatic supply / discharge unit 13, and a robot worktable 6, and these are integrally configured. I have. The cartoner 2 employs a multi-stage shelf structure extending vertically so that a plurality of pallets 1 can be stacked and set (storage or receiving).
As shown in FIG. 2, for example, ten or more pallets 1 are arranged in the cartoner 2. Palette 1 is prepared food 8
(An object to be grasped) is placed thereon, and handles 5 are provided on opposing surfaces (see FIGS. 1 and 3). As shown in FIG. 2, the automatic supply / discharge unit 13 has an upper conveyor 3 and a lower conveyor 10 which can be moved up and down, and each conveyor can be moved to a predetermined height by a conventional control means (not shown). In addition, the operation of the two conveyors 3 and 10 is also the same.
It is controlled by conventional control means (not shown),
Both forward and reverse operations are possible at a predetermined timing. The upper conveyor 3 goes to the cartoner 2 to pick up the pallet 1 and supplies it to the robot worktable 6. Conversely, the lower conveyor 10 takes in the pallet 1 of the robot worktable 6 and returns the pallet 1 to the cartoner 2.

The upper conveyor 3 has a hook 4 which can protrude to the side of the conveyor and moves to a predetermined height.
When the hook 4 protrudes in the direction of the cartoner 2, the hook 4 is caught on the handle 5 of the pallet 1,
The pallet 1 moves in the direction of the upper conveyor 3.
The protruding and retracting operations of the hook 4 are performed by conventional control means (not shown). The pallet pull-in operation (pull-out operation from the cartoner 2) of the upper conveyor 3 will be described with reference to FIG. The figure shows a state in which the pallet 1 is set in a cartoner 2 (not shown in the figure), and (a) to (e) show the action of the hook 4 in time series. The hook 4 has a structure that can be inclined only to one side as shown in FIG. When the hook 4 of the upper conveyor 3 extends in the direction of the cartoner 2 (from right to left in the figure) ((a) in the figure), when the hook 4 hits the handle 5 of the pallet 1, the tip falls down. ((B) in the figure), the vehicle advances to the limit ((c) in the figure). Thereafter, the hook 4 retreats (from left to right in the figure), and at that time, the hook 4 is caught by the handle 5 ((d) in the figure).
From the cartoner 2 onto the upper conveyor 3. After the pallet 1 is retracted to some extent by the hook 4, the pallet 1 may be retracted by operating the upper conveyor 3.

When the pallet 1 is securely pulled onto the upper conveyor 3, the upper conveyor 3 moves to the height of the robot worktable 6. The pallet 1 is pushed out to a designated position on the robot worktable 6 by the operation of the upper conveyor 3. The robot worktable 6 is also provided with a conveyor 14 capable of normal and reverse operation and whose operation is controlled (see FIG. 2). The transfer of the pallet 1 to and from the automatic supply / discharge unit 13 is performed by the upper conveyor 3 and the lower conveyor 10. And the conveyor 14.

In the robot worktable 6, an image of the prepared food 8 on the pallet 1 is captured by a vision sensor 7 located above the processed data, and data processing is performed by an image processing device (not shown). Etc. is detected. The gripping robot 9 is configured to
Go to get the prepared food 8 on the pallet 1 and hold it. After the holding, the sheet is transported to a predetermined position (not shown) in the next step. In the meantime, the automatic supply / discharge unit 13 takes the next pallet 1 to the cartoner 2. When the holding and transport of the prepared food 8 in the pallet 1 on the robot worktable 6 are completed, the pallet 1 is taken in by the lower conveyor 10 of the automatic supply / discharge unit 13 and the new pallet 1 of the upper conveyor 3 is immediately transferred to the robot worktable 6
Put on. Lower conveyor 1 with finished pallet 1
0 moves to the same height as the designated position of the cartoner 2 (shelf to be stored).

The lower conveyor 10 has a push claw 11 which can be freely protruded to the side of the conveyor (see FIG. 2), and after being moved to a predetermined height, is returned to the cartoner 2 by the lower conveyor 10 and the push claw 11. Then a new pallet 1
Start the operation to capture The pallet pushing operation of the lower conveyor 10 into the cartoner 2 will be described with reference to FIG. (A) to (e) are shown in chronological order similarly to FIG. The pushing claw 11 has a structure that can be inclined only to one side as shown in FIG. The pallet 1 is pushed into the cartoner 2 by the lower conveyor 10 (from right to left in the figure, (a) in the figure).
And push the pallet 1 (FIG. 2B).
As it approaches the end of movement due to zero, the pushed-in claw 11 that has fallen starts to be raised (FIG. 9C). Thereafter, when the pallet 1 can no longer be pressed by the lower conveyor 10, the pushed-in claw 11 that has fallen away from the handle 5 is completely raised (FIG. 4D). The pushing claw 11 moves forward (from right to left in the figure), pushes the handle 5 of the pallet 1 instead of the lower conveyor 10, and pushes the pallet 1 into the cartoner 2.

Here, the gripping robot 9 is a so-called horizontal articulated type (scalar robot) in which the bending direction of the arm is changed by 90 degrees. The gripping robot 9 has a hand (not shown) at the tip of the arm, and can turn around a vertical axis (arm axis). The hand can be raised and lowered,
It has a structure that can hold the prepared food 8. The movements of the gripping robot 9 and the hand are controlled by a control device (not shown), and can freely move in the work area space (the work area space is indicated by a broken line in the figure). In addition, in the present embodiment, an electric power may be used because the side dish 8 which is a relatively light food is handled in the present embodiment. However, depending on use conditions, any of a hydraulic type or a pneumatic type may be used. May be adopted.

Next, a pallet automatic supply / discharge device according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In this case, a cooking machine 12 such as, for example, an oven or a fryer is provided on the upstream side of the production line of the prepared food 8.
The position of the prepared dish 8 on the net 15 discharged from the container is set in the work area space of the gripping robot 9 (indicated by a broken line in the figure). The gripping robot 9 grips and carries the prepared food 8 of the cooking machine 12 to the position of the pallet 1 on the robot worktable 6. In the case of the present embodiment, the flow of the prepared food 8 is in the opposite direction to the flow of the prepared food 8 in the first embodiment. As described above, since the cooking device 12 is connected, the prepared side dishes 8 are arranged on the pallet 1 and the pallet 1
Can be packed in the cartoner 2 by the automatic supply / discharge unit 13.

Next, an automatic pallet supply / discharge device according to a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In this case, a cartoner changer 16 for automatically supplying the cartoner 2 body to the automatic supply / discharge unit 13 is provided, thereby enabling not only the automatic supply / discharge of the pallet 1 but also the automatic supply of the cartoner 2. be able to. That is,
The empty cartoner 2 can be automatically exchanged for the next cartoner 2 so that a large amount of prepared food 8 can be stocked.

The upper conveyor 3 and the lower conveyor 10
May be moved up and down integrally or may be moved up and down independently. In the case of simultaneous elevating and lowering, the control contents are simplified and setting and change thereof are easy, but it takes time to switch between supply and discharge, and there is a certain limit to the processing speed. On the other hand, in the case of the independent control, the processing speed can be increased, but the content of the control is complicated, and setting and the like are more difficult than in the case of simultaneous elevation. In any case, a conventional control means is used. Further, when discharging the pallet 1 to the cartoner 2, the pallet 1 may be returned to the same place as before the removal, or may be returned to another place. In the present embodiment, the position information of the prepared food 8 on the pallet 1 is collected by image processing.
If the number is known, it is also possible to use a counter (not shown).

[0017]

According to the present invention, a plurality of pallets on which objects to be gripped are placed are set in a cartoner, and the pallets are moved by an automatic supply device to a robot work table for a robot which grips the objects to be gripped. Since the pallet of the robot work table is returned to the cartoner by the automatic discharge device, continuous automatic supply / discharge operation can be performed, and the operation can be performed in a space more compact than the conventional space. Further, if the configuration is such that the cartoner main body can be automatically supplied, the cartoner can be automatically supplied, and further automation is possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an automatic pallet supply / discharge device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a pallet pull-in operation in FIG. 1 in a time series.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a pallet pushing operation in FIG. 1 in a time series.

FIG. 5 is a plan view in the case of a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a plan view in the case of a third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a state of a conventional operation when supplying and discharging a pallet on which side dishes are placed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pallet 2 Cartoner 3 Upper conveyor 4 Hooking claw 5 Handle 6 Robot work table 7 Vision sensor 8 Prepared food 9 Grasping robot 10 Lower conveyor 11 Pushing claw 12 Cooking machine 13 Automatic supply / discharge unit 14 Conveyor 15 Ami 16 Cartna changer

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of pallets on which objects to be gripped are placed are set in a cartoner, and the pallets are set via an automatic supply device.
A pallet automatic supply / discharge device, wherein the pallet of the robot work table is returned to the cartoner via an automatic discharge device, by supplying the pallet to a robot worktable for a robot that grips the object to be gripped. 2. The pallet automatic supply / discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the cartoner main body can be automatically supplied to an automatic supply device and an automatic discharge device. 3. The supply comprises extending a claw from an automatic supply device, hooking and pulling a pallet set in a cartoner, and moving the pallet to a conveyor of the automatic supply device and a conveyor of the robot work table. The pallet is conveyed to the automatic discharge device on the conveyor,
The pallet automatic supply / discharge device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the pallet is returned to a designated position of the cartoner by pushing the pallet with a claw. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein equipment for an upstream process is connected to the robot worktable, and the object to be gripped from the upstream process is gripped and carried by a robot to a pallet of the robot worktable. Pallet automatic supply and discharge device.