JPS6087126A - Transfer apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the time of transfer between a transfer part and a loading part of the time necessary for transfer work by allowing a conveyor to be equipped with both of expandable and bendable mechanisms and allowing the position of the transfer part installed onto the top edge or the intermediate part of the conveyor to be transferred in one-three dimensional space. CONSTITUTION:An objective article 1 for transfer work is successively transported onto each joint 8-20 of conveyors and reaches a transfer part 21 and loaded in prescribed order and arrangement onto a pallet 4 by a handling apparatus 32. In this case, the transfer part 21 is transferred to the vicinity of the position where an article 1c is to be positioned by each driving power source 26, 28, 30 equipped with each detector, and the article 1c is loaded at the prescribed position by the transfer in an extremely small distance by an apparatus 32. Further, during the time when the apparatus 32 places the article 1c to a prescribed position and returns to take the next article 1d, the article 1d advances to the apparatus 21, which shifts to the vicinity of the position where the article 1d is to be placed. The operation of the apparatus 32 and the positioning operation of the transfer part 21 are programmed in each prescribed order and arrangement and executed in the mutual synchronization.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a conveyance device such as a conveyor for conveying articles;
In particular, the present invention relates to a conveying device suitable for carrying a large number of articles in succession and arranging each article in a predetermined position for loading work or for unloading work for sequentially taking out articles arranged at a predetermined position.

[Background of the invention]

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, transport vehicles and conveyors have been used to transport goods, and conveyors are often used particularly for transport along fixed routes. Conveyors include belt conveyors that place items on a rubber belt or cloth belt and transport the items by circulating the belt, slat conveyors that continuously move small plate-shaped pieces and place items on them, and rollers that move at a predetermined pitch. There are various types of conveyors, such as roller conveyors, which transport articles placed on the rollers by rotating these rollers with a belt, and roller conveyors, which do not have a drive mechanism and move articles by sliding on the rollers due to gravity. However, once installed, it is difficult to change the route or the starting and ending positions. Therefore, although these conveyors are suitable for production lines, assembly lines, etc., they have the following drawbacks in cargo handling operations.

Taking as an example an automatic loading device using a robot as shown in FIG. Then, they are sequentially transferred onto the pallet 4 by the robot B. The tip of the robot O is equipped with a gripper 5 suitable for gripping the article 1, which grips and lifts the article 1 at the transfer section 2a and carries it through the path shown by arrows 6° and 6'. 1 to pallet 4. Palette 4
Thereon, the articles 1' are arranged and stacked according to a predetermined pattern.

FIG. 2 shows a top view of the above transfer work. When transferring an article 1'a on the pallet 4 to a corner 4a far from the transfer section 2a of the conveyor 2, the robot 3 moves along the long path 6a.
On the other hand, when transferring the article 1'b placed in the corner 4b near the transfer section 2a, the moving path 6b of the article 1'b by the robot 6 is short. It becomes like this. Unfortunately, the time required for transfer varies greatly depending on the position on the barrette 4 where the article 1' is placed. Furthermore, since it is generally not easy to change the installation position of the conventional conveyor 2, the conveyor 2 is installed extending over the pallet 4, and the position of the transfer section 2a at the tip of the conveyor 2 is the location where the article 1' is placed. After the articles 1' in a predetermined row or stage have been arranged and loaded, the conveyor 2
It is difficult to change the position of the container and place it near the next row or stage to be loaded.

Therefore, in the conventional loading device, the transfer section 2a at the tip of the conveyor 2 is placed outside the pallet 4 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the articles 1' are Since the object must be moved along a long path 6, the time required for movement is larger than the time required for the transfer operation, such as grasping, talking, lifting, and lowering the object. In addition, the robot 3 that has placed the article 1' at a predetermined position needs to return to the transfer section 2a in the opposite direction along the same route 6' to pick up the next article 1, and here, too, it takes the same time as moving the article. The length of travel distance has twice the effect on working time.

In recent years, due to the increase in air cargo, there has been a need to quickly load goods into pellets or containers in a predetermined order. The travel time between the transfer section 2a and a predetermined loading position on the pallet 4 is an obstacle.

Furthermore, in the above example, the loading work in which the articles 1 transported by the conveyor 2 are sequentially loaded onto the let 4 was explained as an example, but the articles 1 loaded on the let 4
It goes without saying that a similar problem occurs in the unloading operation in which items are sequentially taken out and transferred to the conveyor 2. It is an object of the present invention to provide a conveyance device suitable for loading and unloading operations by arbitrarily changing the position of a transfer section and placing it near the loading position of articles.

[Summary of the invention]

That is, in the present invention, the conveyor is provided with a telescoping mechanism, a bending mechanism, etc., so that the position of the transfer section provided at the tip or intermediate portion of the conveyor can be spatially moved in one to six dimensions, Furthermore, these moving mechanisms are provided with a drive section so that the position of the transfer section of the conveyor can be changed as desired.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 10.

3 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention.

The conveyor 7 has a fixed part 8. First telescoping mechanism9. First horizontal joint mechanism 10. First vertical joint mechanism 11. Second vertical joint mechanism 12. Second horizontal joint mechanism 13. A second telescoping mechanism 14 and a first section 15 connected by these joint mechanisms. It is composed of a sixth section 2o to a sixth section 2o, and a transfer section 21 for loading and unloading articles is provided at the tip of the sixth section 20. Also,
The fifth section 19 is supported by a pantograph mechanism 22,
The lower end of the pantograph mechanism 22 is fixed to a traveling base 25 that can move laterally along a rail 24 on a pedestal 26 fixed to the floor. The traveling base 25 includes a drive source (i) 26 such as an electric motor for moving the traveling base 25 in the lateral direction, and a detector (1) such as a potentiometer or rotary encoder for position detection.
) 27 is provided, and is connected to the traveling base 2 via a motion transmission/conversion mechanism (not shown) such as a rack and pinion device.
5 along the rail 24. Also running base 25
a drive source (2) that drives the pantograph mechanism 22;
2 s and a detector (2) 29 that detects the position, and a motion transmission/conversion mechanism (not shown) such as a ball screw.
The pantograph mechanism 22 is expanded and contracted via the conveyor No. 5.
Move node 19 up or down. Furthermore, Section 5 19 of said conveyor
, there is a drive source (3
) 30 and a detector (3) 51 for detecting the position, and moves the sixth section 2o back and forth via a motion transmission/conversion mechanism (not shown) such as a rack and pinion.

Furthermore, the base 33 provided in Section 6 2a? This is equipped with a handling device 32. This example? The handling device 32 has the form of a horizontally articulated robot arm, and a 17th arm 36 is rotatably attached to a first joint 35 provided on a support rod 34 fixed to a base 33J. A driving source (not shown) attached to the inside of the support column 34 causes a pivoting movement about the first joint part 35 . A second joint 37 is provided at the other end of the first arm 66, a second arm 38 is rotatably attached to the first arm 3B, and a second arm drive source 39 provided on the support 54 This creates a turning motion via a power transmission system (not shown) such as a belt. A wrist portion 4o is provided at the other end of the second arm 38, and the first joint portion 35 and the second joint portion 37
The 37th arm 41 is movable in a direction parallel to the rotation axis (two-axis direction in FIGS. 3 to 54).
The third arm drive source 42 attached to the wrist portion 40J drives a motion transmission/conversion mechanism (such as a feed screw).
(not shown) to cause linear movement. Furthermore, the wrist part 4
0, the 37th arm 41 is moved to the gripper 43 provided at the tip of the 3rd arm, +1 by another drive υ base (not shown)
The direction of the IJ collar 43 is controlled. As a result, the handling equipment [32 is 4
It has a degree of freedom, and its operating range includes the transfer section 21 of the conveyor 7, and can pick up the article 1 on the transfer section 21 and place it at a predetermined position outside the conveyor 7 in a predetermined posture. reactor.

With the structure described above, the transfer section 2 at the tip of the conveyor 7
The position 1 has degrees of freedom in each of the XYZ directions shown in the figure ζ,
Any spatial location? This can be moved and set.

That is, for example, by driving the drive source (5) s o, the transfer unit 21 is moved forward to the position shown by the broken line 21a, or by driving the drive source (1) 26, the transfer unit 21 is moved to the position shown by the broken line 21a.
5 in the X direction, and the fifth node 19 and the sixth node 20 can be moved to the position indicated by the broken line 21b. Changes in the angle and length of each part of the conveyor due to these movements occur at each joint 10.11, 1
2.13 and the first expansion/contraction mechanism 9 perform bending/stretching and expansion/contraction operations in accordance with the movement of the fifth section 19, thereby absorbing the damage.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the transfer section 21 of the conveyor 7 can be set at an arbitrary location, and the articles 1 can be loaded and unloaded on the spot using the handling device 32.

FIG. 6 shows an example of application of the conveying device of this embodiment to palletizing work. The article 1 to be transferred is sequentially moved to each section 8, 15.16°17, 18.19.2 of the conveyor 7.
0 and reaches the transfer section 21 at the tip, where it is picked up by the handling device 32 and loaded onto the pallet 4 in a predetermined order and arrangement. At this time, each drive source 26.28.1 moves the transfer section 21 to the vicinity of the position where the article 1c on the transfer section 21 is to be placed.
The article 1c is loaded at a predetermined position by the handling device 62 by moving only a short distance. Furthermore, while the handling device 32 picks up the article 1c, places it in a predetermined position, and returns to pick up the next article 1d, the article 1d
moves forward to the transfer section 21, and the transfer section 21 moves near the position where the article 1d is placed. The operation of the handling device 62 and the positioning operation of the transfer unit 21 are programmed in advance according to a predetermined order and arrangement, and are executed in synchronization with each other.

7 to 9 show a second embodiment of the invention. The introduction conveyor 44 is fixed to a frame (not shown), and the tip of the introduction conveyor 44 is connected to a rail 45 attached to the frame.
The drive source (1) is held by an X-axis conveyor unit 46 provided above so as to be movable in the
) 47, and opens to the X-axis conveyor 48 which is circulated by the article 1 conveyed by the introduction conveyor 44.
is transferred from the introduction conveyor 44 to the X-axis conveyor 48.

A two-axis conveyor unit 50 is attached to an end 49 of the X-axis conveyor unit 46 on the terminal side of the X-axis conveyor 48 so as to be movable in two-axis directions, and includes a drive source (2) 51 and a detector (1) 52. can be positioned at any desired position. There is a pair of bells inside the two-axis conveyor unit 5o)
53a and 53b, each of which has a cargo receiving plate 54 at a predetermined interval on its surface, and the opposing receiving material has a plate 54.
are arranged on the same plane, and the drive source (3)
55, the articles 1e transferred from the X-axis conveyor 48 are supported by a pair of receiving plates 54 and lowered. The lower end 56 of the Z-axis conveyor unit 50 has a Y
A shaft conveyor unit 57 is movably supported by rollers 58, 5B', etc. in the Y-axis direction, and is driven by a drive source (4) 59.
and a detector (2) arbitrarily positioned in the Y-axis direction by 60. The Y-axis conveyor unit 57 is provided with a Y-axis conveyor 61, which is circulated by a drive source (5) 62. In the Z-axis conveyor unit 50, the article 1e
The cargo receiver is supported by the plate 54 and lowered, and near the lower end of the two-axis conveyor unit 50, the pair of belts 55a and 55b are opened left and right, and the article 1e falls onto the Y-axis conveyor 61 below, and the article 1e falls onto the Y-axis conveyor 61 below. The circulation movement of the conveyor 61 reaches the transfer section 61 at the tip of the Y-axis conveyor 61.

A handling device 64 is provided at the transfer section 63 at the tip of the Y-axis conveyor 61. The handling 64 is
Two links 67a are rotatably attached in parallel to each of fulcrums 66a, 66b, 66a', and 66b' provided on both sides of the tip portion 65 of the Y-axis conveyor 61,
67b, 67a', 67b' and the link 67a
, 67b67a', fulcrum 68a at the other end of 67b'
, 6Bb, 68a', and 68b', a swinging base 69, a shaft 70 attached to the swinging base 69 so as to be slidable up and down, and the shaft 70
A gripping mechanism 71 is attached to the tip of the gripping mechanism 71. Links 67a, 67b,
67a', 67b' swing back and forth L, swing base 69
is reciprocated between a first position 72a1 shown in broken lines in FIG. 9 and a second position 72b shown in solid lines. Also, shaft 7
0 is moved up and down 74 by a drive source 73, and rotated 76 by another drive source 75. Therefore, when the article 1 on the Y-axis conveyor 61 reaches a predetermined position on the transfer section 63,
The handling device 64 is in the first position 72a, and with the fingers 77a, 77b'c of the gripping mechanism 71 open, the gripping mechanism 71 is lowered by the action of the drive source 73, and the fingers 77a are opened.
, 77b are closed and the article 1 is gripped.

Next, actuate the drive source 73 to raise the gripping mechanism 71,
Link 67a + 67b + 67a' + 67b
'f Move the handling device 64 to the second position 72b by tilting it forward. Furthermore, the driving source 75 is activated to change the orientation of the gripping mechanism 71 to change the direction of the gripped article by a predetermined direction, and the driving source 76 is activated to lower the gripping mechanism 71 to hold the article 1. Place the finger 7 in its loading position.
7a, 77b''k are opened to complete the transfer of article 1.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the position of the transfer section for loading and unloading articles onto the conveyor can be moved spatially arbitrarily, the articles can be loaded and unloaded at that location, and the positioning operation order can be arranged in a predetermined arrangement. Since it is possible to set a program in advance based on When transferring with a non-link device such as a robot, the reciprocating distance of the robot can be significantly shortened, and variations in transportation time depending on the loading location on the pallet can be eliminated. This can greatly contribute to speeding up unloading work.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, loading work was taken as an example, but it goes without saying that the effect of the same lodging can also be obtained in unloading work.

Further, in the above embodiment, the transfer section was located at the tip of the conveyor, but the present invention is also effective when the transfer section is located in the middle of the conveyor, such as a conveyor that connects multiple palletizing yards. This is useful not only for transferring goods but also for avoiding obstacles along the route of the conveyor.Furthermore, both examples have three degrees of freedom and have a structure that can be displaced three-dimensionally. ,Depending on the target work, linear,
Alternatively, only planar displacement is also effective.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a loading device using a conventional conveying device, FIG. 2 is a top view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a top view, FIG. 5 is a side view of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an application example using the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a second embodiment of the present invention. 8 is a top view of FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 is a side view of FIG. 7. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Article 2... Conveyor 6... Robot 4... Pallet 7... Conveyor 8... Fixed part 9... First expansion/contraction mechanism 10... First horizontal joint mechanism 1
1... First vertical joint mechanism 12... Second vertical joint mechanism 13... Second horizontal joint mechanism 14... Second expansion/contraction mechanism 15... First section 16...
Section 2 17... Section 3 18... Section 4 19... Section 5 20... Section 6 22... Pantograph mechanism 25.
... Traveling base 32 ... Handling device 43 ...
Gritsuba 44...Introduction conveyor 4B...X-axis conveyor 56...Bell) (Z-axis conveyor) 61...YM conveyor 64...None link device 71...Gripping mechanism 1 Figure 20 1 Figure 3'1 54 Figure 3 (Figure 7 Figure 47

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A conveyance means that is composed of a plurality of parts connected by pairs and that can spatially move the position of the place where the goods to be conveyed are loaded and unloaded; A conveying device characterized in that a handling device for transferring articles is configured to be able to move integrally with a loading/unloading location of the conveying means. 2. The above-mentioned conveyance means at least at the loading/unloading point,
2. The conveying device according to claim 1, further comprising vertical moving means for linearly moving vertically. 6. The conveying means is movable in two axes, vertically and horizontally, at least at the loading/unloading location;
3. The conveying device according to claim 2, further comprising: vertical moving means for linearly moving up and down; and horizontal moving means for linearly moving horizontally in biaxial directions.