JPS61140421A - Layout in article palletizing robot system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce an occupancy area and improve efficiency by connecting a final stack pallet loading truck to the shift section in one direction of the hand of an industrial robot next to an individual pallet train. CONSTITUTION:Large pallets 6 loaded with various cases 5 are mounted at positions a&nH by a carry out in truck 11. In addition, small pallets 9 are carried in on the strut conveyor 49 of a shifting bogie 8. Next, a Y-axis frame 18 and the movable truck 8 are connected by a control unit, and the Y-axis frame 18 is moved to the position A. Then, the connection of the movable truck 8 is released. A predetermined number of cases A are loaded on a small pallet 9 by using the Y-axis frame 18, a lifting arm 31, and a hand 25. Then, the movable truck 8 is connected again and is shifted to the next loading-in case position, e.g., B, and cases B are loaded in a same operation. According to this constitution, the system occupancy area is reduced and the work efficiency can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This invention relates to the layout in a robotic system for palletizing articles.

Conventional technology A wide variety of products are stacked on separate pallets for each product type, and the desired number of desired products are picked up from each pallet and mixed on a specific empty pallet. There is palletizing work that involves loading and unloading.

Then, by automating this kind of work, picking up items from individual pallets and loading and unloading them onto empty pallets is performed accurately, and the stacking conditions on the loaded pallets are maintained in an orderly manner. It is advantageous to use industrial robots to achieve high positioning accuracy, especially when the shape of the article is a special shape, such as a packet that fits into each other on top and bottom so that it can be stacked in multiple tiers. This is not possible without the use of industrial robots, as this requires the use of industrial robots.

However, if the above-mentioned palletizing work is carried out using, for example, an ordinary cylindrical coordinate type robot (1) while moving traversely as shown in FIG. (3) picking up operation (depalletizing operation) and empty pallets for final stacking (4)
) The stacking operation (palletizing operation) is performed accurately, and the articles (3) are piled up in an orderly manner without collapsing, but on the other hand, the number of articles that can be conveyed in one conveyance operation is at most 2 to 3. It is limited to 2~
Since the robot must traverse each time to transport three items to an empty pallet, the processing efficiency per unit of time is extremely low.

Purpose of the Invention In order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, the present inventor connected a loading cart for final stacking pallets to the moving part of the robotic hand to shorten the article transfer distance of the robot hand when transferring articles. However, the present invention goes further and rationally lays out the arrangement of the loading cart, the arrangement of the loading/unloading station for pallets to the loading cart, etc.
The objective is to reduce the area occupied by the entire palletizing system and to increase the efficiency λ of the entire palletizing operation.

Means for Accomplishing the Object In order to achieve the above object, the present invention arranges individual pallets loaded with articles of different types in a line along one direction in which the hand of an industrial robot can freely move in traverse direction. A loading cart for final stacking pallets is connected to the part for moving the hand of the robot in the one direction, adjacent to the individual pallet rows, and one end of the individual pallet rows arranged in the row is connected to the part for moving the hand of the robot in the one direction. It is proposed that a pallet loading/unloading station be provided on the loading truck.

Embodiment A palletizing system for a plastic case containing appropriate articles (bottled beverages, etc.) will be explained based on FIGS. 1 to 4.

As shown in the plan view in FIG. 1, the palletizing system of this example has approximately rectangular parallelepiped plastic cases (5) containing articles placed in eight locations (A) (
B) (C) (D) (E) (F) (G) Depalletize an appropriate number of each from the large pallet (6) of (H) using the orthogonal coordinate robot (7), and move it to the mobile cart (8) described later. It is a system in which various items are mixed and stacked on the small pallet (9) for final stacking above, and the items in each plastic case (5) at eight locations (A), (B) to (H) are of different types. The orthogonal coordinate robot (7) in this example moves the cases from the large pallet (6) to the small pallet (9) at each position by the number of cases instructed by a higher-level control device (not shown). (5), pick it up and transfer it.

(11) is a cart for loading and unloading large pallets (6) that runs parallel to the storage area for large pallets (6) in the above-mentioned column. In other words, as shown by the chain line in Figure 1, the forklift (10) or the like is used at the far right end, and the transfer from the top of the cart (11) to the large pallet storage areas at each position (A), (B) to (H) is carried out using the cart. (11) and the roller conveyor (12) on the truck (11) is driven. A large number of free balls (13) are provided on the upper surface of each large pallet storage area so that heavy pallets (6) can be taken in and out very smoothly (Fig. 2).

Further, (14) is a slat conveyor as a loading/unloading station for small pallets (9) installed at one end of the large pallet (6) storage area so as to be on the same row as each pallet (6). The small pallet (9) is carried into the conveyor (14) by a forklift (20) or the like located at the chain line in FIG. (15) and (16) are the rails of the moving cart (8) and the moving cart (11), respectively.
8) will be explained in detail.

In other words, the gate-shaped Y-axis frame (17) of the orthogonal coordinate robot (7) is designed so that the movable Y-axis frame (18) can move over a long distance to accommodate the large pallets (6) lined up in rows. The X-axis frame (1
7) Attach the rollers (23) to the upper and lower rails (21) and (22).
) (24), the Y-axis frame (1
8) A movable frame (27) supporting hands (25) and (26), which will be described later, is movably provided above.

(18a) is the vertical part on the base end side of the movable Y-axis frame (18), (18b) is the reinforcing rib, and (28) is the moving rail of the movable frame (27) on the Y-axis frame (18). be.

The moving frame (27) has two lifting arms (3).
1) (32) is supported, and the lifting arm (31
)(32) A hand (25) for grasping and lifting the plastic case (5) and a hand (26) for suctioning and lifting the cardboard box are attached to the lower end, respectively, so that even if the items to be handled are changed, , the above hand (25
) (26) can be selectively used to palletize any type of article. That is, in this example, the movable Y-axis frame constitutes a part for moving the hands (25) and (26) in the X-axis direction, that is, in the traverse direction.

The hand (26) is a normal robot hand that has a vacuum pad (33) and can pick up three boxes at a time, but the hand (25) for grasping the case is as follows. There is no structure.

That is, the plastic case (5) on each large pallet (6) is placed on the pallet (6) at a predetermined preset position and orientation, but the positional accuracy is rough (
The hand (25) picks up the loaded cases (5) with rough positioning accuracy and places them on the small pallet (9) in a predetermined position after the movement. The bottom and top openings of the case (5) have a shape (5a) that fits into each other (Fig. 3), so that each pallet can be stacked in an accurate position.
(61 (Case (5) above 91 is all upper case (5)
) must be loaded while being fitted into the lower case (5), and in order to satisfy this requirement, the hand (25) has the following characteristic structure.

That is, as shown in Figure 3.4, the node (25)
has a so-called double hand, and the cylinder (34
) A pair of grip claws (35) (
The movable frames (37) (38) supporting the movable frames (36) and the movable frames (37) (38) themselves are gripped by the gripping claws (35) (36).
) and a support frame (39) slidably supported in a direction perpendicular to the opening/closing direction of the opening/closing direction of the opening/closing direction.

(37a) and (38a) are guide rods that constitute a part of each moving frame (37) and (38), and (39a) is a support frame (39).
), and the guide rod (37a) (38a) has a stopper part (4
1), and the stopper portion (41) regulates the moving end (closing width) when the grip claws (35) (36) are closed by the cylinder (34), and also controls the grip claws (35) (36). 36) is opened and gripping the case (5), the grip claws (35) (36) and the case (5) are moved to the right in Fig. 3 by the positioning cylinder (42). In other words, the rightward position of the case (5) relative to the hand (25) in the right direction in Figure 3 is regulated. If the case (5) is gripped by the grip claws (35) and (36), the position in the X-axis direction with respect to the hand (25) is the same as that of the proximal end of the grip claw (35) due to the retraction movement of the cylinder (42). The position is determined by contacting the stopper portion (41).

(43) is a mounting bracket for the positioning cylinder (42) protrudingly fixed to each moving frame (37) and (38). Also, a compression spring is installed between the moving frame (38) and the support frame (39). (44) is interposed between the movable frame (37) and the support frame (39), and a cylinder (45) that expands and contracts in the left-right direction (Y-axis direction) in FIG. 4 is connected. When (45) contracts, the case (5) is in the state shown in the fourth figure.
and grip claws (35) (36), moving frame (37038)
) moves to the right in FIG.
It is designed to be positioned by coming into contact with it.

(47) and (48) are flange-like pulling topper parts provided on the guide rod (39a), respectively, and
5) and the leftward position (Y-axis direction position) of each moving frame (37) (38) in Fig. 4 when the spring (44) is extended.
to regulate.

The hand (25) has an outer edge smaller than the outer edge of the two cases (5) arranged side by side when viewed from above, and there is a separate area around the desired case (5) to be gripped. Even when the cases (5) are piled up high, the hand (25) can descend and approach the desired position directly above the case (5) to be gripped.

Note that the X-axis direction positioning of the case (5) gripped by the gripping claws (35) and (36) with respect to the hand (25) may be performed by extending the positioning cylinder (42).

Next, the movable dolly (8) will be explained. The movable dolly (8) is connected to the Y-axis frame (17) of the robot (7).
The X-axis direction rail (2
1) It is freely runnable on a rail (15) laid parallel to (22), and one half of its upper surface is a slat conveyor (49) for placing a small pallet (9).
The other half is configured as a case (5) or a temporary storage stand (51) for items such as boxes.

In this embodiment, the movable trolley (8) does not have a drive device, and the movable trolley (8) has a recessed hole formed on its side surface with a connecting pin ( 52) is fitted in a protruding manner, the Y-axis frame (1
8) on the rail (15), and when the connecting pin (52) retracts toward the Y-axis frame (18) and is uncoupled, the trolley ( 8) continues to stop at the position where the fitting is released.

Further, the input shaft of the slat conveyor (49) is protruded as a clutch piece (53) on the side of the truck (8), and the truck (8) is connected to the Y-axis frame (18) as described above. At the position where the input shaft clutch piece (53) has been moved to the rightmost end in the X-axis direction (the first one-dot chain line), the input shaft clutch piece (53) is a clutch piece C54) I as a rotating output shaft provided on the floor.
zeta mesh, and in this state, the slat conveyor (49) on the trolley (8) is rotated for the first time.

(55) is a wheel, and (56) is a cylinder for advancing and retracting the connecting pin (52).

In addition, the mounting position of the case (5) on the temporary stand (51) is as shown in the chain line diagram in FIG.
Case (5) of the top four types that are handled most frequently in the system (for example, the case (5) on the large pallet (6) at position (A), (B), (C), and (D)) Cases) are prioritized and temporarily placed in predetermined placement sections (51a), (51b), (51c), and (51d) on the temporary storage stand (51), and the remaining four types of cases (5) that are handled less frequently are
(For example, the case on the large pallet (6) at position (E), (F), (G), and (H)) is the case on the first large pallet (6)
It is designed to be temporarily placed on a fixed temporary storage stand (57) provided at the leftmost end in the figure.

In addition, the mounting position of the case (5) on the fixed temporary mounting table (57) is also divided into eight parts as shown by the chain line in FIG. )(5
7h), but the temporary storage stand (
51), the presence or absence of each type of case on the fixed temporary storage stand (57) is detected by a detector (not shown) such as a micro switch or photoelectric switch installed on each stand (51) (57). Ru.

Next, the operation of the above palletizing system will be explained.

That is, first, prior to operating the system, each position (A) (B) to (
A large pallet (6) loaded with a large amount of cases (5) of each type is carried and placed in the large pallet storage area H).

At this time, if the robot hand (25) (2
6) The travel distance can be shortened.

Also, as mentioned above, a forklift to the trolley (11))
(10) etc. can be loaded at a fixed position at one end of the rail (16).

The varieties in the case (5) on the large pallet (6) at each position carried in as described above are shown below at each position (A) (B).
) to (H), type H, type B...H
Specify the variety.

In addition, small pallets (
9).

That is, the movable trolley (8) connected to the Y-axis frame (18) is moved to the position indicated by the chain line in FIG.
The slat conveyor (49) on 81 and the slat conveyor (14) serving as the loading station are driven at the same speed at the same time, and the empty small pallets (
9) onto the trolley (8) (dashed line in Figure 1). The delivery to the slat conveyor (14) is also carried out at a position adjacent to the forklift (10) (forklift).
(20) etc.

After preparing the above initial state, the Cartesian coordinate robot (7) is operated according to the program by the upper control device. 18) and the movable trolley (8) and uncoupling commands (in other words, commands for the advance and retreat timing of the pin (52)), and the movable trolley (8)
The movement of the case (5) is performed in complete synchronization with the palletizing operation of the case (5) by the robot (7).

That is, for example, when loading 15 cases of type B, 8 cases of type B, and 9 cases of type C onto the small pallet (9), the Y-axis frame (18) is loaded with the mobile cart (8) connected. First, move it to position (A), and once disconnect it at that position to bring the movable trolley (8) to a stopped state, and then move the Y-axis frame (18), lifting arm (31), and said hand (25). to pick up the 14 cases (5) from the top of the large pallet (6) at position (A) and transfer them onto the small pallet (9) (of course, 7
Since the 0 small pallet (9) is adjacent to the large pallet (6) at position (A), the transfer is carried out in a short time.

Once the loading of the products into the 14 cases is completed, next reconnect the Y-axis frame (18) and the moving trolley (8), and bring the moving trolley (8) to the (B) position. The connection is released again and the movable trolley (8) is now stopped at position (B). Then, as above, the Y-axis frame (18),
Operate the lifting arm (31) and hand (25) to lift the 8 cases (from above) on the large pallet (6) at position (B).
5] onto the small pallet (9).Furthermore, in the same manner, move the moving cart (8) to the <C) position, and then transfer it from above the large pallet (6) at the (C) position. 8
The cases (5) are transferred onto the small pallet (9).

With the above operation, most of the loading cases other than the fraction of the number of loading cases for each product type are completed, but next, the fraction (in other words, in the case of the robot hand (25) in this example, it is a double hand, so the fraction is always one. 0, that is, after loading the number of cases other than the fraction of the C type mentioned above, the hand (25) is used to load two cases (5) at the same <(C) position. ) and pick it up.
Place one of the grabbed cases (5) on the temporary stand (51)
The remaining gripped cases (5) are stacked on top of the cases (5) on the small pallet (9) that has already been stacked. The shaft frame (18) and the movable cart (8) are connected to the (A) position, and the hand (
25), pick up the two cases (5), place one of the grabbed cases (5) on the predetermined placement section (512) of the temporary stand (51), and leave the remaining grabbed cases (5) up. The rounding process is completed by stacking the case (5) on the small pallet (9).

With the above operations, A type 1 will appear on the small pallet (9) as planned.
5 cases, 8 cases of type B, and 9 cases of type C are loaded, and one case each of type A and type C are temporarily placed on the temporary storage stand (51). Small pallet) (911: will be full, so move the mobile trolley (8)
is moved to the slat conveyor (14) position at the right end in Figure 1, and as mentioned above, the clutch pieces (53) and (54) are engaged with each other to drive the slat conveyor (14), and the full small pallet (9) is moved. Carry it out.

In addition, the structure of the hand (25) has a positioning function as described above for picking up the case (5) by the hand (25) (departure operation) and placing it on the small pallet (9) (palletizing operation). Because of this, even if the case position on the large pallet (6) is in a rough position, it can be easily picked up and placed on the small pallet (9) in a predetermined and accurate position. As a result, the fitting part (5a) on the bottom of the case (5) is well fitted' (described in detail later)0 Then, the next small pallet (9) is moved to the moving cart (8).
Next, 15 cases of type A, 9 cases of type B, and 8 cases of type C are to be loaded onto the small pallet (9).The loading of most of the items other than fractions is the same as above. However, the fractional loading operation is performed as follows using the cases (5) remaining on the temporary storage table (51) from the previous palletizing operation.

In other words, 14 cases of A type were obtained using the same procedure as the previous time.
8 cases of B type and 8 cases of C type were loaded before rounding, and after the operation was completed, the 8 cases of B type and 8 cases of C type were combined into 1 case.
It is necessary to load the cases one by one, but in order to do this, first move and stop the mobile cart (8) at the CB) position, pick up two B type A cases (5) with the hand (25), and load one of them. Case (5) is a temporary storage stand (5
1) Place it on the upper loading section for B type (51b), and while holding the other B type case (5), use the free grip claws (35) and (36) to place it on the temporary stand (51). A of
In this way, the hand (25) holds one case (5) of a different type, A type and B type, at the same time, and transfers them to a small pallet. (9) They are moved upward and placed all at once. In other words, here the new (A
) position is omitted, and the required time is shortened accordingly.

Therefore, there are cases (5) of type C on the temporary storage stand (51).
) remains, and the case (5) of the C type is also used in the subsequent palletizing work, and the new (
C) The movement to position is omitted.

In addition, each mounting section (51a) (51) on the temporary mounting table (51)
b) (51c) The presence or absence of the case (51d) is detected by a microswitch etc. as described above, but each mounting section (
51a), (51b), (51c, and 51d) each occupy the area of two cases (5), which means that there is at least one case on the side of the mounted case (5). For example, as in the above-mentioned rounding operation, the case (
5), it is possible to grasp and operate the other case (5) on the temporary stand (51). The same applies to the fixed temporary storage stand (57).

In addition, in the above operation example, the case (5) was depalletized only from each large pallet (6) at the (A) (BOC) position, but the same applies when depalletizing from the large pallet (6) at other positions. In this example system (E) (F)
(G) When depalletizing for rounding from the large pallet (6) at the (H) position, the fixed temporary storage stand (
57), each type (E,
Cases (5) of F, G, H) are temporarily stored, but when there are few types of large pallets (6), in other words, when there are few types, the fixed temporary storage stand ( 57) and there are many types of large pallets [6] (product types), if the area of the temporary storage stand (51) on the mobile trolley (8) is increased, all the large pallets ( 6) can be temporarily placed on the moving trolley (8).

Next, the hand (25) picks up the case (5) (depalletizing operation), and the small pallet (9)
The upward placing operation (palletizing operation) will be explained.

That is, as mentioned above, each plastic case (5)
The hand (25) is loaded on the large pallet (6) with a positioning accuracy of about ±20 mm, and the top and bottom surfaces of the pallet are fitted into each other. Close (35) and (36), and close each moving frame (3
7) (38') descends while touching the left end of Fig. 4, and the tips of the grip claws (35) and (36) are attached to the case (5).
After that, low EE oil is supplied to the cylinder (34), the grip claws (35) and (36) are opened under low pressure, and engaged with the handle hole (5b) of the case (5).

This grip claw (35) (3” (5) case (5)
When the grip claws (35) and (36) are engaged with each other, movement in the horizontal plane (movement in the X and Y axis directions) is kept movable by guide rods (37a), (38a), and (39a), respectively. Since it is hanging down (at this point, the positioning cylinders (42) and (45) can freely expand and contract), the case (5)
Even if the position of
opens, without applying excessive force to the case (5).
Even if the case (5) is fitted with the lower case (5), it can be picked up without any problem (in this example, the handle hole (5b) is wide in the Y-axis direction, so no problem).

Then, when the hand (25) is raised and the case (5) is lifted with the grip claws (35) and (36) open and engaged under low pressure as described above, the grip claws (35) are moved by the weight of the case. (36) The bent part of the tip is the handle hole (
5b), and at this point the supply pressure to the cylinder (34) is switched to high pressure,
The positioning cylinders (42) and (45) are contracted to position the case (5) in the X and Y axis directions as described above.

As described above, the picked up case (5) is positioned with respect to the hand (25), and when this positioning is done, it is placed on the next small pallet (9) or on the temporary storage table (51) (57). Loading is carried out exactly according to the set position, and the upper and lower cases (5) are smoothly fitted together and stacked.

In addition, although the above explanation of the operation was for palletizing the plastic case (5) using the hand (25), the hand (26) is used to palletize each large pallet (6).
A small pallet with many cardboard boxes stacked on top (
9) When palletizing on top, the same operation is carried out efficiently using temporary storage tables (51) and (57).

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above explanation, in the robot system according to the present invention, a loading cart for final stacking pallets is placed next to each row of pallets in the part for moving the hand of the industrial robot in one direction. Since the lights are connected together, the hand movement distance when transferring goods at each individual pallet position is shortened as much as possible, increasing processing efficiency. Since it was installed at one end, the area occupied by the factory site is approximately rectangular (the first
(Figure), the actual area occupied when installing the robot system is reduced, and the loading and unloading of pallets using a forklift or the like can be managed centrally at one end.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 4 are examples of systems using orthogonal coordinate robots, with Figure 1 being an overall plan view, Figure 2 being a sectional view taken along line T in Figure 1, and Figure 3 being a side view of the robot hand. , FIG. 4 is a front view of the same, and FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing a conventional palletizing method. (5)...Plastic case (article), (6)...
・Large pallet (individual pallet), (7)...Cartesian coordinate robot, (8)...Moving cart (loading cart), (9)...Small pallet (final stacking pallet), (
14)...Slat conveyor (pallet loading/unloading station) 5(15)...Rail, (18)...
Movable Y-axis frame (moving part), (25) (26)...
・Robot hand.

Claims (1)

[Claims] Individual pallets loaded with articles of different types are arranged in a row along one direction in which the hand of an industrial robot can freely move in traverse, and the final pallet is placed in the part for moving the hand of the robot in the one direction. An article characterized in that a loading truck for stacking pallets is connected adjacent to the individual pallet rows, and a pallet loading/unloading station onto the loading truck is provided at one end of the individual pallet rows. Layout in a palletizing robot system.