JPS6259004B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically palletizing finished products in a cathode ray tube manufacturing factory.

[Conventional technology] Automation of production equipment in cathode ray tube production factories has made considerable progress, but in the shipping process of finished tubes, which are final products, the shape of the tube itself is unique and the types are very different. Due to the large number of cases, it was considered difficult to automate, and everything was done manually.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In palletizing finished products at a cathode ray tube manufacturing factory, it is required to minimize stacking intervals to improve transportation efficiency. Since cathode ray tubes are easily damaged, packaging materials must be placed between each stack, and the stacking interval for each type of tube must be adjusted accordingly.
Automation is not easy because the stowage patterns are different and the stowage procedures are not uniform. Moreover, as the pipes become larger, their weight increases further, and the stowage work becomes even more strenuous, so there is an increasing demand for automation.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device that can safely and automatically perform the stacking work using a rectangular coordinate robot when stacking the workpieces as described above.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention transfers an object (completed cathode ray tube product) from one side and makes it wait,
Pallets and packaging materials are fed from the side toward the stowage position, and a Cartesian coordinate robot-type pick unit moves the transported items at the standby position while lifting them onto the pallet at the stowage position, stacking them one after another and palletizing them from the other side. The packaged finished product is then transported out.

Finished cathode ray tube products vary in size and shape depending on the type of tube, but all of them are heavy. On the other hand, the packaging materials are extremely lightweight because they are made of polystyrene foam molded pads or cardboard. The present invention is a semi-automatic palletizer that handles heavy cathode ray tube finished products with a picking unit and manually supplies lightweight packaging materials to a stacking position. The picking unit is a high-precision orthogonal axis robot that stacks a predetermined number of cathode ray tubes in each tier at high density and stacks them in several tiers (for example, three tiers) under microcomputer control only by setting the tube type and stacking pattern.

In the present invention, since the work is carried out within the operating range of the pick unit when putting in the packaging materials,
The following safety devices are installed. That is,
A mechanical stopper holds the pick unit in the standby position when loading pallets or packaging materials, and a first stopper detects when the pick unit moves out of control when supplying empty pallets to the stacking position or unpacking finished products. A photoelectric sensor and a second photoelectric sensor means for detecting the entry of an obstacle into the movable range of the lifting grip unit during the stacking operation of the unit are provided. The control device is equipped with a control device that makes an emergency stop of the locking unit in response to a signal.
In this way, even if the elevating grip unit goes out of control due to unpredictable movement, it will come to an emergency stop to protect the operator, so palletizing can be carried out safely.

[Example] Next, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
The illustrated example shows a case in which eight finished cathode ray tubes are stacked in three tiers via pads, and the finished products are packaged in cardboard boxes. 1 and 3 are a front view and a plan view of a cathode ray tube palletizer, in which reference numeral 1 denotes a frame constructed of columns 2 and beams 3 on upper and lower frames, and 4 denotes a traveling unit placed on top of frame 1. , 5 is a traversing lifting unit provided in the traveling unit 4, 6 is a hook unit suspended from the lower part of the traversing lifting unit, 7 is a supply conveyor, 8 is a conveyor for returning the conveying pallet,
9 is a work lifter, and 10 is a reversing device.

This palletizer has a control device 19 with an operation console.
This is a loading machine that operates the pick unit 6 in a rectangular coordinate robot type to pick up cathode ray tubes that are carried with the neck part upright, and then flips them 90 degrees so that the neck part is horizontal. a reversing device 10 that lifts the inverted cathode ray tube by inserting a pin into the mounting bracket of the reinforcing band; traveling and traversing lifting units 4 and 5 that move the chuck unit vertically and horizontally as well as up and down; Pallet lifter 1 placed at the stowage position within the movable range
1, a material input port 12 for supplying pallets and packaging materials onto a pallet lifter, an unloading conveyor 18 for transporting the packaged finished products 90 out of the box in several stacks with a plurality of products stacked on each stage, and pipe types and packaging materials. It is comprised of a control device 19 that operates a pick unit, a reversing device, and a discharge conveyor according to a stacking pattern.

Next, each part will be explained in detail.

Traveling Unit, Traverse Lifting Unit A pair of rails 20, 20 are provided on the upper surface of the framework 1, on which the traveling unit 4 is placed. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, this traveling unit 4 has a drive mechanism 21 at one end, which engages with a screw 22 parallel to one of the beams 3 to move the locking unit 6 in the main movement direction (X direction). It is said that it can be moved freely.
Inside the traveling unit 4, there are two guide rods 23,
23 and screw 24 are installed.

This unit 5 is constructed by connecting upper and lower plates 26 and 27 with connecting cylinders 28 and 28 to form a unit main body 25, as shown in the enlarged view in FIG. It has a traverse drive motor 29 for movement. A cylinder 30 is placed upright on the lower plate 27, and an elevating plate 32 is fixed to the lower end of the piston rod 31.
Shafts 33, 33 are respectively inserted into 28 to guide the vertical movement of the elevating plate 32. An elevating ball screw 34 is set approximately in the center of the upper plate 26, and a ball nut unit 35 and a driving DC motor 36 that engage with this are attached. The lower end of the ball screw 34 is fixed to the upper surface of a frame 37 that projects upward from the elevating plate 32. Further, shafts 38, 38 are provided on the left and right sides of the frame body 37 to suspend the mounting plate 39,
In the center is a rotating unit 4 like a servo motor.
Fix 0. The shaft 41 of the rotating unit 40 is on the same axis (Z-axis) as the ball screw 34, and determines the turning angle α of the hook unit 6 suspended from the shaft 41.

Note that the traverse lifting unit 5 is stationary at a standby position directly above the reversing device 10 except during the loading operation, and as shown in FIG. 2, a traverse sensor 42 detects whether it is in the standby position or not. be done.

Tuck Unit As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 5, the pick unit 6 includes a frame 44 that is suspended and fixed to the shaft 41 of the rotating unit, hands 45, 45 that are movably attached within the frame, and a frame 44 that is installed at the bottom of each hand 45. It consists of a finger 46. hand 4
5 and 45 are movable in the width matching direction β by guides 47 and 47, a screw 48, and a driving DC motor 49. Further, an actuator 50 is provided at the lower part of the hand to open and close the fingers 46, 46, and the mounting bracket 1 of the CRT reinforcing band 102 is
A pin 51 is inserted into and removed from the hole 104 of 03.

Supply Conveyor and Work Lifter As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the finished cathode ray tube 100 is placed on a pallet 52 with the neck portion 105 vertical, and is sent to the apparatus by the supply conveyor 7. This supply conveyor 7 is a chain-driven roller slat conveyor, and by operating a stopper 55 at the end of the conveyor, cathode ray tubes are accumulated on the conveyor, and when the stopper is released, the most advanced pallet 52 is transferred to the work lifter 9. The work lifter 9 has a cylinder 57 and a guide load 5.
8 and a table 59 with drive rollers, the supply conveyor 7 and the roller surface of the table 59 are at the same level when the lift is up, and the same level as the return conveyor 8 which is lower than the supply conveyor 7 when the lift is down. Empty Palette 5
2.

The supply pallet 52 has several pieces (six pieces in the figure) pieces 53 supporting the periphery of the cathode ray tube panel on the board.
have. A stepped slope is formed inside each frame 53 so that cathode ray tubes 100 of different sizes can be supported. This top 53 is provided in advance at a position where it will not interfere with a positioning unit 65 or a knob piece 66 of the reversing device 10, which will be described later.

Reversing Device The reversing device 10 includes the work lifter 9 as described above.
is located close to. The details are shown in FIGS. 6 to 10. The reversing device 9 is
A bearing stand 61, a frame 62 rotatably supported by the bearing stand 61, a lever 63 provided at one shaft end of the frame 62, a reversing cylinder 64 provided at the tip of the lever 63, and a reversing cylinder 64 provided at the center of the frame. The provided positioning unit 65 and the pair of claw pieces 6
6 and a funnel presser unit 67 as main parts.

Two shafts 68, 68 are arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction within the frame 62, and the left and right moving bodies 6 are connected to the shafts 68, 68.
9,69 are guided. Racks 71, 71 extend from both movable bodies parallel to the shaft and engage with a pinion 70 at the center of the frame. A rotary actuator 72 is attached to the pinion shaft to move the movable bodies 69, 69 in the width direction. In front of each moving body 69, 69 is an arm 73,
A knob piece 66 formed with a shape 73 and abutting against the periphery of the panel of the cathode ray tube, and a funnel pressing unit 67 are provided. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the valve holding unit 67 includes a DC motor 74, a pair of gears 75 and 76, and an arm 7 attached to the shaft of the gear 76.
7 and a presser roller 78 made of an elastic material provided at the tip of the arm.

The positioning unit 65 is composed of a pair of stopper rollers 79, a screw mechanism 80 for advancing the stopper rollers 79, and a forward/reverse motor 81 for rotating the screw mechanism 80. A stopper 96 is provided on the back of the frame 62, and when the frame 62 is inverted, it comes into contact with a stopper receiver 97 provided on one side of the bearing stand 61 to absorb the shock at the end (the first
Figure 0).

Safety Device The safety device for loading pallets and packaging materials into the stowage position is a mechanical stopper 82 provided on the upper beam 3 of the frame 1 as shown in FIG.
It consists of a group of photoelectric sensors placed between the pillars.

The mechanical stopper 82 is for holding the clamp unit 6 in the standby position when loading pallets or packaging materials into the stowage position.
The hold state is detected by the traverse sensor 42 and input to the control device 19.

As shown in FIG.
All but three locations are closed by walls or doors 83. Pillar 2 in the center of the four pillars surrounding the stowage position
As shown in FIG. 8, between the upper racks b and 2c, a first light emitting/receiving device 84a and 84b is installed to detect if the pick unit 6 has run out of control within the working range when loading pallets and packaging materials. A photoelectric sensor is provided.

In addition, the emitter/receiver 85a, 85b, 86a arranged above and below between the lower frames of the pillars 2a, 2b on the input port side,
86b and the emitter/receiver 87a, 87b arranged at the stacking height H between the diagonally positioned pillars 2a, 2c.
A second sensor is provided. The second sensor is for detecting when an obstacle (a worker, pallet, packaging material, etc.) enters the movable range of the picking unit during automatic operation of the picking unit.

During automatic operation by the knob unit 6, the mechanical stopper 82 is turned off, and when the first and second photoelectric sensors are activated due to unpredictable movement, the trigger unit 6 is brought to an emergency stop by the signal. Note that there is also a light emitter/receiver 8 between the pillars 2a and 2d.
8a, 88b and 89a, 89b are arranged to detect the unloading of the packaged finished product 90.

Function: The work is sent from the supply conveyor 7 to the work lifter 11.
When the cathode ray tube 100 that has been moved to the positioning unit 65 of the reversing device 10 hits the positioning unit 65 of the reversing device 10, the rotary actuator 7 is turned on by a limit switch (not shown).
2 is driven, and the widths of the movable bodies 69, 69 are aligned by the pinion 70 and the racks 71, 71. At the same time as this width adjustment, the size of the valve is determined. That is, an encoder is provided on the shaft of the rotary actuator, or several limit switches are provided in the longitudinal direction of the frame (not shown). Due to width alignment, the Tsukami pieces 66 and 66 are cathode ray tube panels 101
and then drives the DC motor 74,
The funnel holding units 67, 67 are operated to grip the funnel portion 106 of the cathode ray tube.

After doing this, the cylinder 64 is driven,
The frame 62 is rotated via the lever 63 and reversed. The inverted cathode ray tube 100 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the neck portion 105 becomes horizontal, the mounting brackets 103 at the left and right corners of the band 102, which were on the rear side at the time of supply, are in an upward position, and the tightening preparation by the bending unit 6 is completed. The empty pallet 52 from which the cathode ray tubes have been taken is transferred to the return conveyor 8 by the work lifter 9 and returned. As mentioned above, the traverse lifting unit 5 is normally kept stationary at the standby position by the traverse sensor 42. At this position, the knob unit 6 is lowered to suspend the cathode ray tube.

To lift the cathode ray tube, first drive the ball screw 34 of the traverse lifting unit 5 to lower the knob unit 6, then adjust the widths of the hands 45 by rotating the servo motor 49, and then move the rotary actuator 50. The finger piece 46 is driven to move forward, and the pin 51 is inserted through the hole 104 of the mounting bracket 103 into the pin hole 51a of the opposing finger piece as shown in FIG. 5, and the ball screw 34 is driven to wait for lifting. When lifting, air balance is used to prevent the entire load from being applied to the ball screw.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, approximately the center of the framework 1 is a loading position, and pallets, cardboard, foamed polystyrene pads, etc. are supplied and set through the material input port 12 shown in FIG. In the case of the illustrated example, as shown in FIG.
The upper corrugated cardboard 94 and the body corrugated cardboard 95 are sequentially introduced to form three tiers.

At the stacking position, as shown in FIG. 4, a roller conveyor 13, a pusher 14, a positioning stopper 15, and a pusher 16 are provided. It is located. As shown in FIG. 1, the pad 93 of the stacking section is held at a constant height H by the action of the pallet lifter 11.

Before stacking the first stage, a pallet 91 is put in, the pusher 16 is closed and fixed, a bottom corrugated cardboard 92 is placed, and a lower pad 93 is stacked on top of it. Each pad has a recess that matches the size of the cathode ray tubes to be stacked, and the recesses are arranged in a pattern that provides maximum stacking density. Figure 2 shows a case in which eight cathode ray tubes are stacked in one tier with the axes of the nets orthogonal or with the nets or panels facing each other. The stowage pattern is shown.

Stacking in these patterns is automatically carried out by the control device 19 according to the settings of the tube type and stacking pattern. Then, the traverse lifting unit 5 is operated to move in the X and Y directions, stop at the stowage area at the left corner of FIG. After it is completely inserted, the finger piece 46 is opened and released, raised (in the Z direction), and then moved in the opposite direction to the X and Y directions to return the claw unit 6 to the standby position. During this time, the second cathode ray tube 100 is supplied, reversed, and waiting at the standby position.
Lower the grip unit 6 again, grab it, lift it up, and move it in the X and Y directions while rotating the rotation unit 4.
0, rotate it as shown by the arrow in FIG. 5, and fit it into the second recess on the pad 93. After fitting, return the lock unit to the standby position as before. Repeat this and stack them one by one. When the first stage stacking is completed, the second stage pad 93 is stacked on top of the second stage pad 93, and then the pallet lifter 11 is lowered and stacked so that the second stage pad is at the stacking height. When reaching the third stage, the pallet lifter 11 is lowered to the lower limit, and when the stacking is finished, the upper pad 93 is stacked with the upper corrugated cardboard 94, and further surrounded by the body corrugated cardboard 95 for packaging.

After packaging in this manner, the conveyor 13 is operated at the same time as the pushers 14 and 16 are opened to move the packaged finished product 90 in the discharge direction, and the packaged product 90 is transferred to the discharge conveyor 18 via the roller conveyor 17 and carried out of the machine. It is.

In the above work, a heavy cathode ray tube 100
The packaging is handled by the picking unit 6, and the lightweight pallets 91 and packaging materials such as pads and cardboard are manually input, so a safety device is activated to ensure safe packaging.

First, during automatic operation by the pick unit 6, the mechanical stopper 82 and the first photoelectric sensors 84a and 84b are turned off, and the second photoelectric sensors 85a and below are turned on, so work must be done within the movable range of the pick unit. When an obstacle such as a person or packaging material enters, the second photoelectric sensor 8
A detection signal of 5a or less causes an emergency stop of the movement of the locking unit 6 to prevent an accident. Furthermore, when supplying pallets and packaging materials to the loading position, the second photoelectric sensor 85a and below are turned OFF, and the mechanical stopper 82 and the first sensors 84a and 84a are turned OFF.
4b is set to ON, so when the locking unit that is in the standby position moves out of control due to unexpected movement into the work area, the first photoelectric sensors 84a and 84b detect it and stop the out-of-control operation, allowing safe stowage work. can be done.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, finished cathode ray tube products supplied from a production factory are placed on standby, pallets and packaging materials are loaded from the side toward the loading position, and the Cartesian coordinate robot type picking unit is driven. Then, the CRTs in the standby position are lifted up and moved onto the pallet in the stacking position, stacked one after another, and the packaged finished products are carried out from the other side.As a result, CRTs of various types and heavy weights can be completed. Items can be palletized efficiently.
In addition, the knob unit is driven by a DC servo motor for X (traveling), Y (traversing), Z (elevating), α
(swivel), β (width alignment), two actuated by rotary actuator, rack pinion, etc.
Since it is an orthogonal (orthogonal coordinate) robot with two hands, it has a large degree of freedom and can perform high-density, high-precision palletizing. The cathode ray tube is gripped using the hole in the upper mounting bracket for the cabinet, so there is no risk of contaminating the product. In addition, by inputting a pipe type pattern signal into the control device (microcomputer) from the operation panel and starting it, automatic operation up to full stacking can be performed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front view of the cathode ray tube palletizer of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view, Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the - line in Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the - line in Fig. 1, and Fig. 5. 6 is a front view of the reversing device, FIG. 7 is a side view of the same, FIG. 8 is a plan view of the same, and FIG.
The figure is an enlarged sectional view taken along the - line in Figure 6.
Figure 0 is a side view of the shock absorber, Figure 11 is a schematic perspective view showing the arrangement of safety devices, Figure 12 is a partially cutaway front view of the finished packaged product, and Figures A to D show the stacking pattern in Figure 13. FIG. 1...Framework, 2...Column, 3...Peam, 4...
Traveling unit, 5... Traverse lifting unit, 6...
Tuck unit, 7... Supply conveyor, 9... Work lifter, 10... Reversing device, 12... Material inlet, 18... Carrying out conveyor, 19... Control device, 34... Ball screw for lifting, 40... Rotating unit , 51...pin, 61...bearing stand, 62...
...Frame, 64...Cylinder, 65...Positioning unit, 66...Lock piece, 67...Funnel presser unit, 72...Rotary actuator, 79...Stopper roller, 82...Mechanical stopper, 84a, 84b~ 89a, 8
9b...Photoelectric sensor emitter/receiver, 90...Packaged finished product, 91...Pallet, 93...Pad, 9
2,94,95...Cardboard.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An inverting device that inverts a cathode ray tube transported by 90 degrees with its neck portion erected, a hook unit that inserts a pin into a mounting bracket of a reinforcing band of the inverted cathode ray tube to hold it, and a hook unit a pallet lifter disposed at a stacking position within the movable range of the pick unit;
A material input port that supplies pallets and packaging materials onto the pallet lifter, a conveyor that carries out the packaged finished products stacked in several tiers with multiple stacks on each tier, and a pick unit that carries out packaging according to the pipe type and stacking pattern. A cathode ray tube palletizer consisting of a control device operated by a Cartesian coordinate robot. 2. The reversing device includes a positioning device that determines the stop position of the cathode ray tube that is carried with the neck part upright, a claw piece that supports both sides of the cathode ray tube, and a funnel holding unit that presses the funnel part in opposition to the claw piece. Claim No. 1, comprising: a width adjustment mechanism for adjusting the widths of the claw piece and the funnel holding unit according to the pipe type; a shaft provided at both ends of the frame; and a lever and a reversing cylinder provided at one end of the shaft. The cathode ray tube palletizer described in item 1. 3. The cathode ray tube palletizer according to claim 1, wherein the traveling and traversing lifting unit is mounted on a framework made up of several columns and beams. 4. There is a mechanical stopper on the frame that holds the clamp unit in the standby position when supplying pallets or packaging materials, and a mechanical stopper that prevents the clamp unit from moving out of control when supplying empty pallets to the stowage position or transporting finished packed products. The first step is to detect that
and a second photoelectric sensor means for detecting the entry of an obstacle into the movable range of the pick unit during the stacking operation of the pick unit, and a second photoelectric sensor means for detecting the entry of an obstacle into the movable range of the pick unit, and a signal from the sensor means to activate the pick unit in an emergency. The cathode ray tube palletizer according to claim 3, wherein the cathode ray tube palletizer is configured to stop.