JPS63171732A - Robot hand - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To hold all carton groups in a corrugated cardboard box through adsorption force, by projecting a part of flat insert pallets out of a pad surface and installing them in parallel both edges where a pad is opposed. CONSTITUTION:A hand part 6 is made to go down till a pad 21 is fitted in the opening edge inside of a corrugated cardboard box 67 and approached to an end surface of a carton 62 part to be formed by an upper edge 7 of each carton 62. Under this state, insert pallets 28 and 28 are closed, the carton 62 groups are made to be closed with one another, situating them in a lower part of the pad 21, and a suction is driven. If so, a hollow part of the whole vacuum device 16 comes to negative pressure and all carton 62 groups are drawn up, whereby the edge surface comes to an adsorption state to the pad 21. After the state that these cartons are fully drawn up is detected by a vacuum switch 60, if the hand part 6 is lifted up, a relative position between the hand part 6 holding the carton 62 group and the corrugated cardboard box 67 comes as in illustration, thus the carton 62 group is taken out of the corrugated cardboard box 67.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is suitable for taking out, for example, unassembled folded cardboard (hereinafter referred to as a carton) stored in a cardboard box from a cardboard box. This robot hand is used to take out items stored in a box.

[Prior art]

When taking out a group of cartons from a cardboard box, the groups of cartons are arranged closely with the periphery of each carton facing the opening of the cardboard box, and are housed in such a manner that they do not protrude from the edge of the opening when the cardboard box is opened. When you are there,
Conventionally, a vacuum pad type robot hand has been used.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In this case, a vacuum pad is inserted into the box, and the vacuum pad is brought into contact with the surface of the group of cartons formed by the aggregate of the peripheral edges of individual cartons to attract and hold the group of cartons to the vacuum band, and then to take them out.

Therefore, since a vacuum pad that can be inserted into a cardboard box is used, several cartons inevitably remain at both ends of the cardboard box.

The present invention consists of 1. This invention attempts to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and aims to provide a robot hand for taking out articles stored in a box, which is capable of suctioning and holding all the cartons of a cardboard box.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention provides a robot hand for taking out items stored in a box, which takes out items stored in a box from a box using a vacuum pad.
The vacuum pad can be opened and closed by a drive device,
A pair of flat insertion claws, which are inserted into the box in close contact with the two opposing side walls of the box and inserted between the box and the stored articles, are inserted into the box using a pair of flat insertion claws that protrude from the pad surface and are parallel to the pad's opposing sides. This robot hand is characterized by having a robot hand on both ends.

[For production]

The robot hand of the present invention has a pair of flat vacuum pads that can be opened and closed by a drive device, enter the box in close contact with two opposing side walls of the box, and are inserted between the box and the stored articles. Since the insertion claws are provided on both opposing parallel edges of the pad that protrude beyond the pad surface, for example, when taking out a group of cartons from the above-mentioned cardboard box,
First, the pair of insertion claws are inserted into the opening edge of the cardboard box by closing the interval smaller than the mutual interval between the inner walls of the cardboard boxes that contact the cartons at both ends of the carton group, and then the inserting claws are closed and the tips are brought into close contact with the inner walls of the cardboard box, and in that state. Furthermore, by inserting deeply along the inner wall of the cardboard box, the insertion claw can be inserted between the cartons at both ends of the group of cartons and the inner wall of the cardboard box until the vacuum pad is almost in contact with the group of cartons.

The insertion pawl can then be closed, allowing the entire carton to be positioned closely together under the vacuum pad.

Therefore, the group of cartons can be located at a location where the vacuum action of the vacuum pad is high, and the distance between each carton in the group of cartons is reduced, so that the group of cartons can be reliably held by suction.

At this time, if the insertion claws also clamp the carton group, the carton group can be held more securely.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described using the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an overall view of the robot hand 3 in use.

1 is a supply mechanism that supplies a large number of cartons 62 as articles stored in a cardboard box 67 as a box (see FIG. 3) to a predetermined position; A delivery mechanism 3 is a robot hand that takes out a group of cartons 62 from a cardboard box 67, lifts them up, and transfers them to the delivery mechanism 2.

The robot hand 3 consists of a main body part 4, an arm 5, and a hand part 6 at the tip of the arm 5, and the main body part 4 and the arm 5 are shown in FIG.

The main body 4 has a rotary table 8 rotatable about a vertical axis 7 (hereinafter referred to as an up-down direction), and a screw rod 9 whose rotation axis coincides with an axis vA7 and guide rods 10, 10, standing upright thereon. be. An arm 5 is provided horizontally with respect to the rod 10.degree. IO and is screwed into the threaded rod 9 in a state where it is constrained to move only in the vertical direction. Arm 5
is extendable and retractable in the horizontal direction, and has a wrist portion 11 for attaching the hand portion 6 connected to the tip.

The wrist portion 11 includes a rotating member 13 that is rotatable about an axis 12 in the vertical direction, and a hand attachment member 15 is provided on the rotating member 13 so as to be rotatable about an axis 14 orthogonal to the axis 12.

The hand section 6 is shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, and is equipped with a vacuum device and a carton holding device when releasing the carton. First, the vacuum device will be explained.

16 is a rectangular ceiling surface 17 and a side surface 1 hanging from its long edge.
8.18, consisting of a side surface 19.19 hanging from the short edge;
The main body of the vacuum device has a hollow part, and a rectangular suction surface made of sponge or other elastic material is attached to the opening edge through an open end member 20 having a size that protrudes outward from the main body 16 of the vacuum device. Vacuum pad (hereinafter referred to as
A pad (abbreviated as "pad") 21 is provided. At the center of the ceiling surface 17, a connecting member 22 for connecting to the hand attachment member 15 of the wrist section 11 is provided to protrude perpendicularly to the ceiling surface 17.

This connecting member 22 is a pipe body with an end plate 23 for attachment at the upper end, and is provided in communication with the hollow part of the vacuum device main body 16, and the intermediate portion of the connecting member 22 is provided with a suction source and the vacuum device main body 16. A hose connection port 24 is provided for connecting the hollow portion with a suction hose. This vacuum device main body 16 has a hand attachment member 15 in its longitudinal direction.
It is connected to the wrist part 11 so as to be perpendicular to the direction of the axis 14 of the wrist.

The vacuum device further includes insertion claws 28.degree. 28 which protrude beyond the pad surface and can be opened and closed at both opposing parallel end edges of the hand 21. The insertion claw 28.28 has its handle 25,
At 25, one each is attached to the ceiling surface 17 and the side surface 1 to the mounting members 26 and 26 provided on the side surfaces 19 and 19 of the vacuum device main body 16.
The upper end of the handle 25.25 has a bottle 34.34 projecting in the same direction as the axis 27, and is connected to an insertion claw drive device. ing.

The insertion claw drive device uses a cylinder 29 and a spring 30, and the cylinder 29 is attached to a cylinder mounting member 31 attached to the ceiling surface 17 of the vacuum device main body 16 so as to be able to swing around an axis 32 in the same direction as the axis 27. installed.

A connecting member 35 with the insertion claw 28 is provided at the tip of the rod 33.

The connecting member 35 is long in the stroke direction of the cylinder 29.
A slide hole 36.36 of the bottle 34.34 and a through hole 37 of the handle 25 are provided, and the bottle 34.34 is inserted into the slide hole 36.3.
6, the end of the handle 25 of the insertion claw 28 is passed through the through hole 37 to connect the loft 33 of the cylinder 29 and the insertion claw 28. A spring 30, which is a push spring, is inserted between the tip of the connecting member 35 and the handle 25 of the insertion claw 28, so that when the rod 33 of the cylinder 29 is moved forward, the handle 25 is pushed into the connector 35. When pushed, the insertion claw 28 rotates in the closing direction, and when the rod 33 is retreated, the handle 25 is pushed by the spring 30 via the connecting member 35 and rotates in the opening direction of the insertion claw 28. It has become. Due to the magnitude of the restoring force of the spring 30, when the insertion claw 28 is inserted into the corrugated pole box 67, the insertion claw 28 is inserted into the corrugated pole box 67.
The force that presses against the inner wall, that is, the contact pressure between the insertion claw 28 and the cardboard box 67! It's like Section P1. Mounting member 2
A stop flange attachment member 58 is provided on each of the outer sides of the 6° 26, and a stopper 59 that restricts the maximum rotation angle in the opening direction of the insertion claw 28 is provided at the tip so that the restriction position can be adjusted.

The insertion claw 28 is formed to be easily inserted into a small gap, and in this embodiment, a flexible plate with a thickness of 0.4 to 0.6 fl is attached to the tip of the main plate portion 38, which is a flat plate with a thickness of 5 to 7 mm. A rounded tongue-shaped tip member 39 is joined to the tip formed from a certain steel, and the thickness of the tip of the main plate portion 38 is gradually reduced to prevent a step from occurring. Note that the open end member 2
0. The pad 21 is provided with a recess that escapes the handle 25 of the insertion claw 28.

Next, the carton holding device when releasing the carton will be explained.

40. 40 is a carton holding plate, which has a long shape in the direction parallel to the side surface 18, and has a vacuum shape that is longer than the pad 21 on both sides of one insertion claw 28 and outside the band 21 in a plane parallel to the side surface 18. It can be displaced from a position retracted toward the device main body 16 to a position protruding from the pad 21.
provided.

In this example, the carton holding plate on the side 18.18 is 40°4.
A shaft 45 passing through the vacuum device main body 16 in the same direction as the axis 27 is rotatably supported at the end near the insertion claw 28 that is not between One end of an arm 43.43 is fixedly provided at both protruding ends, and a carton holding plate 40 is provided at the other end of the arm 43.43 so as to be swingable about an axis 44 in the same direction as the axis 27. . 46 is an arm fixed to a shaft 45, and its tip is connected to a rod 50 of a cylinder 49, which is attached to a cylinder mounting member 47 provided on the ceiling surface 17 so as to be swingable about an axis 48 in the same direction as the axis 42. A fork-end-shaped connecting member 51 is attached to the tip of the rod 50, and connects the connecting member 51 and the arm 46 so as to be swingable about an axis 52 in the same direction as the axis 42. The shaft 45 or arm 43.
43 can be rotated.

In this embodiment, the hand section 6 is also provided with a carton detection device. A carton detection end 53 is attached to the tip of a rod 54, and the rod 54 is slidably inserted in a guide vibe 55 provided perpendicularly to a plane including the ceiling surface 17 on the outer surface of the vacuum device main body 16 in the pipe axial direction. Well equipped. The other end of the rod 54 is provided with a flange-shaped contact portion 57 for contacting a micro switch 56, and the micro switch 56 is attached to the space between the contact portion 57 and the guide vibe 55 by appropriate means. . Then, when the tip surface of the carton detection end 53 is at a position lower than the line connecting the tips of the insertion claws 28 and 28 when they are rotated parallel to each other, the microswitch 56 is turned on, and the tip surface It is designed to turn off when it rises from below and approaches the line connecting the tips of the nails.

Reference numeral 60 denotes a switch directly above the vacuum device main body 16 that detects the pressure in the hollow portion.

Next, the supply mechanism 1 and the delivery mechanism 2 will be explained with reference to FIG.

The supply mechanism 1 is a mechanism that supplies 62 groups of cartons in a stacked state at a predetermined delivery position 63. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. A cardboard box 67 containing a container is supplied to a delivery position 63 by opening its lid 68, folding it outward and fixing it with a rubber band 69. The delivery position 63 may be provided anywhere within the movement area of the hand section 6 of the transfer mechanism 3. The surface on which the cardboard box 67 is placed at the delivery position 63 may be a horizontal surface or an inclined surface, but in this embodiment, it is a horizontal surface. The horizontal direction of the cardboard box 67 on the placement surface may be any direction; for convenience, in this embodiment, the stacking direction of the groups of cartons 62 at the delivery position 63, that is, the row direction, is the X-axis direction, and the horizontal direction perpendicular to the X-axis direction is This will be explained as the Y-axis direction.

At the delivery position 63, a roller conveyor 64 is used as the R surface of the corrugated pole box 67, and is provided with the transfer direction as the X-axis direction so as to position the corrugated pole box 67 in the X-axis direction. A roller conveyor 65 is provided adjacent to the roller conveyor 64 in the X-axis direction and supplies the cardboard boxes 67 onto the roller conveyor 64.
There is a roller conveyor 64 on the roller conveyor 65 side of the base.
A pair of centering guides 66, 66 for positioning the corrugated pole box 67 moving upward in the Y-axis direction are provided with variable intervals. A cardboard box feeder 75 is connected to the roller converter 65.

On one side adjacent to the roller conveyor 64 in the Y-axis direction, a discharge conveyor for discharging the empty cardboard boxes 67 taken out of the group of cartons 62 by the robot hand 3 is appropriately provided. roller conveyor 64
A bunsha 71 is provided that pushes out the empty cardboard box 67 on top in the direction of an arrow 70 and transfers it onto the discharge conveyor.

An alignment table 72 having a horizontal mounting surface is provided on the other side adjacent to the roller conveyor 64 in the X-axis direction. The alignment table 72 once places the 62 groups of cartons that have been lifted at the delivery position 63, and then places the 62 groups of cartons in the Y-axis direction with the suction force of the Baquième device reduced enough to allow movement of the cartons 62 in the Y-axis direction. In the stage for centering and aligning, the alignment table 72 has a centering button 73 having a plane perpendicular to the Y axis as a pressing surface for pressing the side edge surfaces of the groups of cartons 62.
A pair of pressers 73 are provided so as to be movable in the Y-axis direction with their pressing surfaces facing each other. 74. Reference numeral 74 denotes guide walls for keeping each carton 62 in a state parallel to a plane orthogonal to the X axis and perpendicular to the alignment table 72 when arranging the groups of cartons 62. A pair of guide walls are provided at appropriate intervals. If necessary, a recess is provided to allow the insertion claw 28, 28 to escape.

The delivery mechanism 2 is a carton 62 taken out from a cardboard box 67.
In this embodiment, the carton feeder 76 moves the receiving position 77 to the robot hand 3.
It is provided within the movement range of the hand section 6.

Note that the pad 21 of the hand section 6 and the insertion claw 28.2 are
The dimensions of 8 are optimally determined according to the dimensions of the cartons 62 and corrugated pole boxes 67 to which they are applied. The position is such that the group can be located below the working surface of the pad 21. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, groups of cartons 62 are housed in a cardboard box 67 having a rectangular planar shape, with the longitudinal direction being the column direction, so the band 21 is placed inside the open end of the cardboard box 67. The insertion claws 28, 28 are formed in fitting rectangular shapes, and are provided so as to protrude from the opposite and mutually parallel short sides of the pad 21. Also, the height and depth of the cardboard box 67)
is appropriately, for example, several times higher than the height of the carton 62 when it is erected for storage.

Next, the operation will be explained.

A cardboard box 67 containing a group of cartons 62 is positioned and supplied to the delivery position 63 of the supply mechanism 1, and the hand portion 6 of the robot hand 3 is placed horizontally and above the cardboard box 67 on the delivery position 63. The horizontal direction is determined so that the longitudinal direction of the transfer position 63 and the X-axis direction of the transfer position 63 are aligned, and the transfer position 63 is moved as shown in FIG. The hand section 6 is moved in the vertical direction by the screw rod 9 of the main body section 4, and in the horizontal direction by the rotation table 8 of the main body section 4 and the expansion and contraction of the arm 5. The change in the angle formed by the wrist part 6 is effected by rotating the rotating member 15 of the wrist part 11.

Next, the hand portion 6 is lowered. The lowering of the hand portion 6 stops when the carton detection end 53 comes into contact with the upper edge surface of the group of cartons 62, the contact portion 57 with the microswitch 56 separates from the microswitch 56, and the microswitch 56 is turned off. The state shown in FIG. 6 is reached. In this state, the rod 33.33 of the cylinder 29.29 is moved back and the spring 3
Open the insertion claw 28.28 through the 0.30 mm and bring it into close contact with the upper end of the inner surface of the short side of the cardboard box 67 as shown by the two-dot chain line. Thereafter, the hand portion 6 is lowered again until the pad 21 fits into the opening edge of the cardboard box 67 and approaches the edge surface of the group of cartons 62 formed by the upper edge of each carton 62. In that state, insert claw 2
8. Close the carton 28, place the cartons 62 in close contact with each other and position them under the pad 21, and drive the suction source of the vacuum device.

Then, the hollow part of the vacuum device main body 16 becomes a negative pressure, and all the cartons 62 are sucked up, and their end surfaces are attracted to the pad 21 as shown in FIG.

Note that if the insertion claws 28, 28 are closed to the extent that the 62 groups of cartons are clamped, the 62 groups of cartons will be held by clamping and suction, so the suction force and clamping force will be greater than when holding only by suction or only by clamping. is significantly smaller.

After the vacuum switch 60 that detects the negative pressure inside the vacuum device main body 16 detects that the cartons 62 groups are completely attracted to the pad 21, the hand section 6 holding the cartons 62 group can be raised. The relative positions of the cardboard box 67 are the former indicated by a solid line and the latter indicated by a two-dot chain line, and the group of cartons 62 is taken out from the cardboard box 67.

In this way, in this embodiment, all the cartons 62 are sucked after being sandwiched between the insertion claws 28 and 28, so that no cartons 62 remain in the cardboard box 67, and the insertion claws 28 and 28 before suction
．． 28 into the cardboard box 67 is also easy. That is, when sandwiching all of the 62 groups of cartons, the insertion claws 28 and 28 must be inserted between the 62 groups of cartons and the corrugated pole box 67, but the insertion claws 28 and 28 are shaped to be easy to insert. When inserting, the insertion claws 28 are first pressed against the upper end of the inner wall of the cardboard box 67, and then inserted by lowering them along the inner wall.
8.28 can be reliably inserted between the group of cartons 62 and the cardboard boxes 67.

In addition, if the degree of adhesion between the cartons in the group of cartons 62 is small, it is difficult to generate negative pressure even when vacuum suction is performed, and it is difficult to increase the suction effect.
If vacuum suction is applied after bringing them into close contact with each other, negative pressure is likely to be generated, and a large adsorption force can be obtained.

Next, move the hand section 6 above the alignment table 72,
The hand section 6 is lowered so that the X-axis direction of the alignment table 72 and the longitudinal direction of the hand section 6 are aligned, and the bottom surfaces of the held cartons 62 groups are brought into contact with the carton 62 group mounting surface of the alignment table 72. Then, the suction force of the vacuum device is reduced to the extent that the cartons 62 are allowed to move in the Y-axis direction, and the cartons 62 are placed on the alignment table 72, and then pushed from both sides using centering pushers 73 and 73 to align them. . When the alignment is completed, the aligned cartons 6
The second group is sucked again by the vacuum device and held in the hand part 6, and the hand part 6 is raised.

Next, the hand section 6 is moved above the receiving position 77 of the delivery mechanism 2, and after aligning the longitudinal direction of the hand section 6 with the X-axis direction of the receiving position 77, the bottom surface of the group of cartons 62 held is Position 770 - The hand portion 6 is lowered until it comes into contact with the first surface of the ton 62 group. After that, stop the vacuum device, open the insertion claws 28 and 28, and insert the carton feeder 76.
is supplied to the receiving position 77 of. In this case, no particular problem occurs if the loading surface of the group of cartons 62 at the receiving position 77 is a horizontal surface, but if the loading surface is tilted low with respect to the direction of supply as shown in FIG. In order to vertically lower and place the group of cartons 62 on this inclined placement surface, the hand attachment member 15 of the wrist portion 11 is rotated to adjust the inclination angle of the hand portion 6 with respect to the horizontal surface. , supplies 62 groups of cartons. At this time, the insertion claw 2 located on the lower side
Since the weight of the group of cartons 62 is added to 8, the frictional force between the insertion claw 28 and the cartons 62 at the end of the row or the cartons 62 at the end of the row becomes large, and when the insertion claw 28.28 is pulled up, the lower insertion claw At 28, the cartons 62 at the end of the row may be pulled up and pop out or protrude from the row. If it is pulled up, it may cause the carton feeder 76 to stop.

However, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The rotating member 13 of the wrist portion 11 is rotated so that the horizontal direction is adjusted so that the rotational member 13 of the wrist portion 11 is rotated so that the horizontal direction is adjusted.

After placing 62 groups of cartons on the placing surface, the cylinder 4
If the rod 50 of 9 is retracted and the end of the lower row is pressed by the carton holding plate 40, 40 until the insertion claw 28, 28 is separated from the group of cartons 62, the hand part 6 is raised, the carton 62 will pop out. , the inconvenience of protrusion can be avoided.

On the other hand, if the empty cardboard box 67 left at the delivery position 63 is pushed out in the direction of the arrow 70 by the pusher 71, it is discharged, and a new cardboard box 67 containing the group of cartons 62 is transferred from the roller conveyor 65 to the roller conveyor 64. and is positioned at the delivery position 63 in preparation for the next transfer.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In the present invention, the vacuum band has a pair of flat insertion claws that can be opened and closed by a drive device, enter the cylinder in close contact with two opposing side walls of the box, and are inserted between the box and the stored articles. Since the robot hand protrudes from the pad surface and is provided on both opposing parallel edges of the pad, for example, when taking out a group of cartons from a cardboard box, it is possible to reliably take out a carton without leaving a single carton in the cardboard box. can.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view in use, Fig. 2 is a perspective view with the hand removed, Fig. 3 is a front view of the hand, and Fig. 4 is the hand. side view, fifth
The figure is a plan view of the hand part, Figures 6 and 7 are a front view and a cross-sectional front view for explaining the operation of the insertion claw, respectively (most of the cartons are not shown), and Figure 8 is a group of cartons. FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Supply mechanism, 2... Delivery mechanism, 3... Robot hand, 4... Main body part, 5... Arm, 6...
Hand part, 7... Axis line, 8... Rotary table, 9.
... Screw rod, 10... Guide rod, 11... Wrist part, 12... Axis line, 13... Rotating member, 14...
Axis line, 15... Hand part mounting member, 16... Vacuum device main body, 17... Ceiling surface, 18... Side surface, 1
9... Side surface, 20... Opening end member, 21... Pad, 22... Connecting member, 23... End plate for mounting, 24
...Hose connection port, 25...Handle, 2G...Mounting member, 27...Axis, 28...Insertion claw, 29...
Cylinder, 30... Spring, 31... Cylinder mounting member, 32... Axis line, 33... Rod, 34... Pin, 35... Connecting member, 36... Slide hole, 37
...Through hole, 38... Main plate part, 39... Tip member, 40... Carton holding plate, 42... Axis line, 43...
... Arm, 44... Axis line, 45... Axis, 46...
・Arm, 47... Cylinder mounting member, 48... Axis line, 49... Cylinder, 50... Rod, 51...
- Connecting member, 52... Axis line, 53... Carton detection end, 54... Rod, 55... Guide pipe, 56
...Micro switch, 57...Contact part, 58...
・Stopper mounting member, 59... Stopper, 60...
Vacuum switch, 62... Carton, 63... Delivery position, 64... Roller conveyor, 65... Roller conveyor, 66... Centering guide, 67... Cardboard box, 68... Lid, 69...Rubber band, 70.
...Arrow, 7I...Button, 72...Aligning table, 73...Centering button, 74...Guide wall, 75...Cardboard box feeder, 76...Carton feeder, 77...・Receiving position. Part 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a robot hand for taking out items stored in a box, which uses a vacuum pad to take out items stored in a box, the vacuum pad is placed in the box in close contact with two opposing side walls of the box, which can be opened and closed by a drive device. A pair of flat insertion claws that enter and are inserted between the box and the stored items,
A robot hand is provided that protrudes from a pad surface and is provided on both opposing parallel edges of the pad.