JP2018015815A - Transfer device and workpiece suction device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress a content from being suspended downward in a lump when the workpiece as a bag-like packaged body is transferred.SOLUTION: A workpiece suction device 1 can move, can rotate around a horizontal rotation shaft 15, and picks up a workpiece 53 flowing on the conveyance line 51 by sucking, and transfers it to another place. The workpiece suction device 1 includes three or more suction units 11 arranged along a circumferential direction of a virtual arc around the rotation shaft 15. The suction unit 11 includes a suction port 13 opened on an outer side of the virtual arc in a radius direction, and sucks the workpiece 53 by sucking air from the suction port 13. When the workpiece suction device 1 rotates around the rotation shaft 15 in picking up the workpiece 53, the suction unit 11 starts sucking from one end side to the other end side of the workpiece 53, and winds up so as to curve or bend the workpiece 53.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a transfer device that transfers an object to be transferred, for example, from a transfer line of a production factory to a box for boxing, and a work suction device used in the transfer device.

  Conventionally, for example, a technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known as an apparatus for transferring a product by pick and place. This conventional technique makes it possible to perform pick and place stably at high speed while adopting an adsorption method. However, the workpieces (transfer objects) to be transferred in the product boxing process or the like may include bag-shaped confectionery, bag-shaped packaged products such as frozen takoyaki. Since the contents of the bag-shaped package can move freely inside the bag-shaped package, the contents gather at the central portion in the package and hang downward as a group when picked up by the adsorption method. For this reason, there is a problem in that it is difficult to orderly stack bag-shaped packages when placing them in a predetermined position such as a predetermined box. In addition, since the suspended contents are subjected to acceleration, the shape is freely changed within the package, so that it is not easy to quickly transport the picked-up bag-shaped package.

JP 2015-112664 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and when transferring a work that is a bag-shaped package, the transfer device that can prevent the contents from being gathered together and hanging down, and the transfer device It aims at providing the workpiece | work adsorption | suction apparatus used for a transfer apparatus.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the above-mentioned object, the first aspect of the present invention is a transfer device for transferring a workpiece, which is a bag-shaped package, by pick and place, and a workpiece suction device; A drive device and a control device are provided. The workpiece suction device is movable and rotatable around a horizontal axis, and picks up the workpiece by suction. The drive device operates the workpiece suction device. The control device controls the driving device so that the workpiece suction device performs a predetermined operation. The work suction device has three or more suction devices arranged along a circumferential direction of a virtual arc centered on the horizontal axis. Each of the three or more suction devices has a suction port that opens outward in the radial direction of the virtual arc, and sucks the work by sucking air from the suction port. Further, when the workpiece is picked up, the control device rotates the workpiece suction device around the horizontal axis, so that the three or more suction devices are moved from one end side to the other end side of the workpiece. The driving device is controlled so that the workpiece is bent or bent by starting the suction in order and winding up the workpiece.

  According to this configuration, when a workpiece which is a bag-shaped package is picked up, the workpiece is wound up so as to bend or bend in order from one end side to the other side. Tension is applied to the surface. For this reason, it is suppressed that the content of the bag-shaped package as a workpiece | work collects and hangs down below.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transfer device according to the first aspect, wherein the control device rotates the workpiece adsorbing device so as to wind up the workpiece. The drive device is controlled so as to add a reverse translation speed to the workpiece suction device so as to cancel the translation speed applied to the workpiece.

  According to this configuration, the workpiece can be naturally wound up without sliding on the surface on which the workpiece is placed, such as a conveyance line.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the transfer device according to the first or second aspect, further comprising an imaging device that images the workpiece flowing on a conveyance line, and the control device includes the imaging device. By the visual tracking function based on the moving image of the workpiece imaged by the apparatus, the three or more suction devices follow the movement of the workpiece on the conveyance line from the one end side to the other end side of the workpiece. Then, suction is started in order, and the driving device is controlled to wind up the workpiece.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to start the suction accurately and to wind up the workpiece in order from one end side to the other end side of the workpiece flowing on the transfer line.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transfer device according to the third aspect, wherein the control device conveys the workpiece by a visual tracking function based on a moving image of the workpiece imaged by the imaging device. Depending on the direction on the line, the three or more suction devices start the suction in order from the predetermined one end side to the other end side of the workpiece, and the drive device is wound up so that the workpiece is wound up. Control.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to start the suction accurately and sequentially wind up the workpiece in order from the predetermined one end side to the other end side, regardless of the direction of the workpiece flowing on the transfer line. For example, when the workpiece on the transfer line is rectangular in plan view, the two short sides facing each other are defined as one end side and the other end side that are determined in advance, regardless of the orientation of the workpiece. The work can be rolled up in the direction along.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a workpiece suction device used as the workpiece suction device of the transfer device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the workpiece suction device is arranged around an axis. There are provided three or more adsorbers that are rotatable and arranged along the circumferential direction of a virtual arc centered on the axis. Each of the three or more adsorbers has a suction port that opens radially outward of the virtual arc, and is connected to an external device that sucks air to suck air from the suction port. The workpiece is adsorbed.

  This configuration is used in the transfer device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, thereby realizing the function described in the corresponding aspect.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a transfer device that can prevent the contents from being collected as a whole and hanging downward when transferring a workpiece that is a bag-shaped package. Furthermore, the workpiece | work adsorption | suction apparatus used for the said transfer apparatus is implement | achieved.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the transfer apparatus by one embodiment of this invention, (a) is a whole block diagram, (b) is a partial front view, (c) is a partial side view. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement of the transfer apparatus of FIG. 1 along the flow of time. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement of the transfer apparatus of FIG. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows the operation | movement according to the direction of a workpiece | work about the transfer apparatus of FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is an overall block diagram, (b) is a partial front view, and (c) is a partial side view. is there. The transfer device 101 is a device that transfers a workpiece, which is a bag-like package, by pick and place, and includes a workpiece suction device 1, a drive device 3, an imaging device 5, and a control device 7. The transfer device 101 is configured as an industrial robot as an example.

  The workpiece suction device 1 is a device that picks up a workpiece by suction. The workpiece suction device 1 has a suction unit 11 and sucks air from a suction port 13 provided at the end of the suction unit 11 to suck the workpiece. The drive device 3 is a device that operates the workpiece suction device 1. The drive device 3 moves the workpiece suction device 1 in a mode such as translation, turning, raising, lowering, or a combination thereof (for example, lowering while translation is a combination of translation and lowering), and around the rotation shaft 15. Rotate. The driving device 3 sucks air from the suction port 13 through an intake pipe (not shown) connected to the suction unit 11 of the workpiece suction device 1.

  The imaging device 5 includes, for example, a CCD camera (not shown), images a workpiece, and transmits a moving image obtained by imaging to the control device 7 in real time. The control device 7 controls the driving device 3 based on the moving image sent from the imaging device 5 so that the workpiece suction device 1 performs a predetermined operation while following the movement of the workpiece by a visual tracking function. The control device 7 has a computer that operates according to a program, for example. Since visual tracking is a well-known technique, its detailed description is omitted.

  The workpiece suction device 1 further includes a substantially fan-shaped frame 17 in front view that is rotatably supported around a rotation shaft 15 that is held horizontally. The frame 17 is a member that detachably fixes the adsorber 11, and includes a base side frame 19 and a terminal side frame 21 that are connected to each other. The base side frame 19 has a pair of front and back metal plates 23 and 25 and a peripheral metal plate 24 sandwiched between them and fixedly connecting them. The front and rear metal plates 23 and 25 have a substantially “L” shape when viewed from the front, and are supported by the rotation shaft 15 so as to be rotatable at a base end portion located at a bent portion of a substantially “L” shape. Yes. The peripheral metal plate 24 is connected to the end side edges of the pair of metal plates 23 and 25, and the other ends from one end of the front and back metal plates 23 and 25 along the circumferential direction around the rotation shaft 15. It is a bent strip-shaped metal plate extending continuously to the end. In the peripheral metal plate 24, openings 26 are formed at a total of six locations including three locations along the circumferential direction around the rotation shaft 15 and two locations along the rotation shaft 15.

  The distal frame 21 has a pair of front and rear metal plates 27 and 29 and a peripheral metal plate 28 that is sandwiched between them and fixedly connects them, similarly to the proximal frame 19. . The front and back metal plates 27 and 29 each have an arc-shaped portion 31 having an arc shape when viewed from the front, and a standing portion 33 extending upright from both ends of the arc-shaped portion 31 toward the rotary shaft 15. The terminal part of the standing part 33 is fastened to the front part of the base end side frame 19 and the terminal part of the back surface metal plates 23 and 25 by a bolt as an example. The peripheral surface metal plate 28 extends in an arc shape along the outer peripheral edge of the arc-shaped portion 31, and is opened at six locations facing the openings 26 of the peripheral surface metal plate 24 of the base end side frame 19. A portion 35 is formed.

  The adsorbers 11 are respectively inserted into the openings 26 and 35, and the adsorbers 11 are fixed to the peripheral metal plate 24. The adsorbing device 1 has a tubular shape with a cavity inside, and has a pad 37 that opens the adsorbing port 13 on the distal side and a connection end 39 to which an intake pipe (not shown) is connected on the proximal side. Have. In this manner, two six adsorbers 11 are arranged at three locations along the circumferential direction of the virtual arc centered on the horizontal rotation shaft 15. These adsorbers 11 are provided radially so that the adsorbing ports 13 open outward in the radial direction of the virtual arc.

  Each adsorber 11 is provided with an expandable / contractible bellows-like tube portion 41 between the pad 37 and the connection end portion 39. When air is sucked from the suction port 13 through the intake pipe (not shown) and the work is sucked by the pad 37, the bellows-like pipe portion 41 tends to contract. The pad 37 abuts against the edge of the opening 35 of the peripheral metal plate 28, so that excessive contraction of the bellows-like tube portion 41 is restrained, so that the pad 37 rotates along the peripheral metal plate 28. It will line up on the circular arc centering on the axis | shaft 15. FIG.

  The rotation shaft 15 is held by the support member 43, whereby the workpiece suction device 1 is rotatably supported by the support member 43. The support member 43 is attached to the tip of the robot arm 45. Further, the support member 43 is provided with an actuator (not shown) for rotating the workpiece suction device 1. Furthermore, at the base end portion of the intake pipe (not shown) whose end is connected to the connection end 39 of each adsorber 11, an intake pump (not shown) and the vacuum state in the pipe are destroyed. A valve (not shown) for releasing the suction is connected. The support member 43, the robot arm 45, the actuator (not shown), the intake pipe (not shown), the intake pump (not shown), and the valve (not shown) are driven to drive the workpiece suction device 1. Included in device 3. The control device 7 realizes a predetermined operation of the workpiece suction device 1 by controlling these mechanisms included in the drive device 3.

  FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram showing the operation of the transfer apparatus 101 along the flow of time. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the transfer apparatus 101. Hereinafter, the operation of the transfer apparatus 101 will be described with reference to these drawings. The transfer device 101 picks up a workpiece (transfer object) 53 that is a bag-like packaged product that is placed on a transfer line 51 of a production factory or the like and is successively transferred to a box (not shown). By placing (putting) inside, the operation of packing the bag-shaped package into the box is repeated. The operation of the workpiece suction device 1 described below is achieved by the control device 7 controlling the drive device 3.

  When the work is started by turning on the work start switch of the transfer device 101 or the like, first, as shown in FIG. 2A, the rotation position of the workpiece suction device 1 is set to the initial rotation position ( Step S1). Furthermore, the workpiece | work adsorption | suction apparatus 1 moves toward the workpiece | work 53 on the conveyance line 51 (step S2). The workpiece suction device 1 approaches the workpiece 53 from a position higher than the workpiece 53 (not necessarily directly above). The initial rotation position of the workpiece suction device 1 is that the suction device 11A located at the circumferential end of the suction devices 11 arranged in the circumferential direction around the rotation shaft 15 is in a vertical posture, and the suction port 13 is vertical. It is a position facing down. The movement of the workpiece suction device 1 following the movement of the workpiece 53 is achieved by a visual tracking function based on a moving image of the workpiece 53 captured by the imaging device 5. In the example of FIG. 2, the imaging device 5 is installed above the transport line 51 and captures an image of the work 53 that passes directly below. Even after the work 53 deviates from the viewing angle of the imaging device 5, the control device 7 performs an operation based on the image of the work 53 sent from the imaging device 5 and the speed of the transport line 51, so that an arbitrary time can be obtained. The position, direction, and shape of the work 53 on the transfer line 51 are grasped.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, one end of the upper surface of the work 53 (in the example of FIG. 2, the front side in the conveyance direction) is adsorbed by the adsorber 11A (step S3). At this time, the lowering of the workpiece suction device 1 stops.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2C and FIG. 2D, the workpiece suction device 1 rotates around the rotation shaft 15 and sucks the workpiece 53 in the order of the other suction devices 11B and 11C. Accordingly, the work 53 is wound up so that the work 53 is bent or bent in order from one end side (the front side in the transport direction in the example of FIG. 2) to the other end side (the rear side in the transport direction in the example of FIG. 2). At this time, the speed (the magnitude of which is equal to the peripheral speed at the position of the suction port 13 of the workpiece suction device 1) along the transfer line 51 added to the workpiece 53 as the workpiece suction device 1 rotates is set. A translation speed opposite to this speed (speed in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction in the example of FIG. 2) is added to the workpiece suction device 1 so as to cancel out. For this reason, the work 53 is smoothly wound up without sliding on the transport line 51 (step S4).

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2E, the workpiece suction device 1 moves to a predetermined position where the workpiece 53 is to be placed while holding the workpiece 53 (step S5). The predetermined position is, for example, a predetermined position in a box to be boxed, and changes, for example, as boxing progresses. The predetermined position is given in advance as data, for example, in a memory (not shown) read by the computer of the control device 7. In the process of movement, the workpiece suction device 1 sets a rotation position so that the workpiece 53 takes a desirable posture when placed at a predetermined position (see FIG. 2E). Thereafter, the work 53 is placed at a predetermined position by releasing the suction of the suction port 13 (step S6).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the transfer device 101 should be stopped due to the stop button being pressed or the like (step S7). If not (ie, NO), the operation proceeds to step S1. Returning, the operations of steps S1 to S7 are repeated, and if the operation should be stopped (that is, YES), the workpiece suction device 1 moves to a predetermined initial position (step S8). Thereafter, the operation ends.

  As described above, when the workpiece 53 that is a bag-shaped package is picked up, the workpiece 53 is wound up so as to bend or bend in order from one end side to the other side. Tension is applied to the surface (for example, the bottom surface of the work 53 in FIG. 2E). For this reason, the workpiece | work 53 can be transferred, suppressing that the content of the bag-shaped packaged goods which are the workpiece | work 53 gathers and hangs down below.

  In FIG. 2, in order to simplify the description, an example in which the direction in which the workpiece 53 is conveyed by the conveyance line 51 and the direction in which the workpiece suction device 1 is rotated and the workpiece 53 is wound up is shown. In general, the work 53 has a preferable winding direction depending on the type of the work 53. For example, if the shape of the workpiece 53 placed on the transport line 51 is a rectangular shape in plan view, the winding direction is a direction along the long side, that is, a direction from one short side to the other short side. It is usually desirable to increase the degree of bending. Based on the visual tracking function, the transfer device 101 can move the workpiece 53 along the desired winding direction specific to the workpiece 53 according to the orientation of the workpiece 53 on the transport line 51 in any orientation. Can be rolled up.

  FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram showing the operation of the transfer device 101 according to the direction of the workpiece 53. In FIG. 4, the work 53 placed on the transfer line 51 has a rectangular shape in plan view as an example. In the example of FIG. 4A, the work 53 is placed on the transport line 51 so that the long side is along the transport direction 55. In this case, the winding direction 57 of the workpiece 53 by the workpiece suction device 1 is the same as the conveyance direction 55 (same as illustrated in FIG. 2). In FIG. 4, the position of the suction unit 11 that sucks the work 53 in a superimposed manner is shown. In the example of FIG. 4B, the work 53 is placed on the transport line 51 so that the long side is orthogonal to the transport direction 55. In this case, the winding direction 57 of the workpiece 53 by the workpiece suction device 1 is orthogonal to the conveyance direction 55. Regardless of the orientation of the workpiece 53, the workpiece suction device 1 can be operated so that the winding direction 57 always coincides with the direction of the long side according to the orientation. Thereby, the work 53 can be placed on the transport line 51 without selecting the direction of the work 53. When the workpiece suction device 1 winds up the workpiece 53, a translation speed in the direction opposite to the circumferential speed is added to the workpiece suction device 1 so as to cancel the circumferential speed in the winding direction 57 of the workpiece suction device 1 (see FIG. 3 step S4). When the work suction device 1 winds up the work 53, the work suction device 1 also follows the movement of the work 53 on the transport line 51. Therefore, the translation speed in the direction opposite to the peripheral speed is set to the translation speed in the transport direction 55 of the transport line 51. , The vector will be translated at the added speed.

  The inventors of the present invention conduct a verification test by assembling the transfer device 101 illustrated in FIG. 1 and operating it as shown in FIGS. As a result, a good result was obtained that the bag-like packaged product as the work 53 was able to be transferred from the transport line 51 to a predetermined position while suppressing the sagging in the center.

  In the transfer device 101, the suction devices 11 of the workpiece suction device 1 are arranged at a total of six locations including three locations along the circumferential direction around the rotation shaft 15 and two locations along the axial direction of the rotation shaft 15. It was. On the other hand, in general, the adsorber 11 may be disposed at three or more locations along the circumferential direction around the rotation shaft 15 and at one or more locations along the axial direction of the rotation shaft 15. Here, “three or more locations along the circumferential direction” do not necessarily need to be arranged on a plane orthogonal to the rotation shaft 15. The “three or more adsorbers arranged along the circumferential direction of the virtual arc centered on the horizontal axis (or axis)” in the present invention has such significance.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Work adsorption | suction apparatus, 3 Drive apparatus, 5 Imaging apparatus, 7 Control apparatus, 11, 11A, 11B, 11C Adsorber, 13 Adsorption port, 15 Rotating shaft, 17 Frame, 19 Base side frame, 21 End side frame, 23 Front metal plate, 25 Back metal plate, 24 Circumferential metal plate, 26 Opening, 27 Front metal plate, 29 Rear metal plate, 28 Peripheral metal plate, 31 Arc-shaped portion, 33 Standing portion, 35 Opening portion, 37 Pad, 39 connection end, 41 bellows-like tube part, 43 support member, 45 robot arm, 51 transfer line, 53 workpiece (object to be transferred), 55 transfer direction, 57 winding direction, 101 transfer device.

Claims (5)

A transfer device for transferring a workpiece, which is a bag-shaped package, by pick and place,
A workpiece suction device that is movable and pivotable about a horizontal axis and picks up the workpiece by suction;
A driving device for operating the workpiece suction device;
A control device for controlling the drive device so that the workpiece suction device performs a predetermined operation,
The work suction device has three or more suction devices arranged along a circumferential direction of a virtual arc centered on the horizontal axis,
Each of the three or more suction devices has a suction port that opens radially outward of the virtual arc, and sucks the work by sucking air from the suction port,
In the control device, when the workpiece is picked up, the workpiece suction device rotates around the horizontal axis, whereby the three or more suction devices are sequentially moved from one end side to the other end side of the workpiece. A transfer device that controls the driving device so that the workpiece is bent or bent by starting suction and winding the workpiece.   When the workpiece suction device rotates so as to wind up the workpiece, the control device applies a reverse translation speed to the workpiece suction device so as to cancel the translation speed applied to the workpiece by the rotation. The transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the drive device is controlled to be added. An image pickup device for picking up an image of the work flowing on the transfer line;
The control device follows the movement of the workpiece on the conveyance line by a visual tracking function based on the moving image of the workpiece imaged by the imaging device, and the three or more suction devices are connected to the one end of the workpiece. The transfer device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein suction is started in order from the side to the other end side, and the driving device is controlled to wind up the workpiece.   According to the visual tracking function based on the moving image of the workpiece imaged by the imaging device, the control device determines the three or more suction devices in advance according to the orientation of the workpiece on the conveyance line. The transfer device according to claim 3, wherein suction is started in order from one end side to the other end side, and the drive device is controlled to wind up the workpiece. A workpiece suction device used as the workpiece suction device of the transfer device in the transfer device according to claim 1,
Comprising three or more adsorbers that are rotatable around an axis and arranged along a circumferential direction of a virtual arc centered on the axis;
Each of the three or more adsorbers has a suction port that opens radially outward of the virtual arc, and is connected to an external device that sucks air to suck the air from the suction port. A workpiece suction device that attracts workpieces.