JP6745047B2 - Lid closing system and lid closing method - Google Patents

Description

The disclosed embodiments relate to a lid closing system and a lid closing method.

Patent Document 1 describes a lid-applying device for a container with a lid. This lid-applying device for containers with lid separates the lids in a stacked state one by one, supplies the lids to the container transported to the work position, pressurizes the lids and fits the containers.

Japanese Patent No. 3016429

In the above-mentioned conventional technique, when the strength of the container is weak, the container may be deformed when the lid is pressed, and the lid may not be securely closed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a lid closing system and a lid closing method that can improve the certainty of lid closing.

In order to solve the above problems, according to one aspect of the present invention, in a state in which a conveying device that conveys a container and the container that is conveyed by the conveying device are floated from the conveying device while supporting a side portion. A holding device for holding the lid at the lid closing position, a lid closing device for closing the lid by pressing the lid on the container held by the holding device, and a position sensor for detecting the position of the container conveyed by the conveying device. And a controller for controlling the holding device, wherein the holding device moves a plurality of support members that support the side portion of the container and each of the plurality of support members independently in the horizontal direction. A plurality of horizontal actuators, a rotary actuator that rotates the plurality of support members around a vertical axis, and a vertical movement actuator that moves the plurality of support members in the vertical direction, the controller, from the position sensor Based on the output position data, the plurality of supporting members are moved to a position corresponding to a position or posture in which the container is displaced from the lid closing position, and the side portion of the container is displaced in the displaced position or posture. In order to hold the container in the lid closed position by moving the container by the amount of positional deviation from the lid closed position while supporting it as it is and lifting it from the transfer device and holding it in the floating state. A lid closing system for controlling a plurality of horizontal actuators, the rotary actuator, and the vertical movement actuator is applied.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lid closing method executed by a lid closing system, the method comprising conveying the containers, and detecting the position of the container to be conveyed, before Symbol vessel based on the detection result of the position, a plurality of support members the container for supporting the side of the container is moved to a position corresponding to the position or orientation deviated from the position closing the lid, the shift to the side of the container In such a state that the container is lifted and held in a floating state in a fixed position or posture, and in the floating state, the container is moved by a displacement amount from the lid closing position and is held in the lid closing position. each of the plurality of support members is moved horizontally independently and rotates the plurality of support members about a vertical axis, and and benzalkonium moving the plurality of supporting members vertically and held A lid closing method is applied, which comprises pressing the lid against the container to close the lid.

According to the present invention, the certainty of closing the lid can be improved.

It is explanatory drawing showing an example of the whole structure of the lid closing system which concerns on embodiment. It is a top view showing an example of composition of a container clamp device. It is a side view showing an example of composition of a container clamp device. It is a perspective view showing an example of composition of a container centering device. It is explanatory drawing showing an example of a lid|cover closing operation at the time of closing a lid|cover on a rectangular container of an outer fitting type. It is explanatory drawing showing an example of a lid|cover closing operation at the time of closing a lid|cover on a rectangular container of an outer fitting type. It is explanatory drawing showing an example of a lid|cover closing operation at the time of closing a lid|cover on a rectangular container of an outer fitting type. It is a flow chart showing an example of processing contents of a controller in a lid closing process. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the attitude|position of the food container after centering. It is explanatory drawing showing an example of operation|movement of a clamp arm etc. when adjusting the position of a clamp arm to the position corresponding to the attitude|position of a food container. It is explanatory drawing showing an example of operation|movement of a clamp arm etc. when hold|maintaining a food container by a clamp arm. It is explanatory drawing showing an example of operation|movement of a clamp arm etc. at the time of moving to a lid|cover closing position, correcting a positional shift of a food container with a clamp arm. It is explanatory drawing showing an example of a lid|cover closing operation|movement at the time of closing a lid|cover in an inner fitting type|mold circular container. It is explanatory drawing showing an example of a lid|cover closing operation|movement at the time of closing a lid|cover in an inner fitting type|mold circular container. It is explanatory drawing showing an example of a lid|cover closing operation|movement at the time of closing a lid|cover in an inner fitting type|mold circular container.

An embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the case where the lid is attached to the food container will be described as an example, but the type of container is not limited to the food container.

<1. Overall configuration of lid closing system>
First, an example of the overall configuration of the lid closing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the following description, the X-axis direction is the carrying direction of the container carrying conveyor 2, the Y-axis direction is the width direction of the container carrying conveyor 2 orthogonal to the carrying direction, and the Z-axis direction is orthogonal to the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. The vertical direction and the θ-axis direction are the rotation directions around the Z-axis.

As shown in FIG. 1, the lid closing system 1 includes a container carrying conveyor 2, a container clamping device 3, a lid closing robot 4, a container centering device 5, a container lighting device 6, a container position detection camera 7, and a container position detecting camera 7. It is provided with two lid supply devices 23, a lid transport device 22, a lid lighting device 24, a lid position detection camera 25, and a controller 12.

The container transfer conveyor 2 (an example of a transfer device) is a transfer conveyor having a conveyor belt 13 (an example of a belt). The container conveyor 2 conveys the food container 60 from the upstream side (upper side in FIG. 1) to the downstream side (lower side in FIG. 1). The container transport conveyor 2 includes a drive roller 14 at the downstream end in the transport direction and a driven roller 10 on the upstream side in the transport direction. A conveyor belt 13 is wound around the drive roller 14 and the driven roller 10.

A conveyor motor 15 that drives the container transport conveyor 2 is attached to the drive roller 14. The conveyor motor 15 is connected to the controller 12, and the container transport conveyor 2 is operated and stopped under the control of the controller 12. Note that the user may operate and stop the container transport conveyor 2 by manual operation instead of automatic control by the controller 12.

The container transport conveyor 2 has a roller conveyor section 18 on the upstream side of the portion where the conveyor belt 13 is driven. The roller conveyor unit 18 has a plurality of rollers 17 arranged in parallel. The plurality of rollers 17 are wider than the conveyor belt 13 (have a larger dimension in the Y-axis direction), and a power transmission belt (not shown) is wound around the driven rollers 10. As a result, the roller conveyor unit 18 is driven as the conveyor belt 13 rotates (the driven roller 10 rotates). That is, the conveyor belt 13 and the roller conveyor section 18 of the container conveyor 2 are driven by the single conveyor motor 15.

The container transporting conveyor 2 having the above configuration continuously transports a plurality of placed food containers 60 (an example of a container) in the transporting direction at predetermined intervals. At this time, the container transport conveyor 2 is continuously operated, not intermittently operated. In the food container 60, foods such as rice and prepared foods are spread on a food stacking line (not shown) installed on the upstream side of the container conveyor 2. The food container 60 includes a flange portion 61 around the upper end of the opening.

A container detection sensor 29 is installed at the inlet of the upstream end of the container conveyor 2 (the inlet of the roller conveyor 18). The container detection sensor 29 detects whether or not the food container 60 has been carried in at the entrance of the container conveyor 2. The detection result of the container detection sensor 29 is transmitted to the controller 12.

A container centering device 5 (an example of a width adjusting device) is installed above the roller conveyor unit 18. Note that, in FIG. 1, only two centering arms 51A and 51B of the container centering device 5 are shown for the sake of simplicity. The container centering device 5 is connected to the controller 12 and executes the centering operation of the food container 60 under the control of the controller 12. That is, the controller 12 drives the container centering device 5 when the food container 60 is detected at the entrance of the container conveyor 2. The container centering device 5 sandwiches the food container 60 on the roller conveyor section 18 from both sides with the two centering arms 51A and 51B, for example, at the center position (center line) in the width direction (Y-axis direction) of the container conveyor 2. The food container 60 is moved and centered. The configuration of the container centering device 5 will be described later in detail (see FIG. 4 described later).

The container lighting device 6 (an example of a lighting device) is installed below the conveyor belt 13 on the upstream side of the container clamp device 3. The container position detection camera 7 (an example of a position sensor) is installed above the container lighting device 6 with the conveyor belt 13 interposed therebetween. The container lighting device 6 is, for example, a panel lighting lamp that accommodates a plurality of LEDs, and is configured as a flat plate having a size that covers the width direction of the conveyor belt 13 of the container transport conveyor 2. The container lighting device 6 emits illumination light in the upward direction and illuminates the food container 60 conveyed by the container conveyer 2 from below via the light-transmitting conveyor belt 13. The container position detection camera 7 images from above the food container 60 illuminated by the container lighting device 6 via the conveyor belt 13, and detects the position of the food container 60, that is, the position of the food container 60 on the XY plane coordinates ( The position on the X axis and the position on the Y axis) and the rotation angle in the XY plane (the rotation angle θ around the Z axis) are detected. The detected position data of the food container 60 is transmitted to the controller 12.

The container clamp device 3 (an example of a holding device) is installed on the downstream side of the container lighting device 6. The container clamp device 3 includes two clamp arms 31A and 31B located on both sides of the container transport conveyor 2 in the width direction. Each of the clamp arms 31A and 31B is provided so as to be independently openable/closable in a direction in which the clamp arms 31A and 31B approach each other and rotatable about the Z axis. The container clamp device 3 is connected to the controller 12 and executes the holding operation of the food container 60 under the control of the controller 12.

The container clamp device 3 supports the side portion of the food container 60 conveyed by the container conveyor 2 by two clamp arms 31A and 31B. Here, the “side portion” is a portion of the food container 60 other than the bottom portion that comes into contact with the container transport conveyor 2, and includes, for example, a side surface and a flange portion. In the present embodiment, as an example of the side portion, the lower surface of the flange portion 61 of the food container 60 is supported by the two clamp arms 31A and 31B, and is lifted from the conveyor belt 13 to the lid closing position 21 by the lid closing robot 4. Hold. At the time of holding the clamp arms 31A and 31B, the controller 12 controls the clamp arms 31A and 31B to move to a position corresponding to the positional deviation from the lid closing position of the food container 60 and waits. Then, when the food container 60 is conveyed, the clamp arms 31A and 31B move in the direction of the food container 60 (closing direction) to support the flange portion 61 from below. At this time, the food container 60 is lifted by a predetermined amount from the conveyor belt 13 and floats. Then, the clamp arms 31A and 31B move the food container 60 to the lid closing position 21 and hold it while correcting the deviation amount from the lid closing position 21. The configuration of the container clamp device 3 will be described later in detail (see FIGS. 2 and 3 described later).

Each of the two lid supply devices 23 accommodates a plurality of lids 70 stacked in the vertical direction, and a lid tray 19 is arranged below the plurality of lids 70. The lid supply device 23 separates the lids 70 one by one from the lower ends of the stacked lids 70, and places the lids 70 on the lid tray 19 arranged below. A lid transport device 22 is installed between each lid supply device 23 and the lid receiving position 20 by the lid closing robot 4. The lid transporting device 22 transports the lid 70 placed on the lid tray 19 alternately from the two lid feeding devices 23 to the lid receiving position 20 by the lid closing robot 4 by moving the lid tray 19. By thus performing the work steps for supplying the lid 70 in parallel, the cycle time can be shortened.

A lid lighting device 24 is installed below the lid receiving position 20, and a lid position detection camera 25 is installed above the lid receiving position 20. The lid tray 19 is made of a light transmissive material. The lid illuminating device 24 is, for example, a panel illuminating lamp that accommodates a plurality of LEDs, and has a flat plate shape larger than the lid tray 19. The lid illuminator 24 emits illumination light in the upward direction and illuminates the lid 70 conveyed to the lid receiving position 20 from below via the lid tray 19. As a result, since it is not necessary to dispose the illumination above the cut-out lid 70, there is no restriction on the operation of the lid closing robot 4, and the lid 70 can be gripped by the shortest operation, so that the takt time can be shortened. You can The lid position detection camera 25 images the lid 70 illuminated by the illumination light from above, and positions the lid 70, that is, the position of the lid 70 on the XY plane coordinates (the position on the X axis and the position on the Y axis). ) And the rotation angle in the XY plane (rotation angle θ around the Z axis). The detected position data of the lid 70 is transmitted to the controller 12.

The lid closing robot 4 (an example of a lid closing device) is, for example, a vertical articulated robot or a horizontal articulated robot, and has a suction pad 4a at its tip. It should be noted that, although shown in a simplified manner in FIG. 1, the suction pad 4a has a shape that covers the lid 70 (see FIGS. 5 and 6 described later). The lid closing robot 4 is connected to the controller 12 and executes the lid closing operation under the control of the controller 12. That is, the lid closing robot 4 adsorbs and holds the lid 70 conveyed to the lid receiving position 20 by the adsorption pad 4a. Then, the lid closing robot 4 moves the lid 70 to the lid closing position 21 by pivoting in the horizontal direction, and presses and attaches the lid 70 to the food container 60 held at the lid closing position 21. When the lid 70 is transferred to the lid closing position 21, the lid closing robot 4 controls the position and the posture of the food container 60 in which the lid 70 is held at the lid closing position 21 by the control based on the position data of the controller 12. The lid 70 is moved to the lid closing position 21 while correcting the position of the lid 70 so that there is no deviation.

The configuration of the lid closing system 1 described above is an example, and the present invention is not limited to the above content. For example, in the lid closing system 1, two lid supply devices 23 are arranged, but three or more lid supply devices 23 may be installed to further reduce the cycle time, and particularly the cycle time is shortened. If it is unnecessary, the lid supply device 23 may be one. Further, the roller conveyor unit 18 may not be provided on the upstream side of the container transport conveyor 2, and may be configured by only a portion that drives the wide conveyor belt 13, for example.

<2. Configuration of container clamp device>
Next, an example of the configuration of the container clamp device will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the container clamp device 3 includes two clamp arms, namely, a first clamp arm 31A (an example of a supporting member) and a second clamp arm 31B (an example of a supporting member), and a first clamp arm 31A. And first and second horizontal actuators 32A and 32B for independently moving each of the second clamp arms 31A and 31B in the horizontal direction, and a rotary actuator for rotating the first and second clamp arms 31A and 31B around the Z axis. 33 and a vertical movement actuator 34 that moves the first and second clamp arms 31A and 31B in the Z-axis direction.

The first clamp arm 31A is arranged on one side in the width direction of the conveyor belt 13 (the left side in FIG. 2, the front side of the paper surface in FIG. 3), and the second clamp arm 31B is the other side on the width side of the conveyor belt 13. It is arranged on the side (the right side in FIG. 2, the back side of the paper surface in FIG. 3).

The first clamp arm 31A has a plate-shaped head portion 36 having a container support portion 37, and a leg portion 38 integrally provided at a lower portion of the head portion 36, and a mounting portion 38a of the leg portion 38 is first It is attached to the horizontal actuator 32A.

The head portion 36 is arranged on one side in the width direction of the conveyor belt 13 and above the track on the upper side of the conveyor belt 13, and a concave portion 36a is formed on the conveyor belt 13 side. On the upper surface of the head portion 36, the container support portion 37 is provided along the edge of the recess 36a. The container support portion 37 is a protrusion portion that protrudes upward from the head portion 36. The recess 36a and the container support portion 37 correspond to the shape of the food container 60 to be supported, and in this example, are formed in a rectangular shape corresponding to the rectangular food container 60, for example. The leg portion 38 has, at its lower end, an attachment portion 38a arranged below the lower track of the conveyor belt 13, and the first clamp arm 31A is attached to the first horizontal actuator 32A via the attachment portion 38a. Has been.

The first horizontal actuator 32A includes a guide rail 40 attached to the upper surface of the actuator base 39, a slider 41 movably mounted along the guide rail 40, and a servo motor 42 for moving the slider 41 in a substantially horizontal direction. Have and. The attachment portion 38a of the first clamp arm 31A is fixed to the slider 41.

The second clamp arm 31B has a configuration in which the first clamp arm 31A is rotated by 180° around a rotation axis AX described later. That is, the second clamp arm 31B has a plate-shaped head portion 36 having the container support portion 37, and a leg portion 38 integrally provided on the lower portion of the head portion 36, and the mounting portion 38a of the leg portion 38 is It is attached to the second horizontal actuator 32B.

The head portion 36 is arranged on the other side in the width direction of the conveyor belt 13 and above the track on the upper side of the conveyor belt 13, and a recess 37a is formed on the conveyor belt 13 side. The container support portion 37 is provided on the upper surface of the head portion 36 along the edge of the recess 37a. The container support portion 37 is a protrusion portion that protrudes upward from the head portion 36. The recess 37a and the container support portion 37 correspond to the shape of the food container 60 to be supported, and in this example, are formed in a rectangular shape corresponding to the rectangular food container 60, for example. The leg portion 38 has, at its lower end, an attachment portion 38a arranged below the lower track of the conveyor belt 13, and the second clamp arm 31B is attached to the second horizontal actuator 32B via the attachment portion 38a. Has been.

The second horizontal actuator 32B has an arrangement configuration in which the first horizontal actuator 32A is rotated 180° around the rotation axis AX. That is, the second horizontal actuator 32B includes a guide rail 40 attached to the upper surface of the actuator base 39, a slider 41 movably mounted along the guide rail 40, and a servo for moving the slider 41 in a substantially horizontal direction. And a motor 42. The mounting portion 38a of the second clamp arm 31B is fixed to the slider 41.

The rotary actuator 33 and the vertical movement actuator 34 are arranged below the actuator base 39.

The vertical movement actuator 34 includes a guide rail 44 attached to a frame (not shown) of the container clamp device 3, a slider 45 movably mounted along the guide rail 44, and a linear movement attached to a lower end of the guide rail 44. It has a mechanism 46 and a servo motor 47 that moves the slider 45 in a substantially vertical direction (Z-axis direction) via the linear motion mechanism 46.

The rotary actuator 33 includes a support 48 attached to the slider 45 of the vertical movement actuator 34, a speed reducer 49 attached to the lower end of the support 48, a servo motor 50 attached to the lower end of the reducer 49, and a support. It has a base mounting portion 49 a that is disposed above the body 48 and that is connected to the output shaft of the speed reducer 49. The actuator base 39 is attached to the base attachment portion 49a.

The first horizontal actuator 32A moves the slider 41 along the guide rail 40 by the servo motor 42, so that the first clamp arm 31A attached to the slider 41 is moved in a substantially horizontal direction independently of the second clamp arm 31B. Move to. Similarly, the second horizontal actuator 32B moves the slider 41 along the guide rail 40 by the servo motor 42, so that the second clamp arm 31B attached to the slider 41 is independent of the first clamp arm 31A. Move it in a substantially horizontal direction. As a result, the first clamp arm 31A and the second clamp arm 31B can be opened and closed independently of each other.

Further, the vertical movement actuator 34 moves the slider 45 in the vertical direction along the guide rail 44 via the linear movement mechanism 46 by the servo motor 47, and vertically moves the rotary actuator 33. As a result, the actuator base 39 attached to the rotary actuator 33, the first horizontal actuator 32A, the second horizontal actuator 32B, the first clamp arm 31A, the second clamp arm 31B, etc. all move vertically.

Further, the rotary actuator 33 rotates the base attachment portion 49a via the speed reducer 49 by the servomotor 50, and rotates the actuator base 39 around the rotation axis AX (an example of a vertical axis) along the Z-axis direction. As a result, the first horizontal actuator 32A, the second horizontal actuator 32B, the first clamp arm 31A, and the second clamp arm 31B attached to the actuator base 39 all rotate about the rotation axis AX.

With the above configuration, the container clamp device 3 operates the first and second clamp arms 31A and 31B independently in the horizontal direction (XY plane direction), and also in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) and rotation direction. It can be operated in the (θ-axis direction). Thus, even if the conveyed food container 60 is misaligned, the food container 60 is held at the misaligned position, and the food container 60 is moved to the lid closing position 21 to adjust the position. You can

A plurality of types of the first clamp arm 31A and the second clamp arm 31B are prepared according to the shape and size of the food container 60 and are configured to be replaceable. At that time, each clamp arm 31A, 31B may have a structure in which a plurality of members are connected, and for example, only the head portion 36 may be replaceable.

<3. Configuration of container centering device>
Next, an example of the configuration of the container centering device will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, the container centering device 5 includes first and second centering arms 51A and 51B, and first and second opening/closing actuators that horizontally move each of the first and second centering arms 51A and 51B. 52A and 52B, a feed belt 53, and a feed belt servomotor 54.

The first opening/closing actuator 52A and the second opening/closing actuator 52B are installed on a substantially horizontal support plate 55 attached to a frame (not shown) of the container centering device 5.

The first centering arm 51A (an example of an arm member) is attached to the upper surface of the slider 57 of the first opening/closing actuator 52A and is attached to the lower surface of the mounting portion 90 and the mounting portion 90 projecting to the upstream side in the transport direction of the support plate 55. And has a support portion 91 extending in the Z-axis direction and a lower end portion 93 attached to the lower portion of the support portion 91. The lower end portion 93 has a pulley support portion 92 formed by being bent toward the inside (the side of the second centering arm 51B). The pulley supporting portion 92 is a substantially rectangular plate-like member extending in the X-axis direction, and two pulleys 94 are attached to the lower surfaces of both ends in the transport direction (only the pulley on the downstream side in FIG. 4). (Shown). A feed belt 53 that contacts the food container 60 is wound around the two pulleys 94. The feed belt servomotor 54 is installed on a support plate 95 attached to the outer surface of the support portion 91. The feed belt 53 is driven by the feed belt servomotor 54, and rotates so that the track inside the feed belt 53 (on the side of the second centering arm 51B) moves in the same direction as the transport direction of the container transport conveyor 2 and at the same speed. .. The feed belt 53 may be made of a material having a large friction such as a rubber material, or may be made of a material having a small friction such as a resin or a metal.

The first opening/closing actuator 52A includes a guide rail 56 installed along the Y-axis direction on the upper surface of the support plate 55 at a position closer to one side (left side in FIG. 4) in the width direction, and a slider 57 attached to the guide rail 56. And a servo motor 58 that drives the slider 57 via the speed reducer 59. The first opening/closing actuator 52A moves the slider 57 along the guide rail 56 by the servo motor 58, thereby moving the first centering arm 51A in the Y-axis direction.

The second centering arm 51B (an example of an arm member) is attached to the upper surface of the slider 57 of the second opening/closing actuator 52B, and is attached to the lower surface of the attaching portion 90 and the attaching portion 90 projecting to the downstream side of the support plate 55 in the transport direction. And has a support portion 91 extending in the Z-axis direction and a lower end portion 93 attached to the lower portion of the support portion 91. The lower end portion 93 has a pulley support portion 92 that is formed by being bent toward the inside (the first centering arm 51A side). The pulley supporting portion 92 is a substantially rectangular plate-shaped member extending in the X-axis direction, and pulleys 94 are attached to the lower surfaces of both ends in the transport direction (only the downstream pulley is shown in FIG. 4). .. A feed belt 53 that contacts the food container 60 is wound around the two pulleys 94. The feed belt servomotor 54 is installed on a support plate 95 attached to the outer surface of the support portion 91. The feed belt 53 is driven by the feed belt servomotor 54, and rotates so that the track inside the feed belt 53 (on the side of the first centering arm 51A) moves in the same direction as the transport direction of the container transport conveyor 2 and at the same speed. ..

The second opening/closing actuator 52B has a configuration in which the first opening/closing actuator 52A is rotated about 180 degrees around the Z axis. The second opening/closing actuator 52B includes a guide rail 56 installed along the Y-axis direction on the upper surface of the support plate 55 on the other side in the width direction (on the right side in FIG. 4), and a slider 57 mounted on the guide rail 56. And a servo motor 58 that drives the slider 57 via the speed reducer 59. The second opening/closing actuator 52B moves the slider 57 along the guide rail 56 by the servo motor 58, thereby moving the second centering arm 51B in the Y-axis direction.

With the above configuration, the container centering device 5 operates the first centering arm 51A and the second centering arm 51B independently in the Y-axis direction. Accordingly, the food container 60 carried in from the upstream side to the entrance of the container transport conveyor 2 is sandwiched from both sides by the first centering arm 51A and the second centering arm 51B, and the widthwise position of the food container 60 is set to the position of the container transport conveyor 2. The food container 60 can be width-aligned so as to be substantially aligned with a desired position in the width direction (for example, the center line). At that time, since the feed belt 53 that comes into contact with the food container 60 is driven by the feed belt servomotor 54 at a speed substantially equal to that of the container carrying conveyor 2 (roller conveyor unit 18), the carrying speed of the food container 60 is increased. It can be prevented from lowering.

The configuration of the container centering device 5 described above is an example, and the present invention is not limited to the above content. For example, although the first centering arm 51A and the second centering arm 51B can be independently driven in the above description, they may be opened and closed by a single servo motor by a rack and a pinion mechanism, for example. However, by making both arms independently driveable by using the two servo motors 58 as in the present embodiment, the width-shifting position can be changed and adjusted afterwards.

<4. Lid closing operation when the lid is closed on the outer fitting type rectangular container>
Next, with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7, an example of the lid closing operation when the lid is closed on the outer fitting type rectangular container will be described.

As shown in FIG. 5, the food container 60, which is a rectangular container, for example, has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped container body 62, and a flange portion 61 is provided around the upper end of the opening of the container body 62. The side portion 69 of the food container 60 includes the side surface of the container body 62 and the flange portion 61. As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 5, the flange portion 61 includes a flat portion 63 that projects substantially horizontally to the outside of the container body 62, and a protrusion 64 that is bent downward from the tip of the flat portion 63 at a substantially right angle. And a concave portion 65 is formed on the lower surface of the flange portion 61. On the other hand, the lid 70 has a substantially quadrangular truncated pyramid-shaped lid body 72 corresponding to the rectangular shape of the food container 60, and a flange portion 71 is provided around the lower end of the opening of the lid body 72. As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 5, the flange portion 71 includes a flat portion 73 that protrudes substantially horizontally outside the lid body 72, and a projection 74 that is bent downward from the tip of the flat portion 73 at a substantially right angle. Have.

The suction pad 4 a has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped-shaped pad body 80 corresponding to the rectangular shape of the flange portion 71 of the lid 70, and a suction pipe 82 attached to the upper surface of the pad body 80 via a mounting plate 81. The pad main body 80 has a substantially rectangular tubular frame-shaped pressing portion 83 that comes into contact with the upper surface of the flat portion 73 of the flange portion 71 of the lid 70, and the inside that becomes negative pressure by being sucked through the suction pipe 82. And a space 84. The suction pipe 82 above the pad body 80 communicates with the internal space 84. The lid closing robot 4 covers the suction pad 4a on the lid 70 so that the lower end of the pressing portion 83 is brought into contact with the upper surface of the flat portion 73 of the flange portion 71, and the inside space 84 is made a negative pressure via the suction pipe 82. By doing so, as shown in FIG. 6, the lid 70 is sucked and held by the suction pad 4a in a state where the lid body 72 is housed in the pad body 80.

A plurality of types of suction pads 4a are prepared according to the shape and size of the lid 70, and are configured to be replaceable with the lid closing robot 4.

In the first and second clamp arms 31A and 31B of the container clamp device 3, as described above, the recess 36a of the head portion 36 and the container support portion 37 are formed in a rectangular shape corresponding to the rectangular shape of the food container 60. There is. When holding the food container 60, as shown in FIG. 5, the head portions 36 of the clamp arms 31A and 31B ascend while sandwiching the container body 62 from both sides. As a result, as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 6, the container support portion 37 fits into the recess 65 of the flange portion 61 of the food container 60, and the container support portion 37 supports the flat portion 63 of the flange portion 61. , The food container 60 is held in a state of being floated from the conveyor belt 13.

Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the lid 70 sucked by the suction pad 4a by the lid closing robot 4 is pressed against the food container 60 held by the clamp arms 31A and 31B. At this time, the flange portions 61 and 71 are sandwiched by the pressing portion 83 of the suction pad 4a and the container support portion 37 of the clamp arms 31A and 31B. As a result, as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 7, the flat portion 73 of the flange portion 71 of the lid 70 is superposed on the upper surface of the flat portion 63 of the flange portion 61 of the food container 60, and the protrusion of the flange portion 71 of the lid 70 is formed. 74 is superposed on the outer surface of the protrusion 64 of the flange portion 61 of the food container 60, and the lid 70 is attached to the food container 60 in a so-called outer fitting state.

<5. Processing contents of the controller in the lid closing process>
Next, with reference to FIG. 8, an example of processing contents executed by the controller 12 in the lid closing step will be described.

In step S10, the controller 12 drives the conveyor motor 15 to drive the container transport conveyor 2. After that, the container transporting conveyor 2 is continuously operated, and the operation is continued while the food container 60 is held by the container clamp device 3 in steps S60 to S80 described later.

In step S20, the controller 12 determines whether the container detection sensor 29 has detected the food container 60 at the entrance of the container conveyor 2. When the food container 60 is not detected (step S20: NO), step S20 is repeated until the food container 60 is detected. When the food container 60 is detected (step S20: YES), the process proceeds to step S30.

In step S30, the controller 12 controls the container centering device 5 and causes the first and second centering arms 51A and 51B to shift the width of the food container 60 so as to substantially coincide with, for example, the center line of the container conveyor 2. At the same time, the feed belt 53 is driven at a speed substantially equal to the transport speed of the container transport conveyor 2 to prevent a decrease in the transport speed of the food container 60 due to centering.

In step S40, the controller 12 takes an image of the food container 60 from above with the container position detection camera 7 and determines the position of the food container 60 (position on the X axis, position on the Y axis and rotation angle θ about the Z axis). To detect.

In step S50, the controller 12 controls the container clamp device 3 based on the detection position of the food container 60, and sets the positions of the first and second clamp arms 31A and 31B of the container clamp device 3 to the position and orientation of the food container 60. Adjust to the position corresponding to. That is, the clamp posture is created according to the positional deviation and the inclined posture of the food container 60.

9A and 9B show an example of the operation at this time. As shown in FIG. 9A, the food container 60 is conveyed in a posture in which it is displaced from the center line of the conveyor belt 13 and is also inclined in the θ axis direction. Note that, for ease of explanation, the positional deviation is emphasized in FIGS. 9A to 9C. Then, as shown in FIG. 9B, the positions of the first and second clamp arms 31A and 31B are adjusted to positions corresponding to the displaced position and posture of the food container 60.

In step S60, the controller 12 controls the container clamp device 3 to move the first and second clamp arms 31A and 31B toward the food container 60 to support the flange portion 61 of the food container 60, and the food container 60. Is lifted from the container transport conveyor 2 and held in a floating state with the posture deviated. FIG. 9C shows an example of the operation of the clamp arms 31A, 31B and the like at this time. Further, the controller 12 controls the container clamp device 3 to move the food container 60 held by the clamp arms 31A and 31B to the lid closing position 21. This corrects the misalignment of the food container 60. FIG. 9D shows an example of the operation of the clamp arms 31A, 31B and the like at this time.

In step S70, the controller 12 takes an image of the lid 70 from above with the lid position detection camera 25, and detects the position of the lid 70 (the position on the X axis, the position on the Y axis, and the rotation angle θ about the Z axis). ..

In step S80, the controller 12 controls the lid closing robot 4 based on the detection position of the lid 70, sucks the lid 70 at the lid receiving position 20 with the suction pad 4a, and sucks the sucked lid 70 from the lid receiving position 20. The lid 70 is transferred to the closing position 21, and the lid 70 is pressed against the food container 60 held at the lid closing position 21 by the clamp arms 31A and 31B to close the lid 70 on the food container 60. If the lid 70 is displaced at the lid receiving position 20 (position on the X axis, position on the Y axis and rotation angle θ about the Z axis), the lid closing robot 4 moves the lid 70 to the lid receiving position. The positional deviation is corrected during the transfer from 20 to the lid closing position 21, and the food container 60 is held at the lid closing position 21 in the position and posture corresponding to the food container 60.

In step S90, the controller 12 controls the container clamp device 3, opens the clamp arms 31A and 31B to release the holding of the food container 60, and transfers the food container 60 with the lid 70 to the conveyor belt of the container conveyor 2. 13 Return to top. As a result, the food container 60 to which the lid 70 is attached is carried out from the container outlet of the container conveyor 2. This completes this flow.

Note that the above-described processing steps are examples, and at least some of the above steps may be deleted or changed, or steps other than the above may be added. For example, when the user manually operates the container transport conveyor 2, the step S10 may be omitted.

<6. Effect of Embodiment>
As described above, the lid closing system 1 according to the present embodiment closes the lid of the container transporting conveyor 2 that transports the food container 60 and the food container 60 transported by the container transporting conveyor 2 while supporting the side portion 69. The container clamping device 3 is held at the position 21, and the lid closing robot 4 is configured to press the lid 70 against the food container 60 held by the container clamping device 3 to close the lid. This brings about the following effects.

That is, according to the present embodiment, with the side portion 69 of the food container 60 being supported, the lid 70 is pressed against the food container 60 to close the lid. By supporting the side portion 69 of the food container 60, it is possible to prevent a compressive force from acting on the container body 62 when the lid 62 is pressed. Thereby, even if the strength of the food container 60 is weak, it is possible to prevent the container from being deformed, so that it is possible to improve the certainty of closing the lid.

Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the food container 60 includes the flange portion 61, and the container clamp device 3 supports the lower surface of the flange portion 61. Generally, since the flange portion 61 is provided on the upper end of the container body 62, supporting the flange portion 61 enhances the effect of preventing the compressive force from acting on the container body 62 when the lid 62 is pressed. You can

Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the container clamp device 3 holds the food container 60 in a state of being floated from the container transfer conveyor 2, and the container transfer conveyor 2 holds the food container 60 while the container clamp device 3 holds the food container 60. Will continue to drive.

Thereby, it is not necessary to intermittently operate the container transport conveyor 2, and the container transport conveyor 2 can be continuously operated at a constant speed. As a result, the cycle time of the lid closing process can be shortened, and the device configuration (driving with a single motor) and control of the container conveyor 2 can be simplified.

Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the lid closing system 1 is based on the container position detection camera 7 that detects the position of the food container 60 conveyed by the container conveyor 2 and the position data output from the container position detection camera 7. The controller 12 controls the container clamp device 3 so as to move the food container 60 by the amount of displacement from the lid closing position 21 and hold the food container 60 at the lid closing position 21. This brings about the following effects.

That is, in the pre-process of the lid-closing process performed by the lid-closing system 1, for example, a process of accommodating the food of the content in the food container 60 is executed, and the position of the food container 60 is predetermined in the pre-process. The position (the position in the width direction corresponding to the lid closing position 21) may be displaced. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to correct the positional deviation by the container clamp device 3, move the food container 60 to the preset lid closing position 21, and then hold it. As a result, the positioning accuracy of the food container 60 can be improved, and the reliability of lid closure can be improved. Further, since the lid closing robot 4 can always perform the lid closing at the constant lid closing position 21, the cycle time of the lid closing process can be shortened.

Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the container clamp device 3 moves the two clamp arms 31A and 31B supporting the flange portion 61 of the food container 60 and the clamp arms 31A and 31B independently in the horizontal direction. Based on the position data, the controller 12 has two horizontal actuators 32A and 32B, and the two horizontal actuators 32A and 32B move the food container 60 from the lid closing position 21 by a horizontal displacement amount. To control. This brings about the following effects.

That is, according to the present embodiment, even if the food container 60 is displaced in the horizontal direction (X-axis, Y-axis direction) in the previous step, the horizontal actuators 32A and 32B correct the displacement and then cover the lid. It can be held in the closed position 21. As a result, the positioning accuracy of the food container 60 can be improved, and the reliability of lid closure can be improved. Further, since the lid closing robot 4 can always perform the lid closing at a fixed lid closing position, the cycle time of the lid closing process can be shortened.

Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the container clamp device 3 has the rotary actuator 33 that rotates the two clamp arms 31A and 31B about the rotation axis AX, and the controller 12 moves the food container 60 based on the position data. The rotary actuator 33 is controlled so that the rotary actuator 33 is moved from the lid closing position 21 in the rotational direction. This brings about the following effects.

That is, according to the present embodiment, even when the food container 60 is displaced in the rotation direction (θ-axis direction) in the previous process, the rotation actuator 33 corrects the displacement and holds the food container 60 at the lid closing position 21. can do. As a result, the positioning accuracy of the food container 60 can be improved, and the reliability of lid closure can be improved. Further, since the lid closing robot 4 can always perform the lid closing at a constant lid closing position and posture, the cycle time of the lid closing process can be shortened.

Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the lid closing system 1 has the container lighting device 6 that illuminates the food container 60 carried by the container carrying conveyor 2 from below, and the container carrying conveyor 2 emits light from the container lighting device 7. The container position detection camera 7 is a transport conveyor provided with a light-transmitting conveyor belt 13 that transmits light. The container position detection camera 7 is a camera that images the food container 60 illuminated by the container lighting device 6 via the conveyor belt 13 from above. This brings about the following effects.

That is, according to the present embodiment, by shining light from behind the food container 60 and capturing an image with the camera 7, it is possible to clarify the contour not only when the food container 60 is opaque but also when the food container 60 is transparent. It is possible (so-called transmitted light photography). Thereby, the detection accuracy of the position of the food container 60 can be improved. Further, since it is not necessary to arrange the illumination above the container transport conveyor 2, there is no restriction on the operation of the lid closing robot 4, and the lid 70 can be transferred or the lid can be closed in the shortest operation, which shortens the takt time. can do.

Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the lid closing system 1 is arranged on the upstream side of the container clamp device 3 in the transport direction of the container transport conveyor 2, and the food container 60 transported by the container transport conveyor 2 is perpendicular to the transport direction. It has a container centering device 5 that moves it toward a position corresponding to the lid closing position 21 in various width directions. This brings about the following effects.

That is, according to the present embodiment, the widthwise position of the food container 60 is adjusted in advance by the upstream container centering device 5 so that the displacement can be corrected by the container clamping device 3. be able to. That is, the position of the food container 60 can be roughly adjusted by the container centering device 5 and finely adjusted by the container clamping device 3. As a result, the positioning time during fine adjustment of the food container 60 is shortened, and the tact time can be shortened.

Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the container centering device 5 is arranged to face each other in the width direction, and opens and closes the pair of centering arms 51A and 51B sandwiching the food container 60 and the pair of centering arms 51A and 51B in the width direction. The opening/closing actuators 52A and 52B and the feed belt 53 that is disposed at the contact portion between the pair of centering arms 51A and 51B and the food container 60 and is circulated and driven at the same transport speed as the container transport conveyor 2 are provided. This brings about the following effects.

That is, in the container centering device 5, the food container 60 being conveyed is brought into contact with the pair of centering arms 51A and 51B so as to be sandwiched between them and the food container 60 is moved to a predetermined position. At this time, if the movement of the food container 60 is stopped or the conveying speed is reduced due to the friction with the centering arms 51A and 51B, the cycle time of the lid closing process is extended, and the food container 60 on the upstream side collides later. This may lead to problems such as

According to the present embodiment, since the feed belt 53 that is circulated and driven at the same transport speed as the container transport conveyor 2 is provided at the contact portion of the centering arms 51A and 51B with the food container 60, the transport speed of the food container 60 is affected. The food container 60 can be moved to a predetermined width direction position without giving. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem such as an extension of the cycle time of the lid closing process and a rearward collision of the food container 60 on the upstream side.

Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the container clamp device 3 has two clamp arms 31A and 31B that support the flange portion 61 of the food container 60, and the clamp arms 31A and 31B have the shape of the food container 60. It is configured to be replaceable accordingly.

According to this embodiment, by exchanging the clamp arms 31A and 31B of the container clamp device 3 according to the shape of the food container 60, it is possible to flexibly cope with containers of various shapes.

Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the lid closing robot 4 is provided with the suction pad 4a for adsorbing the lid 70 at the tip thereof, and transfers the lid 70 supplied to the lid receiving position 20 to the lid closing position 21 to perform the lid closing. It is an articulated robot, and the suction pad 4a is configured to be replaceable according to the shape of the lid 70.

According to the present embodiment, since the articulated lid closing robot 4 is used as the lid closing device, the transfer path of the lid 70 and the degree of freedom of positioning can be increased by increasing the number of axes as necessary. .. Further, since the lid 70 is sucked by the suction pad 4a and pressed against the food container 60, the lid 70 can be applied to either an outer fitting type container or an inner fitting type container (see FIGS. 10 and 11 described later). it can. Furthermore, by exchanging the suction pad 4a of the lid closing robot 4 according to the shape of the lid 70, it is possible to flexibly deal with lids of various shapes.

<7. Modification>
It should be noted that the disclosed embodiment is not limited to the above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and technical idea thereof. Hereinafter, such a modified example will be described.

(7-1. When closing the lid on the inner fitting type circular container)
In the above embodiment, the case where the lid 70 is closed on the outer fitting type rectangular food container 60 has been described as an example, but the present invention, the clamp arms 31A, 31B of the container clamping device 3 according to the shape of the food container 60. Also, by exchanging the suction pad 4a of the lid closing robot 4, it is possible to flexibly cope with food containers of various shapes. In this modification, an example of the lid closing operation when the lid is closed on the inner fitting type circular container will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12.

As shown in FIG. 10, the food container 160, which is, for example, a circular container, has a substantially cylindrical container body 162, and a flange portion 161 is provided around the upper end of the opening of the container body 162. The side portion 169 of the food container 160 includes the side surface of the container body 162 and the flange portion 161. As shown in the enlarged view in FIG. 10, the flange portion 161 is formed by bending a first flat portion 163 protruding substantially horizontally outward of the container body 162 and a substantially flat right angle from the tip of the first flat portion 163 upward. The vertical portion 164, the second flat portion 165 that protrudes substantially horizontally outward from the tip of the vertical portion 164, and the protrusion 166 that is bent downward at a substantially right angle from the tip of the second flat portion 165. Therefore, a concave portion 167 is formed on the lower surface of the flange portion 161. On the other hand, the lid 170 has a substantially frustoconical lid body 172 corresponding to the circular shape of the food container 160, and a flange portion 171 is provided around the lower end of the opening of the lid body 172. As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 10, the flange portion 171 includes a flat portion 173 that projects substantially horizontally to the outside of the lid body 172, and a vertical portion 174 that is bent upward from the tip of the flat portion 173 at a substantially right angle. And a protrusion 175 that protrudes substantially horizontally outward from the tip of the vertical portion 174.

The suction pad 104 a has a substantially cylindrical body 180 corresponding to the circular shape of the flange portion 171 of the lid 170, and a suction pipe 182 attached to the upper surface of the pad body 180 via a mounting plate 181. The pad main body 180 has a substantially cylindrical frame-shaped pressing portion 183 that comes into contact with the upper surface of the flat portion 173 of the flange portion 171 of the lid 170, and an internal space that becomes negative pressure by being sucked through the suction pipe 182. 184 and. The suction pipe 182 above the pad body 180 communicates with the internal space 184. The lid closing robot 4 covers the suction pad 104a on the lid 170 and brings the lower end of the pressing portion 183 into contact with the upper surface of the flat portion 173 of the flange portion 171 to make the inside space 184 into a negative pressure via the suction pipe 182. By doing so, as shown in FIG. 11, the lid 170 is sucked and held by the suction pad 104a in a state where the lid body 172 is housed in the pad body 180.

In the first and second clamp arms 131A and 131B of the container clamp device 3, the recess 136a of the head 136 and the container support 137 are formed in an arc shape corresponding to the circular shape of the food container 160. When holding the food container 160, as shown in FIG. 10, the head portions 136 of the clamp arms 131A and 131B ascend while sandwiching the container body 162 from both sides. As a result, as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 11, the container support portion 137 is fitted in the recess 167 of the flange portion 161 of the food container 160, and the container support portion 137 attaches the first flat portion 163 of the flange portion 161. The food container 160 is supported and held in a state of being floated from the conveyor belt 13.

Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the lid closing robot 4 pushes the lid 170 sucked by the suction pad 104a against the food container 160 held by the clamp arms 131A and 131B. At this time, the flange portions 161 and 171 are sandwiched by the pressing portion 183 of the suction pad 104a and the container support portion 137 of the clamp arms 131A and 131B. As a result, as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 12, the flat portion 173 of the flange portion 171 of the lid 170 is superposed on the upper surface of the first flat portion 163 of the flange portion 161 of the food container 160, and the flange portion 171 of the lid 170 is placed. The vertical portion 174 of is overlapped with the vertical portion 164 of the flange portion 161 of the food container 160, and the protrusion 175 of the flange portion 171 of the lid 170 is overlapped with the upper surface of the second flat portion 165 of the flange portion 161 of the food container 160. The lid 170 is attached to the food container 160 in a so-called inner fitting state.

As described above, the present invention can be applied to the case where the lid 170 is closed on the inner fitting type container 160. The inner-fitting type container is used as a container compatible with a microwave oven, because water droplets generated when the food containing the contents is heated in a microwave oven are unlikely to leak to the outside of the container. According to this modification, the reliability of lid closing can be improved even when such a container is used.

(7-2. Others)
In the above, the articulated robot is used as the lid closing device, but a dedicated machine other than the robot may be used. Further, in the above, the positional displacement of the food container 60 is corrected by the container clamp device 3, but the position of the transfer destination of the lid 70 is corrected by the lid closing robot 4 side without correcting by the container clamp device 3. Good. In this case, since the rotary actuator 33 is unnecessary and the horizontal actuators 32A and 32B can be uniaxial, the container clamp device 3 can be simplified.

In addition, in the above description, when there is a description such as “vertical”, “parallel”, “plane”, etc., the description is not strict. That is, the terms “vertical”, “parallel”, and “planar” mean “substantially vertical”, “substantially parallel”, and “substantially planar” because of design tolerances and manufacturing tolerances. ..

Further, in the above description, when there is a description such as “same”, “same”, “equal” or “different” in terms of external dimensions, size, shape, position, etc., the description is not strict. That is, the terms “identical”, “same”, “equal”, and “different” allow for design tolerances and manufacturing errors, and are “substantially the same”, “substantially the same”, and “substantially the same”. It means "substantially different".

Besides the above, the methods according to the above-described embodiments may be appropriately combined and used. In addition, although not illustrated one by one, the above-described embodiment is implemented with various modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

1 Lid closing system 2 Container transport conveyor (an example of transport device)
3 Container clamp device (an example of holding device)
4 Lid closing robot (an example of lid closing device)
4a Suction pad 5 Container centering device (an example of width-shifting device)
6 Container lighting device (an example of lighting device)
7 Container position detection camera (an example of position sensor)
12 controller 13 conveyor belt (an example of belt)
21 lid closing position 31A first clamp arm (an example of a supporting member)
31B 2nd clamp arm (an example of a support member)
32A 1st horizontal actuator 32B 2nd horizontal actuator 33 Rotation actuator 51A 1st centering arm (an example of an arm member)
51B Second centering arm (an example of arm member)
52A First opening/closing actuator 52B Second opening/closing actuator 53 Feed belt 61 Flange portion 60 Food container (an example of container)
69 side 70 lid AX rotation axis (an example of vertical axis)

Claims (9)

A transport device for transporting the container,
A holding device that holds the container transported by the transport device at a lid closing position while supporting the side portion and floating from the transport device ;
A lid closing device for closing the lid by pressing the lid on the container held by the holding device,
A position sensor that detects the position of the container transported by the transport device,
A controller for controlling the holding device,
Have
The holding device is
A plurality of support members for supporting the side portion of the container,
A plurality of horizontal actuators for independently moving each of the plurality of support members in the horizontal direction,
A rotary actuator that rotates the plurality of support members around a vertical axis,
A vertical movement actuator that moves the plurality of support members in the vertical direction,
Have
The controller is
Based on the position data output from the position sensor, the plurality of supporting members are moved to a position corresponding to a position or posture in which the container is displaced from the lid closing position, and the side portion of the container is displaced. Is kept in a floating position or posture and is lifted from the transport device to be held in a floating state, and in the floating state, the container is moved by a displacement amount from the lid closing position and is held in the lid closing position. Thus, the lid closing system for controlling the plurality of horizontal actuators, the rotary actuator, and the vertical movement actuator. The container is
It has a flange part,
The holding device is
The lid closing system according to claim 1, wherein a bottom surface of the flange portion is supported. Before Symbol conveying device,
The lid closing system according to claim 1, wherein the operation is continued while the container is held by the holding device. Further comprising a lighting device that illuminates the container conveyed from the conveying device from below,
The carrier is
A conveyor that includes a light-transmissive belt that transmits the light of the lighting device,
The position sensor is
The lid closing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is a camera that captures an image of the container illuminated by the illumination device via the belt from above. The container, which is arranged on the upstream side of the holding device in the carrying direction of the carrying device and is carried by the carrying device, is moved toward a position corresponding to the lid closing position in a width direction perpendicular to the carrying direction. The lid closing system according to claim 1, further comprising a width-shifting device. The width-adjusting device is
A pair of arm members arranged to face each other in the width direction and sandwiching the container,
An opening and closing actuator that opens and closes the pair of arm members in the width direction,
The lid closing system according to claim 5, further comprising: a feed belt that is disposed at a contact portion of each of the pair of arm members with the container and is circulated and driven at the same transport speed as the transport device. .. The support member is
The lid closing system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the lid closing system is configured to be replaceable according to a shape of the container. The lid closing device is
A multi-joint type robot that includes a suction pad for sucking the lid at the tip, transfers the lid supplied to the lid receiving position to the lid closing position and closes the lid,
The suction pad is
The lid closing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the lid closing system is configured to be replaceable according to a shape of the lid. A lid closing method performed by a lid closing system, comprising:
Transporting the container,
And detecting the position of the container to be conveyed,
Based on the detection result of the position of the previous SL vessel, a plurality of support members the container for supporting the side of the container is moved to a position corresponding to the position or orientation deviated from the position closing the lid, the side of the container The part is supported in the displaced position or posture and is held in the lifted and floated state, and the container is held in the lid closed position by moving the container in the floated state by a displacement amount from the lid closed position. as such, each of the plurality of support members is moved horizontally independently and rotates the plurality of support members about a vertical axis, and a benzalkonium moving the plurality of support members vertically DOO ,
Pressing the lid on the held container to close the lid,
A method for closing a lid, comprising:

Images