JP7556760B2 - Unloading equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an unloading device for unloading items.

Conventionally, for example, an unloading device described in Patent Document 1 below has been known for unloading multiple items that are stacked vertically inside a container and placed side by side in the left-right direction, which is the width direction of the container.

This unloading device handles items that are the same shape and size and are aligned vertically and horizontally. The removal mechanism and conveyor are provided so that they can move vertically relative to a support that stands vertically. The removal mechanism picks up and grasps multiple items, starting from the top item, and removes them onto the conveyor, and then transports the removed items from the conveyor.

Patent No. 3406589

However, when multiple types of items with different shapes and sizes are mixed in the vertical and horizontal directions, for example, and the holding positions of the items lined up in the horizontal direction are not aligned, the removal mechanism of the unloading device described in Patent Document 1 above may pick up some items in an inappropriate position, which may cause the unloading operation to become unstable.

The present invention has been made in consideration of these points, and aims to provide an unloading device that can handle a variety of item placements while allowing stable unloading of items.

The unloading device of the present invention is an unloading device for unloading items, and comprises a receiving mechanism that moves in an up and down direction and is capable of loading the item, and a removal mechanism located above the receiving mechanism, the removal mechanism having a removal base that moves in an up and down direction, and a removal unit that is provided on the removal base and removes the item onto the receiving mechanism, the removal unit having a gripping portion that grips the item, a forward and backward movement portion that moves the gripping portion in a forward and backward direction toward the item relative to the removal base, a vertical movement portion that moves the gripping portion in an up and down direction relative to the removal base, and a left and right movement portion that moves the gripping portion in a left and right direction that intersects the forward and backward and up and down directions relative to the removal base , and the removal base is provided with a plurality of removal units that move independently of each other .

The present invention allows stable unloading of goods while accommodating a variety of item placements.

1 is a perspective view of an unloading device for unloading a load from a vehicle, showing an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the unloading device. 4 is a flowchart of the unloading operation by the unloading device. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the unloading operation by the unloading device. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the unloading operation following FIG. 6 . FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the unloading operation following FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the unloading operation following FIG. 8 . FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the unloading operation following FIG. 9 . FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the unloading operation following FIG. 10 . FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing the unloading operation following FIG. 11 . FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the unloading operation following FIG. 12 . 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a determination of a removal target of an article to be unloaded by the unloading device of the same. FIG. 11A to 11D are explanatory diagrams illustrating how the unloading device determines the order in which articles are taken out to be unloaded.

Below, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Figures 1 and 2 show an unloading device 10. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the unloading device 10 unloads items 13, such as luggage, that are loaded on a loading platform 12 of a vehicle 11, such as a trailer or truck towed by a tractor.

The vehicle 11 has an opening at the rear that can be opened and closed by a door, and articles 13 are loaded and removed from the loading platform 12 through this opening. A loading platform conveyor is provided on the loading platform 12 to transport the articles 13 in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle 11.

On the loading platform 12 of the vehicle 11, a number of items 13 are stacked vertically and arranged side by side in the left-right direction, which is the width direction of the loading platform 12. Furthermore, the items 13 arranged vertically and horizontally in this way are arranged in multiple rows in the front-to-rear direction. Also, items 13 of different shapes and sizes may be mixed on the loading platform 12. In this case, the loading platform 12 has a mixed load of items 13 in the vertical and horizontal directions when viewed from the side from the rear, which is the direction in which the unloading device 10 removes the items 13.

Then, the vehicle 11 is parked at a predetermined parking position relative to the unloading device 10 so that the opening on the rear side faces the unloading device 10.

The unloading device 10 unloads the items 13 that are mixed in the vertical and horizontal directions when viewed from the side from the direction in which the items 13 are removed. In the unloading device 10, the vertical direction z and the horizontal direction x correspond to the arrangement of the items 13, and the direction toward the items 13 is called the front and the opposite direction, the removal direction, is called the rear, and these directions are called the front-rear direction y.

The unloading device 10 unloads the items 13 that have been transported from the platform 12 of the vehicle 11 to the loading conveyor 14, and sends the unloaded items 13 to the unloading conveyor 15.

The carry-in conveyor 14 is, for example, a roller conveyor or a belt conveyor, which receives the front row of items 13 sent rearward from the loading platform 12 of the vehicle 11, transports them rearward, and stops the items 13 at a predetermined unloading position where they are unloaded by the unloading device 10. The carry-in conveyor 14 is positioned at a height that matches the height of the loading platform conveyor of the vehicle 11 by the lifter 16, making it possible to receive the items 13 sent out from the loading platform conveyor.

The discharge conveyor 15 is, for example, a roller conveyor or a belt conveyor, and receives the items 13 that have been unloaded by the unloading device 10 and sent to the rear, and discharges the received items 13 in either the left or right direction x.

The unloading device 10 comprises a pair of left and right supports 20, 21, a receiving mechanism 22 that moves vertically relative to one of the supports 20, and a take-out mechanism 23 that moves vertically relative to the other support 21 at a position above the receiving mechanism 22. The receiving mechanism 22 further comprises a receiving base 24 that moves vertically relative to one of the supports 20, and a receiving conveyor 25 that is provided on the receiving base 24 and capable of loading items 13. The take-out mechanism 23 comprises a take-out base 26 that moves vertically relative to the other support 21, and a take-out unit 27 that is provided on the take-out base 26 and takes out items 13 that are at the unloading position on the carry-in conveyor 14 onto the receiving conveyor 25.

The pair of left and right supports 20, 21 are spaced apart in the left-right direction x so that their inner surfaces face each other, and are erected on an installation surface 28 such as the floor of the facility or a base installed on the floor.

One of the supports 20 is the first support, and is a receiving mechanism support for supporting the receiving mechanism 22 so that it can move in the vertical direction z. The receiving base 24 of the receiving mechanism 22, which is disposed between the support 21 and the support 20, is provided on the support 20 so that it can move in the vertical direction z along the support 20. The support 20 is also provided with a vertical movement mechanism that supports the receiving base 24 so that it can move in the vertical direction z, and a receiving mechanism vertical drive unit 29 (see Figure 4), such as a motor or cylinder, that drives the vertical movement mechanism to move the receiving base 24 in the vertical direction z.

In addition, the supports 20 and 21 may be positioned opposite each other, and both the receiving base 24 and the removal base 26 may be supported on the left and right sides by the supports 20 and 21. The supports 20 and 21 may be structured to movably support the receiving base 24 and the removal base 26.

The other support 21 is a second support, and is a removal mechanism support for supporting the removal mechanism 23 so that it can move in the vertical direction z. The removal base 26 of the removal mechanism 23, which is disposed between the support 20 and the support 21, is provided on the support 21 so that it can move in the vertical direction z along the support 21. The support 21 is also provided with a removal mechanism up/down movement mechanism that supports the removal base 26 so that it can move in the vertical direction z, and a removal mechanism up/down drive unit 30 (see Figure 4), such as a motor or cylinder, that drives the removal mechanism up/down movement mechanism to move the removal base 26 in the vertical direction z.

Then, the removal mechanism 23 is positioned above the load receiving mechanism 22, and the load receiving mechanism 22 and the removal mechanism 23 can move independently in the vertical direction z.

The receiving base 24 of the receiving mechanism 22 is positioned below the removal mechanism 23 and can move in the vertical direction z independently of the removal mechanism 23.

The receiving conveyor 25 is supported on the receiving base 24 and moves in the vertical direction z together with the receiving base 24. For example, a belt conveyor or a roller conveyor is used as the receiving conveyor 25. In this embodiment, a belt conveyor is used, and the goods 13 to be removed by the removal unit 27 are received on the upper surface of the belt, which is the loading surface, and transported backward. A stopper for holding the goods 13 on the receiving conveyor 25 is arranged at the end side of the conveying direction of the receiving conveyor 25 so that it can move forward and backward. The receiving conveyor 25 moves in the vertical direction z by the receiving base 24, and can be moved to a predetermined receiving height to receive the goods 13 to be removed by the removal unit 27, or to a discharging height to discharge the goods 13 to the discharge conveyor 15.

The take-out base 26 of the take-out mechanism 23 is positioned above the goods-receiving mechanism 22 and can move in the up-down direction z independently of the goods-receiving mechanism 22. The take-out base 26 has an outer frame portion 33 formed in a rectangular frame shape and an inner frame portion 34 (see FIG. 3) formed in a rectangular frame shape inside the outer frame portion 33. A guide rail 35 is attached to the upper surface of the frame portion of the inner frame portion 34 in the front-rear direction y along the left-right direction x. The take-out base 26 can move in the up-down direction z and can be moved to a predetermined take-out height according to the position where the goods 13 are to be taken out by the take-out unit 27.

As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of removal units 27 are provided on the removal base 26, and each can move independently to perform removal operations. In this embodiment, a first removal unit 27a and a second removal unit 27b are arranged side by side in the left-right direction x of the removal base 26. The number of removal units 27 may be one, or three or more.

The removal unit 27 includes a left-right moving part 40 that moves in the left-right direction x relative to the removal base 26, a vertical moving part 41 that moves in the up-down direction z relative to the left-right moving part 40, a front-rear moving part 42 that moves in the front-rear direction y relative to the up-down moving part 41, and a gripping part 43 provided on the front end side of the front-rear moving part 42.

The left-right moving part 40 is supported by a left-right moving mechanism 45 so as to be movable in the left-right direction x along the guide rail 35 of the removal base 26, and is moved in the left-right direction x by driving a left-right driving part 46 (see FIG. 4), such as a motor or a cylinder, to move the gripping part 43 in the left-right direction x relative to the removal base 26.

The vertical movement unit 41 is integrally formed into a frame shape by an upper frame 47, a lower frame 48, and multiple vertical frames 49 that connect the upper frame 47 and the lower frame 48. The vertical movement unit 41 is supported by a vertical movement mechanism 50 so as to be movable in the vertical direction z relative to the left-right movement unit 40, and is moved in the vertical direction z by the drive of a vertical drive unit 51 (see Figure 4), such as a motor or cylinder, to move the gripper 43 in the vertical direction z relative to the removal base 26.

The front-rear moving section 42 can extend and retract in the front-rear direction in multiple stages. The front-rear moving section 42 includes a fixed guide 53 fixed to the lower frame 48 of the up-down moving section 41, a first front-rear moving section 54 that moves in the front-rear direction y relative to the fixed guide 53, a second front-rear moving section 55 that moves in the front-rear direction y relative to the first front-rear moving section 54, and a third front-rear moving section 56 that moves in the front-rear direction y relative to the second front-rear moving section 55. The grip section 43 is attached to the front end side of the third front-rear moving section 56.

The front-rear movement unit 42 moves the gripper 43 in the front-rear direction y by being driven by a front-rear drive unit 57 (see FIG. 4). The first front-rear movement unit 54 and the second front-rear movement unit 55 are each moved in the front-rear direction y by a front-rear drive unit 57 such as a motor or a cylinder. The third front-rear movement unit 56 is provided in a pair in the left-right direction x, and each is moved independently in the front-rear direction y by the front-rear drive unit 57. The front-rear drive unit 57 of the third front-rear movement unit 56 uses a drive source such as a servo motor to ensure the positioning accuracy of the gripper 43 that comes into contact with the item 13.

A pair of gripping units 43 are provided in the left-right direction x, and are attached to the front end side of each third forward-rearward moving unit 56. The gripping unit 43 grips the article 13 by being driven by a gripping drive unit 59 (see FIG. 4). The gripping unit 43 has a suction pad 60, and the gripping drive unit 59 generates a negative pressure in the suction pad 60 that is brought into contact with the gripping position on the side of the article 13 by the gripping drive unit 59, thereby suction-gripping the side of the article 13. The gripping position on the side of the article 13 is preferably the center position of the side of the article 13, which allows stable gripping, but depending on the configuration of the gripping unit 43, the upper position, lower position, top surface, etc. of the side of the article 13 may be gripped. Note that gripping by the gripping unit 43 is not limited to suction, and the gripping may be performed by pinching a part of the article 13.

Then, the removal unit 27 moves the gripping portion 43 in the left-right direction x and the up-down direction z to a removal position opposite the gripping position of the item 13 to be removed, and from this removal position, the gripping portion 43 moves in the front-back direction y to enable the item 13 to be removed onto the receiving mechanism 22.

In this embodiment, the removal base 26 is provided with a left-right moving part 40, which is provided with a vertical moving part 41, which is provided with a front-rear moving part 42. However, any other configuration order is acceptable as long as the gripping part 43 can move left-right, up-down, and front-rear relative to the removal base 26.

As shown in FIG. 2, the unloading device 10 also includes an imaging unit 63 that captures images of the items 13 on the carry-in conveyor 14 to be unloaded. The imaging unit 63 may be a reader, scanner, two-dimensional camera, three-dimensional camera, distance sensor, or the like. The imaging unit 63 is installed on the left and right supports 20, 21, and captures images of the items 13 on the carry-in conveyor 14 from both the left and right directions.

Next, Figure 4 shows a block diagram of the unloading device 10.

The unloading device 10 is equipped with a control unit 70 that controls the unloading operation. The control unit 70 acquires imaging information of the item 13 captured by the imaging unit 63 from the imaging control unit 71, and controls the receiving conveyor 25, the left-right drive unit 46, the up-down drive unit 51, the front-rear drive unit 57, and the grip drive unit 59 of each removal unit 27, the receiving mechanism up-down drive unit 29, and the removal mechanism up-down drive unit 30.

The imaging control unit 71 controls the imaging by the imaging unit 63. The imaging control unit 71 has an imaging information processing unit 72 that processes the light information, image information, distance information, etc. captured by the imaging unit 63 and analyzes the imaging information.

The control unit 70 has the functions of an item position information acquisition unit 73, a removal target determination unit 74, and a removal operation generation unit 75.

The item position information acquisition unit 73 acquires information about the positions of the top, bottom, and sides of multiple items 13 located in the left-right direction from the acquired imaging information.

The removal target determination unit 74, based on information regarding the positions of multiple items 13, determines the topmost item 13 that can be loaded onto the receiving conveyor 25 at one time as the item to be removed, and also determines the items 13 whose bottom surfaces are located within a predetermined height range from the bottom surface position of the item 13 whose bottom surface is located at the highest position among the items 13 on the same layer as the items to be removed for continuous removal.

The removal operation generation unit 75 generates a removal order for the items 13 to be removed, and generates a removal operation that includes the operation of the goods receiving mechanism 22 and the removal mechanism 23 according to the removal order.

Next, the unloading operation of the unloading device 10 will be described. Figure 5 shows a flowchart of the unloading operation, and Figures 6 to 13 show operation diagrams explaining the unloading operation.

As shown in FIG. 6, the front row of items 13 sent out from the loading platform 12 of the vehicle 11 is received on the carry-in conveyor 14, and the items 13 are transported to a predetermined unloading position for the unloading device 10 and stopped there. It is assumed that items 13 of different shapes and sizes are mixed on the carry-in conveyor 14.

First, the imaging unit 63 (see FIG. 2) captures an image of the pile of items 13 on the input conveyor 14 (step S1).

The captured image is analyzed by the image information processing unit 72, and information regarding the positions of the top, bottom, and sides of the items 13 is acquired by the item position information acquisition unit 73 of the control unit 70 (step S2). In this case, information regarding the positions of the topmost item 13 in the pile may be acquired, or information regarding the positions of all items 13 in the pile may be acquired. Note that if the positions of each of the piled items 13 are known in an upstream process, for example, the known information may be used in place of steps S1 and S2.

The removal target determination unit 74 of the control unit 70 determines the item 13 to be removed, and the removal action generation unit 75 generates a removal action for the item 13 to be removed (step S3).

First, the overall flow of the unloading operation will be explained, and the details of determining the items 13 to be removed and the order in which they are removed will be described later.

In the case of the items 13 shown in Figure 6, the topmost item 13 is the item 13 to be removed that is on the same level in the left-right direction x that can be placed on the receiving conveyor 25 at one time. Note that in Figure 6, the items 13 are shown with two-dot chain lines and dots, and the items 13 to be removed are distinguished by fine dot pitch. For example, the item 13 on the right-most side in Figure 6 is the item 13 with the highest bottom surface among the items 13 to be removed, and this item 13 and, for example, the item 13 on the left-most side in Figure 6 are items 13 to be removed in succession. Furthermore, the two items 13 in the center of Figure 6 are items 13 to be removed that will each be removed individually.

The unloading device 10 then performs the removal operation starting with the item 13 with the highest bottom surface among the items 13 to be removed. Here, the item 13 on the right-most side in FIG. 6, which is included in the items to be removed in succession, is removed, followed by the item 13 on the left-most side in FIG. 6.

When it is determined that the receiving conveyor 25 needs to be moved to a receiving height where the lowest-bottomed item 13 among the items 13 to be taken out in continuous picking can be transferred to the loading surface of the receiving conveyor 25 (YES in step S4), the receiving conveyor 25 moves to that receiving height (step S5). In parallel, when it is determined that the gripping unit 43 needs to be moved to a picking position opposite the gripping position of the item 13 to be taken out (YES in step S6), the gripping unit 43 moves to that picking position (step S7). The gripping unit 43 can be moved to the picking position by the picking base 26 moving to a picking height where the gripping unit 43 can take out the multiple items 13 included in the items to be taken out in continuous picking, and by the left-right moving unit 40 and the up-down moving unit 41 of the picking unit 27 moving the gripping unit 43 in the left-right direction x and the up-down direction z relative to the picking base 26. The movement of the receiving conveyor 25 and the movement of the gripping part 43 may be performed in parallel or over time.

The removal base 26 is provided with a pair of removal units 27 in the left-right direction x, so that the removal unit 27 on the right side of FIG. 6 mainly removes items 13 in the right area of FIG. 6, and the removal unit 27 on the left side of FIG. 6 mainly removes items 13 in the left area of FIG. 6.

As shown in FIG. 7, after the gripping portion 43 is moved to the removal position, the gripping portion 43 is advanced by the front-rear moving portion 42 of the removal unit 27, and the gripping portion 43 contacts the gripping position on the side of the article 13 (step S8). As shown in FIG. 7, in the case of a small article 13 having a small width in the left-right direction x, the pair of gripping portions 43 advance together by the first and second front-rear moving portions 54, 55, and then only one of the gripping portions 43 advances further by the third front-rear moving portion 56 to contact the article 13. Note that in the case of a large article 13 having a large width in the left-right direction x, both of the pair of gripping portions 43 can advance further by the third front-rear moving portion 56 to contact the article 13.

The gripping portion 43 adsorbs and grips the side of the item 13 (step S9).

As shown in FIG. 8, the gripping section 43 is moved backward by the forward/backward moving section 42 of the removal unit 27 (step S10), and the gripped item 13 is removed onto the receiving conveyor 25.

When the gripper 43 has retreated, the gripper 43 releases the item 13 (step S11). The released item 13 is placed on the receiving conveyor 25.

As shown in Figure 9, the vertical movement part 41 of the removal unit 27 raises the gripping part 43, moving it above the item 13 on the receiving conveyor 25 (step S12). The receiving conveyor 25 is then driven a predetermined distance (step S13), and the item 13 on the receiving conveyor 25 is transported to the end side in the transport direction and is held on the receiving conveyor 25 by the stopper in the advanced state.

The mass of the item 13 loaded on the receiving conveyor 25 is detected (step S14), and the mass is registered for the type of item 13 (step S15). Note that the execution of steps S14 and S15 is optional; for example, steps S14 and S15 may be omitted, and the item 13 may be identified by reading a barcode attached to the item 13.

Then, it is determined whether there are any remaining items 13 to be removed that have not been removed from the same level (step S16), and if there are (YES in step S16), the process proceeds to step 17 and the removal operation of the next item 13 to be removed is started.

In step S17, it is determined whether or not re-imaging is necessary. If the imaging information indicates that the item 13 is out of position, or if the accuracy of recognizing the item 13's position is low, the process may start from step S1; otherwise, the process proceeds to steps S4 and S6.

If the next item 13 to be removed is a target for continuous removal, there is no need to move the receiving conveyor 25 (NO in step S4), and no need to move the removal base 26, and only the gripper 43 moves in the left-right direction x and the up-down direction z by the left-right moving section 40 and the up-down moving section 41 of the removal unit 27 to move it to the removal position of the next item 13 to be removed for continuous removal. Then, for the next item 13 to be removed for continuous removal, the removal operations of steps S8 to S15 are carried out as described above.

In this case, the next item 13 to be removed in the continuous removal is the leftmost item 13 in FIG. 9, and is removed by the left removal unit 27. Also, since the leftmost item 13 in FIG. 9 is removed by the left removal unit 27 in FIG. 9, it may be removed in parallel with the rightmost item 13 in FIG. 6 being removed by the right removal unit 27 in FIG. 6.

In addition, a NO situation in step S6 may be when narrow articles 13 in the left-right direction x are arranged side by side, a pair of left and right gripping parts 43 are positioned at removal positions facing the gripping positions of the lined up articles 13, and one gripping part 43 removes one article 13, and then the other gripping part 43 removes the other article 13. Alternatively, the gripping parts 43 of the two removal units 27 may each move to their removal positions, and after the gripping part 43 of one removal unit 27 removes an article 13, the gripping part 43 of the other removal unit 27 removes the article 13.

After all items 13 included in the items to be taken out in succession have been taken out in this manner, step 16 determines whether there are any items 13 remaining to be taken out in the same row, and if there are (YES in step S16), the process proceeds to step 17 to move on to the operation of taking out the next item 13 to be taken out.

The next item 13 to be taken out may be another item to be taken out in continuous removal, or it may be an item to be taken out individually. In this case, of the two items 13 to be taken out individually in the center of Figure 9, the item 13 with the higher gripping position is the next item to be taken out. In steps S4 and S6, the receiving conveyor 25 moves to the receiving height corresponding to the bottom position of the next item 13 to be taken out, and the gripping section 43 moves to the take-out position. Then, the take-out operation of the item 13 is carried out as in steps S8 to S15. In a similar manner, the take-out operation of the remaining items 13 to be taken out is carried out.

In this way, as shown in FIG. 10, by the above-mentioned removal operation, all items 13 included in the removal target of the same level are removed onto the receiving conveyor 25.

When all items 13 included in the items to be removed from the same level have been removed onto the receiving conveyor 25 (NO in step S16), as shown in FIG. 11, the receiving conveyor 25 is lowered and moved to the height at which items are to be dispensed onto the discharge conveyor 15 (step S18).

As shown in FIG. 12, the stopper of the receiving conveyor 25 is retracted, and the receiving conveyor 25 is driven to send multiple items 13 on the receiving conveyor 25 to the discharge conveyor 15 all at once (step S19), and the discharge conveyor 15 carries the items 13 out to a designated transport location.

Next, it is determined whether there are any items 13 remaining in the front row on the carry-in conveyor 14 (step S20), and if there are, the process proceeds to step S1 to move to the removal operation of the next item 13 to be removed on the same row (YES in step S20). That is, as shown in FIG. 13, the next item 13 to be removed on the same row is determined, the receiving conveyor 25 moves to the receiving height of the item 13 to be removed, and the gripping unit 43 moves to the removal position of the item 13 to be removed.

In this way, when the unloading operation of the front row of items 13 on the carry-in conveyor 14 is completed (NO in step S20), it is determined whether any items 13 remain on the loading platform 12 of the vehicle 11 (step S21). If there are any items 13 remaining (YES in step S21), it is confirmed that the next row of items 13 are being sent onto the carry-in conveyor 14 (YES in step S22), and the process proceeds to step 1 to continue the unloading operation of the next row of items 13.

If there are no articles 13 remaining on the loading platform 12 of the vehicle 11 (NO in step S21), the unloading operation is terminated.

In addition, if steps S14 and S15 are omitted, and each of the removal units 27 is capable of removing multiple items 13 while the removal base 26 is stopped, multiple items 13 may be removed simultaneously by each of the removal units 27 and moved to the receiving conveyor 25.

Next, we will explain how the removal target determination unit 74 of the control unit 70 determines which items 13 are to be removed.

When there is a pile of items 13 as shown in FIG. 14, based on the image information, items 13 A to D located at the top of the pile of items 13 and lined up in the left-right direction x are determined to be items 13 on the same level that can be loaded onto the receiving conveyor 25 at one time and are to be removed.

Of the items 13 A through D on the same level, item A's 13 has the highest bottom position. From the bottom position of item A's 13, item C's 13 is located h1, item B's 13 is h2, and item D's 13 is h3, with the relationship h1<h2<h3. If items A through C's 13 have their bottoms located within a threshold value of a specified height range from the bottom position of item A's 13, then these items A through C are determined to be the first group of items to be taken out in the continuous taking mode.

Furthermore, if there is another item 13 whose bottom surface is located within a threshold value that is a predetermined height range from the bottom surface position of the item 13 whose bottom surface is located at the highest position among the items 13 that were not included in the items to be taken out in the first group of continuous taking, that item will be taken out in the next group of continuous taking. In this case, the only remaining item 13 on the same level that was not included in the items to be taken out in the first group of continuous taking is item D, and in this case item D will be taken out individually, so it is a target for individual taking.

If items 13 A through D are to be removed in succession, when the receiving conveyor 25 moves to the receiving height corresponding to the bottom position of item 13 D, which has the lowest bottom height, and item 13 A, which has the highest bottom height, is removed, the distance that item 13 A falls onto the receiving conveyor 25 is large, and the impact of item 13 falling is large.

Therefore, by making items 13 A through C the objects to be taken out in succession, when items 13 A through C are taken out in succession, when the receiving conveyor 25 has moved to a receiving height corresponding to the bottom position of item 13 B, which has the lowest bottom surface among items 13 A through C, even when removing item 13 A, which has the highest bottom surface, the falling distance of item 13 A onto the receiving conveyor 25 is small, and the impact of item 13 falling can be suppressed.

When items A to C 13 are to be removed in a continuous manner, the receiving height of the receiving conveyor 25 can be maintained, minimizing movement of the receiving conveyor 25 and allowing for efficient unloading operations. Also, item D 13 can be removed by moving the receiving conveyor 25 to a receiving height that corresponds to the bottom position of item D 13, which is to be removed individually.

For example, by configuring the gripping portion 43 to be able to move or hang down downward while gripping the item 13, the item 13 can be landed more safely even on the receiving conveyor 25 waiting at a lower position relative to the bottom of the item 13.

Next, we will explain how to determine the order in which the items 13 to be removed are taken out.

As shown in FIG. 15(a), the receiving height of the receiving conveyor 25 is determined according to the position of the bottom surface of the item 13, and the vertical position of the gripping part 43 is determined according to the height of the gripping position of the item 13, but in order to transport the item 13 picked up by the gripping part 43 on the receiving conveyor 25 and take it in at the end side of the receiving conveyor 25 in the conveying direction, the gripping part 43 needs to be positioned above the top surface of the item 13 after the item 13 is picked up. In other words, the distance h11 between the end of the upward stroke of the gripping part 43 and the receiving conveyor 25 needs to be longer than the height h12 of the item 13. Also, the range h13 that the gripping part 43 can raise and lower relative to the pick-up base 26 is constant.

As shown in FIG. 15(b), when items 13 A through D on the same level, which have a large difference in vertical height, are to be removed, items 13 A through C are to be removed consecutively as described above. However, when the receiving conveyor 25 moves to the receiving height corresponding to the bottom surface of item 13 B, which has the lowest bottom surface among items 13 A through C, the height h12 of item 13 C becomes higher than the distance h11 between the end of the upward stroke of the gripper 43 and the receiving conveyor 25, and the gripper 43 cannot be moved above the top surface of item 13 C.

In such a case, it is necessary to change the take-out height of the take-out base 26 itself, but by determining the take-out order so that take-out starts from the item 13 with the highest gripping position among the items 13 to be taken out in succession, it is possible to reduce the number of times the take-out height of the take-out base 26 needs to be changed.

Then, as shown in Figure 15(c), first, the take-out base 26 moves to a take-out height where the gripping part 43 can grip the gripping position of the item C 13 and where the gripping part 43 can move above the item C 13 after removal, and the take-out operation of the item C 13 is performed. At this take-out height of the take-out base 26, the gripping part 43 cannot grip the items A and B 13, whose gripping positions are lower than the item C 13, so at this take-out height of the take-out base 26, only the item C 13 is taken out.

After the removal of item C 13, next, item A 13, which is located higher on the bottom surface, is removed. However, since item A 13 and item B 13 can be removed consecutively, as shown in FIG. 15(d), the removal base 26 is lowered to a removal height that allows item A 13 and item B 13 to be removed, and the gripping part 43 of one of the removal units 27 (27b) is moved to a height corresponding to the gripping position of item A 13, and the gripping part 43 of removal unit 27 (27a) is moved to a height corresponding to the gripping position of item B 13, and the removal of item A 13 and item B 13 is performed consecutively or simultaneously. At this time, the removal unit 27 (27a) grips item B 13 so that the gripping part 43 does not protrude from the side of item B 13 in order to avoid interference with item C 13 already placed on the receiving conveyor 25.

As described above, in the unloading device 10 of this embodiment, the removal base 26 on which the removal unit 27 is mounted moves up and down, and further, the gripping portion 43 of the removal unit 27 moves left and right, up and down, and front and back relative to the removal base 26, so that the gripping portion 43 can grip the item 13 at an appropriate gripping position according to its position, and stable unloading of the item 13 can be performed while accommodating various item arrangements such as mixed loading.

In addition, since the removal base 26 is provided with multiple removal units 27 that move independently, multiple items 13 can be removed in parallel by the multiple removal units 27, and the distance that the removal units 27 move left and right is shortened, improving the efficiency of the unloading work. Moreover, even if a malfunction such as a breakdown occurs in any of the removal units 27, the unloading work can be continued by the remaining removal units 27 without stopping the unloading work.

In addition, when the removal base 26 is moved to a stop position at a specified removal height, the gripping portion 43 moves left and right and up and down, so that the desired item 13 to be removed can be removed even if the items are mixed.

Furthermore, by moving the gripping part 43 left and right and up and down when the take-out base 26 is stopped at a predetermined take-out height, multiple items 13 to be taken out can be taken out and placed on the receiving conveyor 25 at once, even if they are mixed, and the efficiency of the unloading work can be improved. For example, if the gripping part 43 does not move up and down relative to the take-out base 26, the entire take-out mechanism 23, which is large and heavy, must be moved up and down depending on the height of the gripping position of the items 13, making it difficult to accommodate faster unloading operations. In contrast, because the gripping part 43 can move up and down relative to the take-out base 26 when the take-out base 26 is stopped, it is easy to accommodate faster unloading operations and the efficiency of the unloading work can be improved.

In addition, since the item 13 whose bottom surface is located within a specified height range from the bottom surface position of the item 13 whose bottom surface is located at the highest position is determined to be the item to be removed, multiple items 13 to be removed can be removed from the mixed load of items 13 and placed on the receiving conveyor 25 at once, and the items 13 can be removed without subjecting them to large impacts.

Furthermore, when multiple items 13 are determined to be removed, the receiving mechanism 22 moves to a receiving height at which the item 13 with the lowest bottom surface among the items 13 to be removed can be transferred onto the loading surface of the receiving mechanism 22, and maintains the receiving height until removal of all items 13 to be removed is completed. This reduces the number of times the receiving height of the receiving mechanism 22 is changed, improving the efficiency of the unloading operation.

When multiple vehicles 11 are parked in a row lined up in the width direction and cargo is to be unloaded from each vehicle 11, the unloading device 10 may be arranged to move laterally in the width direction of the vehicle 11, so that one unloading device 10 can unload cargo from multiple vehicles 11 in sequence.

The unloading device 10 is not limited to unloading items 13 loaded on the loading platform 12 of the vehicle 11, but can also be used to unload items loaded on a pallet, for example.

The above describes the embodiment of the present invention and its modified examples, but various combinations of configurations, partial omissions, substitutions, and modifications are also possible.

10 Unloading equipment
13. Goods
22 Receiving mechanism
23 Removal mechanism
26 Extraction base
27 Extraction unit
40 Left and right moving part
41 Vertical movement section
42 Forward and backward movement section
43 Grip
73 Article location information acquisition unit
74 Extraction target determination section x Left-right direction y Front-back direction z Up-down direction

Claims (6)

An unloading device for unloading an item, comprising:
A cargo receiving mechanism that moves in a vertical direction and is capable of loading the article;
a take-out mechanism located above the load-receiving mechanism;
The ejection mechanism includes:
A take-out base that moves up and down;
a take-out unit provided on the take-out base for taking out the article onto the load-receiving mechanism;
The take-out unit includes:
A gripping portion that grips the article;
a forward/backward moving unit that moves the gripping unit in a forward/backward direction toward the article relative to the removal base;
a vertical movement unit that moves the gripping unit in a vertical direction relative to the removal base;
a left-right moving unit that moves the gripping unit in a left-right direction that intersects the front-rear and up-down directions relative to the removal base,
The take-out base is provided with a plurality of take-out units each of which moves independently.
An unloading device characterized by the above . The unloading device according to claim 1, characterized in that, when the removal base is stopped at a certain position, the gripping portion moves left and right and up and down to move to a removal position for the item to be removed, and moves forward and backward to remove the item onto the receiving mechanism. The unloading device according to claim 2 , wherein the take-out unit takes out the plurality of articles to be taken out onto the article receiving mechanism when the take-out base is stopped at the position where the take-out base is stopped. an article position information acquisition unit that acquires information regarding the positions of the plurality of articles located in the left-right direction;
The unloading device as described in claim 2 or 3, further comprising a removal target determination unit that determines, as the removal target, an item among the plurality of items whose bottom surface is located within a predetermined height range from the bottom surface position of the item whose bottom surface is located at the highest position . When the removal target determination unit determines that a plurality of the items are the removal targets,
The unloading device according to claim 4 , characterized in that the receiving mechanism moves to a receiving height at which the item having the lowest bottom surface among the items to be removed can be transferred onto the loading surface of the receiving mechanism, and maintains the receiving height until removal of all of the items to be removed is completed. An unloading device for unloading an item, comprising:
A cargo receiving mechanism that moves in a vertical direction and is capable of loading the article;
a take-out mechanism located above the load-receiving mechanism;
The ejection mechanism includes:
A take-out base that moves up and down;
a take-out unit provided on the take-out base for taking out the article onto the load-receiving mechanism;
The take-out unit includes:
A gripping portion that grips the article;
a forward/backward moving unit that moves the gripping unit in a forward/backward direction toward the article relative to the removal base;
a vertical movement unit that can move the position of the entire gripping unit in a vertical direction relative to the removal base independently of the movement of the removal base;
a left-right moving unit that moves the gripping unit in a left-right direction that intersects with the front-rear and up-down directions relative to the removal base;
An unloading device characterized by the above.

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