JP7558579B2 - How to handle used mobile devices in the commercialization process - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for handling used mobile terminals (hereinafter also referred to as used terminals or terminals) in the process of commercializing the terminals.

Used terminals have traditionally been refurbished and commercialized (hereinafter referred to as "commercialization"). Various ideas that are thought to be useful for the work related to commercialization have been proposed in Patent Documents 1 to 3, etc., but Patent Documents 1 to 3 are not related to the streamlining of the process for commercialization.

An overview of the general process for commercializing used terminals will be described with reference to the schematic diagram of Fig. 4. In each process of Fig. 4, the used terminals are basically processed manually.
First, used devices are "stored" in the commercialization process. After a rough selection process, such as removing devices that cannot be commercialized, devices to be refurbished are "accepted." Residual data remaining on each device is "erased" from the devices to be refurbished.

Next, the devices from which all residual data has been completely erased undergo a manual "functional inspection" to determine whether the devices still have all the functions they need as devices, and a "visual inspection" to check the appearance of the devices after the functional inspection for signs of damage and the extent of the damage. Based on the results of the functional and visual inspections, a worker in charge assigns a grade to each device as a refurbished product ("grading"). Devices that have been graded and classified according to other classification criteria (hereafter referred to as "refurbished devices") are stored on "stock shelves" and orders are received from buyers.

When we receive orders (received orders) for refurbished devices from multiple buyers (orderers), we package each refurbished device according to the details of each order for each orderer, "package" each individually packaged device for each orderer, "seal" each package, and "ship" them.

The bases for each process, namely "warehousing," "receiving," "clearing," "functional inspection," "visual inspection," "grading," "stock shelves," "packaging," "sealing," and "shipping," are basically connected by a conveyor belt BC, and each point is equipped with, for example, workbenches, temporary shelves, necessary tools, and equipment, although not shown, and each base is staffed by at least one worker.

In the manual commercialization process of used devices as described above, each step is carried out by a worker, so in principle, commercialization work can only be carried out for about eight hours a day, which limits the efficiency of the commercialization process.

JP 2016-35758 A Patent No. 5820461 Patent No. 4171453

The present invention aims to provide a method for handling used terminals that can increase the efficiency of the commercialization process, in light of the fact that the conventional commercialization process for used terminals involves multiple processes connected by conveyer belts, with each process and the linking work between each process being carried out entirely by hand, which places limitations on the total amount of work and the efficiency of the work.

As a basic form of a means for solving the above problems, the present invention has the main feature that in the commercialization process of used terminals, the terminal receiving process, data erasure process, and inspection process of functional inspection and visual inspection are linked by two handling robots, and the handling robots set the used terminals in each process, remove them from each process, and transport them to the next process for work in the above three processes.

The specific handling of terminals in the commercialization process of used terminals in the above basic form of the present invention is as follows.

a first transport step in which, from among a plurality of used mobile terminals (hereinafter referred to as "terminals") each of which is given an identification code and has a protective film attached to the rear camera section, which are loaded on a tray and transported by a supply conveyor, terminals which are determined to be commercializable and not to have an error such as a data mismatch are held one by one by an arm of a first handling robot (hereinafter referred to as "first arm"), and the first arm moves to transport the terminal to a data erasure section for the next process;
The identification code assigned to each terminal here is, for example, in the form of a QR code (registered trademark) affixed to each terminal, and the QR code (registered trademark) of each terminal is linked to a management code in the commercialization process (on-site) and stored in the control unit's database.

a data erasure unit setting step in which the first arm sets the required plurality of terminals (hereinafter referred to as "each terminal") transported in the first transport step on a terminal setting table of the data erasure unit one by one;

A data erasure process in which the data erasure unit has a plurality of terminal set tables each having an erasure head corresponding to each of the terminals, and the residual data of each of the terminals set on the terminal set tables is erased by the erasure head;

A discrimination process in which the data erasure unit discriminates between terminals from which residual data has been erased (hereinafter referred to as "erased terminals") and terminals from which residual data could not be erased for some reason (hereinafter referred to as "unerased terminals"), and discriminates whether data has been erased for each of the terminals.

A separation and removal process in which the first arm separates and removes from the terminal set table the erased terminals whose data has been erased in the data erasure process and the unerased terminals whose data has not been erased.

Furthermore, the first arm separates and removes the erased terminals from the terminal set table, holds them with the front side facing up, and places them on a carry-in conveyor that carries them one by one to the inspection section to inspect their functionality and appearance.

On the other hand, the first arm places the unerased terminal removed from the terminal set table on the return conveyor to return it to the start point of the supply conveyor.

Next, after the inspection in the inspection section is completed, each erased terminal is carried out one by one from the inspection section on an unloading conveyor, and then the erased terminal is held by an arm of a second handling robot (hereinafter referred to as the "second arm"), a protective film is attached to the camera section on the back, and the terminal is transported to the next process. This is a method for handling terminals in a commercialization process for used terminals, and is characterized in the following points.

First, the first arm is a six-axis robot arm having a first terminal holding part at its tip that detachably holds each of the terminals one by one, and the first arm and the first terminal holding part are controlled by a first arm control part with respect to the operating posture including the direction of the first arm and the height of the arm tip, the timing of the operating posture, and the operation content and timing of the first terminal holding part in each of the first transport process, the data erasure unit setting process, the sorting and removal process from the data erasure unit, the inspection unit carrying process, and the return process.

Secondly, the second arm is an arm of a SCARA robot having a second terminal holding part at its tip that detachably holds each of the terminals one by one, and the second arm and the second terminal holding part are controlled by a second arm control part in the inspection unit removal process with respect to the operating posture including the direction of the second arm and the timing of that posture, and the operation content and timing of the second terminal holding part.

The timing of the operation of removing each erasure terminal in the data erasure unit removal process by the first arm and the operation of placing the terminal on the carry-in conveyor in the inspection unit carry-in process is controlled based on an inspection progress signal supplied from the inspection unit to the first arm control unit regarding the inspection progress, including the completion of the required inspection of one terminal that has been carried in advance to the inspection unit.

After the data erasure unit removal process, the protective film of each erasure terminal is removed by a film peeling mechanism.

After the inspection section removal process, the second arm places each erasing terminal with a new protective film attached to the rear camera section of the erasing terminal and the front side facing down on a transport conveyor heading to the next process.

The first terminal holding portion of the first arm and the second terminal holding portion of the second arm each have a suction cup that holds the surface of each terminal by suction with negative air pressure, and a rotation mechanism that rotates each terminal holding portion forward and backward about an axis parallel to the central axis of the suction cup.

In the present invention, in the commercialization process of used terminals, the transportation, setting, removal, and movement of terminals are carried out by two handling robots between the terminal receiving process, data erasure process, and inspection process, which significantly improves the handling efficiency compared to the conventional manual work, saving labor, and also makes it possible to work continuously day and night.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic layout of a process for commercializing used terminals according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an outline of an example of a first handling robot (six-axis robot) used in the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of terminal handling in the commercialization of terminals according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic layout of a conventional process for commercializing used terminals.

Next, we will explain how to handle used terminals in the commercialization process of the present invention, with reference to the diagram.

In the commercialization process of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, used terminals T loaded on trays 1 at the lower left side of the figure are transported by an input conveyor 2 (hereinafter also referred to as conveyor 2) running from left to right in FIG. 1 and arrive at a receiving station 3.
The carry-in conveyor 2 is usually installed in a horizontal position, but here, in the direction perpendicular to the conveyor travel direction, the conveyor 2 is arranged with a downward inclination toward the upper side 2a of the conveyor 2 in Fig. 1. Then, as an example, a plurality of terminals T are loaded in two rows on the tray 1 on the inclined conveyor 2, and this tray 1 is sent to the receiving section 3 (see Fig. 1). Note that the downward inclination of the conveyor may be a downward inclination toward the opposite side (lower side) from the upper side 2a.
In this embodiment, two cameras (not shown) are provided facing the two inclined rows of terminals T in order to check the number, position, posture, etc. of the two rows of terminals T stacked on the tray 1 that has arrived at the receiving section 3 and to hold the terminals T with the air holding section 8 of the first arm 7a of the six-axis robot 7, which will be described later. The cameras may be provided near the first arm 7a or the receiving section 3.
The two cameras capture images of the two rows of terminals T in the tray 1, and send the captured image data to a first control unit, which will be described later. The first control unit generates data on the number, attitude, and position of terminals T in each row on the basis of the captured image data, and controls the six-axis robot 7 by determining which terminals T should be held by the air holding unit 8 of the six-axis robot 7.

As described above, in receiving 3, the terminal T in the arriving tray 1 is photographed by a camera provided on the six-axis robot 7 to confirm the position of the terminal T in the tray, and the air holding part 8 of the robot 7 determines which terminal to hold.
In the confirmation booth 4, the terminal T placed by the six-axis robot 7 is imaged again by the camera, and it is confirmed whether the image data matches the QR code (registered trademark). If a terminal eT is determined to be an error for some reason, such as a data mismatch, it is placed on the output conveyor 5, which is adjacent to and parallel to the input conveyor 2 and is used to discharge erroneous terminals, and returned to the receiving section (not shown).

In FIG. 1, above the carry-in conveyor 2 and the carry-out conveyor 5, an erasing station 6 (hereinafter also referred to as the data erasing section 6) is arranged in the form of, as an example, 12 terminal set tables 6a arranged side by side, on which 12 terminals T can be set. The number of terminal set tables 6a can be set as desired. Note that, although the erasing station 6 is shown in a plan view in FIG. 1, it is preferable to arrange it in a vertical position, taking into consideration space efficiency, etc. Also, in FIG. 1, the erasing station 6 is arranged in a direction parallel to the arrangement of the carry-in conveyor 2 and the carry-out conveyor 5, but it may also be arranged with the front of the station 6 perpendicular to the conveyors 2 and 5.

The terminal setting stand 6a of the erasing station 6 has a terminal support part 9 that receives a terminal T held by a first terminal holding part 8 (hereinafter also referred to as an air holding part 8) provided on a first arm 7a of a six-axis robot 7 described below, from the air holding part 8 and holds the terminal T. The terminal support part 9 holds the terminal T with a mechanical holding function that opens and closes using magnetic force, etc., and is capable of releasing the hold.

In the 12 terminals T set on each terminal support section 9 of the 12 terminal setting tables 6a, data remaining on each terminal T is erased by connecting each terminal T to an erasing head (not shown). Each terminal setting table 6a in the erasing station 6 checks whether or not there is residual data remaining on each terminal T through the erasing head, and distinguishes between terminals T from which residual data has been completely erased (erased terminals T) and terminals from which data has not been erased (unerased terminals eT). The results of this determination are linked to each terminal T and are also supplied to the control section (first control section) of the 6-axis robot 7 described below.

In FIG. 1, a six-axis robot 7, as shown in FIG. 2, is disposed as a first handling robot between the narrow angle formed by the row of the arrangement formed by the carry-in conveyor 2, carry-out conveyor 5, and confirmation booth 4, and the side (or front) of the erasing station 6. Here, in the present invention, the six-axis robot 7 that handles the terminal T is disposed between the narrow angle formed by the two conveyors 2, 5 including the receiving 3 and confirmation booth 4, and the data erasing unit 6, thereby making it possible to reduce the required working space compared to the conventional process layout in which each process is arranged in a straight line.

The tip arm 7a (hereinafter also referred to as the first arm 7a) of the six-axis robot 7 is provided with a first terminal holder 8 (air holder 8) that holds the terminal T by suction with the suction force of air.

In the air holding section 8 of the first arm 7a of the six-axis robot 7, the terminals T that have been accumulated at the end (receiving section 3) of the carry-in conveyor 2 and that have been determined to be commercializable in the confirmation booth 4 are held one by one in the air holding section 8 and transported to the terminal setting table 6a of the erasing station 6 (first transport process), and set on each terminal setting table 6a (data erasing section setting process).

During the data erasure unit setting process, when a terminal T held by the air holding part 8 of the first arm 7a of the six-axis robot 7 is brought into contact with the setting table 6a, each terminal setting table 6a detects this with an electrical, electronic, magnetic, optical, mechanical, or other type of sensor (not shown), and switches the terminal support part 9 of the setting table 6a from an open state (receiving state) to a closed state (holding state). The operation of this sensor and the operation of the terminal support part 9 are controlled by a central control unit linked to the control unit (first control unit) of the six-axis robot 7.

At the terminal setting table 6a holding the terminal T, the erase head is connected to the terminal T. If the terminal T cannot be set on the terminal setting table 6a because the terminal T cannot be recognized, the connector cannot be found, the terminal T is an unexpected model, or there is an abnormality in the six-axis robot 7, the terminal is carried by the six-axis robot 7 to the discharge conveyor 5 as a terminal with an equipment error and placed there. The erase head erases the residual data of the terminal T without an equipment error (data erasure process). When the process of erasing the residual data at each terminal setting table 6a is completed, the erase function of the erase head is released, and the erase head then functions as a confirmation head for the residual data. This allows each terminal T to be checked to see if the residual data has been erased (data erasure determination process).

The results of the check for the presence or absence of residual data for each terminal T are linked to each terminal T as discrimination data and supplied to the first control unit of the six-axis robot 7, and the first control unit generates respective command signals for the first arm 7a, the air holding unit 8, and the terminal support unit 9 of the terminal setting table 6a to separate and remove the unerased terminals eT and erased terminals T from the set erasing station 6.

The command signal first opens the terminal support part 9 of the unerased terminal eT, and the unerased terminal eT is removed from the terminal set table 6a by the air holding part 8 of the first arm 7a and placed on the discharge conveyor 5 for defective products. (Data erasure part removal process)

Next, in response to the command signal, the erased terminal T from which the residual data has been erased is removed from the terminal setting table 6a by the first arm 7a and the air holding unit 8, and placed on the carry-in conveyor 11 of the next inspection unit 10 (data erasure unit removal process, inspection unit carry-in process).
Here, the timing of removing the terminal T from the data erasure unit 6 and the timing of bringing the removed terminal T into the inspection unit 10 are controlled by controlling the actuators for the removal and loading operations based on an inspection progress signal that is output so as to synchronize with the timing of the end of inspection and removal (inspection progress) of one terminal T in the inspection unit 10.

In this embodiment, between the process of removing the erasing terminal and the process of bringing it into the inspection unit, there is a removal process Fx by a film removal mechanism that peels off and removes the protective film (not shown) that protects the camera unit of the terminal T, and an inversion process TR by an inversion mechanism that inverts the terminal T after peeling off the protective film.

The reason for the reversal process TR is that the back side of the terminal T is facing up in the protective film removal process Fx, but the terminal T is brought into the inspection section 10 with its screen facing up, so it needs to be reversed.

The protective film is peeled off and removed by a film peeling mechanism (not shown), and the terminal T is inverted by transferring the terminal T held by the air holding portion 7a of the first arm 7 to an inversion table (inversion mechanism) and then inverting the terminal T on the inversion table (inversion process TR).

The inspection unit 10 includes a function inspection unit configured to automatically inspect the functions of the terminal T from which residual data has been erased, including the functions of the equipment such as the camera, speaker, switches, and sensors arranged on the terminal T; an appearance inspection unit that automatically checks the external condition of the terminal T (the presence or absence of scratches, the extent of scratches, etc.) based on image data captured by an inspection camera; a housing-like inspection space in which these automatic inspection units are arranged; and an inspection control unit that controls the inspection operations of both the inspection units and collects and outputs inspection data for each terminal linked to a management code.

A SCARA robot 13 is placed near the discharge conveyor 12 of the inspection section 10 as a second handling robot. This SCARA robot 13 has a second arm 13a as its distal end arm and a second terminal holder 14. Note that in the present invention, a six-axis robot may be used as the second handling robot instead of the SCARA robot 13.

After the terminal T has been automatically subjected to a functional inspection and a visual inspection in the inspection unit 10, it is transported from the inspection unit 10 by the output conveyor 12 (inspection unit output process). The terminal T is transported by the output conveyor 12 with the screen facing up, so it is held by the second terminal holding unit 14 of the SCARA robot 13, transported and placed on the inversion table (inversion mechanism) of the second inversion process RT, and inverted on this inversion table so that the back side faces up.

The terminals T, which have been flipped over so that their backs are facing up, are transported to the film attachment process Fe by a film attachment hand (not shown) provided on the second arm 13a of the SCARA robot 13, in order to attach a protective film to the camera. Each terminal T with the protective film attached again is then placed on the packaging and transport conveyor 15 as a commercialized terminal T, and is transported away as a recycled terminal T. Note that terminals eT that are determined to be defective as a result of inspection in the inspection unit 10 are transported away as defective products by the discharge conveyor 16.

Each terminal T that is not defective undergoes a functional inspection and a visual inspection in the inspection section 10, and in a process after the inspection process, a grade (class) as a refurbished terminal is assigned based on the data from the two types of inspection results. Each terminal T that has been assigned a grade is stored in a stocker such as an inventory shelf as a commercialized terminal T, and is then handled for shipment.

In the present invention, the first arm 7a including the first terminal holding section 8 of the six-axis robot 7 is controlled by the first control section of the six-axis robot 7 to transport the terminals T from the terminals T loaded on the tray 1, from which the unrecoverable terminals eT have been removed, to the data erasure section 6 (erasure station 6, the same applies below), set them in the data erasure section 6, remove them after data erasure, transport the erased terminals to the inspection section 10, and handle each terminal when discharging the unerased terminals. The operating posture including the direction and height of the first arm 7a and the timing of that posture, as well as the operation content and timing of the first terminal holding section 8 (air holding section 8) are controlled by the first control section of the six-axis robot 7.

In addition, the position and operation of the second terminal holding part 14 at the tip of the second arm 13a of the SCARA robot 13 are also controlled by the second control part of the SCARA robot 13 during the process of transporting the terminal T from the inspection part 10.

In the process for commercializing used terminals described above, the present invention uses two handling robots to handle the used terminals received for commercialization in the residual data erasure section, transport them from the erasure section to the inspection section, and handle the terminals until they are removed from the inspection section after inspection is complete and are transported as refurbished products. This means that the main steps in the used terminal commercialization process can be carried out without relying on human labor. This means that the used terminal commercialization work can be carried out continuously even during late night or early morning hours when workers are unable to work.

T Terminal 1 Tray 2 Carry-in conveyor 3 Receiving 4 Confirmation booth 5 Carry-out conveyor 6 Erasing station 6a Terminal setting stand 7 6-axis robot (first handling robot)
7a First arm 8 Air holding portion (first terminal holding portion)
9 Terminal support section of terminal set stand 6a 10 Inspection section 11 Inspection section carry-in conveyor 12 Inspection section carry-out conveyor 13 SCARA robot (second handling robot)
13a: Second arm 14: Second end holding portion 15: Conveyor for transporting to the packaging process 16: Discharge conveyor for defective products

Claims (6)

a first transport step in which a plurality of used mobile terminals (hereinafter referred to as "terminals"), each of which is given an identification code and has a protective film attached to its rear camera section, is loaded onto a tray, and transported by a supply conveyor, is held one by one by an arm (hereinafter referred to as "first arm") of a first handling robot, and the first arm moves to transport the terminal to a data erasure section in the next step;
a data erasure unit setting step in which the first arm sets a required number of the terminals (hereinafter referred to as "each terminal") transported in the first transport step on a terminal setting table of the data erasure unit one by one;
a data erasure step in which the data erasure unit includes a plurality of terminal set tables each having an erasure head corresponding to each of the terminals, and the residual data of each of the terminals set on the terminal set tables is erased by the erasure head;
a determination step in which the data erasure unit distinguishes between a terminal from which the residual data has been erased (hereinafter referred to as an "erased terminal") and a terminal from which the residual data has not been erased for some reason (hereinafter referred to as an "unerased terminal"), and determines whether data has been erased for each of the terminals;
a sorting and removal step in which the first arm sorts and removes from the terminal set table the erased terminals from which data has been individually erased in the data erasing step and the non-erased terminals from which data has not been erased;
an inspection section carry-in process in which the erasing terminals that are separated and removed from the terminal set table are held by the first arm with their front sides facing upward, and are placed on a carry-in conveyor that carries each of the erasing terminals to an inspection section one by one for inspection of their functions and appearance;
a returning step in which the unerased terminals removed by the first arm from the terminal set table are held by the first arm and placed on a returning conveyor to be returned to the start point of the supply conveyor;
an inspection section carry-out process in which each erased terminal that has been inspected in the inspection section and is carried out one by one from the inspection section by a carry-out conveyor is held by an arm of a second handling robot (hereinafter referred to as the "second arm") and transported to a next process;
A method for handling terminals in a commercialization process of used terminals, comprising:
The operations of the supply conveyor, the return conveyor, and the data erasure unit are controlled by a central control unit,
the first arm is an arm of a six-axis robot having a first terminal holding part at its tip for detachably holding each of the terminals one by one, and the first arm and the first terminal holding part are controlled by a first arm control part with respect to the operating posture including the direction of the first arm and the height of the arm tip, the timing of the operating posture, and the operation content and the timing of the operation of the first terminal holding part in the first transport process, the data erasure unit setting process, the data erasure unit removal process, the inspection unit carry-in process, and the return process;
the second arm is an arm of a SCARA robot having a second terminal holding part at its tip for detachably holding each of the terminals one by one, and the second arm and the second terminal holding part are controlled by a second arm control part in the inspection unit carrying-out process with respect to the operating posture including the direction of the second arm and the timing of that posture, and the operation content and the operation timing of the second terminal holding part,
A method of handling a terminal in a commercialization process of the terminal is carried out. The terminal handling method according to claim 1, in which multiple terminals transported by the supply conveyor are imaged by one or two cameras placed on or near the first arm, and a terminal to be held by the first arm is selected based on the image data. The method for handling terminals according to claim 1, wherein the timing of the operation of removing each erasure terminal in the data erasure unit removal process by the first arm and the operation of placing the terminal on the carry-in conveyor in the inspection unit carry-in process are controlled based on an inspection progress signal supplied from the inspection unit to the first arm control unit regarding the inspection progress including the completion of the required inspection of one terminal previously carried into the inspection unit. The method for handling a terminal according to claim 1, in which the protective film is removed from the erasing terminal after the data erasing unit removal process. The method for handling terminals according to claim 1, wherein the second arm places each erasing terminal with a new protective film attached to the rear camera section of the erasing terminal and with the front side facing down on a conveyor heading for the next process after the inspection section removal process. 2. The method for handling a terminal according to claim 1, wherein the first terminal holding portion of the first arm and the second terminal holding portion of the second arm are provided with suction cups that suction-hold the surface of each terminal with negative-pressure air, and a rotation mechanism that rotates each terminal holding portion forward and backward about an axis parallel to a central axis of the suction cups.

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