JP2010194698A - Production system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact production line requiring smaller installation floor space. <P>SOLUTION: A movement area 14 is disposed along the production line 8, and a mobile robot 16 is arranged movably in the movement area 14. The periphery of the production line 8 and a transportation line 14 is covered with a cover 18 as a whole. A person stands outside the cover 18. Therefore, no human body carelessly enters operation areas 2a to 6a of production equipments 2 to 6. There is no probability that a human hand or the like touches a certain production equipment and gets hurt during operation even in the absence of a conventional safety area between these production equipments 2 to 6 and the movement area 14. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a production system in which a plurality of production devices are arranged in series, and more particularly to a system in which a workpiece is supplied to a production device by a mobile robot.

  When people transfer workpieces between multiple production devices that make up a production line and deliver workpieces to each production device, in order to ensure the safety of people, between production devices and people's movement areas Is provided with a predetermined safety area, and when a human hand or the like enters the safety area during operation of the production equipment, the intrusion detection sensor detects this to stop the production equipment urgently.

That is, if a person's hand is inadvertently placed in the operating area of the production equipment, there is a risk of injury. However, even if an emergency stop signal is input, the production device cannot immediately stop its operation and continues to operate for a while due to inertia. Therefore, a safety area is installed between the operation area of the production equipment and the person's movement area. When a human hand enters the safety area, the intrusion detection sensor detects this and outputs an emergency stop signal to Emergency stop. For this reason, when the human hand passes through the safety area and enters the operation area, the production equipment stops operating, so that the person can be protected from injury.
On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses that a mobile robot performs work transfer and work transfer to production equipment (Patent Document 1).

JP 2005-46966 A

In a production system in which a person transports a work and delivers a work to a production device, it is conceivable to replace a person with a mobile robot as in Patent Document 1 in order to save labor.
However, even if a person is replaced with a mobile robot in a conventional production system in which a person carries a workpiece and delivers the workpiece to a production device, a safety area is still necessary. This is because people can freely enter the moving area of the mobile robot, so they may stand in the moving area and inadvertently reach into the operating area of the production equipment. This is because if it is not provided, the hand may enter the operation area of the production device before the operation of the production device is completely stopped. For this reason, even in a production system that transfers work to production equipment using a mobile robot, a safety area must be provided between the mobile robot's movement area and the production equipment, and the installation floor area of the production equipment will vary. The problem that a moving area area of the mobile robot is newly required and the occupied floor area becomes large remains unsolved.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a production system that is small in size and can reduce the installation floor area.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 provides a movement area along an operation area of a plurality of production devices arranged in series, and a mobile robot is movably disposed in the movement area, and The outer periphery of the production line and the moving line is collectively covered with a cover. According to this configuration, since a person stands outside the cover, the human body does not inadvertently enter the operation area of the production equipment, and a conventional safety area is provided between the production equipment and the movement area. Even if it is not, there is no fear that people's hands will touch the production equipment in operation and get injured.

  In the invention of claim 2, the cover is provided with an opening portion in a one-to-one relationship with each production device, a door for opening and closing each opening portion is provided, a door sensor for detecting opening and closing of each door is provided, and the inside of the cover is produced. A boundary that monitors the boundaries of adjacent production areas and detects the presence or absence of objects that pass through the boundaries when it is divided into a plurality of production areas each having one device, one opening, and one door that opens and closes the opening. A sensor is provided to provide control means for controlling the production equipment and the mobile robot. When the door sensor detects the opening of the door, the production equipment in the production area having the door where the opening is detected is stopped and opened. When a boundary sensor that monitors the boundary between the production area having a door where the door is detected and the production area adjacent to the production area detects that there is an object passing through the boundary, the production device in the adjacent production area Since it is configured so as to emergency stop, production equipment corresponding to the drilled door is stopped immediately. For this reason, when a human body enters the cover from the opening opened by the door, the production equipment has already stopped and there is no risk of injury. In addition, when an object (including a human body) passes toward the next production area, the boundary sensor detects this and the production equipment in the next production area is urgently stopped, so there is a risk of injury from the next production equipment. Sex can be lost.

  In the invention according to claim 3, the device emergency stop control is performed by the boundary sensor sequentially located on the side away from the boundary sensor that monitors the boundary between the production area having the door whose opening is detected and the production area adjacent to the production area. This is also performed when the presence of an object passing through is sequentially detected, so that the risk of injury can be eliminated even if the hand is extended to the next production device and further to the next production device.

In the invention of claim 4, when the opening of the door is detected, the movement prohibited area is defined within the production area having the door where the opening is detected and up to a predetermined distance from the production area to the adjacent production area. When the mobile robot is located in the movement prohibition area, the mobile robot is urgently stopped, or when the mobile robot moves toward the movement prohibition area, the mobile robot is urgent before entering the movement prohibition area. Since it is stopped, it is possible to eliminate the risk of injury by hitting a mobile robot in operation.
In the invention of claim 5, when the boundary sensor detects the passage of an object, the movement prohibition area is expanded each time. Therefore, even if a human body enters the next production area and the next production area, it operates. You can eliminate the risk of injury by hitting the mobile robot inside.

The top view of the production system which shows the 1st Embodiment of this invention Longitudinal side view Perspective view (A) is a block diagram showing a control configuration of production equipment, (b) is a block diagram showing a control configuration of a mobile robot Flow chart showing stop control of production equipment Flow chart showing stop control of mobile robot The top view of the production line which shows the 2nd Embodiment of this invention

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a desktop production line will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a first production device 2 to a fifth production device 6 are sequentially arranged in the order of steps on a work floor 1 installed at a height at which a person (operator) can easily work. They are installed side by side. The first production device 2 to the fifth production device 6 arranged in series, for example, sequentially assemble small parts to the workpiece 7 shown in FIG. A production line 8 for processing is configured. It is assumed that the production line 8 of this embodiment is for machining the workpiece 7.

  The first production device 2 to the fifth production device 6 are installed with the workpiece delivery side aligned so that the workpiece 7 can be delivered from the front side. The first device control device 9 to the fifth device control device 13 for individually controlling the first production device 2 to the fifth production device 6 are arranged on the rear side of the work floor 1 (the left side in FIGS. 1 and 2). ). The device control devices 9 to 13 are mainly composed of a microcomputer.

On the work floor 1, a moving area 14 is provided on the front side of the first production device 2 to the fifth production device 6. The moving area 14 extends in parallel with the production line 8. A rail (guide path) 15 is laid in the moving area 14, and the mobile robot 16 reciprocates on the rail 15. The mobile robot 16 is controlled by a robot control device 17 disposed on one end side of the work floor 1. The robot control device 17 is also mainly composed of a microcomputer.
Here, the moving area 14 refers to an area in the mobile robot 16 where the base 16a placed on the rail 15 moves. Accordingly, the width W1 in the front-rear direction of the moving area 14 is the same as the width W2 in the front-rear direction of the base 16a.

  Pallets (not shown) are placed at both ends of the work floor 1, and the workpiece 7 before machining is stored in the pallet on the first production equipment 2 side that is responsible for processing in the first process. A work 7 after the completion of machining is stored in a pallet on the fifth production equipment 6 side that takes a certain fifth step. The mobile robot 16 has two arms 16b and 16c, and a hand (not shown) for gripping the workpiece 7 is attached to the distal ends of the two arms 16b and 16c.

  The mobile robot 16 delivers the workpiece 7 to and from the production devices 2 to 6 using the two arms 16b and 16c. That is, when the mobile robot 16 grips the workpiece 7 that has been processed by the production device in the previous process with one arm and moves it to the front of the production device in the next process, first, the processing is completed by the production device in the process. The work 7 is gripped by the other free arm. Subsequently, the work 7 held by one arm is attached to the production equipment in the process. Thereafter, the mobile robot 16 moves in front of the production equipment in the next process, and grips the workpiece 7 that has been processed by the production equipment in the relevant process with one vacant arm, and then grips it on the other arm. The workpiece 7 is transferred by using both arms alternately, such as attaching a workpiece to the production equipment in the process.

  As shown also in FIG. 3, a cover 18 is provided on the work floor 1 to collectively cover the outer periphery of the production line 8 and the moving area 14. The cover 18 is configured by covering the front and rear, the left and right, and the upper surfaces of a frame 19 configured in, for example, an elongated rectangular box shape with a metal mesh 20. On the front surface of the cover 18, the first opening has a one-to-one relationship with the first production device 2 to the fifth production device 6 at a position facing the first production device 2 to the fifth production device 6. A portion 21 to a fifth opening 25 are formed.

  The cover 18 is attached with a first door 26 to a fifth door 30 made of wire mesh that can open and close the first opening 21 to the fifth opening 25 separately. Opening and closing of the first door 26 to the fifth door 30 is detected separately by the first door sensor 31 to the fifth door sensor 35. The 1st door sensor 31-the 5th door sensor 35 consist of micro switches, for example, and when the 1st door 26-the 5th door 30 are opened, they are the structures turned on.

  Inside the cover 18, a first production area 2, a first production area 36 having a first opening 21 that faces the first production device 2, and a first door 26 that opens and closes the first opening 21, a second production. The second production area 37 having the device 3, the second opening 22 facing this, and the second door 27 for opening and closing the second opening 22, the third production device 4, the third facing this 3rd production area 38 which has the 3rd door 28 which opens and closes the opening 23 and the 3rd opening 23, the 4th production equipment 5, the 4th opening 24 and the 4th opening which counter this 5th door which opens and closes the 4th production area 39 which has the 4th door 29 which opens and closes part 24, the 5th production device 6, the 5th opening 25 which counters this, and 5th opening 25 One production device, an opening, and a door, such as a fifth production area 40 having 30 When it is divided into a plurality of production areas, the cover 18 is provided with a first boundary sensor 41 to a fourth boundary sensor 44 that monitor the boundaries of the first production area 36 to the fifth production area 40. It has been.

  The first boundary sensor 41 to the fourth boundary sensor 44 are composed of a plurality of pairs of light projecting / receiving elements 45a and 45b provided on the inner front surface and the inner rear surface of the cover 18 so as to face each other. The light projecting / receiving elements 45a and 45b are provided in a plurality of stages in the vertical direction at short intervals. The first boundary sensor 41 to the fourth boundary sensor 44 detect signals (ON) when there is an object (including a human body) passing through the boundary between the first production area 36 to the fifth production area 40. Is output.

  By the way, in the first production device 2 to the fifth production device 6, the machining head moves in the XYZ (up, down, left and right) direction, or the table on which the work 7 is set moves in the XYZ direction. As a result, required processing (drilling, threading, cutting, etc.) is performed on a desired portion of the workpiece 7. In FIG. 1, the shaded portions are operation areas 2a to 6a in the XY (left / right) direction of the machining head or table. And if a human body penetrate | invades in these operation | movement area | regions 2a-6a, the risk of receiving an injury will become high.

  Here, the operation areas 2a to 6a of the production devices 2 to 6 are separated from the boundary between the production area where the production devices 2 to 6 themselves are located and the adjacent production area by a predetermined distance L1. The width dimension is set. The predetermined distance L1 is determined as follows. That is, each production device 2-6 stops when it receives an emergency stop command, but does not stop immediately, but continues to operate for some time due to inertia. On the other hand, it is known from a rule of thumb that when the human body, for example, a person moves his / her hand, the speed of the hand does not exceed a certain speed. For this reason, when a person's hand is moved toward the operation areas 2a to 6a, if the distance to which the hand is moved is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance, the emergency stop command is output to the production equipment 2 to 6 at the same time as the hand starts to move. For example, the hand can reach the operation areas 2a to 6a only after the production devices 2 to 6 are stopped. The predetermined distance L1 is determined to be longer than the distance that the hand moves from the time when the production devices 2 to 6 receive an emergency stop command until the operation stops.

  Further, the moving area 14 on which the rail 15 of the mobile robot 16 is laid is provided near the operation areas 2a to 5a of the production devices 2 to 6 and along the operation areas 2a to 5a. Specifically, the moving area 14 is provided close to the operation areas 2a to 6a so as not to be separated from the operation areas 2a to 6a by the predetermined distance L1 or more. In this case, in order to minimize the width of the work floor 1 in the front-rear direction, the moving area 14 is brought close enough not to contact the operation areas 2a to 6a, that is, the base 16a of the mobile robot 16 contacts the operation areas 2a to 6a. It is preferable to make it close to not. However, it is necessary to prevent the distance W3 between the operation regions 2a to 6a and the front surface of the cover 18 from being less than the predetermined distance L1.

  As shown to Fig.4 (a), in each apparatus control apparatus 9-13 which controls each production apparatus 2-6, the 1st door sensor 31-the 5th door sensor 35, and the 1st boundary sensor 41- The fourth boundary sensor 44 is connected, the first device stop switch 46 to the fifth device stop switch 50 for urgently stopping the production devices 2 to 6, and the first for restart after the stop. The device start switch 51 to the fifth device start switch 55 are connected. As shown in FIG. 3, the device stop switches 46 to 50 and the device start switches 51 to 55 of the production devices 2 to 6 are provided outside the cover 18 on the openings 22 to 25 of the production areas 36 to 40, respectively. For example, it is provided on the right side.

  Although the detection signals of all the door sensors 31 to 35 and all the boundary sensors 41 to 44 are input to the device control devices 9 to 13, the device control devices 9 to 13 are, for example, the door sensors 31 to 35. Since the connection ports of the boundary sensors 41 to 44 are different, it is possible to determine which door sensor and from which boundary sensor the detection (ON) signal is input by detecting a signal input to each connection port. It is configured.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4B, the robot controller 17 that controls the mobile robot 16 includes a first door sensor 31 to a fifth door sensor 35 and a first boundary sensor 41 to a fourth boundary. A sensor 44 is connected, and a robot stop switch 56 for urgently stopping the mobile robot 16 and a robot start switch 57 for restarting after the stop are connected. The robot stop switch 56 and the robot start switch 57 are attached to the front surface of the robot control device 17 installed outside the cover 18.

  The mobile robot 16 includes a position sensor 58 for detecting its own current position, and the robot control device 17 compares the current position information obtained from the position sensor 58 with the target position, and the difference between them. A movement command corresponding to is output to move the mobile robot 16 to the target position. The current position of the mobile robot 16 is based on the origin position of the mobile robot 16 (the position immediately before the pallet for storing the unprocessed workpiece 7 placed on the first production device 2 side). It is obtained by a predetermined calculation formula using the rotation speed of a wheel driving motor (not shown) from the origin position as a variable.

Next, in the above configuration, the operations of the first device control device 9 to the fifth device control device 13 as the control means and the robot control device 17 as the control means will be described separately for each case.
(1) When any one of the equipment stop switches 46 to 50 or the robot stop switch 56 is operated When the inspection / repair of any of the first production equipment 2 to the fifth production equipment 6 is performed, the first Of the device stop switch 46 to the fifth stop switch 50, the device stop switch of the production device to be inspected and repaired is operated, and the robot stop switch 56 is operated. For example, when the third production device 4 is inspected and repaired, the third device stop switch 53 is operated, and the robot stop switch 56 is operated.

  Then, the third equipment control device 11 stops the third production equipment 4 at the end of one operation cycle. Further, after the robot controller 17 moves the mobile robot 16 to just before the fifth production device 6 which is the final process, the robot controller 17 returns to the origin position and stops at the origin position. In addition, one operation cycle of each production device 2 to 6 refers to the operation from the start to the end of the process that each production device bears on one workpiece 7.

  Then, after confirming that the third production device 4 has stopped and the mobile robot 16 has stopped at the origin position, the operator opens the third door 28 and opens the third opening 23 through the third opening 23. The third production equipment 4 is inspected and repaired by putting a hand in the production area 38 of the above. In this case, the production equipment other than the production equipment for which the equipment stop switch has been operated is not transferred, so that the work 7 is stopped when one operation cycle is completed.

(2) When one of the first door 26 to the fifth door 30 is opened One of the first production equipment 2 to the fifth production equipment 6, for example, the third production equipment 4 is inspected and repaired. For this purpose, it is assumed that the third door 28 is opened. Then, the third door sensor 33 detects the opening of the third door 28 and turns it on. The ON signal (open detection signal) of the third door sensor 33 is input to all of the first device control device 9 to the fifth device control device 13.

  As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, each of the device control devices 9 to 13 outputs the on signal when the on signal is input from any of the door sensors 31 to 35 (“YES” in step S1). Is a door sensor of its own production area (step S2). Here, the own production area refers to a production area in which production equipment controlled by the equipment control device is installed.

  Since the third device control apparatus 11 stores in advance that the third door sensor 33 is a door sensor of its own production area, when an ON signal is input from the third door sensor 33, The third production device 4 which is its own production device is immediately stopped (step S4). For this reason, even if the third door 28 is opened and a hand is inserted into the third production area 38 from the third opening 23, the hand reaches the operation area 4 a of the third production device 4. Since the fourth production device 5 is stopped, there is no risk of injury even if the third production device 4 that is operating is touched.

  In the device control devices 9, 10, 12, and 13 other than the third device control device 11, the third door sensor 33 that outputs the ON signal is not a door sensor of its own production area (“NO” in step S2). ), The production devices 2, 3, 5, and 6 controlled by itself are kept operating and stopped after the end of one operation cycle. Next, the device control devices 9, 10, 12, and 13 other than the third device control device 11 produce the production area (third production area 38) of the door sensor (third door sensor 33) that outputs the ON signal. ) To the own production area, it is determined whether or not all the boundary sensors are on (step S3).

  The determination in step S3 will be described by applying it to the fourth device control apparatus 12 that controls the fourth production device 5 adjacent to the third production device 4 to be inspected and maintained, for example. When the third door sensor 33 outputs an ON signal, the fourth device control device 12 itself (fourth) from the third production area 38 that is the production area of the third door sensor 33 that has output this ON signal. It is determined whether all the boundary sensors existing up to the fourth production area 39, which is the production area of the device control apparatus 12), in this case, the third boundary sensor 43 are on.

  Here, assuming that the hand of an operator who is inspecting and repairing the third production equipment 4 extends from the third production area 38 to the fourth production area 39, the light projecting element of the third boundary sensor 43 Since the light projected from 45a is blocked by hand, the third boundary sensor 43 detects (turns on) that an object (hand) has passed through the boundary between the third production area 38 and the fourth production area 39. . Then, the 4th apparatus control apparatus 12 judges as "YES" at Step S3, and makes the 4th production apparatus 5 which is its own production equipment stop urgently. At this time, since the distance from the boundary between the third production area 38 and the fourth production area 39 to the operation area 4a of the fourth production device 5 is L1, the fourth time after the hand passes through the boundary. The fourth production device 5 is stopped before reaching the operation area 4a of the production device 5, and there is no fear of injury even if the fourth production device 5 is touched.

  On the other hand, the fifth device control device 13 starts from the third production area 38, which is the production area of the third door sensor 33 that outputs the ON signal, in the production area of itself (the fifth device control device 13). If all the boundary sensors existing up to a fifth production area 40, in this case, the third boundary sensor 43 and the fourth boundary sensor 44 are not turned on, the fifth production equipment 6 can be stopped. Absent. In the above example, since the third boundary sensor 43 is only turned on, the fifth device control apparatus 13 does not stop the fifth production device 6. When the hand of an operator who is inspecting and repairing the third production device 4 further extends from the fourth production area 39 to the fifth production area 40, the fourth boundary sensor 43 and the fourth Since the boundary sensor 44 is turned on, the fifth device control apparatus 13 stops the fifth production device 6.

  On the other hand, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, the robot controller 17 outputs an ON signal from any of the first door sensor 31 to the fifth door sensor 35 (“YES” in step A1). ], A movement prohibition area is calculated from the on / off information of the door sensor that outputs the ON signal and the boundary sensors 41 to 44 (step A2). This movement prohibition area is defined as a movement prohibition area in a production area having a door whose opening is detected and a place where a predetermined distance L2 is entered from the production area into an adjacent production area. Further, a boundary sensor for monitoring the boundary between two production areas having a relationship between adjacent ones including a production area having a door whose opening is detected has a door whose opening is detected when there is an object passing through the boundary. Among the boundary sensors that detect the presence of objects that pass through the boundary when sequentially detected toward the side away from the production area, the boundary next to the boundary monitored by the boundary sensor farthest from the production area that has the door that has been detected to be opened Is sequentially expanded to a place within a predetermined distance L2 in the production area next to the. Here, the predetermined distance L2 is set to a distance required for an emergency stop of the mobile robot 16 (a travel distance from when a stop signal is input to when the mobile robot 16 stops).

  For example, when the third door 28 is opened, the third door sensor 33 only outputs an ON signal, so the robot controller 17 is a production area of the door sensor that outputs the ON signal. Including the third production area 38 and the area that has entered from the third production area 38 into the second production area 37 and the fourth production area 39 that are adjacent production areas by a predetermined distance L2. A movement prohibited area (shown as a movement prohibited area (example 1) in FIG. 1) is set.

  Next, the robot controller 17 detects the current position of the mobile robot 16 from the position sensor 58, and determines whether or not the current position is within the movement prohibited area (step A3). When the mobile robot 16 exists in the movement prohibition area (“YES” in step A3), the robot controller 17 makes the mobile robot 16 stop urgently (step A6). When the mobile robot 16 is not in the movement prohibition area (“NO” in step A3), the robot controller 17 determines whether or not the mobile robot 16 is moving toward the movement prohibition area (step A4). If the mobile robot 16 is moving toward the movement prohibited area, the mobile robot 16 is urgently stopped at that time if it has entered the movement prohibited area (“YES” in step A4, “YES” in step A5, step A6).

  Thus, for the mobile robot 16, when an operator opens any door (for example, the third door 28), the production area including the production area (third production area 38) of the opened door is included. If the mobile robot 16 is in an area extended from the (third production area 3) to the adjacent production areas (second production area 37, fourth production area 39) by a predetermined distance L2, the mobile robot 16 Is urgently stopped, so that even if an operator inserts a hand into the production area (third production area 38) from the opening of the opened door (third opening 23), the moving mobile robot There is no fear of injury by touching 16.

  Even if the mobile robot 16 is located in the production area (third production area 38) when the hand is inserted into the production area (third production area 38) through the opened opening, Since the emergency stop of the mobile robot 16 starts when the door (third door 28) is opened, the mobile robot 16 stops when the hand is inserted into the production area (third production area 38), or just before the stop. There is little or no risk of injury.

  In addition, when the production equipment (third production equipment 4) is repaired and inspected by inserting a hand into the production area (third production area 38) from the opened opening (third opening 23). Even if the mobile robot 16 is moving toward the production area (third production area 38), if the mobile robot 16 reaches a predetermined distance L2 before reaching the production area (third production area 38), the mobile robot 16 Is stopped before entering the production area (third production area 38) in which an emergency stop operation is performed, so that there is no possibility that the operator's hand touches the moving mobile robot 16.

  By the way, when the production equipment is inspected and repaired by inserting a hand into the production area from the opened opening, the hand may be placed in the adjacent production area for some reason. For example, it is assumed that the operator's hand that has been repaired and inspected in the third production area 38 enters the fourth production area 39 for some reason. Then, since the 3rd boundary sensor 43 which monitors the boundary of the 3rd production area 38 and the 4th production area 39 outputs an ON signal, the robot control apparatus 17 makes a movement prohibition area a 3rd door. The area is reset when the sensor 3 is on and the third boundary sensor 43 is on.

  The movement prohibition area at this time is the production area next to the boundary next to the boundary monitored by the boundary sensor farthest from the production area where the door opening is detected among the boundary sensors that output the ON signal, that is, the third sensor. When the boundary sensor 43 outputs an ON signal, the third boundary sensor 43 corresponds to the boundary sensor farthest from the production area where the door opening is detected. Up to an area that is within a predetermined distance L2 within the fifth production area 40, which is the production area next to the boundary monitored by the fourth boundary sensor 44, is included in the movement prohibition area (moving to FIG. 1). Prohibited area (example 2)). For this reason, when the hand is inserted from the third production area 38 into the adjacent fourth production area 39, the mobile robot 16 does not enter the fourth production area 39. There is no fear that the hand inserted into the area 39 hits the mobile robot 16 that is moving and is injured.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. This is because the production area, the production equipment, the opening of the cover 18 and the door are increased one by one, the sixth production area 59, the sixth production. A device 60, a seventh opening 61, and a seventh door 62 are provided, and according to this, a device control device, a device stop switch, a door switch, a device start switch, and a boundary sensor are increased one by one, A device control device 63, a sixth door switch 64, a sixth device stop switch 65, a sixth device start switch 66, and a sixth boundary sensor 67 are provided, and further two mobile robots 16 are provided. The mobile robot 16 is controlled by a separate robot controller 17, which is different from the above embodiment.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings, and can be expanded or changed as follows.
The number of production areas is not limited to five or six, and may be more or less.
A plurality of production devices may be centrally controlled by a single device control device (control means).

  In the drawings, 1 is a work floor, 2 to 6 are first production equipment to fifth production equipment, 7 is a work, 8 is a production line, and 9 to 13 are first equipment control devices to fifth equipment control devices. (Control means), 14 is a moving line, 15 is a rail (guide path), 16 is a mobile robot, 17 is a robot control device (control means), 18 is a cover, 21 to 25 are first openings to fifth Openings, 26 to 30 are a first door to a fifth door, 31 to 35 are a first door switch to a fifth door switch, 36 to 40 are a first production area to a fifth production area, 41 ˜44 are the first boundary sensor to the fourth boundary sensor, 46 to 50 are the first device stop switch to the fifth device stop switch, and 51 to 55 are the first device start switch to the fifth device start switch. , 56 is a robot stop switch, 57 is a robot start switch, 9 is a sixth production area, 60 is a sixth production device, 61 is a seventh opening, 62 is a seventh door, 63 is a sixth device control device, 64 is a sixth door switch, and 65 is A sixth device stop switch, 66 represents a sixth device start switch, and 67 represents a sixth boundary sensor.

Claims (5)

A production line configured by arranging a plurality of production devices in a series in the order of processes;
A moving area provided along the operating area of the series of production equipment;
A mobile robot that is movably arranged in the moving area and delivers workpieces between the series of production devices;
A cover that collectively covers the outer periphery of the production line and the moving area;
A production system comprising. The production system according to claim 1,
An opening formed in a one-to-one relationship with each production device on the moving area side of the cover;
A door that opens and closes each opening;
A door sensor for detecting opening and closing of each door;
When the inside of the cover is divided into a plurality of production areas each having the production equipment, the opening, and the door that opens and closes the opening, the boundary between the adjacent production areas is monitored, and the boundary is A boundary sensor that detects the presence or absence of a passing object;
Control means for controlling the plurality of production devices and the mobile robot;
With
Each production device is disposed such that the operating range is a predetermined distance away from the boundary with the adjacent production area,
When the door sensor detects the opening of the door, the control means urgently stops the production equipment in the production area having the door where the opening is detected among the plurality of production areas, and the boundary When a boundary sensor that monitors the boundary between the production area having the door where the opening is detected and the production area adjacent to the production area among the sensors detects that there is an object passing through the boundary, the adjacent production area A production system characterized in that an emergency stop is performed on the production equipment. The production system according to claim 2,
The control means includes
Among the boundary sensors, a boundary sensor that monitors a boundary between the production area having the production equipment that has been urgently stopped and the production area having production equipment that has not been urgently stopped next to the production area When the presence of passing objects is detected, the device emergency stop control for emergency stopping the production device in the production area adjacent to the production area that already has the production device that has been urgently stopped,
The boundary sensor sequentially located on the side away from the boundary sensor that monitors the boundary between the production area having the door where the opening is detected and the production area adjacent to the production area sequentially detects the presence of an object passing through the boundary. Production system characterized by occasional implementation. In the production system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An opening formed in a one-to-one relationship with each production device on the moving area side of the cover;
A door that opens and closes each opening;
A door sensor for detecting opening and closing of each door;
When the inside of the cover is divided into a plurality of production areas each having the production equipment, the opening, and the door that opens and closes the opening, the boundary between the adjacent production areas is monitored, and the boundary is A boundary sensor that detects the presence or absence of a passing object;
Control means for controlling the plurality of production devices and the mobile robot;
With
The control means includes
When opening of the door is detected by the door sensor, the production area having the door where the opening is detected among the plurality of production areas and a place within a predetermined distance from the production area to the adjacent production area If the mobile robot is located in the movement prohibition area, the mobile robot is urgently stopped, or if the mobile robot moves toward the movement prohibition area, the movement prohibition is performed. A production system characterized in that the mobile robot is urgently stopped before entering the area. The production system according to claim 4, wherein
The control means includes
The door in which the opening is detected by the boundary sensor that monitors the boundary between two production areas having a relationship between each other including the production area having the door in which the opening is detected. When sequentially detected toward the side away from the production area having
Among the boundary sensors that detect the presence of objects passing through the boundary, the production next to the boundary next to the boundary monitored by the boundary sensor that is farthest from the production area that has the door that is detected to be opened is detected. A production system, wherein the system is sequentially expanded up to a predetermined distance within an area.

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