JP2013039644A - Article holding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article holding device capable of properly holding an article.SOLUTION: This article holding device 1 includes: a base 11 to be mounted on a distal end of a robot arm 5; and an elevating body 12 elevated and lowered relative to base 11. The article holding device 1 further includes a suction holder 21 sucking and holding an upper surface of an article W and a flexible connection body 22 connecting the elevating body 12 with the suction holder 21. The article holding device 1 further includes a pair of grippers 51 holding the article W having the upper surface sucked and held by the suction holder 21 from both sides to perform the centering. The flexible connection body 22 is a metal-made wire.

Description

  The present invention relates to an article holding device that holds an article.

  Conventionally, for example, an article holding device described in Patent Document 1 is known.

  This conventional article holding device has a body having a plurality of holes, a shaft inserted into the hole of the body so as to be slidable in the vertical direction, and is attached to the lower end portion of the shaft to hold the upper surface of the article by suction. A flexible tube having a possible skirt-like elastic body and an air cylinder and a block provided on the body for clamping the shaft are provided.

Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-24289 (FIGS. 1 and 2)

  However, the conventional article holding device can surely cope with the inclination of the upper surface of the article, but it cannot cope with, for example, the article being displaced in the horizontal direction, and the article may not be held appropriately. is there.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a point, and it aims at providing the goods holding | maintenance apparatus which can hold | maintain goods appropriately.

  The article holding apparatus according to claim 1 connects the base body, the lifting body that moves up and down relative to the base body, the suction holding body that sucks and holds the upper surface of the article, and the lifting body and the suction holding body. A flexible coupling body and a pair of sandwiching bodies that sandwich and center an article whose upper surface is suction-held by the suction-holding body from both sides are provided.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the article holding apparatus according to the first aspect, further comprising positioning means for positioning the suction holding body relative to the lifting body.

  The article holding device according to claim 3 is the article holding device according to claim 2, wherein the suction holding body has an engagement receiving portion, and the positioning means is an elevating portion that elevates and lowers relative to the elevating body, and the elevating and lowering portion. And an engaging portion that positions the suction holding body with respect to the lifting body by engagement with the engagement receiving portion.

  The article holding device according to claim 4 is the article holding device according to claim 3, wherein either one of the engaging portion and the engaging receiving portion is configured by a fitting convex portion, and the engaging portion and the engaging portion are arranged. Either one of the receiving parts is configured by a fitting recess that fits in and out of the fitting protrusion.

  The article holding device according to claim 5 is the article holding device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the flexible coupling body has an upper end side attached to the lifting body and a lower end side attached to the suction holding body. It is a wire.

  According to the present invention, a flexible coupling body that couples the lifting body and the suction holding body, and a pair of sandwiching bodies that center and center the article having the upper surface sucked and held by the suction holding body. Therefore, it is possible to cope with the inclination of the upper surface of the article and the horizontal displacement of the article, and the article can be appropriately held.

It is a partially omitted front view showing an article holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a front view at the time of the state which the raising / lowering body of the article holding apparatus same as the above fell. It is a top view of an article holding apparatus same as the above. It is a side view of an article holding apparatus same as the above. It is a partial side view of an article holding apparatus same as the above. It is a figure which shows the flexible coupling body of an article holding apparatus same as the above. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of an article holding | maintenance apparatus same as the above. FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory diagram following FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory diagram following FIG. 8. FIG. 10 is an operation explanatory diagram following FIG. 9. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing following FIG. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing following FIG. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing following FIG.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 4, reference numeral 1 denotes an article holding apparatus that holds an article W. The article holding apparatus 1 is, for example, a robot depalletizer hand (suction hand).

  That is, the robot depalletizer 3 that is an article transfer device holds, for example, the articles W stacked on the pallet one by one, and transfers the held articles W to a predetermined position on the conveyor conveyance surface. The article holding device 1 is used as a hand of such a robot depalletizer.

  The robot depalletizer 3 includes a base 4, a robot arm 5 is provided on the base 4, and the article holding device 1 is attached to a hand attachment portion 6 at the tip of the robot arm 5. The article holding device 1 is movable in an arbitrary direction within the set range based on the operation of the robot arm 5. The article W is, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped, and is a cardboard case, a plastic case, or the like.

  Here, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the article holding device 1 includes a base body 11 attached to the hand attachment portion 6 of the robot arm 5, and a lifting body 12 that moves up and down with respect to the base body 11. And a lifting cylinder 13 which is provided before and after the base body 11 and lifts and lowers the lifting body 12 with respect to the base body 11.

  The lifting cylinder 13 has a vertically installed cylinder body 14 attached to the base body 11, and a vertically extending rod 15 that is inserted into the cylinder body 14 and moves up and down. A lifting body 12, which is a lifting frame, is attached to the lower end portion.

  In addition, the article holding device 1 includes a suction holding body 21 that holds the upper surface of the article W by suction, and a plurality of linear flexible connecting bodies 22 that connect the upper lifting body 12 and the lower suction holding body 21. And. In other words, the suction holding body 21 is suspended from the lifting body 12 by a plurality of flexible connecting bodies 22 (for example, three in front and rear, and a total of six).

  Then, the suction holding body 21 moves relative to the elevating body 12 by the deformation of the flexible coupling body 22 or the like. That is, for example, the suction holding body 21 is tilted by the bending deformation of the flexible coupling body 22 to be inclined with respect to the horizontal direction, or the flexible coupling body 22 rotates about the upper end side. As a result, the suction holder 21 moves in a horizontal state.

  The flexible coupling body 22 is made of, for example, a metal such as stainless steel whose upper end side is detachably attached to the wire attachment portion 24 of the lifting body 12 and whose lower end side is detachably attached to the wire attachment portion 25 of the suction holding body 21. It is a flexible wire 23. That is, the annular upper end portion 23a on the upper end side of the wire 23 is hooked on the shaft portion 24a of the wire attachment portion 24 of the elevating body 12, and the annular upper end portion 23b on the lower end side of the wire 23 is attached to the wire attachment portion 25 of the suction holding body 21. It is hooked on the shaft portion 25a.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, three wires 23 having a predetermined length are arranged at equal intervals along the vertical direction on the front and rear sides of the article holding device 1. Yes. Of these three, the central wire 23 is for safety and is not necessarily required.

  The wire attaching portion 24 of the elevating body 12 is attached to a U-shaped standing portion 27 erected at the longitudinal end portion of the rectangular plate portion 26 of the elevating body 12 so as to be vertically adjustable. The wire attaching portion 25 of the suction holding body 21 is attached to the end portion in the front-rear direction of the rectangular plate portion 30 of the suction holding body 21 so as to be vertically adjustable.

  The suction holding body 21 has a plurality of elastically deformable rubbers that suck and hold the upper surface of the article W, for example, nine suction pad portions 31 in three rows and three rows. Is attached to a pad attachment tube portion 32 provided on the lower surface side of the central portion. An air suction means (not shown) for evacuating the inside of the suction pad portion 31 is connected to the pad mounting tube portion 32.

  In addition, the article holding device 1 includes a locking unit 41 that is provided on the plate portion 26 of the lifting body 12 and is a positioning unit that positions (locks) the suction holding body 21 with respect to the lifting body 12.

  The locking means 41 locks the suction holding body 21 with respect to the lifting / lowering body 12 and moves the suction holding body 21 with respect to the lifting / lowering body 12 when the article holding device 1 as a whole moves at high speed based on the operation of the robot arm 5, for example. When the suction holding body 21 holds the upper surface of the article W by suction, the lock is released and the suction holding body 21 is allowed to move with respect to the lifting body 12.

  The lock means 41 has a lock cylinder 43 that is a lock drive means provided at the center of the plate portion 26 of the elevating body 12.

  The locking cylinder 43 as a positioning drive means includes a vertically installed cylinder main body 44 attached to the central portion of the plate portion 26 of the elevating body 12, and a vertically extending length that is inserted into the cylinder main body 44 and moves up and down. And a lifting plate 46 is attached to the lower end of the rod 45. The rod 45 and the lift plate 46 constitute a lift 47 that moves up and down with respect to the lift 12.

  The suction holding body 21 is lifted and lowered at the lower end of the lifting / lowering portion 47 driven up and down by the cylinder body 44 by engagement with the concave engagement receiving portion 50 of the suction holding body 21, that is, for example, by fitting engagement. A convex engaging portion (locking engaging portion) 48 that is positioned (locked) with respect to the body 12 is fixed. That is, one of the engaging portion 48 and the engaging receiving portion 50, that is, the engaging portion 48, for example, is configured by an inverted conical fitting convex portion whose diameter is reduced downward, and the engaging portion The other of 48 and the engagement receiving portion 50, that is, for example, the engagement receiving portion 50 is configured by a fitting concave portion that is open upward and fits with the fitting convex portion. .

  Then, as the elevating part 47 descends, the engaging part 48 descends and engages with the engagement receiving part 50 of the suction holding body 21, and the suction holding body 21 is locked with respect to the lifting body 12 by this fitting. The Further, as the elevating part 47 is raised, the engaging part 48 is raised, the engagement between the engaging part 48 and the engagement receiving part 50 is released, and the lock of the suction holding body 21 with respect to the elevating body 12 is released. The

  Note that the engagement receiving portion 50 of the suction holding body 21 is a mortar-like shape into which the engagement portion 48 is fitted, and is recessed in a block-like standing portion 49 erected at the center portion of the plate portion 30. Yes.

  Further, the article holding device 1 is provided on the base body 11 so as to be movable along the horizontal direction, and moves the article W whose upper surface is sucked and held by the sucking and holding body 21 by synchronously moving by an equal distance in a direction approaching each other. A pair of left and right vertical plate-like sandwiching bodies 51 that form a pair that is attracted and sandwiched from both sides and is centered, and these sandwiching bodies 51 are synchronized with the base body 11 in the horizontal direction and at equal distances in the contact and separation directions. A clamping cylinder 52, which is a clamping driving means to be moved, is provided.

  The sandwiching cylinder 52 includes a horizontal cylinder body 53 attached to the base body 11, and a left and right longitudinally extending rod 54 that is inserted into and removed from the cylinder body 53, and the rod 54 A left sandwiching body 51 is attached to the front end of the head.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the left and right sandwiching bodies 51 are connected to each other by an endless body 55 such as a belt, and the endless body 55 is stretched around a rotating body 56 such as a pair of left and right pulleys. For this reason, when the clamping cylinder 52 is extended, both the sandwiching bodies 51 are synchronously moved by an equal distance in the direction away from each other (a sandwiching releasing operation that is an opening operation), and when the sandwiching cylinder 52 is contracted, the both sandwiching bodies 51 approach each other. Move in the same direction by the same distance (clamping operation which is a closing operation).

  The sandwiching body (side clamp) 51 has a sliding recess 57 at its upper end, and this sliding recess 57 is slidably fitted to the guide rail portion 58 of the base body 11. The sandwiching body 51 has a rectangular sandwich plate portion 60 that is in the form of a vertical plate that contacts the side surface of the article W. A plurality of, for example, two suction pad portions 61 that are elastically deformable and hold the side surfaces of the article W by suction are attached to the lower portion of the sandwiching plate portion 60. An air suction means (not shown) for evacuating the inside of the suction pad portion 61 is connected to the proximal end side of the suction pad portion 61.

  Note that the elevating cylinder 13, the locking cylinder 43, and the clamping cylinder 52 are all configured by, for example, an air cylinder that is an expandable / contractable fluid pressure cylinder. Control means (not shown) are electrically connected to the air cylinders and the air suction means. A laser sensor (not shown) for checking the presence / absence of the article W is attached to the hand attachment portion 6 of the robot arm 5.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the plate portion 26 of the elevating body 12 is provided with push-up detection means 63 for preventing the suction holding body 21 from colliding with the elevating body 12. The push-up preventing means 63 includes an elevating rod 64 attached to the plate portion 26 of the elevating body 12 so as to be movable up and down, a coil spring 65 that is an urging body that urges the elevating rod 64 downward, and an upper end of the elevating rod 64 And a photoelectric sensor 66 for detecting the part.

  Next, the operation of the article holding device 1 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the robot retains the state where the suction holding body 21 is locked to the elevating body 12 by the engagement of the engaging portion 48 of the locking means 41 and the engagement receiving portion 50 of the suction holding body 21. Based on the operation of the arm 5, the entire article holding device 1 moves at a high speed to a set stop position (for example, an article holding position set in advance by a program) near the upper portion of the article W that is a holding object.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 8, when the entire article holding device 1 is stopped at the article holding set stop position, the locking cylinder 43 of the locking means 41 is contracted, and the engaging portion 48 is raised and this engaging portion 48 is moved. And the engagement receiving portion 50 are released, and the lock of the suction holding body 21 with respect to the elevating body 12 is released. As a result, the suction holding body 21 is movable with respect to the lifting body 12, that is, a state in which it is hung from the lifting body 12 via the wire 23.

  Here, the article W to be held is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction due to some cause (for example, collapse of the article W on the pallet) and from a preset reference position (center position). The position is shifted in the horizontal direction (left-right direction).

  That is, the upper and lower surfaces of the article W are inclined with respect to the horizontal direction (horizontal plane), and the left and right surfaces of the article W are inclined with respect to the vertical direction (vertical plane). Further, the center (center of gravity) P of the article W is not positioned on the vertical axis A of the article holding device 1 in front view. The vertical center axis A is a line passing through the center between the left and right sandwiching bodies 51 (center of the suction holding body 21) in a front view.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 9, when the base body 11 is stopped at the set stop position and the lock of the suction holding body 21 with respect to the lifting body 12 is released, the lifting cylinder 13 is extended, and the lifting body 12 is moved to the base body. When it is lowered to a lower position with respect to 11, the suction holding body 21 is lowered together with the lifting body 12 and the wire 23 toward the upper surface of the article W, and sucks and holds the upper surface positioned in the inclined shape.

  At this time, when the suction pad portion 31 comes into contact with the upper surface of the article W, the suction holding body 21 is tilted with respect to the lifting body 12 based on the bending deformation of the wire 23 which is the flexible coupling body 22 and horizontally. On the other hand, it becomes an inclined state inclined.

  Then, when the vacuum pressure in the suction pad portion 31 of the suction holder 21 becomes a specified value or more, the control means determines that the suction pad portion 31 has suctioned and held the upper surface of the article W.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 10, the elevating cylinder 13 is contracted, the elevating body 12 is raised to the upper position with respect to the base body 11, and the suction holding body 21 and the article W are also raised together with the elevating body 12.

  Then, the article W whose upper surface is sucked and held by the sucking and holding body 21 is in a horizontal state together with the sucking and holding body 21 when it is separated from the lower article W, but remains in a state of being displaced in the horizontal direction from the reference position. is there. That is, the suction pad portion 31 sucks and holds the position of the upper surface of the article W shifted to the right side, for example, when viewed from the front, so that the center P of the article W is on the vertical center axis A of the article holding device 1 when viewed from the front. Not located.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 11, when the clamping cylinder 52 is contracted and the left and right clamping bodies 51 are synchronously moved by an equal distance in a direction approaching each other, the both clamping bodies 51 are attracted by the suction holding body 21. The held article W is attracted and clamped from both the left and right sides and centered.

  As a result, the wire 23 rotates about the upper end side, so that the suction holding body 21 moves parallel to the upper right side when viewed from the front, and the center P of the article W is the vertical direction of the article holding device 1 when viewed from the front. It will be in the state located on the central axis A.

  Next, the article holding unit 21 holds the article on the basis of the operation of the robot arm 5 while the suction holding body 21 holds the upper surface of the article W and the left and right holding bodies 51 hold both the left and right side surfaces of the article W. The entire apparatus 1 moves at high speed to, for example, a set stop position (for example, an article holding release position set in advance by a program) in the vicinity of the upper part of the conveyor conveyance surface.

  At the time of this high speed movement, the center P of the article W is positioned on the center axis A in the vertical direction of the article holding apparatus 1, so that an offset load does not act on the center of the article holding apparatus 1 and stable high speed movement is possible. It is.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 12, when the entire article holding device 1 stops at the set stop position for releasing article holding and the lower surface of the article W comes into contact with the transport surface of the conveyor, the upper surface of the article W by the suction holder 21 is changed. The suction holding is released, and the left and right sandwiching bodies 51 are synchronously moved by an equal distance in the direction away from each other, and the suction sandwiching of the left and right side surfaces of the article W by the both sandwiching bodies 51 is released. As a result, the article W is placed at the center position on the transport surface of the conveyor in a horizontal state. In this way, the article W is unloaded onto the transport surface of the conveyor.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 13, after the suction holding body 21 returns to its original position under its own weight, the article holding device is locked (fixed) to the lifting body 12 by the lock means 41. 1 is moved at a high speed to a set stop position for holding an article related to the article W that is the next holding object.

  When the article holding device 1 stops at the set stop position for holding the article, the above-described operation is performed, and the article W is transferred to the center position on the conveyor surface of the conveyor. In this way, the transfer operation of the article W is repeatedly performed by the robot depalletizer 3.

  According to such an article holding device 1, the flexible connecting body 22 that connects the lifting body 12 and the suction holding body 21, and the article W whose upper surface is sucked and held by the suction holding body 21 are disposed on both sides. And a pair of sandwiching bodies 51 that are sandwiched and centered from each other, so that it is possible to cope with an inclination, unevenness or height error of the upper surface of the article W, or a horizontal displacement (left and right displacement) of the article W. Even in such an irregular case, the article W can be appropriately held.

  Moreover, since the left and right sandwiching bodies 51 attract and sandwich the left and right side surfaces of the article W, the article W will not fall due to, for example, an impact during an emergency stop, even if the article holding device 1 is moved at a high speed. Can be transported.

  In addition, since the lock means 41 for releasably locking the suction holding body 21 with respect to the lifting body 12 is provided, the suction holding body 21 can be prevented from inadvertently moving with respect to the lifting body 12, and thus, for example, an article The holding device 1 can be moved at high speed, and the transfer workability can be improved.

  Further, the suction holding body 21 has a concave engagement receiving portion 50, and the lock means 41 is a lifting portion 47 that moves up and down with respect to the lifting body 12, and the engagement receiving portion 50 provided on the lower end side of the lifting portion 47. And a convex engagement portion 48 that locks the suction holding body 21 with respect to the lifting body 12 by the engagement of the suction holding body 21 and appropriately prevents the suction holding body 21 from being inadvertently moved with respect to the lifting body 12. it can.

  In addition, the flexible connecting body 22 is a wire 23 having an upper end attached to the elevating body 12 and a lower end attached to the suction holding body 21, so that the structure of the flexible connecting body 22 on the upper surface of the article W is simple. It is possible to appropriately cope with the inclination and the displacement of the article W in the horizontal direction.

  In addition, the flexible coupling body 22 of the article holding device 1 is not limited to a member made of a linear member such as a wire 23, and may be a member made of a plate member such as an elastically deformable rubber plate.

  Further, the sandwiching body 51 is not limited to the one having the suction pad portion 61 for sucking and holding the side surface of the article W, and may be, for example, the one having a hook portion that is hooked and engaged with the side surface of the article W.

  Further, the locking means 41 may be, for example, one in which the engagement receiving portion 50 is configured by a fitting convex portion and the engaging portion 48 is configured by a fitting concave portion.

  Further, the lock means 41 may be, for example, such that the engagement portion and the engagement receiving portion are simply engaged with each other without being fitted.

  Further, the article holding device 1 is not limited to one that holds the articles W one by one, and may hold a plurality of articles W at the same time.

1 Goods holding device
11 Base body
12 Lifting body
21 Adsorption holder
22 Flexible connector
23 wires
41 Locking means as positioning means
47 Lifting part
48 Engagement part
50 engagement receiver
51 Nipping body W Article

Claims (5)

A base body,
A lifting body that moves up and down relative to the base body;
An adsorption holder for adsorbing and holding the upper surface of the article;
A flexible connecting body for connecting the elevating body and the suction holding body;
An article holding apparatus, comprising: a pair of holding bodies for holding and centering an article whose upper surface is sucked and held by the suction holding body from both sides. The article holding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising positioning means for positioning the suction holding body with respect to the lifting body. The adsorption holder has an engagement receiving portion,
The positioning means is
An elevating part that moves up and down with respect to the elevating body;
The article according to claim 2, further comprising: an engaging portion that is provided on a lower end side of the elevating part and positions the suction holding body with respect to the elevating body by engagement with the engagement receiving part. Holding device. Either one of the engaging portion and the engaging receiving portion is configured by a fitting convex portion,
4. The article holding device according to claim 3, wherein the other of the engagement portion and the engagement receiving portion is configured by a fitting concave portion that is detachably fitted to the fitting convex portion. apparatus. 5. The article holding device according to claim 1, wherein the flexible coupling body is a wire having an upper end side attached to the elevating body and a lower end side attached to the suction holding body.

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