JP7575019B2 - Item moving device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an item moving device that moves some items from a group of items.

As shown in Patent Document 1 (JP Patent Publication 6-3182A), an article moving system is known in which a gripping member is inserted into a group of articles placed on a placement section, some of the articles are gripped by the gripping member, and the gripping member gripping the articles is removed from the placement section to move the articles from the placement section.

Such an article moving system may handle a variety of articles. For example, an article moving system may handle articles that tend to become connected to each other, such as sticky articles or long articles. With such articles, when a part of a group of articles is gripped by a gripping member, there may be cases where an article that is not gripped at least sufficiently becomes connected to the gripped article.

Therefore, for example, when attempting to use a gripping member to remove and move a roughly constant, predetermined amount of articles from a group of articles, there is a risk that more articles than the predetermined amount will be moved. Therefore, in conventional article moving systems such as that disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP Patent Publication 6-3182A), there is a tendency for variation to occur in the amount of articles that the gripping member moves from the placement section.

The objective of the present invention is to provide an article moving device that moves a portion of an article from a group of articles and that is less likely to cause variation in the amount of articles moved.

The item moving device according to the first aspect moves some items from a group of items placed on a mounting section. The item moving device includes a gripping member and a control section. The gripping member grips an item. The control section moves the gripping member, inserts the gripping member into the group of items placed on the mounting section, and moves the gripping member that has gripped the item away from the mounting section in a first direction. After the gripping member grips the item, the control section moves the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction by the time the gripping member has finished moving away from the mounting section in the first direction.

In the article moving device of the first aspect, when the gripping member grips a part of an article in the group of articles on the mounting section and moves it from the group of articles, the gripping member is moved in a direction different from the first direction in which the gripping member is moved away from the mounting section. As a result, in this article moving device, the article gripped by the gripping member can be easily separated from the article in the group of articles on the mounting section connected to it, and large variation in the amount of articles moved by the gripping member is unlikely to occur.

The item moving device according to the second aspect is the item moving device according to the first aspect, in which the control unit moves the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction while the item being gripped by the gripping member is in contact with a group of items placed on the placement unit.

The item moving device according to the third aspect is the item moving device according to the first or second aspect, in which, when the gripping member gripping the item is moved away from the placement part in a first direction, the control unit moves the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction by rotating the gripping member around a rotation axis with the first direction being the rotation axis direction.

In the article moving device of the third aspect, the gripping member is rotated around a rotation axis extending along the first direction, which makes it easier to separate the article gripped by the gripping member from the group of articles in the mounting section connected to it. Therefore, in this article moving device, there is less chance of large variation in the amount of articles moved by the gripping member.

The item moving device according to the fourth aspect is the item moving device according to the first or third aspect, in which the control unit moves the gripping member and brings the gripping member and the mounting section closer to a first distance, thereby inserting the gripping member into the group of items, and moves the gripping member holding the items away from the mounting section by a second distance greater than the first distance, and then moves the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction.

In the article moving device of the fourth aspect, after the gripping member is moved away from the mounting section to a certain extent, the gripping member is moved in a direction different from the first direction. Therefore, in this article moving device, the article gripped by the gripping member is easily separated from the article in the group of articles on the mounting section connected to it, and large variation in the amount of articles moved by the gripping member is unlikely to occur.

The item moving device according to the fifth aspect is the item moving device according to the fourth aspect, in which the control unit moves the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction, and then moves the gripping member gripping the item away from the placement unit by a third distance greater than the second distance.

In the article moving device of the fifth aspect, after the gripping member is moved in a direction different from the first direction, the gripping member and the placement portion are further separated to a third distance. Therefore, after the gripping member is separated to the third distance, the problem of the article unintentionally falling from the gripping member is unlikely to occur.

The item moving device according to the sixth aspect is an item moving device according to any one of the first aspect to the fifth aspect, in which the control unit moves the gripping member holding the item in a direction perpendicular to the first direction when moving the gripping member away from the placement unit in the first direction.

In the article moving device of the sixth aspect, it is easy to separate the article being held by the gripping member from the group of articles in the mounting section connected to it, and large variations in the amount of articles being moved by the gripping member are unlikely to occur.

The item moving device according to the seventh aspect is the item moving device according to any one of the first, second, fourth, or fifth aspects, in which, when the gripping member gripping the item is moved away from the placement part in a first direction, the control unit moves the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction by rotating the gripping member around a pivot axis with a direction perpendicular to the first direction as the pivot axis direction.

The article moving device of the present invention makes it easy to separate the article held by the gripping member from the group of articles in the mounting section connected to it, and large variations in the amount of articles moved by the gripping member are unlikely to occur.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an article transfer system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the article movement system of FIG. 1. 2 is a schematic side view of a gripper of the article ejection device of FIG. 1 . FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the gripper of FIG. 3 from the gripping member side, depicting the gripping member in a remote position before gripping an item or after releasing the grip of the item. 4 is a bottom view of the gripper of FIG. 3 as viewed from the gripping member side, illustrating the gripping members positioned in a close position when gripping an article. FIG. 4B is a bottom view of the gripper of FIG. 3 as viewed from the gripping member side, depicting the gripping member gripping an article and rotated from the state depicted in FIG. 4B. FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a main part of the article moving system for explaining the operation of the article moving system of FIG. 1, depicting an initial state before the gripper grips an article. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the main parts of the item moving system to explain the operation of the item moving system of FIG. 1, depicting the state in which the gripping member of the gripper is moved to a first position and inserted into a group of items to grasp the items. 2 is a schematic side view of a main part of the article moving system for explaining the operation of the article moving system of FIG. 1, depicting a state in which the gripping members gripping an article have been moved to a second position. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the main parts of the item moving system to explain the operation of the item moving system of FIG. 1, depicting the state in which the gripping member holding the item has been rotated 90° around the rotation axis R (after the separation operation) and then moved to a third position. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a main part of the article moving system for explaining the operation of the article moving system of FIG. 1, depicting a state in which a gripper has been moved onto a conveyor. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the main parts of the article moving system for explaining the operation of the article moving system of FIG. 1, depicting the state in which the gripping members have released the grip on the article and the article has been placed on the conveyor. 2 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the operation of the item movement system of FIG. 1 . 13A to 13C are diagrams for explaining another example of the separation operation of the gripping members of the article moving system relating to variant example B. 13 is a diagram for explaining yet another example of the separation operation of the gripping members of the article moving system relating to variant example B. FIG. 13 is a schematic side view of a main part of an article moving system for moving a gripping member holding an article obliquely upward from a placement portion according to variant C. FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the operation of the item moving system according to variant example D. 13 is a flowchart illustrating yet another example of the operation of the item movement system according to modification example D. 13 is a flowchart for explaining yet another example of the operation of the item movement system according to variant example D. 13 is a flowchart illustrating yet another example of the operation of the item movement system according to modification example D. 1 is a schematic diagram of a combination weighing system, which is an example of an article moving system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the combination weighing system of FIG. 11 . FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of an article moving system according to variant example G. FIG. 14 is a block diagram of the article movement system of FIG. 13. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of an article moving system according to variant example H. FIG. 16 is a block diagram of the article movement system of FIG. 16 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the operation of the item moving system of FIG. 15 .

The following describes an item movement system 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

(1) Overall Overview An overview of the article movement system 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the article movement system 100. Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the article movement system 100.

The item moving system 100 is a system that moves some items A from an item group A1, which is a collection of items A. In this embodiment, the item moving system 100 moves some items A taken out of the item group A1 into a container C transported by a conveyor 60.

However, the destination of the item A by the item moving system 100 is not limited to inside the container C. The item moving system 100 may move some of the items A taken out of the item group A1 directly onto the conveyor 60. The item moving system 100 may also feed some of the items A taken out of the item group A1 into a funnel-shaped discharge chute (not shown). The items A discharged from the discharge chute are, for example, packaged in bags or placed in containers in a subsequent process of the item moving system 100, and shipped as merchandise.

The item moving system 100 mainly comprises a robot 10, a movable member 20, a gripper 30, a mounting unit 50, and a control unit 70 (see Figures 1 and 2). The control unit 70 controls the operation of each part of the item moving system 100. The following is an overview of these components.

A group of items A1, which is a collection of items A, is placed on the placement section 50. Items A are, for example, but not limited to, food. Items A are, for example, but not limited to, highly sticky foods that contain a lot of sugars, gluten, etc. (e.g., tsukudani kelp). Items A are also long foods such as spaghetti. Highly sticky foods and long foods are items that tend to become connected to each other.

A gripper 30 is attached to the movable member 20. The gripper 30 has a gripping member 32 that grips the item A. The robot 10 moves the movable member 20 to which the gripper 30 is attached. The control unit 70 controls the operation of the gripping member drive mechanism 34 and various components of the item moving system 100 including the robot 10. The gripping member drive mechanism 34 drives the gripping member 32 to cause the gripping member 32 to grip the item A and also to release the grip of the item A by the gripping member 32.

An overview of the operation of the item movement system 100 is provided.

The control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the movable member 20 to which the gripper 30 is attached, to bring the gripper 30 closer to the mounting section 50 on which the group of articles A1 is placed, and insert the gripping member 32 of the gripper 30 into the group of articles A1 placed on the mounting section 50. The control unit 70 controls the gripping member drive mechanism 34 of the gripper 30 to cause the gripping member 32 of the gripper 30 to grip a part of the article A of the group of articles A1 placed on the mounting section 50. Next, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the movable member 20, and move the gripping member 32, which is gripping the article A of the gripper 30, away from the mounting section 50 in the first direction D1. At this time, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the gripping member 32 in a second direction D2 different from the first direction D1. The movement of the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 facilitates the separation of the object A gripped by the gripping member 32 from the object A in the object group A1. For the sake of simplicity, the movement of the robot 10 in the second direction D2 (by moving the movable member 20) may be referred to as a separation movement. Furthermore, the control unit 70 controls the movement of the robot 10 to move the movable member 20 to which the gripper 30 is attached, and move the gripper 30 gripping the object A above the container C placed on the conveyor 60. The control unit 70 then controls the gripping member drive mechanism 34 to release the grip of the object A by the gripping member 32, and place the object A in the container C. In this manner, the object A is moved by the object moving system 100.

(2) Detailed Configuration The detailed configuration of the article moving system 100 will be described mainly with reference to Figs. 1 to 4. Fig. 3 is a schematic side view of the gripper 30. Figs. 4A to 4C are bottom views of the gripper 30 as viewed from below. In other words, Figs. 4A to 4C are bottom views of the gripper 30 as viewed from the gripping member 32 side. In particular, Fig. 4A depicts the gripping member 32 of the gripper 30 before gripping the article A or after releasing the grip of the article A. Fig. 4B depicts the gripping member 32 of the gripper 30 when gripping the article A (illustration of the article A is omitted). Fig. 4C depicts the gripping member 32 in a state gripping the article A (illustration of the article A is omitted) rotated from the state depicted in Fig. 4B.

(2-1) Movable Member The movable member 20 is a member to which the gripper 30 is attached (see FIG. 1). The movable member 20 is a frame that supports the gripper 30. The movable member 20 is a movable (movable) member that is moved by the robot 10.

Note that the statement that the gripper 30 is attached to the movable member 20 is not limited to a state in which the gripper 30 is directly attached to the movable member 20. The statement that the gripper 30 is attached to the movable member 20 includes a state in which the gripper 30 is attached to the movable member 20 via another member.

(2-2) Gripper The gripper 30 is a device that grips the object A.

Each gripper 30 has a gripping member 32 and a gripping member drive mechanism 34 as a drive mechanism for driving the gripping member 32 (see Figures 1 and 2). The gripping member drive mechanism 34 drives the gripping member 32 using, for example, a motor or fluid pressure as a drive source.

In this embodiment, the gripping members 32 are rod-shaped or finger-shaped members (see FIG. 3). The gripper 30 has multiple gripping members 32 (three in FIG. 3). Note that the number and shapes of the gripping members 32 depicted in FIG. 3 etc. are merely examples and can be changed as appropriate.

When the gripper 30 is viewed from the gripping member 32 side, the gripper 30 is formed in a substantially circular shape (see FIG. 4A). In this embodiment, when the gripper 30 is viewed from the gripping member 32 side, the multiple gripping members 32 are arranged in a circumferential direction (see FIG. 4A). In particular, here, when viewed from the gripping member 32 side of the gripper 30, the multiple gripping members 32 are arranged in a circumferential direction at approximately equal intervals. When the gripper 30 is viewed from the gripping member 32 side, the gripping members 32 are movable in the radial direction. The gripper 30 moves the gripping members 32 (see FIG. 4A) arranged at positions separated from each other (referred to as remote positions) inward in the radial direction by the gripping member drive mechanism 34 to positions close to each other (referred to as close positions) (see FIG. 4B), causing the multiple gripping members 32 to grip the object A. In addition, the gripper 30 moves the gripping member 32 (see FIG. 4B) in the close position radially outward by the gripping member drive mechanism 34 to a remote position (see FIG. 4A), thereby releasing the gripping member 32 from gripping the item A.

(2-3) Robot The robot 10 is a device that supports the movable member 20 and moves the movable member 20. Although not limited thereto, the robot 10 is a multi-axis (for example, six-axis) robot.

The robot 10 functions as a first driving unit. In other words, the robot 10 moves the movable member 20 to move the gripping member 32 of the gripper 30 attached to the movable member 20, and inserts the gripping member 32 into the group of items A1 placed on the placement unit 50. Specifically, the robot 10 moves the movable member 20 arranged at a predetermined position vertically downward to move the gripping member 32 of the gripper 30 arranged above the group of items A1 placed on the placement unit 50 vertically downward, and inserts the gripping member 32 into the group of items A1. The robot 10 also moves the gripping member 32 that has gripped the item A away from the placement unit 50 in the first direction D1. Specifically, the robot 10 moves the movable member 20 arranged at a predetermined position vertically upward to move the gripping member 32 that has gripped the item A vertically upward, and separates the gripping member 32 from the placement unit 50. The vertically upward direction is an example of the first direction D1.

The robot 10 also functions as a second driving unit. In other words, when the robot 10 functions as a first driving unit to move the gripping member 32 gripping the item A away from the placement unit 50 in the first direction D1, the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 in a second direction D2 different from the first direction D1. Specifically, when the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 gripping the item A away from the placement unit 50 in the first direction D1, the robot 10 rotates the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R (see FIG. 3) with the first direction D1 as the rotation axis direction. Specifically, the robot 10 rotates the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R that passes through the approximate center of the gripper 30, which is approximately circular in bottom view, and extends in the vertical direction, to move the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 different from the first direction D1. Note that FIG. 4B depicts the gripping member 32 before it is moved in the second direction D2. FIG. 4C depicts the gripping member 32 after it has been moved in the second direction D2. The timing at which the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 will be described later.

In this embodiment, the robot 10 is not limited to a six-axis multi-axis robot as described above. The robot 10 may be any device capable of moving the gripping member 32 (movable member 20) in the manner described here.

The functions of the robot 10 described here may be realized by multiple devices. For example, the item moving system 100 may have, instead of the robot 10, a device that moves the gripping member 32 linearly in the vertical and horizontal directions, and a device that rotates the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R. For example, the item moving system 100 may have, instead of the robot 10, a device that moves the gripping member 32 linearly in the vertical direction, a device that moves the movable member 20 linearly in the horizontal direction, and a device that rotates the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R.

(2-4) Placement Section The group of items A1 is placed on the placement section 50. The placement section 50 includes an item group storage container 52 in which item A (item group A1) is stored. In the placement section 50, the group of items A1 is placed on a placement surface 52a (here, the bottom surface of the item group storage container 52). The gripper 30 grips a portion of the item A from the group of items A1 stored in the item group storage container 52.

In this embodiment, the item group storage container 52 is a rectangular parallelepiped container that is open at the top. In this embodiment, the loading unit 50 is configured so that when the amount of items A stored inside the item group storage container 52 decreases, a person or machine can replace the item group storage container 52 with the reduced amount of items A inside with a new item group storage container 52 (containing a large amount of items A). Note that instead of configuring the item group storage container 52 to be replaceable, the loading unit 50 may have an item supply mechanism for supplying items A to the item group storage container 52.

(2-5) Control Unit The control unit 70 has a CPU, which is not shown, and memories such as a ROM and a RAM. The control unit 70 is electrically connected to the robot 10 and the gripping member driving mechanism 34 (see FIG. 2). The control unit 70 controls the operation of various components of the article moving system 100, including the robot 10 and the gripping member driving mechanism 34, by the CPU executing a program stored in the memory. The control unit 70 may further control the operation of the conveyor 60 that transports the container C that holds the article A. However, the operation of the conveyor 60 may be controlled by another control unit.

The various functions of the control unit 70 do not have to be realized by software, but may be realized by hardware, or by a combination of hardware and software.

(3) Operation of the article moving system The operation of the article moving system 100 controlled by the control unit 70 will be described with reference to Figures 5A to 5F and 6. Figures 5A to 5F are schematic side views of the main parts of the article moving system 100 for explaining the operation of the article moving system 100 of Figure 1. In Figures 5A to 5F, the robot 10 that moves the movable member 20 is omitted. Figure 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the article moving system 100.

Figure 5A illustrates the initial state before the gripper 30 grips the item A. To briefly explain the state of each component in the initial state, the movable member 20 is disposed in a predetermined position (initial position) such that the gripper member 32 of the gripper 30 is disposed above the item group storage container 52 of the mounting section 50 and outside the item group storage container 52. The gripper member 32 of each gripper 30 is disposed in a remote position as shown in Figure 4A.

When the item moving system 100 is in operation, the control unit 70 controls the robot 10 to move the movable member 20 vertically downward from the initial position and to bring the gripper 30 closer to the placement unit 50 (see step S1). Specifically, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 so that the gripper 32 of the gripper 30 is positioned at a first position where it can grip the item A in the item group storage container 52, and moves the movable member 20 vertically downward (see FIG. 5B). In other words, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 so that at least a part of the gripper 32 is inserted into the item group A1, and moves the movable member 20 vertically downward. For example, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the movable member 20 vertically downward, and brings the distance between the gripper 32 and the placement unit 50 closer to a predetermined distance, thereby inserting at least a part of the gripper 32 (for example, about half the length of the gripper 32) into the item group A1. Specifically, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the movable member 20 vertically downward, and brings the distance between the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 and the loading surface 52a of the item group storage container 52 of the loading unit 50 closer to the first distance L1, thereby inserting at least a portion of the gripping member 32 into the item group A1 (see FIG. 5B).

Next, in step S2, the control unit 70 controls the gripping member drive mechanism 34 of the gripper 30 to cause the gripping member 32 to grip the item A.

Next, the control unit 70, with the gripping member 32 of the gripper 30 gripping the item A, controls the robot 10 to move the movable member 20, thereby moving the gripping member 32 of the gripper 30 away from the mounting unit 50 in the first direction D1 (see step S3). Here, the first direction D1 is vertically upward. In step S3, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the gripping member 32 vertically upward to a second position, and moves the distance between the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 and the mounting surface 52a of the mounting unit 50 in the first direction D1 by a second distance L2 (see FIG. 5C). The second distance L2 is a distance greater than the first distance L1. In the second position, it is preferable that the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 is positioned higher than the group of items A1 mounted on the mounting unit 50. More preferably, in the second position, the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 is positioned higher than the group of items A1 placed on the placement unit 50 and is positioned near the group of items A1. When the control unit 70 moves the gripping member 32 to the second position, it temporarily stops the vertical upward movement of the movable member 20 by the robot 10 (in other words, the movement of the gripping member 32 in the first direction D1).

Next, the control unit 70 causes the robot 10 to perform a separation operation. In other words, the control unit 70 controls the robot 10 to move the gripping member 32 in a second direction D2 different from the first direction D1 (see step S4). Specifically, the control unit 70 controls the robot 10 to rotate the movable member 20 around a rotation axis R extending in the vertical direction, thereby rotating the gripping member 32 by a predetermined angle around the rotation axis R and moving the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 different from the first direction D1. Here, since the gripping member 32 is rotated around the rotation axis R extending in the first direction D1, the second direction D2 is a direction perpendicular to the first direction D1. In step S4, the robot 10 rotates the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R by 45° or more. Preferably, the robot 10 rotates the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R by 90° or more. More preferably, the robot 10 rotates the gripping member 32 about the rotation axis R by approximately 180°.

In this way, by moving the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 different from the first direction D1, the object A gripped by the gripping member 32 and the object A of the object group A1 placed on the placement section 50 are easily separated. Therefore, when the gripping member 32 takes out and moves the object A from the object group A1, the occurrence of an incident in which the object A not gripped by the gripping member 32 is moved together with the object A gripped by the gripping member 32 can be suppressed. In addition, when the gripping member 32 takes out and moves the object A from the object group A1, the occurrence of an incident in which the object A gripped by the gripping member 32 is pulled by the object A of the object group A1 that is not gripped and falls can be suppressed. For example, in an experiment by the inventor of the present application, the occurrence of the phenomenon in which the object A unintentionally falls from the gripping member 32 can be suppressed to 1/4 or less by rotating the gripping member 32 about the rotation axis R as a separation operation of the robot 10. In short, in this item moving system 100, the gripping member 32 is moved in a second direction D2 that is different from the first direction D1, so that the gripping member 32 can easily pick up and move a roughly constant amount of items A from the item group A1 each time.

Even if the gripping member 32 is not moved in the second direction D2, if the gripping member 32 is stopped for a long time, for example, in the second position described above, it is expected that the items A not gripped by the gripping member 32 will fall under their own weight to some extent. With this configuration, it is possible to make the amount of items A moved by the gripping member 32 somewhat uniform. However, with this configuration, the time required to move the items A from the item group A1 to the container C increases, and the efficiency of the item moving system decreases. In contrast, with the present item moving system 100, the efficiency of the item moving system 100 can be maintained high by moving the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2.

After causing the robot 10 to perform the separation operation (in other words, after moving the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2), the control unit 70 controls the robot 10 to move the movable member 20 vertically upward and move the gripping member 32 gripping the item A in the first direction D1 to the third position (see step S5). When the gripping member 32 is disposed at the third position, in the first direction D1, the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 is separated from the placement surface 52a of the placement unit 50 by a third distance L3 (see FIG. 5D). The third distance L3 is greater than the second distance L2.

Next, the control unit 70 controls the robot 10 to move the movable member 20, thereby moving the gripping member 32 gripping the item A above the container C on the conveyor 60 (see FIG. 5E and step S6).

Next, the control unit 70 controls the gripping member drive mechanism 34 of the gripper 30 to cause the gripping member 32 to release its grip on the item A and place the item A on the container C (see FIG. 5F and step S7).

Then, the control unit 70 controls the robot 10 to move the movable member 20 to the initial position (the position depicted in FIG. 5A) (see step S8).

While the item movement system 100 is in operation, the item movement system 100 repeatedly executes a series of operations (steps S1 to S8).

(4) Features (4-1)
The article moving system 100 of the above embodiment moves some of the articles A from the group of articles A1. The article moving system 100 includes a placement unit 50 on which the group of articles A1 is placed, a gripping member 32 that grips the article A, and a robot 10. The robot 10 functions as a first driving unit and a second driving unit. The robot 10 moves the gripping member 32, inserts the gripping member 32 into the group of articles A1 placed on the placement unit 50, and moves the gripping member 32 gripping the article A away from the placement unit 50 in a first direction D1. In this embodiment, the first direction D1 is vertically upward. When moving the gripping member 32 gripping the article A away from the placement unit 50 in the first direction D1, the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 in a direction different from the first direction D1.

In the present article moving system 100, when the gripping member 32 grips a part of an article A in the article group A1 on the mounting section 50 and moves it from the article group A1, the gripping member 32 is moved in a second direction D2 different from the first direction D1 in which the gripping member 32 is moved away from the mounting section 50. As a result, in the present article moving system 100, it is easy to separate the article A gripped by the gripping member 32 from the article A in the article group A1 on the mounting section 50 connected to it, and large variation in the amount of article A moved by the gripping member 32 is unlikely to occur.

(4-2)
In the article moving system 100 of the above embodiment, when the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 gripping the article A away from the placement unit 50 in the first direction D1, the robot 10 rotates the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R with the first direction D1 as the rotation axis direction, thereby moving the gripping member 32 in a direction different from the first direction D1. Preferably, the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 in a second direction D2 different from the first direction D1 by rotating the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R by 45° or more. More preferably, the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 different from the first direction D1 by rotating the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R by 90° or more.

In the present article moving system 100, the gripping member 32 is rotated by 45° or more around the rotation axis R extending along the first direction D1, which makes it easy to separate the article A gripped by the gripping member 32 from the article A in the article group A1 of the mounting section 50 connected thereto. Therefore, in the present article moving system 100, large variation in the amount of article A moved by the gripping member 32 is unlikely to occur.

(4-3)
In the article moving system 100 of the above embodiment, the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 and brings the gripping member 32 and the mounting unit 50 closer to each other by a first distance L1, thereby inserting the gripping member 32 into the group of articles A1. More specifically, the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 and brings the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 and the mounting surface 52a of the mounting unit 50 closer to each other by the first distance L1, thereby inserting the gripping member 32 into the group of articles A1. The robot 10 moves the gripping member 32, which has gripped the article A, away from the mounting unit 50 by a second distance L2 greater than the first distance L1, and then moves the gripping member 32 in a direction different from the first direction D1. More specifically, the robot 10 moves the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 gripping the item A a second distance L2 away from the mounting surface 52a of the mounting section 50, and then moves the gripping member 32 in a direction different from the first direction D1.

In the present article moving system 100, after the gripping member 32 is moved away from the mounting section 50 to a certain extent, the gripping member 32 is moved in a direction different from the first direction D1. Therefore, in the present article moving system 100, it is easy to separate the article A gripped by the gripping member 32 from the article A in the article group A1 of the mounting section 50 connected thereto. Therefore, in the present article moving system 100, large variation is unlikely to occur in the amount of article A moved by the gripping member 32.

(4-4)
In the article moving system 100 of the above embodiment, the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 in a direction different from the first direction D1, and then moves the gripping member 32 gripping the article A away from the mounting unit 50 by a third distance L3 greater than the second distance L2. More specifically, the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 in a direction different from the first direction D1, and then moves the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 gripping the article A away from the mounting surface 52a of the mounting unit 50 by the third distance L3.

In the present article moving system 100, after the gripping member 32 is moved in a direction different from the first direction D1, the gripping member 32 and the placement section 50 are further separated to a third distance L3. Therefore, in the present article moving system 100, after the gripping member 32 is separated to the third distance L3, the problem of the article A unintentionally falling from the gripping member 32 is unlikely to occur.

(4-5)
In the article moving system 100 of the above embodiment, when the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 gripping the article A in the first direction D1 away from the mounting part 50, the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 in a second direction D2 perpendicular to the first direction D1. Specifically, when the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 gripping the article A in the first direction D1 away from the mounting part 50, the robot 10 moves the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 perpendicular to the first direction D1 by rotating the gripping member 32 around a rotation axis R extending along the first direction D1.

In this item moving system 100, it is easy to separate the item A held by the gripping member 32 from the item A in the item group A1 on the mounting section 50 connected thereto, and large variations in the amount of item A moved by the gripping member 32 are unlikely to occur.

(5) Modifications Modifications of the above embodiment are shown below. Note that part or all of the content of each modification may be combined with the content of the above embodiment or the content of other modifications to the extent that they are not contradictory.

(5-1) Modification A
The type of gripper 30 in the above embodiment is merely an example, and various types of grippers can be applied as the gripper of the present disclosure. For example, the gripper may grip the object A by moving a pair of gripping members in parallel so as to approach each other.

(5-2) Modification B
In the above embodiment, the robot 10 as the second driving unit moves the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 different from the first direction D1 by rotating the movable member 20 around the rotation axis R extending in the first direction D1. However, the manner in which the robot 10 as the second driving unit moves the gripping member 32 is not limited to the manner in the above embodiment.

For example, in step S4 of the flowchart in FIG. 6, the robot 10 as the second driving unit may move the movable member 20 linearly in a direction intersecting the first direction D1 to move the gripping member 32 in a third direction D3 intersecting the first direction D1. For example, the robot 10 may move the gripping member 32 in a third direction D3 intersecting the first direction D1 from the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 7 to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 7 by moving the movable member 20 in a horizontal direction intersecting the first direction D1.

Also, for example, the robot 10 as the second driving unit may move the gripping member 32 in a fourth direction D4 different from the first direction D1 by rotating the movable member 20 in a side view in step S4 of the flowchart in FIG. 6. For example, the robot 10 may move the gripping member 32 in the fourth direction D4 different from the first direction D1 from the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 8 to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 8 by rotating the movable member 20 around a rotation axis R1 extending horizontally as shown in FIG. 8.

Furthermore, the robot 10 as the second driving unit may move the gripping member 32 in a manner that combines the movements of the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 to the fourth direction D4 described above.

(5-3) Modification C
In the above embodiment, the first direction D1 is vertically upward, but the first direction D1 is not limited to vertically upward. For example, the robot 10 as the first driving unit may move the movable member 20 diagonally upward to move the gripping member 32 in the first direction D1' (diagonally upward) as shown in FIG. 9. For example, specifically, the robot 10 as the first driving unit moves the movable member 20 in a direction perpendicular to the mounting surface 52a of the item group storage container 52 of the mounting unit 50, which is installed at an angle, as shown in FIG. 9, to move the gripping member 32 in the first direction D1'. Then, the robot 10 as the second driving unit may move the gripping member 32 in a second direction D2' different from the first direction D1' by rotating the gripping member 32 around the rotation axis R' with the first direction D1' as the rotation axis direction.

(5-4) Modification D
In the above embodiment, the robot 10 as the first driving unit moves the movable member 20 vertically upward, moves the gripping member 32 in the first direction D1 to the second position (see FIG. 5C ) away from the mounting unit 50, and then temporarily stops the movement of the gripping member 32 in the first direction D1. Thereafter, the robot 10 as the second driving unit moves the gripping member 32 in a second direction D2 different from the first direction D1.

However, when the robot 10 as the first driving unit moves the gripping member 32 gripping the item A away from the placement unit 50 in the first direction D1, the timing at which the robot 10 as the second driving unit moves the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 is not limited to the above timing.

For example, as in the flowchart of FIG. 10A, the control unit 70 may control the robot 10 to rotate the movable member 20 and move the gripping member 32 in a second direction D2 different from the first direction D1 before moving the gripping member 32 from the first position in the first direction D1. In other words, the control unit 70 may control the robot 10 to rotate the movable member 20 and move the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 different from the first direction D1 when the distance between the tip 32t of the gripping member 32 and the placement surface 52a of the item group storage container 52 is the first distance L1. In short, in the flowchart of FIG. 6, the process of step S4 may be executed before the process of step S3. In this case, after step S3, the gripping member 32 remains stationary at the second position for a while (for example, for several seconds).

Note that, when the gripping member 32 is moved in the second direction D2 before being moved from the first position in the first direction D1, the process of step S3 in the flowchart of FIG. 10A may be omitted. That is, as in the flowchart of FIG. 10B, the control unit 70 may control the robot 10 to move the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2, and then further control the robot 10 to move the movable member 20 vertically upward, thereby moving the gripping member 32 from the first position to the third position (without stopping it at the second position).

Also, for example, as in the flowchart of FIG. 10C, the control unit 70 may simultaneously execute the processes of steps S3 and S4 of FIG. 6 (see step S3a of FIG. 10C). In other words, the control unit 70 may control the operation of the robot 10 that moves the movable member 20 to which the gripper 30 is attached so that the gripping member 32 moves in the second direction D2 while moving in the first direction D1. Note that in step S3a, the timing at which the gripping member 32 starts moving/completes moving in the first direction D1 does not have to coincide with the timing at which the gripping member 32 starts moving/finishes moving in the second direction D2. In this case, after step S3a, the gripping member 32 stops moving at the second position for a while (e.g., several seconds).

Also, for example, as in the flowchart of FIG. 10D, the control unit 70 may simultaneously execute the processes of steps S4 and S5 of FIG. 6 (see step S5a of FIG. 10D). In other words, the control unit 70 may control the operation of the robot 10 that moves the gripping member 32 to the second position, stops the movement of the gripping member 32 in the first direction D1 at the second position once (for example, for a few seconds), and then moves the gripping member 32 in the first direction D1 while also moving in the second direction D2. Note that the timing of the start/end of the movement of the gripping member 32 in the first direction D1 in step S5a does not have to coincide with the timing of the start/end of the movement of the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2.

In other words, when the robot 10 as the first driving unit moves the gripping member 32 gripping the item A away from the placement unit 50 in the first direction D1, the robot 10 as the second driving unit may select various timings as follows for moving the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2. Note that the robot 10 as the second driving unit may move the gripping member 32 in the second direction D2 at multiple timings among the timings shown below.
Before the gripping member 32 gripping the item A starts to move away from the placement portion 50 in the first direction D1 When the gripping member 32 gripping the item A moves from the first position to the second position in the first direction D1 When the gripping member 32 gripping the item A moves to the second position in the first direction D1 and then temporarily stops moving in the first direction D1 When the gripping member 32 gripping the item A moves from the second position to the third position in the first direction D1

(5-5) Modification E
In the article moving system 100 of the above embodiment, a single gripping member 32 is attached to the movable member 20, but in the article moving system of the present invention, a plurality of gripping members 32 may be attached to the movable member 20.

At this time, the robot 10 as the second driving unit may rotate the movable member 20 to simultaneously move the gripping members 32 of the multiple grippers 30 in a second direction D2 different from the first direction D1. The item moving system may also have a rotation device for each of the multiple grippers 30, separate from the robot 10, that rotates the gripper 30 around a rotation axis R extending in the first direction D1. Then, in the item moving system 100, each rotation device may rotate the corresponding gripper 30 to move the gripping members 32 of each gripper 30 in a second direction D2 different from the first direction D1.

<Example of use of an article moving system in which multiple gripping members are attached to a movable member>
For example, an article moving system in which a plurality of gripping members 32 are attached to a movable member 20 may be used as a combination weighing system 200 as shown in Fig. 11 and Fig. 12. Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of the combination weighing system 200. Fig. 12 is a block diagram of the combination weighing system 200.

The combination weighing system 200 is a system that moves some of the items A from the group of items A1 and discharges the moved items A. Specifically, the combination weighing system 200 is a system that takes out and discharges some of the items A from the group of items A1 so that their weight falls within a target weight range. Although not limited thereto, the items A discharged by the combination weighing system 200 are packaged in bags or placed in containers in a process subsequent to the combination weighing system 200 and shipped as products.

The combination weighing system 200 mainly comprises a robot 10, a movable member 120, a plurality of grippers 30, a plurality of weight acquisition units 40, a placement unit 50, a placement unit drive unit 54, a discharge chute 160, and a control unit 170 (see Figures 11 and 12). The control unit 170 performs various calculations and controls the operation of each unit of the combination weighing system 200.

The robot 10 and the gripper 30 are the same as the robot 10 and the gripper 30 in the above embodiment. The movable member 120 is the same as the movable member 20 in the above embodiment, except that a plurality of grippers 30 are attached to the movable member 120. The mounting unit 50 is different only in that the mounting unit drive unit 54 moves the gripper 30 between a gripping position where the gripper 30 grips the item A of the item group A1 placed on the mounting unit 50 and a retracted position where the gripper 30 does not grip the item A from the item group A1 placed on the mounting unit 50. Each of the plurality of weight acquisition units 40 is provided corresponding to one gripper 30 and acquires the weight value of the item A gripped by the corresponding gripper 30. The discharge chute 160 is disposed directly below the gripper 30 and receives and discharges the item A that the gripper 30 releases from its grip. The control unit 170 controls the operation of various components of the combination weighing system 200, including the robot 10, the gripping member drive mechanism 34, and the placement unit drive unit 54, and performs combination calculations using the weight value of the item A acquired by the weight acquisition unit 40.

This section provides an overview of the operation of the combination weighing system 200.

The control unit 170 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the movable member 120, which is located in the initial position, vertically downward, and moves the gripper 30 closer to the placement unit 50, which is located at the gripping position and on which the group of items A1 is placed. The control unit 170 then controls the gripping member drive mechanism 34 of each gripper 30 to cause the gripping member 32 of each gripper 30 to grip a portion of the item A of the group of items A1 placed on the placement unit 50.

Next, the control unit 170 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the movable member 120 vertically upward, and moves the gripping members 32 holding the items A of the multiple grippers 30 in the first direction D1 from the placement unit 50. At this time, the control unit 170 controls the operation of the robot 10 as in steps S4 to S6 of the flowchart in FIG. 6 of the above embodiment.

Next, the control unit 170 moves the placement unit 50 to a retracted position that is not directly below the gripper 30. In this state, the placement unit 50 is not positioned between the gripper 30 and the discharge chute 160.

Next, the control unit 170 controls the operation of the robot 10 to move the movable member 120 vertically downward, and to bring the gripper 30 closer to the discharge chute 160. At this time, each weight acquisition unit 40 acquires the weight value of the object A held by the gripper 30 corresponding to that weight acquisition unit 40. Specifically, each weight acquisition unit 40 has a force sensor and an acceleration sensor, and acquires the mass of the object A held by the gripper 30 based on the force and acceleration measured when the gripper 30 holding the object A is moved in accordance with the movement of the movable member 120. The control unit 170 performs a combination calculation based on the weight values of the object A held by the gripper 30 acquired by each weight acquisition unit 40. The combination calculation is a process of finding a combination of weight values that sums up the weight values of the object A held by each gripper 30 and the sum falls within the target weight range.

Then, based on the result of the combination calculation, the control unit 170 causes the gripping member 32 of the gripper 30 corresponding to the combination of weight values that falls within the target weight range to release its grip on the item A above the discharge chute 160, and discharges the item A within the target weight range from the discharge chute 160. If there are multiple combinations of weight values that fall within the target weight range, the control unit 170 executes the operation of causing the gripping member 32 of the gripper 30 corresponding to the combination of weight values that falls within the target weight range to release its grip on the item A above the discharge chute 160, and discharges the item A within the target weight range from the discharge chute 160 multiple times for all combinations.

When the discharge of item A for all combinations of weight values that fall within the target weight range is complete, the control unit 170 controls the robot 10 to return the movable member 120 to the initial position. The control unit 70 also controls the placement unit drive unit 54 to return the placement unit 50 from the retracted position to the gripping position directly below the gripper 30. Furthermore, if there is a gripper 30 that is still gripping item A, the control unit 170 controls the gripping member drive mechanism 34 of that gripper 30 to cause that gripper 30 to release its grip on item A and drop item A into the item group storage container 52 of the placement unit 50.

The combination weighing system 200 repeats the above operations.

(5-6) Modification F
In the above embodiment, the article moving system 100 has one movable member 20 and one robot 10, but this is not limited to the above. The article moving system 100 may have a plurality of movable members 20 to which the grippers 30 are attached and a plurality of robots 10 that move the movable members 20.

(5-7) Modification G
In the above embodiment, the movable member 20 to which the gripper 30 is attached is moved, whereby the gripping member 32 of the gripper 30 is inserted into the group of articles A1 placed on the placement section 50, and the gripping member 32 gripping the article A is moved away from the placement section 50 in the first direction D1. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

For example, as shown in Figures 13 and 14, the article moving system 300 may further include a placement section drive section 254 that moves the placement section 50 in the vertical direction.

The robot 10 of the article moving system 300 does not need to move the gripping member 32 to insert the gripping member 32 into the group of articles A1 placed on the placement unit 50 and move the gripping member 32 gripping the article A away from the placement unit 50 in the first direction D1. Instead, the control unit 270 controls the placement unit drive unit 254 as the first drive unit to move the placement unit 50, thereby inserting the gripping member 32 into the group of articles A1 placed on the placement unit 50 and moving the gripping member 32 gripping the article A away from the placement unit 50 in the first direction D1. The control unit 270 is similar to the control unit 70 of the above embodiment, except for controlling the placement unit drive unit 254 to insert the gripping member 32 into the group of articles A1 and move the gripping member 32 away from the placement unit 50 in the first direction D1, so further explanation is omitted.

(5-8) Modification H
In the above embodiment, the robot 10 moves the movable member 20 to which the gripper 30 is attached in the horizontal direction, thereby moving the article A onto the conveyor 60 (onto the container C). In short, in the above embodiment, the article A is moved horizontally onto the conveyor 60 by the robot 10. However, the present invention is not limited to this aspect, and the article A may be moved onto the conveyor 60 without being moved horizontally by the robot 10.

An article movement system of this type will be described with reference to Figures 15 to 17, taking article movement system 400 as an example. Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of article movement system 400. Figure 16 is a block diagram of article movement system 400. Figure 17 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the operation of article movement system 400.

Note that since item movement system 400 has many similarities to item movement system 100 described above, for the sake of simplicity, this section will mainly describe the differences between item movement system 400 and item movement system 100, and will omit a description of the commonalities.

In the article moving system 400, the robot 310 moves the movable member 20 only in the vertical direction. In the article moving system 400, the conveyor 60 is positioned directly below the movable member 20.

The article moving system 400 has a placement section drive section 354 that moves the placement section 50 between a gripping position P1 (see the placement section 50 drawn by a solid line in FIG. 15) and a retreat position P2 (see the placement section 50 drawn by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 15) (see FIG. 16). The gripping position P1 is a position where the gripper 30 can grip an article A of the article group A1 placed on the placement section 50. Specifically, the placement section 50 placed at the gripping position P1 is positioned directly below the movable member 20 and directly above the conveyor 60. The retreat position P2 is a position where the gripper 30 does not grip an article A from the article group A1 placed on the placement section 50. Specifically, the placement section 50 placed at the retreat position P2 is positioned away from directly below the movable member 20 and away from directly above the conveyor 60. In other words, when the placement portion 50 is disposed in the retracted position P2, the placement portion 50 does not exist between the movable member 20 and the conveyor 60.

The robot 310, the gripping member drive mechanism 34, and the mounting unit drive unit 354 are electrically connected to the control unit 370 (see FIG. 16). The operations of the robot 310, the gripping member drive mechanism 34, and the mounting unit drive unit 354 are controlled by the control unit 370.

An example of the operation of the item moving system 400 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 17. Steps S1 to S5 in FIG. 17 are similar to steps S1 to S5 in the flowchart in FIG. 6, and therefore will not be described. Note that during steps S1 to S5 in FIG. 17, the placement unit 50 is positioned at the gripping position P1.

In step S406, the control unit 370 moves the placement unit 50 to the evacuation position P2.

Next, in step S407, the control unit 370 controls the robot 310 to move the movable member 20 vertically downward, thereby moving the gripping member 32 gripping the item A to the vicinity of the conveyor 60 (the vicinity of the container C).

Next, in step S408, the control unit 370 controls the gripping member drive mechanism 34 of the gripper 30 to cause the gripping member 32 to release its grip on the item A and place the item A on the container C.

Next, in step S409, the control unit 370 controls the robot 310 to move the movable member 20 to the initial position.

Next, in step S410, the control unit 370 moves the placement unit 50 to the gripping position P1.

While the item movement system 400 is in operation, the item movement system 400 repeatedly executes a series of operations.

<Additional Notes>
The above-described article moving system is merely a specific example of an article moving system and does not limit the technical scope of the present disclosure. It will be understood that various modifications can be made to the above-described embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

10 Robot (first drive unit, second drive unit)
32 gripping member 50 placement unit 100, 300 article moving system 200 combination weighing system (article moving system)
A1: Group of items A; Items D1, D1': First direction; D2, D2': Second direction (different from the first direction);
D3: Third direction (different from the first direction)
D4 Fourth direction (different from the first direction)
L1 First distance L2 Second distance L3 Third distance

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 6-3182

Claims (6)

An article moving device that separates some articles from other articles from a group of articles placed on a placement section and in which the articles are connected to each other, comprising:
A gripping member that grips the article;
a control unit that moves the gripping member, inserts the gripping member into the group of articles placed on the placement unit, and moves the gripping member that has gripped the articles away from the placement unit in a first direction;
Equipped with
the control unit moves the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction after the gripping member grips the article and before the gripping member finishes moving away from the placement unit in the first direction,
When the gripping member gripping the article is moved away from the placement section in the first direction, the gripping member is rotated around a rotation axis with the first direction being a rotation axis direction, or the gripping member is rotated around a rotation axis extending in a horizontal direction, thereby moving the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction.
Item moving device. An article moving device that separates some articles from other articles from a group of articles placed on a placement section and in which the articles are connected to one another, comprising:
A gripping member that grips the article;
a control unit that moves the gripping member, inserts the gripping member into the group of articles placed on the placement unit, and moves the gripping member that has gripped the articles away from the placement unit in a first direction;
Equipped with
the control unit moves the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction after the gripping member grips the article and before the gripping member finishes moving away from the placement unit in the first direction,
the control unit moves the gripping member, and inserts the gripping member into the group of articles by bringing the gripping member and the placement section closer to each other by a first distance, and then moves the gripping member, which has gripped the articles, away from the placement section by a second distance greater than the first distance, and then moves the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction.
Item moving device. the control unit moves the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction, and then moves the gripping member gripping the article away from the placement unit by a third distance greater than the second distance.
3. An article moving device according to claim 2. When the gripping member gripping the article is moved away from the placement unit in the first direction, the control unit moves the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction by rotating the gripping member around the rotation axis with a direction perpendicular to the first direction as a rotation axis direction.
4. An article moving device according to claim 2 or 3. An article moving device that separates some articles from other articles from a group of articles placed on a placement section and in which the articles are connected to one another, comprising:
A gripping member that grips the article;
a control unit that moves the gripping member, inserts the gripping member into the group of articles placed on the placement unit, and moves the gripping member that has gripped the articles away from the placement unit in a first direction;
Equipped with
the control unit moves the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction after the gripping member grips the article and before the gripping member finishes moving away from the placement unit in the first direction,
the control unit moves the gripping member in a direction perpendicular to the first direction when moving the gripping member gripping the article away from the placement unit in the first direction.
Item moving device. the control unit moves the gripping member in a direction different from the first direction while the object being gripped by the gripping member is in contact with the group of objects placed on the placement unit.
6. An article moving device according to claim 1 or 5 .

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