JP7583370B2 - Picking Device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a picking device that can be used to pick up various types of workpieces that are bulk loaded into transport containers.

As an example of this type of picking device, as described in Patent Document 1, a picking device equipped with a picking head that can move in the X-axis and Y-axis directions that are mutually perpendicular on a horizontal plane, and in the Z-axis direction that is perpendicular to the horizontal plane, is known. In a conventional picking device, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, an X-axis guide rail is installed at a height that does not interfere with a transport container set in a predetermined position, a Y-axis guide rail supported by the X-axis guide rail and capable of reciprocating in the X-axis direction, a Z-axis guide rail supported by the Y-axis guide rail and capable of reciprocating in the Y-axis direction, a Z-axis lifting column supported by the Z-axis guide rail so as to be freely raised and lowered in the Z-axis direction, and a picking head attached to the lower end of the Z-axis lifting column. In this configuration, the Z-axis lifting column and the picking head at its lower end constitute a picking hand.

JP 2020-70155 A

In the conventional picking device described above, when the picking hand is at its lowermost height, the picking head at the lower end must reach the bottom of the container, and when the picking hand is at its uppermost height, the picking head at the lower end and the work held by it must be at a height sufficiently above the container. In other words, since the picking hand is a long columnar body with a long vertical length, the Z-axis guide rail that supports the picking hand so that it can be raised and lowered is also a long columnar body with a long vertical length that is equal to or longer than the picking hand. Therefore, in the conventional picking device described in Patent Document 1, the two long columnar bodies with a long vertical length, i.e., the Z-axis guide rail and the picking hand, must be supported by the Y-axis guide rail. As a result, the Y-axis guide rail is required to have sufficient bending strength, and Patent Document 1 shows a cantilevered Y-axis guide rail. However, in order to support both the Z-axis guide rail and the picking hand with such a cantilevered Y-axis guide rail and perform the initial operation smoothly and reliably, the Y-axis guide rail is required to have great bending rigidity, and the X-axis lateral moving body on the X-axis guide rail side that supports the Y-axis guide rail is also required to have a corresponding rigidity, which makes the entire device large and heavy. In reality, rather than making the Y-axis guide rail a cantilevered structure, it has become common to install two X-axis guide rails side by side so that both ends of the Y-axis guide rail can be supported, and to make the Y-axis guide rail a double-supported structure.

The present invention proposes a picking device that can solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. To facilitate understanding of the relationship with the embodiments described below, the picking device of the present invention will be described with reference to the reference symbols used in the description of the embodiments in parentheses. The picking device is equipped with a picking head (45) that is movable in X-axis and Y-axis directions that are perpendicular to each other on a horizontal plane, and in a Z-axis direction that is perpendicular to the horizontal plane, and is composed of an X-axis guide rail (2) installed at a constant height parallel to the X-axis direction, a Z-axis guide rail (7) whose lower end is supported by this X-axis guide rail (2) so as to be freely movable laterally in the X-axis direction and standing in the Z-axis direction, a cantilevered Y-axis guide rail (8) whose one end is supported by this Z-axis guide rail (7) so as to be freely raised and lowered in the Z-axis direction and extending in the horizontal Y-axis direction away from the Z-axis guide rail (7), and a picking hand (9) supported by this Y-axis guide rail (8), and this picking hand (9) is In the picking device, which is composed of a columnar picking hand body (44) whose upper end is supported on the Y -axis guide rail (8) so as to be freely movable laterally in the Y-axis direction and which hangs down in the Z-axis direction, and a picking head (45) attached to the lower end of the picking hand body (44), X-axis rail materials (10a, 10b) are laid on the lower end and upper side of the front side of the X-axis guide rail (2) (one of the front and rear vertical side sides of the X-axis guide rail (2)), the lower end of the Z-axis guide rail (7) is arranged so as to overlap the front side of the X-axis guide rail (2), and X-axis sliders (14a to 15b) that fit into the X-axis rail material are provided at the lower end of this Z-axis guide rail (7), and one end of the Y-axis guide rail (8) is supported in a cantilevered manner on the X-axis guide rail (2) in a direction extending toward the opposite side of the Z-axis guide rail (7) from the side where the X-axis guide rail (2) is located.

According to the above-mentioned configuration of the present invention, the Z-axis guide rail, which is long in the Z-axis direction, is supported on the X-axis guide rail instead of the Y-axis guide rail, and the picking hand, which is similarly long in the Z-axis direction, is supported on the Y-axis guide rail instead of the Z-axis guide rail. Compared to a configuration in which both the Z-axis guide rail and the picking hand are supported on the Y-axis guide rail, the load acting on the Y-axis guide rail is significantly reduced. Therefore, it is easy to suppress the bending rigidity required for the Y-axis guide rail and to reduce its weight. As a result, it is easy to make the Y-axis guide rail a cantilever structure in which only one end of the guide rail is supported on the Z-axis guide rail, and the entire device can be configured to be simple and lightweight, and costs can be reduced. In other words, since the Z-axis guide rail is supported on the X-axis guide rail, which can be fixed at a fixed position, the Z-axis guide rail together with the X-axis guide rail can be easily configured to have a structure with sufficient rigidity without being restricted by other components, and a picking device that is sturdy and has a long service life can be easily realized. In addition, in the conventional configuration in which the Y-axis guide rail moves horizontally in the X-axis direction at a constant level that is the same as or slightly higher than the X-axis guide rail, the picking head at the lower end of the picking hand that moves up and down along the Z-axis guide rail supported by the Y-axis guide rail moves up and down beside the Y-axis guide rail. If the workpiece to be picked has a shape that protrudes to the side, there is a risk that the workpiece will interfere with the Y-axis guide rail. However, in the configuration of the present invention, the Y-axis guide rail is always at the upper end lateral position of the picking hand and there is no risk of it approaching the picking hand. Therefore, no matter what shape the workpiece to be picked is, there is no risk of it interfering with the Y-axis guide rail during picking, and safe picking work can be easily performed.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, X-axis rail materials (10a, 10b) are laid on the lower end and upper end of the front side surface of the X-axis guide rail (2) (one of the front and rear vertical side surfaces of the X-axis guide rail (2)), the lower end of the Z-axis guide rail (7) is arranged to overlap the front side surface of the X-axis guide rail (2), and X-axis sliders (14a to 15b) that fit into the X-axis rail materials (10a, 10b) are provided on the lower end of this Z-axis guide rail (7), and one end of the Y-axis guide rail (8) is supported in a cantilever manner on the Z-axis guide rail (7) in a direction extending toward the side opposite to the side where the X-axis guide rail (2) is located with respect to the Z-axis guide rail (7). According to this configuration, by making the height between the upper and lower side surfaces of the X-axis guide rail as large as possible, the lower end of the Z-axis guide rail does not protrude downward beyond the X-axis guide rail, and the tendency of the Z-axis guide rail to tip over toward the Y-axis guide rail which it supports in a cantilevered manner can be effectively suppressed, and the X-axis guide rail can be installed low so that its lower surface is as close as possible to the handling space for the transport container.

In this case, the Z-axis guide rail movement drive means (16) for reciprocating the Z-axis guide rail (7) along the X-axis guide rail (2) is composed of an X-axis rack gear (11) laid along the X-axis direction on the upper side of the X-axis guide rail (2) with its row of teeth positioned on the rear side opposite the side on which the Z-axis guide rail (7) is located, a motor (18) attached vertically to the rear side of the lower end of the Z-axis guide rail (7), and a pinion gear (19) attached to the output shaft at the lower end of the motor (18) and engaging with the X-axis rack gear (11), and the X-axis rail material (10b) laid on the upper side of the X-axis guide rail (2) can be attached to the vertical rear side of the X-axis rack gear (11). With this configuration, not only can the Z-axis guide rail movement drive means be easily constructed using the space above the X-axis guide rail, but the only thing that needs to be secured on the upper side of the X-axis guide rail is the mounting location for the X-axis rack gear, and the X-axis rack gear and X-axis rail material are integrated, resulting in greater rigidity than if they were separate.

In addition, Z-axis rail members (21, 22) are laid along the Z-axis direction on the front side of the Z-axis guide rail (7) opposite the side where the X-axis guide rail (2) is located, and on one of the left and right sides connected perpendicularly to this front side. Z-axis sliders (25a, 25b, 26) that fit into the two Z-axis rail members (21, 22) of the Z-axis guide rail (7) are attached to the rear side of the end of the Y-axis guide rail (8) opposite the side where the picking hand (9) is supported, and the Y-axis guide rail (8) is moved up and down reciprocally along the Z-axis guide rail (7). The Y-axis guide rail lifting drive means (27) that moves the Z-axis guide rail (7) is composed of a pair of upper and lower rotating bodies (29, 30) journaled at both the upper and lower ends of the Z-axis guide rail (7), a wrapped transmission device (31) that is stretched between these two rotating bodies (29, 30) and has one point fixed to the back surface of the end of the Y-axis guide rail (8), and a motor (28) that is operatively connected to the upper end rotating body (29) of the pair of upper and lower rotating bodies (29, 30). The wrapped transmission device (31) can be stretched so as to encompass the Z-axis rail material (21) laid on the front side of the Z-axis guide rail (7). This configuration allows the end of the Y-axis guide rail to be stably supported on the Z-axis guide rail in a cantilevered manner, and the Y-axis guide rail lifting drive means, which has a simple structure that uses a wrapped transmission tool, can be constructed compactly because the Z-axis rail material can be laid on the front side of the Z-axis guide rail by utilizing the inner space of the wrapped transmission tool.

Furthermore, the picking hand movement drive means (41) that moves the picking hand (9) back and forth in the Y-axis direction is composed of a Y-axis rack gear (36) laid along the Y-axis direction on the Y-axis guide rail (8), a pinion gear (43) that engages with the Y-axis rack gear (36) and rotates around the Z-axis, and a motor (42) that is installed vertically above the pinion gear (43) and drives the pinion gear (43) to rotate, and the picking hand (9) can be positioned below the pinion gear (43). Furthermore, if the picking head is not a single cylindrical suction pad, but is, for example, a picking head that has a preferred orientation relative to the workpiece when in use, such as three picking heads arranged on a circumference or a picking head equipped with a workpiece gripping means that opens and closes fingers, it is desirable to provide a rotation drive means (46) that rotates the picking hand body (44) equipped with the picking head (45) at its bottom end forward and backward around the Z axis, so that the orientation of the picking head can be changed by the rotation of the picking hand body depending on the orientation of the workpiece to be picked on the horizontal plane, etc.

The rotation drive means (46) can be composed of a vertically oriented motor (58) parallel to the motor (42) of the picking hand movement drive means (41) in the Y-axis direction, and a winding transmission means (55) along the Y-axis direction that links the upper end of the picking hand body (44) supported to rotate about the Z-axis with the motor (58). Furthermore, the picking head (45) can be pivotally supported on the picking hand body (44) so as to be tiltable around a horizontal support shaft (66), and a tilt drive means (48) can be provided to tilt the picking head (45) around the horizontal support shaft (66). With this configuration, even if the workpiece to be picked is not upright but tilted, the picking head can be tilted to match the tilt of the workpiece, allowing the workpiece to be picked reliably. This tilt drive means can be implemented in combination with the rotation drive means. As explained above, various types of winding transmission means can be used, but it is preferable to use a timing belt type.

The tilt drive means (48) includes two push-pull links (73, 74) pivotally connected to the picking head (45) on both sides of the horizontal support shaft (66), a pair of movable levers (71, 72) pivotally supported by a horizontal support shaft (70) parallel to the horizontal support shaft (66) on the upper end side of the picking hand body (44) and extending to the left and right, and a motor (75) that swings the pair of movable levers (71, 72) up and down together. The upper ends of the two push-pull links (73, 74) and the pair of movable levers (71, 72) are pivotally connected, and the picking head (45) can be configured to tilt in accordance with the integral up and down swing of the pair of movable levers (71, 72). With this configuration, the motor that serves as the driving source can be positioned far enough above the picking head so as not to interfere with the workpiece to be picked, and yet the structure is simpler and less expensive than a configuration in which the rotational force of the motor is transmitted to the picking head using multiple gears. It is preferable that the pair of movable levers and the two push-pull links are distributed and positioned on both sides of the picking hand body when viewed from the axial direction of the horizontal support shaft.

When a tilting drive means (48) for tilting the picking head (45) around the horizontal support shaft (66) is provided, the motor (75) of the tilting drive means (48) can be very easily converted into integral up and down swing of the pair of movable levers (71, 72) by projecting horizontally and at a right angle to the picking hand body (44). However, when used in conjunction with a rotation drive means for rotating the picking hand body forward and backward around the Z axis, the motor of the tilting drive means projecting horizontally from the picking hand revolves together with the picking hand body as the picking hand body rotates. In such a situation, when the picking hand body is rotated while the picking hand body is positioned at the end of the Z-axis guide rail of the two travel ends on the Y-axis guide rail, the motor of the tilting drive means, which revolves together with the picking hand body, may interfere with the Z-axis guide rail or the X-axis guide rail, or with the accessories of these guide rails. To avoid such a situation, the transmission means between the motor of the tilting drive means and the rotating shaft that drives the pair of movable levers becomes complicated, but it is also possible to consider measures such as arranging the motor of the tilting drive means vertically adjacent to the picking hand body to reduce the lateral protrusion of the motor from the picking hand body. Another method is to slightly lengthen the overall length of the Y-axis guide rail and set the travel end of the picking hand body on the Z-axis guide rail side to a position where the above-mentioned situation does not occur.

Of course, only when the picking hand body is located at the end of the Z-axis guide rail of the two travel ends on the Y-axis guide rail, there is a risk that the motor of the tilting drive means will interfere with other objects as the picking hand body rotates, as described above. Therefore, it is possible to allow the picking hand body to rotate freely within a range of 360 degrees when it is away from the end of the Z-axis guide rail, and to restrict the rotation range of the picking hand body to, for example, a range of 180 degrees diagonally, where the motor of the tilting drive means will not interfere with other objects, only when the picking hand body is at the end of the Z-axis guide rail. However, depending on the structure of the picking head, it may be possible to obtain the effect by simply changing the direction of the picking head within a range of 180 degrees, without rotating the picking head within a range of 360 degrees. In such a case, the allowable range of rotation of the picking hand body (44) by the rotation drive means (46) can be set to a diagonal range of 180 degrees in which the motor (75) of the tilt drive means (48) does not interfere with the Z-axis guide rail (7) or the X-axis guide rail (2) or the accessories attached to these guide rails (2, 7) in a plan view when the picking hand body (44) is at the end of its lateral movement in the Y-axis direction on the side approaching the Z-axis guide rail (7) and the X-axis guide rail (2).

When implementing the above configuration, it is desirable to configure the motor (75) of the tilting drive means (48) so that when the picking hand body (44) is in a standby state before rotating, it is at an angle parallel to the Y-axis guide rail (8) in a plan view at a midpoint within the allowable range of 180 degrees of inclination.

The inventions described in dependent claims 2 to 10 have been described above, but the inventions described in dependent claims 5 to 10 can also be applied to the picking hand of a conventional picking device, that is, a picking device in which a Y-axis guide rail is supported on an X-axis guide rail so that it can move back and forth in the X-axis direction, a Z-axis guide rail is supported on this Y-axis guide rail so that it can move back and forth in the Y-axis direction, and a picking head is supported on this Z-axis guide rail so that it can be raised and lowered.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the entire picking device. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same. FIG. 3 is a right side view of the same. FIG. 4 is a left side view, partially in vertical section, showing a support structure for the Z-axis guide rail relative to the X-axis guide rail. FIG. 5 is a right side view showing the support structure of the Y-axis guide rail with respect to the Z-axis guide rail. FIG. 6 is a front view showing the support structure of the Z-axis guide rail with respect to the X-axis guide rail and the lower end region of the picking hand. FIG. 7 is a partial vertical sectional front view showing a support structure of the Y-axis guide rail relative to the Z-axis guide rail, a drive means for the Y-axis guide rail, and a support structure of the picking hand relative to the Y-axis guide rail. FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional plan view showing a support structure of the Y-axis guide rail with respect to the Z-axis guide rail supported by the X-axis guide rail. FIG. 9 is a left side view showing a portion supported by the Z-axis guide rail at one end of the Y-axis guide rail. FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the support structure of the picking hand relative to the Y-axis guide rail. FIG. 11 is a right side view showing the entire picking hand supported by the Y-axis guide rail. FIG. 12 is an enlarged partial vertical sectional view of the main part of FIG. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional plan view showing the picking head. 14A is a partially cut-out elevational view of the picking hand, and FIG. 14B is a cross-sectional plan view showing the picking head in FIG. 14A. FIG. 15 is an elevational view showing the picking hand with the picking head tilted sideways at a substantially right angle. FIG. 16 is an elevation view showing the picking hand with the picking head tilted obliquely downward. FIG. 17 is a partial cross-sectional plan view showing the orientation of the motor of the tilting drive means when the picking hand is in a steady state. FIG. 18 is a partial cross-sectional plan view showing the orientation of the motor of the tilt drive means when the picking hand is at one end of its 180 degree rotation range. FIG. 19 is a partial cross-sectional plan view showing the orientation of the motor of the tilt drive means when the picking hand is at the other end of its 180 degree rotation range.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In Figs. 1 to 3, 1A is a transport container for work removal operations, and 1B is a transport container for work loading operations that receives the removed work. Each of these transport containers 1A, 1B has a rectangular shape in plan view, and is set in a fixed work position in a line with its short sides adjacent to each other. Although not shown in the drawings, each transport container 1A, 1B is handled by a loading/unloading conveyor for the fixed work positions PA, PB.

The picking device according to the present invention is disposed so as to include the fixed work positions PA, PB of each transport container 1A, 1B, and the picking device is configured as follows, with the serial direction of the fixed work positions PA, PB on a horizontal plane, i.e., the long side direction of each transport container 1A, 1B, being the X-axis direction, the direction perpendicular to the X-axis direction on the horizontal plane, i.e., the short side direction of each transport container 1A, 1B, being the Y-axis direction, and the vertical direction perpendicular to the horizontal plane being the Z-axis direction. An X-axis guide rail 2 is supported by a stand 3 at a height an appropriate distance above the upper end of the transport container 1A, 1B at the fixed work positions PA, PB, parallel to the X-axis direction, so that the X-axis direction surrounding the fixed work positions PA, PB overlaps with one long side of a long rectangle in a plan view. The stand 3 supports both ends and the middle position of the X-axis guide rail 2, and is a framework structure assembled from upper beams 4a-4c and lower beams 5a-5c that are parallel to the Y-axis direction, and a required number of columns 6.

The lower end of the Z-axis guide rail 7 standing in the Z direction is supported on the X-axis guide rail 2 so that it can move back and forth in the X-axis direction, and one end of the Y-axis guide rail 8 parallel to the Y-axis direction is supported on this Z-axis guide rail 7 so that it can move up and down in the Z-axis direction, and the upper end of the picking hand 9 long in the Z-axis direction is supported on this Y-axis guide rail 8 so that it can move back and forth in the Y-axis direction. The X-axis guide rail 2, Z-axis guide rail 7, and Y-axis guide rail 8 are shown as solid wood with simplified cross-sectional shapes as shown in Figures 4, 7, and 8, but a continuous hollow portion is formed in the length direction to reduce weight as necessary. As shown in the figures, each guide rail 2, 7, 8 has a groove with a cross-sectional shape that expands in the middle on the side of the guide rail, and the groove is provided continuously in the length direction of the guide rail. When fixing a member to each guide rail 2, 7, 8, a female screw is freely fitted into the groove at the mounting location of the member, and the member can be mounted at any position on any side of each guide rail 2, 7, 8 by screwing a member mounting screw into the screw hole of the female screw. In the following description, the means for screwing a member using the groove with a cross-sectional shape that expands in the middle and the female screw is referred to as the conventionally known screw fastening means.

A lower X-axis rail member 10a is attached to the X-axis guide rail 2 near the lower end of the front side, parallel to the X-axis direction, and an X-axis rack gear 11 with a row of teeth on the rear side is attached to the upper side, which is one step higher, parallel to the X-axis direction. An upper X-axis rail member 10b is attached to the rear side of this X-axis rack gear 11, parallel to the X-axis direction. In addition, the front side of the upper end of the pillar member 6 is screwed near the center of the length of the X-axis guide rail 2. These members are attached to the X-axis guide rail 2 by conventionally known screw fastening means.

As shown in Figures 4, 6, and 8, the lower end of the Z-axis guide rail 7 is arranged so as to overlap the front side of the X-axis guide rail 2, and an X-axis lateral moving body 12 that engages with the X-axis guide rail 2 is attached to the lower end of the Z-axis guide rail 7 by a conventionally known screw fastening means. This X-axis lateral moving body 12 has a base plate 13 fixed to the side of the lower end of the Z-axis guide rail 7 facing the X-axis guide rail 2, and two lower X-axis sliders 14a, 14b that fit slidably in the X-direction on the lower X-axis rail material 10a of the X-axis guide rail 2 are attached to the lower end side of this base plate 13, and two upper X-axis sliders 15a, 15b that fit slidably in the X-direction on the upper X-axis rail material 10b of the X-axis guide rail 2 are attached to the intermediate height of the base plate 13.

The above configuration allows the Z-axis guide rail 7 to move back and forth along the X-axis guide rail 2 while maintaining an upright posture, and the movement drive means 16 for the Z-axis guide rail 7 is composed of the X-axis rack gear 11 attached to the upper side of the X-axis guide rail 2, the motor 18 installed vertically on the horizontal support plate 17 protruding from the base plate 13 above the X-axis rack gear 11, and the pinion gear 19 attached to the output shaft 18a protruding downward from the lower end of the motor 18 and engaging with the X-axis rack gear 11. As shown in Figure 8, the Z-axis guide rail 7 has a first Z-axis rail member 21 and a second Z-axis rail member 22 that are continuous in the Z-axis direction attached to the two perpendicular sides to which the base plate 13 of the X-axis horizontal moving body 12 is not attached, by a conventionally known screw fastening means.

The Y-axis guide rail 8 has a vertical cross section as shown in FIG. 7, and the Z-axis lifting body 23 is attached to the end of the Y-axis guide rail 7 side as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 7 to FIG. 9. This Z-axis lifting body 23 is composed of a base plate 24a parallel to the length of the Y-axis guide rail 8, a sub-plate portion 24b extending perpendicularly from the base plate 24a, a top plate portion 24c that connects the upper ends of the base plate 24a and the sub-plate portion 24b together, and a reinforcing plate material 24d arranged in the recessed corner between the sub-plate portion 24b and the Y-axis guide rail 8. The base plate 24a is fitted with two upper and lower first Z-axis sliders 25a and 25b that are fitted slidably in the Z-axis direction to the first Z-axis rail material 21 of the Z-axis guide rail 7, and the sub-plate portion 24b is fitted with a second Z-axis slider 26 that is fitted slidably in the Z-axis direction to the second Z-axis rail material 22 of the Z-axis guide rail 7. The first Z-axis rail member 21 and the second Z-axis rail member 22 on the Z-axis guide rail 7 side, and the first Z-axis sliders 25a, 25b and the second Z-axis slider 26 provided on the Z-axis lifting body 23 of the Y-axis guide rail 8, allow the Y-axis guide rail 8 to move up and down in the Z-axis direction along the Z-axis guide rail 7 while maintaining a position extending horizontally from the Z-axis guide rail 7 in the Y-axis direction.

As shown in Figures 4 to 9, the driving means 27 for raising and lowering the Y-axis guide rail 8 is composed of a motor 28 attached to the upper end of the Z-axis guide rail 7 in a direction parallel to the Y-axis direction, a driving rotor 29 attached to an output shaft 28a of the motor 28 protruding in a direction parallel to the Y-axis direction, a driven rotor 30 supported by a horizontal support shaft 30a parallel to the Y-axis direction at the lower end of the Z-axis guide rail 7 so as to be positioned directly below the driving rotor 29, and a wrapped transmission means 32 consisting of a wrapped transmission device 31 stretched between the upper and lower rotors 29, 30. As shown in Figure 8 when viewed in a plane, the wrapped transmission tool 31 has the second Z-axis rail material 22 attached to the Z-axis guide rail 7 and the second Z-axis slider 26 on the Y-axis guide rail 8 side that is fitted onto the second Z-axis rail material 22 positioned inside the wrapped transmission tool 31, i.e., within the vertically elongated area between the two side lifting/lowering path sections 31a, 31b of the wrapped transmission tool 31 and the upper and lower rotating bodies 29, 30, and one location of the lifting/lowering path section 31a on the side adjacent to the base plate 24a of the Z-axis lifting body 23 of the two side lifting/lowering path sections 31a, 31b of the wrapped transmission tool 31 is clamped and fixed to the base plate 24a by a pressure plate 31c. In addition, since the lifting path portion 31a of the wrapped transmission tool 31 passes through the top plate portion 24c of the Z-axis lifting body 23 in the vertical direction, the top plate portion 24c is provided with a through opening 33 through which the lifting path portion 31a of the wrapped transmission tool 31 passes.

The Y-axis guide rail 8 has a vertical cross section, and the Y-axis rail members 34, 35 are attached to both upper and lower end surfaces along the Y-axis direction by a conventionally known screw fastening means. In addition, a continuous groove is provided along the Y-axis direction near the upper end of the side opposite the side where the Z-axis guide rail 7 is located, of both side surfaces of the Y-axis guide rail 8, and the Y-axis rack gear 36 is screwed in a fitted state into this groove. The picking hand 9 is attached to the Y-axis lateral moving body 37 supported on the Y-axis guide rail 8 so as to be freely movable back and forth in the Y-axis direction. The Y-axis horizontal moving body 37 is composed of a vertical base plate 38 adjacent to the side of the Y-axis guide rail 8 on which the Y-axis rack gear 36 is laid, an upper Y-axis slider 39 attached to the inside of the upper end of the vertical base plate 38 so as to fit from above onto the Y-axis rail material 34 on the upper side of the Y-axis guide rail 8, and a lower Y-axis slider 40 attached to the inside of the lower end of the vertical base plate 38 so as to fit from below onto the Y-axis rail material 35 on the lower side of the Y-axis guide rail 8.

The picking hand movement drive means 41 for reciprocating the picking hand 9 along the Y-axis guide rail 8 via the Y-axis horizontal moving body 37 is composed of a motor 42 attached vertically to the front side of the upper end of the vertical base plate 38 of the Y-axis horizontal moving body 37, and a pinion gear 43 attached to an output shaft 42a protruding vertically downward from the lower end of the motor 42 and engaging with the Y-axis rack gear 36. The upper end of the vertical base plate 38 is formed in a bifurcated shape so that the pinion gear 43 engages with the Y-axis rack gear 36 on the rear side of the vertical base plate 38, and a motor stand part 38b is installed above the pinion gear 43 between the upper bifurcated parts 38a of the vertical base plate 38.

As shown in Figures 11 to 14B, the picking hand 9 is composed of a long, columnar picking hand body 44 in the Z-axis direction, a picking head 45 attached to the lower end of the picking hand body 44, a rotation drive means 46 for rotating the picking hand body 44 forward and backward around the Z-axis, a rotation range limiting means 47 for the picking hand body 44, and a tilt drive means 48 for tilting the picking head 45 around a horizontal support axis. As shown in Figures 12 to 14A, the picking hand main body 44 is composed of an upper end shaft portion 49 having an angular shaft portion 49a at its lower end, an upper connecting flange 50 that is fitted onto the angular shaft portion 49a of the upper end shaft portion 49 so as to be non-rotatable relative to the angular shaft portion 49a and is concentrically connected to the angular shaft portion 49a with a single bolt 50a, a lower connecting flange 51 that is concentrically connected to the upper connecting flange 50 by multiple bolts 51a in the circumferential direction with a control plate 47a that constitutes the rotation range limiting means 47 sandwiched between the upper connecting flange 50 and the lower connecting flange 51, an intermediate shaft portion 52 that is integrally connected downward from the lower connecting flange 51, and a main body shaft portion 53 that is externally fitted and connected to the lower end of the intermediate shaft portion 52. The intermediate shaft portion 52 is a rectangular cross section with a round hole in the center, formed by cutting both diametric sides of a thick round pipe material with the lower connection flange 51 integrally formed at the upper end into a flat shape, and the main shaft portion 53 is made of a pipe material with a hollow rectangular cross section, formed by pressurizing both diametric sides of a round pipe material into a flat shape to match the outer contour of the intermediate shaft portion 52. The upper end of the main shaft portion 53 is fitted onto the lower end of the intermediate shaft portion 52, and the two are joined together by multiple screws 53a.

As shown in Fig. 11, the picking hand body 44 configured as described above is supported by bearings 54a and 54b at both the upper and lower ends of the upper end shaft portion 49 so as to be rotatable on the outside of the vertical base plate 38 of the Y-axis horizontal moving body 37 in parallel with the Z-axis direction. A driven rotor 56b constituting the winding transmission means 55 of the rotation drive means 46 is attached to this upper end shaft portion 49 directly below the upper bearing 54a. The winding transmission means 55 is composed of the driven rotor 56b, a driving rotor 56a attached to the lower end output shaft 58a of a vertically oriented motor 58, and a winding transmission tool 57 stretched between the two rotors 56a and 56b. The motor 58 is positioned in a position away from the X-axis guide rail 2 in the Y-axis direction relative to the picking hand main body 44 in a plan view, and a motor support plate 59 supporting the motor 58 is attached to an attachment plate portion 54c that is connected to the upper bearing 54a that supports the upper end shaft portion 49 and overlaps the upper side of the side edge of the motor support plate 59 by two parallel vertical bolts 60, and is also attached to the vertical base plate 38 by a single horizontal bolt 61 as shown in Figure 10. The two bolt holes in the mounting plate portion 54c of the upper bearing 54a through which the two vertical bolts 60 are inserted, and the one bolt hole in the vertical base plate 38 through which the horizontal bolt 61 is inserted, are elongated holes in the Y-axis direction. By loosening these bolts 60, 61, the motor support plate 59 can be moved in the Y-axis direction to change the distance between the driving rotor 56a on the motor 58 side and the driven rotor 56b on the picking hand main body 44 side, and the tension of the winding transmission 57 can be adjusted.

As shown in Figures 12 to 14B, the picking head 45 has a base 63 on the underside of which three negative pressure suction head units 62a to 62c are attached. A bearing member 64 that tapers downward is attached to the lower end of the main body shaft 53 that constitutes the picking hand main body 44, and the lower end of this bearing member 64 is supported by a horizontal support shaft 66 in the short side direction of the main body shaft 53 so as to be able to tilt freely on a bearing 65 that protrudes upward from the center position of the base 63 of the picking head 45. The bearing member 64 has a bifurcated insertion portion 64a connected to the upper end, and the bifurcated insertion portion 64a is inserted into the inside of both short sides of the main body shaft 53 and fixed by screws 64b. In addition, when the base 63 of the picking head 45 tilts around the horizontal support shaft 66, the side of the bearing member 64 to which the base 63 approaches (both side surfaces connected to both short sides of the main body shaft portion 53) is inclined in an inverted V shape, and tilt limiting screws 67a, 67b with spherical heads are attached to both inclined sides so that the amount of protrusion can be adjusted. As shown in FIG. 15, these tilt limiting screws 67a and 67b abut against the upper surface of the base 63 of the picking head 45 to prevent the picking head 45 from tilting beyond the allowable angle. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14B, grooves 68a and 68b with arc-shaped bottom surfaces are formed along a direction perpendicular to the horizontal support shaft 66 at the points where the tilt limiting screws 67a and 67b abut against the upper surface of the base 63, and the spherical heads of the tilt limiting screws 67a and 67b abut against the bottom surfaces of the grooves 68a and 68b.

As shown in Figures 12 to 14B, the tilt drive means 48 for the picking head 45 is composed of a hollow horizontal support shaft 70 that penetrates horizontally through the flat side portion of the intermediate shaft portion 52 that protrudes upward from the main shaft portion 53 of the picking hand main body 44, a pair of movable levers 71, 72 that have one end attached to the hollow horizontal support shaft 70 on both sides of the intermediate shaft portion 52 and extend horizontally in opposite directions, two push-pull links 73, 74 whose upper ends are axially connected to the free ends of both movable levers 71, 72 by horizontal support shafts (bolt shaft portions of the bolt and nut) 73a, 74a that are parallel to the hollow horizontal support shaft 70, and a horizontally oriented motor 75 whose output shaft 75a is inserted and fixed to one end of the hollow horizontal support shaft 70. An auxiliary control block 47b constituting the rotation range limiting means 47 is integrally formed on the upper end of the motor support vertical plate 76 attached to the end of the output shaft 75a side of the motor 75, and this auxiliary control block 47b is fixed to the side of the control plate 47a by bolts 47c. As described above, the control plate 47a is fixed between the upper end shaft portion 49 and the intermediate shaft portion 52 constituting the picking hand main body 44 via the upper and lower connection flanges 50, 51, and rotates integrally with the picking hand main body 44, so the motor 75 also revolves integrally with the picking hand main body 44.

The hollow horizontal support shaft 70, which is rotated by the output shaft 75a of the motor 75, is composed of an inner cylindrical shaft body 77 with one movable lever 71 formed integrally on its outer end side, and an outer cylindrical shaft body 78 with the other movable lever 72 formed integrally on its outer end side. The inner cylindrical shaft body 77 is fitted onto the output shaft 75a of the motor 75 and the inner end of the inner cylindrical shaft body 77 is inserted into the through hole 52a of the intermediate shaft portion 52 while being keyed to the output shaft 75a. The outer cylindrical shaft body 78 is inserted into the through hole 52a of the intermediate shaft portion 52 from the outside and is fitted onto the outer end of the output shaft 75a of the motor 75 so as to abut against the inner end of the inner cylindrical shaft body 77. In this state, a fastening bolt 79 is inserted into an attachment hole provided in the center of the outer end of the outer cylindrical shaft 78, and the fastening bolt 79 is screwed into a screw hole provided in the output shaft 75a of the motor 75, completing the assembly of the hollow horizontal support shaft 70 to the picking hand body 44. In order to completely prevent the inner and outer movable levers 71, 72 of the hollow horizontal support shaft 70 assembled in this manner from rotating relative to each other, as shown in FIG. 12, a fitting portion 80 can be provided on the inner end of the inner cylindrical shaft 77 that enters the through hole 52a and the inner end of the outer cylindrical shaft 78 that abuts against the inner end of the inner cylindrical shaft 77 in the axial direction, where the recess and protrusion fit together in the axial direction to prevent relative rotation in the circumferential direction.

The push-pull links 73, 74, the upper ends of which are pivotally connected to the movable levers 71, 72, are pivotally connected at their lower ends to a pair of bearings 81, 82 protruding from the upper side of the base 63 of the picking head 45 by horizontal support shafts 81a, 82a parallel to the horizontal support shaft 66 connecting the base 63 and the main body shaft 53 of the picking hand main body 44. As shown in FIG. 14A, when both movable levers 71, 72 are in a horizontal state, the base 63 of the picking head 45 connected by both push-pull links 73, 74 is also in a horizontal state. When this state is viewed from the axial direction of the hollow horizontal support shaft 70, both push-pull links 73, 74 are linearly parallel to the main body shaft 53 of the picking hand main body 44 up to a position near the upper end, and are inclined so as to expand diagonally outward from this linear portion to the upper end. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 11, when the motor 75 is viewed from the side (looking at the narrow side of the main body shaft portion 53 of the picking hand main body 44), both push-pull links 73, 74 appear to be linear over the entire length on both sides of the narrow main body shaft portion 53.

As described above, when both movable levers 71, 72 and the base 63 of the picking head 45 are in a horizontal state, this is referred to as a tilt standby state. From this state, the motor 75 is operated in the forward rotation direction to tilt the movable levers 71, 72 extending horizontally on both the left and right sides from the hollow horizontal support shaft 70 in the forward direction, in the direction that moves the movable lever 71 upward, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 15, and pull up the push-pull link 73, thereby allowing the base 63 of the picking head 45 to be tilted in the forward direction around the horizontal support shaft 64 to a forward tilt limit position (angle Maxθ<90 degrees) in which it abuts against the tilt limit screw 67a. From the above-mentioned tilt standby state, the motor 75 is operated in the reverse rotation direction, and the movable lever 72 is tilted in the reverse direction by a predetermined angle in the direction of moving upward as shown by the imaginary line in Figure 15, thereby pulling up the push-pull link 74, whereby the base 63 of the picking head 45 can be tilted in the reverse direction about the horizontal support shaft 64 to the reverse tilt limit position where it abuts against the tilt limit screw 67b. Of course, as shown in Figure 16, the tilt angle of the movable levers 71, 72 can be reduced to move the picking head 45 to the forward or reverse tilt limit position (angle
It is also possible to switch to any tilting posture (angle θ<Maxθ) up to Maxθ<90 degrees). Note that, due to the structure, it is not possible to fix all of the positions where the movable levers 71, 72 and the push-pull links 73, 74 are axially connected (positions of the horizontal support shafts 73a, 74a) and the positions where the push-pull links 73, 74 and the bearings 81, 82 on the picking head 45 side are axially connected (positions of the horizontal support shafts 81a, 82a). Therefore, in this embodiment, the shaft holes of the horizontal support shafts 73a, 74a provided on the movable levers 71, 72 are elongated holes oriented perpendicular to the length direction of the movable levers 71, 72.

In this embodiment, the three negative pressure suction head units 62a to 62c are arranged at equal intervals (120 degree intervals) around the rotation axis of the picking head 45, but it is possible to operate the motor 58 of the rotation drive means 46 and rotate the picking head 45 together with the picking hand body 44 according to the shape and orientation of the surface to be suctioned of the workpiece to be picked, thereby changing the arrangement of the three negative pressure suction head units 62a to 62c. Even in the case of a picking head having two negative pressure suction head units arranged in parallel, or a type that grasps a workpiece with a gripper having, for example, two to three open and closed fingers, it is more convenient for reliably performing the picking work if the orientation of the picking head can be changed by rotating according to the orientation of the workpiece to be picked, as described above. As shown in FIG. 14B, the three negative pressure suction head units 62a to 62c are arranged such that, in a plan view, one negative pressure suction head unit 62a is arranged on an imaginary center line 63a that passes through the rotation axis of the base 63 and is horizontally perpendicular to a horizontal support shaft 66 that serves as the central axis of tilting of the base 63, and the other two negative pressure suction head units 62b and 62c are arranged in symmetrical positions with respect to the imaginary center line 63a.

When the picking hand body 44 is rotated as described above, the tilting drive means 48 attached to the picking hand body 44 also rotates together with the picking hand body 44. That is, the motor 75 of the tilting drive means 48 protruding horizontally from the picking hand body 44 revolves around the rotation center line of the picking hand body 44 in the Z-axis direction. In this embodiment, in the rotation standby state before the picking hand body 44 rotates, the motor 75 of the tilting drive means 48 is set in a direction parallel to the Y-axis guide rail 8 directly below the motor 58 of the rotation drive means 46 as shown in Figures 10, 11, and 17. In this rotation standby state, the virtual center line 63a of the base 63 of the picking head 45 shown in Figure 14B is configured to be perpendicular to the horizontal axis of the motor 75 (hollow horizontal support shaft 70) of the tilting drive means shown in Figure 11.

The rotation range limiting means 47 of the picking hand main body 44 is composed of a control plate 47a that is attached between the upper end shaft portion 49 and the intermediate shaft portion 52 of the picking hand main body 44 and rotates integrally with the picking hand main body 44, an auxiliary control block 47b that is fixed to the side of the control plate 47a, and a rotation inhibiting protrusion 47d in the shape of a square shaft that is connected downward from the lower end of the vertical base plate 38 of the Y-axis lateral movement body 37. The control plate 47a is provided with a first protruding side portion 83 at one location around its periphery, and the auxiliary control block 47b is provided with a second protruding side portion 84 at a position near one end in the length direction.

The picking hand body 44 shown in Figure 17 is in the rotation standby state described above, in which the periphery of the control plate 47a and the auxiliary control block 47b is away from the rotation inhibiting protrusion 47d. When the motor 58 of the rotation drive means 46 is operated from this state to rotate the picking hand body 44 clockwise so that the motor 75 of the tilt drive means 48 approaches the Y-axis guide rail 8 in a plan view, as shown in Figure 18, when the motor 75 of the tilt drive means 48 rotates clockwise by an angle of 66 degrees, the second protruding side portion 84 of the auxiliary control block 47b abuts against the surface of the rotation inhibiting protrusion 47d, making further clockwise rotation impossible. 17, the motor 58 of the rotation drive means 46 is operated in the reverse direction to rotate the picking hand body 44 counterclockwise away from the Y-axis guide rail 8 in a plan view, and as shown in FIG. 19, when the motor 75 of the tilt drive means 48 rotates counterclockwise by an angle of 114 degrees, the first protruding side surface 83 of the control plate 47a abuts against the inner surface of the rotation inhibition protrusion 47d, making further counterclockwise rotation impossible. In other words, the picking hand body 44 in the rotation standby state is structured to be freely rotated clockwise up to an angle of 66 degrees and counterclockwise up to an angle of 114 degrees, within a total diagonal range of 180 degrees.

The picking hand body 44 supported by the Y-axis horizontal moving body 37 can be moved back and forth in the Y-axis direction along the Y-axis guide rail 8 by operating the motor 42 of the picking hand movement drive means 41, but when the picking hand body 44 moves laterally in a direction approaching the Z-axis guide rail 7 as shown in FIG. 17, it stops at the end of its travel on the Z-axis guide rail 7 side where the side edge of the vertical base plate 38 of the Y-axis horizontal moving body 37 abuts against the stopper bolt 85 attached to the side of the Y-axis guide rail 8, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 17 to FIG. 19. In this state, when the picking hand body 44 is rotated clockwise to the limit angle of 66 degrees by operating the motor 58 of the rotation drive means 46, the motor 75 of the tilt drive means 48, which revolves together with the picking hand body 44, stops at a position just before contacting the winding transmission device 31 of the lift drive means 27 of the Y-axis guide rail 8, which is arranged in front of the Z-axis guide rail 7, as shown in FIG. 18. In addition, when the picking hand body 44 is rotated counterclockwise to the limit angle of 114 degrees by operating the motor 58 of the rotation drive means 46 in the reverse direction, the motor 75 of the tilt drive means 48 stops at a position just before contacting the X-axis guide rail 2 in a plan view as shown in FIG. 19. Therefore, even when the Y-axis guide rail 8 moves up and down along the Z-axis guide rail 7 and the height of the motor 75 of the tilt drive means 48 is within the height range of the X-axis guide rail 2, there is no risk of the motor 75 of the tilt drive means 48 colliding with the X-axis guide rail 2 even if the picking hand body 44 rotates counterclockwise to the limit angle of 114 degrees.

The picking device configured as above is used to pick up a specific work selected from among the bulk work (works to be sucked and lifted by the three negative pressure suction heads 62a to 62c of the picking head 45) in the transport container 1A for work removal set in a predetermined direction at the fixed work position PA shown in Figures 1 and 2, and then to transport the picked specific work to a predetermined position in the transport container 1B for work loading set at the adjacent fixed work position PB. In this case, in order to move the picking head 45 of the picking hand 9 in the XYZ three-dimensional directions, the Z-axis guide rail movement drive means 16 for moving the Z-axis guide rail 7 in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis guide rail lift drive means 27 for lifting and lowering the Y-axis guide rail 8 in the Z-axis direction, and the picking hand movement drive means 41 for moving the picking hand 9 in the Y-axis direction are operated as described in detail above.

During operation of the above-mentioned picking device, as shown in FIG. 1, the picking head 45 can move up and down in the Z-axis direction within the Z-axis direction lifting range ZE from the lower limit height adjacent to the bottom surface of the transport container 1A, 1B to the upper limit height near the upper end level of the X-axis guide rail 2, accompanied by the lifting and lowering movement of the Y-axis guide rail 8 between the upper end position and the lower end position of the Z-axis guide rail 7. Also, as shown in FIG. 2, the picking hand 9 can be operated from near the left end position of the container 1A at the fixed work position PA (opposite the side adjacent to the container 1B) by the lateral movement in the X-axis direction of the Z-axis guide rail 7 between the start end position and the end end position of the X-axis guide rail 2. 3, the picking hand 9 can reciprocate in the X-axis direction within the X-axis horizontal movement range XE to a position sufficiently beyond the right end position of the container 1B at the work fixed position PB, and further, as shown in FIG. 3, the picking hand 9 can reciprocate in the Y-axis direction within the Y-axis horizontal movement range YE, which sufficiently exceeds the short side length of the containers 1A and 1B at each work fixed position PA and PB between the free end position of the Y-axis guide rail 8 and the base end position closest to the Z-axis guide rail 7, so that a specific workpiece at any position in the container 1A can be picked up above the container 1A and the specific workpiece can be carried to any place in the adjacent container 1B. In order to regulate the Y-axis horizontal movement range YE, the stopper bolt 85 and the stopper pin 86 that abut against both sides of the vertical base plate 38 of the Y-axis lateral moving body 37 are protrudingly provided on the inner end side and the outer end side of the Y-axis guide rail 8. The stopper bolt 85 is installed when assembly is complete, and when the Y-axis lateral moving body 37 is attached to the Y-axis guide rail 8, a stopper pin 87 is provided to prevent the Y-axis lateral moving body 37 from falling off the inner end of the Y-axis guide rail 8.

The above-mentioned work of picking a specific work from within the transport container 1A and the work of transporting the picked specific work to a predetermined position within the transport container 1B are generally performed with the picking head 45 in a horizontal position before tilting and in a rotation standby orientation. However, depending on the position and orientation of the work to be picked, the tilting drive means 48 of the picking head 45 can be operated to tilt the picking head 45 around the horizontal support shaft 66 by any angle within the tilt tolerance range, or the rotation drive means 46 of the picking hand main body 44 can be operated to rotate the picking head 45 together with the picking hand main body 44 within a diagonal range of 180 degrees.

In the above embodiment, the winding transmission means 32 used in the lifting drive means 27 of the Y-axis guide rail 2 and the winding transmission means 55 used in the rotation drive means 46 of the picking hand body 44 can be various types of conventionally known means using flat belts, V-belts, timing belts, wires, chains, etc., but it is preferable to use a winding transmission means using a timing belt from various viewpoints. In addition, as the picking head 45 in the present invention, a structure in which three negative pressure suction head units 62a to 62c are arranged at equal intervals around the rotation axis is exemplified, but this is only one example, and depending on the properties, size, weight, etc. of the work to be handled, a conventionally known magnetic suction type or a gripping type that grips the work using multiple opening and closing fingers can also be used.

The picking device of the present invention can be used to pick up various types of workpieces that are bulk loaded into transport containers.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1A Transport container for work removal operation 1B Transport container for work loading operation 2 X-axis guide rail 3 Stand 4a-4c Upper beam material 5a-5c Lower beam material 6 Pillar material 7 Z-axis guide rail 8 Y-axis guide rail 9 Picking hand 10a, 10b X-axis rail material 11 X-axis rack gear 12 X-axis lateral movement body 13 Base plate 14a, 14b Lower X-axis slider 15a, 15b Upper X-axis slider 16 Z-axis guide rail movement drive means 17 Horizontal support plate 18, 28, 42, 58, 75 Motor 19 Pinion gear 20 Female thread body 21 First Z-axis rail material 22 Second Z-axis rail material 23 Z-axis lifting body 24a Base plate 24b Sub-plate portion 24c Top plate 24d Reinforcing plate 25a, 25b First Z-axis slider 26 Second Z-axis slider 27 Y-axis guide rail lifting drive means 29, 30, 56a, 56b Rotating body constituting wrapping transmission means 30a Horizontal support shaft 31, 57 Wrapping transmission tool constituting wrapping transmission means 31a, 31b Both side lifting paths of wrapping transmission tool 31c Belt presser plate 32, 55 Wrapping transmission means 33 Through opening 34, 35 Y-axis rail material 36 Y-axis rack gear 37 Y-axis lateral moving body 38 Vertical base plate 38a Upper end bifurcated portion of vertical base plate 38b Motor stand portion 39, 40 Y-axis slider 41 Picking hand movement drive means 43 Pinion gear 44 Picking hand main body 45 Picking head 46 Rotation drive means 47 Rotation range limiting means 47a Control plate 47b Auxiliary control block 47c, 50a, 60, 61, 79 Bolt 47d Rotation inhibiting protrusion 48 Tilting drive means 49 Upper end shaft portion 49a Square shaft portion 50 Upper connection flange 51 Lower connection flange 51a Multiple bolts 52 Intermediate shaft portion 52a Through hole 53 Main body shaft portion 53a Multiple screws 54a, 54b Pair of upper and lower bearings 54c Mounting plate portion 59 Motor support plate 62a to 62c Negative pressure suction head unit 63 Base 63a Virtual center line 64 Bearing member at the lower end of the picking hand main body 64a Bifurcated insertion portion 64b Screw 65 Bearing 66 Horizontal support shaft 67a, 67b Tilt limiting screw 68a, 68b Groove portion 69 Motor support vertical plate 70 Hollow horizontal support shaft 71, 72 Movable lever 73, 74 Push-pull link 73a, 74a Horizontal support shaft 76 Motor support vertical plate 77 Inner cylindrical shaft 78 Outer cylindrical shaft 80 Fitting portion 81, 82 Bearing 81a, 82a Horizontal support shaft 83 First protruding side portion of control plate 84 Second protruding side portion of auxiliary control block 85 Stopper bolt 86, 87 Stopper pin PA, PB Fixed working position of container XE X-axis horizontal movement range YE Y-axis horizontal movement range ZE Z-axis lifting range

Claims (10)

A picking device equipped with a picking head movable in X-axis and Y-axis directions which are orthogonal to each other on a horizontal plane, and in a Z-axis direction which is perpendicular to the horizontal plane, comprising an X-axis guide rail installed at a constant height parallel to the X-axis direction, a Z-axis guide rail whose lower end is supported by the X-axis guide rail so as to be movable laterally in the X-axis direction and which stands in the Z-axis direction, a cantilevered Y-axis guide rail whose one end is supported by the Z-axis guide rail so as to be able to rise and fall in the Z-axis direction and which extends in the horizontal Y-axis direction away from the Z-axis guide rail, and a picking hand supported by the Y-axis guide rail, the picking hand being composed of a columnar picking hand main body whose upper end is supported by the Y-axis guide rail so as to be able to move laterally in the Y-axis direction and which hangs down in the Z-axis direction, and a picking head attached to the lower end of the picking hand main body ,
a picking device in which an X-axis rail material is laid on a lower end and an upper side of a front side of the X-axis guide rail, a lower end of the Z-axis guide rail is arranged so as to overlap the front side of the X-axis guide rail, a slider that fits into the X-axis rail material is provided on the lower end of the Z-axis guide rail, and one end of the Y-axis guide rail is supported in a cantilever manner on the X-axis guide rail in a direction extending toward the opposite side to the side where the X-axis guide rail is located with respect to the Z-axis guide rail . 2. The picking device according to claim 1, wherein the Z-axis guide rail movement drive means for reciprocating the Z-axis guide rail along the X-axis guide rail comprises an X-axis rack gear laid along the X-axis direction on the upper side of the X-axis guide rail in a direction such that a row of teeth is located on the rear side opposite to the side where the Z-axis guide rail is located, a motor attached vertically to the rear side of the lower end of the Z-axis guide rail, and a pinion gear attached to the output shaft at the lower end of the motor and engaging with the X-axis rack gear, and the X-axis rail material laid on the upper side of the X-axis guide rail is attached to the vertical rear side of the X-axis rack gear . 3. The picking device according to claim 1, wherein a Z-axis rail material is laid along the Z-axis direction on a front side surface of the Z-axis guide rail opposite to the side where the X-axis guide rail is located and on one of the left and right side surfaces connected perpendicularly to the front side surface, a Z-axis slider is attached to a back side of the end of the Y-axis guide rail opposite to the side where the picking hand is supported, the Z-axis guide rail lifting drive means for moving the Y-axis guide rail up and down reciprocally along the Z-axis guide rail is composed of a pair of upper and lower rotating bodies journaled at both upper and lower ends of the Z-axis guide rail, a wrapped transmission tool stretched between the two rotating bodies and fixed at one point to the back side of the end of the Y-axis guide rail, and a motor interlocked with the upper rotating body of the pair of upper and lower rotating bodies, and the wrapped transmission tool is stretched so as to include the Z-axis rail material laid on the front side surface of the Z-axis guide rail . A picking device as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a picking hand movement drive means is provided for moving the picking hand back and forth in the Y-axis direction, and the picking hand movement drive means is composed of a Y-axis rack gear laid on the Y-axis guide rail along the Y-axis direction, a pinion gear that engages with the Y-axis rack gear and rotates around the Z-axis, and a motor installed vertically above the pinion gear and drives the pinion gear to rotate, and the picking hand main body is positioned below the pinion gear . The picking device described in claim 4, further comprising a rotation drive means for rotating the picking hand forward and backward around the Z axis, the rotation drive means being composed of a vertically oriented motor parallel to the Y axis direction to the motor of the picking hand movement drive means, and a winding transmission means along the Y axis direction that interconnects the motor with the upper end of the picking hand supported for rotation around the Z axis . The picking head is supported on the picking hand body so as to be freely tiltable around a horizontal support shaft, and a tilting drive means is provided for tilting the picking head around the horizontal support shaft . The picking device described in claim 6, wherein the tilting drive means includes two push-pull links pivotally connected to the picking head on both sides of the horizontal support shaft, a pair of movable levers pivotally supported on the upper end side of the picking hand body by a horizontal support shaft parallel to the horizontal support shaft and extending to the left and right sides, and a motor that swings the pair of movable levers up and down together, and the upper ends of the two push-pull links and the pair of movable levers are pivotally connected so that the picking head tilts in response to the integral up and down swing of the pair of movable levers . 8. The picking device according to claim 7 , wherein the pair of movable levers and the two push-pull links are arranged on both sides of the picking hand body when viewed in the axial direction of the horizontal support shaft . 9. The picking device according to claim 1, further comprising: a rotation drive means for rotating the picking hand forward and backward around the Z-axis; a rotation range limiting means for limiting an allowable range of rotation of the picking hand by the rotation drive means; and a tilt drive means for tilting the picking head around a horizontal support shaft, wherein a motor of the tilt drive means protrudes horizontally and laterally at a right angle to the picking hand body, and the rotation range limiting means is configured to restrict the rotation range of the picking hand to a diagonal range of 180 degrees in which the motor of the tilt drive means does not interfere with the Z-axis guide rail or the X-axis guide rail and accessories attached to these guide rails in a plan view when the picking hand is at the end of its lateral movement in the Y-axis direction on the side approaching the Z-axis guide rail and the X-axis guide rail . The picking device according to claim 9, wherein the motor of the tilting drive means is maintained at an angle parallel to the Y-axis guide rail in a planar view at an intermediate position within the 180 degree diagonal rotation allowable range when the picking hand is in a rotation standby state before rotating .

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