JP7622486B2 - Robot hand, robot, and packing system - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a robot hand, a robot, and a packing system.

Robots that can grasp objects are used in tasks such as sorting, refilling, and dispensing. There is a wide variety of objects that robots can grasp. There are also many opportunities to grasp flexible objects. The posture of the transported object before it is grasped also varies, and the shape and flexibility may not be consistent from lot to lot.

The robot hand disclosed in the following Patent Document 1 includes multiple rod-shaped placement sections on which objects to be grasped are placed, pressure sections that form pairs with the placement sections and press the sides of the objects to be grasped, a spacing adjustment section that moves the placement sections to adjust the spacing between the multiple placement sections and moves the pressure sections to bring the pressure sections into contact with the objects to be grasped, and a detection section that detects the angle between the pair of placement sections and pressure sections, and the placement section pressure section angle, which is the angle at which the pressure sections are twisted relative to the placement sections.

Patent No. 5929271

When the robot hand of Patent Document 1 grasps a flexible object, the side of the object is pressed by the pressing part, causing the object to deform. Paragraph 0034 of Patent Document 1 states that "The object is a flexible object, such as a cream croquette, konjac, tofu, agar, etc. The object is easily deformed when pressed, and returns to its original shape when pressure is removed." In contrast, an object such as a rice ball, once it is pressed and deformed, does not return to its original shape. The object of Patent Document 1 is placed with its bottom surface tightly on a flat platform, and the rod-shaped platform for grasping is inserted under the object by prying open the contact part between the platform and the bottom surface of the object, creating a gap. If an object such as a rice ball is grasped by the robot hand of Patent Document 1, it will lose its shape.

The present disclosure has been made to solve the problems described above, and aims to provide a robot hand that can securely grip soft objects without damaging them, a robot that lifts objects from an alignment device, and a packing system equipped with the robot hand.

The robot hand according to the present disclosure is a robot hand for gripping an object, comprising a pair of arms rotatable around each of a pair of parallel arm rotation shafts, a pair of support parts attached to each of the pair of arms and contacting the underside of the object when the object is gripped, a pair of side surfaces facing each other with the object between them when the object is gripped, a translation unit that translates the pair of arm rotation shafts and the pair of side surfaces so that a rotation axis distance that is the distance between the pair of arm rotation shafts and a side surface distance that is the distance between the pair of side surfaces are changed, and a rotation drive unit that rotates each of the pair of arms so that a support surface distance that is the distance between the pair of support parts is changed, and each of the pair of support parts is a long, rod-shaped rotatable roller whose both ends are supported by two members that constitute the arm .
A robot hand according to the present disclosure is a robot hand for gripping an article, comprising: a pair of arms rotatable about each of a pair of parallel arm rotation shafts; a pair of support parts attached to each of the pair of arms and contacting the underside of the article when the article is gripped; a pair of side parts that face each other with the article between them when the article is gripped; a translation unit that translates the pair of arm rotation shafts and the pair of side parts so that a rotation shaft distance that is the distance between the pair of arm rotation shafts and a side part distance that is the distance between the pair of side parts are changed; and a rotation drive unit that rotates each of the pair of arms so that a support part distance that is the distance between the pair of support parts is changed, and the robot hand according to the present disclosure is a robot hand for gripping an article, comprising: a pair of arms rotatable about each of a pair of parallel arm rotation shafts; a pair of support parts attached to each of the pair of arms and contacting the underside of the article when the article is gripped; and a released state in which the gripped article is released, and the released state is entered when the parallel movement unit reduces the distance between the rotation axes and the distance between the side portions from the standby state, and the gripped state is entered when the rotation drive unit reduces the distance between the support portions from the released state, the article being a pillow package whose contents are wrapped in a packaging bag, and the distance between the support portions and the distance between the side portions in the standby state are each greater than the dimensions of the pillow package in the direction of parallel movement, the distance between the support portions and the distance between the side portions in the released state are each equal to or less than the dimensions of the pillow package and greater than the dimensions of the contents in the direction of parallel movement, and the distance between the support portions in the gripped state is smaller than the dimensions of the contents.
A robot according to the present disclosure is a robot including a robot arm having a robot hand for gripping an article, the robot hand being movable from a fixed base, the robot hand including a pair of arms rotatable about each of a pair of arm rotation shafts parallel to each other, a pair of support parts attached to each of the pair of arms and contacting the underside of the article when the article is gripped, a pair of side parts facing each other with the article between them when the article is gripped, a translation unit which translates the pair of arm rotation shafts and the pair of side parts in parallel so that a rotation axis distance that is the distance between the pair of arm rotation shafts and a side part distance that is the distance between the pair of side parts are changed, and a rotation drive unit which rotates each of the pair of arms so that a support part distance that is the distance between the pair of support parts is changed, The alignment device is switchable between a gripping state in which an item is gripped and a released state in which the gripped item is released. When the parallel movement unit reduces the distance between the rotation axes and the distance between the side portions from the standby state, the released state is reached, and when the rotation drive unit reduces the distance between the support portions from the released state, the gripping state is reached. By moving the robot arm, the central axis of the loading platform of the alignment device, which aligns multiple items in a row, is centered so that it coincides with the center of the distance between the rotation axes, the distance between the side portions, and the distance between the support portions, and the alignment device can be moved to a standby state in which a pair of support portions is positioned in the space above the items. After that, when the release state is reached, the pair of support portions can be moved in the space to a position below the multiple items, and then moved to the gripping state, thereby lifting the items from the alignment device.
A packing system according to the present disclosure includes the above-described robot hand, and packs items into boxes using the robot hand.
A packing system according to the present disclosure includes the above-described robot and packs items into boxes using the robot hand.

The present disclosure makes it possible to provide a robot hand that can reliably grip soft objects without damaging them, a robot that uses the robot hand to grip and scoop up objects and move the objects vertically from an object conveying line, and a packing system equipped with a robot having the robot hand at its tip.

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a packing system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a packing system according to a first embodiment. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an alignment device provided in the packing system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an alignment device and a robot hand provided in the packing system according to the embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a side view of a robot hand provided in the packing system according to the first embodiment. A cross-sectional view of the pillow package before the robot hand grasps it. This is a cross-sectional view after the robot hand has grasped the pillow package. This is a cross-sectional view of the robot hand releasing a pillow package inside a food container.

The following describes the embodiments with reference to the drawings. Common or corresponding elements in each drawing are given the same reference numerals, and the description is simplified or omitted. Note that when angles are mentioned in this disclosure, in principle, when there are a reflex angle and a minor angle whose sum is 360 degrees, it refers to the minor angle, and in principle, when there are an acute angle and an obtuse angle whose sum is 180 degrees, it refers to the acute angle.

Embodiment 1.
Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 are elevation views of the packing system 1 according to the first embodiment. Fig. 2 is a view from a viewpoint perpendicular to the viewpoint of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the alignment device 2 provided in the packing system 1 according to the first embodiment. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the alignment device 2 and the robot hand 3 provided in the packing system 1 according to the first embodiment. Fig. 5 is a side view of the robot hand 3 provided in the packing system 1 according to the first embodiment.

The packing system 1 according to the first embodiment includes an alignment device 2, a robot hand 3, and a robot 6A having a robot arm 6 with the robot hand 3 at its tip. The alignment device 2 aligns the items conveyed by the conveyor 4 along a first direction. In the packing system 1, the robot hand 3 grasps the items aligned by the alignment device 2, the robot arm 6 with the robot hand 3 at its tip scoops up and moves the items vertically, the robot 6A moves the items through the air together with the robot arm 6, and finally, the robot hand 3 grasping the items automatically packs the items into a box. From an upstream device of the packing system 1, items flow to the conveyor 4 of the packing system 1 at a speed of, for example, about one item per second. In this embodiment, a pillow package 90 is used as an example of the items. However, the items in this disclosure are not limited to the pillow package 90. In this embodiment, a box weight 95 is used as an example of the boxes. A food container 95 is a shallow transport container without a lid.

As shown in FIG. 3, the pillow packaging 90 in this embodiment has a content 91 and a packaging bag 92 that encases the content 91. In the illustrated example, the content 91 is a rice ball. In the illustrated example, the content 91 is a triangular rice ball, but instead of this example, it may be a circular rice ball or a bale-shaped rice ball. Furthermore, the content 91 in this disclosure may be food other than a rice ball, such as bread, sandwiches, sweets, vegetables, prepared foods, processed foods, or other non-food items.

As shown in FIG. 2, the packing system 1 includes a controller 5. The controller 5 controls the operation of the packing system 1. The controller 5 may include at least one memory and at least one processor. As shown in FIG. 1, the packing system 1 includes a robot 6A having a robot arm 6. A robot hand 3 is attached to the tip of the robot arm 6. The robot 6A has a base that supports the robot arm 6. However, in FIG. 1, the robot hand 3 is not shown. In FIG. 1, the base of the robot 6A is suspended from a stand, but this is not limited to this installation, and the base may be suspended separately, or a base may be installed separately on the ground, and the robot arm 6 may extend upward and bend downward halfway. Also, in FIG. 2, the robot arm 6 and the robot hand 3 are not shown.

The conveyor 4 moves the pillow package 90 so that the wide surface of the pillow package 90 is perpendicular to the horizontal plane and parallel to the direction of movement. In the illustrated example, the flat surface formed by the three sides of the triangle of the rice ball, which is the content 91, forms the wide surface of the pillow package 90. Side walls 29 extending along the longitudinal direction of the conveyor 4 are provided on both sides of the conveyor 4. The side walls 29 come into contact with the pillow package 90, thereby maintaining the pillow package 90 in an upright position on the conveyor 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the alignment device 2 aligns multiple pillow packages 90 moving on the conveyor 4 in a row along a first direction. The first direction is perpendicular to the transport direction of the conveyor 4. In FIG. 1, the pillow packages 90 on the conveyor 4 are transported from left to right. The alignment device 2 aligns the pillow packages 90 so that the wide surfaces of adjacent pillow packages 90 face each other.

When the alignment device 2 has finished arranging the predetermined number of pillow packages 90, as shown in FIG. 4, the robot arm 6, which is part of the robot 6A to which the base is fixed, moves the robot hand 3 in the air above it. The robot arm 6 then lowers the robot hand 3. The robot hand 3 grasps the predetermined number of pillow packages 90 that the alignment device 2 has arranged in a row at once. In the illustrated example, the alignment device 2 arranges ten pillow packages 90 in a row. The robot hand 3 grasps ten pillow packages 90 at once. The robot arm 6 scoops up the pillow packages 90 that the robot hand 3 has grasped from the alignment device 2 in the vertical direction in space and moves them, then moves them in the air and moves them into a box 95 placed on the first table 20 in FIG. 1.

The packing system 1 of this embodiment includes two alignment devices 2. With the packing system 1 of this embodiment, while the robot 6A moves the robot arm 6 to move the pillow packages 90 aligned by one alignment device 2 to the box 95 on the first table 20 using the robot hand 3, the other alignment device 2 can line up the pillow packages 90. This improves the speed at which the pillow packages 90 are packed into the box 95.

2 and 3, the alignment device 2 of this embodiment includes a slide table 13 corresponding to a mounting table, a stopper 14, a pusher 15, a table driving unit 16, a pair of side guides 17, and a side guide driving unit 18. The slide table 13 is slidable along a first direction. The upper surface of the slide table 13 has an elongated shape with the first direction as the longitudinal direction. FIG. 3 corresponds to a cross-sectional view perpendicular to the first direction. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the upper surface of the slide table 13 is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane so as to slope downward in the direction away from the conveyor 4. That is, the first direction in this embodiment is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane. However, in the present disclosure, the first direction and the upper surface of the slide table 13 may be parallel to the horizontal plane.

The stopper 14 stops the pillow package 90 by contacting the pillow package 90 moving on the conveyor 4. The pusher 15 pushes the pillow package 90 stopped by the stopper 14 onto the slide table 13. When the pusher 15 pushes out the pillow package 90, the table driving unit 16 moves the slide table 13 in the same direction as the pillow package 90 is pushed out. Each of the pair of side guides 17 has an elongated shape extending along the first direction. The pillow package 90 on the slide table 13 is located between the pair of side guides 17. The distance between the pair of side guides 17 is hereinafter referred to as the "guide distance". The side guide driving unit 18 moves the pair of side guides 17 so that the guide distance changes. That is, the side guide driving unit 18 moves the pair of side guides 17 so that the pair of side guides 17 move closer to each other or move away from each other. For example, the shortest distance between the surface of one side guide 17 and the surface of the other side guide 17 may be the inter-guide distance.

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view before the robot hand 3 grasps the pillow package 90. Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view after the robot hand 3 grasps the pillow package 90. After the robot hand 3 grasps the pillow package 90, the robot arm 6 moves the robot hand 3 so that the grasped pillow package 90 enters a food box 95 on the first table 20, and the robot hand 3 releases the pillow package 90 within the food box 95. Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view when the robot hand 3 releases the pillow package 90 within the food box 95.

As shown in Figures 4 to 8, the robot hand 3 comprises a pair of arms 7, a pair of support parts 8 attached to each of the pair of arms 7, and a pair of side parts 9. The pair of arms 7 can rotate about each of a pair of arm rotation shafts 10 that are parallel to each other. The arms 7 protrude downward from the arm rotation shafts 10. As shown in Figure 7, the pair of support parts 8 come into contact with the underside of the pillow package 90 when the pillow package 90 is grasped. The pair of side parts 9 face each other with the pillow package 90 between them when the pillow package 90 is grasped. The cross-sectional views of Figures 4 and 6 to 8 are cross-sectional views perpendicular to the arm rotation shaft 10.

In the following description, the distance between a pair of arm rotation shafts 10 is referred to as the "rotation shaft distance." For example, the distance between the center lines of the pair of arm rotation shafts 10 may be the rotation shaft distance. The distance between a pair of side portions 9 is referred to as the "side portion distance." For example, the shortest distance between the inner wall surface of one side portion 9 and the inner wall surface of the other side portion 9 may be the side portion distance. The distance between a pair of support portions 8 is referred to as the "support portion distance." For example, the shortest distance between the surface of one support portion 8 and the surface of the other support portion 8 may be the support portion distance.

The robot hand 3 further includes a parallel movement unit 11 and a rotation drive unit 12. The parallel movement unit 11 translates the pair of arm rotation shafts 10 and the pair of side sections 9 so that the distance between the rotation shafts and the distance between the side sections change. That is, the parallel movement unit 11 moves the pair of arm rotation shafts 10 and the pair of side sections 9 so that they approach or move away from each other. At this time, one arm rotation shaft 10 and one side section 9 move in parallel as one unit, and the other arm rotation shaft 10 and the other side section 9 move in parallel as one unit. The rotation drive unit 12 rotates each of the pair of arms 7 so that the distance between the support sections changes. That is, the rotation drive unit 12 rotates the pair of arms 7 in opposite directions so that the tips of the pair of arms 7 move toward or away from each other.

The robot arm 6 having the robot hand 3 at its tip moves to a position where the center of the distance between the rotation axes when the two parallel moving parts 11 of the robot hand 3 move in parallel about the pair of arm rotation shafts 10 is aligned with the longitudinal central axis of the slide table 13 of the alignment device 2. This makes it possible to align the pair of arm rotation shafts 10, the pair of side parts 9, and the pair of support parts 8 of the robot hand 3 with the longitudinal central axis of the slide table 13 of the alignment device 2, and thus with the central axis of the row in which the multiple pillow packages 90 are lined up. In addition, the robot arm 6 having the robot hand 3 at its tip can position the pair of support parts 8 of the pair of arms 7 of the robot hand 3 at an upper level position in the air that does not contact the upper ends of the side guides 17 of the alignment device 2, as a standby position.
Robot arm 6 having robot hand 3 at its tip positions the interval between a pair of support portions 8 of a pair of arms 7 of robot hand 3, i.e., the support portion distance, at the standby position to be greater than the dimension of pillow package 90 in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of slide table 13 of alignment device 2. Because the width dimension of slide table 13 in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction is smaller than the dimension of pillow package 90 in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of slide table 13, support portions 8 that descend from the standby position to the gripping position while maintaining a support portion distance wider than the dimension of pillow package 90 can make the support member distance smaller in space than the dimension of pillow package 90 below the underside of pillow package 90.

The robot hand 3 of this embodiment can grasp the pillow package 90 by scooping it up with the pair of support parts 8 in contact with the underside of the pillow package 90, so that it can reliably grasp soft objects such as the pillow package 90 without damaging it. In addition, it can reliably grasp objects such as the pillow package 90 that cannot be grasped by a robot hand that uses negative pressure to adsorb. In addition, the pair of side parts 9 can reliably prevent the pillow package 90 from falling when the robot hand 3 that grasps the pillow package 90 moves. In addition, when the pair of support parts 8 are brought close to each other to grasp the pillow package 90, the distance between the support parts can be reduced by the rotation drive part 12 while keeping the distance between the side parts constant. Therefore, the pair of side parts 9 are not pressed against the contents 91, so that damage such as deformation of the contents 91 can be reliably prevented.

The packing system 1 moves the robot arm 6 of the robot 6A from above the alignment device 2 to the space above the box 95 placed on the first table 20, and moves the robot hand 3 to the space above the box 95. The moved robot hand 3 packs the pillow packages 90 into the box 95 so that the pillow packages 90 are arranged in multiple rows in parallel inside the box 95. At this time, since the support part 8 has a long and thin rod shape as described below, it can move to the release position through small gaps between pillow packages 90 that have already been packed in parallel next to each other, so that the rows of pillow packages 90 can be packed as much as possible into the box. The packing system 1 packs a total of 50 pillow packages 90 into one box 95, for example, so that 10 pillow packages 90 per row are arranged in parallel in five rows.

In this embodiment, each of the pair of side portions 9 is substantially rigid. That is, each of the pair of side portions 9 can be considered not to be substantially deformed when the robot hand 3 grasps the pillow package 90. Therefore, the side portions 9 do not deteriorate over time due to repeated deformation, and maintenance such as replacement of the side portions 9 is not required. In addition, since there is no need to elastically deform the side portions 9, there is no need to change the spring constant of the side portions 9 depending on the softness or hardness of the object grasped by the robot hand 3. In addition, since the side portions 9 are substantially rigid, it is possible to reliably prevent the position of the side portions 9 from being significantly shifted due to the inertia during the movement of the robot hand 3. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the side portions 9 from strongly hitting the pillow package 90 during the movement of the robot hand 3, causing damage to the pillow package 90.

In this embodiment, each of the pair of support parts 8 is composed of a roller that can rotate around an axis parallel to the arm rotation axis 10. When the support parts 8 are in contact with the underside of the pillow packaging body 90 and the distance between the support parts changes, the support parts 8 rotate, which reliably prevents friction from occurring between the pillow packaging body 90 and the support parts 8. Therefore, with this embodiment, it is possible to more reliably prevent the pillow packaging body 90 from being dragged by the support parts 8 and moving when the support parts 8 in contact with the underside of the pillow packaging body 90 move.

As shown in FIG. 5, the support part 8 has a long and thin rod shape parallel to the arm rotation shaft 10. The arms 7 support both ends of the support part 8. The support part 8 is connected to the tip of the arm 7. The arm 7 is configured as a set of two members connected to both ends of the support part 8. The two members that make up the set of arms 7 are fixed to both ends of the arm rotation shaft 10, respectively. The longitudinal axis of the members is substantially perpendicular to the arm rotation shaft 10. The longitudinal axis of the members is also substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the support part 8. In the side view of FIG. 5, the side part 9 is located between the two members that make up the set of arms 7.

In this embodiment, each of the pair of side portions 9 has a flat plate shape. The pair of side portions 9 are arranged parallel to each other. The side portions 9 are perpendicular to the horizontal plane. With such side portions 9, as shown in FIG. 8, when the robot hand 3 releases the pillow packages 90 in the food box 95, the pillow packages 90 can be brought as close as possible to the adjacent rows of pillow packages 90 already in the food box 95. Therefore, the gap between the rows of pillow packages 90 in the food box 95 can be made as narrow as possible, which is advantageous in increasing the number of pillow packages 90 stored in one food box 95.

The shortest distance from the center of the arm rotation shaft 10 to the surface of the support part 8 is slightly longer than the distance from the center of the arm rotation shaft 10 to the bottom end of the side part 9. The support part 8 can pass horizontally directly below the side part 9 without coming into contact with the bottom end of the side part 9.

The side portion 9 may be transparent. If the side portion 9 is transparent, the pillow package 90 being held by the robot hand 3 can be easily seen by factory staff from outside the side portion 9.

The robot hand 3 of this embodiment can be switched between a standby state shown in FIG. 4, a gripping state shown in FIG. 7, and a released state shown in FIGS. 6 and 8. The standby state is a state when the robot hand 3 is standby. The gripping state is a state when the pillow package 90 is gripped by the robot hand 3. The released state is a state before the robot hand 3 grips the pillow package 90, or a state when the robot hand 3 releases the gripped pillow package 90. When the translation unit 11 reduces the distance between the rotation axes and the distance between the side portions from the standby state, the released state is reached. When the rotation drive unit 12 reduces the distance between the support portions from the released state, the gripping state is reached.

In this embodiment, the pillow package 90 can be placed in a gripped state by reducing the distance between the support parts while keeping the distance between the side parts constant from the released state. Therefore, when gripping the pillow package 90, the pair of side parts 9 are not pressed against the contents 91, so damage to the contents 91, such as deformation of the contents 91, can be reliably prevented.

As shown in FIG. 7, in the gripped state, the distance between the support parts is smaller than the distance between the side parts. As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 8, in the released state, the distance between the support parts is equal to or greater than the distance between the side parts. This more reliably prevents the support parts 8 from getting caught on the released pillow packaging 90 when the robot hand 3 rises after entering the released state inside the box weight 95.

As shown in FIG. 3, the dimension of the pillow packaging 90 in the direction in which the side portion 9 moves parallel to the wall is defined as width W1, and the dimension of the contents 91 is defined as width W2. The width W3 of the slide table 13 is the dimension of the upper surface of the slide table 13 in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the first direction. Note that the width W1 of the pillow packaging 90 is the dimension when the packaging bag 92 is not being pressed from the side. Also, the width W1, width W2, width W3, the distance between the guides, the distance between the supports, and the distance between the side portions are all lengths in the same direction.

In this embodiment, the width W3 of the slide table 13 is smaller than the width W1 of the pillow package 90. This allows the support part 8 of the robot hand 3 to fit under the pillow package 90 on the slide table 13. In addition, the width W3 of the slide table 13 is smaller than the width W2 of the contents 91. This allows the support part 8 of the robot hand 3 to fit under the contents 91 of the pillow package 90 on the slide table 13, allowing the robot hand 3 to more securely grip the pillow package 90.

As shown in FIG. 4, the robot arm 6 moves the robot hand 3 in a standby state so that it descends from above toward the pillow packages 90 arranged by the alignment device 2. At this time, the robot hand 3 descends until the position of the support parts 8 is at a height position between the upper and lower ends of the pillow packages 90. In the standby state, the distance between the support parts and the distance between the side parts are each greater than the width W1 of the pillow packages 90. Therefore, when the robot hand 3 descends, it is possible to reliably prevent the support parts 8 and the side parts 9 from coming into contact with the pillow packages 90. This makes it possible to reliably prevent damage, such as breakage of the packaging bags 92, from occurring.

From the standby state in FIG. 4, the parallel movement unit 11 operates to reduce the distance between the support parts and the distance between the side parts, and the robot hand 3 switches to the released state (before gripping) in FIG. 6. This parallel movement unit 11 operates to change the distance between the support parts and the distance between the side parts, so that it is possible to easily accommodate changes in the width W1 of the pillow package 90 due to changes in the type of pillow package 90 depending on the lot. Then, the robot arm 6 further lowers the robot hand 3 to a position where the support part 8 can be placed under the pillow package 90. Then, when the rotation drive unit 12 reduces the distance between the support parts, the support part 8 enters under the pillow package 90 as shown in FIG. 7, and the robot hand 3 enters the gripping state.

6, the distance between the support parts and the distance between the side parts in the released state are each equal to or less than the width W1 of the pillow package 90 and greater than the width W2 of the contents 91. This provides the following effects. When the robot hand 3 descends from the position in FIG. 6 to the position in FIG. 7, the packaging bag 92 of the pillow package 90 is in contact with the inner walls of the pair of side parts 9, so that the pillow package 90 can be more reliably prevented from falling over on the slide table 13. Even in the gripping state of FIG. 7, the pair of side parts 9 do not press the contents 91, so that damage such as deformation of the contents 91 can be more reliably prevented. Note that in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the packaging bag 92 is depicted as protruding outward from the pair of side parts 9, but in reality, the packaging bag 92 is in contact with the inner walls of the pair of side parts 9.

3, when the alignment device 2 is arranging the pillow packages 90, the distance between the guides is greater than the width W2 of the contents 91 and less than the width W1 of the pillow packages 90. This provides the following effects. Since the pair of side guides 17 contact both sides of the packaging bag 92 of the pillow packages 90 on the slide table 13, the pillow packages 90 can be more reliably prevented from falling over on the slide table 13. Since the pair of side guides 17 do not press the contents 91, damage such as deformation of the contents 91 can be more reliably prevented. Then, the pair of side guides 17 move the same distance around the slide table 13 to shorten or extend the distance between the guides, so that the side guides 17 contact the row of packaging bags 92 of the pillow packages 90 from both sides in the same manner, allowing the row of pillow packages to be centered. In FIG. 3, the packaging bag 92 is depicted as extending beyond the outside of the pair of side guides 17, but in reality, the packaging bag 92 contacts the inside of the pair of side guides 17.

When the alignment device 2 has finished aligning the pillow packages 90, the side guide drive unit 18 increases the distance between the guides, as shown in FIG. 6. After the alignment device 2 has finished aligning the pillow packages 90 and the side guide drive unit 18 has increased the distance between the guides, the distance between the guides is greater than the width W1 of the pillow packages 90. This makes it possible for the pair of support portions 8 and the pair of side portions 9 of the released robot hand 3 to be inserted between the pair of side guides 17.

As shown in FIG. 8, in the released state, when viewed from a direction parallel to the arm rotation axis 10, each of the pair of arms 7 is positioned so as to overlap each of the pair of side portions 9. This provides the following effects. When the robot hand 3 releases the pillow packages 90 in the food box 95, the amount by which the arms 7 and the support portion 8 extend outward from the side portion 9 can be minimized. This allows the pillow packages 90 to be arranged so that the gap between the rows of the pillow packages 90 in the food box 95 is as narrow as possible. In addition, this more reliably prevents the robot hand 3 from colliding with the pillow packages 90 in the adjacent row that are already in the food box 95, so that damage to the pillow packages 90 in the food box 95 can be more reliably prevented. Note that before the robot hand 3 releases the pillow packages 90 in the food box 95, the robot arm 6 lowers the robot hand 3 so that the support portion 8 approaches the bottom surface of the food box 95.

In this embodiment, the translation unit 11 and the rotation drive unit 12 are configured using air cylinders. This has the advantage that the gripping and releasing operations of the robot hand 3 can be performed by air drive, eliminating the need for complex control such as current value control.

1 Packing system, 2 Alignment device, 3 Robot hand, 4 Conveyor, 5 Controller, 6 Robot arm, 6A Robot, 7 Arm, 8 Support, 9 Side, 10 Arm rotation axis, 11 Parallel movement, 12 Rotation drive, 13 Slide table, 13a Tongue, 14 Stopper, 15 Pusher, 16 Table drive, 17 Side guide, 18 Side guide drive, 19 Pusher drive, 20 First table, 21 Stopper drive, 29 Side wall, 90 Pillow package, 91 Contents, 92 Packaging bag, 95 Number box

Claims (11)

A robot hand that grasps an object,
A pair of arms rotatable about a pair of arm rotation shafts parallel to each other;
a pair of support portions attached to each of the pair of arms and contacting a lower surface of the article when the article is gripped;
a pair of side surfaces that face each other with the article therebetween when the article is gripped;
a translation unit that translates the pair of arm rotation shafts and the pair of side surface portions so that a rotation shaft distance that is a distance between the pair of arm rotation shafts and a side surface distance that is a distance between the pair of side surface portions are changed; and
a rotation drive unit that rotates each of the pair of arms so that a support-to-support distance, which is a distance between the pair of support portions, changes;
Equipped with
Each of the pair of support parts is a rotatable roller in the form of a long, thin rod, both ends of which are supported by two members constituting the arm . A robot hand that grasps an object,
A pair of arms rotatable about a pair of arm rotation shafts parallel to each other;
a pair of support portions attached to each of the pair of arms and contacting a lower surface of the article when the article is gripped;
a pair of side surfaces that face each other with the article therebetween when the article is gripped;
a translation unit that translates the pair of arm rotation shafts and the pair of side surface portions so that a rotation shaft distance that is a distance between the pair of arm rotation shafts and a side surface distance that is a distance between the pair of side surface portions are changed; and
a rotation drive unit that rotates each of the pair of arms so that a support-to-support distance, which is a distance between the pair of support portions, changes;
Equipped with
The robot is switchable between a standby state, a gripping state in which the object is gripped, and a release state in which the gripped object is released,
When the translation unit reduces the distance between the rotation axes and the distance between the side surfaces from the standby state, the release state is achieved,
When the rotation drive unit reduces the distance between the support units from the released state, the gripping state is achieved,
The article is a pillow package in which the contents are wrapped in a packaging bag,
each of the distance between the support portions and the distance between the side portions in the standby state is greater than a dimension of the pillow package in the direction of the translation;
In the released state, the distance between the support portions and the distance between the side portions are each equal to or smaller than the dimension of the pillow package and larger than the dimension of the contents in the direction of the translation;
A robot hand in which the distance between the support parts in the gripping state is smaller than the dimension of the content. The robot hand according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each of the pair of side portions is substantially rigid. The robot hand of claim 2, wherein each of the pair of support parts is composed of a roller that can rotate around an axis parallel to the arm rotation axis. In the gripped state, the distance between the support portions is smaller than the distance between the side portions,
The robot hand according to claim 2 or 4, wherein in the released state, the distance between the support portions is equal to or greater than the distance between the side portions. 6. The robot hand according to claim 2, 4 or 5, wherein in the released state, each of the pair of arms overlaps each of the pair of side portions when viewed from a direction parallel to the arm rotation axis. Each of the pair of side portions has a flat plate shape,
The robot hand according to claim 1 , wherein the pair of side portions are parallel to each other. A robot having a robot arm having a robot hand for gripping an object, the robot arm being movable from a fixed base,
The robot hand includes:
A pair of arms rotatable about a pair of arm rotation shafts parallel to each other;
a pair of support portions attached to each of the pair of arms and contacting a lower surface of the article when the article is gripped;
a pair of side surfaces that face each other with the article therebetween when the article is gripped;
a translation unit that translates the pair of arm rotation shafts and the pair of side surface portions so that a rotation shaft distance that is a distance between the pair of arm rotation shafts and a side surface distance that is a distance between the pair of side surface portions are changed; and
a rotation drive unit that rotates each of the pair of arms so that a support-to-support distance, which is a distance between the pair of support portions, changes;
Equipped with
The robot is switchable between a standby state, a gripping state in which the object is gripped, and a release state in which the gripped object is released,
When the translation unit reduces the distance between the rotation axes and the distance between the side surfaces from the standby state, the release state is achieved,
When the rotation drive unit reduces the distance between the support units from the released state, the gripping state is achieved,
By moving the robot arm,
The alignment device aligns a plurality of the articles in a line, and is capable of centering the central axis of a loading table of the alignment device so as to coincide with the center of the distance between the rotation axes, the distance between the side portions, and the distance between the support portions, and is capable of moving to a standby state in which the pair of support portions are positioned in a space above the articles,
and then, after reaching the released state, moving the pair of support parts in space to a position below a plurality of the articles and then enabling them to move to the grasping state, thereby lifting the articles from the alignment device. The robot arm having the robot hand is moved to move the plurality of articles lifted from the alignment device through the air toward a box located away from the alignment device, and the plurality of articles are packed into the box.
The robot according to claim 8. The robot hand according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
A packing system that packs the item into a box using the robot hand. The robot according to claim 8 or 9,
A packing system that packs the item into a box using the robot hand.

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