JPH0369432A - Robotized box handling apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To permit a single robot to perform box unloading and article take-in and out operations by providing an article conveying means by which the articles taken out from a box by an article gripping head are received and taken away to the outside. CONSTITUTION:A box gripping head 2B of the robot 2 is rotationally changed to an article gripping head 2C thereof, which grips by suction application all of articles 5 on the upper side to take them out from a box 3. Then articles 5 thus removed are then transferred onto an article carrying conveyor 18 provided in a position adjacent to a take-out position C so as to be conveyed to undergo the next process. Upon article transfer onto the conveyor 18 as aforesaid, the article gripping head 2C is rotationally changed to the box gripping head 2B, by which a separating plate in the box 3 is taken out therefrom to be put into a shredder 17. This method permits a single robot to serve us both depalletizer and uncaser or both caser and palletizer and the entire installation space of a box handling device to be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a box processing device equipped with a robot, and more particularly to a box processing device that can be used as a depalletizer and an uncaser, or a caser and a palletizer. .

``Prior Art'' Conventionally, as a box processing device equipped with a robot, a palletizer is known in which boxes containing a large number of items are stacked one after another on a pallet using a robot installed at a predetermined position. (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 62-27229, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 1-145930). In the palletizer described in the latter publication, the robot is provided with two box gripping heads so that one of the box gripping heads can be selectively used depending on the type of box.

In addition, conventionally, multiple robots were placed at predetermined positions along the tube conveyance line, and once each robot took out an empty tube from the box, a robot installed at another position was placed inside the tube. It is known that a tube is filled with a filling material, and a robot installed at another location stores the filled tube in a box (
JP-A-1-99912).

``Problems to be Solved by the Invention'' However, conventionally, a caser for storing articles such as tubes in a box and a palletizer for stacking the boxes containing the articles using the caser on a pallet have been constructed separately. Even when each device is composed of robots,
Each used a separate robot.

This also applies to the depalletizer, which takes down boxes stacked on a pallet from the pallet, and the uncaser, which takes out articles such as tubes stored in the box from the box. Since the system used several robots, it required a large amount of space and was expensive.

"Means for Solving the Problems" In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides, firstly, a box processing device that can be used as a depalletizer and an uncaser by one robot; is a box gripping head provided on a robot that grips boxes stacked on a pallet and takes them down from the pallet; and a box gripping head provided on the robot and selectively used to pick up the articles in the boxes. The device includes an article gripping head that grips and takes out the article from inside the box, and an article conveying means that receives the article taken out from the inside of the box by the article gripping head and carries it outside.

Second, the present invention provides a box processing device that can be used as a caser and a palletizer by one robot, and the box processing device includes an article conveying means for transporting articles to a predetermined position; a box conveying means for conveying a box to a predetermined position; an article gripping head provided on the robot for grasping an article conveyed to a predetermined position by the article conveying means and storing it in the box; The box gripping head is selectively used with the article gripping head to grip the boxes and stack them on a pallet.

"Operation" According to the former configuration, the boxes stacked on the pallet can be grasped by the box gripping head of the robot and taken down from the pallet, and the items inside the boxes can be removed from the pallet by the objects attached to the robot. The gripping head allows the article to be transferred from inside the box to the article conveyance means.

On the other hand, according to the latter configuration, the article conveyed by the article conveying means can be gripped by the article gripping head of the robot and stored in the box, and the box can be gripped by the box gripping head of the robot. These can then be stacked and placed on a pallet.

Therefore, in either configuration, a single robot can perform the loading and unloading of boxes and the loading and unloading of goods, making it possible to reduce the installation space of the entire device compared to conventional systems, and to reduce the cost. can be manufactured.

``Example'' Hereinafter, an example will be described in which the present invention is applied to a box processing device having a function as a depalletizer for unloading boxes from a pallet and a function as an anchor for taking out articles such as containers from inside the box. do.

The box processing apparatus 1 in this embodiment includes a robot 2 whose operation is controlled by a control device (not shown), and two gripping heads 2B and 2C provided at the tip of an arm 2A of the robot 2 are integrated. , the pallet supply position A shown in FIG. 1, the box opening position B, the article removal position C1 from inside the box, and the box discharge position for discharging empty boxes.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the box 3 in this embodiment stores articles 5 such as containers in upper and lower layers in a staggered manner with an intermediate partition plate 4 interposed therebetween. The upper opening is
It is closed by folding the flaps 6 on the four sides of the box 3 in advance.

The box 3 is placed on a pallet 7 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
A large number of pallets 7 are stacked on top of each other, and two pallets 7 are supplied adjacent to each other to the above-mentioned pallet supply position A by a supply mechanism such as a conveyor (not shown) or a forklift.

When the pallet 7 is supplied to the pallet supply position A,
The robot 2 suction-grips one box 3 from above the pallet 7 with one box gripping head 2B installed at the tip of its arm 2A, and holds the box in the box opening device 11 installed at the box opening position B. It is supplied to the feeding means 12.

The box opening device 11 is equipped with a pair of cutters 13.14 on both sides of the box 3 being conveyed by the box feeding means 12. The tops of both sides of the box 3 in the transport direction can be cut continuously (see Figure 4).
.

Further, the box opening device 11 is provided with a second box transporting means 15 for transporting the boxes 3 in a direction perpendicular to the box transporting means 12 in front of the box transporting means 12.
While the box 3 is being transported, one cutter 14 of the pair of cutters and a cutter 16 provided opposite the cutter 14 cut the other box 3 in a continuous manner with the cut by the pair of cutters 13. The upper part of both sides can be cut off. Since this type of box opening device 11 is already known in the art, further detailed explanation will be omitted. It goes without saying that a conventionally known flap opener can be used as the other box opening device 11.

The box 3 whose four side upper portions have been successively cut off by the box opening device 11 is carried to the article removal position C by the box transport means 15. When the box 3 is carried into the article removal position C, the box gripping head 2B of the robot 2 sucks and holds the cut upper part of the box 3, and throws it into the shredder 17 installed at the box discharge position. and cut into small pieces.

When the top surface of the box 3 is opened in this way, the box gripping head 2B of the robot 2 is rotated and exchanged with the article gripping head 2C, and this article gripping head 2C is placed on the upper layer side, although the specific configuration will be described in detail later. All of the articles 5 are suction-grasped and taken out from the box 3. The article 5 taken out from the box 3 by the article gripping head 2C is delivered to the article conveyor 18 provided at a position adjacent to the take-out position C.
Transported to the next process.

When the article gripping head 2C transfers the upper article 5 to the article conveyor 18, the article gripping head 2C is rotated and replaced with the original box gripping head 2B.
The partition plate 4 inside the box 3 is taken out by the shredder 1.
It will be put in at 7. After this, when the box gripping head 2B is replaced again with the article gripping head 2C, this article gripping head 2
The lower article 5 housed in the box 3 is suction-held by C and delivered to the article conveyor 18.

When all the articles 5 are removed from the box 3 and the box 3 becomes empty, the box 3 is again sucked and held by the box gripping head 2B replaced from the article gripping head 2C and discharged to the shredder 17. It is then cut and discharged.

One cycle is completed by the above operations, and the same cycle is repeated thereafter, all the boxes 3 are unloaded from the pallet 7, and the articles 5 in all the boxes 3 are delivered to the article conveyor 18. .

Next, the specific configuration of the box gripping head 2B and the article gripping head 2C will be explained. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the box gripping head 2B and the article gripping head 2C are
Connecting rod portions 23B are attached to both ends of the support rod portion 23A constituting the T-shaped frame 23 and extend from the center of the support rod portion 23A in a direction perpendicular thereto.
is connected to the tip of the arm 2A of the robot 2.

The T-shaped frame 23 is rotated by the arm 2A around the axis of the connecting rod portion 23B, so that the box gripping head 2B and the article gripping head 2C are spaced 180 degrees apart in the rotation direction. position and by rotating the T-shaped frame 23 by 180 degrees,
The box gripping head 2B and the article gripping head 2C can be selectively used.

As shown in FIGS. 6, 7, and 9, the box gripping head 2B is attached to a disc-shaped mounting plate 24 fixed to one end of the support rod portion 23A, and to a predetermined location on this mounting plate 24. As shown in FIG.
Each of the suction cups 25 is communicated with a negative pressure supply source 27 (FIG. 3) via a flexible negative pressure introducing pipe 26 and a solenoid valve (not shown).

Further, a detection rod 29 for detecting the presence or absence of the box 3 is slidably passed through a predetermined position of the mounting plate 24, and a spring 30 is inserted between the tip 29a of the detection rod 29 and the mounting plate 24. Usually, a stopper portion 29b provided at one end of the detection rod 29 is brought into contact with the mounting plate 24. In this state, the tip end 29a of the detection rod 29 projects further forward than each suction cup 25, so that it can first come into contact with the box 3.

Then, a sensor 31 is attached to the mounting plate 24 in close proximity to the stopper part 29b of the detection rod 29, and the sensor 31 causes the tip part 29a to come into contact with the box 3, causing the detection rod 29 to resist the spring 30. When pushed back, the stopper portion 29b is detected, thereby making it possible to detect the presence or absence of the box 3.

On the other hand, the article gripping head 2C has a rectangular box-shaped casing 34 fixed to the other end of the support rod portion 23A constituting the T-shaped frame 23, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8.
and a rectangular elastic body 35 covering the surface of this casing 34.
A negative pressure chamber 36 (FIG. 7) into which negative pressure is introduced into the casing 34 is formed.

The negative pressure chamber 36 is connected to the negative pressure supply source 27 via a pipe 37 connected to the casing 34, a flexible negative pressure introduction pipe 38 connected to the pipe 37, and a solenoid valve (not shown). I'm letting you do it. Further, suction holes 39 of the same number as the positions of the articles 5 housed in the box 3 are bored in the elastic body 35 and the casing 34, and each suction hole 39 is communicated with the inside of the negative pressure chamber 36. Thus, each article 5 can be suction-held by each suction hole 39.

Further, positioning members 40 are provided at approximately four corners of the casing 34, and each positioning member 40 is press-fitted between the inner wall of the box 3 and the article 5 at a required position, so that the box 3
Each suction hole 39 of the elastic body 35 is aligned with the articles 5 inside.
is made to overlap accurately with the article 5 housed in the box 3.

Each positioning member 40 is formed in a shape that can be easily press-fitted between the inner wall of the box 3 and the article 5, and the rod 41 connected to each positioning member 40 is positioned at a position avoiding the negative pressure chamber 36. It is slidably penetrated through the casing 34.

Then, each positioning member 40 is biased in a direction away from the casing 34 by a spring 42 loaded between the casing 34 and each positioning member 40, and normally the rod 41
A stopper portion 41a provided at the casing 34 is held at a position where it comes into contact with the casing 34.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the casing 34 has a sensor 4 located close to each stopper portion 41a.
3 is provided, and each sensor 43 causes the stopper part 41 to
a is moved and the positioning member 40 is aligned with the inner wall of the box 3 and the article 5.
It is possible to detect that the articles 5 in the box 3 are not press-fitted between them, that is, the articles 5 in the box 3 cannot be aligned, and there is a risk that the suction holes 39 will not be able to suction all the articles 5. There is.

As described above, in this embodiment, one robot 2
The arm 2A is provided with a gripping head 2B for gripping the box 3 by suction and an article gripping head 2C for gripping the article 5 by suction, and by rotating them 180 degrees as necessary, one can be selectively used. Therefore, one robot 2 can unload boxes 3 from pallets 7,
The work of taking out the article 5 from inside the box 3 can be carried out.
Compared to the conventional method, in which these tasks were performed using two devices installed in different locations, the installation space of the entire device can be reduced, and the entire device can be manufactured at a lower cost. .

Incidentally, it goes without saying that the gripping head 2B and the article gripping head 2C do not necessarily need to be gripped by suction.

Further, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a box processing device that can be used as a depalletizer for unloading boxes from a pallet and as an anchor for taking out articles such as containers from inside the box. As an example, the present invention can be applied to a box processing device that can be used as a caser for storing articles in boxes and a palletizer for stacking the boxes on a pallet.

In this case, the shredder 17 is omitted, and for example, a box conveying means for transporting the box to the take-out position C is provided, and instead of the box opening device 11, a box closing device is provided for closing the box containing the articles. What is necessary is to have the user perform a task that is the opposite of the above-mentioned task. Since such a configuration and operation will be understood by those skilled in the art without the need for illustration, illustration thereof will be omitted.

Furthermore, depending on the type of article and box, for example in the case of beer bottles and their plastic cases, the box opening device 1
1 and the box closing device can be omitted. In this case, with respect to the illustrated embodiment, it is not necessarily necessary to take out the articles 5 from inside the box 3 after unloading the box 3 from the pallet 7;
Box 3 can be unloaded from above. This is the same for the other embodiments described above, and either the process of accommodating the articles in the boxes or the process of stacking the boxes on the pallet may occur first.

"Effects of the Invention" As described above, according to the present invention, one robot can serve as both a depalletizer and an caser, or a caser and a palletizer, so the installation space of the entire device can be reduced compared to the conventional method. (This has the advantage that it can be manufactured at low cost.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a side view different from FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a side view of FIG.
5 is a cross-sectional view along line IV in FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. 3, and FIG. 6 and 8 are views along the arrow ■ in FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 is a view along the arrow ■ in FIG. 7. 1... Box processing device 2A... Arm 2C... Article gripping head 5... Article 18... Article transport conveyor 2... Robot 2B... Box gripping head 3... Box 7.・Pallet (goods conveyance means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A box gripping head provided on the robot to grasp boxes stacked on a pallet and take them down from the pallet; A robot characterized by comprising an article gripping head that grips an article and takes it out from inside a box, and an article conveying means that receives the article taken out from inside the box by the article gripping head and carries it outside. Equipped with box handling equipment. (2) An article conveying means for transporting articles to a predetermined position, a box conveying means for conveying a box to a predetermined position, and a robot, which is provided with an article conveying means to carry the article to a predetermined position, and grips the article carried into the predetermined position by the article conveying means and handles the same. It is characterized by comprising an article gripping head to be housed in the box, and a box gripping head provided on the robot and used selectively with the article gripping head to grip the boxes and stack them on a pallet. A box processing device equipped with a robot that