JPH0676105B2 - Cap fastening system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a system in which a screw cap is screwed onto a container, and particularly, a cap supplied in a misaligned state is detected by using an image processing device, The present invention relates to a cap fastening system in which a cap is screwed into a container with a constant torque through a fastening process and a final fastening process.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, the caps supplied to the finishing process of cosmetics, chemicals, etc. are accumulated on a paper tray, and the trays are stacked in a corrugated cardboard box in multiple stages and packed and supplied from the cap manufacturer.

Conventionally, the capping machine for containers used in cosmetics takes the cap out of the cardboard box described above, and the operator supplies it to an aligning device consisting of a bowl feeder, a rotary feeder, etc. Are sequentially fed in series to the adjusted supply chute,
The cap holder of the capping machine grasped this and took it out after accurately positioning one by one at the outlet of the supply chute. On the other hand, with respect to the container positioned and fixed in synchronism with this, the cap holder is screwed into the container by rotating and lowering from above the cap holder while holding the cap. Since the cap holder of the capping machine is considerably heavy in structure, a torque detector is attached to the container holding part to prevent over-tightening of the cap due to inertia of the rotation driving part when the cap is screwed, and the screwing process is performed. There is also a capping machine that controls the rotation speed and the tightening torque according to the torque change in.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the conventional capping machine, since the chuck method is used for the cap holder, it is necessary to separate the caps one by one and accurately position them when taking out the caps from the supply section. A cap alignment / separation device that combined the above was required. Therefore, the device as a whole is complicated.

Also, if the cap is delivered from the cap manufacturer in a densely packed state on the paper tray, the cap cannot be grasped by the conventional cap type cap holder, so the operator can take all the cap out. I had to feed this to a bowl feeder. Therefore, manpower was always required for the cap supply work.

Further, since a chute or the like is used to accurately transfer the cap to the cap holder, it is necessary for a skilled worker to adjust the interval of the chute or the like every time the product is switched.

Furthermore, the bowl feeder cannot be used because the cap surface coated with plating is easily damaged.

Therefore, an operator must carefully supply the cap to the rotary feeder so as not to tip it over, and it is difficult to automate the supply operation of such a cap.

Further, in order to fasten the cap to the container with a constant torque, there is a cap holder equipped with a torque detection sensor in the rotation driving part. However, in each of these, the fastening control is performed using one cap holder. Therefore, since the cap holder requires a high torque output at the time of final tightening, the cap holder has no choice but to use the chuck method.

For this reason, the cap holder has a structure in which the weight of the rotation driving unit itself is heavy, and it is difficult to completely prevent the cap from being over-tightened due to inertia even with high precision control.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems,
The cap is supplied from the cap maker, that is, it can be taken out even if the caps are unevenly accommodated on the tray, and the cap screwing process is divided into two steps: temporary tightening and final tightening. (EN) Provided is a cap fastening system in which a cap holder according to each role is screwed with a cap to perform a tightening torque with high accuracy and a uniform and stable cap tightening can be performed. With the goal.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a tray for randomly storing a plurality of upright caps at a predetermined position, and a tray provided on the tray at the predetermined position. A visual sensor for picking up image data of the cap, and a cap position detecting means for detecting an individual cap position from the image data of the visual sensor,
Container supply means for firmly holding the container to which the cap is screwed and supplying the container at a predetermined position, an arm provided on a support for moving between the tray and the container respectively supplied to the predetermined position, and provided at the tip of the arm. A temporary fastening means for the cap, which includes a suction portion that is attached to a rotating shaft that moves up and down and sucks the top surface of the cap, and a clamp portion that grips the suctioned cap from the side surface toward the center of the suction portion. The main fastening means is configured to hold the temporarily fastened cap and perform a full fastening with a predetermined torque. The temporary fastening means is driven based on the position data of the cap sent by the cap position detection means in a fixed order. The cap top surface on the tray is adsorbed and taken out, the cap is centered, and then the cap is temporarily fastened to the container by the adsorbing portion, and then the temporarily fastened by the fastening means. Configured to cap the cap fastening system, characterized in that the tightening at a predetermined torque.

[Action]

According to the configuration of the present invention, the image data of the tray containing the cap set at the predetermined position of the supply unit is imaged by the visual sensor and processed by the cap position detection circuit of the image processing apparatus. Thus, the position of the cap is detected, the robot is controlled based on the position data, and the robot hand is moved directly above the corresponding cap. Then, the suction portion provided on the robot hand is lowered to suction the top surface of the cap, and after the suction of the cap, the stroke is increased by a predetermined stroke, and the target cap is taken out from the cap group that has been accumulated and accommodated. After that, the side surface of the cap that is adsorbed by the clamp portion of the robot hand is gripped to perform centering. Next, in this state, the robot hand is moved directly above the container in the fixed state which has been previously conveyed by the container supply means, the grip of the cap side face by the clamp part of the robot hand is released, the suction part is lowered, and the suction head. While rotating, the robot hand is lowered to temporarily fasten the cap container. When the temporary fastening is completed, the suction of the suction head is cut off, and a series of temporary fastening work is completed. Next, the temporarily fastened container is moved to a cap main fastening position by a conveyor or the like, and fastened to a predetermined torque by the cap main fastening device.

That is, the step of rotating at a low torque and a high speed is performed by using the suction head, and the final tightening requiring high torque is performed at a low speed by the chuck type fastening device, so that overtightening due to inertia can be prevented. Further, since the suction head and the clamp portion are provided in the temporary fastening means, the caps can be taken out and centered from the trays densely placed.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing the entire cap fastening system. (11) is a cap tray mounting table having a stopper (10) for setting the tray (C) accumulating the caps (A) at a predetermined position. The mounting table (11) may be sequentially and automatically supplied by a supply means using a conveyor. On the tray (C), the cap (A) is densely stored with the top surface thereof facing upward (upright state). (1) is a TV camera for taking in the image data of the cap (A) on the mounting table (11) to the image processing device (4), and a column (not shown) positioned above the mounting table (11). No)). The TV camera (1) is mounted at a position where the entire tray (C) is within the field of view.
The tray (C) is illuminated by a pair of main lights (2) above the mounting table (11) and auxiliary lighting installed on the side of the mounting table (11) so as to be orthogonal to the main lighting (2). (3)
It is composed of The reason for having such a configuration is to make the shadow of the top surface of the cap and the tray (C) on the background clear. The TV camera (1), the main lighting (2) and the auxiliary lighting (3) are mounted outside the operation range of the robot (6) so as not to interfere with the cap removal / temporary fastening robot (6) described later. (4) is a TV camera (1)
An image processing device that processes the image data from and detects the position of each cap.
It is connected to the robot controller (5) that controls the operation of the temporary fastening robot (6) so that data communication is possible.

The cap position detection processing flow of the image processing device (4) will be described with reference to FIG.

The cap position detection processing includes prototype registration (Fig. 6-A) for setting conditions necessary for detection and cap position detection (Fig. 6-) for actually detecting the position of the cap on the tray.
There are two stages of B). First, the prototype registration will be described. Place only one cap on the tray,
The image is input to the image processing device (4) by the TV camera (1) (STEP1), and the binarization level at which the cap and the tray are clearly separated is confirmed and set by the binary image output to the monitor TV or the like. (STEP2). Next, the binary image data is processed to extract the shape mask data, for example, the position data string of the contour with the center of gravity of the cap as the origin and the area of the cap (STEP 3). Finally, a detection judgment level for making cap position detection judgment is set based on the cap area extracted in STEP 3 (STEP 4).

Through the above steps, the binarization level, shape mask data, area data and detection judgment level are registered as prototype data. As the feature amount for detecting the cap, the perimeter, the shift of the center of gravity, or the like may be used.

Next, the cap position detection process in the actual cap fastening operation will be described. First, read the prototype data when starting the cap fastening system (STEP
6). Next, set the tray (C) on which the caps are accumulated on the cap tray mounting table (11), and then set the TV camera (1).
To input the image to the image processing device (4) (STEP
7), Binarize the image at the binarization level of the prototype data (STEP8). On the binary image, the shape mask is scanned as shown in FIG. 6C while sequentially calculating the area of the cap portion in the mask, and when the area of the cap portion in the mask becomes larger than the detection determination level, It is considered that the shape mask and the cap match, and the position of the center of gravity of the shape mask is output to the robot controller (5) as the cap position. For the detected cap, the image in the shape mask is erased, the position detection process is continued, and the process is ended when the scanning of one screen is completed (STEP 9).

(6) is a cap take-out / temporary fastening robot which is a cap temporary fastening means.
According to the operation command from the robot controller (5),
The cap (A) on the tray (C) set on the mounting table (11) is taken out, and the cap is temporarily fastened to the container (B) supplied in synchronization.

(7) is a cap temporary fastening hand (7) attached to the arm tip of this cap take-out / temporary fastening robot (6) via a mount (76).
Is located within the operating range of the clamp part (71) for gripping the side surface of the cap (A) and the clamp part (71) and rotates about the center of the clamp part (71) as shown in FIG. It has a possible suction head (72), a rotary drive mechanism (73) for rotating the suction head (72), and an air cylinder (74) for vertically moving the suction head (72) and the motor (73) integrally. The adsorption section (78).

The clamp part (71) is fixedly installed below the mounting base (76) and has a pair of chucks (77) facing each other and a parallel drive mechanism for horizontally expanding and contracting the chucks (77), for example, a parallel drive type air. Each of the chucks (77) is attached to a telescopic rod protruding from both sides of the air chuck. In addition, the adsorption section (78)
Is an elevating means for elevating and lowering the suction head (72) described later,
For example, the air cylinder (74) and this air cylinder (74)
A base (80) that is fixed to the end of the telescopic rod and moves up and down in parallel with the mounting base (76) by the expansion and contraction of the air cylinder (74), and a suction head (80) mounted on the base (80). The motor (73) for rotating 72), one end of the rotating shaft (81) is attached to the base (80), and the other end is a cylindrical suction head (72) for sucking the cap top surface, and the suction head. It is composed of a head (72) and an endless belt (75) stretched between the motor (73).

By the rotation of the suction head (72), the sucked cap (A) is rotated and screwed into the screw portion of the intended container (B). Further, since the cap (A) is sucked by the vacuum suction force of the suction head (72), the suction head (72) runs idle when a constant torque is applied, so that the cap can be prevented from being overtightened. .

The supply of vacuum pressure to the suction head (72) is connected to a vacuum pump through a known flexible tube and vacuum valve, which is not shown. Further, in this embodiment, the suction part (7
Although 8) is raised and lowered, the clamp part (71) may be raised and lowered.

Further, for the rotation of the suction head, transmission of rotational drive by a pulley and a transmission belt is used, but direct connection of rotational drive means, gear transmission, or the like may be used. A cushioning material, such as rubber, is attached to the surface of the clamp-holding portion of the clamp portion (71) so that the surface of the cap is not damaged during clamping. Further, the cap holding portion has a V-shape, and the cap can be centered when the clamp part (71) is clamped even when the suction head (72) is displaced from the center of the cap for suction. The cap tightening device is configured as described above.

(13) is a container supply means for sequentially supplying the containers (B) to the cap fastening zone, and a transfer pallet (14) for holding the body parts of a plurality of upright containers (B) from both sides thereof, and this transfer pallet. Consists of a conveyor for carrying (14). The transfer pallet (14) is provided with V-shaped blocks that hold the body of the container (B) from both sides at regular intervals, so that it can be used for any container size.
The distance between the V-shaped blocks provided facing each other is adjustable. (9) is a cap main fastening device for permanently fastening the temporarily fastened cap (A) to a standard torque by rotation at a low speed that is less affected by the inertia of rotation, and uses a conventional cap fastening device at low speed rotation. The cap holder (not shown) of the device (9) is composed of a known air chuck or mechanical chuck for fastening the cap (A) with high torque. (16) and (17) are stoppers that stop the transport pallet (14) transported by the conveyor at the temporary fastening position and the final fastening position.

The operation of the system configured as above will be described below. To supply the cap (A), it suffices to place the paper tray (C) accumulating the delivered cap (A) at a position regulated by the stopper (10) on the mounting table (11). When the image data of the tray (C) accumulating the caps (A) set on the mounting table (11) is taken into the image processing device (4) by the visual sensor (1), the image processing device (4) As described above, the image data is processed, the cap position is detected, and the cap position data is transferred to the robot controller (5). The robot controller (5), based on the cap position data,
The cap removal / temporary fastening robot (6) is operated, and the cap removal / temporary fastening robot hand (7) is moved right above the cap (A). Then, the air cylinder (74) of the cap removal / temporary fastening robot hand (7) is driven to lower the suction head (72), and the suction head (72) suctions the top surface of the cap (A). After suctioning the cap (A), the air cylinder (74) raises the stroke by a predetermined amount, the cap (A) is pulled out, and then the clamp part (71) is operated to grasp the side surface of the cap (A) from both sides. To do. By this series of operations, the caps can be taken out even when the plurality of caps (A) are in close contact, and even if the suction position of the suction head (72) is displaced from the center of the cap, the suction head (72). The position of the cap (A) can be corrected on the central axis of the. Therefore, the cap position detecting means may have a rough accuracy and can be realized by a known inexpensive device.

Next, the cap removal / temporary fastening robot (6) is operated while holding the centered cap (A), and the cap removal / temporary fastening robot hand (7) is moved to the temporary fastening position by the stopper (16). The container is moved to a position directly above the container (B) on the transportation pallet (14) that is stopped. After that, the grip of the cap side face by the chuck (77) of the clamp part (71) of the cap removal / temporary fastening robot hand (7) is released, and the air cylinder (74) is operated to lower the suction part (78), Suction head (72) by motor (73)
At the same time, the cap (A) is rotated. Then, the cap removal / temporary fastening robot (6) operates to lower the cap removal / temporary fastening robot hand (7) to temporarily fasten the cap (A) to the container (B). At this time,
Only the cap and the lightweight suction head (72) rotate, and even if temporary fastening is performed at high speed, overtightening of the cap due to inertia of rotation does not occur. When the temporary fastening is completed, the suction of the suction head (72) is cut off, the cap removal / temporary fastening robot (6) is operated, and the cap removal / temporary fastening robot hand (7) is moved to the next cap position. The container (B) temporarily fastened is transported by the transport means (13) after releasing the stopper (16) at the temporary fastening position,
Stop at the final fastening position with the stopper (17) at the final fastening position.
After that, the cap main fastening device (9) fastens to a predetermined torque at low speed.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the cap group on the tray is imaged by the visual sensor, the cap position is detected by the image processing device, and the cap is fastened based on the cap position signal. Since the clamp portion that holds the side surface of the cap on the tip of the arm and the suction portion that sucks the cap on the center line of the clamp portion are axially attached to the rotating shaft that moves up and down, even if the cap is in a close contact state. A specific cap can be taken out of these, and even if the suction position is misaligned, it can be centered at the clamp part, so the cap is supplied as it is delivered from the cap manufacturer. You can

As a result, it is possible to greatly save labor in the cap supply work.

Further, since the temporary fastening means causes the suction position of the cap to be centered by the clamp portion, the image processing apparatus can use an inexpensive one with coarse accuracy in detecting the cap position.

In addition, since there is no switching part for switching in-process products, there is no need for skilled work in adjusting peripheral devices such as adjusting the intervals of chutes etc. when switching in-process products, reducing switching man-hours and versatility of product in-process Can be improved.

In addition, as a method of fastening the cap, the light-weight suction head temporarily fastens the cap at high speed, and the fast fastening device grips the cap and fastens the cap at low speed and high torque. Therefore, it is possible to prevent over-tightening of the cap due to the influence of rotational inertia, and it is possible to fasten the cap with stable and uniform torque.

In addition, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of defective cap bereting, which could not be prevented by the conventional component supply system having a robot hand that cannot perform cap fastening operation, and it is possible to improve quality and process stability. .

[Brief description of drawings]

Each drawing shows an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a cap fastening system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an overall block diagram, and FIG. 3 is a cap removing / temporary fastening robot hand. FIG. 4 is a side view and a front view of the robot hand for cap removal / temporary fastening, FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram of cap removal / temporary fastening, and FIG. 6 is a cap position detection process of the image processing apparatus. It is a flow. (1) …… TV camera, (2) …… Main lighting (3) …… Auxiliary lighting, (4) …… Image processing device (5) …… Robot controller (6) …… Cap removal / temporary fastening robot ( 7) …… Cap removal / temporary fastening robot hand (8) …… Cap main fastening device controller (9) …… Cap main fastening device (10) …… Stopper, (11) …… Standing table (13) …… Conveying means (14) …… Conveying pallet (16) …… Temporary fastening position stopper (17) …… Final fastening position stopper

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A supply means for supplying a tray in which a plurality of upright caps are randomly housed to a predetermined position, and an image data of the cap on the tray, which is provided on the tray supplied to the predetermined position. A visual sensor for imaging, a cap position detecting means for detecting individual cap positions from image data of the visual sensor, a container supply means for holding a container into which the cap is screwed and supplying the container at a predetermined position,
An arm that is provided on a support and that moves between the tray and the container that are respectively supplied to predetermined positions; From the temporary fastening means of the cap, which comprises a clamp portion for gripping the sucked cap from the side surface toward the center of the suction portion, and the final fastening means for gripping the temporarily fastened cap and finally fastening the cap with a predetermined torque. Then, based on the position data of the caps sent in a fixed order by the cap position detection means, the temporary fastening means is driven to adsorb and take out the corresponding cap top surface on the tray, and after centering the caps. A fastening system for a cap, which is temporarily fastened to a container by an adsorbing portion, and then is temporarily fastened with a predetermined torque to the temporarily fastened cap by the regular fastening means. .