JPH1034582A - Spherical vegetable gripper - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To positively grip spherical vegetables by supporting a pair of grip bodies provided on the tip side with grip parts recessed in partial spherical shape, in such a way as to be oscillatingly opened/closed by a support member, and providing a grip driving part for oscillatingly open/close both grip bodies. SOLUTION: Packing equipment for packing lettus, spherical vegetables, is provided with a robot hand 4 (grip device) for gripping to take out the lettus fed into a specified takeout position A and feeding it into a lettus receiving part 8 of a packing device 2. This robot hand 4 is so constituted that an air cylinder 33 is driven and elongated to open a pair of grip bodies 16 made of elastic resin plates, and in this state, an oscillating arm 14 is oscillated onto the takeout position A side and stopped. The air cylinder 33 is then driven and shortened, and both grip bodies 16 are oscillated onto the closing side by energizing force of a spring so as to grip the lettus. The oscillating arm 14 is then oscillated onto the lettus receiving part 8 side. Grip parts 16A are made enter into an opening of the packing device 2, and grip of the lettus is released to pack the lettus with a packing sheet.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a device for holding spherical vegetables.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a device for feeding spherical vegetables, a plurality of finger portions made of rubber tubes are supported by a support portion, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-144687. There has been a configuration in which an air supply / discharge unit that supplies and discharges air is provided in the finger unit, and the finger unit is held and bent by air pressure.

[0003]

According to the above-mentioned conventional structure, air is supplied to and exhausted from the finger portion and the finger portion is gripped and bent by air pressure. Therefore, when the air pressure is increased, the finger portion is accompanied. Sometimes expanded and became difficult to bend.

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a gripping device for spherical vegetables that can reliably grip spherical vegetables.

[0005]

A feature of the present invention according to claim 1 is that a pair of gripping bodies having gripping parts which are partially spherically concave on the tip side are swingably opened and closed by a supporting member, The present invention is characterized in that a grip drive unit for swinging and opening and closing both grip bodies is provided.

A feature of the invention according to claim 2 is that, in the invention according to claim 1, the holding body is formed of an elastic resin material.

A feature of the invention according to a third aspect is that, in the invention according to the second aspect, a slit is formed in the grip portion along a longitudinal direction of the grip body.

[0008] The feature of the invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 or 2,
A portion of the grip body closer to the base end than the grip portion is formed so that its cross-sectional shape becomes a U-shape.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first, second, third and fourth aspects, the spherical vegetable gripped by the gripping body is kept in the gripped state. An extruding mechanism for extruding toward the processing apparatus is supported by the support member.

According to the structure of the first aspect, the pair of grippers are swung open and closed to grip the spherical vegetables. Therefore, for example, the gripping is performed by bending the finger portions by air pressure to grip the spherical vegetables. The gripping operation can be reliably performed without making the operation difficult. And since a grip part is depressed in partial spherical shape, it can hold a spherical vegetable and can hold firmly. For example, in a structure in which three or more grippers are opened and closed, an interlocking mechanism for swinging and opening and closing the respective grippers is complicated, but in the configuration of claim 1, the pair of grippers are opened and closed. Just swing it,
The structure of those interlocking mechanisms can be simplified.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect similar to that of the first aspect, the gripping body is formed of an elastic resin material, so that the spherical vegetables can be gripped. As a result, the gripping portion is elastically deformed and easily becomes a shape adapted to the spherical vegetable, and the spherical vegetable can be gripped more firmly.

According to the structure of claim 3, in addition to the effect similar to that of the structure of claim 1, the holding body is formed of an elastic resin material, Since the slit is formed along the longitudinal direction of the body, the gripping part is easily elastically deformed with the gripping of the spherical vegetable, the gripping part is adapted to the spherical vegetable, and the spherical vegetable is more firmly Can be gripped.

[0013] According to the configuration of claim 4, in addition to the same operation as the operation of any one of the above-described configurations of claims 1 or 2, in addition to the grip portion of the grip body, Since the side portion is formed so that its cross-sectional shape becomes a U-shape, the strength of the gripping body can be increased, and the swinging opening / closing force from the gripping drive unit can be efficiently transmitted to the gripping unit. .

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the same effect as the action of any one of the first or second, third, and fourth aspects, the spherical vegetable gripped by the gripper can be obtained. Is extruded toward the processing device by the extruded body in the gripping state, so that the spherical vegetables can be squeezed and sent to the vegetable receiving section even if their leaves are slightly open, for example, processing. When the device is a packaging device for spherical vegetables, it becomes easier for the packaging device to press and adhere the packaging sheet to the spherical vegetables.

[Effect] Therefore, according to the configuration of the first aspect, it is possible to provide a gripping device for a spherical vegetable that can reliably grip a spherical vegetable with a simple structure.

According to the structure of claim 2, the effect of the structure of claim 1 can be further enhanced, and according to the structure of claim 3, the effect of the structure of claim 2 can be further enhanced. Was.

According to the structure of claim 4, in addition to the effect similar to the effect of the structure of any one of the above-mentioned claims 1, 2 and 3, the power for gripping drive can be reduced. I was able to.

According to the structure of claim 5, in addition to the same effect as the effect of any one of the above-mentioned claims 1 or 2, 3 and 4, in addition to the destination of the gripped spherical vegetables For example, in the case of a packaging apparatus for spherical vegetables, the packaging sheet can be pressed and adhered to the spherical vegetables by the packaging apparatus, so that the spherical sheets can be packed tightly with the packaging sheet.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a belt conveyor 1 for feeding lettuce sequentially supplied by an operator in a horizontal direction.
Lettuce packaging device 2 (an example of a processing device, hereinafter abbreviated as packaging device) located on the lateral outer side of the belt conveyor 1 and lettuce sent to a predetermined take-out position A by the belt conveyor 1 A robot hand 4 (an example of a gripping device for spherical vegetables) for gripping and taking out and sending it to the lettuce receiving portion 8 of the packaging device 2 is provided.
A control device 5 for controlling the packaging device 2 and the robot hand 4 is provided to constitute a lettuce packaging facility.

In the belt conveyor 1, a plurality of concentric annular projecting members 6 are formed at a plurality of locations on the conveyor conveying surface such that the outer projecting members 6 are higher than the inner projecting members 6. (See FIG. 7), the smaller lettuce is supported by the inner protruding member 6, and the larger lettuce is supported by the outer protruding member 6.
It is configured to provide stable support.

The robot hand 4 has its support frame 12 removably attached and fixed to the main body 2A of the packaging device 2 from above. The robot hand 4 will be described in detail. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 6, a support box 13 is supported by a support frame 12, and a swing arm 14 is moved by the support box 13 to a first swing axis X. A pair of elastic resin plates, which are swingably supported around, provided with a first electric motor M1 for swinging and driving the swing arm 14 in the support box 13, and provided with a gripping portion 16A which is partially spherically concave on the distal end side. The gripping unit 16 is supported by a gripping body support member 15 provided on the swinging end of the swinging arm 14 so as to swing openably and closably. As the swing arm 14 swings, the two grippers 16 reciprocate between the lettuce take-out position A and the lettuce receiving portion 8 side while drawing an arc trajectory R in a downward posture. Hold the posture of the gripper 16 It is provided with a posture holding mechanism 17.

The posture holding mechanism 17 includes a swing arm 14
And an auxiliary swing arm 18 that is swingably supported by the support box 13 around the second swing axis Y above the first swing axis X along the swing arm 14. To the moving end,
A state in which one end side and the other end side of the gripping body support member 15 are parallel to a virtual vertical line L connecting the first rocking axis X and the second rocking axis Y. The gripper support member 15 is connected to the lettuce take-out position A and the lettuce receiving portion 8 in a posture parallel to the virtual vertical line L with the swing of the swing arm 14. It comprises a parallel quadruple link mechanism configured to reciprocate between the two.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a pair of springs 32 for urging the two gripping bodies 16 to close, and a pair of opposite first air cylinders for rocking the two gripping bodies 16 to the opening side against the urging force. 33, and the bottom end of the cylinder tube 40 of the first air cylinder 33 is
And a connecting end of the piston rod 41 via a connecting pin 43 (an end opposite to the piston).
Is pivotally connected to the other gripping body 16 via a connecting pin 43, and hooks at both ends of the spring 32 are connected to the connecting pin 43.
It is locked to. The first air cylinder 33 forms an air flow passage P on the axis of the piston rod 41, and a space on the protruding end side of the piston rod 41 (a space on the front side in FIG. 4) and a cylinder. The piston rod 41 is opened toward the chamber 42, and the opening 41 a on the protruding end side of the piston rod 41 is connected to the air supply / discharge unit 29 so as to be driven to expand and contract.

The pair of gripping bodies 16 are a pair of upper and lower openings H.
(See FIG. 2), gears 31 are formed on the base end side thereof, and the gears 31 are engaged with each other so that they open and close and swing, and their opening degrees are regulated within a certain range.
Both ends of the pair of loosened wires 37 are connected to both connecting pins 43. And, to the holding portion 16A of the holding body 16,
By forming a plurality of vertical slits 36 along the longitudinal direction of the gripper 16 (see FIG. 5), the gripper 16 is easily elastically deformed,
A portion of the grip 16 closer to the base end than the grip portion 16A is formed to have a U-shape in cross section, thereby increasing the strength of the grip 16. Also, the tip of the grip 16A is warped radially outward so that the lettuce does not enter.

As shown in FIG. 3, the holding body support member 1
A second downward air cylinder 30 (corresponding to a pushing mechanism) having a cylinder tube 5 as the air supply / discharge unit 29
The lettuce push-out pad 39 is provided at the protruding end (the end opposite to the piston) of the piston rod 38, and the lettuce held by the holding portion 16A of the holding body 16 is held in the holding state. It is configured to be pushed out to the lettuce receiving section 8 of the packaging device 2 as it is.

As shown in FIG. 2, when one protruding member 6 is located at the take-out position A, the next adjacent protruding member 6
Is set in a downward position at a set position C on the start end side of the return stroke of the belt conveyor 1 so that the light is blocked by the front end of the protruded member 6 at the set position C. Position sensor 3 for detecting the projecting member 6
4 is provided on the belt conveyor 1 so as to detect that a predetermined projecting member 6 has reached the take-out position A.

The belt conveyor 1 is provided with a presence / absence sensor 35 for detecting whether or not the projecting member 6 at the take-out position A has a lettuce by interrupting the light beam. When the position sensor 34 detects that the projecting member 6 holding the lettuce has reached the take-out position A, the control device 5 controls the belt conveyor 1 based on the detection results of both sensors. To stop and control the robot hand 4 to control the gripper 1
6 is configured to take out. When the lettuce is taken out, the belt conveyor 1 restarts the conveyance.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 10 to 14, the packaging apparatus 2 has a packaging table 7 having an opening 3 for lettuce.
Is provided in the lettuce receiving portion 8, and the lettuce dropped from the opening 3 by the robot hand 4 is placed on the packaging table 7 with the packaging sheet 9 placed on the packaging table 7 so as to cover the opening 3.
It is configured to be wrapped underneath.

More specifically, a rubber narrowing member 10 having a slit is supported in a cantilever manner by a support ring 21 in a state located below the opening 3, and as the lettuce is dropped into the opening 3, the narrowing member is narrowed. When the lettuce is spread out to the lettuce and the lettuce passes through the opening 3, the squeezing member 10 is elastically returned to narrow the lettuce together with the wrapping sheet 9 so that the lettuce put in from the opening 3 is removed. A movable table 20 to be supported is provided below the narrowing member 10, and a pair of plate-like holding members 22 (see FIG. 12) are provided for narrowing down the lettuce which has been auxiliary narrowed down, and an upper portion of the packaging sheet 9 after packaging. A disk cutter 23 for cutting 9a and an injection nozzle 27 for blowing off the upper portion 9a after cutting are provided.

The belt conveyor 1 and the robot hand 4
-The packaging device 2 operates as follows. As shown in FIG. 7, when the first air cylinder 33 is driven to extend and both grippers 16 are opened, the robot hand 4
Swing arm 14 swings toward the take-out position A and stops (the belt conveyor 1 is stopped). The pressurized air is discharged from the first air cylinder 33 and driven in a shortened manner, so that the two grippers 16 swing toward the closing side by the urging force of the spring 32 to grip the lettuce (FIG. 8).

A single packaging sheet 9 cut to a predetermined length after the end of the previous packaging is placed on the packaging table 7, and the swing arm 14 swings toward the lettuce receiving unit 8 side to hold it. The portion 16A enters the opening 3 and places the lettuce on the movable base 20 (FIGS. 9 and 10). Thereby, the lettuce is slightly wrapped in the packaging sheet 9. And the second air cylinder 3
0 is extended and the lettuce pushing pad 39 pushes out the lettuce in the gripping state while holding it in the gripping state,
The first air cylinder 33 is shortened and driven, and the swing arm 14 starts swinging upward while the two gripping bodies 16 are closed by the biasing force of the spring 32. The distance between the two grippers 16 is smaller than the lettuce diameter (FIG. 11), so that the packing sheet 9 can be narrowed down more effectively.

After the gripper 16A retreats above the opening 3, the movable table 20 descends (FIG. 12 (a)). At this time, the packaging sheet 9 is further squeezed by the squeezing member 10.

The pair of holding members 22 advance toward the packaging sheet 9 (FIG. 12 (b)), and sandwich the upper portion 9a of the packaging sheet 9 to narrow it down (FIG. 13 (a)).
Thereby, the lettuce is almost completely wrapped in the packaging sheet 9.

The pair of disk cutters 23 is used to hold the holding member 2
2, the upper portion 9 a of the packaging sheet 9 is cut off. After the adhesive tape 25 is attached to the lettuce from above by a tape attaching mechanism (not shown in FIG. 13).
(B), (c)), the pair of holding members 22 are opened (FIG. 14 (a)), and the movable table 20 is turned over (see FIG. 14 (b)), and the lettuce after packaging (FIG. 14). (C) is released to the slide 2B and collected in the container.

Another Embodiment The spherical vegetables are not limited to lettuce but may be other vegetables such as cabbage. The spherical vegetables include fruits.

The term "partially spherical" refers to a shape having a curvature capable of holding spherical vegetables, and does not have to be a strictly spherical part having a constant distance from the center.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing lettuce packaging equipment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a transfer end side of a belt conveyor and a robot hand.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a gripping body of a robot hand.

FIG. 4 is an IV-IV view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a VV view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway side view showing a robot hand and a belt conveyor before gripping a lettuce;

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway side view showing a robot hand and a belt conveyor immediately before gripping a lettuce;

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway side view showing a robot hand holding a lettuce and a belt conveyor.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing a state where the robot hand has transported the lettuce to the lettuce packaging apparatus side.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing the gripper and the lettuce that have entered the vegetable receiving portion of the lettuce packaging device.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing a state in which the gripper has retreated and raised from the state shown in FIG. 10;

12A is a view showing a state in which the elastic narrowing member has auxiliaryly narrowed the spherical vegetables together with the packaging sheet. FIG. 12B is a perspective view showing a state in which the pair of holding members have begun to advance to the packaging sheet side.

FIG. 13 (a) A perspective view showing a state in which the lettuce is almost completely wrapped in the packaging sheet. (B) A perspective view showing the first half of the state in which the adhesive tape is attached to the lettuce from above. Perspective view showing the latter half state of being pasted on lettuce from above

14A is a perspective view showing a state in which a pair of holding members are opened, and FIG. 14B is a perspective view showing a state in which the movable base is turned sideways.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 processing apparatus 11 gripping drive unit 15 support member 16 gripper 16A gripper 30 push-out mechanism 36 slit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Agency reference number FI Technical indication // B65G 57/03 B65G 57/03 C

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A pair of gripping bodies having a gripping part depressed in a partially spherical shape on the distal end side are supported by a supporting member so as to be swingably openable and closable, and a gripping drive unit for swingably opening and closing both gripping bodies is provided. Device for holding spherical vegetables. 2. The holding device for spherical vegetables according to claim 1, wherein said holding body is formed of an elastic resin material. 3. The gripping device for spherical vegetables according to claim 2, wherein a slit is formed in the gripping portion along a longitudinal direction of the gripping body. 4. The spherical shape according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the gripping body closer to the base end than the gripping portion is formed to have a U-shaped cross section. Vegetable holding device. 5. An extrusion mechanism for extruding a spherical vegetable gripped by the gripping body toward a processing device for a spherical vegetable while holding the vegetable in a gripped state is supported by the support member. A device for gripping spherical vegetables according to any one of the preceding claims.