Article conveying device having temporary placement section

• US 10,252,416 B2
• Filed: 06/23/2017
• Issued: 04/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fanuc Corporation
• Original Assignee: Fanuc Corporation
• Inventors: Ooba, Masafumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Randazzo, Thomas
• Application Number:
  US15/631,020
• Publication Number:
  US 20180001469A1
• Time in Patent Office: 655 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/0093 co-operating with conveyor means
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1697 Vision controlled systems
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2203/0233 Position of the article
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2203/041 Camera
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/30 during transit by a series of conveyors
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/90 Devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/905 Control arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4182 manipulators and conveyor only
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/39102 Manipulator cooperating with conveyor
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40007 Optimize sequence of pick and place operations upon arrival of workpiece on conveyor
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

An article conveying device having a temporary placement section and capable of conveying articles. The article conveying device has: a supplying section configured to sequentially convey or supply plural articles; a discharging section configured to sequentially convey plural containers for containing the articles; a temporary placement section on which at least one article can be temporarily placed; a first detecting section configured to detect a position/posture of the article on the supplying section and successively detect an amount of movement of the supplying section; a second detecting section configured to detect a position/posture of the container on the discharging section and successively detect an amount of movement of the discharging section; a working machine configured to convey the article between the supplying section, the temporary placement section and the discharging section; and a controlling section configured to control the working machine based on a predetermined condition.

Claims

1. An article conveying device comprising:

a supplying section configured to convey a plurality of articles;

a discharging section configured to convey a plurality of containers each having a plurality of cells for containing the plurality of articles;

a temporary placement section having a temporary placement space on which at least one of the articles can be temporarily placed;

a first detecting section configured to detect a position and posture of the article on the supplying section at a first time point, and detect an amount of movement of the supplying section;

a second detecting section configured to detect a position and posture of the container on the discharging section at a second time point, and detect an amount of movement of the discharging section;

a working machine configured to;

take out the article by following the movement of the article on the supplying section, based on the position and posture of the article at the first time point and the amount of movement of the supplying section;

place the taken out article on the temporary placement section;

take out the article placed on the temporary placement section; and

locate the article into the container by following the movement of the container on the discharging section, based on the position and posture of the container at the second time point and the amount of movement of the discharging section; and

a controlling section configured to;

compare a predicted arrival time indicating when the container conveyed by the discharging section reaches a motion range of the working machine to a time threshold, or compare a predicted distance indicating when the container conveyed by the discharging section reaches the motion range of the working machine to a distance threshold, and

when the article is positioned within an article existence judgment region defined on the supplying section and when a predicted arrival time is larger than the time threshold or the predicted distance is larger than the distance threshold, command the working machine to place the article from the supplying section to the temporary placement section, and command the working machine to locate the article from the temporary placement section into the container which has reached the motion range.

2. The article conveying device as set forth in claim 1, wherein a start point and an end point of the article existence judgment region are set a respective positions which are separated from the motion range of the working machine on the supplying section by respective predetermined distances in an upstream direction.

3. The article conveying device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the controlling section is configured to, when a predetermined period of time has elapsed after the article is placed on the temporary placement section, command the working machine to discard the article on the temporary placement section.

4. The article conveying device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the temporary placement section includes a plurality of temporary placement spaces, and wherein the controlling section is configured to switch the temporary placement space to be used from one to the other, when the number of the articles placed on the temporary placement space in use has reached a predetermined maximum number of capacity.

5. The article conveying device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the controlling section is configured to command the working machine to take out the articles placed on the temporary placement section either in ascending order by time or in descending order by time, with respect to an elapsed time from when each article is placed on the temporary placement section.

6. An article conveying device comprising:

a supplying section configured to convey a plurality of articles;

a discharging section configured to convey a plurality of containers each having a plurality of cells for containing the plurality of articles;

a temporary placement section having a temporary placement space on which at least one of the articles can be temporarily placed;

a first detecting section configured to detect a position and posture of the article on the supplying section at a first time point, and detect an amount of movement of the supplying section;

a second detecting section configured to detect a position and posture of the container on the discharging section at a second time point, and detect an amount of movement of the discharging section;

a working machine configured to;

take out the article by following the movement of the article on the supplying section, based on the position and posture of the article at the first time point and the amount of movement of the supplying section;

place the taken out article on the temporary placement section;

take out the article placed on the temporary placement section; and

locate the article into the container by following the movement of the container on the discharging section, based on the position and posture of the container at the second time point and the amount of movement of the discharging section; and

a controlling section configured to;

compare a predicted arrival time indicating when the article conveyed by the supplying section reaches a motion range of the working machine to a time threshold, or compare a predicted distance indicating when the article conveyed by the supplying section reaches the motion range of the working machine to a distance threshold, and

command the working machine to place the article from the supplying section to the temporary placement section, and, when the container is positioned within a container existence judgment region defined on the discharging section and when a predicted arrival time is larger than the time threshold or the predicted distance is larger than the distance threshold, command the working machine to locate the article from the temporary placement section into the container positioned on the discharging section.

7. The article conveying device as set forth in claim 6, wherein a start point and an end point of the container existence judgment region are set at respective positions which are separated from the motion range of the working machine on the discharging section by respective predetermined distances in an upstream direction.