Food dish-up device, food cut-up and dish-up system, program for food dish-up device and food dish-up method

Abstract

To provide a device, a system, a program and a method for improving the appearance of foods, such as meat with rows of scales, when dishing them up for multiple times in different parts in a predetermined dish-up area of a same container, regardless of the sizes of the foods.SOLUTION: A food dish-up device 100 repeats the operation of picking up food being conveyed and dishing it up in a predetermined dish-up area by using a dish-up robot 10 at least twice, while shifting the dish-up positions in the dish-up area. The food dish-up device is equipped with a control unit 20 for controlling the operation of the dish-up robot 10 and dimensional measuring means 30 for measuring the width, which is the dimension of the food along the width direction of the dish-up area, or the length, which is the dimension of the food along the direction orthogonal to the width direction of the dish-up area. The control unit 20 is configured to change the dish-up positions of the food based on the measurement data obtained by the dimensional measuring means 30.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a food serving device that serves, for example, sliced ​​meat cut from a block of meat in a predetermined serving area of ​​a container such as a tray. [Background technology]

[0002] One such device, as shown in Patent Document 1, is configured to use a serving robot to scoop up a group of sliced ​​meat (hereinafter also referred to as "scalled meat") made up of multiple slices of meat stacked and shifted at a specified pitch, and serve it on a tray.

[0003] In one embodiment of this device, as shown in FIG. 15, the scooped up scaly meat is placed on one side of the tray in the width direction, and then another scaly meat is scooped up and placed on the opposite side of the same tray in the width direction, so that the scaly meats are placed with some of them overlapping each other.

[0004] However, as shown in the top row of Figure 15, if the width of the scalloped meat is short, the bottom of the tray will be visible, and as shown in the bottom row of Figure 15, if the width of the scalloped meat is long, the sliced ​​meat will cover the edge of the tray, and in either case the presentation will look poor.

[0005] The above-mentioned problems can occur not only when the scale meat is arranged in the width direction of the tray, but also when the scale meat is arranged in a direction perpendicular to the width direction of the tray. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] JP 2023-116354 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] Therefore, the objective of the present invention is to make food such as scaled meat look good when it is served multiple times in different locations in a specified serving area of ​​the same container, regardless of the size of the food. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In other words, the food plating device of the present invention is a food plating device which uses a plating robot to pick up transported food and plate it in a predetermined plating area, repeating this operation at least twice while shifting the plating position within the plating area, and is equipped with a control device which controls the operation of the plating robot, and a dimension measuring means for measuring the width of the food along the width direction of the plating area, or the vertical width of the food along a direction perpendicular to the width direction of the plating area, and is characterized in that the control device changes the plating position of the food based on the measurement data obtained by the dimension measuring means.

[0009] With this food serving device, the serving position is changed according to the width or length of the food, so if the food is short, the serving position can be set so that the bottom of the container, which is the serving area, is not very visible, and conversely, if the food is long, the serving position can be set so that the food does not cover the edge of the container, making the food look good regardless of the size of the food. Furthermore, by setting such a serving position, it is possible to prevent the food from spilling out of the container, making it easier to wrap the container after serving.

[0010] In a specific embodiment, the optimal serving position may be calculated each time from the measurement data, but in this case the amount of calculation required by the program will be large. Therefore, it is preferable that the control device compares the measurement value indicated by the measurement data with a predetermined reference value, and corrects the serving position of the food from the predetermined reference serving position to the actual serving position where the food is actually served. With this configuration, the amount of calculations required by the program can be reduced compared to a configuration in which the optimal serving position is calculated each time from measurement data.

[0011] A more specific embodiment is one in which the control device corrects the actual serving position to a position outside the serving area relative to the reference serving position when the measured value is smaller than the reference value, and corrects the actual serving position to a position inside the serving area relative to the reference serving position when the measured value is greater than the reference value. This makes it possible to correct the actual serving position to a position where the bottom of the container, which is the serving area, is not very visible, or where the food does not cover the edge of the container.

[0012] Here, as shown in FIG. 16, a case will be considered in which a plurality of slices of scallop meat, such as loin meat, is arranged in the same container a plurality of times with one end in the width direction folded on one side. In this case, the first piece of scale meat to be placed in the container can be placed with the folded part close to the edge of one side of the container, so that the bottom of one side of the container is not very visible and is not covered by the edge of that side. On the other hand, when it comes to the scale meat that is placed last in the container, if the width is short, the other end in the width direction (the end that is not folded) will be far away from the opposite edge of the container, and the bottom of the container will be visible, as shown in the upper part of Figure 16. Conversely, if the width is long, it will cover the opposite edge, as shown in the lower part of Figure 16.

[0013] In view of such a case, it is preferable that the control device changes only the serving position of the last food item to be picked up among the food items to be served multiple times in the serving area. With this configuration, it is possible to arrange the entire presentation to look good simply by changing the presentation position of only the last food item picked up, thereby reducing the amount of processing by the control device.

[0014] When serving sliced ​​meat consisting of a plurality of slices of belly meat, both the above-mentioned one-sided sliced ​​meat and double-sided sliced ​​meat in which both ends are bent may be served in the same container. In this case, sliced ​​meat that is not wide enough is not suitable for folding in half, and if it is folded in half and served, the presentation will be unattractive.

[0015] Therefore, the food plating device of the present invention is one in which a plating robot picks up transported food and plates it in a predetermined plating area, repeating the operation of doing so multiple times while shifting the plating position within the plating area, and is configured so that at least the last food to be plated is placed in a double-folded state with both widthwise ends folded back.The device is equipped with a control device for controlling the operation of the plating robot and a dimension measuring means for measuring the width of the food, which is the dimension of the food along the widthwise direction of the plating area, and is characterized in that the control device selects from a plurality of foods the food with the longest width obtained by the dimension measuring means as the food to be placed in a double-folded state.

[0016] According to the food serving device configured in this manner, foods such as sliced ​​meat that have a sufficient width can be selectively folded in both directions for serving, thereby preventing foods with a short width from being folded in both directions and making the food presentation look attractive.

[0017] An embodiment in which the above-mentioned action and effect are more pronounced is one in which the plating robot plates each of the foods transported in at least two rows in the plating area in a single-folded or double-folded state. With this configuration, when the widths of the foods in the first row and the second row are different, the foods with the longer widths are selectively folded in both directions, thereby more significantly achieving the above-mentioned advantageous effects.

[0018] It is preferable that the control device determines the order in which foods in each row are picked up based on the measurement data so that the width of the last food item picked up among the foods that are plated multiple times in the serving area is longer than the width of the other foods. With this configuration, the last food item to be picked up is one that is long and suitable for folding in both directions, so by folding that food in both directions and plating it last, the overall appearance of the food item after plating is complete can be improved.

[0019] In addition, the food cutting and serving system of the present invention is characterized by comprising a cutting device that slices block food, a conveying device that conveys the food cut out by the cutting device, and the above-mentioned food serving device that serves the food conveyed by the conveying device in the serving area.

[0020] Furthermore, the program for a food plating device of the present invention is a program used in a food plating device that repeats the operation of picking up transported food with a plating robot and plating it in a predetermined plating area at least twice while shifting the plating position within the plating area, wherein the food plating device is equipped with a control device that controls the operation of the plating robot and a dimension measuring means for measuring the width of the food along the width direction of the plating area or the vertical width of the food along a direction perpendicular to the width direction of the plating area, and is characterized in that the control device changes the plating position of the food based on the measurement data obtained by the dimension measuring means.

[0021] The food presentation method of the present invention is a food presentation method in which a presentation robot picks up a transported food and presents it in a designated presentation area, repeating the action of doing so at least twice while shifting the presentation position within the presentation area, characterized in that the method measures the width of the food along the width direction of the presentation area, or the vertical width of the food along a direction perpendicular to the width direction of the presentation area, and changes the presentation position of the food based on the measurement data obtained thereby.

[0022] Such a food cutting and plating system, a program for a food plating device, and a food plating method can achieve the same effects as the food plating device described above. Effect of the Invention

[0023] According to the present invention configured in this manner, when food such as scaled meat is served multiple times in different locations in a specified serving area of ​​the same container, the food can be presented in an attractive manner regardless of the size of the food. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram showing a food cutting and serving system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams showing an imaging area and various reference positions in the embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the food plating device in the same embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing functions of a robot controller according to the embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the actual position of the scale meat in the embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of the scaly meat in the same embodiment. [Figure 7] 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the food plating device of the embodiment. [Figure 8] 4 is a flowchart showing the operation and processing of the food plating device of the embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of scaled meat in another embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing functions of a robot controller according to another embodiment. [Figure 11] 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of a food plating device in another embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of scaled meat in another embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing functions of a robot controller according to another embodiment. [Figure 14] 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of a food plating device in another embodiment. [Figure 15]Schematic diagram to explain undesirable presentation. [Figure 16] Schematic diagram to explain undesirable presentation. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0025] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a food plating device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0026] As shown in FIG. 1, the food plating apparatus 100 constitutes a food cutting and plating system 1 together with a cutting device 200 that slices block food, a first conveying device 300 that conveys food cut out from the cutting device 200, and a second conveying device 400 that conveys a container Z, such as a tray on which the cut out food is served.

[0027] In this embodiment, sliced ​​meat sliced ​​from a block of meat will be described as the food to be served. Specifically, the cutting device 200 slices the block of meat with a cutting blade such as a band knife, and sends the sliced ​​meat to the first conveying device 300 in two rows. In the first conveying device 300, a sliced ​​meat group (hereinafter also referred to as scaly meat M) is formed by stacking a plurality of sliced ​​sliced ​​meats while shifting them by a predetermined pitch, and this scaly meat M is served on a container Z such as a tray with a predetermined serving area set by the food serving device 100 described later. However, the cutting device 200 may be configured to send out the sliced ​​meat one row at a time, or may be configured to send out three or more rows at a time.

[0028] In the following, for ease of explanation, in a plan view of the device, the X-axis is set along a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the scaly meat M by the first conveying device 300, and the Y-axis is set along the conveying direction, and when viewed from the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveying direction, the right side is the positive side of the X-axis, the left side is the negative side of the X-axis, the downstream side in the conveying direction is the positive side of the Y-axis, and the upstream side in the conveying direction is the negative side of the Y-axis (see Figure 1).

[0029] (Dimensions of food being transported) As shown in Fig. 1, the sliced ​​meat itself cut out from the cutting device 200 and the scaly meat M consisting of multiple slices of meat are delivered to the first conveying device 300 in a state in which the width, which is the dimension along the width direction (X-axis direction) of the container Z, is longer than the vertical width, which is the dimension along the depth direction (Y-axis direction) perpendicular to the width direction of the container Z. However, the scaly meat M may have a longer vertical width than a longer horizontal width.

[0030] (First conveying device 300) As shown in FIG. 1, the first conveying device 300 conveys the sliced ​​meat cut out from the cutting device 200, and is, for example, a belt conveyor having an endless conveying belt 301 and a drive source (not shown) such as a servo motor that drives the conveying belt 301.

[0031] In the above-described configuration, the drive source is controlled by a control signal output from the controller of the cutting device 200, which drives the conveyor belt 301, thereby transporting the scale meat M toward a collection position P2 (see Figure 2) that is preset downstream in the conveying direction of the conveyor belt 301.

[0032] When the scaled meat M is transported to the collection position P2, the conveyor belt 301 is temporarily stopped, and in this stopped state, the scaled meat M at the collection position is picked up by the food presentation device 100 described below. Note that for ease of explanation, the food presentation device 100 described below is omitted from Fig. 2. Also, "picking up" here means various ways of collecting and lifting the scaled meat M from the conveyor belt 301, such as scooping or pinching, as described below.

[0033] (Second conveying device 400) 1, the second conveying device 400 conveys containers Z such as trays to a loading standby position facing the conveying end of the first conveying device 300, and is, for example, a chain conveyor having an endless chain (not shown) and a drive source (not shown) such as a motor that drives the chain. However, the second conveying device 400 may also be a belt conveyor that uses an endless belt.

[0034] The second conveying device 400 is disposed on the terminal side of the first conveying device 300, and its conveying direction is set to be perpendicular to the conveying direction of the first conveying device 300 in a plan view.

[0035] In this configuration, the second conveying device 400 stops the container Z at the above-mentioned serving standby position until the food serving device 100 has completed the serving of the scalloped meat M into the container Z a set number of times. Then, after the serving of the scalloped meat M into the container Z is completed, the second conveying device 400 is driven to carry out the served container Z and send the next empty container Z to the serving standby position.

[0036] (Camera C) Also, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, an imaging area A in which the transported scaled meat M is imaged is set upstream of the collection position P2 on the conveying belt 301 of the first conveying device 300, and a camera C serving as an imaging means for imaging the scaled meat M is provided above this imaging area A.

[0037] Here, the camera C is positioned in the center of the width of the conveyor belt 301 when viewed in a plane, so that the first row of scaled meat M and the second row of scaled meat M transported to the imaging area A can be simultaneously imaged by the common camera C.

[0038] 2, the imaging data obtained by the camera C is used to calculate the actual positional deviation of the scale meat M from a reference position P1 that is preset within the imaging area A. A specific method for calculating this positional deviation will be described later.

[0039] (Food plating device 100) As shown in Fig. 1, food plating apparatus 100 picks up scaly meat M transported by first conveying apparatus 300 and plates it in a container Z transported by second conveying apparatus 400. Note that, although food plating apparatus 100 is disposed on the left side of first conveying apparatus 300 in this embodiment, the position is not limited thereto and food plating apparatus 100 may be disposed on the right side.

[0040] Specifically, as shown in Figure 3, this food plating device 100 is equipped with a plating robot 10 that picks up the transported scaly meat M, and a robot controller 20 that serves as a control device for controlling the plating robot 10. The plating robot 10 picks up the scaly meat M and plates it in a container Z having a specified plating area set therein, and this operation is repeated at least twice while shifting the plating position within the container Z.

[0041] (Configuration of the serving robot 10) The serving robot 10 is mounted on a base 13 which is fixed to the floor of the processing plant or to the cutting device 200, and has multiple movable parts 11 such as arms, wrists and hands which are connected to each other via joints 12.

[0042] In such a configuration, the movable part 11 may be configured to be swivellable or rotatable around an axis provided in the joint part 12, or may be configured to be able to move forward and backward in the left-right direction (X-axis direction), the front-back direction (Y-axis direction), or the up-down direction via the joint part 12.

[0043] As shown in Figures 1 and 3, the serving robot 10 of this embodiment has a flat hand H, which is the part that picks up the scaly meat M, and this hand H moves in a crawling manner along the top surface of the conveying belt 301 from the upstream side to the downstream side of the first conveying device 300 (i.e., from the negative side to the positive side in the Y-axis direction) to scoop up the scaly meat M.

[0044] (Robot Controller 20 Functions)

[0045] The robot controller 20 is a computer equipped with a CPU, memory, etc., and when the program for the serving device stored in the memory is run, the CPU and its peripheral devices work together to perform the functions of a reference position calculation unit 21, a deviation calculation unit 22, a reference collection position storage unit 23, an actual collection position calculation unit 24, a command unit 25, a reference serving position storage unit 26, a dimension calculation unit 27, and an actual serving position calculation unit 28, as shown in Figure 4.

[0046] Here, in this embodiment, the scaled meat M is transported in two rows, and a mode will be described in which the first row of scaled meat M is picked up and arranged on the left side (negative side in the X-axis direction) of the container Z, and then the second row of scaled meat M is picked up and arranged on the right side (positive side in the X-axis direction) of the same container Z. Note that the first row of scaled meat M may be from the left row or the right row, and in this embodiment, the second row of scaled meat M is the side that is left after the first row has been picked up.

[0047] As a result, two rows of scaled meat M are arranged in the container Z with the rows being offset in the width direction (X-axis direction) of the container Z, and some of them (the right end of the scaled meat M arranged on the left side and the left end of the scaled meat M arranged on the right side) overlap each other.

[0048] The functions of each unit shown in FIG. 4 will be described in detail below.

[0049] The reference position calculation unit 21 calculates a reference position P1 that serves as a reference for the actual position O (see FIG. 5) of the scaly meat M captured by the camera C. The actual position O of the scaly meat M is a point represented by XY coordinates, and is the center point where the center line in the X-axis direction and the center line in the Y-axis direction of the scaly meat M intersect after image processing such as binarization and shrinkage / expansion.

[0050] The reference position calculation unit 21 obtains a scale length, which is the length of the scale meat M in the scale direction (Y-axis direction), from the cutting device 200, and calculates a reference position P1 based on the scale length.

[0051] 2, the reference position calculation unit 21 of this embodiment calculates reference positions P1 corresponding to the first and second columns in the imaging area A, and outputs the calculated coordinates of the first reference position P1 of the first column and the calculated coordinates of the second reference position P1 of the second column to the deviation calculation unit 22. Note that the calculated coordinates of the reference position P1 may be temporarily stored in a memory, and the deviation calculation unit 22 may read them out from the memory.

[0052] As a result, if the actual position O of the imaged scale-line meat M coincides with the reference position P1, the scale-line meat M is transported to a reference collection position P2, which will be described later, and conversely, if the actual position O of the imaged scale-line meat M deviates from the reference position P1, the scale-line meat M also deviates from the reference collection position P2, which will be described later. In other words, the reference position P1 is a position that is a predetermined distance away from the reference collection position P2, which will be described later, on the negative side in the Y-axis direction.

[0053] The deviation calculation unit 22 calculates the deviation of the actual position O of the imaged scale meat M from the above-mentioned reference position P1.

[0054] The deviation calculation unit 22 of this embodiment accepts the imaging data obtained by the above-mentioned camera C and calculates the amount of deviation of the first row of scale meat M relative to the first reference position P1 and the amount of deviation of the second row of scale meat M relative to the second reference position P1.

[0055] More specifically, the deviation calculation unit 22 extracts the coordinates of the center point where the center line in the X-axis direction and the center line in the Y-axis direction of the first row of scale-row meat M intersect by performing image processing on the captured data. Then, the deviation calculation unit 22 calculates the amount of displacement in the X-axis direction and the amount of displacement in the Y-axis direction of the extracted center point relative to the first reference position P1 as the deviation amount of the first row of scale-row meat M. The calculation of the deviation amount of the second row of scale-row meat M is similar, so details will be omitted.

[0056] The reference collection position storage unit 23 is set in a predetermined area of ​​the memory, and stores a reference collection position P2 that serves as a reference for the actual collection position at which the serving robot 10 actually picks up the scaly meat M.

[0057] 2, the reference sampling position P2 is set in advance corresponding to each of the first and second columns, and specifically, the coordinates of the first reference sampling position P2 of the first column and the coordinates of the second reference sampling position P2 of the second column are stored in the reference sampling position storage unit 23. Specifically, this reference sampling position P2 is set at a position spaced a predetermined distance from the above-mentioned reference position P1 on the positive side in the Y-axis direction.

[0058] The actual collection position calculation unit 24 calculates an actual collection position, which is a position where the serving robot 10 actually tries to scoop up the scaly meat M, based on the reference collection position P2 stored in the reference collection position storage unit 23 and the amount of deviation calculated by the deviation calculation unit 22. Specifically, this actual collection position is a position obtained by displacing the reference collection position P2 by the amount of displacement in the X-axis direction and the amount of displacement in the Y-axis direction calculated by the deviation calculation unit 22.

[0059] More specifically, when the serving robot 10 is attempting to scoop up the first row of scaled meat M, the actual collection position calculation unit 24 calculates the actual collection position of the first row of scaled meat M by correcting the first reference collection position P2 using the amount of deviation calculated from the image data of the scaled meat M. The calculation of the actual collection position when scooping up the second row of scaled meat M is similar, so details will be omitted.

[0060] The command unit 25 receives the coordinates of the actual picking position calculated by the actual picking position calculation unit 24, and controls the plating robot 10 based on the coordinates of the actual picking position.

[0061] Specifically, the command unit 25 moves the plating robot 10 so as to crawl on the upper surface of the conveyor belt 301 from a predetermined distance downstream (negative side in the Y-axis direction) to a predetermined distance upstream (positive side in the Y-axis direction) from the actual harvesting position, and then raises it straight up or diagonally upward. This enables the plating robot 10 to scoop up the scaly meat M transported to the actual harvesting position.

[0062] The reference serving position storage section 26 is set in a predetermined area of ​​the memory and stores a reference serving position P3 that serves as a reference for the actual serving position P4 (see Figure 6) at which the scalloped meat M is actually served in the container Z.

[0063] 2, the reference serving position P3 is set in advance corresponding to each of the scaled meat M that is served multiple times in the same container Z. Here, the coordinates of the first reference serving position P3 of the first row of scaled meat M (the first scaled meat M to be served in the container Z) and the coordinates of the second reference serving position P3 of the second row of scaled meat M (the last scaled meat M to be served in the same container Z) are each stored in the reference serving position storage unit 26.

[0064] This reference serving position P3 is set in advance depending on the size of the container Z and the set number of servings of the scaly meat M. More specifically, the first reference serving position P3 is set on a first imaginary line L1 that is shifted a predetermined distance toward the negative side in the X-axis direction from the center of the width direction of the container Z, and the second reference serving position P3 is set on a second imaginary line L2 that is shifted a predetermined distance toward the positive side in the X-axis direction.

[0065] Here, regardless of the width of the scaled meat M, if the first row of scaled meat M is served at the first standard serving position P3 and the second row of scaled meat M is served at the second standard serving position P3, as shown in the upper part of Figure 15, if the width of the scaled meat M is short, the bottom of the container Z will be visible, and as shown in the lower part of Figure 15, if the width of the scaled meat M is long, the sliced ​​meat will cover the edge of the container Z, and in either case the presentation will be poor.

[0066] Therefore, the food presentation device 100 of this embodiment, as shown in Figures 1, 2, and 4, further includes a dimension measurement means 30 for measuring the width of the scaly meat M, and the robot controller 20 is configured to change the presentation position of the scaly meat M based on the measurement data obtained by the dimension measurement means 30.

[0067] More specifically, the camera C serving as the imaging means described above is also used as the dimension measuring means 30 for measuring the dimensions of the scale meat M. However, the dimension measuring means 30 may be provided separately from the camera C.

[0068] In such a configuration, the robot controller 20 of this embodiment further has the functions of a dimension calculation unit 27 that calculates the dimensions of the scaly meat M, and a serving position calculation unit 28 that calculates the serving position P4 based on the dimensions of the scaly meat M calculated by this dimension calculation unit 27, as shown in Figure 4.

[0069] The dimension calculation unit 27 receives the image data from the camera C, and performs image processing on the image data to calculate the width, which is the dimension along the X-axis direction of the scaly meat M. As a specific calculation method, for example, a pixel located on the negative side in the X-axis direction and a pixel located on the positive side in the X-axis direction are extracted from the pixels representing the scaly meat M, and the width is calculated from the distance between the X coordinates of those pixels.

[0070] The actual serving position calculation unit 28 calculates the above-mentioned actual serving position P4 based on the reference serving position P3 stored in the reference serving position storage unit 26 and the width measurement value of the scaly meat M calculated by the dimension calculation unit 27.

[0071] Specifically, the serving position calculation unit 28 compares the width measurement value with a predetermined width reference value, and calculates the serving position P4 as a position obtained by correcting the reference serving position P3 based on the comparison result.

[0072] In the present embodiment, when the width measurement value is shorter than the reference width value, the actual serving position calculation unit 28 calculates the position obtained by shifting the reference serving position P3 to the edge (outside) of the container Z as shown in Figure 6(a) as the actual serving position P4, and when the width measurement value is longer than the reference width value, the actual serving position calculation unit 28 calculates the position obtained by shifting the reference serving position P3 to the inside of the container Z as shown in Figure 6(b).

[0073] More specifically, if the reference width value is 140 mm and the measured width value is 120 mm, the reference serving position P3 shifted 10 mm toward the edge of the container Z is regarded as the actual serving position P4, and if the measured width value is 160 mm, the reference serving position P3 shifted 10 mm toward the inside of the container Z is regarded as the actual serving position P4.

[0074] The coordinates of this serving position P4 are then output from the serving position calculation unit 28 to the command unit 25, and the command unit 25 controls the plating robot 10 based on the coordinates of the serving position P4 to place the scooped up scaly meat M at the serving position P4 in the container Z. Specifically, the plating robot 10 places the scaly meat M in the container Z so that the center point where the center line of the scooped up scaly meat M in the X-axis direction intersects with the center line of the scooped up scaly meat M overlaps with the serving position P4.

[0075] (Operation of food plating device 100) Next, the operation of food plating apparatus 100 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flow charts of FIGS.

[0076] First, when the scaly meat M consisting of a plurality of sliced ​​meat cut by the cutting device 200 is conveyed to the imaging area A, the camera C as the imaging means captures an image of the scaly meat M (S1). At this time, in this embodiment, the first row of scaly meat M and the second row of scaly meat M conveyed to the imaging area A are simultaneously captured by the common camera C.

[0077] Next, the displacement calculation unit 22 calculates the amount of displacement of the actual position O of the scale meat M imaged in S1 relative to the reference position P1 (S2). The specific calculation method is as described above. In brief, the displacement amount in the X-axis direction and the displacement amount in the Y-axis direction of the scale meat M relative to the reference position P1 are calculated using the image data obtained by the camera C and the reference position P1 calculated in advance by the reference position calculation unit 21.

[0078] In this embodiment, in S2, the amount of deviation of the first row of scale-row meat M and the amount of deviation of the second row of scale-row meat M are calculated sequentially or simultaneously. However, the timing of calculating the amount of deviation of the second row may be changed as appropriate, for example, by calculating the amount of deviation of the second row of scale-row meat M between scooping up and serving the first row of scale-row meat M.

[0079] Next, the actual collection position calculation unit 24 calculates the actual collection position corresponding to the scale meat M whose deviation amount was calculated in S2 (S3). The specific calculation method is as described above. In short, the actual collection position is calculated by correcting the reference collection position P2 stored in the reference collection position storage unit 23 by the deviation amount calculated in S2.

[0080] In this embodiment, in S3, both the actual harvesting position of the first row of scale-row meat M and the actual harvesting position of the second row of scale-row meat M are calculated sequentially or simultaneously. However, the calculation timing of the actual harvesting position of the second row may be changed as appropriate, for example, the actual harvesting position of the second row of scale-row meat M may be calculated between scooping up and serving the first row of scale-row meat M.

[0081] Thereafter, the serving position calculation unit 28 calculates the serving position P4, which is the position where the scaly meat M is actually served in the container Z (S4). The specific calculation method is as described above. In brief, the reference serving position P3 stored in the reference serving position storage unit 26 is corrected based on a predetermined width reference value and the width measurement value of the scaly meat M calculated by the dimension calculation unit 27. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, if the width measurement value is shorter than the width reference value, the position where the reference serving position P3 is shifted toward the edge of the container Z is calculated as the serving position P4, and if the width measurement value is longer than the width reference value, the position where the reference serving position P3 is shifted toward the inside of the container Z is calculated as the serving position P4.

[0082] Thereafter, steps S1 to S4 are repeated every time new scale meat M is transported to the imaging area A. The actual picking position repeatedly calculated in S3 and the actual serving position P4 repeatedly calculated in S4 are temporarily stored in a predetermined area of ​​a memory, for example, in chronological order.

[0083] Separately from the control flow described above, the command unit 25 of the robot controller 20 controls the plating robot 10 in accordance with the flowchart of FIG.

[0084] Specifically, the command unit 25 first causes the serving robot 10 to wait at the first waiting position, which is a waiting position before harvesting the first row of scale-row meat M (S5).

[0085] In this state, when the robot controller 20 receives a gripping start signal from the cutting device 200, the command unit 25 controls the serving robot 10 based on the actual picking position to scoop up the first row of scaled meat M at the actual picking position (S6). Note that this actual picking position is calculated in S3 based on the image data of the scaled meat M to be scooped up, and is temporarily stored in memory.

[0086] The specific operation of the serving robot 10 is as described above, in which it crawls along the conveyor belt 301 a predetermined distance downstream from the actual harvesting position, and then rises straight up or diagonally upward to scoop up the scaled meat M being transported to the actual harvesting position.

[0087] Then, the command unit 25 controls the serving robot 10 based on the serving position P4 to serve the scooped up first row of scaled meat M at the first row serving position P4 of the container Z (S7). Note that this serving position P4 is calculated in S4 based on the image data of the scaled meat M to be served, and is temporarily stored in memory. In addition, the serving position of the first row is here to the left of the center line of the container Z in the width direction.

[0088] Thereafter, the command unit 25 moves the serving robot 10 to the second standby position, which is a standby position before scooping up the second row of scaly meat M, and makes the serving robot 10 standby (S8).

[0089] In this state, when the robot controller 20 receives a gripping start signal from the cutting device 200, the command unit 25 controls the serving robot 10 based on the actual harvesting position to scoop up the second row of scaled meat M that has been transported to the actual harvesting position (S9). Note that this actual harvesting position is calculated in S3 based on the image data of the scaled meat M to be scooped up, and is temporarily stored in memory.

[0090] Then, the robot controller 20 controls the serving robot 10 based on the serving position P4 to serve the scooped up second row of scaly meat M at the second row serving position P4 of the container Z (S10). Note that this serving position P4 is calculated in S4 based on the image data of the scaly meat M to be served, and is temporarily stored in memory. In this case, the serving position of the second row is to the right of the center line of the container Z in the width direction.

[0091] Thereafter, steps S5 to S10 are repeated until the set number of pieces of scale meat M are arranged in the container Z.

[0092] (Functions and Effects of Food Plating Apparatus 100 of the Present Invention) According to the food presentation device 100 configured in this manner, the width of the scaly meat M is calculated and the presentation position is changed according to that width, so that if the width is short, the presentation position can be set so that the bottom of the container Z is not very visible, and conversely, if the width is long, the presentation position can be set so that the food does not cover the edge of the container Z, making the presentation look good regardless of the size of the scaly meat M. Furthermore, by setting such a presentation position, it is possible to prevent the food from spilling out of the container Z, making it easier to wrap the container Z after presentation.

[0093] More specifically, if the width measurement value is smaller than the width reference value, the serving position is corrected to be closer to the edge of the container Z than the reference serving position P3, thereby making the bottom of the container Z less visible; conversely, if the width measurement value is larger than the width reference value, the serving position is corrected to be closer to the inside of the container Z than the reference serving position P3, thereby preventing the scaly meat M from covering the edge of the container Z.

[0094] In addition, the robot controller 20 compares the width measurement value with the width reference value, and corrects the reference serving position P3 based on the comparison result to calculate the actual serving position P4, thereby reducing the amount of calculations required by the program compared to a configuration in which the optimal serving position is calculated each time from the measured width measurement value.

[0095] (Another embodiment of the food serving device 100 according to the present invention) It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

[0096] For example, in the above embodiment, the width of the scaly meat M was measured and the serving position P4 was changed in the width direction of the container Z based on the width measurement value. However, as shown in Figures 9(a) and (b), when the scaly meat M is served multiple times at different positions in the depth direction (Y-axis direction) of the container Z, the food serving device 100 of the present invention may measure the vertical width, which is the dimension of the scaly meat M along the depth direction of the container Z, and change the serving position in the depth direction of the container Z based on the vertical width measurement value.

[0097] That is, in the food plating apparatus 100 according to the present invention, the plating position of the food may be changed only in the width direction of the container Z, only in the depth direction, or in both the width direction and the depth direction. Note that the method of changing the plating position in the depth direction can be the same as the change in the width direction described in the above embodiment, so a detailed explanation will be omitted.

[0098] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 16, when multiple pieces of scallop meat M, such as loin meat, are served in the same container Z multiple times with one end in the width direction folded in one-sided state, the first scallop meat M served in the container Z can be served with the folded part close to one edge of the container Z, so that the bottom of the container Z is not very visible and is not covered by the edge of that side. On the other hand, if the scaly meat M that is placed last in the container Z is short in width, the other end in the width direction will be far away from the opposite edge of the container Z, and the bottom of the container Z will be visible, and conversely, if the width is long, the other end in the width direction will overlap the opposite edge.

[0099] In consideration of such a case, the robot controller 20 may be configured to change only the placement position of the last piece of scaly meat M to be picked up among the pieces of scaly meat M that are placed in the same container Z multiple times. According to the food presentation device 100 configured in this manner, the presentation of the entire food can be made to look good simply by changing the presentation position of only the last piece of scaly meat M picked up.

[0100] In this case, the robot controller 20 further includes a function as a determination unit 29 that determines whether the next scaly meat M is to be served last in the container Z, as shown in FIG.

[0101] The determination unit 29 receives a predetermined set number of servings inputted via an input means I such as a touch panel or a keyboard. The set number of servings is the number of times the scaly meat M is served until serving into one container Z is completed, and in this case, is the number of times the scaly meat M is served in the width direction of the same container Z.

[0102] The judgment unit 29 compares the actual serving number at which the serving robot 10 has finished serving the scaly meat M in the same container Z with the above-mentioned set serving number while exchanging signals with the command unit 25, and judges whether the actual serving number matches the set serving number. Note that the actual serving number is reset when it reaches the set serving number.

[0103] Then, as shown in the flowchart of Figure 11, if the number of times the servings have been performed matches the set number of times the judgment unit 29 judges that the next scaly meat M will be served at the end of the container Z, and if the number of times the servings have been performed does not match the set number of times the judgment unit 29 judges that the next scaly meat M will not be served at the end of the container Z (T3, T8).

[0104] As a result, when the judgment unit 29 determines that the next scaly meat M will be served last, the command unit 25 controls the serving robot 10 to serve the scaly meat M at the actual serving position P4 calculated from the reference serving position P3, as described in the above embodiment (T4, T9).

[0105] On the other hand, if the judgment unit 29 judges that the next scaly meat M is not to be served last, the command unit 25 controls the serving robot 10 to serve the scaly meat M at the reference serving position P3 (T5, T10).

[0106] It should be noted that T1, T2, T6, and T7 in FIG. 11 are the same as S5, S6, S8, and S9 in FIG. 8 described in the above embodiment, respectively, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0107] In the above embodiment, the case where the scaly meat M is scooped up and directly served in the container Z is described, but the food serving device 100 of the present invention may also be arranged such that one widthwise end of the scaly meat M is folded in a single-fold state as shown in Figure 12, or such that both widthwise ends of the scaly meat M are folded in a double-fold state.

[0108] In this case, the food plating device 100 involves the action of picking up the transported food using a plating robot 10 and plating it in a specified plating area such as a container Z, and repeating this action multiple times while shifting the plating position within the plating area.At least the last food to be plated is folded in both directions at both ends, and the robot controller 20 may be configured to select from among the multiple foods the food with the longest width as the food to be folded in both directions based on measurement data obtained by the dimension measurement means 30.

[0109] In this case, the serving robot 10 serves each of the foods transported in at least two rows in a container Z in a single-folded or double-folded state, and in the following description, it is assumed that the scaly meat M served at the end of the container Z is served in a double-folded state, and that the scaly meat M served in any container other than the end of the container Z is served in a single-folded state.

[0110] In this configuration, the robot controller 20 here has functions as a dimension calculation unit 27, a determination unit 29, and a command unit 25, as shown in FIG.

[0111] The dimension calculation unit 27 calculates the width of the scale meat M based on the image data from the camera C, which serves as the dimension measurement means 30. The specific aspects are as described in the above embodiment, and detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0112] The judgment unit 29 judges whether the next scaled meat M to be served is the last one to be served in the container Z, and the specific embodiment is as described with reference to Figure 10, so detailed explanation will be omitted here.

[0113] The command unit 25 determines the order in which the scaly meat M in each row is scooped up based on the width obtained by the dimension measuring means 30 so that the width of the scaly meat M scooped up last among the foods served multiple times in the same container Z is longer than the width of the other scaly meat M.

[0114] More specifically, the command unit 25 here obtains the width of the scaled meat M calculated by the dimension calculation unit 27, and receives from the judgment unit 29 whether the next scaled meat M to be scooped up is the one to be served last.

[0115] In the above-described configuration, food plating apparatus 100 operates as shown in the flow chart of FIG.

[0116] First, it is determined whether the next scooped up scaly meat M is to be served last (U1), and it is determined whether a plurality of scaly meat M remains at the collection position of the conveyor belt 301 (U2, U3).

[0117] Then, if the next piece of scaly meat M to be scooped up is the last piece to be served, and if there is scaly meat M remaining in the first and second rows, the widths of these pieces of scaly meat M are compared, and the piece with the longer width is scooped up and folded in both directions to be served in the container Z (U4).

[0118] On the other hand, if the next scooped up scaly meat M is to be served last and there is scaly meat M remaining in only one of the first and second rows, the remaining scaly meat M is scooped up, folded in both directions, and served in the container Z (U5).

[0119] Also, if the next piece of scaly meat M to be scooped up is not the one to be served last and there is still scaly meat M remaining in the first and second rows, the widths of these pieces of scaly meat M are compared, and the one with the shorter width is scooped up and folded to one side to be served in the container Z (U6).

[0120] On the other hand, if the next scaly meat M to be scooped up is not the one to be served last and there is scaly meat M remaining in only one of the first and second rows, the remaining scaly meat M is scooped up and folded to one side and served in the container Z (U7).

[0121] According to the food presentation device 100 configured in this manner, foods such as sliced ​​meat that have a sufficient width can be selectively folded in both directions for presentation, which prevents foods with a short width from being forcibly folded for presentation, thereby making the presented food look attractive.

[0122] In addition, as another aspect of the present invention, the functions of the reference position calculation unit 21, deviation calculation unit 22, reference collection position storage unit 23, actual collection position calculation unit 24, command unit 25, reference serving position storage unit 26, dimension calculation unit 27, and actual serving position calculation unit 28 described in the above embodiment do not necessarily have to be provided in the robot controller 20, and may be provided in a computer other than the robot controller 20, such as a server cloud or a portable terminal.

[0123] Similarly, with regard to the functions of the dimension calculation unit 27, judgment unit 29, and command unit 25 described with reference to Figure 13, all of them do not necessarily need to be provided in the robot controller 20, and may be provided in a computer other than the robot controller 20, such as a server cloud or a portable terminal.

[0124] In the above embodiment, the food to be served has been described as scalloped meat M, but it may also be, for example, a single thick slice of meat, or it may be processed foods such as ham or cheese, seafood such as fish fillets, various vegetables, or even flexible or viscous food dough.

[0125] Furthermore, the serving area where food is served by the food serving device is not limited to a container Z such as a tray, but may be a predetermined area such as a belt conveyor or a stationary table. In this case, the "width direction of the serving area" referred to in the claims is the direction perpendicular to the food transport direction (X-axis direction).

[0126] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0127] 1. Food cutting and serving system 100...Food plating equipment 200...Cutting device 300 First conveying device 301...Conveyor belt 400 Second conveying device M...Scale row meat Z...container C···Camera A Imaging area 10. Serving robot 20. Robot Controller 21...Reference position calculation section 22 Displacement calculation section 23 Reference sampling position storage section 24 Actual collection position calculation section 25...Headquarters 26 Reference serving position storage section 27 Dimension calculation section 28 ...Actual filling position calculation section 29 ···Judgment Department 30. Dimensional measurement means O Actual location of the scales P1...Reference position P2...Reference sampling position P3...Standard placement position P4...Actual mounting position

Claims

1. A food plating device in which a plating robot picks up a conveyed food and plates it in a predetermined plating area at least twice while shifting the plating position within the plating area, A control device for controlling the operation of the serving robot; A dimension measuring means for measuring a width of the food along the width direction of the serving area, or a vertical width of the food along a direction perpendicular to the width direction of the serving area, A food plating device, characterized in that the control device changes the plating position of the food based on the measurement data obtained by the dimension measuring means.

2. The food serving device of claim 1, characterized in that the control device compares the measurement value indicated by the measurement data with a predetermined reference value and corrects the serving position of the food from the predetermined reference serving position to the actual serving position where the food is actually served.

3. The food serving device of claim 2, characterized in that the control device corrects the actual serving position to an outer side of the serving area than the reference serving position when the measurement value is smaller than the reference value, and corrects the actual serving position to an inner side of the serving area than the reference serving position when the measurement value is greater than the reference value.

4. 2. The food plating device according to claim 1, wherein the control device changes only the plating position of the last food item picked up from among the food items plated in the plating area a plurality of times.

5. The food item being conveyed is picked up by a serving robot and served in a predetermined serving area, and the serving position is shifted within the serving area while repeating the action several times. At least the last food item to be served is folded in both widthwise ends, A control device for controlling the operation of the serving robot; A dimension measuring means for measuring a width of the food along a width direction of the serving area, A food plating device according to claim 1, wherein the control device selects, from among a plurality of foods, a food having a long width obtained by the dimension measuring means as the food to be folded in both directions.

6. 6. The food plating apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the plating robot plates each of the foods conveyed in at least two rows in the plating area in a single-folded or double-folded state.

7. The food plating device of claim 6, characterized in that the control device determines the order in which food items in each row are picked up based on the width obtained by the dimension measurement means, so that the width of the last food item picked up among the foods plated multiple times in the plating area is longer than the width of the other foods.

8. A cutting device for slicing block food; A conveying device that conveys the food cut by the cutting device; 2. A food cutting and plating system comprising: a food plating apparatus according to claim 1, which plates the food conveyed by the conveying apparatus in the plating area.

9. A program for use in a food plating device, which repeats an operation of picking up a conveyed food by a plating robot and plating the food in a predetermined plating area at least twice while shifting the plating position within the plating area, The food serving device includes a control device for controlling the operation of the serving robot, and a dimension measuring means for measuring a width of the food along a width direction of the serving area, or a vertical width of the food along a direction perpendicular to the width direction of the serving area, A program for a food plating device, comprising: a control device that changes a plating position of the food based on measurement data obtained by the dimension measuring means.

10. A food plating method comprising: a plating robot picking up a conveyed food and plating it in a predetermined plating area; and repeating the operation of picking up the food and plating it in a predetermined plating area at least twice while shifting the plating position in the plating area, A food presentation method characterized by measuring the width of the food along the width direction of the presentation area, or the vertical width of the food along a direction perpendicular to the width direction of the presentation area, and changing the presentation position of the food based on the measurement data obtained thereby.

Images