Work-piece take-out device and work-piece take-out method

Abstract

To provide a technique capable of efficiently taking-out a work-piece from a storage box for storing the work-piece.SOLUTION: A work-piece take-out device comprises: a robot arm 10 for conveying a box body; and a tilting and conveying device 20 which has a placement part on which the box body is placed so that a bottom surface flap of the box body is brought into contact with it in a reference condition, a tilting part for shifting the placement part to the reference condition and a tilting condition tilted from the reference condition by a prescribed angle, a separation part for separating the box body from the placement part so as to open the bottom surface flap, and a regulation part for regulating oscillation in a direction for closing the bottom surface flap in the condition where the bottom surface flap is opened. The tilting part, in a condition where oscillation of the bottom surface flap is regulated by the regulation part, tilts the placement part in an opposite direction so as to be in the reference condition, thereby a work-piece is brought into contact with the placement part, and the robot arm 10 holds the box body whose bottom surface flap is opened, and separates it from the placement part and the work-piece.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to a workpiece extraction device and a workpiece extraction method for extracting a workpiece from a storage box in which the workpiece is stored.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, as this type of workpiece extraction device, a device as shown in Patent Document 1 below is known. This device is a device for sequentially extracting a plurality of sheet-like objects stacked and stored in a storage section from the edge thereof, and includes a pressing section for pressing a plurality of locations on the peripheral edge of the sheet-like object at the outermost edge, a pair of holding sections for holding the sheet-like object by suction or adhesion, and a driving section for moving the storage section or the holding section. The force for peeling off one of the sheet-like objects of the pair of holding sections is made weaker than the force for peeling off the other sheet-like object, and at least the holding section on the side where the peeling force is weak is configured to be stretchable by an elastic body.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in the above-described extraction device, since the workpieces are extracted one by one, there is a problem that it takes a very long time and the efficiency is poor.

[0005] The problem to be solved by the embodiments of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of efficiently extracting a workpiece from a storage box for storing the workpiece.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, an embodiment of the present invention is a work extraction device for extracting a work from a box body, comprising: a holding and conveying unit that holds and can release the holding of the box body; a placement unit on which the box body is placed such that a bottom flap of the box body abuts against the holding and conveying unit in a reference state; a tilting unit that shifts the placement unit between the reference state and a tilted state tilted by a predetermined angle from the reference state; a separation unit that separates the box body from the placement unit to open the bottom flap when the placement unit is in the tilted state; and a restricting unit that restricts the swinging of the bottom flap in the closing direction when the bottom flap is in an open state. The tilting unit tilts the placement unit in the reverse direction to bring it to the reference state, thereby bringing the work into contact with the placement unit, in a state where the swinging of the bottom flap is restricted by the restricting unit. The holding and conveying unit holds the box body in a state where the bottom flap is open and separates from the placement unit and the work.

Advantages of the Invention

[0007] According to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a technique capable of efficiently extracting a work from a storage box that stores the work.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present specification and drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

[0010] (Device Configuration) FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a work extraction system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the work extraction system 1 according to the present embodiment includes a robot arm 10, a tilting transfer device 20, a discharge conveyor 30, a folding device 40, and a control device 50 (see FIG. 4), which is not shown here.

[0011] The robot arm 10 conveys a storage box Bo having a plurality of flaps such as a cardboard box that houses a workpiece W (see FIG. 12 etc.) inside to the tilting conveyor device 20. The robot arm 10 is a so-called 6-axis robot in which a plurality of arms are rotatably connected to each other, so that the holding part 11 at its tip can move in the front-rear direction, left-right direction, and up-down direction orthogonal to these directions, and can rotate around these direction axes.

[0012] The holding part 11 is configured to be able to hold and release the storage box Bo. For example, it can be configured by a multi-joint robot hand composed of a plurality of rods, a pair of plates that are driven to approach and separate from each other, a suction device, etc. In the present embodiment, the holding part 11 is a suction device. Therefore, the holding part 11 has a suction pad 111 (see FIG. 8), and when the suction pad 111 is in contact with the storage box Bo, a vacuum is drawn by a vacuum pump 112 (see FIG. 4), so that the suction pad 111 airtightly adheres to the storage box Bo, and thereby the storage box Bo can be held. The vacuum pump 112, the robot arm 10, and specifically, a plurality of actuators for driving it are controlled by a control device 50 in terms of driving timing etc.

[0013] Note that the robot arm 10 may use a multi-joint robot such as a parallel link robot composed of links, joint arms, etc. that enables high-speed movement and highly accurate positioning.

[0014] The acquisition of each of the plurality of storage boxes Bo by the robot arm 10 may be realized by setting the positions (acquisition positions) of each of the plurality of storage boxes Bo in advance in the control device 50. For example, by setting the positions of each of the plurality of storage boxes Bo in advance as acquisition positions, the storage boxes Bo with different positions can be sequentially acquired in a preset order. That is, the acquisition position will be different each time a new storage box Bo is acquired and conveyed. As another example, the storage box Bo may be sequentially conveyed by a conveyor or the like, and in this case, the acquisition position can be fixed.

[0015] On the other hand, it is preferable that the position of the destination of the storage box Bo, in other words, the release position of the storage box Bo in the tilting transfer device 20 is also preset. That is, the release position may be a fixed position without fluctuation like the acquisition position.

[0016] The tilting transfer device 20 is located on the downstream side of the robot arm 10 in the transfer direction X, receives the storage box Bo from the robot arm 10, and is configured to be tiltable to take out the workpiece W from the received storage box Bo. Further, the taken-out workpiece W is transferred to the discharge conveyor 30. The detailed configuration and operation of the tilting transfer device 20 will be described later.

[0017] The discharge conveyor 30 is located on the downstream side of the tilting transfer device 20 in the transfer direction X, receives the workpiece W taken out from the storage box Bo from the tilting transfer device 20, and discharges it to a work place (not shown) located downstream. The discharge conveyor 30 has a belt such as an endless timing belt extending in the transfer direction X, and the belt is wound around a drive roller (not shown) and thereby circulated to transfer the workpiece W on the belt. The drive roller is rotationally driven by a rotational drive device 310 (see FIG. 4) such as a motor. The rotational drive device 310 has its drive timing, speed, etc. controlled by the control device 50.

[0018] The folding device 40 is provided at a position spaced apart from the robot arm 10 and the tilting transfer device 20 in a direction orthogonal to the transfer direction X, and folds the storage box Bo in a state where the workpiece W has been taken out. The folding device 40 has a base 41 and a pair of movable rods 42 extending upward from the base 41.

[0019] The base 41 is formed in a rectangular shape and supports two movable rods 42 so as to be movable in a direction away from each other. The base 41 has a reciprocating device 43 (see FIG. 4) inside thereof for reciprocating the pair of movable rods 42 in a direction away from each other, and the driving timing and the like of the reciprocating device 43 are controlled by the control device 50. Therefore, on the upper surface of the base 41, slit holes 44 (see FIG. 15) for allowing the movement of the pair of movable rods 41 are formed so as to extend in the above-described separating direction. Each of the pair of movable rods 42 is formed such that its tip is tapered, and can be easily inserted into a storage box Bo in a state where the upper surface outer flap and the bottom surface outer flap are open. The specific operation of the folding device 40 will be described later.

[0020] (Tilting conveyor device 20) FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of the tilting conveyor device according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing a reference state in which a storage box is placed on the tilting conveyor device.

[0021] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the tilting conveyor device 20 according to the present embodiment includes a first tilting conveyor 21 extending in a substantially horizontal direction in a reference state, and a second tilting conveyor 22 extending in a substantially vertical direction in a reference state. The first tilting conveyor 21 and the second tilting conveyor 22 are configured to be shiftable between the above-described reference state and a tilting state in which they are tilted to the upstream side in the conveyance direction X by approximately 90 degrees from the reference state. Hereinafter, the downstream side in the conveyance direction X is referred to as the front, the upstream side is referred to as the rear, and the conveyance direction X is appropriately referred to as the front-rear direction, and the direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction and the up-down direction is referred to as the left-right direction for explanation.

[0022] The first tilting conveyor 21 has a belt such as an endless timing belt extending in the conveying direction X in the reference state, and the belt is wound around a driving roller (not shown) and thereby circulated to convey the storage box Bo and the workpiece W on the belt in the conveying direction X. That is, the upper surface of the first tilting conveyor 21 is a placement surface on which the storage box Bo is placed in the reference state as shown in FIG. 3. On the other hand, in the tilted state, since the upper surface of the first tilting conveyor 21 is tilted by approximately 90 degrees, it does not become a placement surface. The driving roller is rotationally driven by a rotational driving device 211 (see FIG. 4) such as a motor.

[0023] At both left and right ends of the first tilting conveyor 21, specifically, at both ends of the driving roller, rod-shaped supports 23 extending in the conveying direction X are respectively provided, and the driving roller is supported by the supports 23 so as to be relatively rotatable. The upper end of the support 23 is connected to the support 23, and the lower end is supported by a support plate 25 whose lower end is connected to the base plate 24 via a support plate 25 that is connected to the base plate 24 below.

[0024] On the upper surface of the base plate 24, in plan view, flap restricting devices 26 are respectively provided at positions near both front and rear ends and positions near both left and right ends of the first tilting conveyor 21. The flap restricting device 26 has a flat restricting plate 261 and a reciprocating device 262 that causes the restricting plate 261 to advance rearward in the tilted state and retract downward in the reference state.

[0025] In the extended state, the regulating plate 261 abuts against the outer flap and the inner flap below the storage box Bo respectively, thereby restricting the rotation of these flaps in the closing direction. Therefore, in the extended state, the tip of the regulating plate 261 is close to the first tilting conveyor 21 or the support 23, that is, it penetrates a virtual plane flush with the placement surface of the first tilting conveyor 21 without contacting with a slight gap. The advancing and retreating device 262 is fixed to the base plate 24 and can be constituted by an arbitrary actuator such as a hydraulic or pneumatic piston cylinder or a solenoid (not shown). Further, in the retracted state, that is, in the reference state, it is preferable that the tip of the regulating plate 261 is positioned below the upper surface of the first tilting conveyor 21 from the viewpoint of avoiding contact with the storage box Bo and the removed workpiece W in the reference state.

[0026] The second tilting conveyor 22 has a belt such as an endless timing belt extending in the vertical direction (here, the vertical direction) in the reference state, and the belt is wound around a drive roller (not shown) and thereby circulated. Therefore, the second tilting conveyor 22 is provided at an angle of approximately 90 degrees with respect to the first tilting conveyor 21. The downstream surface 221 in the conveying direction of the second tilting conveyor 22 can be the placement surface of the storage box Bo by being kept substantially horizontal in the tilted state although it is not the placement surface in the reference state. The drive roller is rotationally driven by a rotational drive device 222 (see FIG. 4) such as a motor.

[0027] Support bodies 27 extending in the vertical direction are respectively provided at both left and right ends of the second tilting conveyor 22, specifically, at both ends of the drive roller, and the drive roller is supported by the support bodies 27 so as to be relatively rotatable. The lower end of the support body 27 is connected to the base plate 24 located below it.

[0028] At the lower ends of the surfaces on the outer sides in the left-right direction of each of the two supports 27 (the surfaces opposite to the mutually facing surfaces), supports 28 extending in the vertical direction are adjacent. The lower ends of the two supports 28 are connected to each other and are integrally formed. At each of the upper ends of the supports 28, a rotary shaft 281 with its axis facing in the left-right direction and connected to the support 27 in a non-rotatable relative manner is inserted. Thus, the rotary shaft 281 is pivotally supported relative to the support 28. At least one of the two rotary shafts 281 is connected to a rotary drive device 282 such as a motor (see FIG. 4) so that rotational torque can be transmitted thereto.

[0029] The above-described rotary drive devices 211, 222, 282 and the advancing / retreating device 262 have their drive timings, speeds, etc. controlled by the control device 50.

[0030] According to the configuration described above, when the rotary shaft 281 connected to the rotary drive device 282 is rotated, the various components described with reference numerals 21 to 27 of the tilting conveyance device 20 rotate integrally around the rotary shaft 281 and, in this embodiment, rotate back and forth within a range of approximately 90 degrees to assume the above-described reference state and tilting state. The detailed operations of the tilting conveyance device 20 in the reference state and the tilting state will be described later.

[0031] (Control device 50) FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control system of the control device according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the control device 50 is configured as an information processing device having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and a storage device such as a flash memory and operable by an operator. The control device 50 has the CPU and the RAM cooperate to control the operations described below in the robot arm 10, the tilting transfer device 20, the discharge conveyor 30, and the folding device 40. Specifically, it is controllably connected to the actuators of the robot arm 10, the vacuum pump 112, the rotary drive devices 211, 222, 282, 310, and the reciprocating drive devices 262, 43, which are the drive sources of the elements provided in each device, and performs drive control thereof. At this time, control based on various setting information stored in the storage device so as to be appropriately changeable by the operator, for example, control of drive timing, drive speed, rotation angle, etc. is performed. It is preferable that this setting information includes the size of the storage box Bo. The control device 50 has a control panel (not shown), and the operator can turn on / off the above devices and change various settings by operating the control panel.

[0032] Note that as the control device 50, a PC (Personal Computer) may be used, or a tablet terminal such as a smartphone may be used. It is also possible to operate the workpiece extraction system 1 from a remote location. In that case, the control device 50 may be installed at a remote location and the workpiece extraction system 1 may be controllable via a network such as the Internet.

[0033] (Device Operation) Next, the operation of the workpiece extraction system 1 will be described. First, the initial operation of the robot arm 10 will be described in detail. First, in the control device 50, since the acquisition position of the storage box Bo regularly stacked in advance as described above is recognized, the robot arm 10 brings the holding part 11 into contact with the storage box Bo. After the contact, the vacuum pump 112 is driven and the inside of the suction pad 111 of the holding part 11 is evacuated, so that the storage box Bo is adsorbed and held by the holding part 11. After the adsorption, the robot arm 10 transports the storage box Bo to the tilting and conveying device 20 and positions the holding part 11 at a predetermined position so that the storage box Bo is placed on the first tilting conveyor 21 in the reference state. After the positioning, the vacuum pump 112 is stopped and the inside of the suction pad 111 of the holding part 11 is opened to the atmosphere, so that the storage box Bo is released from the holding part 11. FIG. 5 shows the state immediately after the storage box Bo is released.

[0034] Next, the operation related to the tilting and conveying device 20 will be described in detail. FIGS. 6 to 14 are diagrams for explaining the operation of the tilting and conveying device according to the embodiment. In these figures, a view of the tilting and conveying device 20 seen from the side is shown.

[0035] After the release, as shown in FIG. 6, the rotation shaft 281 is rotationally driven by the rotation driving device 282 by approximately 90 degrees, so that the tilting and conveying device 20 is shifted to a tilting state in which the first tilting conveyor 21 becomes substantially vertical and the second tilting conveyor 22 becomes substantially horizontal. At this time, the storage box Bo is in a state of being placed on the second tilting conveyor 22. Note that prior to the rotation, it is preferable to move the belt on the upper surface side of the first tilting conveyor 21, that is, the placement surface side, in the reverse direction of the conveying direction X, that is, rearward, and bring the storage box Bo into contact with the second tilting conveyor 22. By doing so, when shifting from the reference state to the tilting state, it is possible to prevent the storage box Bo from slightly dropping onto the second tilting conveyor 22.

[0036] After rotation, as shown in FIG. 7, the belt on the upper surface side of the second tilting conveyor 22, that is, the placement surface side, moves rearward. It is preferable that the movement amount of this belt is at least equal to or greater than the length in the conveyance direction X of each bottom flap in the storage box Bo. After the reverse movement, the main part of the tape T1, which is a fastener for fastening these to prevent the pair of outer bottom flaps BF1 from being opened, is cut by the cutter 60. As a result, the pair of outer bottom flaps BF1 can be individually opened so as to swing in the conveyance direction X.

[0037] The cutting of the tape T1 using the cutter 60 may be performed by an operator, or may be performed using a cutting robot arm different from the robot arm 10. The cutting robot arm is, for example, of the same type as the robot arm 10, but a robot arm provided with a cutter 60 instead of the holding part 11 can be used. The movement amount by the second tilting conveyor 22 and the size of the storage box Bo are held by the control device 50 as setting information. Therefore, the position of the storage box Bo, and thus the three-dimensional coordinate position of the tape T1, can be recognized by the control device 50. Incidentally, the holding part 11 of the robot arm 10 may be configured as a detachable attachment, and the robot arm 10 may be operated to automatically attach and detach the holding part 11 and the cutter 60.

[0038] After cutting the outer bottom flap BF1, as shown in FIG. 8, the holding part 11 of the robot arm 10 abuts on the outer surface or the inner surface of one of the outer bottom flaps BF1 (abuts on the outer surface in the figure), and the vacuum pump 112 is driven to cause the holding part 11 to adsorb the outer bottom flap BF1. After adsorption, one of the outer bottom flaps BF1 is swung outward, here upward, by the robot arm 10 and is brought into an open state.

[0039] After the open state, as shown in FIG. 9, the advancing / retreating device 262 of the flap regulating device 26 corresponding to one of the bottom outer flaps BF1 is driven, and the regulating plate 261 advances toward the storage box Bo side, that is, the rear side. Due to this advancement, the bottom outer flap BF1 is restricted from swinging in the closing direction, and the open state is maintained. Subsequently, in the order of the remaining other bottom outer flap BF1 and the pair of bottom inner flaps BF2 (see FIG. 10), their adsorption and swinging, and the swinging regulation of the flaps by the flap regulating device 26 are performed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 10, for the storage box Bo, the swinging of all its flaps is restricted, and it is in an open state. In FIG. 10, only the flap on the back side of the pair of bottom inner flaps BF2 is shown for explanatory purposes. Also, the virtual line shown by the two-dot chain line shows an example of the position of the holding portion 11 when each flap is adsorbed. Although it has been described that each flap is adsorbed when it is set to the open state, the robot arm 10 may move the holding portion 11 so that the flap opens while the holding portion 11 is in contact, thereby opening each flap and advancing the regulating plate 261.

[0040] After all the flaps are in the restricted state, as shown in FIG. 11, the rotation shaft 281 is rotationally driven by the rotation driving device 282 in the reverse direction by approximately 90 degrees, whereby the tilting conveyor device 20 is shifted to the reference state in which the first tilting conveyor 21 becomes substantially horizontal and the second tilting conveyor 22 becomes substantially vertical. At this time, the storage box Bo is placed on the first tilting conveyor 21. Prior to the rotation, it is preferable to move the belt on the upper surface side of the second tilting conveyor 22, that is, the mounting surface side, in the conveying direction X, that is, forward, and move the storage box Bo toward the first tilting conveyor 21 side. By doing so, when shifting from the tilted state to the reference state, it is possible to prevent the slight drop of the workpiece W stored in the storage box Bo onto the first tilting conveyor 21.

[0041] Also, after the rotation axis 281 rotates in the reverse direction or in synchronization with the rotation, the reciprocating device 262 of each flap regulating device 26 is driven, and the regulating plate 261 is retracted. When it is in synchronization with the rotation, the regulating plate 261 may be retracted after the storage box Bo has rotated to a certain extent so that the regulation state of each flap by the regulating plate 261 is not released.

[0042] After the rotation axis 281 rotates in the reverse direction or in synchronization with the rotation, the internal workpiece W together with the storage box Bo moves (falls) downward and is placed on the first tilting conveyor 21. Since the upper surface outer flap TF1 of the storage box Bo is fastened by the tape T2, when the upper surface inner flap (not shown) contacts the workpiece W, further falling is prevented.

[0043] After the rotation axis 281 rotates in the reverse direction, as shown in FIG. 12, the tape T2 that closes the upper surface outer flap TF1 by the cutter 60 is cut using the various methods described above. After the cutting or in synchronization with the cutting, the robot arm 10 is driven, and the holding part 11 abuts against the storage box Bo and adsorbs the storage box Bo.

[0044] After adsorption, as shown in FIG. 13, the robot arm 10 pulls up the storage box Bo together with the holding part 11, so that the storage box Bo can be removed from the workpiece W. In other words, the workpiece W can be relatively taken out from the storage box Bo. The tape T2 of the upper surface outer flap TF1 may be cut after the workpiece W is taken out from the storage box Bo.

[0045] After the workpiece W is taken out, as shown in FIG. 14, by moving the belt on the upper surface side of the first tilting conveyor 21 forward, the workpiece W can be conveyed to the discharge conveyor 30.

[0046] Next, the operation of the folding device 40 will be described in detail. FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the folding device according to the present embodiment. (a) shows a side view of the folding device 40 with the storage box inserted, and (b) shows a plan view thereof. FIG. 16 is a plan view showing the storage box folded by the folding device according to the present embodiment.

[0047] The storage box Bo lifted upward by the robot arm 10 is carried to above the folding device 40. Then, as shown in FIG. 15(a), the robot arm 10 moves the holding portion 11 and the storage box Bo downward so that a pair of movable rods 42 are inserted into the lower surface opening and the upper surface opening defined by the flaps of the storage box Bo being opened. At this time, as shown in FIG. 15(b), it is preferable that the storage box Bo is positioned so that the diagonal line DI of the storage box Bo indicated by the dashed line passes through the center of each of the pair of movable rods 42.

[0048] After the storage box Bo is positioned, the suction of the storage box Bo by the holding portion 11 of the robot arm 10 is released, and the reciprocating device 43 is driven so that the pair of movable rods 42 move in a direction away from each other, whereby the storage box Bo can be flattened and folded as shown in FIG. 16. The folded storage box Bo is again brought into contact with and adsorbed by the holding portion 11 by the robot arm 10, and is carried to the collection container Cn shown in FIG. 1 and then released.

[0049] According to the present embodiment described above, since the workpiece W can be taken out from the storage box Bo at once, the time required for taking out can be shortened compared to the conventional method, which is extremely efficient and can also be expected to reduce costs. Further, after the workpiece W is taken out, the storage box Bo can be automatically flattened and then collected at a predetermined location, so that the working area can be made compact and the time required for the collection work can be shortened. Further, as the workpiece W, not only one product stored in the storage box Bo, but also, for example, a plurality of wines, drinking waters, foods, etc. packed or cased, a plurality of small products such as pouches packed together, a plurality of laminated sheet-like materials, etc. can be assumed, and even such a workpiece W can be easily taken out from the storage box Bo.

[0050] In the present embodiment, in order to acquire the storage box Bo by the robot arm 10, it has been described that the storage boxes Bo are regularly stacked, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, an optical system such as LiDAR, a radio wave system such as millimeter waves, an ultrasonic system, etc., a distance measuring sensor capable of detecting the distance to an object may be further provided, and the storage box Bo may be acquired by the robot arm 10 by detecting the position of the storage box Bo.

[0051] Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the regulating plate 261 is positioned on the inner side thereof in a state where each flap is opened to approximately the same level as the side surface of the storage box Bo. That is, the flap regulating device 26 is arranged such that the distance between the regulating plates 261 facing each other in the left-right direction and the front-back direction is shorter than the inner wall surface of the storage box Bo in the corresponding direction. However, the flap regulating device 26 may be arranged such that the distance between the regulating plates 261 is longer than the inner wall surface of the storage box Bo in the corresponding direction. In this case, in a state where each flap is opened outward from the side surface of the storage box Bo, it will contact the corresponding regulating plate 261, but as long as the contact continues, each flap will not swing in the closing direction, and the function of the flap regulating device 26 will be fulfilled.

[0052] The present invention can be implemented in various other forms without departing from its gist or main features. Therefore, the above-described embodiments are merely illustrative in all respects and should not be construed restrictively. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims and is not restricted by the text of the specification in any way. Further, all modifications, various improvements, alternatives, and modifications belonging to the equivalent scope of the claims are all within the scope of the present invention.

Explanation of Signs

[0053] 1 Work extraction system (work extraction device) 10 Robot arm (holding and conveying unit) 11 Holding unit (holding and conveying unit) 20 Tilting conveyor 21 First tilting conveyor (placement unit) 22 Second tilting conveyor (spacing unit) 26 Flap regulating device (regulating unit) 261 Regulating plate (regulating unit) 262 Forward and backward movement device (regulating unit) 50 Control device (computer) 60 Cutter Bo Storage box (box body) BF1 Pair of bottom outer flaps (bottom flaps) BF2 Pair of bottom inner flaps (bottom flaps) W Work

Claims

1. A work extraction device for extracting a work from a box body, a holding and conveying unit for holding and releasably conveying the box body, a placement unit on which the box body is placed such that the bottom flap of the box body abuts against the holding and conveying unit in a reference state, a tilting unit for shifting the placement unit between the reference state and a tilted state tilted by a predetermined angle from the reference state, a separating unit for separating the box body from the placement unit to open the bottom flap when the placement unit is in the tilted state, a restricting unit for restricting the swinging of the bottom flap in the closing direction when the bottom flap is in an open state, comprising, when the swinging of the bottom flap is restricted by the restricting unit, the tilting unit tilts the placement unit in the reverse direction to bring it to the reference state, thereby bringing the work into contact with the placement unit, the holding and conveying unit holds the box body in a state where the bottom flap is open and separates it from the placement unit and the work, A work extraction device characterized by the above.

2. The restricting unit includes a restricting plate that can contact the bottom flap and a reciprocating device that reciprocates the restricting plate in one direction, in a state where the bottom flap is open, the reciprocating device advances the restricting plate toward the box body side to contact the bottom flap, thereby restricting the swinging of the bottom flap in the closing direction, The work extraction device according to claim 1, characterized by the above.

3. When a state in which a pair of outer bottom flaps included in the bottom flap are closed is released, the holding and conveying unit inhibits the swinging of the bottom flap in the closing direction prior to or in synchronization with the advancement of the restricting plate, The work extraction device according to claim 2, characterized by the above.

4. The separation part is a conveyor extending in a direction separating the box body from the placement part in the tilting state. The workpiece take-out device according to claim 1, characterized in that.

5. The holding and conveying part includes a suction device capable of sucking and releasing the suction of the box body, and a robot arm capable of moving the suction device in the front-rear, left-right, and up-down directions. The workpiece take-out device according to claim 1, characterized in that.

6. The placement part is a conveyor, and when the box body is separated by the holding and conveying part, the workpiece is conveyed to a predetermined position. The workpiece take-out device according to claim 1, characterized in that.

7. A pair of bottom outer flaps included in the bottom flap are closed by a tape, and a cutter for cutting the tape is further provided to release the closed state. The workpiece take-out device according to claim 1, further comprising.

8. The cutter is detachably attached to the holding and conveying part. The workpiece take-out device according to claim 7, characterized in that.

9. Further comprising a pair of movable rods separable from each other, The holding and conveying part separates from the workpiece and inserts the box body, at least the bottom surface of which is in an open state, into the pair of movable rods. The pair of movable rods fold the box body by separating from each other. The workpiece take-out device according to claim 1, characterized in that.

10. A workpiece take-out method for taking out a workpiece from a box body, comprising: A computer, holding the box body by a holding and conveying part, placing the box body so that the bottom flap of the box body abuts against the placement part in the reference state. The tilting part tilts the placing part by a predetermined angle from the reference state to a tilted state. In order to open the bottom flap of the box body, the box body is separated from the placing part by a separation part. In a state where the bottom flap of the box body is opened, the regulation part regulates the swinging of the bottom flap in the closing direction. In a state where the swinging of the bottom flap is regulated by the regulation part, the tilting part tilts the placing part in the reverse direction so as to be in the reference state, and makes the workpiece abut against the placing part. The holding and conveying part holds the box body in a state where the bottom flap is opened, and separates it from the placing part and the workpiece. A workpiece taking-out method characterized by the above.

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