Pickup method, pickup device, and pickup system

Abstract

To provide a pickup method capable of easily gripping a head portion of a component.SOLUTION: In a pickup method, a plate (31) having a columnar protrusion portion (310) on an upper surface and a lower surface of a tray (40) are brought close to each other, the protrusion portion (310) and a shaft portion (502) are brought into contact with each other, a head portion (501) is pushed up to a position above the upper surface of the tray (40), and the head portion (501) is gripped by a robot hand (33).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a picking method, a picking device, and a picking system.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a component transfer system that adjusts the posture of a component while transferring a component having a shaft portion and a head portion. Patent Document 2 discloses a work gripping device that is fixed to the arm of a picking robot and grips a tube housed in a tube black with fingers.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, depending on the component having a shaft portion and a head portion, in a state where the component is housed in the housing portion, the head portion may not protrude sufficiently from the housing portion, making it difficult to grip the head portion.

[0005] One aspect of the present disclosure aims to provide a picking method that can easily grip the head portion of a component.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To solve the above problems, a pickup method according to an aspect of the present disclosure is one in which a robot hand picks up a component from a tray. The component has a shaft portion extending from a head portion. The tray has a recess on the upper surface that can accommodate the head portion inside, penetrates from the recess toward the lower surface, and has a through hole that can accommodate the shaft portion. The pickup method includes a first step of bringing a plate having a columnar protrusion on the upper surface close to the lower surface of the tray, bringing the protrusion into contact with the shaft portion, and pushing up the head portion to a position above the upper surface of the tray. The pickup method also includes a second step of gripping the head portion pushed up to a position above the upper surface of the tray with the robot hand.

[0007] To solve the above problems, a pickup device according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a control device, a tray, a plate, a lifting / lowering unit, and a robot hand. The tray has a recess on the upper surface that can accommodate the head portion of a component having a shaft portion extending from the head portion inside, penetrates from the recess toward the lower surface, and has a through hole that can accommodate the shaft portion. The plate is disposed below the lower surface of the tray and has a columnar protrusion on the upper surface. The lifting / lowering unit moves the plate or the tray up and down. The control device controls the lifting / lowering unit to bring the plate close to the lower surface of the tray, bring the protrusion into contact with the shaft portion, and push up the head portion to a position above the upper surface of the tray. The control device causes the robot hand to grip the pushed-up head portion.

Advantages of the Invention

[0008] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the head portion of a component can be easily gripped.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] (Configuration of Pickup System) FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram schematically showing an example of a pickup system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The pickup system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a system that picks up screws 50 housed in a tray 40 from the tray 40.

[0011] The screw 50 has a head 501 and a shaft portion 502, and the shaft portion 502 extends from the head 501. The tray 40 is formed of a soft material such as resin, for example, and the screw 50 is not easily damaged even if the screw 50 collides with the tray 40. The tray 40 has a plurality of accommodating portions 41 on its upper surface, and the screws 50 can be accommodated in the accommodating portions 41. The tray 40 will be described in detail later.

[0012] The pickup system 1 includes a housing device 10, a conveying device 20, a pickup device 30, and a control device 60. The housing device 10 has a feeder 11, a vibrating conveyor 12, and a scraper 13. The feeder 11 supplies the screws 50 toward the upper surface of the tray 40 disposed on the vibrating conveyor 12. The vibrating conveyor 12 vibrates the tray 40 up and down. Due to the vibration by the vibrating conveyor 12, the screws 50 move on the tray 40. A part of the screws 50 supplied from the feeder 11 is accommodated in the accommodating portion 41. Further, the vibrating conveyor 12 conveys the tray 40 to the conveying device 20. A scraper 13 is disposed downstream of the vibrating conveyor 12. The scraper 13 removes the screws 50 remaining on the upper surface of the tray 40 from the tray 40 without being accommodated in the accommodating portion 41.

[0013] The conveying device 20 has a conveying conveyor 21, a conveying elevator 22, and a conveying conveyor 23. The conveying conveyor 21 conveys the tray 40 containing the screws 50 in the storage section 41 to the conveying elevator 22. The conveying elevator 22 can hold a predetermined number of trays 40 conveyed by the conveying conveyor 21. The conveying elevator 22 sends out the held tray 40 to the conveying conveyor 23.

[0014] The conveying conveyor 23 conveys the tray 40 from the conveying elevator 22 to a predetermined placement section A. The placement section A is a position where the screws 50 are picked up from the tray 40. In FIG. 1, the placement section A is a hole with a rectangular opening.

[0015] Hereinafter, as shown by the arrows in FIG. 1, the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction are defined. The X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction are directions parallel to two sides of the opening of the placement section A. The Z-axis direction is a direction orthogonal to the opening of the placement section A, which is the so-called vertical direction. The placement section A penetrates in the vertical direction. The tray 40 is conveyed to the placement section A along the X-axis direction. The dimension of the tray 40 in the Y-axis direction is longer than the dimension of the opening of the placement section A in the Y-axis direction, and the tray 40 conveyed along the X-axis direction does not fall inside the placement section A. The tray 40 is arranged in the placement section A so as to cover the opening of the placement section A. At this time, in a plan view, all the storage sections 41 of the tray 40 are located inside the opening of the placement section A.

[0016] The pickup device 30 picks up the screws 50 from the tray 40 conveyed to the placement section A. The pickup device 30 has a plate 31, a lifting section 32, a robot hand 33, a force sensor 34, and a robot arm 35.

[0017] The plate 31 has columnar protrusions 310 arranged on its upper surface. The upper surface of the plate 31 has a shape that can be inserted from below into the placement portion A. The protrusions 310 are arranged in the same manner as the accommodation portions 41 in the tray 40. For example, when 4×3 accommodation portions 41 are two-dimensionally arranged on the upper surface of the tray 40 at a predetermined interval, 4×3 protrusions 310 are arranged on the upper surface of the plate 31 at the same predetermined interval as the accommodation portions 41. The elevating portion 32 has a plate 31 corresponding to the tray 40 placed on its upper part, and moves the placed plate 31 in the Z-axis direction (vertical direction).

[0018] The robot hand 33 is provided at the tip of the robot arm 35. The robot arm 35 is, for example, a multi-joint arm, and supports the position and posture of the robot hand 33 so that they can be changed. The robot hand 33 has a gripping portion 330 and a driver 331. The gripping portion 330 can grip the head 501 of the screw 50. The driver 331 is an example of a tool, and is, for example, a plus driver rotatably provided with respect to the gripping portion 330. The force sensor 34 detects the force received by the robot hand 33 from the screw 50.

[0019] The robot hand 33 rotates the driver 331 with respect to the head 501 of the screw 50 gripped by the gripping portion 330, detects the force applied from the head 501 to the robot hand 33 by the force sensor 34, and attaches the driver 331 to the head 501 of the screw 50. Attaching the driver 331 to the head 501 of the screw 50 means, for example, fitting the cross-shaped tip of the driver 331, which is a plus driver, into the cross-shaped hole provided in the head 501. When the driver 331 is attached to the head 501 of the screw 50, for example, when the tip of the driver 331 is properly fitted into the cross-shaped hole of the head 501, the force F in the Z-axis direction received by the robot hand 33 detected by the force sensor 34 becomes equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value Th. When the tip of the driver 331 is not fitted into the cross-shaped hole of the head 501, the force F detected by the force sensor 34 exceeds the threshold value Th.

[0020] The control device 60 has a processor 61, a primary memory 62, and a secondary memory 63. The processor 61 is composed of, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The processor 61 may be composed of a GPU (Graphic Processing Unit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), an FPU (Floating point number Processing Unit), a PPU (Physics Processing Unit), a microcontroller, or a combination thereof. The primary memory 62 is composed of, for example, a semiconductor RAM (Random Access Memory). The secondary memory 63 is composed of, for example, a flash memory, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), an ODD (Optical Disk Drive), or a combination thereof.

[0021] The processor 61 expands the program P stored in the secondary memory 63 onto the primary memory 62. Then, the processor 61 controls each part of the storage device 10, the transport device 20, and the pickup device 30 according to the instructions included in the program P expanded onto the primary memory 62. In this embodiment, a configuration is adopted in which a single processor (processor 61) is used to control each part of the pickup system 1, but it is not limited thereto. That is, a configuration may be adopted in which a plurality of processors are used to control each part of the pickup system 1. In this case, the plurality of processors that cooperate to control each part of the pickup system 1 may be provided in a single computer and configured to be communicable with each other, or may be provided distributedly in a plurality of computers and configured to be communicable with each other via a network. As an example, a mode in which a processor built in a computer constituting a cloud server and a processor built in a computer owned by a user of the cloud server execute the program P in cooperation can be considered.

[0022] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the tray. The tray 40 shown in FIG. 2 has four accommodating portions 41 arranged two-dimensionally at predetermined intervals in the X-axis direction and three in the Y-axis direction. The plurality of accommodating portions 41 each have a recess 411 and a through hole 412. The recess 411 of the accommodating portion 41 has a diameter larger than that of the head 501 of the screw 50 shown in FIG. 1, for example. The through hole 412 penetrates from the recess 411 to the lower surface of the tray 40. The diameter of the through hole 412 is smaller than that of the head 501 of the screw 50 and larger than that of the shaft portion 502, for example. In a state where the screw 50 is accommodated in the tray 40, the head 501 is accommodated inside the recess 411, and the shaft portion 502 is accommodated inside the through hole 412. The head 501 of the screw 50 is located below the upper surface of the tray 40 when accommodated inside the recess 411. Therefore, the screw 50 accommodated inside the recess 411 is not removed from above the tray 40 by the scraper 13. In a state where the head 501 is not accommodated inside the recess 411, for example, when the shaft portion 502 of the screw 50 is caught in the recess 411, the screw 50 is removed from above the tray 40 by the scraper 13. Since the accommodating portion 41 of the tray 40 is configured to be able to accommodate the head 501 of the screw 50 so as to be located below the upper surface of the tray 40, the accommodating device 10 of the pickup system 1 can remove the screw 50 remaining on the upper surface of the tray 40 and not accommodated in the accommodating portion 41 by the scraper 13.

[0023] (Pickup method) FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of a pickup method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The pickup method shown in FIG. 3 is executed by the control device 60 executing a program P and controlling each part of the pickup system 1. The pickup method shown in FIG. 3 has an accommodation step S100, a conveyance step S200, a preparation step S300, and a pickup step S400.

[0024] (Accommodation step S100) In the housing process S100, the housing device 10 houses the screws 50 in the housing portion 41 of the tray 40. When the tray 40 is placed on the vibrating conveyor 12, the feeder 11 supplies the screws 50 to the upper surface of the tray 40. The vibrating conveyor 12 vibrates the tray 40 for a predetermined time and moves the screws 50 on the tray 40. When the screws 50 move to the position of the housing portion 41 due to the vibration by the vibrating conveyor 12, the shaft portion 502 is guided along the concave portion 411 into the through hole 412, and the shaft portion 502 is inserted into the through hole 412. For the screw 50 with the shaft portion 502 inserted into the through hole 412, the head portion 501 is housed inside the concave portion 411.

[0025] After vibrating the tray 40 for a predetermined time, the vibrating conveyor 12 conveys the tray 40 toward the conveying device 20. A scraper 13 is arranged downstream of the vibrating conveyor 12. The scraper 13 removes the screws 50 remaining on the tray 40 without being housed in the housing portion 41 from the tray 40. The screws 50 removed by the scraper 13 fall, for example, into a storage box (not shown) arranged under the vibrating conveyor 12. The screws 50 that have fallen into the storage box are returned to the feeder 11. The tray 40 is sent out from the vibrating conveyor 12 to the conveying device 20. Hereinafter, the description will be made assuming that all the housing portions 41 provided on the upper surface of the tray 40 are filled with the screws 50.

[0026] (Conveying process S200) In the conveying process S200, the conveying device 20 conveys the tray 40 to the mounting portion A. The conveying conveyor 21 conveys the tray 40 sent out from the vibrating conveyor 12 to the conveying elevator 22. The conveying elevator 22 holds a predetermined number of trays 40. The conveying elevator 22 sends out the held trays 40 to the conveying conveyor 23. The conveying conveyor 23 conveys the tray 40 from the conveying elevator 22 to the mounting portion A.

[0027] (Preparation process S300) FIG. 4 is a diagram used for the description of the preparation step S300. The preparation step S300 is an example of the first step. In the preparation step S300, preparations are made for picking up the screw 50 by the robot hand 33. For example, when the tray 40 is conveyed to the placement unit A, the lifting unit 32 moves the plate 31 upward to bring the plate 31 close to the tray 40. The plate 31 enters the placement unit A from below, and its protruding portion 310 abuts against the shaft portion 502 of the screw 50. After the protruding portion 310 abuts against the shaft portion 502, the lifting unit 32 further raises the plate 31 to lift the screw 50 upward. As a result, the head portion 501 of the screw 50 is pushed out from the concave portion 411 of the tray 40.

[0028] (Pick-up step S400) FIG. 5 is a diagram used to explain the pickup process S400. The pickup process S400 is an example of the second process. In FIG. 5, the head 501 of the screw 50 is pushed out from the recess 411 of the tray 40. In the pickup process S400, the robot hand 33 picks up the screw 50 from the tray 40. The control device 60 drives the robot arm 35 to move the robot hand 33 to the position of the accommodation part 41 of the tray 40. Then, the control device 60 grips the head 501 of the screw 50 with the gripping part 330 of the robot hand 33. The control device 60 abuts the driver 331 against the head 501 of the screw 50 and rotates the driver 331 relative to the gripping part 330. The control device 60 detects the force F in the Z-axis direction received by the robot hand 33 from the screw 50 with the force sensor 34. The control device 60 stops the driver 331, for example, at a position where the force F detected by the force sensor 34 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value Th. When the force F detected by the force sensor 34 becomes equal to or less than the predetermined threshold value Th, the control device 60 determines that the driver 331 is attached to the screw 50, moves the robot hand 33 upward, and pulls out the screw 50 from the accommodation part 41. When the force F detected by the force sensor 34 exceeds the predetermined threshold value Th, the control device 60 determines that the driver 331 is not attached to the screw 50. If the force F detected by the force sensor 34 does not become equal to or less than the predetermined threshold value Th even when the driver 331 is rotated one or more times, the control device 60 may determine that the screw 50 is not properly accommodated in the accommodation part 41 and abort the pickup of that screw 50. That the screw 50 is not properly accommodated in the accommodation part 41 means, for example, that the shaft part 502 of the screw 50 is caught in the recess 411. The screw 50 left on the tray 40 without being picked up may be returned to the feeder 11 by, for example, a return conveyor or the like.

[0029] 〔Modification Example〕 In the above-described embodiment, it was assumed that the tray 40 had 12 storage portions 41 two-dimensionally arranged along the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction on its upper surface. The tray 40 only needs to be provided with at least one storage portion 41, and the number of storage portions 41 is not limited to 12. Further, the positions where the storage portions 41 are provided do not necessarily have to be arranged at equal intervals, and can be arranged in any shape on the upper surface of the tray 40.

[0030] In the above-described embodiment, in the storage step S100, it was described that all the storage portions 41 of the tray 40 were filled with the screws 50, but it is not limited to this. In the storage step S100, the control device 60 may control the storage device 10 to fill all the storage portions 41 with the screws 50, or even if not all the storage portions 41 are filled with the screws 50 by the time it reaches the downstream of the vibration conveyor 12, the control device 60 may send out the tray 40 to the conveying device 20. In the conveying step S200 and the preparation step S300, the control device 60 may detect whether or not the screws 50 are stored at each position of the storage portion 41 of the tray 40. For example, infrared light or the like may be irradiated from below the tray 40, and it may be determined that the screws 50 are not stored at the positions where the infrared light or the like can be received through the storage portion 41. The light source for irradiating infrared light or the like may be provided, for example, at the tip of the protruding portion 310 or around the protruding portion 310. It may be decided to provide a light source on the robot hand 33 and a light receiving portion on the plate 31. Further, a sensor for detecting the contact of the shaft portion 502 of the screw 50 may be provided at the tip of the protruding portion 310.

[0031] In the above-described embodiment, the feeder 11 supplies the screws 50 toward the upper surface of the tray 40 arranged on the vibration conveyor 12. However, the place where the feeder 11 supplies the screws 50 to the upper surface of the tray 40 is not limited to only the vibration conveyor 12. For example, the feeder 11 may supply the screws 50 to the upper surface of the tray 40 at a location further upstream than the vibration conveyor 12.

[0032] Also, in the above embodiment, after the screws 50 are supplied from the feeder 11 to the tray 40, the vibration conveyor 12 vibrates the tray 40 in place for a predetermined time and then conveys the tray 40 to the conveying device 20. However, the vibration conveyor 12 may convey the tray 40 to the conveying device 20 while vibrating the tray 40 after the screws 50 are supplied from the feeder 11 to the tray 40.

[0033] In the above embodiment, in the preparation step, the plate 31 was raised by the elevating unit 32 to bring the plate 31 and the tray 40 closer together and to bring the protruding portion 310 into contact with the shaft portion 502 of the screw 50. However, the method of bringing the protruding portion 310 into contact with the shaft portion 502 is not limited to simply raising the plate 31 by the elevating unit 32. For example, the relative position of the plate 31 with respect to the tray 40 may be changed by lowering the tray 40 by an elevating unit provided in the mounting portion A with respect to the plate 31 fixed at a predetermined position in the mounting portion A.

[0034] In the above embodiment, the protruding portions 310 of the plate 31 were arranged in the same manner as the accommodating portions 41 of the tray 40, but it is not limited to this. For example, one protruding portion 310 may be provided to correspond to a plurality of accommodating portions 41. When one protruding portion 310 is provided to correspond to a plurality of accommodating portions 41, a concave portion that fits with the protruding portion may be provided on the lower surface side of the tray 40.

[0035] In the above-described embodiment, the pickup device 30 picks up the screw 50 from the tray 40. However, the component picked up by the pickup device 30 from the tray 40 may be any component having a shaft portion extending from the head portion, and is not limited to screws only. The component picked up by the pickup device 30 may be, for example, a screw, a bolt, a crimp terminal, or the like. When the component picked up by the pickup device 30 is a crimp terminal, the head portion is a connection portion caulked to wiring or the like, and the shaft portion is the tip portion inserted into a connector or fixed to a terminal block. The tool provided on the robot hand 33 is not limited to the driver 331 only, and is changed according to the component to be picked up. For example, when the component to be picked up is a bolt, the robot hand 33 may have a wrench corresponding to the head shape of the bolt as a tool. Further, when the component to be picked up is a crimp terminal, the robot hand 33 may have a crimping tool for caulking the crimp terminal to an electric wire or the like. The robot hand 33 may switch the tool according to the component to be picked up under the control of the control device 60.

[0036] In the above-described embodiment, the force sensor 34 is configured to detect the force F in the Z-axis direction that the robot hand 33 receives from the screw 50. However, the force sensor 34 may further detect the forces in the X-axis and Y-axis directions that the robot hand 33 receives from the screw 50. When the force sensor 34 detects the forces (FX, FY, FZ) in the X-axis direction, Y-axis direction, and Z-axis direction, in the pickup step S400, the control device 60 may determine that the driver 331 is attached to the screw 50 when the forces (FX, FY, FZ) are each equal to or less than the threshold values (ThX, ThY, ThZ) in their respective directions. When at least one of the forces (FX, FY, FZ) exceeds the threshold value (ThX, ThY, ThZ) in its respective direction, the control device 60 may determine that the driver 331 is not attached to the screw 50. Even if the control device 60 rotates the driver 331 one or more times, if the forces (FX, FY, FZ) detected by the force sensor 34 do not become equal to or less than the threshold values (ThX, ThY, ThZ) in their respective directions, the control device 60 may determine that the screw 50 is not properly accommodated in the accommodation portion 41 and abort the pickup of that screw 50. Further, the force sensor 34 may be configured to detect the magnitudes (MX, MY, MZ) of the moments about the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis. When the tip of the driver 331 is properly fitted into the cross recess of the head 501 of the screw 50, the moment MZ about the Z-axis is detected as being large. Therefore, in the pickup step S400, the control device 60 may determine that the driver 331 is attached to the screw 50 when the moment MZ about the Z-axis exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

[0037] In the above-described embodiment, in the accommodation step S100, the accommodation device 10 is configured to accommodate the screw 50 in the accommodation portion 41 of the tray 40. However, the method of accommodating the screw 50 in the tray 40 is not limited to the method using the accommodation device 10, and any method can be used.

[0038] In the above-described embodiment, in the conveying step S200, the conveying device 20 conveys the tray 40 to the mounting portion A. However, the method of conveying the tray 40 to the mounting portion A is not limited to the method using the conveying device 20, and any method can be used.

[0039] 〔Claims〕 (Claim 1) A picking-up method in which a robot hand picks up a component from a tray based on the control of a control device, wherein the component has a shaft portion extending from a head portion, the tray has a concave portion on the upper surface capable of accommodating the head portion inside, a through hole penetrating from the concave portion toward the lower surface and capable of accommodating the shaft portion, a plate having a columnar protrusion on the upper surface is brought close to the lower surface of the tray, the protrusion is brought into contact with the shaft portion, and a first step of pushing up the head portion to a position above the upper surface of the tray, and a second step of causing the robot hand to grip the head portion pushed up to a position above the upper surface of the tray.

[0040] According to the above-described embodiment, since the head portion of the component is pushed up to a position above the upper surface of the tray, the head portion of the component can be easily gripped by the robot hand.

[0041] (Claim 2) The robot hand has a gripping portion for gripping the component and a tool corresponding to the component. In the second step, the control device rotates the tool with respect to the head portion gripped by the gripping portion, detects the force applied to the head portion from the robot hand by a force sensor, and attaches the tool to the head portion based on the force detected by the force sensor. The picking-up method according to Claim 1.

[0042] According to the above-described embodiment, since the tool is attached to the head portion of the gripped component, after the gripped component is transported to a predetermined position, the attachment work can be quickly performed. Thereby, the man-hours for the component mounting work can be reduced.

[0043] (Clause 3) A pickup device comprising: a control device; a tray having, on an upper surface, a recess capable of accommodating therein the head of a component whose shaft portion extends from the head, and having a through-hole penetrating from the recess toward a lower surface and capable of accommodating the shaft portion; a plate disposed below the lower surface of the tray and having a columnar protrusion on an upper surface; a lifting / lowering unit for moving the plate or the tray up and down; and a robot hand, wherein the control device controls the lifting / lowering unit to bring the plate and the lower surface of the tray close to each other, bring the protrusion and the shaft portion into contact with each other, push up the head above a position of the upper surface of the tray, and cause the robot hand to grip the pushed-up head.

[0044] According to the above embodiment, since the head of the component is pushed up to a position above the upper surface of the tray, it is possible to provide a pickup device that can easily grip the head of the component with a robot hand.

[0045] (Clause 4) A pickup system comprising the pickup device according to Clause 3 and a housing device for supplying a component to an upper surface of the tray and housing the component in the tray.

[0046] According to the above embodiment, since the head of the component is pushed up to a position above the upper surface of the tray, it is possible to provide a pickup system that can easily grip the head of the component with a robot hand.

[0047] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present disclosure.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0048] 1 Pickup system, 10 Housing device, 30 Pickup device, 31 Plate, 32 Lifting / lowering unit, 33 Robot hand, 34 Force sensor, 40 Tray, 41 Accommodating portion, 50 Screw (component), 60 Control device, 61 Processor, 310 Protrusion, 330 Gripping Portion, 331 Driver (Tool), 411 Recess, 412 Through-Hole, 501 Head, 502 Shaft Portion, S300 Preparation Process (First Process), S400 Pickup Process (Second Process)

Claims

1. A pickup method in which a robot hand picks up a component from a tray based on the control of a control device, comprising: the component has a shaft portion extending from a head portion; the tray has a recess on its upper surface capable of accommodating the head portion therein, a through-hole penetrating from the recess toward the lower surface and capable of accommodating the shaft portion; a first step of bringing a plate having a columnar protrusion on its upper surface close to the lower surface of the tray, bringing the protrusion into contact with the shaft portion, and pushing up the head portion to a position above the upper surface of the tray; a second step of causing the robot hand to grip the head portion pushed up to a position above the upper surface of the tray. The pickup method includes these steps.

2. The robot hand has a gripping portion for gripping the component and a tool corresponding to the component. In the second step, the control device rotates the tool with respect to the head portion gripped by the gripping portion, detects, by a force sensor, the force applied to the robot hand from the head portion, and attaches the tool to the head portion based on the force detected by the force sensor. The pickup method according to claim 1.

3. A control device; a tray having, on its upper surface, a recess capable of accommodating therein the head portion of a component with a shaft portion extending from the head portion, the recess penetrating from the upper surface toward the lower surface and having a through-hole capable of accommodating the shaft portion; a plate disposed below the lower surface of the tray and having a columnar protrusion on its upper surface; a lifting portion for moving the plate or the tray up and down; a robot hand. The pickup device is provided with these components. The control device controls the lifting portion to bring the plate close to the lower surface of the tray, bring the protrusion into contact with the shaft portion, push up the head portion to a position above the upper surface of the tray, and cause the robot hand to grip the pushed-up head portion.

4. A pickup system comprising the pickup device according to claim 3, and a housing device for supplying a component to the upper surface of the tray and housing the component in the tray.

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