Processing method

Abstract

To provide a processing method or the like capable of appropriately sucking an object according to a shape of the object.SOLUTION: A processing method of processing an object includes: a selection step of selecting the object to be sucked; an approaching step of causing a suction nozzle to approach to the vicinity of one end in a longitudinal direction of the object; and a suction step of sucking the entire object into the suction nozzle from one end side of the object in top view. In the selection step, the object is selected from among a plurality of candidates arranged so as not to overlap with each other in top view.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a processing method for processing an object. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a food inspection device that detects foreign matter in food using normalized data of only non-defective products. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6542477 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, Patent Document 1 does not disclose any technology for appropriately removing foreign matter in food according to the shape of the foreign matter.

[0005] Therefore, in one aspect, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a processing method that can appropriately suck an object according to the shape of the object. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, A processing method for processing an object, comprising: a selection step of selecting an object to be sucked; an approaching step of bringing a suction nozzle close to one end of the object in the longitudinal direction; a suction step of sucking the entire object into a suction nozzle from the one end side of the object as seen from above; A processing method is provided, comprising: [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an object can be appropriately sucked in accordance with the shape of the object. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a front view showing the shape of a suction nozzle used in the present embodiment. [Figure 1A] FIG. 2 is a side view showing the shape of the suction nozzle. [Figure 1B] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the shape of a suction nozzle. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a top view schematically showing the shape of a clove. [Figure 2A] FIG. 4 is a front view showing the shape of the suction port. [Figure 3] 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a processing apparatus in which a processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention is performed. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a control system of the processing apparatus. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a side view showing another state in which the suction nozzle has been moved to a position close to the cloves. [Figure 6] 10A and 10B are perspective views showing examples of suction nozzles with different suction port shapes. [Figure 6A] 10A and 10B are perspective views showing examples of suction nozzles with different suction port shapes. [Figure 6B] 10A and 10B are perspective views showing examples of suction nozzles with different suction port shapes. [Figure 6C] 10A and 10B are perspective views showing examples of suction nozzles with different suction port shapes. [Figure 6D] 10A and 10B are perspective views showing examples of suction nozzles with different suction port shapes. [Figure 6E] 10A and 10B are perspective views showing examples of suction nozzles with different suction port shapes. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] In the following, an example of the object will be described using cloves (a type of spice). However, in this disclosure, the object is arbitrary and is not limited to food or food-related items. For example, industrial products such as headed screws, headed bolts, and nails are also included in the object.

[0010] Figure 1 is a front view showing the shape of the suction nozzle used in this embodiment, Figure 1A is a side view showing the shape of the suction nozzle, Figure 1B is a perspective view showing the shape of the suction nozzle, Figure 2 is a top view schematically showing the shape of the clove, and Figure 2A is a front view showing the shape of the suction port.

[0011] As shown in Figures 1 to 1B, suction nozzle 10 is provided with suction port 11 for sucking in cloves 90 and attachment portion 12. Arrow 15 indicates the suction direction of suction nozzle 10. Note that the coordinate systems shown in Figures 1, 1A, and 2A are set based on the direction of suction nozzle 10, but the Z axis faces vertically (upward is the Z direction).

[0012] As shown in Fig. 2, clove 90 is generally shaped such that the left-right direction in Fig. 2 is the long axis direction, and has a length L in the long axis direction. A head 91 is formed on the right end side of clove 90 in Fig. 2. A diameter W1 of head 91 is larger than a diameter W2 of clove 90 on the left end side in Fig. 2. Diameter W1 of head 91 corresponds to the maximum diameter of clove 90 in the direction perpendicular to the long axis direction.

[0013] On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2A, the suction port 11 of the suction nozzle 10 has a shape having a maximum width W11 in the Y direction and a maximum diameter W12 in the Z direction.

[0014] Here, the length L of the clove 90 in the long axis direction is set to be equal to or greater than the maximum diameter W12 of the suction port 11. Therefore, the clove 90 will not be sucked into the suction port 11 with the long axis direction of the clove 90 aligned, for example, within a vertical plane.

[0015] Furthermore, the diameter W1, which corresponds to the maximum diameter perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the clove 90, is equal to or less than the maximum width W11 of the suction port 11 of the suction nozzle 10. In other words, depending on the orientation of the clove 90, the entire clove 90, including the head 91, satisfies the condition that it can be sucked into the suction nozzle 10 through the suction port 11.

[0016] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a processing apparatus in which the processing method of this embodiment is performed, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a control system of the processing apparatus.

[0017] 3, the processing device 100 is provided with a conveying device 20, such as a belt conveyor, for conveying cloves 90, and a robot mechanism 30 that enables movement of the suction nozzle 10. The robot mechanism 30 functions, for example, as an articulated robot, and can control at least the vertical position of the suction nozzle 10 and the rotation angle around the Z axis.

[0018] 4, the processing device 100 is further provided with an arithmetic and control unit 50, which is connected to a camera 51 capable of photographing the cloves 90 on the conveying device 20 and an image recognition device 52 that performs image recognition processing on the image acquired by the camera 51. The arithmetic and control unit 50 is also connected to the conveying device 20, the robot mechanism 30, and a suction device 55. The camera 51, the image recognition device 52, the conveying device 20, the robot mechanism 30, and the suction device 55 are controlled by the arithmetic and control unit 50.

[0019] The suction nozzle 10 is attached to the tip of the robot mechanism 30 (for example, the tip of an arm) via an attachment part 12. A camera 51 may also be attached to the attachment part 12, and in this case, the camera 51 may be capable of simultaneously photographing the area around the suction port 11 and the cloves 90 on the transport device 20. Note that multiple cameras, i.e., cameras other than the camera 51, may be provided, and their installation positions may also be arbitrary.

[0020] Next, the operation of the processing device that executes the selection step, approach step, and suction step will be described.

[0021] The cloves 90 are conveyed by the conveying device 20, for example, from right to left in FIG. 3 . The cloves 90 are placed on the conveying device 20 so that they do not overlap each other when viewed from above. For example, one method for placing the cloves so that they do not overlap is to place the cloves on the conveying device and then spread them out by a worker or machine. This makes it possible to recognize the shape and longitudinal direction of each clove 90.

[0022] Cloves 90 as candidates to be transported by the transport device 20 are photographed by a camera 51 or the like, and the image is acquired by the calculation control unit 50. The acquired image is then analyzed through image recognition by an image recognition device 52, and the quality of each clove 90 is determined, and the long axis direction of cloves 90 determined to be defective is recognized.

[0023] If a clove 90 is found to be defective, the suction nozzle 10, which has been waiting above, is lowered by the robot mechanism 30 and moved, with its angle controlled, to a position close to the clove 90. During this time, the operation of the suction device 55 is stopped.

[0024] Next, suction device 55 is operated under the control of calculation control unit 50, and the cloves 90 are sucked entirely into suction nozzle 10 through suction port 11. Note that while suction nozzle 10 is being moved to suck the cloves 90, the position of suction nozzle 10 may be controlled in accordance with the conveying speed of conveying device 20. Alternatively, while suction nozzle 10 is being moved to suck the cloves 90, conveying by conveying device 20 may be stopped or the conveying speed of conveying device 20 may be slowed down.

[0025] 1 and 1A show a state in which suction nozzle 10 has been moved to a position close to a clove 90 determined to be defective. At this time, robot mechanism 30 is controlled so that suction nozzle 10 approaches the end of clove 90 on the head 91 side, with the longitudinal direction of clove 90 (the left-right direction in FIG. 1A) and the suction direction of suction nozzle 10 (the direction of arrow 15) being approximately the same when viewed from above.

[0026] When the suction device 55 is operated, the cloves 90 are sucked from the head 91 (one end) side through the suction port 11, and the entire cloves 90 are sucked into the suction nozzle 10. The cloves 90 are then transported along the air flow by the suction device 55 to a predetermined destination downstream of the suction nozzle 10 (for example, a defective product collection box). Note that cloves 90 determined to be non-defective are not sucked by the suction nozzle 10, but are transported to another destination by the transport device 20. This allows non-defective products to be separated from defective products.

[0027] FIG. 5 is a side view showing another state in which the suction nozzle 10 has been moved to a position close to a clove. Similar to the state shown in FIGS. 1 and 1A, FIG. 5 shows the state in which the suction nozzle 10 has been moved to a position close to the vicinity of a clove 90 determined to be defective, but the orientation of the clove 90 is different from that shown in FIGS. 1 and 1A. That is, in the state shown in FIGS. 1 and 1A, the head 91 is positioned on the right side in FIG. 1A, whereas in the state shown in FIG. 5, the head 91 is positioned on the left side in FIG. 5. However, even in the state shown in FIG. 5, the suction nozzle 10 is approaching the end of the clove 90 on the head 91 side, with the longitudinal direction of the clove 90 (the left-right direction in FIG. 1A) and the suction direction of the suction nozzle 10 (the direction of arrow 15) being substantially the same in a top view.

[0028] When suction device 55 is operated from the state shown in Fig. 5, cloves 90 rotate clockwise in Fig. 5 and are sucked through suction port 11 from the end on the head 91 side, and the entire cloves 90 are sucked into suction nozzle 10. Thereafter, cloves 90 are similarly transported along the air flow by suction device 55 and transported to a predetermined destination downstream of suction nozzle 10.

[0029] In this embodiment, the cloves 90 are sucked into the suction nozzle 10 from the head 91, so that the head 91 of the cloves 90 does not get caught on the edge of the suction port 11, and the cloves 90 can be sucked smoothly. If suction is performed from the opposite side of the head 91, the head 91 will sway in a direction intersecting the suction direction during the suction process, increasing the possibility that the head 91 will interfere with the nozzle end. Therefore, it is preferable to suck from the head 91 in this manner. Furthermore, in the approaching step, the suction nozzle 10 is controlled to approach the end of the clove 90 on the head 91 side, with the orientation such that the longitudinal direction of the clove 90 and the suction direction of the suction nozzle 10 are substantially the same in a top view. Therefore, in the suction step, the cloves 90 can be stably sucked into the suction nozzle 10 from the head 91.

[0030] Furthermore, in this embodiment, two states (shown in FIGS. 1A and 5 ) are permitted in which the relationship between the orientation of the suction nozzle 10 when approaching a clove 90 determined to be defective and the orientation of the clove 90 is reversed. Therefore, for example, when aligning the orientation of the suction nozzle 10 with the orientation of a clove 90 conveyed by the conveying device 20 in a random direction, it is sufficient to rotate the angle of the suction nozzle 10 by a maximum of approximately 90 degrees. In other words, with regard to the angle around the Z-axis, regardless of the angle of the suction nozzle 10 during standby, rotating the suction nozzle 10 by a maximum of 90 degrees around that axis can satisfy either of the two conditions. Therefore, cloves 90 determined to be defective can be quickly sucked. The long axes of the cloves 90 conveyed by the conveying device 200 may be aligned in advance. In this case, it is not necessary to align the angle of the suction nozzle 10 with the orientation of the clove 90, or the adjustment range of the angle of the suction nozzle 10 can be reduced.

[0031] 6 to 6E are perspective views showing examples of suction nozzles with different shapes of suction ports. The shape of the suction port can be changed appropriately depending on the shape of the object.

[0032] Suction nozzle 10A shown in Fig. 6 has suction port 11A that is expanded in the Z direction (upward) beyond suction port 11. Suction nozzle 10B shown in Fig. 6A, suction nozzle 10C shown in Fig. 6B, and suction nozzle 10D shown in Fig. 6C each have, at their upper portions, suction ports 11B, 11C, and 11D that are expanded further in the Z direction and left-right directions beyond suction port 11A.

[0033] Suction nozzle 10E shown in FIG. 6D and suction nozzle 10F shown in FIG. 6E each include suction port 11E and suction port 11F, each having a shape with maximum width in the left-right direction at an upper portion relative to the center.

[0034] As described above, according to this embodiment, processing is performed according to the shape of the cloves 90, so that the cloves 90 can be appropriately sucked. For example, since the cloves 90 are sucked into the suction nozzle 10 from the head 91, the head 91 of the cloves 90 does not get caught on the edge of the suction port 11, and the cloves 90 can be smoothly sucked.

[0035] Although each embodiment has been described in detail above, it is not limited to the specific embodiments, and various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the claims. It is also possible to combine all or a plurality of the components of the above-described embodiments. For example, in this disclosure, the object is arbitrary and is not limited to food or food-related items. For example, industrial products such as headed screws, headed bolts, and nails are also included as objects. Furthermore, for example, the object to be sucked may be one that has been determined to be a non-defective product. Objects of a specific rank can also be sucked in order to rank the objects. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 10, 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D, 10E, 10F suction nozzle 11, 11A, 11B, 11C, 11D, 11E, 11F Suction port 20. Conveyor 30 Robot Mechanism 51 Camera 90 cloves 91 Head 100 Processing equipment

Claims

1. A processing method for processing an object, comprising: a selection step of selecting an object to be sucked; an approaching step of bringing a suction nozzle close to one end of the object in the longitudinal direction; a suction step of sucking the entire object into a suction nozzle from the one end side of the object as seen from above; A processing method comprising:

2. The processing method according to claim 1 , wherein the selecting step selects the target object from a plurality of candidates arranged so as not to overlap each other in a top view.

3. The processing method according to claim 1 , wherein the length of the object in the major axis direction is equal to or greater than the maximum diameter of the suction port of the suction nozzle.

4. The processing method according to claim 1 , wherein the maximum diameter of the object perpendicular to the longitudinal direction is equal to or smaller than the width of the suction opening of the suction nozzle.

5. The processing method according to claim 1 , wherein in the approaching step, the suction nozzle is brought close to the one end in a position in which a longitudinal direction of the object and a suction direction of the suction nozzle are substantially the same in a top view.

6. The processing method according to claim 1 , wherein the one end is wider than the other end in the longitudinal direction of the object when viewed from above.

7. The processing method according to claim 1 , wherein the object sucked in the suction step is transported to a predetermined destination downstream of the suction nozzle.

8. A processing method for processing an object, comprising: an approaching step of bringing the suction nozzle close to the object; a suction step of sucking the entire object into a suction nozzle from one end side of the object in a longitudinal direction as viewed from above; Equipped with The processing method, wherein the one end is wider than the other end in the longitudinal direction of the object when viewed from above.

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