Lumber transport system

Abstract

To prevent double picking when handling workpieces such as breathable laminated plate materials with a suction pad of a conveying system. [Solution] A separation-only suction pad device 104 is disposed at a corner of stacked plate materials 107. The separation-only suction pad device 104 is fitted with a separation-only suction pad 23 that is driven up and down by an electric motor 22 along a vertically erected guide rail 21. The separation-only suction pad 23 is a small suction pad with low suction force, and as shown in Figures 1 and 2, is positioned above a corner of a top plate material 31 of the stacked plate materials 107. The top plate material 31, which has been sucked up by the suction pad 1 of a transport robot 105, is carried into an input port 106 of a processing machine by the transport robot 105, processed by the processing machine (not shown), and then sucked up by the suction pad 1 of the transport robot 105 and carried out to a product discharge port 102.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a lumber conveying system with a function to prevent double picking, used in a conveying system for processed materials such as wooden plywood. More specifically, the present invention relates to a lumber conveying system that prevents double picking when breathable board materials such as stacked wooden plywood are sucked by a suction pad hand. [Background technology]

[0002] In wood processing systems for processing wood plywood and the like, it is known that when machining is performed using a machining device, a conveying device such as a robot supplies and unloads workpieces to and from the machining device (see, for example, Patent Document 1). It is also known that a vacuum suction pad provided on a hand is used to suck and remove plywood and other plate materials one by one from a temporary storage area where plywood is stacked (see, for example, Patent Document 2). Meanwhile, the suction pads used in the hands of robots and the like that are used for both loading and unloading for machining use a large diameter suction pad because the size of the workpiece becomes smaller before and after machining and it is therefore necessary to grip it only near the center of gravity. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-166657 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-152562 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Typically, a large-diameter suction pad is used to suction the workpiece near its center of gravity, causing the plate-shaped material to bend and separate the second piece. However, when using this large-diameter suction pad to suction stacked breathable materials, if the suction pad has a large suction force, it may pick up both the first and second pieces of the stacked workpieces at the same time. An object of the present invention is to provide a wood transport system that prevents double picking when handling workpieces such as breathable laminated boards with the suction pads of a transport robot. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following means. In other words, the wood transport system of Invention 1 is a wood transport system that uses a suction pad hand to suck and transport the topmost workpiece from stacked breathable workpieces one sheet at a time, and is characterized by having a separation-only suction pad that sucks onto a part of the top surface of the workpiece prior to the suction and lifts the topmost workpiece.

[0006] The lumber transport system of the present invention 2 is the lumber transport system of the present invention 1, characterized in that the lumber transport system transports lumber into and out of a processing machine. The lumber transport system of Invention 3 is Invention 2, characterized in that the lumber transport system is a single system that serves both the loading and unloading of the processing machine.

[0007] The wood transport system of Invention 4 is Invention 2 or 3, characterized in that the separation-dedicated suction pad is driven up and down by an electric motor. The wood transport system of Invention 5 is characterized in that, in Invention 4, the workpiece is a rectangular wooden plywood, and the separation-only suction pads are arranged at the corners of the rectangle. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] The wood transport system of the present invention no longer picks up two pieces of workpiece material, such as breathable laminated boards, when handling them with the suction pads of the transport robot. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 is a front view of the entire lumber transport system of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the first step of the wood material transport process of the wood material transport system of the present invention, in which the separation-dedicated suction pad descends to suck up the topmost board material stacked in the board material temporary storage area. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 shows the second step of the wood material transport process of the wood material transport system of the present invention, and is an explanatory view showing the step in which the separation-dedicated suction pad rises to lift up the corner of the uppermost board material. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the third step of the wood material transport process of the wood material transport system of the present invention, in which the suction pad of the transport robot descends to suck the center of gravity of the uppermost board material. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 shows the fourth step of the wood material transport process of the wood material transport system of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram showing the step in which the suction pad of the transport robot rises to lift the uppermost board material to a horizontal position. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 shows the fifth step of the wood transport process of the wood transport system of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram showing the process in which the suction pad of the transport robot rotates counterclockwise to move the corner of the top layer of board material away from the separation-dedicated suction pad. [Figure 8] Figure 8 shows the sixth step of the wood transport process of the wood transport system of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram showing the process in which the suction pad of the transport robot rises and then rotates counterclockwise to transport the top layer of board material into the inlet of the processing machine. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall front view of a wood transport system according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the wood transport system according to the present invention comprises a plate inlet 101, a product outlet 102, a plate suction area 103, a separation-specific suction pad device 104, a transport robot 105, and an inlet 106 for a processing machine. Plates 107 are automatically transported from the plate inlet 101 to the plate suction area 103 via a chain conveyor. In this example, the plate 107 is a rectangular piece of breathable plywood. The transport robot 105 is, for example, a six-axis articulated robot, and a large-diameter suction pad 1 with strong suction force is attached to the tip of the arm of the transport robot 105. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the suction pad 1 is positioned above the center of gravity of the top plate 31 of the stack of plate materials 107.

[0011] The separation-only suction pad device 104 is disposed at a corner of the stacked plate materials 107. The separation-only suction pad device 104 is equipped with a separation-only suction pad 23 that is driven up and down (vertically) by an electric motor 22 along a vertically erected guide rail 21. A vertically long rack (not shown) is attached to the guide rail 21, and a gear (not shown) attached to the output shaft of the electric motor 22 engages with the rack, and the rotation of the gear drives the separation-only suction pad 23 up and down. The separation-only suction pad 23 is a small suction pad with low suction force, and in this example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, it is positioned above the corner of the topmost plate material 31 of the stacked plate materials 107. The topmost plate material 31, which has been sucked by the suction pad 1 of the transport robot 105, is carried into an input port 106 of a processing machine by the transport robot 105, processed by the processing machine (not shown), and then sucked by the suction pad 1 of the transport robot 105 and carried out to a product discharge port 102.

[0012] Next, the wood transport process of the wood transport system of the present invention will be described. Figure 3 shows the first step of the wood transport process of the wood transport system of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram showing the step in which separation-only suction pad 23 descends to adsorb the topmost plate 31 stacked in the temporary plate storage area. As shown in Figure 3, electric motor 22 is driven to lower separation-only suction pad 23 to a position where it abuts the top surface of the topmost plate 31, and then air is sucked from separation-only suction pad 23, causing separation-only suction pad 23 to adsorb the topmost plate 31. Figure 4 shows the second step of the wood transport process of the wood transport system of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram showing the step in which separation-only suction pad 23 ascends to lift up a corner of the topmost plate 31. 4, when electric motor 22 is driven and separation-dedicated suction pad 23 rises a predetermined distance, the corner of top plate material 31 is lifted, creating a gap between the underside of the corner of top plate material 31 and the upper side of the corner of second-layer plate material 32, causing top plate material 31 to bend and separate from second-layer plate material 32. Because separation-dedicated suction pad 23 has a small suction force, only top plate material 31 is lifted.

[0013] FIG. 5 shows the third step of the wood transport process of the wood transport system of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram illustrating the step in which the suction pad 1 of the transport robot 105 descends to suction the center of gravity of the topmost plate 31. As shown in FIG. 5, the transport robot 105 is driven to lower the suction pad 1 to a position where it abuts the top surface of the topmost plate 31. After that, air is sucked from the suction pad 1, and the suction pad 1 adsorbs the topmost plate 31. FIG. 6 shows the fourth step of the wood transport process of the wood transport system of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram illustrating the step in which the suction pad 1 of the transport robot 105 ascends to lift the topmost plate 31 to a horizontal position. The lower surface of the suction pad 1 rises to the same height as the lower surface of the separation-dedicated suction pad 23, so the topmost plate 31 is lifted to a horizontal position. Next, suction by the separation-dedicated suction pad 23 is stopped. 7 shows the fifth step of the wood transport process of the wood transport system of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram showing the step in which the suction pad 1 of the transport robot 105 rotates counterclockwise to move the corner of the top plate material 31 away from the separation-dedicated suction pad 23. As shown in FIG. 7, when the suction pad 1 of the transport robot 105 rotates counterclockwise by a predetermined angle, the upper left corner of the top plate material 31 moves away from the separation-dedicated suction pad 23. Next, the suction pad 1 of the transport robot 105 is raised, and the lifted top plate material 31 is raised to a position higher than the upper end of the guide rail 21 of the separation-dedicated suction pad device 104.

[0014] FIG. 8 shows the sixth step of the lumber transport process of the lumber transport system of the present invention. This is an explanatory diagram showing the process in which the suction pad 1 of the transport robot 105 rises, and then the transport robot 105 rotates counterclockwise to transport the top plate 31 into the inlet 106 of the processing machine. The top plate 31 transported into the inlet 106 of the processing machine is fed into the processing machine (not shown) for processing. The completed product is then transported to the outlet of the processing machine (not shown), where it is picked up by the suction pad 1 of the transport robot 105 and transported to the product outlet 102, completing the lumber transport process. The lumber transport system of the present invention uses a suction pad dedicated to separation with low suction force to suction and lift the corners of the top plate, separating the top plate 31 from the second plate 32. Therefore, even if the suction pad 1 of the transport robot with high suction force suctions the center of gravity of the top plate and lifts it, two plates are no longer picked up when handling with the suction pad of the transport robot with high suction force.

[0015] [Other embodiments] In the wood transport system of the present invention, the separation-only suction pad 23 is driven up and down by an electric motor 22, but a fluid cylinder may also be used for vertical drive. The wood transport system described above transports wood from a temporary board storage area 103 to an input port 106 of a processing machine using an articulated transport robot 105. While the transport robot 105 is an articulated robot, it may also be a cylindrical coordinate system robot, a polar coordinate system robot, a SCARA robot (horizontal articulated type), a parallel link robot, or a Cartesian coordinate robot (Cartesian coordinate type). Furthermore, a Cartesian coordinate system transport device with a hand may also be used instead of a robot. When the transport robot 105 transports the board 31, if the board 31 interferes with the separation-only suction pad device 104, the transport robot 105 operates to avoid the interference. This operation may be performed not by the transport robot 105, but by providing a mechanism (horizontally, for example) that retracts the separation-only suction pad device 104 separately from the lifting mechanism, or by providing a mechanism that retracts the separation-only suction pad device 104 to prevent interference.

[0016] Furthermore, the wood transport system of the present invention is not limited to transporting the above-mentioned stacked boards 107 from the board suction area 103 to the inlet 106 of the processing machine. This transport need not be limited to the inlet 106 of the processing machine, but may also be used in a wood supply line within a wood processing system, such as a wood stock table, a material receiving table, or a roller conveyor. [Temporary stand] Although not provided in the embodiment of the lumber transport system of the present invention described above, a temporary storage table (not shown) may be added to the lumber transport system. Referring to the plan view of FIG. 2, this temporary storage table is, for example, placed diagonally to the left of the inlet 106 of the processing machine. While there are various ways to use it, the temporary storage table is used when creating multiple products from a single plate material 107. For example, when a single plate material 107 is cut into two pieces by the processing machine, one piece is temporarily stored on the temporary storage table. This stored product is then picked up by the transport robot 105 when it is its turn to be loaded, etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0017] 101...Plate material input port 102…Product unloading port 103...Plate adsorption field 104... Separation dedicated suction pad device 105...Transport robot 106...Inlet of processing machine 107...Plate material 1...Suction pad 21...Guide rail 22...Electric motor 23…Separation dedicated suction pad 31...Top layer of board 32...Second layer board

Claims

1. In this wood transport system, the top layer of breathable wood is picked up and transported one by one using a suction pad hand. Prior to the suction, a suction pad dedicated to separation is provided to suction a part of the upper surface of the workpiece and lift the uppermost workpiece. A wood transport system characterized by:

2. The wood transport system according to claim 1, The wood transport system is used to transport wood to and from processing machines. A wood transport system characterized by:

3. The wood transport system according to claim 2, The wood transport system is a single system that serves both the loading and unloading of the processing machine. A wood transport system characterized by:

4. The wood transport system according to claim 2 or 3, The separation-dedicated suction pad is driven up and down by an electric motor. A wood transport system characterized by:

5. The wood transport system according to claim 4, The workpiece is a rectangular piece of plywood, and the separation-dedicated suction pads are arranged at the corners of the rectangle. A wood transport system characterized by:

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