A gripping device, a visual guide robot equipped with this gripping device, and a system, method, and computer program for automated suspension of poultry.

Abstract

A system is provided for automatically suspending poultry (8) by its legs (8''). [Solution] The system includes a visual guide robot equipped with a gripper (3) configured to engage with the legs of a poultry, the gripper comprising a first set (1) of two main jaw arms (1.1, 1.2) configured to clamp the first leg (8'') of a poultry carcass (8), and a second set (2) of secondary jaw arms (2.1, 2.2) configured to clamp the second leg (8'') of a poultry carcass (8), at least one of the two main jaw arms (1.1) being mounted reciprocally relative to the other main jaw arm (1.2) to clamp the first leg (8'') of the poultry, and at least one of the two secondary jaw arms (2.1) being mounted reciprocally relative to the other secondary jaw arm (2.2) to clamp the second leg (8'').

Claims

1. A gripping device (3) provided to engage with the leg of a poultry, The gripping device includes a first set (1) of two main jaw arms (1.1, 1.2) provided to clamp the first leg portion (8'') of the poultry carcass (8), A second set (2) of two accessory jaw arms (2.1, 2.2) provided to clamp the second leg portion (8'') of the poultry carcass (8) and In a gripping device equipped with, At least one of the two main jaw arms (1.1) is mounted to the other main jaw arm (1.2) so as to be reciprocally movable to clamp the first leg portion (8'') of the poultry, And / or, at least one of the two accessory jaw arms (2.1) is mounted reciprocally to the other accessory jaw arm so as to clamp the second leg portion (8''), Both the primary jaw arms (1.1, 1.2) are capable of reciprocating slides relative to each other, and both the secondary jaw arms (2.1, 2.2) are capable of reciprocating slides relative to each other. A gripping device characterized by the following.

2. The aforementioned gripper is, The open position in which the main jaw arms (1.1, 1.2) are spaced apart from each other and the auxiliary jaw arms (2.1, 2.2) are spaced apart from each other, The closed position in which the main jaw arms (1.1, 1.2) are close to each other and the secondary jaw arms (2.1, 2.2) are close to each other and grip the leg portion. To be configured to operate between The gripping device according to claim 1, characterized by the following:

3. At least one of the first set (1) of the two primary jaw arms (1.1, 1.2) and the second set (2) of the two secondary jaw arms (2.1, 2.2) At least one of the jaw arm assemblies (1, 2) has a portion (1.3, 2.3) that is reciprocally slidable relative to the other jaw arm of the jaw arm assemblies (1, 2). A gripper (3) according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized by the above.

4. The first pair (1) of the two main jaw arms (1.1, 1.2) is provided with a first straight section (1.3), One of the main jaw arms (1.1) is capable of reciprocating slides along this first straight section relative to the other main jaw arm (1.2). A gripper (3) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by the above.

5. The second set (2) of the two accessory jaw arms (2.1, 2.2) is provided with a second straight section (2.3), One of the accessory jaw arms (2.2) is capable of reciprocating sliding along the second straight section relative to the other accessory jaw arm (2.1). A gripper (3) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by the above.

6. The straight sections (1.3, 2.3) of the jaw arm assembly (1, 2) are integral with one of the main jaw arms (1.1, 1.2) and / or one of the secondary jaw arms (2.1, 2.2) of the jaw arm assembly (1, 2). A gripper (3) according to any one of claims 3, 4, or 5, characterized by the above.

7. The distance between the first set (1) of jaw arms and the second set (2) of jaw arms is adjustable. A gripper (3) according to any one of the above claims, characterized by the above.

8. The gripper (3) is configured to set the distance between the first set (1) and the second set (2) of the jaw arms after the legs of the poultry have been clamped by the jaw arms. The gripping device according to claim 7, characterized by the following:

9. A visual guide robot (4) for picking up poultry (8) from a supply line (14) and placing the poultry (8) on a poultry carrier (6) of a carrier conveyor (5), The visual guide robot (4) comprises at least one gripper (3) according to any one of claims 1 to 8. A visual guide robot characterized by [feature].

10. A system for automatically suspending poultry (8) from a carrier (6) of a carrier conveyor (5) by its legs (8''), The system includes a supply line (14) for the suspended poultry (8), The system includes imaging devices (11, 13), This imaging device is connected to a decision-making tool (12), which processes images of the poultry (8) on the supply line (14) received from the imaging devices (11, 13). The decision-making tool (12) is configured to detect the poultry, control the visual guide robot (4) to engage with the poultry (8) with its legs (8'') to pick it up from the supply line (14), and then suspend the poultry (8) from the carrier (6) of the carrier conveyor (5) with its legs (8''). The system is characterized in that the visual guide robot (4) comprises at least one gripping device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

11. The system according to claim 10 is characterized in that the decision-making tool (12) is configured to control the visual guide robot (4) to perform the following processing steps based on the images received from the imaging devices (11, 13): a. If the decision-making tool (12) identifies the leg portion (8'') of the poultry (8) in the image received from the imaging devices (11, 13), the decision-making tool (12) is configured to engage the visual guide robot (4) with the leg portion (8'') to pick up the poultry (8) with the leg portion (8'') and suspend the poultry (8) from the carrier (6) of the carrier conveyor (5) with the leg portion (8''); and b. If the decision-making tool (12) does not identify the leg portion (8'') of the poultry (8) in the image received from the imaging device (11, 13), the decision-making tool (12) searches for and identifies the head (8') of the poultry (8) in the image from the imaging device, and after the head (8') of the poultry (8) is identified, the decision-making tool (12) directs the visual guide robot (4) to at least the first set (1.1, 1.2) of the main jaw arms (1.1, 1.2). The device is configured to engage with the head (8') of the poultry (8) using a tool, grasp the head (8') and drag the poultry (8) along the supply line (14) for a predetermined length, then repeat step a to identify the legs (8'') of the poultry (8), engage with the legs (8'') of the poultry (8) to pick up the poultry (8), and suspend the poultry (8) from the carrier (6) of the carrier conveyor (5) by its legs (8'').

12. A method for automatically suspending poultry (8) from a carrier (6) of a carrier conveyor (5) by its legs (8''), The poultry (8) is supplied onto the supply line (14), The process includes imaging the poultry (8) and processing the images from the poultry (8) on the supply line (14) to detect the poultry and control a visual guide robot (4) equipped with a gripper according to any one of claims 1 to 6, The gripper is used to pick up the poultry (8) from the supply line (14) by engaging with the poultry (8) with its legs (8''), and then to suspend the poultry (8) from the carrier (6) of the carrier conveyor (5) with its legs (8''). By positioning the gripper (3) and engaging it with the poultry's leg, the first leg of the poultry is positioned between the main jaws of the gripper, the second leg of the poultry is positioned between the auxiliary jaws of the gripper (3), and then at least one main jaw is moved toward the other main jaw to clamp the first leg, and at least one auxiliary jaw is moved toward the other auxiliary jaw to clamp the second leg. A method characterized by the following.

13. The first leg is clamped by moving the two main jaw arms (1.1, 1.2) toward each other, and the second leg is clamped by moving the two secondary jaw arms (2.1, 2.2) toward each other, so that the distance between the first set of jaw arms (1) and the second set of jaw arms (2) corresponds to the leg pitch, which represents the distance between the legs (8'') of the poultry carcass (8) when it is suspended from a shackle used to suspend and transport the poultry carcass (8). The method according to claim 12, characterized by the above.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the gripper is initially positioned in a first position and clamps the first leg with the main jaw arm, and then moved to a second position and clamps the second leg with the auxiliary jaw arm.

15. A method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that the step of engaging the leg of a poultry with the gripper (3) is carried out by performing the following substeps: a. If the leg portion (8'') of the poultry (8) is visible in the image, the visual guide robot (4) is configured to engage with the leg portion (8''), pick up the poultry (8) with the leg portion (8''), and suspend the poultry (8) from the carrier (6) of the carrier conveyor (5) with the leg portion (8''); and b. If the leg portion (8'') of the poultry (8) is not visible in the image, the image is processed to search for and identify the head portion (8') of the poultry (8) within the image. After the head portion (8') of the poultry (8) is identified, the visual guide robot is controlled to grasp the head portion (8') and drag the poultry (8) along the supply line (14) for a predetermined length. Then, step a is repeated to identify the leg portion (8'') of the poultry in the image. The visual guide robot picks up the poultry (8) by its leg portion (8'') and suspends the poultry (8) from the carrier (6) of the carrier conveyor (5) by its leg portion (8'').

16. A computer program that is loaded onto a computer-readable medium and is executable on a processor having memory, which implements the decision-making tool of the system according to claim 9 or claim 10, and when loaded into the processor and memory, causes the system of claim 9 or claim 10 to perform the operation according to any one of claims 12 to 15 of the method.

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