Hand device, article transfer device, and article removal method

Abstract

To provide a hand device that can hold an object securely.SOLUTION: A hand device 20 holds an article 12 having an engaged portion 28 on its side and is attached to a mobile device. The hand device 20 has: a palm 40; an engaging portion 48 and a pushing portion 53 provided on the palm 40 and spaced apart in the vertical direction to engage the article 12, which can be approached or separated in the vertical direction. The engaging portion 48, vertically approaching, engages the engaged portion 28 from below and the pushing portion 53 presses the article 12 from above, thereby pinching the article 12 by the engaging portion 48 and the pushing portion 53.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a hand device for holding an article, an article transfer device including the hand device, and an article taking-out method for taking out an article using the hand device.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, for example, a hand device described in Patent Document 1 below is known.

[0003] In this hand device, a moving body that can move along a base moves forward toward an article, and a suction pad provided on the moving body sucks and lifts the side surface of the article. Then, the moving body moves backward in a direction opposite to the forward movement, and the article sucked by the suction pad is lifted onto a support portion fixed to the base, and the article is held on the support portion.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In such a hand device, the side surface of the article is sucked and held, but depending on the shape and specifications of the article, holding by suction may not be suitable.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of such points, and an object thereof is to provide a hand device, an article transfer device, and an article taking-out method capable of reliably holding an article.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] The hand device of the present invention is a hand device that holds an article having an engaged portion on its side surface and is attached to a moving device, and includes a base attached to the moving device, a palm provided on the base, and an engaging portion and a pressing portion that are arranged at intervals in the vertical direction on the palm and engage with the article that can approach or separate in the vertical direction. The engaging portion engages with the engaged portion of the article in the erected posture placed thereon from below and moves upward, thereby tilting the article to an inclined posture in which one side of the bottom surface of the article serves as a fulcrum and the other side is lifted. The pressing portion presses the tilted article from above, thereby sandwiching the article in the inclined posture with the engaging portion.

Advantages of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, an article can be reliably held.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] Fig. 5 shows an article transfer system 10. The article transfer system 10 is a depalletizing system that takes out articles 12 stacked on a pallet 11 one by one and transfers them to a predetermined transfer location.

[0012] The article transfer system 10 includes an article transfer device 15 that performs the operation of taking out the article 12, an article supply unit 16 that supplies the article 12 by the pallet 11, and an article transfer unit 17 that is a transfer location for transferring the article 12 taken out by the article transfer device 15.

[0013] The article transfer device 15 includes a hand device 20 that holds the article 12 and a moving device 21 that moves the hand device 20. In the present embodiment, the moving device 21 is an articulated robot, and includes a base 22 installed on the floor surface or the like, and an articulated robot arm 23 having a plurality of rotatable shafts rotatably provided on the base 22. Note that the moving device 21 is not limited to an articulated robot, and may be, for example, an orthogonal moving device configured by three orthogonal slide shafts.

[0014] In addition, a pallet 11 on which a plurality of articles 12 are stacked is supplied to the article supply unit 16, and the articles 12 on the pallet 11 are positioned and arranged at predetermined positions. The article supply unit 16 may use a conveyor that carries in a pallet (actual pallet) 11 on which a plurality of articles 12 are stacked and carries out a pallet (empty pallet) 11 that has become empty after the article 12 has been taken out.

[0015] In addition, the article transfer unit 17 is where the article 12 taken out by the article transfer device 15 is transferred. A station conveyor that conveys the article 12 transferred by the article transfer device 15 toward a predetermined conveyance location is used in the article transfer unit 17. A roller conveyor or the like is used for the station conveyor.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 6, the article 12 is a rectangular box-shaped container in a plan view that can store articles inside. The article 12 includes a container body 25 with an open upper surface, a lid 26 with an open lower surface that is detachably placed on the outer upper part of the container body 25 from above, and a protruding portion 27 provided on the outer periphery of the side surface of the container body 25 to support the lower edge portion of the lid 26 covering the container body 25. The protruding portion 27 protrudes outward from the side surface of the article 12 and is configured as an engaged portion 28 with which a part of the hand device 20 can be engaged from below. Since such an article 12 has the protruding portion 27 protruding from its side surface, it is not suitable to hold the side surface by suction. Also, since the upper surface is the lid 26 that is open upward, it is not suitable to hold the upper surface by suction either. And the hand device 20 can hold such an article 12. If the side surface of the article 12 where the engaged portion 28 is formed is defined as the first surface 12a, since the engaged portion 28 is formed on the standing side surface of the article 12, the upper surface or the bottom surface of the article 12 that intersects the first surface 12a becomes the second surface 12b.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 5, during transportation etc., the articles 12 are stacked in multiple layers on the pallet 11 in a state where at least two articles are arranged side by side in each of the longitudinal direction and the short-side direction of the article 12, for a total of four or more articles in one layer. The articles 12 are stacked by placing the upper articles 12 on each of the articles 12 mounted on the pallet 11. The articles 12 adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction of each layer may be in contact with each other or may be slightly separated. It should be noted that the upper articles 12 may be stacked so as to straddle the plurality of lower articles 12.

[0018] Next, the configuration of the hand device 20 is shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. The hand device 20 includes a base 30, a first moving body 31 and a second moving body 32 which are moving bodies that can move along the lower surface side of the base 30, and a pressing unit 33 provided on the lower surface side of the base 30. When the moving direction in which the moving bodies 31 and 32 move along the base 30 is the first direction x which is the left-right direction and also the longitudinal direction of the base 30. The first moving body 31 is disposed movably along the longitudinal direction of the base 30 in the central region in the longitudinal direction of the base 30, the second moving body 32 is disposed movably along the longitudinal direction of the base 30 on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the base 30 with respect to the first moving body 31, and the pressing unit 33 is fixedly disposed on the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the base 30 with respect to the first moving body 31. Hereinafter, the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the lower surface side of the base 30 is referred to as the width direction, and the movement of the moving bodies 31 and 32 toward the article 12 is referred to as forward movement and the direction is the forward direction, and the movement of the moving bodies 31 and 32 away from the article 12 is referred to as backward movement and the direction is the backward direction.

[0019] The base 30 includes a pair of long base frames 35 disposed opposite to each other in parallel in the width direction, and a connecting member 36 that integrally connects these base frames 35. The connecting member 36 is attached to the upper surface side of the pair of base frames 35. The center of the connecting member 36 is attached to and supported by the support shaft 23a at the tip of the robot arm 23. The position of the base 30 supported by the support shaft 23a of the robot arm 23 is offset to the other end side where the pressing unit 33 is disposed from the center in the longitudinal direction of the base 30 in consideration of the center of gravity position when the article 12 is held and lifted by the hand device 20.

[0020] On the lower surface side of each base frame 35, guide rails 37 for movably supporting the moving bodies 31 and 32 are attached along the longitudinal direction of the base frame 35.

[0021] In addition, the first moving body 31 is provided with a movable palm 40. The movable palm 40 is attached to a moving frame 42 provided with a slider 41 that slidably engages along a guide rail 37. The movable palm 40 moves in the first direction x, which is the left - right direction along the longitudinal direction of the base 30, by the operation of a palm cylinder 43, which is a first drive unit attached to the base 30. The palm cylinder 43 has a braking mechanism and can be stopped at an arbitrary position during the movement of the movable palm 40. Here, among the directions intersecting the first direction x, which is the left - right direction, the up - down direction is defined as the second direction y.

[0022] The movable palm 40 is provided in a flat plate shape, with the upper side attached to the moving frame 42 and the lower side protruding downward. The dimension of the movable palm 40 in the width direction is set smaller than the width of the side surface of the article 12. On the front surface, which is one surface of the movable palm 40 and faces the article 12, a pressing surface 44 for restricting the movement of the article 12 when it moves during the taking - out operation is provided. A notch 45 for the engaging part is provided at the center of the lower side of the movable palm 40, and notches 46 for the pressing parts are provided on both sides in the width direction of the movable palm 40 above this notch 45.

[0023] Furthermore, an engaging part 48, which is a hook that can engage with the article 12, is provided on the movable palm 40. The engaging part 48 is provided so as to be able to move forward and backward from the pressing surface 44 of the movable palm 40 by a forward - backward drive unit 49 and is also provided so as to be able to move up and down with respect to the movable palm 40 by an up - down drive unit 50 for engagement. The forward - backward drive unit 49 uses, for example, a cylinder, is attached to the upper side of the pressing surface 44 of the movable palm 40, supports a support member 51 arranged on the side opposite to the pressing surface 44 of the movable palm 40, and moves this support member 51 in the direction of approaching and separating from the movable palm 40, that is, in the first direction x, which is the same left - right direction as the moving direction of the movable palm 40. The up - down drive unit 50 for engagement uses, for example, a cylinder, is attached to the lower side of the support member 51, and supports the engaging part 48 so as to be able to move up and down.

[0024] The engaging portion 48 is provided in a wide flat plate shape in the width direction and is supported substantially horizontally by the lifting and lowering driving portion 50 for engagement. The engaging portion 48 enters the notch portion 45 for the engaging portion of the movable palm 40 to enable lifting and lowering. Then, the engaging portion 48 is moved in the first direction x, which is the left - right direction, by the forward and backward driving portion 49, and can move forward and backward between a forward position where the tip side, which is the hook portion of the engaging portion 48, protrudes from the pressing surface 44 of the movable palm 40 and a backward position where it retreats from the pressing surface 44 of the movable palm 40. Further, the engaging portion 48 is moved in the second direction y, which is the up - down direction, by the lifting and lowering driving portion 50 for engagement, and is lifted and lowered between a rising position where it rises to the upper side of the notch portion 45 and a lowering position where it descends to the lower side of the notch portion 45. And the engaging portion 48 can engage with the engaged portion 28 on the side surface of the article 12 from below by rising from the forward position and the lowering position to lift the article 12.

[0025] Furthermore, a pressing portion 53 for pressing the article 12 is provided between the engaging portion 48 and the movable palm 40. The pressing portion 53 is supported by the lifting and lowering driving portion 54 for pressing so as to be able to move up and down, and is moved in the second direction y, which is the up - down direction. The lifting and lowering driving portion 54 for pressing is, for example, a cylinder, and is attached to the back surface of the movable palm 40 on the side opposite to the pressing surface 44, on both sides of the support member 51 at the center in the width direction and on the lower side of the notch portions 46 for the pressing portions on both sides.

[0026] The base end side of the pressing portion 53 is supported by the lifting and lowering driving portion 54 for pressing, and the tip side passes through the notch portion 46 for the pressing portion and protrudes from the pressing surface 44 of the movable palm 40, enabling it to move up and down by the lifting and lowering driving portion 54 for pressing. An inclined portion 55 that inclines so as to descend as it moves away from the pressing surface 44 of the movable palm 40 is provided on the tip side of the pressing portion 53. A pressing member 56 that contacts the upper surface of the article 12 and presses from above is attached to the lower surface of the inclined portion 55, which is the tip side of the pressing portion 53. The pressing member 56 has elasticity and is formed of, for example, rubber or resin with a high coefficient of friction.

[0027] The engaging portion 48 and the pressing portion 53 are arranged at intervals in the second direction y which is the vertical direction, can approach or separate in the second direction y, and can sandwich the article 12 in the approaching state.

[0028] Furthermore, on the movable palm 40, when the pressing surface 44 of the movable palm 40 moves toward the side surface of the article 12, an article detection unit for detecting the position of the article 12 with which the pressing surface 44 comes into contact is provided in order to stop the movement of the movable palm 40 at the position where the pressing surface 44 comes into contact with the side surface of the article 12. As the article detection unit, for example, a photoelectric sensor or the like is used.

[0029] Also, the second moving body 32 includes a fork 60 which is a support portion. This fork 60 is attached to a moving frame 62 provided with a slider 61 that slidably engages along the guide rail 37. The fork 60 moves in the first direction x which is the left - right direction along the longitudinal direction of the base 30 by the operation of a fork cylinder 63 which is a second driving portion attached to the base 30.

[0030] The fork 60 is substantially L - shaped, for example, two are used. The base end side is attached to the moving frame 62 via a fork support 64, and the tip side protrudes substantially horizontally toward the movable palm 40. The tip side of the fork 60 is arranged below the movable palm 40 so as not to interfere with the movable palm 40, and is arranged at positions separated from both sides in the width direction with respect to the engaging portion 48 so as not to interfere with the lowered engaging portion 48.

[0031] Also, the pressing unit 33 includes a pressing member 70 that presses the article 12 from above, and a lifting drive unit 71 that raises and lowers the pressing member 70 in the second direction y which is the vertical direction. The portion of the pressing member 70 that comes into contact with the upper surface of the article 12 has elasticity and is formed of, for example, rubber or resin having a high coefficient of friction. As the lifting drive unit 71, for example, a cylinder is used, and it is attached to an attachment member 72 fixed to the lower surface of the base 30.

[0032] In addition, the article transfer device 15 is provided with a control unit for controlling the article transfer device 15. The control unit includes an axis control unit for controlling each axis motor that drives each axis of the moving device 21, and a hand control unit that inputs detection signals from detection units such as the article detection unit of the hand device 20 and controls the cylinders 43, 63 and each drive unit 49, 50, 71, etc.

[0033] Next, an article removal method using the hand device 20 of the article transfer device 15 under the control of the control unit will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 10.

[0034] FIG. 7(a) shows step 1 of the article removal method. The moving device 21 moves the hand device 20 to the removal position of the article 12 to be removed on the article supply unit 16 and stops it. The movement of the hand device 20 to the removal position is made possible by the fact that the article 12 on the article supply unit 16 is positioned at a predetermined position and information on the loading status of the article 12 on the article supply unit 16 has been input in advance to the control unit, so that the hand device 20 can be moved to the removal position of the article 12 to be removed. Note that the position of the article 12 may be specified from imaging information obtained by imaging the loading status of the article 12 on the article supply unit 16, and the hand device 20 may be moved to the removal position of the article 12 to be removed, or the positioning of the stop position may be executed based on a detection signal from a sensor.

[0035] When the hand device 20 is moved to the removal position, the movable palm 40 and the fork 60 are each at the origin position where they have retreated, the engaging portion 48 of the movable palm 40 has moved upward and backward, the pressing portion 53 has moved upward, and the pressing member 70 of the pressing unit 33 has moved upward.

[0036] At the removal position of the hand device 20, the pressing surface 44 of the movable palm 40 faces the side surface of the article 12 to be removed, the pressing portion 53 is positioned above the article 12 to be removed, the pressing member 70 of the pressing unit 33 is positioned above the article 12 to be removed and faces the upper surface of the article 12, and the tip side of the fork 60 is positioned at a height slightly higher than the lower article 12 or the pallet 11 with respect to the article 12 to be removed.

[0037] Subsequently, FIG. 7(b) shows Step 2 of the article removal method. The pressing member 70 of the pressing unit 33 is lowered to press the article 12 to be removed from above. This is to prevent the position of the article 12 to be removed and the article 12 adjacent to this article 12 from shifting even when the movable palm 40 comes into contact with the side surface of the article 12 to be removed.

[0038] Substantially simultaneously with lowering the pressing member 70 of the pressing unit 33, the engaging portion 48 of the movable palm 40 is lowered to the lowered position. The engaging portion 48 lowered to the lowered position is positioned below the engaged portion 28 of the article 12 to be removed.

[0039] Subsequently, FIG. 7(c) shows Step 3 of the article removal method. The engaging portion 48 is advanced by the advancing / retreating drive unit 49 of the movable palm 40 to protrude from the pressing surface 44 of the movable palm 40.

[0040] Subsequently, FIG. 8(a) shows Step 4 of the article removal method. The movable palm 40 is advanced toward the article 12 by the palm cylinder 43, and based on the detection signal of the article detection unit provided on the movable palm 40, the completion of the advancement is detected at a position where the pressing surface 44 of the movable palm 40 is close to or in contact with the side surface of the article 12 to be removed, and the advancement of the movable palm 40 is stopped. When the pressing surface 44 of the movable palm 40 comes into contact with the side surface of the article 12, since the engaged portion 28 protrudes from the side surface of the article 12, the pressing surface 44 of the movable palm 40 comes into contact with the engaged portion 28 which is a part of the side surface of the article 12. Also, depending on the shape of the article 12 and the engaged portion 28, it is also possible to stop the pressing surface 44 of the movable palm 40 at a non-contact proximity position to the side surface of the article 12.

[0041] At a position where the pressing surface 44 of the movable palm 40 is close to or in contact with the side surface of the article 12, the tip side of the engaging portion 48 is positioned at a position where it has entered the lower region of the engaged portion 28 of the article 12.

[0042] Next, FIG. 8(b) shows Step 5 of the article removal method. Based on the detection of the completion of the forward movement of the movable palm 40, the pressing member 70 is lifted by the lifting drive unit 71 of the pressing unit 33, releasing the pressing from above the article 12 to be removed.

[0043] Next, FIG. 8(c) shows Step 6 of the article removal method. The engaging portion 48 is lifted to the raised position by the engaging lifting drive unit 50 of the movable palm 40. The rising engaging portion 48 engages with the engaged portion 28 on the side surface of the article 12 and lifts one side of the article 12 while remaining in the engaged state. As a result, the article 12 to be removed changes from the standing posture in which it is placed to an inclined posture, and a gap is formed between the lower article 12 or between the pallet 11 into which the fork 60 can be inserted. In this state, one side of the bottom surface of the article 12 serves as a fulcrum and contacts the placement surface, and the other side of the bottom surface is in a lifted state. Specifically, with respect to the side surface of the article 12 as the first surface 12a, one side formed by the opposite side surface and the bottom surface serves as a fulcrum, and the entire article 12 is in an inclined posture. And due to the change in the posture of the article 12 from the standing posture to the inclined posture, a gap is created under the bottom surface of the article 12.

[0044] Next, FIG. 9(a) shows Step 7 of the article removal method. The pressing portion 53 is lowered by the pressing lifting drive unit 54 of the movable palm 40. The descending pressing portion 53 contacts and presses the upper surface of the article 12 from above, clamping the article 12 between the pressing portion 53 and the engaging portion 48. Since the inclined portion 55 that descends and inclines toward the tip side is provided on the tip side of the pressing portion 53, the pressing portion 53 contacts along the upper surface of the inclined article 12, and the article 12 can be reliably clamped between the pressing portion 53 and the engaging portion 48.

[0045] Next, Fig. 9(b) shows step 8 of the article removal method. The fork 60 is advanced by the fork cylinder 63 and inserted into the gap between the lifted article 12 and the lower article 12 or the pallet 11. At the same time, the movable palm 40 is retracted to the origin position by the palm cylinder 43. When the movable palm 40 is retracted, the article 12 held between the engaging portion 48 and the pressing portion 53 also moves together with the movable palm 40. Therefore, the fork 60 and the article 12 approach each other, and the article 12 can be quickly transferred onto the fork 60. When the movable palm 40 is retracted, since the movable palm 40 is located on the side of the side surface of the article 12 while the article 12 is held between the engaging portion 48 and the pressing portion 53 from below and above, it is possible to prevent the article 12 from being displaced horizontally.

[0046] Next, Fig. 9(c) shows step 9 of the article removal method. The pressing portion 53 is lifted by the lifting drive portion 54 for pressing of the movable palm 40 to separate it upward from the article 12, and the engaging portion 48 is lowered by the lifting drive portion 50 for engagement of the movable palm 40 to separate it downward from the engaged portion 28 of the article 12 to release the engagement state between the engaging portion 48 and the engaged portion 28, and the clamping of the article 12 is released. The article 12 with the clamping released is loaded onto the fork 60 in a horizontal standing posture such that the bottom surface of the article 12 rests on the fork 60 depending on the relationship between the contact position with the tip side of the fork 60 and the center of gravity of the article 12. Note that the article 12 may remain in an inclined state depending on the relationship between the contact position with the tip side of the fork 60 and the center of gravity of the article 12.

[0047] Next, FIG. 10(a) shows step 10 of the article removal method. The pressing member 70 is lowered by the lifting drive unit 71 of the pressing unit 33, and the article 12 is pressed from above and sandwiched and held between the pressing member 70 and the fork 60. At this time, when the article 12 is in an inclined state as described above, by pressing the article 12 from above with the pressing member 70, the bottom surface of the article 12 is placed on the fork 60 to be in a horizontal posture and loaded on the fork 60. Then, by supporting the article 12 from three directions: the movable palm 40 on the side, the fork 60 below, and the pressing member 70 above, the article 12 can be reliably held in the hand device 20.

[0048] Next, FIG. 10(b) shows step 11 of the article removal method. The engaging portion 48 is raised by the engaging lifting drive unit 50 of the movable palm 40. This is to prevent the engaging portion 48 from interfering with the rollers of the station conveyor or the like when transferring the article 12 held by the hand device 20 to the station conveyor of the article transfer unit 17. If the engaging portion 48 does not interfere with the rollers of the station conveyor or the like, this step 11 is unnecessary, and further, the lowering of the engaging portion 48 in step 2 is also unnecessary.

[0049] Then, the hand device 20 holding the article 12 is moved to the article transfer unit 17 by the moving device 21, and the article 12 is transferred from the hand device 20 to the station conveyor. For the transfer of the article 12, the pressing member 70 of the pressing unit 33 is raised on the station conveyor to release the holding, the fork 60 is lowered to transfer the article 12 on the fork 60 onto the station conveyor, and the fork 60 is retracted to pull out the article 12 from below.

[0050] As described above, with the hand device 20 of the present embodiment, it is possible to reliably hold the article 12 whose side surface is not suitable for suction due to having the protruding portion 27 on the side surface or the like.

[0051] That is, in a state where the movable palm 40 is close to or in contact with the side surface of the article 12, the engaging portion 48 engages with the engaged portion 28 and the pressing portion 53 presses the article 12 from above, so that the article 12 can be reliably clamped by the engaging portion 48 and the pressing portion 53, and the article 12 can be held by the hand device 20.

[0052] Moreover, in a state where the lower and upper portions of the article 12 are clamped by the engaging portion 48 and the pressing portion 53, since the movable palm 40 is close to or in contact with the side surface of the article 12, even if the movable palm 40 moves, it is possible to prevent the article 12 from being displaced due to rotation or the like.

[0053] Furthermore, the engaging portion 48 tilts the article 12 to an inclined posture in which one side of the bottom surface of the article 12 is lifted with the other side as a fulcrum by raising the engaged portion 28 of the article 12 in the standing posture placed thereon, and the pressing portion 53 presses the inclined article 12 from above, so that the inclined article 12 can be clamped with the engaging portion 48, and the article 12 can be held in the inclined posture.

[0054] Furthermore, the fork 60 advances toward the gap under the bottom surface of the article 12 generated by the change of the article 12 from the standing posture to the inclined posture, so that the bottom surface of the article 12 that has returned to the standing posture with the engagement between the engaging portion 48 and the engaged portion 28 released can be supported.

[0055] Furthermore, when the fork 60 is inserted under the bottom surface of the article 12, the movable palm 40 is moved in a direction opposite to the direction in which the fork 60 is inserted so as to move the article 12 held by the engaging portion 48 and the pressing portion 53 of the movable palm 40 onto the fork 60, so that the article 12 can be quickly loaded onto the fork 60 with a short moving distance of the fork 60, and the loading process can be made efficient.

[0056] In addition, since the movable palm 40 is positioned at the opposing position on the side surface of the article 12 that has returned to the standing posture by releasing the engaged state by the engaging portion 48, when the article 12 is held between the lower fork 60 and the upper pressing member 70, the movable palm 40 can prevent displacement of the article 12 due to rotation or the like of the article 12, and it is possible to reliably hold the article 12 so that it does not shift when the entire hand device 20 moves.

[0057] Further, since the engaging portion 48 is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat from the pressing surface 44 of the movable palm 40, it can be retracted except when engaging with the engaged portion 28 of the article 12, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of displacement of the article 12 due to interference with the article 12.

[0058] In the case of the article 12 described above, the engaging portion 48 engages with the engaged portion 28 which is the protruding portion 27 protruding from the side surface. However, for example, the engaged portion 28 may be a hole portion or a stepped portion provided on the side surface of the article 12. Any form of the article 12 with the engaged portion 28 provided on the side surface can be held by the hand device 20.

[0059] Also, even in the case of the article 12 having the engaged portion 28 on the upper surface, it is possible to hold the article 12 by changing the orientation of the hand device 20 by 90°.

[0060] Note that the hand device 20 may be used for palletizing. In that case, the article 12 individually placed from a station conveyor or the like is taken out and transferred to, for example, a pallet 11 which is the transfer destination. When taking out the article 12 from the station conveyor, the operations described in FIGS. 7 to 8 may be performed, but the article 12 may be carried into the hand device 20 using a pusher, and the article 12 may be clamped between the pressing member 70 of the pressing unit 33 and the fork 60 which is the support portion. That is, regardless of the purpose of the transfer operation including palletizing and depalletizing, the hand device 20 can be used for various operations for the purpose of taking out the article 12.

[0061] As described above, the embodiments of the present invention and their modifications have been explained, but various combinations of configurations, partial omissions, replacements, and changes are also possible.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0062] 12 Article 15 Article Transfer Device 20 Hand Device 21 Moving Device 30 Base 40 Movable Palm which is a Palm 48 Engagement Portion 53 Pressing Portion

Claims

1. A hand device that holds an article having an engaged portion on a side surface and is attached to a moving device, A base attached to the moving device; A palm provided on the base; The palm includes an engagement portion and a pressing portion that are arranged at an interval in the vertical direction and engage with the article and can approach or move away from the article in the vertical direction, The engaging portion engages with the engaged portion of the placed article in an upright position from below and moves it upward, thereby tilting the article to an inclined position in which one side of a bottom surface of the article is raised with the other side as a fulcrum, The pressing portion presses the inclined object from above, thereby sandwiching the inclined object between the pressing portion and the engaging portion. A hand device characterized by:

2. The hand device according to claim 1 ; a moving device that moves the hand device; An article transfer device comprising:

3. An article taking method for taking out an article having an engaged portion on a side surface by a hand device attached to a transfer device, comprising: Positioning a palm of the hand device on a side of the article; A step of raising an engaging portion provided on the palm and engaging the engaging portion with the engaged portion from below to raise the article; a step of lowering a pressing portion provided on the palm, pressing the article from above with the pressing portion to clamp the article between the pressing portion and the engaging portion; An article removal method comprising:

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