Hair transplant device

Abstract

To efficiently implant hair in a wide range to a base material.SOLUTION: A hair implantation device comprises: a placement part 34 on which a base material J where hair implantation is performed is placed and which has an opening 341 for work of hair implantation; a hair implantation part 20 which couples hair for hair implantation to the base material J in the opening 341 for work of the placement part 34; and a feeding device 40 which is arranged in the periphery of the placement part 34 and feeds the base material J by rollers 411, 421 contacting the base material J from below. The feeding device 40 feeds the base material J in at least two directions intersecting each other.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a hair implantation device. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventional hair transplantation devices hold a mesh-like base material onto which hair is to be transplanted, and use multiple hooks to form nodes for the hair to be transplanted into each mesh hole of the base material, thereby transplanting the hair (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-040084 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the conventional hair implantation device described above, the XY movement mechanism allows the base material to be moved within one section that falls within the range of the opening of the holding frame, but once hair implantation within the range of that section is completed, when hair implantation in the next section is to be carried out, the base material must be manually reattached to the holding frame.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to efficiently implant hairs over a wide area onto a base material. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present invention provides a hair transplantation device, a mounting section for mounting a base material to be implanted thereon and having an opening for implanting work; a hair implantation unit that attaches the hair to the base material at the work opening of the placement unit; a feeding device that is disposed around the placing section and feeds the base material with rollers that contact the base material from below; 、 a camera for detecting the inclination of the base material placed on the placement section; a correction mechanism that corrects the orientation of the base material by rotating the base material placed on the placement unit in accordance with the detected tilt; Equipped with The feed device is characterized in that it feeds the base material in at least two intersecting directions. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] With the above-described configuration, the present invention makes it possible to efficiently implant hairs over a wide range in the base material. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a hair implantation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of the hair implantation device. [Figure 3] FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the hair implantation device. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is yet another perspective view of the hair implantation device. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the base stage. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a base stage. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a front view of the clamping device with the clamp plate in a raised position. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a front view of the clamp device with the clamp plate in a weak clamp position. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a front view of the clamp device with the clamp plate in the strong clamp position. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a camera, a first capturing mechanism, and a position switching mechanism. [Figure 12] 12(A) and 12(B) are plan views of the camera, the first capturing mechanism, and the position switching mechanism. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart showing the overall flow of operation control of the hair implantation work. [Figure 14] 10 is an example of an image captured by a camera of a mesh hole. [Figure 15] 10 is a flowchart of correction control. [Figure 16] FIG. 10 is a front view showing the schematic configuration of a hair implantation device equipped with another correction mechanism. [Figure 17] 10 is a flowchart of correction control by another correction mechanism. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] [Overall configuration of the embodiment of the invention] Hereinafter, a hair implantation device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view showing the schematic configuration of the hair implantation device 10, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing its control system, and FIGS. 3 to 5 are perspective views of the hair implantation device 10 as viewed from different directions. This hair implantation device 10 is intended to reduce the workload and to implant hairs to be implanted into the base material J smoothly. The hair for transplantation is not limited to human hair, but also includes any other fibers that resemble human hair, including natural fibers and synthetic fibers. The base material J is not limited to a fibrous material and includes any sheet-like material having a flat or curved surface, but in this embodiment, a curved (approximately spherical) sheet having hexagonal lattice-shaped mesh holes that mimic the shape of the top of a human head is exemplified. Note that the shape of the mesh holes does not have to be hexagonal.

[0010] As shown in the figure, the hair implantation device 10 includes a base stage 30 on which the base material J is placed, a feed device 40 that feeds the placed base material J in one direction (the X-axis direction) on the placement surface and in a direction perpendicular to that (the Y-axis direction), a clamp device 50 that holds the base material J placed on the base stage 30 from above, a first capture mechanism 21 that draws hair to be implanted through a mesh hole onto the back side (lower side) of the held base material J to form a small loop, a looper mechanism 24 (see Figures 6 and 7) that expands the small loop, a second capture mechanism 22 that draws the loop on the back side of the hair to be implanted through an adjacent mesh hole to the front side (upper side) of the base material J, a third capture mechanism 23 that draws one end of the hair to be implanted into the loop on the front side of the hair to be implanted to form a knot, and a movement mechanism 25 that performs relative movement between the held base material J and the hooks of the first to third capture mechanisms 21 to 23.

[0011] Furthermore, the hair implantation device 10 includes a camera 11 as an imaging unit that images the placed base material J, a position switching mechanism 28 that holds the camera 11 and the first capturing mechanism 21 and switches their positions, a wiper mechanism 61 that blows the implanted hairs that are inserted into the upper opening 511 of the clamp plate 51 (described later) out of the upper opening 511, an auxiliary clamp mechanism 62 that auxiliary holds the base material J placed on the base stage 30, a correction mechanism 63 that corrects the orientation of the base material J on the base stage 30, a first blower mechanism 64 that blows air to move the implanted hairs implanted on the base material J in a predetermined direction, a second blower mechanism 65 that blows air to press the base material J toward the base stage 30, a control device 100 that controls the operation of each of the above components, and a base 12 that directly or indirectly supports each of the above components.

[0012] In the following description, the placement surface on which the base material J is placed is horizontal, one side in the Y-axis direction parallel to the placement surface is referred to as the "left" side and the other side as the "right" side, one side in the X-axis direction parallel to the placement surface is referred to as the "front" side (the front side in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIG. 1) and the other side as the "rear" side (the back side in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIG. 1). Also, the vertical direction perpendicular to the X-axis and Y-axis directions is referred to as the Z-axis direction, one side of which is referred to as the "upper" side and the other side as the "lower" side.

[0013] The first to third capturing mechanisms 21 to 23 and the looper mechanism 24 constitute a hair implantation section 20 that binds and joins the hair to be implanted to the base material J. The configuration of the second and third capturing mechanisms 22, 23 and looper mechanism 24 of the hair implantation unit 20, the moving mechanism 25, and the operation of connecting the hair to be implanted to the base material J by the hair implantation unit 20 and the moving mechanism 25 are almost identical to those disclosed in JP 2018-040084 A, and therefore detailed explanations will be omitted and reference will be made to these disclosures.

[0014] [Base and moving mechanism] 1, the base 12 is a flat plate that directly or indirectly supports the entire configuration of the hair implantation device 10. When the hair implantation device 10 is placed on a horizontal surface, the upper surface of the base 12 is horizontal. Directly supported on the base 12 are the above-mentioned first capturing mechanism 21, second capturing mechanism 22, third capturing mechanism 23, position switching mechanism 28 that supports camera 11, looper mechanism 24, wiper mechanism 61, auxiliary clamp mechanism 62, correction mechanism 63, and first blower mechanism 64. The term "directly supported" means that the device is installed without a mechanism for movement, and the position in a plan view does not move.

[0015] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the movement mechanism 25 has an X-axis stage 26 installed on the upper surface of the base 12, and a Y-axis stage 27 installed on the X-axis stage 26. X-axis stage 26 has a stage plate 261 whose upper surface is parallel to the XY plane, slide guides 262 that support stage plate 261 slidably along the X-axis direction relative to base 12, and a linear motion mechanism (not shown) that can arbitrarily move and position stage plate 261 in the X-axis direction. The linear motion mechanism has a ball screw mechanism and an X-axis motor 263 consisting of a servo motor that serves as the drive source for the ball screw mechanism.

[0016] Y-axis stage 27 has a stage plate 271 whose upper surface is parallel to the XY plane, slide guides 272 that support stage plate 271 so that it can slide along the Y-axis direction relative to stage plate 261 of X-axis stage 26, and a linear motion mechanism (not shown) that can arbitrarily move and position stage plate 271 in the Y-axis direction. The linear motion mechanism has a ball screw mechanism and a Y-axis motor 273 consisting of a servo motor that serves as the drive source for the ball screw mechanism.

[0017] The base stage 30, the feed device 40, the clamp device 50, and the second blower mechanism 65 are directly supported on the stage plate 271 of the Y-axis stage 27. The movement mechanism 25 can position the base material J on the base stage 30 at any position on the XY plane by cooperation of the X-axis stage 26 and the Y-axis stage 27.

[0018] The linear motion mechanisms of the X-axis stage 26 and the Y-axis stage 27 are not limited to ball screw mechanisms, and may be any mechanisms that can arbitrarily position the stage plate 261 or 271 along the X-axis or Y-axis direction. For example, the linear motion of the stage plate 261 or 271 may be achieved by a configuration of a pinion-rack mechanism and a servo motor, or the stage plate 261 or 271 may be linearly moved by a linear motor.

[0019] [Base Stage] FIG. 6 is a plan view of the base stage 30, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view. As shown in the figure, the base stage 30 has a base plate 32 supported by four pillars 31 (one of which is not shown) erected on the Y-axis stage 27 of the moving mechanism 25, a tower-shaped erect portion 33 provided on the upper surface of the base plate 32, and a mounting plate 34 serving as a mounting portion provided at the upper end of the erect portion 33.

[0020] The standing portion 33 stands upright in the center of the base plate 32 in a plan view. The mounting plate 34 provided at the upper end of the standing portion 33 is a substantially rectangular frame-like body, and has a substantially rectangular working opening 341 formed in the approximate center. The upper surface of the mounting plate 34 is a mounting surface parallel to the XY plane. During the hair implantation operation, the base material J is placed on the mounting surface, which is the upper surface of the mounting plate 34. The mounting plate 34 is smaller than the base material J, and the base material J is placed with the underside of the base material J partially in contact with the mounting plate 34. When attaching hairs to the base material J, the hooks of the first capturing mechanism 21 need to be inserted into the mesh holes from below the base material J, and the insertion of the hooks is carried out through the work opening 341 of the mounting plate 34. The attachment operation of the hairs to be implanted by the second and third capturing mechanisms 22, 23 is also carried out within the range of the work opening 341 of the mounting plate 34.

[0021] [Feeding device] As shown in Figures 6 and 7, the feed device 40 has a pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41, 41 arranged on both sides of the X-axis direction, sandwiching the mounting plate 34 in a planar view, on the base plate 32 of the base stage 30, and a pair of Y-axis roller mechanisms 42, 42 arranged on both sides of the Y-axis direction, sandwiching the mounting plate 34 in a planar view.

[0022] Each X-axis roller mechanism 41 includes a roller 411 that contacts from below the base material J placed on the loading surface of the loading plate 34, an X-axis feed motor 412 that serves as the rotational drive source for the roller 411, a support bracket 413 that supports the roller 411 and the X-axis feed motor 412, two slide guides 414 that support the support bracket 413 on the base plate 32 so that it can be raised and lowered along the Z-axis direction, two coil springs 415 that serve as elastic members that press the support bracket 413 upward, and a retraction air cylinder 416 that pulls the support bracket 413 downward against the coil springs 415.

[0023] An X-axis feed motor 412 supported by a support bracket 413 applies a feed rotation from its output shaft to the rotation shaft of the roller 411 via a transmission mechanism consisting of a pulley and a timing belt. The output shaft of the X-axis feed motor 412 and the rotation shaft of the roller 411 are both arranged along the Y-axis direction. Therefore, when the roller 411 is rotated while in contact from below with the base material J placed on the placement surface of the placement plate 34, the base material J can be fed in the X-axis direction.

[0024] Each Y-axis roller mechanism 42 includes a roller 421 that contacts the base material J placed on the loading surface of the loading plate 34 from below, a Y-axis feed motor 422 that serves as the rotational drive source for the roller 421, a support bracket 423 that supports the roller 421 and the Y-axis feed motor 422, a slide guide 424 that supports the support bracket 423 on the base plate 32 so that it can be raised and lowered along the Z-axis direction, a coil spring 425 that serves as an elastic member that presses the support bracket 423 upward, and a retraction air cylinder 426 that pulls the support bracket 423 downward against the coil spring 425.

[0025] A Y-axis feed motor 422 supported by a support bracket 423 applies a feed rotation from its output shaft to the rotation shaft of the roller 421 via a transmission mechanism consisting of a pulley and a timing belt. The output shaft of the Y-axis feed motor 422 and the rotation shaft of the roller 421 are both arranged along the X-axis direction. Therefore, when the roller 421 is rotated while in contact from below with the base material J placed on the placement surface of the placement plate 34, the base material J can be fed in the Y-axis direction.

[0026] When the retraction air cylinders 416, 426 are not pulling the support brackets 413, 423 downward, and the coil springs 415, 425 are pushing the support brackets 413, 423 up to their uppermost positions, the height of the upper end of each roller 411, 421 is set to be the same as the height of the mounting surface (upper surface) of the mounting plate 34, or slightly lower than the mounting surface of the mounting plate 34. Each roller 411, 421 at this height is defined as the "feed position." In contrast, when the retraction air cylinders 416, 426 pull the support brackets 413, 423 downward, the height of the upper ends of the rollers 411, 421 does not reach the underside of the base material J placed on the mounting plate 34, and the rollers 411, 421 are lowered to a height at which feeding operation cannot be performed. The rollers 411, 421 at this height are referred to as the "retraction position."

[0027] Then, when the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 are in the feed position and the pair of Y-axis roller mechanisms 42 are in the retracted position, and the rollers 411 of the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 are driven to rotate in the same direction, a conveying force in the X-axis direction can be applied to the base material J from both sides of the loading plate 34. In addition, when the pair of Y-axis roller mechanisms 42 are in the feed position and the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 are in the retracted position, and the rollers 421 of the pair of Y-axis roller mechanisms 42 are driven to rotate in the same direction, a conveying force in the Y-axis direction can be applied to the base material J from both sides of the loading plate 34. In this way, the X-axis roller mechanism 41 and the Y-axis roller mechanism 42 do not operate simultaneously, but separately carry out transport in the X-axis direction and transport in the Y-axis direction.

[0028] Furthermore, when the rollers 411 of the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 located at the feed position are rotated in the opposite direction to move the base material J away from each other, tension in the X-axis direction is applied to the base material J on the loading plate 34, thereby suppressing slack. Furthermore, when the rollers 421 of the pair of Y-axis roller mechanisms 42 located at the feed position are rotated in the opposite direction to move the base material J away from each other, tension in the Y-axis direction is applied to the base material J on the loading plate 34, thereby suppressing slack. Hereinafter, the operation control of applying tension to the base material J in each direction by the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 or the pair of Y-axis roller mechanisms 42 will be referred to as "tension application control."

[0029] The aforementioned moving mechanism 25 is used to move the base material J together with the mounting plate 34 during the hair implantation work of attaching the hair to be implanted to the base material J, and to position each mesh hole of the base material J within the range of the work opening 341 relative to the hooks of the first to third capturing mechanisms 21 to 23. In contrast, the feed device 40 is used to move the base material J relative to the mounting plate 34 and to move the area of ​​the base material J facing the work opening 341 of the mounting plate 34 to another position within the base material J. Therefore, the movement of the base material J by the movement mechanism 25 is controlled by an extremely small amount of movement compared to the movement of the base material J by the feed device 40, and is thus more precisely controlled.

[0030] In addition, the intersecting two-way roller mechanisms 41, 42 are configured to feed in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, which are perpendicular to each other, as an example, but they are not limited to being perpendicular, and may be configured to feed in two directions that intersect diagonally.

[0031] The base stage 30 is equipped with a cover member 35 that covers the base stage 30 and the feed device 40. The upper end of the cover member 35 has a generally convex polyhedral shape that is convex upward, and the center of the upper end is widely cut out so that the tops of the rollers 411, 421 and the mounting plate 34 are exposed upward. The upper end of the base stage 30 may have a polyhedral shape that is closer to a spherical shell, or may have a generally spherical shell shape. The cover member 35 prevents the base material J placed on the loading plate 34 from coming into direct contact with components other than the rollers 411, 421 of the feed device 40 or the corners of the base plate 32, allowing the feed device 40 to smoothly feed the base material J. The cover member 35 is not shown in any figures other than FIG.

[0032] [Clamping device] As shown in Figures 1, 3 to 5, the clamp device 50 comprises a clamp plate (clamp member) 51 consisting of a long, flat plate in the Y-axis direction located above the base stage 30, a pair of support bases 52 erected on the upper surface of the stage plate 271 of the Y-axis stage 27 and individually supporting both ends of the clamp plate 51, slide guides 53 that enable the clamp plate 51 to be raised and lowered relative to each support base 52, a clamp air cylinder 54 as an elevating unit that raises and lowers the clamp plate 51, and coil springs 55 as elastic members provided between each support base 52 and the clamp plate 51 and pressing the clamp plate 51 upward. The clamp device 50 is supported on the stage plate 271 of the Y-axis stage 27, and is therefore moved in the XY directions together with the base stage 30 by the moving mechanism 25.

[0033] The clamp plate 51 is formed with an upper opening 511 that is approximately the same shape and size as the working opening 341 and that penetrates the clamp plate 51 in the vertical direction at a position directly above the working opening 341 of the placing plate 34 . At the lowest position of the lifting operation, the clamp plate 51 can abut its lower surface against the mounting surface of the mounting plate 34. When the clamp plate 51 descends to the lowest position, it can clamp the base material J placed on the mounting plate 34 from above and securely hold it.

[0034] Furthermore, at the lowest position of the lifting operation, the working opening 341 and the upper opening 511 of the mounting plate 34 can be superimposed at substantially the same position in a plan view. The second and third capturing mechanisms 22, 23 are positioned above the clamp plate 51, and extend their hooks downward to connect the hairs to be implanted within the working opening 341 of the base material J through the upper opening 511.

[0035] Furthermore, four abutment plates 512 are provided on all four sides of the upper opening 511 on the underside of the clamp plate 51, which individually abut against the outer peripheries of the rollers 411, 421. The lower surface of each abutment plate 512 is positioned lower than the lower surface of the clamp plate 51, and abuts against the upper part of each roller 411, 421 at a position just before the clamp plate 51 descends to the lowest limit position of its vertical movement. In this way, by lowering the clamp plate 51 to a position just before the lowest limit position, the base material J on the loading plate 34 can be appropriately abutted against each roller 411, 421, and the feeding operation by the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 or the pair of Y-axis roller mechanisms 42 can be performed smoothly.

[0036] 8 to 10 are front views of the clamp device 50 with the clamp plate 51 at different heights. 8 shows a state in which the clamp plate 51 is positioned at the upper limit of its lifting motion due to the rising pressure of each clamping air cylinder 54. In this state, the lower surface of the clamp plate 51 is significantly spaced apart from the mounting surface of the mounting plate 34. In the raised position, the base material J on the mounting plate 34 is released from the clamped state. Since the clamp plate 51 in the raised position is separated from the mounting plate 34 by a large distance, the hairs to be implanted can be wiped away by the wiper member 611 of the wiper mechanism 61, which will be described later.

[0037] Each clamping air cylinder 54 is provided with a regulator 56 in the supply path from the air pressure source, and under the control of the control device 100, air pressure can be applied to each clamping air cylinder 54 in two stages, high and low, to lower the clamp plate 51. FIG. 9 shows the state of the clamp plate 51 when the downward pressure of each clamping air cylinder 54 is low, and FIG. 10 shows the state of the clamp plate 51 when the downward pressure of each clamping air cylinder 54 is high.

[0038] 9, when the downward pressure of each clamping air cylinder 54 is low, the lowered clamp plate 51 cannot withstand the upward pressing force from the coil spring 55, and a gap d is created between the lower surface of the clamp plate 51 and the mounting surface of the mounting plate 34, resulting in a state in which the clamping force on the base material J is weak or not at all. The height of the clamp plate 51 at this time is defined as the weak clamp position. On the other hand, in this weak clamp position, the contact plates 512 of the clamp plate 51 contact the rollers 411, 421 or form a very narrow gap with the rollers 411, 421. Therefore, when the base material J is placed on the mounting plate 34, the base material J is pressed by the contact plates 512 and contacts the rollers 411, 421 with an appropriate contact force, allowing the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 or the pair of Y-axis roller mechanisms 42 to perform a good feed operation.

[0039] 10, when the downward pressure of each clamping air cylinder 54 is high, the lowered clamp plates 51 can press the lower surfaces of the clamp plates 51 against the mounting surface of the mounting plate 34 against the coil springs 55. Therefore, when the base material J is placed on the mounting plate 34, the base material J is firmly gripped by the clamp plates 51 and the mounting plate 34 and fixed and held with a large restraining force. The height of the clamp plates 51 at this time is referred to as the strong clamping position.

[0040] An illumination device 57 is also provided on the upper surface of the mounting plate 34. This illumination device 57 irradiates illumination light from above the upper opening 511 when a camera 11, which will be described later, images the base material J from below the mounting plate 34 through the work opening 341. When not imaging, this illumination device 57 is retracted to one end side of the clamp plate 51, and when imaging, it moves by an actuator (not shown) to directly above the upper opening 511 and projects light downward.

[0041] [Auxiliary clamp mechanism] 3, auxiliary clamp mechanisms 62 are provided on both sides in the X-axis direction across base stage 30. The two auxiliary clamp mechanisms 62 are arranged to face the two X-axis roller mechanisms 41, respectively. Each auxiliary clamp mechanism 62 has an auxiliary clamp plate 621 that is tiltable, and an auxiliary clamp air cylinder 622 that imparts tilting motion to the auxiliary clamp plate 621 .

[0042] Auxiliary clamp plate 621 has a base end supported so as to be tiltable about the Y axis, and a tip end formed in a flat plate shape that abuts against the outer circumferential surface of roller 411 of X-axis roller mechanism 41. Auxiliary clamp air cylinder 622 applies a tilting force in a direction in which the tip of auxiliary clamp plate 621 abuts against the outer circumferential surface of roller 411. As a result, base material J placed on loading plate 34 is sandwiched and held between X-axis roller mechanism 41 and the tip of auxiliary clamp plate 621.

[0043] The two auxiliary clamp mechanisms 62 are intended to hold the base material J so that it does not shift out of position relative to the loading plate 34, for example, when the clamp plate 51 of the clamp device 50 is raised to the raised position to release the base material J on the loading plate 34. When the base material J is clamped by the two auxiliary clamp mechanisms 62, the base material J is likely to become loose due to the pressure of the tip ends of the auxiliary clamp plates 621, so it is preferable to simultaneously perform the above-mentioned tension application control by the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41.

[0044] [Wiper mechanism] The wiper mechanism 61 is a mechanism for wiping away the implantable hairs bonded to the base material J, as shown in FIGS. As described above, the flocking operation on the base material J is performed through the work opening 341 and the upper opening 511 in a state where the base material J is held by the clamp plate 51. In this case, each hair to be implanted that is connected to the base material J protrudes to the upper side of the clamp plate 51 through the upper opening 511 . On the other hand, when the implantation of the hair to be implanted is completed in one section of the base material J within the work opening 341 of the mounting plate 34, the clamp plate 51 rises to the weak clamp position, and the feed device 40 performs the feed operation of the base material J so that the adjacent section is within the work opening 341. If each implanted hair remains inserted through the upper opening 511 after this, it may have a negative impact on the feeding operation of the base material J, the joining operation of the hair for implantation in the next section, and imaging of the new section through the work opening 341. Therefore, the clamp plate 51 is raised to the raised position, and the wiper mechanism 61 is used to wipe away the hairs to be implanted that are attached to the base material J on the underside of the clamp plate 51, and the hairs to be implanted are then removed from the upper opening 511. The order of the base material J feeding operation and the implantation hair dispensing operation may be reversed.

[0045] 3, the wiper mechanism 61 is disposed to the right rear of the mounting plate 34 in a plan view. The wiper mechanism 61 is disposed at a position lower than the clamp plate 51 in the raised position and higher than the mounting plate 34. The wiper mechanism 61 includes a rod-shaped wiper member 611 for sweeping away each of the implanted hairs, an air cylinder 612 for extending and retracting the wiper member 611, and an air cylinder 613 for applying back and forth movement to the wiper member 611 for wiping.

[0046] The wiper member 611 is a round bar shaped along the Y-axis direction, and extends leftward from the air cylinder 612 for extension and retraction. The extension air cylinder 612 is supported by the dispensing air cylinder 613 so that the plunger that moves back and forth is parallel to the Y-axis direction. A wiper member 611 is directly connected to the plunger of the extension air cylinder 612 in the extension direction, and the wiper member 611 can be switched between a state in which it is retracted to the right and a state in which it is extended to the left. The wiper member 611 is located to the right of the mounting plate 34 in the contracted state, and overlaps with the mounting plate 34 in the Y-axis direction in the extended state.

[0047] The dispensing air cylinder 613 is supported on the base 12 so that the plunger is parallel to the X-axis direction. The tip of the plunger supports the extension / retraction air cylinder 612, and when the plunger is in the advanced state, the wiper member 611 can be moved forward of the mounting plate 34, and when the plunger is in the retracted state, the wiper member 611 can be moved rearward of the mounting plate 34.

[0048] With the above configuration, when the attachment of the hair to be implanted to one section within the work opening 341 of the mounting plate 34 is completed and the clamp plate 51 is raised to the raised position, the wiper mechanism 61 moves the wiper member 611 forward using the air cylinder for expulsion 613, then extends the wiper member 611 using the air cylinder for extension 612, and moves the wiper member 611 backward using the air cylinder for expulsion 613. This allows the wiper member 611 to pass between the work opening 341 of the mounting plate 34 and the upper opening 511 of the clamp plate 51, and sweep each hair to be implanted backward and remove it from the upper opening 511.

[0049] The wiper member 611 may have any shape as long as it can sweep away the implanted hairs. For example, it is not limited to a round rod shape, but may be a plate shape or a brush.

[0050] [First blower mechanism] The first blower mechanism 64 has a nozzle connected to an air pressure supply source. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the first blower mechanism 64 is disposed in front of and slightly above the mounting plate 34, and blows air diagonally downward and rearward toward the mounting plate 34. As described above, the hairs for implantation that have been swept backward by the wiper mechanism 61 tend to rise upward from the backward swept state due to their elasticity. In this case, when the base material J is clamped to a new section by the clamp device 50, there is a risk that the hairs for implantation will be caught between the mounting plate 34 and the clamp plate 51. For this reason, the first blower mechanism 64 blows air onto the hair to be implanted that has been swept backward by the wiper mechanism 61 so that the hair does not stand up.

[0051] [Second blower mechanism] The second blower mechanisms 65 have a nozzle connected to an air pressure supply source. As shown in Fig. 1, one second blower mechanism 65 is provided at each end of the clamp plate 51 in the Y-axis direction, and each second blower mechanism 65 blows air toward the mounting plate 34 below the clamp plate 51. These second blower mechanisms 65 have the function of blowing air when the clamp plate 51 is raised to release the base material J on the loading plate 34, and pressing the base material J against the cover member 35 and each roller 411, 421. In addition, when the feed device 40 performs the feed operation of the base material J so that the adjacent section on the Y-axis side is within the work opening 341 and the wiper mechanism 61 performs the sweeping operation, the second blower mechanism 65 also has the function of blowing air toward the downstream side in the feed direction of the base material J, thereby moving the hair for implantation toward the downstream side in the feed direction of the base material J.

[0052] [Camera and position switching mechanism] FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the camera 11, the first capturing mechanism 21, and the position switching mechanism 28, and FIGS. 12(A) and 12(B) are plan views. The camera 11 captures an image of the base material J from below the placement plate 34 through the working opening 341. The camera 11 has an image sensor such as a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) and an optical system. The camera 11 is supported by the position switching mechanism 28 together with the first capturing mechanism 21, and its position can be switched between a state in which the optical axis of the camera 11 is aligned with the center line along the Z-axis direction passing through the center of the work opening 341, and a state in which the center line of the hook held by the first capturing mechanism 21 is aligned with the center line.

[0053] The first capturing mechanism 21 includes an upwardly facing hook 211, a needle bar 212 that holds the hook 211 at its upper end, a ball screw 213 along the Z-axis direction, a ball nut 214, a lifting block 215 that moves up and down in conjunction with the ball nut 214, and a capturing motor 216 that serves as the driving source for the lifting and lowering movement of the hook 211.

[0054] The ball screw 213 is supported by a support frame 281 of the position switching mechanism 28 so as to be rotatable around the Z axis. The capture motor 216 applies a rotational force to the ball screw 213 via a belt mechanism. The ball nut 214 is supported by the support frame 281 via a slide guide so that it can move up and down, and is moved up and down by the rotation of the ball screw 213 . Ball nut 214 has an interlocking shaft 217 extending forward along the X-axis direction, and lifting block 215 has a built-in linear bushing into which interlocking shaft 217 is inserted. Lifting block 215 also fixedly holds the lower end of needle bar 212. With this configuration, in the first capturing mechanism 21 , the ball screw 213 rotates when driven by the capturing motor 216 , and the ball nut 214 moves up and down along the ball screw 213 . The lifting block 215 moves up and down together with the ball nut 214 via an interlocking shaft 217, and the needle bar 212 and the hook 211 move up and down. At this time, the lifting block 215 can slide along the interlocking shaft 217 due to the built-in linear bushing, so even if the needle bar 212 moves forward, it can move up and down in conjunction with the ball nut 214.

[0055] The position switching mechanism 28 has a support frame 281 fixedly installed on the base 12, a position switching plate 282 that supports the camera 11 and the needle bar 212, and a position switching air cylinder 283 that serves as the driving source for the position switching operation of the camera 11 and the needle bar 212.

[0056] The support frame 281 supports the position switching plate 282 by means of a slide guide so that the position switching plate 282 can slide along the X-axis direction. The position switching plate 282 supports the camera 11 and the needle bar 212 side by side in the X-axis direction. The position switching plate 282 also supports the needle bar 212 via a linear bushing so that it can move up and down along the Z-axis direction. The position switching air cylinder 283 is attached to the support frame 281 so that the plunger moves back and forth in the X-axis direction, and the tip of the plunger is connected to the position switching plate 282.

[0057] The position switching mechanism 28 is provided with stoppers 284 and 285 that abut on both sides in the X-axis direction against a position switching plate 282 that is slidable along the X-axis direction. The stopper 284 positions the position switching plate 282 so that the optical axis of the camera 11 supported by the position switching plate 282 coincides with the center of the working opening 341, as shown in FIG. 12(A). 12(B), the stopper 285 positions the position switching plate 282 so that the center of the hook 211 of the needle bar 212 coincides with the center of the access opening 341. As shown in FIG. In this way, the position switching mechanism 28 saves space by arranging the camera 11 and the first capture mechanism 21 in parallel in the X-axis direction, and also realizes the requirement that both the camera 11 and the first capture mechanism 21 be arranged in the same position within the range of the work opening 341 when viewed in a plane. As described above, the position switching mechanism 28 is installed directly on the base 12 and does not move on the base 12. In contrast, the mounting plate 34 is installed on the base 12 via the movement mechanism 25. Therefore, in a plan view, the mounting plate 34 is movable in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction relative to the position switching mechanism 28. For this reason, the "center of the work opening 341" refers to the center of the work opening 341 when the mounting plate 34 is located at the center of the range of movement of the movement mechanism 25 (which is the reference position of the mounting plate 34).

[0058] [Correction mechanism] The base material J is a mesh material with mesh holes aligned on its surface. For example, the base material J of this embodiment has hexagonal mesh holes aligned. When the hairs to be implanted are sequentially connected to the mesh holes of the base material J, the base material J is held on the mounting plate 34 so that the alignment direction of the mesh holes is parallel to the X-axis direction or the Y-axis direction, which is the feeding direction of the feeding device 40. However, due to various factors, such as the base material J slipping and shifting during feeding, the base material J being three-dimensional rather than flat, or being a soft material that is prone to deformation, the arrangement direction of the mesh holes may become tilted. Such an inclination of the mesh holes of the base material J can be detected from the image captured by the camera 11. If the inclination of the mesh holes in the base material J exceeds the allowable value, the orientation of the base material J on the base stage 30 can be corrected by rotating it around the Z axis relative to the camera 11 using the correction mechanism 63.

[0059] 3 to 5, the correction mechanism 63 is disposed in front of the mounting plate 34. The correction mechanism 63 has a support shaft 632 supported rotatably around the Z axis by a bracket 631 installed on the base 12, an arm 633 fixedly mounted on the upper end of the support shaft 632, a disk-shaped pressure plate 634 provided at the tip of the arm 633, a correction motor 635 (see FIG. 2) that rotates the pressure plate 634 via a belt mechanism, and an arm rotation air cylinder 636 (see FIG. 2) that imparts a rotational motion to the support shaft 632.

[0060] The support shaft 632 is supported by a bracket 631 in a state aligned along the Z-axis direction. The arm 633 is connected to the support shaft 632 via a spline nut 637. That is, the arm 633 is movable along the support shaft 632 by the spline nut 637 and is rotatable together with the support shaft 632 around the Z axis. The arm 633 is pressed upward by a coil spring 638, which is an elastic member, via a spline nut 637.

[0061] A presser plate 634 provided on the underside of the tip of the arm 633 is supported rotatably around the Z axis relative to the arm 633. A rotational motion is imparted to this presser plate 634 from a correction motor 635 via a belt mechanism provided on the upper side of the arm 633. Furthermore, the underside of the presser plate 634 abuts from above against the base material J placed on the base stage 30, so that the rotation of the presser plate 634 can be imparted to the base material J.

[0062] Furthermore, the arm 633 is constantly pressed upward by a coil spring 638 , which keeps the presser plate 634 at a height that does not reach the base material J on the base stage 30 . A holding air cylinder 639 that lowers the arm 633 against the coil spring 638 is provided next to the arm 633, and when correction is performed by rotating the base material J, the holding plate 634 can be lowered to abut against the base material J on the loading plate 34.

[0063] The arm rotation air cylinder 636 inputs a rotational movement to the support shaft 632 via a link member (not shown) provided at the lower end of the support shaft 632 . By the rotational motion input from this arm rotation air cylinder 636, the arm 633 can move the pressure plate 634 between a retracted position in front of the mounting plate 34 and a pressure position directly above the mounting plate 34.

[0064] [Hair transplantation device control system: control device] As shown in Figure 2, the control device 100 of the hair transplant device 10 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102 storing a program for controlling the operation of the hair transplant, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 103 serving as a working area for calculation processing, a rewritable non-volatile data memory 104 serving as a storage means for storing various setting data, etc., and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101 for executing the program in the ROM 102.

[0065] The CPU 101 is also connected to the first to third capturing mechanisms 21 to 23, the looper mechanism 24, and the moving mechanism 25 that constitute the tufting unit 20. The first to third capturing mechanisms 21 to 23 each include an air cylinder, and the CPU 101 controls the operation of these mechanisms via electromagnetic valves (not shown) that operate them. The looper mechanism 24 includes an actuator, and the CPU 101 controls the operation of the looper mechanism 24 through a drive circuit (not shown) that operates the actuator. The moving mechanism 25 includes an X-axis stage 26 and a Y-axis stage 27, and the CPU 101 controls the operation of the X-axis stage 26 and the Y-axis stage 27 through a drive circuit (not shown) that operates the X-axis motor 263 of the X-axis stage 26 and the Y-axis motor 273 of the Y-axis stage 27.

[0066] The CPU 101 is also connected to the position switching mechanism 28 and controls the position switching air cylinder 283 via a solenoid valve (not shown). Furthermore, CPU 101 is connected to X-axis roller mechanism 41, controls X-axis feed motor 412 via a drive circuit (not shown), and controls retraction air cylinder 416 via a solenoid valve (not shown). Similarly, CPU 101 is connected to Y-axis roller mechanism 42, controls Y-axis feed motor 422 via a drive circuit (not shown), and controls retraction air cylinder 426 via a solenoid valve (not shown). Although two X-axis roller mechanisms 41 and two Y-axis roller mechanisms 42 are provided, only one of each is shown in FIG.

[0067] The CPU 101 is also connected to the clamping device 50, controls the clamping air cylinder 54 via a solenoid valve (not shown), and controls the strength of the air pressure supplied to the clamping air cylinder 54 by a regulator 56. The CPU 101 is also connected to the lighting device 57, and switches on and off the illumination light, and controls the actuator to move the lighting device 57 to a predetermined position.

[0068] The CPU 101 is also connected to the wiper mechanism 61, and controls the extension air cylinder 612 and the dispensing air cylinder 613 via electromagnetic valves (not shown) connected to each of them. Furthermore, CPU 101 is connected to auxiliary clamp mechanism 62 and controls auxiliary clamp air cylinder 622 via a solenoid valve (not shown). Although two auxiliary clamp mechanisms 62 are provided, only one is shown in FIG.

[0069] The CPU 101 is also connected to the correction mechanism 63, and controls the correction motor 635 through a drive circuit (not shown), and controls the arm rotation air cylinder 636 and the pressing air cylinder 639 through solenoid valves (not shown) connected to each of them. Furthermore, each of the first blower mechanism 64 and the second blower mechanism 65 has an electromagnetic valve that supplies high-pressure air to the nozzle, and the CPU 101 controls each electromagnetic valve to control the discharge of this air.

[0070] The CPU 101 is also connected to the camera 11 . Furthermore, the CPU 101 is connected to a pedal 14 for inputting the start of the hair implantation operation. The CPU 101 is also connected to an operation panel 15 that functions as a display unit for displaying various types of information and as an input unit for performing various inputs.

[0071] The CPU 101 also includes software modules such as a feed control unit 105, a tension application control unit 106, a state switching control unit 107, a tilt detection unit 108, and a correction control unit 109. Note that some or all of these software modules may be configured from hardware. The functions of each of the above software modules will be explained as appropriate in the section on the operation control of the hair implantation work by the hair implantation device 10, which will be described later.

[0072] The CPU 101 controls various air cylinders, various motors, various actuators, etc. through solenoid valves, drive circuits, interfaces, etc. However, in the following explanation, descriptions of solenoid valves, drive circuits, and interfaces will be omitted, and it will simply be stated that the CPU controls various air cylinders, various motors, various actuators, etc.

[0073] [Hair transplantation control: Base set] The overall flow of the operation control of the hair implantation work executed by the CPU 101 is shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, as a preliminary step, CPU 101 controls clamp air cylinder 54 of clamp device 50 to raise clamp plate 51 to the raised position, and controls auxiliary clamp air cylinder 622 of each auxiliary clamp mechanism 62 to raise auxiliary clamp plate 621 to the released position away from X-axis roller mechanism 41.

[0074] Then, the CPU 101 executes the base set process (step S1). That is, when the base material J is placed on the mounting plate 34 of the base stage 30 and the start of the hair implantation work is input from the pedal 14, the state switching control unit 107 supplies low pressure air to the clamping air cylinder 54 using the regulator 56, and lowers the clamp plate 51 to the weak clamp position.

[0075] [Hair transplantation control: tilt detection] Next, the CPU 101 executes the tilt detection process (step S3). That is, the CPU 101 controls the position switching air cylinder 283 of the position switching mechanism 28 to position the position switching plate 282 so that the optical axis of the camera 11 coincides with the center of the working opening 341 at the reference position. Furthermore, CPU 101 controls lighting device 57 to move it above upper opening 511 and to irradiate illumination light downward. Furthermore, the camera 11 captures an image of the base material J within the range of the work opening 341, and the tilt detection unit 108 extracts from the captured image a plurality of mesh holes developed on the surface of the base material J and detects the center of gravity g of each mesh hole. Figure 14 shows an example of an image captured by the camera 11.

[0076] As shown in Figure 14, the tilt detection unit 108 identifies the center of gravity gc closest to the camera center (the optical axis of the camera 11), and then identifies two adjacent center of gravity gs arranged in a straight line above and below it, so that the total number of points is five, which is the reference number. In the tilt detection unit, "adjacent" refers to the state of being adjacent with the closest spacing. Furthermore, "closest spacing" refers to the spacing between the center of gravity of adjacent mesh holes whose sides are adjacent, for example, in the case of mesh holes that are regular polygons such as regular hexagons. In addition, when there is no need to particularly distinguish a specific center of gravity gc or a center of gravity gn described later from other centers of gravity g, these will be included and simply referred to as "center of gravity g."

[0077] The tilt detection unit 108 then calculates the tilt angle θ of the line l passing through these five vertically adjacent center of gravity points g with respect to the X-axis direction (the vertical direction in the image). If this inclination angle θ is within the range of the allowable value, the base material J is determined to be not inclined, and if it exceeds the allowable value, it is determined to be inclined.

[0078] In addition, there may be cases where the mesh holes or center of gravity points are not detected well and only a number of center of gravity points g that is less than the reference number of points is detected. In this case, the inclination detection unit 108 regards the center of gravity point gn of the mesh hole adjacent to the mesh hole of the center of gravity point gc on one side in the Y-axis direction as the new center of gravity point gc, detects five center of gravity points g including the center of gravity point gn adjacent in the X-axis direction, and determines the inclination.

[0079] Furthermore, if five center of gravity points g are not obtained for the center of gravity point gn, five center of gravity points g are obtained for the center of gravity point gn up to a specified maximum number of times on both sides of the original center of gravity point gc in the Y-axis direction (for example, twice on each side), and if five center of gravity points g are still not obtained, tilt detection is stopped. In this case, an error may be reported and the hair implantation work may be interrupted, or the tilt detection process and the next correction control process may be skipped and the hair implantation work may continue from there. If the hair implantation work is continued, the hair implantation work will be performed with slightly lower accuracy.

[0080] [Hair transplantation operation control: Correction control] Next, the CPU 101 executes a correction control process (step S5). This correction control is performed by the correction control unit 109 when it is determined in step S3 that the base material J is tilted. On the other hand, it is skipped when it is determined that there is no tilt.

[0081] The correction control by the correction control unit 109 is shown in the flowchart of FIG. As shown in the figure, the correction control unit 109 turns off the lighting device 57 used in the tilt detection and moves it away from the upper opening 511 (step S21). Next, the correction control unit 109 controls the feed device 40, the clamp device 50, and the auxiliary clamp mechanism 62 in parallel. That is, the correction control unit 109 controls the retraction air cylinders 416, 426 of the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 and the pair of Y-axis roller mechanisms 42 of the feed device 40 to lower the rollers 411, 421 to the retracted positions (step S23). In addition, the state switching control unit 107 supplies high air pressure to the clamping air cylinder 54 using the regulator 56, lowers the clamp plate 51 of the clamp device 50 to the strong clamping position, and holds the base material J on the mounting plate 34 (step S25). Furthermore, the correction control unit 109 controls the auxiliary clamp air cylinders 622 of each auxiliary clamp mechanism 62 to bring each auxiliary clamp plate 621 into contact with the rollers 411 of the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41, thereby auxiliary clamping the base material J (step S27).

[0082] Next, the tension application control unit 106 performs tension application control on the X-axis feed motors 412 of the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 to remove slack from the base material J (step S29). Then, in the auxiliary clamped state of the base material J, the correction control unit 109 controls the clamping air cylinder 54 to retract the clamp plate 51 to the raised position (step S31).

[0083] Next, the correction control unit 109 controls the arm rotation air cylinder 636 to move the pressure plate 634 above the mounting plate 34 (step S33), and controls the pressure air cylinder 639 to lower the pressure plate 634 to hold the base material J from above (step S35). Furthermore, the correction control unit 109 controls the auxiliary clamp air cylinders 622 of each auxiliary clamp mechanism 62 to release the auxiliary clamp state by each auxiliary clamp plate 621 (step S37), and then controls the correction motor 635 to rotate the base material J in a direction that corrects the tilt angle θ detected by the tilt detection unit 108 (step S39).

[0084] Next, correction control unit 109 controls auxiliary clamp air cylinder 622 of each auxiliary clamp mechanism 62 to place each auxiliary clamp plate 621 in the auxiliary clamp state again (step S41). Furthermore, tension application control unit 106 executes tension application control using X-axis feed motor 412 of the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 (step S43). Furthermore, the correction control unit 109 controls the pressure air cylinder 639 of the correction mechanism 63 to raise the pressure plate 634 (step S45), and also controls the arm rotation air cylinder 636 to move the pressure plate 634 to a retracted position away from the mounting plate 34 (step S47).

[0085] Then, the state switching control unit 107 supplies low air pressure to the clamping air cylinder 54 by the regulator 56, and lowers the clamp plate 51 of the clamp device 50 to the weak clamp position (step S49). Furthermore, the correction control unit 109 controls the auxiliary clamping air cylinders 622 of the auxiliary clamp mechanisms 62 to release the auxiliary clamping of the base material J by the auxiliary clamp plates 621 (step S51). Then, the correction control unit 109 controls the retraction air cylinders 416, 426 of the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 and the pair of Y-axis roller mechanisms 42 of the feed device 40 to raise the rollers 411, 421 to the feed position (step S53).

[0086] [Hair transplantation control: Hair transplantation] Next, the CPU 101 executes the process of the hair implantation operation (step S7). In the process of the hair implantation operation, the CPU 101 controls the lighting device 57 to move it above the upper opening 511 and to irradiate the lighting light downward, while capturing an image of the base material J with the camera 11. Then, the CPU 101 extracts each mesh hole developed in a predetermined section of the base material J, and identifies the joining points of the hairs to be implanted around all of the mesh holes.

[0087] Thereafter, the CPU 101 retracts the lighting device 57 and controls the position switching air cylinder 283 of the position switching mechanism 28 to position the position switching plate 282 so that the center of the hook of the first capturing mechanism 21 coincides with the center of the working opening 341 at the reference position. Then, the first to third capturing mechanisms 21 to 23 of the hair implantation unit 20, the looper mechanism 24, and the X-axis motor 263 and the Y-axis motor 273 of the moving mechanism are controlled to perform the operation of attaching the hair to be implanted to each attachment point identified by imaging within a specified section. The operations of the first to third capturing mechanisms 21 to 23 of the hair implantation unit 20 for connecting the above-mentioned hairs to be implanted, the looper mechanism 24, and the X-axis motor 263 and Y-axis motor 273 of the moving mechanism are almost the same as the hair implantation operation disclosed in Figures 10 to 22 of the above-mentioned JP 2018-040084 A, and therefore detailed explanations will be omitted and refer to these figures.

[0088] Then, when the hairs to be implanted have been attached to all of the attachment points within the section, the CPU 101 determines whether implantation has been completed for all sections planned for the base material J (step S9).If implantation has been completed for all sections, the CPU 101 raises the clamp plate 51 of the clamp device 50 to the raised position, releases the base material J on the loading plate 34, and ends the implantation operation.

[0089] [Hair transplantation operation control: Wiper operation] On the other hand, if the hair implantation has not been completed for all sections, the CPU 101 executes the wiper operation process (step S11). First, the CPU 101 controls the retraction air cylinders 416, 426 of the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 and the pair of Y-axis roller mechanisms 42 of the feed device 40 to lower the rollers 411, 421 to the retracted positions. Furthermore, CPU 101 controls auxiliary clamp air cylinders 622 of each auxiliary clamp mechanism 62 to bring each auxiliary clamp plate 621 into contact with rollers 411 of a pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41, thereby auxiliarily clamping base material J. Furthermore, the tension application control unit 106 performs tension application control on the X-axis feed motor 412 of the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 to remove slack in the base material J. Next, the CPU 101 controls the clamping air cylinder 54 of the clamp device 50 to retract the clamp plate 51 to the raised position.

[0090] Then, the CPU 101 causes the wiper member 611 to move forward using the expelling air cylinder 613 of the wiper mechanism 61, and also causes the telescopic air cylinder 612 to extend the wiper member 611. Then, by causing the expelling air cylinder 613 to move the wiper member 611 backward, the wiper member 611 sweeps backward the hairs to be implanted that have extended upward from the base material J and are inserted into the upper opening 511, and can thereby expel them from the upper opening 511. The rearwardly moved wiper member 611 is returned to its contracted state by the telescopic air cylinder 612. In addition, as soon as the wiper member 611 finishes wiping, the CPU 101 causes the first blower mechanism 64 to blow air backward, thereby preventing the hairs to be implanted that have been swept backward from standing up due to their restoring force. Furthermore, when the feed direction of the base material J is along the Y-axis direction in order to move to the next section, the second blower mechanism 65 may be used to blow air toward the downstream side of the feed direction of the base material J to move the hair for implantation toward the downstream side of the feed direction.

[0091] Then, the state switching control unit 107 supplies low air pressure to the clamping air cylinder 54 by the regulator 56, and lowers the clamp plate 51 of the clamp device 50 to the weak clamp position. Furthermore, the correction control unit 109 controls the auxiliary clamping air cylinders 622 of the auxiliary clamp mechanisms 62 to release the auxiliary clamping of the base material J by the auxiliary clamp plates 621 .

[0092] [Hair transplantation operation control: Feed control] Next, the CPU 101 executes a feed control process (step S13). This feed control is performed by the feed control unit 105. The feed control unit 105 first controls the retraction air cylinders 416 or 426 of the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 or the pair of Y-axis roller mechanisms 42 of the feed device 40 to raise the rollers 411 or 421 to the feed position. Furthermore, the feed control unit 105 controls the X-axis feed motors 412 of the X-axis roller mechanisms 41 or the Y-axis feed motors 422 of the Y-axis roller mechanisms 42 of the feed device 40 to feed the base material J in predetermined sections where the hair implantation work will be performed. For example, a square or rectangular section that fits within the range of the work opening 341 is set, and when hair implantation within the range of that section is completed, the feed control unit 105 performs operation control to feed the base material J by the width of one section in the X-axis or Y-axis direction, and move the base material J to the next section.

[0093] When the feeding operation to the next section is completed, the state switching control unit 107 supplies high air pressure to the clamping air cylinder 54 by the regulator 56, and lowers the clamp plate 51 of the clamp device 50 to the strong clamp position. Thereafter, the CPU 101 returns the process to step S3, and executes tilt detection, correction control, hair implantation operation, and the like for the new section.

[0094] [Technical Effects of the Embodiments of the Invention] As described above, the hair implantation device 10 is equipped with a feed device 40 having an X-axis roller mechanism 41 that feeds the base material J in the X-axis direction relative to the loading plate 34 using rollers 411, and a Y-axis roller mechanism 42 that feeds the base material J in the Y-axis direction relative to the loading plate 34 using rollers 421. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to manually reattach the base material J to change the area where the base material J is to be planted relative to the work opening 341 of the mounting plate 34, and it is possible to efficiently plant hair over a wide area on the base material J.

[0095] In addition, the hair implantation device 10 is equipped with a feed control unit 105 that feeds the base material J to the feed device 40 in predetermined section units where the hair implantation work is performed, so that hair implantation can be performed in predetermined section units, and hair implantation can be performed uniformly over a wide area of ​​the base material J.

[0096] Furthermore, the X-axis roller mechanism 41 and the Y-axis roller mechanism 42 of the feeding device 40 each have two rollers 411 or two rollers 421 arranged on either side of the loading plate 34 in each feeding direction, so that the base material J can be fed well in both the forward and reverse directions of the X-axis and the forward and reverse directions of the Y-axis, and high-quality hair implantation can be achieved by improving the feeding accuracy.

[0097] Furthermore, X-axis roller mechanism 41 of feed device 40 has X-axis feed motor 412 that serves as a drive source for each of the two rollers 411, and Y-axis roller mechanism 42 has Y-axis feed motor 422 that serves as a drive source for each of the two rollers 421. Control device 100 of feed device 40 is equipped with tension application control section 106 that controls the motors of the two rollers of each of roller mechanisms 41, 42 to rotate in opposite directions. Therefore, tension can be applied to the base material J to prevent loosening, so that the hair to be implanted can be attached to the base material J with high positional accuracy, making it possible to perform high-quality hair implantation.

[0098] In addition, the hair implantation device 10 is equipped with a clamping device 50 that presses down the base material J placed on the mounting plate 34 from above using a clamping plate 51, and can clamp and hold the base material J after the base material J is fed by the feeding device 40.This means that the hair implantation work can be performed while maintaining the position after feeding, and it is possible to perform good hair implantation over a wide area of ​​the base material J.

[0099] The clamping device 50 also includes a state switching control unit 107 that controls the height and holding force of the clamping plate 51 using a regulator 56 in relation to the clamping air cylinder 54 that raises and lowers the clamping plate 51, thereby switching between a restrained state of the base material and a state that allows feeding. Therefore, depending on the allowable state of the base material feeding, the clamp plate 51 can press the base material J into appropriate contact with the rollers 411, 421 of the X-axis roller mechanism 41 and the Y-axis roller mechanism 42, respectively, to enable good feeding, and the base material J can be fed with high precision. Furthermore, due to the restraint state of the base material, the base material J fed with high precision can be held, making it possible to perform high-quality hair implantation.

[0100] In addition, the hair implantation device 10 is equipped with a wiper mechanism 61 that sweeps the implanted hair outside the upper opening 511 of the clamp plate 51, thereby preventing the hair from being pinched inside the upper opening 511 when re-clamped by the clamp plate 51, thereby reducing the influence of the hair for implantation on the implantation work, the feeding operation of the base material J, imaging from the work opening 341, etc.

[0101] The hair implantation device 10 also includes an inclination detection unit 108 that determines the arrangement direction of the multiple mesh holes in the base material J from the image captured by the camera 11, a correction mechanism 63 that changes the orientation of the base material J on the mounting plate 34 relative to the camera 11, and a correction control unit 109 that corrects the orientation of the base material J on the mounting plate 34 using the correction mechanism 63 in accordance with the inclination angle of the arrangement direction of the multiple mesh holes in the base material J relative to a specified direction. Therefore, the base material J, whose orientation has changed due to various factors such as the feeding operation or the clamping operation by the clamping device 50, can be corrected to the correct orientation, and the hair to be implanted can be attached to the base material J with high positional accuracy, making it possible to perform high-quality hair implantation.

[0102] Furthermore, the correction mechanism 63 corrects the orientation by rotating the base material J relative to the mounting plate 34, so that the number of rotation targets is minimized, and the reduction in size of the correction mechanism 63 makes it possible to achieve a reduction in the size of the entire device.

[0103] The hair implantation device 10 also includes a position switching mechanism 28 that switches the positions of the camera 11 and the first capturing mechanism 21 so that they face the work opening 341 of the mounting plate 34 from below. This eliminates the need to arrange the camera 11 and the first capturing mechanism 21 side by side on the same axis, making it possible to reduce the size of the hair implantation device 10. Furthermore, the position switching mechanism 28 switches the position so that the hook 211 and the optical axis of the camera 11 are on the same axis, which makes it possible to reduce the size of the hair implantation device 10, particularly in the direction of the optical axis of the camera 11.

[0104] [others] The above describes the embodiments of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the embodiments, a component integrally formed from a single member may be replaced with a component divided into multiple members that are connected or fixed to each other. Furthermore, a component formed by connecting multiple members may be replaced with a component integrally formed from a single member. In addition, the details shown in the embodiments may be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0105] [Other forms of correction mechanism] In the above embodiment, the correction mechanism 63 is configured to hold the base material J on the mounting plate 34 from above and apply rotation to the mounting plate 34, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 16, instead of the correction mechanism 63, the hair implantation device 10 may be equipped with another correction mechanism 66 that rotates the mounting plate 34 together with the base material J to correct the orientation of the base material J. The correction mechanism 66 will be described in detail below.

[0106] The correction mechanism 66 is provided between the base 12 and the X-axis stage 26, and can rotate the moving mechanism 25 and the structure supported by the moving mechanism 25 (such as the base stage 30) around the Z-axis passing through the center of the work opening 341 of the mounting plate 34 which is in the reference position. Specifically, the correction mechanism 66 has a bearing 662 that is provided directly on the upper surface of the base 12 and that enables rotation around the Z axis that passes through the center of the work opening 341 of the mounting plate 34, a rotation stage 661 that is rotatably supported by the bearing 662, and a rotation mechanism (not shown) that applies a rotational force to the rotation stage 661. The rotation mechanism has a drive source such as a servo motor that enables the rotation angle to be controlled by the control device 100.

[0107] The correction mechanism 66 has a rotating stage 661 on which are mounted directly or indirectly the moving mechanism 25 (X-axis stage 26 and Y-axis stage 27), the base stage 30 including the mounting plate 34, the wiper mechanism 61, the auxiliary clamping mechanism 62, the first blower mechanism 64, the second blower mechanism 65, the feed device 40, and the clamping device 50, and is given a rotational motion around the Z-axis relative to the base 12. In contrast, the first capture mechanism 21, the second capture mechanism 22, the third capture mechanism 23, the position switching mechanism 28 supporting the camera 11, and the looper mechanism 24 are mounted on the base 12, and no rotation is imparted by the correction mechanism 66.

[0108] Furthermore, when the hair implantation device 10 is equipped with a correction mechanism 66, it is preferable to also install a holding mechanism 67 on the base 12, which presses down on the base material J on the mounting plate 34 from above to prevent the base material J from rotating when the mounting plate 34 rotates. The holding mechanism 67 illustrated here shares many components with the correction mechanism 63 described above, and therefore, for components that are common to the correction mechanism 63 described above, the names and symbols of the components of the correction mechanism 63 described above will be used, and redundant explanations will be omitted. The holding mechanism 67 has a spindle 632 supported rotatably around the Z axis by a bracket 631 installed on the base 12, an arm 633 fixedly mounted on the upper end of the spindle 632, a pressure plate provided at the tip of the arm 633, an arm rotation air cylinder 636 that imparts rotational motion to the spindle 632, a spline nut 637, a coil spring 638, and a pressure air cylinder 639 that lowers the arm 633 (see Figures 2 and 5). The holding mechanism 67 differs from the correction mechanism 63 described above in that the presser plate is fixedly supported by an arm 633 and does not have a correction motor 635 that rotates the presser plate.

[0109] With the above-described configuration, when the base stage 30 is rotated by the correction mechanism 66, the holding mechanism 67 can hold the base material J so that it does not rotate together with the base stage 30, by lowering the pressure plate carried above the mounting plate 34 by the arm 633, which is rotated by the arm rotation air cylinder 636, using the pressure air cylinder 639.

[0110] The correction control performed by the correction control unit 109 for the hair implantation device 10 when the above-mentioned correction mechanism 66 and holding mechanism 67 are provided will be described with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 17. The correction control by the correction mechanism 66 is performed at the same timing as the correction control shown in step S5 in the flowchart of Fig. 13 described above.

[0111] Immediately before the correction control, the aforementioned tilt detection (see step S3 in FIG. 13) is performed, and the correction control unit 109 turns off the lighting device 57 used at that time and moves it away from the upper opening 511 (step S71). Next, the correction control unit 109 controls the feed device 40, the clamp device 50, and the auxiliary clamp mechanism 62 in parallel. That is, the correction control unit 109 controls the retraction air cylinders 416, 426 of the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 and the pair of Y-axis roller mechanisms 42 of the feed device 40 to lower the rollers 411, 421 to the retracted positions (step S73). In addition, the state switching control unit 107 supplies high air pressure to the clamping air cylinder 54 using the regulator 56, lowers the clamp plate 51 of the clamp device 50 to the strong clamping position, and holds the base material J on the mounting plate 34 (step S75). Furthermore, the correction control unit 109 controls the auxiliary clamp air cylinders 622 of each auxiliary clamp mechanism 62 to bring each auxiliary clamp plate 621 into contact with the rollers 411 of the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41, thereby auxiliary clamping the base material J (step S77).

[0112] Next, the tension application control unit 106 performs tension application control on the X-axis feed motors 412 of the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 to remove slack in the base material J (step S79). Then, in the auxiliary clamped state of the base material J, the correction control unit 109 controls the clamping air cylinder 54 to retract the clamp plate 51 to the raised position (step S81).

[0113] Next, the correction control unit 109 controls the arm rotation air cylinder 636 to move the pressure plate above the mounting plate 34 (step S83), and controls the pressure air cylinder 639 to lower the pressure plate to hold the base material J from above (step S85).

[0114] Furthermore, the correction control unit 109 controls the auxiliary clamp air cylinders 622 of each auxiliary clamp mechanism 62 to release the auxiliary clamp state by each auxiliary clamp plate 621 (step S87), and then controls the drive source of the correction mechanism 66 to rotate the rotation stage 661 by the same tilt angle θ in the same direction as the tilt angle θ of the base material J detected by the tilt detection unit 108 (step S89). As a result, the base material J is held down from above by the holding plate and is restrained from rotating, and the base stage 30 and the mounting plate 34 rotate by the tilt angle θ together with the rotation stage 661. In other words, the base stage 30 and the mounting plate 34 are in a state where they are shifted by the same tilt angle θ as the base material J.

[0115] Next, correction control unit 109 controls auxiliary clamp air cylinder 622 of each auxiliary clamp mechanism 62 to place each auxiliary clamp plate 621 in the auxiliary clamp state again (step S91). Furthermore, tension application control unit 106 executes tension application control using X-axis feed motor 412 of the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 (step S93). Furthermore, the correction control unit 109 controls the holding air cylinder 639 of the holding mechanism 67 to raise the holding plate (step S95).

[0116] Then, the correction control unit 109 controls the arm rotation air cylinder 636 to move the presser plate 634 to a retracted position away from the mounting plate 34 (step S97).

[0117] Then, the state switching control unit 107 supplies low air pressure to the clamping air cylinder 54 by the regulator 56, and lowers the clamp plate 51 of the clamp device 50 to the weak clamp position (step S99).

[0118] Furthermore, correction control unit 109 controls correction mechanism 66 and auxiliary clamp mechanism 62 in parallel. That is, the correction control unit 109 controls the drive source of the correction mechanism 66 to rotate the rotation stage 661 in the opposite direction to the direction in which the tilt occurs by the same tilt angle θ as the tilt angle θ of the base material J detected by the tilt detection unit 108 (step S101). As a result, the base material J rotates together with the rotating stage 661, the base stage 30, and the mounting plate 34 in the opposite direction to the tilt direction by the tilt angle θ, eliminating the state in which the base material J, the base stage 30, and the mounting plate 34 were misaligned at the tilt angle θ.

[0119] Furthermore, in parallel with the operation of correction mechanism 66, correction control unit 109 controls auxiliary clamp air cylinder 622 of each auxiliary clamp mechanism 62 to release the auxiliary clamp state by each auxiliary clamp plate 621 (step S103).

[0120] Then, the correction control unit 109 controls the retraction air cylinders 416, 426 of the pair of X-axis roller mechanisms 41 and the pair of Y-axis roller mechanisms 42 of the feed device 40 to raise the rollers 411, 421 to the feed position (step S105).

[0121] The correction mechanism 66 corrects the tilt angle by rotating the base material J together with the base stage 30, so that correction can be performed with higher accuracy. Also, tilt detection can be performed immediately after correction for confirmation, and angle correction can be quickly retried if tilt is still present in the base material J. Furthermore, when performing angle correction of the base material J in a retry, tilt correction may be performed by a single rotation operation by the correction mechanism 66 in a direction to eliminate the tilt, without operation of the holding mechanism 67. [Explanation of symbols]

[0122] 10 Hair transplant device 11 Camera (imaging unit) 12 Foundation 20 Hair transplantation area 21 First Capture Mechanism 211 Hook needle 215 Lifting Block 216 Capture motor 217 Interlocking shaft 22 Secondary Capture Mechanism 23 The third capture mechanism 24 Looper mechanism 25 Moving mechanism 26 X-axis stage 263 X-axis motor 27 Y-axis stage 273 Y-axis motor 28 Position switching mechanism 283 Position switching air cylinder 284,285 Stopper 30 Base Stage 34 Placement plate (placement part) 341 Working opening 40 Feeder 41 X-axis roller mechanism 42 Y-axis roller mechanism 411,421 Laura 412 X-axis feed motor 415,425 Coil spring 416,426 Retract air cylinder 422 Y-axis feed motor 50 Clamping device 51 Clamp plate (clamp member) 511 Upper opening 512 Contact plate 54 Clamp air cylinder 55 Coil spring 56 Regulator 61 Wiper mechanism 62 Auxiliary clamp mechanism 63 Correction mechanism 634 Retaining plate 635 Correction motor 636 Air cylinder for arm rotation 64 First blower mechanism 65 Second blower mechanism 66 Correction mechanism 661 Rotating Stage 67 Retention mechanism 100 control device 101 CPU 105 Feed control section 106 Tension control unit 107 State switching control section 108 Tilt detection unit 109 Correction control section B Border d Gap g,gc,gn center of gravity l straight line θ Tilt angle

Claims

1. a mounting section for mounting a base material to be implanted thereon and having an opening for implanting work; a hair implantation unit that attaches the hair to the base material at the work opening of the placement unit; a feeding device disposed around the placing section and feeding the base material with rollers that contact the base material from below; a camera for detecting the inclination of the base material placed on the placement section; a correction mechanism that corrects the orientation of the base material by rotating the base material placed on the placement unit in accordance with the detected tilt; Equipped with The hair implantation device is characterized in that the feeder feeds the base material in at least two intersecting directions.

2. 2. The hair implantation device according to claim 1, further comprising a feed control unit for feeding the base material to the feed device in predetermined sections for performing the hair implantation work.

3. 3. The hair implantation device according to claim 1, wherein the feeding device has two rollers arranged on either side of the placing section for each feeding direction.

4. the feeding device has separate drive sources for the two rollers disposed on either side of the placement unit in each direction, 4. The hair implantation device according to claim 3, further comprising a tension applying control unit that applies tension to the base material by rotating the drive sources of the two rollers in opposite directions.

5. A hair implantation device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises a clamping device having a clamping member that presses down on the base material placed on the placing section from above, and a lifting section that raises and lowers the clamping member.

6. The hair implantation device according to claim 5, further comprising a state switching control unit that controls the height or downward pressing force of the clamp member during the lowering operation of the lifting unit, thereby switching between a restrained state of the base material and a state in which feeding is permitted.

7. the clamp member has an upper opening facing the access opening of the placement portion, 7. The hair transplantation device according to claim 5, further comprising a wiper mechanism for sweeping the transplanted hairs out of the upper opening.

Images