Conveying system and conveying method

Abstract

To convey an article to a prescribed place with a prescribed direction.SOLUTION: The conveyance system comprises: a conveyance device that conveys an article to a processing area where the article is processed; a transfer device that transfers the article loaded in a pallet to the conveyance device; a detection unit that detects the direction of the article placed on the conveyance device; and a control unit that controls the transfer device. The control unit controls, when the direction detected by the detection unit is not a prescribed direction corresponding to the processing, the transfer device to change the direction of the article to the prescribed direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0004] , , , , ,

[0005] , , ,

[0001] The present invention relates to a conveying system and a conveying method.

Background Art

[0002] As an invention for performing depalletizing to unload articles on a pallet from the pallet and conveying the articles to a predetermined location, there is, for example, an article handling facility disclosed in Patent Document 1. In this handling facility, a pallet on which articles are stacked is moved by a conveying conveyor to the position of a robot device. The robot device depalletizes the articles stacked on the pallet and places them on an unloading conveyor for conveying the articles to a predetermined location. The articles placed on the unloading conveyor are conveyed to a predetermined location.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] The transport system of the present invention comprises a transport device for transporting articles to a processing area for processing articles, a transfer device for transferring articles stacked on a pallet to the transport device, a detection unit for detecting the orientation of the articles placed on the transport device, and a control unit for controlling the transfer device. The control unit controls the transfer device so that if the orientation detected by the detection unit is not a predetermined orientation corresponding to the processing, the transfer device changes the orientation of the articles to the predetermined orientation.

[0007] The conveying method of the present invention comprises: a transfer step in which a transfer device transfers articles stacked on a pallet to a conveying device that conveys articles to a processing area for processing articles; a detection step in which the orientation of the articles placed on the conveying device is detected; and a correction step in which, if the orientation detected in the detection step is not a predetermined orientation corresponding to the processing device, the transfer device changes the orientation of the articles to a predetermined orientation. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of the transport system according to the embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a block diagram of the control device. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the processing flow performed by the control device. [Figure 4A] Figure 4A is a schematic diagram showing the state when a distance sensor measures distance. [Figure 4B] Figure 4B is a schematic diagram showing the state when a distance sensor measures distance. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. In the drawings, the same or corresponding elements are appropriately denoted by the same reference numerals. Furthermore, it should be noted that the drawings are schematic, and the dimensional relationships of each element may differ from those in reality. Even between drawings, there may be parts where the dimensional relationships and ratios differ. Also, the Cartesian coordinate system of the X, Y, and Z axes is shown in the drawings as appropriate, and directions are explained using this system. In the space shown in the Cartesian coordinate system, the direction in which the X component increases is called the +X direction, and the direction in which the X component decreases is called the -X direction. Similarly, the Y and Z components are defined as the +Y direction, -Y direction, +Z direction, and -Z direction. For convenience of explanation, the +Z direction may be referred to as upward, and the -Z direction as downward.

[0010] [Embodiment] (Configuration of the embodiment) Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of a transport system 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The transport system 1000 includes a robot 1, transport paths 31-38, a light emitter 41, a light receiver 42, and distance sensors 43a and 43b. The transport system 1000 also includes a control device 100 (not shown) that controls the drive units of the robot 1 and the transport paths 31-38. The configuration of the control device 100 will be described later. The transport system 1000 is a system that depallets material bags A stacked on a pallet P and transports them to an automatic bag opener 2.

[0011] Material bag A, an example of an item transported by the transport system 1000, is a bag containing, for example, food raw materials. Material bag A has a rectangular shape when viewed from above. The raw materials contained in material bag A are not limited to food raw materials; for example, they may be raw materials for resin products in the form of pellets or powder. Pallet P is a pallet on which material bags A are stacked. Pallet P with material bags A stacked on it is placed on transport paths 37 and 38, for example, by a forklift.

[0012] The transport paths 37 and 38 are conveyors that transport pallets P, on which material bags A are stacked, in the -Y direction from which robot 1 is located. Each of the transport paths 37 and 38 has a transport mechanism for transporting pallets P and a drive unit such as a motor for driving the transport mechanism. The transport mechanism is, for example, a roller conveyor or a chain conveyor, but is not limited to these conveyors.

[0013] Frame 1A is the frame on which robot 1 is installed. On the -Z side of frame 1A, on the -Y side of transport paths 37 and 38, there is a transport path 35 that transports empty pallets P on which material bags A have been loaded in the -X direction. Transport path 35 has a transport mechanism that transports pallets P, similar to transport paths 37 and 38, and a drive unit that drives the transport mechanism. Empty pallets P move from transport paths 37 and 38 to transport path 35 located below frame 1A, and are transported in the -X direction by transport path 35.

[0014] The transport path 36, which transports pallets P in the +Y direction, is located on the -X side of the transport path 35. The transport path 36 has a transport mechanism for transporting pallets P, similar to transport paths 37 and 38, and a drive unit for driving the transport mechanism. Pallets P that have moved from transport path 35 to transport path 36 are sent by the transport path 36 to a stacking device (not shown) for stacking pallets P, where they are stacked.

[0015] Robot 1, an example of a transfer device, is a multi-jointed robot that moves material bags A, which are loaded onto pallets P transported on transport paths 37 and 38, to transport path 31. It is equipped with a multi-jointed arm 11, a robot hand 12 for holding material bags A, and a camera 13. Robot 1 is positioned on a frame 1A installed in the +Z direction from transport path 35. The robot hand 12 is located at the tip of the arm 11 and holds material bags A by suction. The camera 13 is mounted on the robot hand 12 and photographs the area below the robot hand 12.

[0016] Conveyor paths 31-34, an example of a conveying device, are conveyors that transport material bags A to an automatic bag opener 2. They have a conveying mechanism for transporting material bags A and a drive unit for driving the conveying mechanism. The conveying mechanisms of conveyor paths 31-34 are the same as those of conveyor paths 37 and 38. Conveyor paths 31-34 are arranged in the order of conveyor path 31, conveyor path 32, conveyor path 33, and conveyor path 34, from upstream to downstream in the direction of transport of material bags A.

[0017] The transport path 31 is a transport path on which the material bag A held by the robot hand 12 is placed, and transports the material bag A in the +X direction. In the transport path 31, the material bag A is placed at the placement position PO shown by the dashed line in Figure 1. The transport path 32 is a transport path that transports the material bag A transported from the transport path 31 to the transport path 33 located in the +X direction.

[0018] Near the transport path 32, a light emitter 41, a light receiver 42, distance sensors 43a and 43b, a holder 44, and a pair of guides 45 are installed. One example of a guide is a guide 45, which has a portion parallel to the X-axis direction and a portion whose spacing from each other widens as it moves toward the -X direction, and is installed at a predetermined height from the upper surface of the transport path 32. The spacing of the portion of the pair of guides 45 parallel to the X-axis direction is such that the material bag A can pass through when its long side is transported along the X-axis direction, but cannot pass through when its short side is transported along the X-axis direction.

[0019] The light projecting unit 41 and the light receiving unit 42 constitute a transmissive photoelectric sensor 40 (see FIG. 2), and the light receiving unit 42 receives the light emitted by the light projecting unit 41. When there is no material bag A between the light projecting unit 41 and the light receiving unit 42, the light receiving unit 42 receives the light emitted by the light projecting unit 41. On the other hand, when the material bag A is conveyed and there is a material bag A between the light projecting unit 41 and the light receiving unit 42, the light emitted by the light projecting unit 41 is blocked by the material bag A and the light receiving unit 42 does not receive the light emitted by the light projecting unit 41. Therefore, the presence or absence of the material bag A can be detected based on the light reception state of the light receiving unit 42. When the light receiving unit 42 is receiving the light emitted by the light projecting unit 41, it outputs a signal indicating that it is receiving light. When the light receiving unit 42 is not receiving the light emitted by the light projecting unit 41, it outputs a signal indicating that it is not receiving light. The photoelectric sensor 40, which is a combination of the light projecting unit 41 and the light receiving unit 42, is an example of an object detection sensor that detects the presence or absence of an object.

[0020] The holder 44 is a holder for installing the distance sensors 43a and 43b above the conveying path 32. The distance sensors 43a and 43b are, for example, laser displacement sensors. The distance sensors 43a and 43b are provided on the holder 44 and installed at a position at a predetermined height from the surface of the conveying path 32. The distance sensors 43a and 43b are sensors that have, for example, a light projecting unit that emits laser light and a light receiving unit that receives the laser light reflected by the object from the light projecting unit, and measures the distance to the object by the triangulation method. Note that the distance sensors 43a and 43b may be sensors that measure the distance to the object by the TOF (Time Of Flight) method.

[0021] The conveying path 33 is a conveying path that conveys the material bag A conveyed from the conveying path 32 in the +Y direction. The conveying path 34 is a conveying path that conveys the material bag A conveyed from the conveying path 33 to the automatic bag opening machine 2.

[0022] The automatic bag opener 2 is located on the +Y side of the transport path 34. The automatic bag opener 2 is a machine that automatically opens material bags A transported by the transport path 34 and discharges the raw materials from material bags A. The raw materials discharged from material bags A are sent by a transport line (not shown) to, for example, a silo for storing raw materials or equipment for processing raw materials. The bags from which the raw materials have been discharged are also automatically discharged from the automatic bag opener 2. The automatic bag opener 2 has a predetermined orientation that allows it to properly open the transported material bags A. In this embodiment, the shorter side of material bag A, viewed in the -Z direction, is aligned with the direction of input to the automatic bag opener 2 (+Y direction). When material bag A is input in this predetermined orientation, the automatic bag opener 2 can properly open material bag A. The area of ​​the automatic bag opener 2 is an example of a processing area where goods are processed.

[0023] Figure 2 is a block diagram of the control device 100 that controls the transport system 1000. The control device 100 is a computer device and includes an arithmetic processing unit 101, a main memory unit 102, an auxiliary memory unit 103, and an interface 104.

[0024] Interface 104 is connected to the light emitter 41, light receiver 42, robot 1, camera 13, distance sensors 43a and 43b, and drive units 31a to 38a. Interface 104 outputs signals to control the light emitter 41, robot 1, and drive units 31a to 38a. Drive units 31a to 38a have motors, etc., that drive the transport mechanism of the transport paths 31 to 38. The drive units 31a to 38a, controlled by the control device 100, drive the transport mechanism to transport the material bag A and pallet P. Interface 104 also acquires signals output from the light receiver 43, camera 13, and distance sensors 43a and 43b.

[0025] The main memory unit 102 is, for example, RAM (Random Access Memory) and is composed of volatile memory. The main memory unit 102 serves as a workspace for the arithmetic processing unit 101 when it performs arithmetic processing and stores the results of the arithmetic processing unit 101. The auxiliary memory unit 103 is composed of ROM (Read Only Memory) and auxiliary storage devices such as non-volatile memory. The ROM of the auxiliary memory unit 103 stores the programs that the arithmetic processing unit 101 executes in order to perform arithmetic processing. The non-volatile memory of the auxiliary memory unit 103 stores the data that the arithmetic processing unit 101 uses in order to perform arithmetic processing.

[0026] The arithmetic processing unit 101 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), which reads a program from the auxiliary storage unit 103 and executes it using the main memory unit 102 as a workspace. The functions of the arithmetic processing unit 101 are realized by the arithmetic processing unit 101 reading and executing a program, and in this embodiment, the detection unit 101a and the control unit 101b are realized.

[0027] The detection unit 101a recognizes the long and short sides of material bag A based on the image represented by the signal acquired from camera 13 and detects the orientation of material bag A. The detection unit 101a also detects the orientation of material bag A on the transport path 32 based on the distance represented by the signals acquired from distance sensors 43a and 43b. Furthermore, the detection unit 101a detects the presence or absence of material bag A on the transport path 32 based on the signal output by light receiving unit 43.

[0028] The control unit 101b controls the robot 1 to place the material bag A at the placement position PO in a predetermined orientation, based on the orientation detected by the detection unit 101a. Furthermore, if the orientation detected by the detection unit 101a is not the predetermined orientation, based on signals acquired from the distance sensors 43a and 43b, the control unit 101b controls the drive units 31a and 31b to transport the material bag A, which is not in the predetermined orientation, to the placement position PO, and controls the robot 1 to change the orientation of the material bag A, which has been transported from the position of the distance sensors 43a and 43b to the placement position PO, to the predetermined orientation. In addition, the control unit 101b controls the drive units 31a to 38a to transport the pallet P and the material bag A.

[0029] (Example of operation of the embodiment) Next, an example of the operation of the transport system 1000 will be described. Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the control device 100. First, the control device 100 controls the robot 1 to move the camera 13 above the material bags A stacked on the pallet P that has been transported on the transport path 37 or transport path 38 (step S1). The camera 13 takes a picture of the material bags A stacked on the pallet P. The control device 100 (detection unit 101a) acquires a signal indicating the image of the material bags A taken by the camera 13, recognizes the long and short sides of the material bags A from the acquired image, and detects the orientation of the material bags A (step S2).

[0030] Next, the control device 100 (control unit 101b) controls the robot 1 to place the photographed material bag A at the placement position PO in a predetermined orientation so that the robot 1 can hold it and the automatic bag opener 2 can open it normally (step S3). Here, as shown in Figure 1, when the material bag A placed on the transport path 31 is transported in the +X direction and then in the +Y direction before being fed into the automatic bag opener 2, the predetermined orientation is when the long side of the material bag A is aligned with the X-axis direction. Therefore, the control device 100 controls the robot 1 so that the long side of the recognized material bag A is placed along the transport direction (X-axis direction) of the transport paths 31 and 32.

[0031] The control device 100 controls the drive units 31a and 32a to transport the material bag A along the transport paths 31 and 32 to the positions of the distance sensors 43a and 43b (step S4). Next, the control device 100 determines whether the material bag A is on the transport path 32 (step S5). At this point, if the control device 100 receives a signal from the light receiving unit 42 indicating that it is receiving light, it determines that the material bag A is not on the transport path 32 (No in step S5), and repeats the process in step S5. On the other hand, if the control device 100 receives a signal from the light receiving unit 42 indicating that the light has been blocked, it determines that the material bag A is on the transport path 32 (Yes in step S5).

[0032] If the control device 100 determines Yes in step S5, it acquires the distance measured by distance sensors 43a and 43b at the timing when the material bag A passes the positions of distance sensors 43a and 43b (step S6). Then, based on the distance acquired in step S6, the control device 100 determines whether the orientation of the material bag A is a predetermined orientation that can be opened normally by the automatic bag opener 2 (step S7). Step S7 is an example of a detection step.

[0033] Figures 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams showing the state when distance sensors 43a and 43b measure distance. As shown in Figure 4A, when the long side of material bag A is transported along the transport direction (X-axis direction) of the transport path 32, distance sensors 43a and 43b measure the distance to the surface of the transport path 32 on which material bag A is placed, and the control device 100 acquires this measurement result. Also, as shown in Figure 4B, when the short side of material bag A is transported along the transport direction of the transport path 32, distance sensors 43a and 43b measure the distance to the surface of material bag A and acquire this measurement result.

[0034] As shown in Figure 4A, if the material bag A is transported with its long side aligned with the transport direction of the transport path 32, and the material bag A is then transported to the transport path 33, the material bag A will enter the automatic bag opener 2 from the long side, and the automatic bag opener 2 will be able to open the material bag A normally. On the other hand, if the camera 13's image is affected by disturbances and the orientation of the material bag A is incorrectly detected, the material bag A may be transported with its short side aligned with the transport direction of the transport path 32, as shown in Figure 4B. In this case, if the material bag A is then transported to the transport path 33, the material bag A will enter the automatic bag opener 2 from the short side, and the automatic bag opener 2 will not be able to open the material bag A normally.

[0035] Therefore, if at least one of the distances obtained from the distance sensors 43a and 43b is not the distance to the surface of the transport path 32, the control device 100 determines that the material bag A is not in an orientation that can be opened properly by the automatic bag opener 2, i.e., not in a predetermined orientation (No in step S7). If the control device 100 (control unit 101b) determines No in step S7, it controls the drive unit 31a of the transport path 31 and the drive unit 32a of the transport path 32 to transport the material bag A to the placement position PO (step S9).

[0036] When the material bag A is transported to a placement position PO where it can be held by the robot hand 12, the control device 100 controls the robot 1 to move the camera 13 above the placement position PO (step S9). The camera 13 takes a picture of the material bag A stacked on the pallet P. The control device 100 (detection unit 101a) acquires a signal indicating the image of the material bag A taken by the camera 13, recognizes the long and short sides of the material bag A from the acquired image, and detects the orientation of the material bag A (step S10).

[0037] Next, the control device 100 (control unit 101b) controls the robot 1 to hold the photographed material bag A and place it at the placement position PO in a predetermined orientation so that it can be opened normally by the automatic bag opener 2 (step S11). Step S11 is an example of a correction step. Here, the control device 100 controls the robot 1 so that the long side of the recognized material bag A is placed along the transport direction (X-axis direction) of the transport paths 31 and 32.

[0038] Next, the control device 100 returns the processing flow to step S4 and executes the processing from step S4 to step S7 again. If the distance acquired again from the distance sensors 43a and 43b is the distance to the surface of material bag A, the control device 100 determines that material bag A is in a predetermined orientation (Yes in step S7). If the control device 100 determines Yes in step S7, it controls the drive units 32a, 33a, and 34a to transport material bag A to the automatic bag opener 2 via the transport paths 32 to 34 (step S8).

[0039] Furthermore, the material bag A, which is transported in the transport path 32 with its longer side aligned with the X-axis direction, passes between a pair of guides 45 as it is transported. Since the pair of guides 45 have a section where the distance between them widens as they move toward the -X direction, even if the longer side of the material bag A is tilted with respect to the +X direction, the tilt is corrected as it passes between these sections during transport.

[0040] As described above, according to this embodiment, the orientation of the material bag A on the transport path 32 is detected, and if the material bag A is being transported in an orientation that cannot be processed normally by the automatic bag opener 2, the material bag A is changed to a predetermined orientation that can be processed normally and then transported to the automatic bag opener 2. Therefore, even if the material bag A is placed on the transport path 31 in an incorrect orientation that is not the predetermined orientation, the orientation of the material bag A can be changed to the correct orientation and then transported to the automatic bag opener 2. In other words, in this invention, the orientation of an item on the transport device is detected, and if the item is placed on the transport device in an orientation that cannot be processed normally in the processing area, the orientation is changed to one that can be processed normally and then transported to the processing area. Therefore, even if an item is placed on the transport device in an incorrect orientation, the orientation can be changed to one that can be processed normally and then transported to the processing area. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, since the robot 1 returns the material bag A that was being transported in an incorrect orientation to a range in which it can hold the material bag A, the robot 1 can be made more compact without widening the range in which the robot 1 can hold the material bag A. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the tilt of the material bag A relative to a predetermined orientation in which it can be opened normally is corrected by the pair of guides 45. Therefore, even if the long side of the material bag A placed at the placement position PO is not aligned with the transport direction and is tilted, the tilt can be corrected to an orientation in which it can be opened normally.

[0041] If the control device 100 determines "No" twice in a row in step S7, it may stop driving the transport paths 31 and 32, notify the user of the abnormality with sound from the speaker, images on the display device, lights from the lamp, etc., and have a person manually place the material bag A onto the transport path 31 so that it can be opened normally by the automatic bag opener 2.

[0042] [Differentiation] Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and can be implemented in various other forms. For example, the present invention may be implemented by modifying the embodiments described above as follows. The embodiments described above and the following modifications may be combined with each other. The present invention is also included in configurations that appropriately combine the components of each embodiment and each modification described above. Furthermore, further effects and modifications can be easily derived by those skilled in the art. Therefore, broader embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the embodiments and modifications described above, and various modifications are possible.

[0043] In the embodiment described above, the items transported by the transport system 1000 are material bags A, but are not limited to material bags A. For example, corrugated cardboard boxes may be transported instead of material bags A, and the automatic bag opener 2 may be replaced with a device that processes corrugated cardboard boxes.

[0044] In the embodiment described above, robot 1 is a multi-joint robot, but it may also be a gantry-type robot.

[0045] In this invention, if the robot hand 12 is configured to reach the positions of distance sensors 43a and 43b, the material bag A, which is determined not to be in a predetermined orientation, may be repositioned in the predetermined orientation without being transported to the placement position PO. In this modified case, the control device 100 controls the robot 1 to move the camera 13 above the material bag A, which is below the distance sensors 43a and 43b. The control device 100 acquires a signal indicating the image of the material bag A captured by the camera 13, recognizes the long and short sides of the material bag A from the acquired image, and detects the orientation of the material bag A. Next, the control device 100 controls the robot 1 to hold the photographed material bag A and place it at the placement position PO in a predetermined orientation so that it can be opened normally by the automatic bag opener 2. According to this modified case, the orientation of the material bag A can be repositioned in the predetermined orientation without returning the material bag A to the placement position PO, so that the material bag A can be transported efficiently.

[0046] In the embodiment described above, the material bags A stacked on the pallet P and the material bags A returned to the placement position PO are photographed by a camera 13 provided on the robot 1, and the orientation of the material bags A is detected based on the images of the material bags A obtained by this camera 13. However, the camera 13 for detecting the orientation of the material bags A is not limited to being provided on the robot 1. For example, a camera that photographs the transport paths 37 and 38 from above may be installed above the transport paths 37 and 38, and a camera that photographs the placement position PO from above may be installed above the transport path 31. The orientation of the material bags A may be detected based on the images of the material bags A obtained by these cameras, which are provided separately from the robot 1.

[0047] In this invention, the automatic bag opener 2 may be installed in the +X direction of the transport path 32. In this modified case, the orientation of the long side of the material bag A along the Y axis is predetermined, so the control device 100 controls the robot 1 to hold the photographed material bag A and place it at the placement position PO with the long side of the material bag A oriented along the Y axis.

[0048] In the embodiment described above, the orientation of material bag A is determined using distance sensors 43a and 43b. However, instead of distance sensors 43a and 43b, the orientation of material bag A may be determined using, for example, a light curtain composed of a light emitter and a light receiver. When determining the orientation of material bag A using a light curtain, for example, the light curtain is set up so that the optical axes of multiple parallel lights emitted by the light emitter are aligned in the Y-axis direction. In this case, the control device 100 determines the orientation of material bag A based on the range in which the light is blocked by material bag A in the light receiver.

[0049] In the embodiment described above, the orientation of the material bag A returned to the placement position PO is detected by photographing it with the camera 13, and the robot 1 is controlled based on the detection result to place the material bag A in a predetermined orientation at the placement position PO. However, the configuration for changing the orientation of the material bag A to a predetermined orientation is not limited to the configuration of this embodiment. For example, the control device 100 may not photograph the material bag A returned to the placement position PO, but instead control the robot 1 to rotate the material bag A returned to the placement position PO by 90 degrees.

[0050] In the present invention, when processing an article, if there are orientations that allow for normal processing and orientations that do not, the robot 1 may detect whether the orientation is predetermined, and if it is not predetermined, it may reposition the article to the predetermined orientation. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] 1 Robot 2. Automatic bag opener 12 Robot Hand 13 Cameras 31-38 Conveyor paths 31a~38a Drive unit 40 Photoelectric Sensors 41. Lighting unit 42 Light receiving part 43a, 43b Distance Sensor 45 Guide 101 Arithmetic Processing Unit 101a Detection unit 101b Control Unit 102 Main memory 103 Auxiliary storage 104 Interface 1000 Conveyor System A Material bag P Palette PO mounting position

Claims

1. A conveying device for transporting the articles to a processing area for processing the articles, A transfer device that transfers goods stacked on a pallet to the aforementioned transport device, A detection unit for detecting the orientation of the article placed on the conveying device, A control unit that controls the transfer device, It has, The detection unit is provided downstream in the transport direction of the article from the placement position where the transfer device places the article on the transport device. If the orientation detected by the detection unit is not the predetermined orientation corresponding to the process, the control unit controls the transport device to transport the item that is not oriented in the predetermined orientation to the previously described placement position, and controls the transfer device to change the orientation of the item that has been transported from the position of the detection unit to the previously described placement position to the predetermined orientation. Conveyor system.

2. The guide unit, located downstream of the detection unit in the transport direction of the article, corrects the inclination of the article relative to the predetermined orientation. The transport system according to claim 1.

3. A transfer step in which a transfer device transfers the goods stacked on a pallet to a transfer device that transports the goods to a processing area for processing the goods, A detection step in which the orientation of the article placed on the conveying device is detected by a detection unit provided downstream of the placement position where the transfer device places the article on the conveying device in the conveying direction of the article, If the orientation detected in the detection step is not the predetermined orientation corresponding to the process, the conveying device is controlled to transport the article that is not in the predetermined orientation to the previously described placement position, and the transfer device changes the orientation of the article that has been transported from the position of the detection unit to the previously described placement position to the predetermined orientation. A transport method comprising the following:

Images