阅读说明：本技术 产品搬运装置以及产品搬运系统 (Product conveying device and product conveying system ) 是由 广野纯 津田浩司 福重秀仁 阿部邦昭 北野稜真 于 2018-11-08 设计创作，主要内容包括：产品搬运装置(52)具备：产品吸附垫部(5c),其具有能够吸附板状产品(WP)的吸盘部(5c1)；搬运基座(51a),其在下部具有产品吸附垫部(5c)；以及标签吸附部(11),其具有能够吸附粘贴于产品(WP)的标签(62a)的标签垫(14a),且具有使标签垫(14a)在比吸盘部(5c1)的前端的位置靠上方的位置与靠下方的位置之间升降的升降功能。(A product conveying device (52) is provided with: a product suction pad section (5c) having a suction cup section (5c1) capable of sucking a plate-like product (WP); a conveying base (51a) having a product adsorption pad part (5c) at the lower part; and a label suction part (11) which has a label pad (14a) capable of sucking the label (62a) stuck on the product (WP), and has a lifting function of lifting the label pad (14a) between a position above and a position below the position of the front end of the suction plate part (5c 1).)

1. A product conveying device is characterized by comprising:

a product adsorption pad part having a suction pad part capable of adsorbing a plate-like product;

a conveying base having the product adsorption pad part at the lower part; and

and a label suction unit having a label pad capable of sucking a label attached to the product, and having a lifting function of lifting the label pad between a position above and a position below a position of a front end of the tray unit.

2. The product handling apparatus of claim 1,

the label pad has a flat bottom surface, and the bottom surface is an adsorption surface for adsorbing the label.

3. The product handling device of claim 1 or 2,

the label holding device is provided with a rotating part which enables the label holding part to rotate around a label holding rotating axis extending along the vertical direction.

4. The product handling apparatus of claim 3,

the label suction unit includes an arm extending in a radial direction about the label suction rotation axis and having the label pad at a tip end thereof, and the arm is rotated by the operation of the rotation unit between a first rotation position at which the label pad is positioned outside the outer shape of the transport base and a second rotation position at which the label pad is positioned inside the outer shape of the transport base.

5. The product handling apparatus of claim 4,

in the second turning position, the label pad is positioned at a lower center position of the carrying base.

6. The product conveying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising:

a lifting drive part for lifting the conveying base;

a rotation driving unit configured to rotate the conveyance base about a conveyance base rotation axis extending in a vertical direction; and

and a horizontal driving unit for horizontally moving the carrying base.

7. The product handling apparatus of claim 6,

the conveyance base includes:

a base portion disposed at a position intersecting with a rotation axis of the carrying base; and

and an auxiliary unit which has the label suction unit and is supported by the base so as to be movable toward and away from the rotation axis of the carrier base.

8. The product conveying apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, comprising:

a lifting drive part for lifting the conveying base;

a rotation driving unit configured to rotate the conveyance base about a conveyance base rotation axis extending in a vertical direction; and

a horizontal driving part for horizontally moving the conveying base,

the carrying base has the label adsorption part and is arranged at a position intersecting with the rotating axis of the carrying base,

in the second swing position, the label pad is positioned at a position intersecting the rotation axis of the carrier base.

9. A product handling system, characterized in that,

the printer comprises a work tray for supporting a plate-like product, a printer for discharging a label printed with information of the product, and a product conveying device,

the product conveying device comprises: a product adsorption pad part having a adsorption plate part capable of adsorbing the product; a conveying base having the product adsorption pad part at the lower part; and a label suction unit having a label pad capable of sucking a label discharged from the printer, and configured to move up and down the label pad between a position above and a position below a position of a tip of the tray unit.

10. The product handling system of claim 9,

the label has a pair of non-adhesive portions at a pair of widthwise edges on a lower surface thereof, and the printer has a support member for supporting the pair of non-adhesive portions of the discharged label.

11. The product handling system of claim 9,

the printer includes a label receiving plate having a plurality of vent holes and having a non-adhesive layer formed on an upper surface thereof by a coating layer.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a product conveying apparatus and a product conveying system for attaching a label to a product and conveying the product, in which the product is obtained by cutting out a plate material as a raw material or the like.

Background

When a product cut out from a plate material by a plate material processing machine is carried out to the outside, a label showing information on the product is attached to each product as necessary in order to identify each product.

Patent document 1 describes a work sheet conveying apparatus having a function of attaching a label to a surface of a product cut by a work sheet processing machine while the product is being carried out.

The plate material conveying apparatus described in japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2003-170330 (patent document 1) has a plurality of suction pads that can suck plate-shaped products and can move horizontally and vertically. The plurality of adsorption pads adsorb the product, and a portion adsorbs the label. Thus, the plate material conveying device can adhere the label to the product while adsorbing the product.

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

The absorbent pad of the absorbent product is generally shaped as a flat truncated cone on its side and is formed of a relatively thin rubber material. On the other hand, the label is formed of paper, a resin film, or the like, and is formed in a thin sheet shape.

Therefore, when the label is sucked by the suction pad described in patent document 1, the central portion of the label is deformed so as to be raised by suction, and wrinkles or the like are formed at the time of sticking, which may cause a problem in the quality of the label after sticking.

Further, since the label is attached to the product within the suction range formed by the plurality of suction pads, the position of attaching the label to the product and the direction of the attached label are restricted.

Means for solving the problems

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a product conveying device and a product conveying system capable of performing label sticking on a plate-like product at an arbitrary position and in an arbitrary direction without causing a failure in sticking quality.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a product conveying apparatus includes: a product adsorption pad part having a suction pad part capable of adsorbing a plate-like product; a conveying base having the product adsorption pad part at the lower part; and a label suction part having a label pad capable of sucking a label attached to the product, and having a lifting function of lifting the label pad between a position above and a position below a position of a front end of the chuck part.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a product conveyance system including a work tray for supporting a plate-like product, a printer for discharging a label on which information on the product is printed, and a product conveyance device, wherein the product conveyance device includes: a product adsorption pad part having a adsorption plate part capable of adsorbing the product; a conveying base having the product adsorption pad part at the lower part; and a label suction unit having a label pad capable of sucking a label discharged from the printer, and configured to move up and down the label pad between a position above and a position below a position of a tip of the tray unit.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view for explaining the overall configuration of a laser processing system ST including a product conveying device 52 as example 1 of the product conveying device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of the laser processing system ST.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view for explaining the printer casing 61 provided in the product conveying device 52 at positions S3 to S3 in fig. 1. (a) The drawings (b) and (c) are views showing the respective use positions and rotation positions of the rotatable platen 61a, respectively, and explaining the operation of the printer 62.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the TK unit 51 provided in the product conveying apparatus 52.

Fig. 5 is a side view showing the label adsorbing portion 11 provided in the TK unit 51.

Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the label holding portion 11.

Fig. 7 is a first diagram for explaining a label pasting operation performed by the TK unit 51.

Fig. 8 is a second diagram for explaining the label sticking operation performed by the TK unit 51.

Fig. 9 is a third diagram for explaining a label pasting operation performed by the TK unit 51.

Fig. 10 is a fourth diagram for explaining a label pasting operation performed by the TK unit 51.

Fig. 11 is a fifth diagram for explaining a label pasting operation performed by the TK unit 51.

Fig. 12 is a sixth diagram for explaining a label pasting operation performed by the TK unit 51.

Fig. 13 is a first diagram for explaining a product conveying operation performed by the TK unit 51.

Fig. 14 is a second diagram for explaining a product conveying operation performed by the TK unit 51.

Fig. 15 is a plan view for explaining a manner of attaching the label 62a by the TK unit 51.

Fig. 16 is a side view for explaining a distance from the center position of the TK unit 51 to the label holding portion 11.

Fig. 17 is a side view showing a rotating portion 111 as a modification of the label holding portion 11.

Fig. 18 is a view showing an example of the attachment of the label 62a to the product WP by the rotating portion 111.

Fig. 19 (a) is a bottom view showing a modification 162a of the label 62a, and fig. 19 (b) is a perspective view explaining a mode of the printer 62 in the case of using the label 162 a.

Fig. 20 is a perspective view showing a TK unit 51A in embodiment 2.

Fig. 21 is a perspective view for explaining an operation of the label holding portion 21 provided in the TK unit 51A.

Fig. 22 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a laser processing system STA provided in the product conveying apparatus 52A according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 23 is a block diagram illustrating operation control of the label adsorbing portion 21.

Fig. 24 shows the first position PS1 in the movement of the arm 212 as the product suction portion 51aA, where (a) is a front view and (b) is a bottom view.

Fig. 25 shows the second position PS2 in the movement of the arm 212 as the product suction portion 51aA, where (a) is a front view and (b) is a bottom view.

Fig. 26 shows the third position PS3 in the movement of the arm 212 as the product suction portion 51aA, where (a) is a front view and (b) is a bottom view.

Fig. 27 shows the fourth position PS4 in the movement of the arm 212 as the product suction portion 51aA, where (a) is a front view and (b) is a bottom view.

Fig. 28 is a first diagram for explaining a label pasting operation performed by the TK unit 51A.

Fig. 29 is a second diagram for explaining a label pasting operation performed by the TK unit 51A.

Fig. 30 is a third diagram for explaining a label pasting operation performed by the TK unit 51A.

Fig. 31 is a schematic plan view for explaining examples of positions of the TK unit 51A at the time of acquisition and attachment of the label 62 a.

Fig. 32 is a bottom view of an arm 212A showing a modification of the arm 212.

Fig. 33 is an air circuit diagram showing the air driving unit 8 provided in the laser processing system STA when the rotary cylinder 211 is an air cylinder.

Fig. 34 is a perspective view of a printer 62A showing a modification of the printer 62.

Detailed Description

A product conveying apparatus and a product conveying system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to example 1 and example 2.

As example 1, a product conveying apparatus 52 including a TK unit 51 (pick-and-place unit 51) and a laser processing system ST including the product conveying apparatus 52 will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 19. As embodiment 2, a product conveying apparatus 52A including a TK unit 51A as a label sticking apparatus and a laser processing system STA including the product conveying apparatus 52A will be described with reference to fig. 20 to 33.

(example 1)

The overall configuration of a laser processing system ST including a product conveying apparatus 52 according to embodiment 1 will be described with reference to fig. 1 as a perspective view and fig. 2 as a block diagram. For convenience of explanation, the directions of the upper, lower, left, right, front, and rear are defined by arrows in fig. 1. The vertical direction is the vertical direction, and the front direction is the side of the position where the operator stands.

The laser processing system ST includes a laser processing machine 53, a product conveying device 52, and a control device 54.

The product conveying device 52 is disposed adjacent to either the right or left side (right side in fig. 1) of the laser processing machine 53.

The control device 54 controls the overall operation of the laser processing system ST.

A rack unit capable of storing workpiece trays in multiple stages may be provided between the laser processing machine 53 and the product conveying device 52.

The laser processing machine 53 includes a laser oscillator 53a and a laser processing head (not shown) that emits laser light generated by the laser oscillator 53 a.

The laser oscillator 53a is, for example, a fiber laser. The laser beam generated by the laser oscillator 53a is supplied to the laser processing head via the process fiber 53 b.

The laser processing machine 53 also allows the workpiece tray 31 (see also fig. 7) on which the workpiece W is placed to move in the left-right direction in the laser processing machine 53, and also allows the laser processing head to move in the front-back and up-down directions.

The laser processing machine 53 has a tray port 53c on the right side surface in fig. 1 for inserting and removing the workpiece tray 31, and the workpiece tray 31 can be inserted into and removed from the laser processing machine 53 through the tray port 53 c.

In fig. 1, the workpiece tray 31 after being discharged from the laser processing machine 53 to the product conveying device 52 side is shown in a state where a plate-like workpiece W (indicated by a chain line) serving as a raw material is placed.

In this way, the laser processing machine 53 can perform laser processing by irradiating an arbitrary portion of the workpiece W placed on the workpiece tray 31 with laser light from the laser processing head positioned above.

The product conveyance device 52 has a tray table 52a and a transfer table 52 b.

The tray table 52a is disposed at a position corresponding to the tray entrance/exit 53c adjacent to the right of the laser beam machine 53.

The transfer table 52b is arranged in front of the tray table 52 a.

In fig. 1, the workpiece tray 31 is shown in a state of being transferred to the tray table 52 a.

The product handling device 52 includes a pair of top frames 52c and 52 d. The pair of top frames 52c and 52d are supported by the plurality of support columns 52e and the wall portion 52f in a posture extending in parallel in the front-rear direction while being spaced from each other in the left-right direction.

The product conveying device 52 includes a fence 52f1 at a portion indicated by a dashed-dotted line at the front and the front on the right side in fig. 1. The fence 52f1 is a grid-like fence for preventing an operator from entering.

A printer case 61 as a portion protruding outward in the right direction is provided on the right side surface of the product conveying device 52 between the wall portion 52f and the rail 52f 1.

A frame plate 61a is provided at the middle in the vertical direction of the printer case 61, and a printer 62 is provided on the frame plate 61 a.

Fig. 3 is a top sectional view shown at positions S3-S3 in fig. 1, and is a diagram for explaining the setting state of the printer 62 of the printer cartridge 61.

The printer 62 is disposed on a carriage 61a, and the carriage 61a is provided so as to be rotatable about a printer rotation axis CL61 extending in the up-down direction (fig. 3 (b): arrow DRa.

The printer 62 can be maintained at the use position shown in fig. 3 (a) and the maintenance position shown in fig. 3 (b) by the rotation of the carriage 61a and the rotation lock.

As shown in fig. 3c, at the use position, the printer 62 prints the print information (e.g., the character information of "AM") sent from the control device 54 on the front surface 62a1 of the label 62a whose back surface is subjected to the adhesion processing, and then discharges the printed surface (front surface) upward toward the tray table 52a until the entire surface is substantially protruded and maintained.

Here, the label 62a is used for printing in a state where the label 62a is half-cut into a predetermined size in advance and is attached to a roll of release paper at equal intervals.

When the printer 62 discharges the printed label 62a from the printer 62, the release paper is rapidly folded back and unwound downward in the vicinity of the discharge port.

Thus, the label 62a pushed out is maintained in a substantially cantilevered state with only a part of the rear end side thereof being adhered to the release paper. The printer 62 is provided with an air ejecting section (not shown) for blowing air from below so that the front end side (front end side) of the protruding portion of the label 62a does not fall due to its own weight, and the posture of the label 62a is maintained substantially horizontal.

The position of the protruding tag 62a in the vertical direction is above the pass line PL (see fig. 7). As shown in fig. 7, the vertical position is a position separated upward by a distance Ha from the upper surface WPb of the product WP placed on the pass line PL.

Returning to fig. 1, the pair of top frames 52c, 52d are disposed at positions corresponding to the width of the tray table 52 a.

The pair of top frames 52c and 52d have rails 52g and 52h at least in a range corresponding to the longitudinal length of the tray table 52a and the transfer table 52 b.

The rails 52g, 52h support the movable frame 52j extending in the left-right direction so as to be movable in the front-rear direction (arrow DR). The movable frame 52j supports the TK unit 51 to be movable in the left-right direction (arrow DRb).

As shown in fig. 2, the product conveying device 52 includes a tray driving unit 71, a TK horizontal driving unit 72, a TK vertical driving unit 73, and a TK rotation driving unit 74.

The tray driving unit 71 moves the workpiece tray 31 in the left-right direction between the tray table 52a and an internal position of another device (for example, the inside of the laser processing machine 53) under the control of the control device 54.

The TK horizontal driving section 72 performs the front and rear movement of the movable frame 52j with respect to the rails 52g, 52h and the left and right movement of the TK unit 51 with respect to the movable frame 52j under the control of the control device 54.

By the operation of the TK horizontal driving unit 72, the TK unit 51 can move above any position of the tray table 52a and the transfer table 52b and in the vicinity of the printer 62 located at the use position.

As shown in fig. 4, the TK unit 51 includes a product suction portion 51a as a conveyance base including a base 2 having a plurality of product suction pad portions 5c at a lower portion. The product adsorption pad portion 5c can adsorb a plate-like member such as a product WP.

The TK elevation driving unit 73 shown in fig. 2 and 4 elevates the product adsorbing portion 51a relative to the movable frame 52 j. The TK rotation driving unit 74 shown in fig. 2 and 4 rotates the product adsorbing portion 51a about the rotation axis CL51 extending vertically, for example, within an angular range of 180 ° at the maximum in the left-right direction, and an angular range of 360 ° in total.

The operations of the TK elevation driving unit 73 and the TK rotation driving unit 74 are controlled by the control device 54.

As shown in fig. 2, the control device 54 includes a Central Processing Unit (CPU)54a including a compressed air control unit 54b and a printer control unit 54 c.

With the above configuration, the product transfer device 52 can transfer the product WP from the product WP placed on the workpiece tray 31 transferred from the laser processing machine 53 and the frame WS (see fig. 7) as the surplus material to the transfer table 52 b.

As a specific operation, first, the TK unit 51 is moved upward and lowered with respect to the product WP. Next, the product WP is sucked by the product suction portion 51a, then raised, moved to above the transfer table 52b by the horizontal movement, and then lowered to release the suction. Thereby, the product WP is transferred from the work pallet 31 onto the transfer table 52 b.

As shown in fig. 1, the work pallet 31 is a rectangular pallet in which a plurality of sliders 31a are juxtaposed, and the sliders 31a are metal plates having a plurality of pointed protrusions 31a1 pointed upward. The work W placed on the work tray 31 is supported by the plurality of pointed portions 31a 1.

Next, the detailed structure of the TK unit 51 will be described mainly with reference to fig. 4 to 6.

First, fig. 4 is a perspective view of the TK unit 51 shown in fig. 1 viewed from the front slightly to the right obliquely above. The movable frame 52j supporting the TK unit 51 is shown by a chain line.

The TK unit 51 includes: the TK elevation driving unit 73 having a servo motor (not shown) and supported by the movable frame 52 j; a columnar body 1 that moves up and down with respect to the movable frame 52j using a servo motor of the TK elevating drive unit 73 as a power source; and a product suction unit 51a as the conveyance base attached to the lower portion of the main body 1.

By the operation of the TK rotation driving unit 74, the product adsorbing portion 51a rotates about a rotation axis CL51 extending vertically with respect to the main body portion 1 (see arrow DR 1). The rotation range is, for example, a range of 180 ° and 360 ° in total, which are rotated clockwise and counterclockwise from the posture shown in fig. 4. Accordingly, the pivot axis CL51 is hereinafter referred to as a transport base pivot axis CL 51.

The product suction unit 51a as a transport base includes a base 2 and a pair of auxiliary units 3 and 4. The base 2 is formed substantially in a hexahedral shape. The pair of auxiliary units 3 and 4 are supported at the front ends of the supporting arm portions 3a and 4a, and the supporting arm portions 3a and 4a are moved in and out of the base portion 2 from the left and right sides by the operation of the auxiliary arm driving units 783 and 784, respectively.

The auxiliary wrist driving units 783 and 784 are operated to move the auxiliary units 3 and 4 between a basic position in which the auxiliary units are in close contact with the base 2 and an extended position in which the auxiliary units extend to the left and right (see arrow DRc). That is, the auxiliary units 3 and 4 can be moved closer to and away from the conveyance base rotation axis CL51 by horizontal movement. In fig. 2, the auxiliary parts 3, 4 in the basic position are shown by solid lines, and the auxiliary parts 3, 4 in the extended position are shown by dot-dash lines.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, a plurality of suction units 5 are disposed below the base 2 and the auxiliary units 3 and 4 with the vertical direction as the axis. A product suction pad 5c is provided below the suction unit 5.

The product adsorption pad 5c is connected to a pump 771 (see also fig. 2) for generating negative pressure. The operation of the pump 771 is directly controlled by the compressed air switching unit 76. The compressed air switching unit 76 is controlled by the compressed air control unit 54b of the control device 54.

The lower tip of the product suction pad portion 5c is provided with a rubber suction pad portion 5c1 formed in a circular truncated cone shape. Accordingly, during the operation of the pump 771, the inside of the suction pad portion 5c1 becomes a negative pressure and can suck the plate member such as the product WP.

The product suction unit 51a includes a label suction unit 11 for sucking the label 62a in one of the auxiliary units 3 and 4 (the auxiliary unit 4 in this example). More specifically, the auxiliary unit 4 includes one label holding unit 11 at a central portion in the front-rear direction near the right edge.

Fig. 5 is a side view of the label holding portion 11, which corresponds to the front view in fig. 1.

The label suction part 11 includes: a cylinder 11a fixed to the assist portion 4 in a posture extending vertically along the axis CL 11; a rod 11b that advances and retreats from the lower surface of the cylinder 11a along an axis CL 11; and a cushion portion 12 attached to a lower front end portion of the rod 11 b.

In the operation of the cylinder 11a under the control of the control device 54, the pad 12 moves up and down by a predetermined stroke (fig. 5: arrow DRd).

The pad 12 has: a base plate member 13 having a flat plate shape and to which the tip end of the rod 11b is fixed on the left edge portion side in fig. 5; and a label pad 14 attached to the right edge portion side of the lower surface of the base plate 13. That is, the base plate member 13 is attached to extend in a direction away from the conveyance base rotation axis CL51 with respect to the rod 11 b.

In this example, the label pad section 14 is a set of two label pads 14a, 14b juxtaposed in the left-right direction in fig. 5.

The label pads 14a and 14b are the same member, and are formed as rectangular parallelepiped sponges that are long in the front-rear direction (the front-back direction of the paper surface) in fig. 5. The material is, for example, neoprene sponge. Therefore, the label pads 14a, 14b have elasticity at least in the up-down direction.

Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the cushion portion 12. As shown in fig. 6, the label pads 14a and 14b have a plurality of vent holes 14h that penetrate vertically. In this example, the vent holes 14h are arranged in a staggered three-row arrangement in which the vent holes are substantially equally distributed over the entire bottom surfaces 14a1, 14b1 of the label pads 14a, 14 b.

The air vent hole 14h is connected to hoses 15a and 15b drawn out from the upper surface of the base plate 13 at the respective label pads 14a and 14b through the base plate 13. The hoses 15a, 15b are connected to a pump 772 that generates negative pressure.

As described above, the compressed air switching unit 76 controls the operations of the pump 771 and the pump 772. The compressed air switching unit 76 selectively performs suction of air at the product suction pad portion 5c by operating the pump 771, suction of air at the label pad portion 14 of the label suction unit 11 by operating the pump 772, or suction of air at both of them, under the control of the compressed air control unit 54 b.

When the pump 772 is operated to apply a negative pressure to the label pad portion 14 of the label suction portion 11 by controlling the compressed air switching portion 76, air is sucked from the vent holes 14h of the bottom surfaces 14a1 and 14b1 of the label pad 14a (arrow DRe). This allows label 62a to be sucked to bottom surfaces 14a1 and 14b1 of label pad 14.

When a negative pressure is applied to the product suction pad portion 5c of the suction unit 5 by the control of the compressed air switching portion 76, air is sucked from the suction cup portion 5c 1. Thereby, the product WP can be adsorbed to the product adsorption pad portion 5 c.

The bottom surface 14a1 of the label pad 14a is flat and has dimensions of, for example, 70(mm) × 22 (mm). The label mat section 14 is juxtaposed with the label mat 14a and the same label mat 14b with an appropriate gap Va, and the label mat section 14 can be used for suction of rectangular labels at an angle of 60 (mm). In fig. 6, the outline of the label 62a sucked to the label pad portion 14 is shown by a chain line.

The label pads 14a, 14b are rectangular solids, and the suction surfaces are flat bottom surfaces 14a1, 14b 1. As a result, the label 62a sucked to the label mat portion 14 is deformed such as being lifted at the center and is not sucked.

A plurality of air holes 14h formed in the bottom surfaces 14a1 and 14b1 for sucking air are provided so as to be substantially evenly distributed with a small diameter. Accordingly, the suction force when label 62a is sucked is not biased by the position at bottom surfaces 14a1 and 14b1, and there is no problem that label 62a is detached after suction.

The product conveying apparatus 52 configured as described above can suck the product WP by the product suction pad portion 5c of the suction unit 5, and can move the sucked product WP in an arbitrary direction to an arbitrary position within the movable range thereof by the TK unit 51.

The label 62a pushed out and exposed from the printer 62 is sucked by the label sucking part 11, and the sucked label 62a can be stuck to an arbitrary position on the upper surface WPb of the product WP placed on the work pallet 31 in an arbitrary direction within the movable range thereof by the TK unit 51. In this way, the TK unit 51 is a device for conveying the product WP and is also a label affixing device for affixing the label 62a to the product WP.

Next, an example of a product conveying operation in which the label 62a pasting operation and the product WP suction movement by the TK unit 51 are combined as a serial operation will be described below. The product conveying operation is an operation including a serial combination of a label sticking step of sticking the label 62a to a desired position of the product WP placed on the work pallet 31 and a product conveying step of transferring the product WP with the label 62a stuck to the transfer table 52 b.

Fig. 7 to 14 are schematic side views for explaining a product conveying operation including a label application step and a product conveying step. The operations described below are controlled by the control device 54. Fig. 7 shows a reference state in which the operation is started.

(FIG. 7, reference state)

In the plurality of sliders 31a of the work pallet 31, products WP cut out from a plate material of a raw material by, for example, laser processing and a skeleton WS as a surplus material in a previous step are placed in a cut state.

In the reference state, the TK unit 51 is located at the ascending position, and the product adsorbing portion 51a is located directly above the product WP. In the reference state, the cylinder 11a (see fig. 5) of the label holding portion 11 is in a state where the rod 11b is retracted. In this state, the bottom surfaces 14a1, 14b1 of the label pad portion 14 are located above the suction height HR of the suction pad portion 5c1 of the suction unit 5 by a distance Hb.

In the printer 62, the position (height) in the vertical direction of the label 62a pushed out of the case after printing is located above the pass line PL and spaced upward from the upper surface WPb of the product WP by a distance Ha.

The transfer table 52b is configured to stack a plurality of transferred products WP to form a product stacked body WPT.

(Label sticking step: refer to FIGS. 8 to 12)

As shown in fig. 8, the control device 54 horizontally moves the TK unit 51 from the reference state (arrow DRf) while keeping the ascending position, and positions the label adsorbing portion 11 above the label 62a pushed out from the printer 62.

Next, the air cylinder 11a (see fig. 5) of the label suction unit 11 is operated to lower the mat unit 12 including the label mat unit 14 as shown in fig. 9 (arrow DRg).

At the same time, the compressed air switching portion 76 (see fig. 2 and 5) connects the negative pressure path to the label pad portion 14 so that air can be sucked in the label adsorbing portion 11.

The height in the reference state of the TK cell 51 is set as: when the pad 12 is lowered to be at the lowest position in the up-down movement range, the bottom surfaces 14a1, 14b1 of the label pad 14 are located at positions in contact with or close to the label 62 a. The bottom surfaces 14a1 and 14b1 are located at a distance Hc lower than the suction height HR of the suction cup portion 5c 1.

That is, by the operation of the air cylinder 11a, the bottom surfaces 14a1, 14b1 of the label pad portion 14 lower the position of the suction height HR of the chuck portion 5c1 from above to below, and come into contact with or approach the upper surface of the label 62 a.

At least, in the middle of the descent of the label mat portion 14, air suction from the air vent holes 14h of the label mat portion 14 is started. Therefore, the label 62a is adsorbed to the label pad section 14 at the timing when the label pad section 14 approaches.

As shown in fig. 9, the label 62a adsorbed to the label pad section 14 is located at a position higher than the upper surface of the product WP by a distance Ha.

Therefore, when the label 62a is attracted by the label attracting portion 11, the TK unit 51 moves horizontally while maintaining the height thereof as shown in fig. 10, and the label 62a can be moved to a position above the position to which the product WP is to be attached (see arrow DRh in fig. 10).

Immediately before starting the horizontal movement in conjunction with the horizontal movement of the TK unit 51, the printer 62 cuts the rear end portion of the label 62a sucked by the label mat 14 by a built-in cutter (not shown).

When the label 62a adsorbed to the label pad section 14 is moved above the affixing position of the product WP, as shown in fig. 11, the control device 54 lowers the TK unit 51 by a predetermined distance Hd (arrow DRj). Before or in the middle of lowering the TK unit 51, the control device 54 rotates the TK unit 51 by the TK rotational drive section 74 so that the tag 62a is directed in a predetermined direction, as necessary.

The predetermined distance Hd is set to be equal to or greater than the distance Ha. When the distance Hd is set to be larger than the distance Ha, the label mat portion 14 is compressed, and the label 62a is pressed against the upper surface WPb of the product WP by its elastic repulsive force, which is preferable.

In detail, the label pads 14a and 14b are formed in a sponge shape having elasticity as described above. Therefore, the label 62a sucked by the elastic repulsive force generated by the compression of the label mat member 14 is pressed against the upper surface WPb of the product WP by the entire surfaces of the bottom surfaces 14a1 and 14b1 and stuck thereto. Thus, the label 62a is reliably attached to the surface of the product WP over the entire surface without being partially lifted, and the attachment quality is high and stable.

After the TK unit 51 descends and the label 62a comes into contact with the product WP, the compressed air control part 54b closes the negative pressure path connected to the label pad part 14 to stop the suction from the vent hole 14 h.

As shown in fig. 12, after the label 62a is attached, the control device 54 operates the air cylinder 11a to raise the label holding portion 11 while maintaining the height position of the TK unit 51 (arrow DRk). This is the label sticking step.

(product WP conveying step: see FIGS. 13 and 14)

After the label sticking step is completed by raising the label holding portion 11, the control device 54 moves the TK unit 51 horizontally to above the holding portion (usually, the center) of the product WP and then lowers the TK unit (see arrow DRm in fig. 13).

More specifically, the control device 54 moves the TK unit 51 to a position above the position set as the suction position in the product WP, and, if necessary, brings the TK to a predetermined rotational posture by the operation of the TK rotational driving unit 74, and then lowers the TK.

At the latest, while the TK unit 51 is descending, the compressed air control unit 54b operates the pump 771 connected to the product suction pad portion 5c to start air suction by the suction cup portion 5c 1. Also, at the end of the descent of the TK unit 51, the product WP is adsorbed by the product adsorption pad portion 5 c.

After the product WP is adsorbed, the control device 54 moves the TK unit 51 upward and horizontally above the product stacked body WPT formed on the transfer table 52b (FIG. 14: arrow DRn). The TK unit 51 is rotated to a predetermined posture (FIG. 14: arrow DRp) if necessary.

Then, the control device 54 lowers the TK unit 51 and places the conveyed product WP on the product laminate WPT. Next, the pump 771 is stopped by the compressed air control portion 54b to stop the air suction by the suction cup portion 5c1, and the product WP is released.

When the product WP is released, the control device 54 returns the TK unit 51 to the reference state.

Through the above steps, the label sticking process and the product conveying process are completed.

In the product conveying device 52, the position and posture (direction) of the label 62a to be attached to the upper surface WPb of the product WP are freely set.

Fig. 15 is a diagram showing an example of attaching the label 62a to the product WP placed on the work pallet 31 and the skeleton WS which is the surplus material. In fig. 15, two products WP1 and WP2 having different shapes are shown as the product WP.

The product conveying device 52 can attach the label 62a to a predetermined portion of the upper surface WPb of the product WP. Here, the predetermined portion is a portion where the label holding portion 11 can be positioned above by the horizontal movement and rotation of the TK unit 51.

For example, as shown in fig. 15, the sticking (a) of the label 62a at the center of the product WP2 and the sticking (B) at the projecting portion WP2a where the product WP2 partially projects outward can be performed.

Further, when an outer shape line WP1a inclined with respect to the left-right direction on the horizontal plane is present in the outer shape like the product WP1, the product conveying device 52 can attach the label 62a along the outer shape line WP1a in the inclined direction (C).

Thus, the product conveying device 52 can attach the label 62a to an arbitrary position on the surface of the transferred product WP in an arbitrary posture and can transfer the product WP to which the label 62a is attached to a predetermined position.

As described above, the TK unit 51 of the product conveying device 52 includes the product suction portion 51a as a conveying base for sucking the product WP, and the label suction portion 11 having the elevating function of elevating and lowering independently of the product suction portion 51 a.

Therefore, the label 62a can be affixed to the product WP in any position and posture without restriction by the horizontal movement and rotation of the TK unit 51, and the affixing quality can be maintained horizontally and stably.

The label suction portion 11 has not a suction cup but rectangular parallelepiped label pads 14a and 14b having flat label suction surfaces.

Thus, the label 62a is sucked to the label pads 14a and 14b without being largely deformed, and there is no problem such as wrinkles occurring during the application.

The label suction unit 11 waits at a position above the suction height HR, which is the height at which the product suction unit 51a sucks the product WP, and sucks and holds the label at a position below the suction height HR, and sets the lifting stroke of the air cylinder 11a, the highest lifting position and the lowest lifting position of the label pad unit 14 in the lifting stroke so as to be capable of being stuck.

Thus, the TK unit 51 can be moved horizontally as a whole in a state where the tag 62a is attracted, and the tag attracting portion 11 does not have any influence on the product attracting operation. Therefore, even if the product conveying operation includes the label attaching operation, since the label attaching time is short, the reduction of the product conveying efficiency of the product conveying apparatus 52 is suppressed.

As shown in fig. 16, the tag attracting portion 11 is provided in the auxiliary portion 4 (or the auxiliary portion 3) extending laterally from the base portion 2 of the TK unit 51.

Therefore, compared to the case where the label adsorbing portion 11 is provided to the base 2, the distance L12 between the position of the transport deck pivot axis CL51 that becomes the center of the TK unit 51 in the horizontal direction and the center axis CL12 of the pad portion 12 can be made longer by the amount corresponding to the extending protruding portion of the assist portion 4.

This enlarges the range of possible installation of the printer 62, and increases the degree of freedom in designing the product conveying device 52. Further, since the moving distance of the TK unit 51 moved to attract the tag 62a is further reduced by the reciprocating amount corresponding to the extending projection of the subsidiary portion 4, the operation time for label sticking becomes short, and the operation efficiency becomes high.

Embodiment 1 of the present invention is not limited to the above configuration and procedure, and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

The label suction portion 11 may be modified to be a rotating portion 111 as a label suction portion that can rotate the rod 11b of the support pad portion 12.

The rotating portion 111 is described with reference to fig. 17.

The rotating unit 111 includes a motor 11c1 fixed to the auxiliary unit 4 in a posture in which the output shaft 11c2 faces downward. The motor 11c1 is a motor such as a stepping motor that can control the rotation angle.

A bracket 11c3 is provided at the tip of the output shaft 11c2 of the motor 11c1, and the upper portion of the cylinder 11a is fixed to the bracket 11c 3. The operation of the motor 11c1 is controlled by the control device 54.

According to this structure, the motor 11c1 is rotated to rotate the cylinder 11a and the pad 12 about the axis CL11 (arrow DRq). Hereinafter, the axis CL11 is referred to as a label suction rotation axis CL 11.

Thus, the direction of the label 62a sucked by the label pad part 14 can be freely changed without rotating the TK unit 51 about the conveyance base rotation axis CL 51. That is, by mounting the turning part 111, the label 62a can be attached to the product WP in any direction without turning the TK unit 51.

When the pad unit 12 is rotated in a state not located on the lower end side of the lifting stroke, the lever 11b may interfere with the suction unit 5 of the assist unit 4.

Therefore, the control device 54 performs the rotation of the motor 11c1 only when the lever 11b is located at the lowermost end portion and the lower end portion side that does not interfere with the adsorption unit 5.

When the lever 11b is raised, the control device 54 controls the base plate member 13 to rotate and then to rise so as to extend in a direction away from the conveyance base rotation axis CL51 and to be in a direction not interfering with the suction unit 5.

The base plate member 13 may be elongated and may be positioned at the center of the base 2 or at a position intersecting the transport base rotation axis CL51 when the label pad 14 is rotated.

A specific example of the application of the label 62a using the rotating portion 111 will be described with reference to fig. 18 (a) to 18 (e).

Fig. 18 (a) is a partial plan view showing the frame WS and the product WP placed on the work pallet 31, and fig. 18 (b) to (e) are enlarged views of a portion a serving as an outer corner portion of the product WP in fig. 18 (a).

Fig. 18 (b) shows a case where the label pad section 14 is attached with the label 62a at the reference position on the right side with respect to the label suction rotation axis CL11 as shown in fig. 5. In this case, the display character "AM" of the label 62a is oriented upright when viewed from the right of the product WP.

Fig. 18 (c) to (e) show the case where the label 62a is attached to the motor 11c1 in a state rotated clockwise by 90 °, 180 °, and 270 ° as viewed from above as compared with fig. 18 (b).

In fig. 18 (c) to (e), the label 62a is oriented in a direction in which the display text "AM" stands upright when viewed from the front, left, and rear of the product WP, respectively.

The label 62a can be easily attached in a direction inclined with respect to the front-rear-left-right direction also according to the rotation angle of the motor 11c 1.

As shown in (b) to (e) of fig. 18, in the case where the label 62a is stuck at the same position in different directions, it is necessary to move the TK unit 51 in the horizontal direction according to the eccentric distance of the label adsorption rotation axis CL11 from the center axis CL 12. However, the moving distance thereof is minute for the entire size of the TK unit 51, and since the movement is not accompanied by the rotation, the working efficiency is not substantially affected.

The pad 12 of the label attaching portion 11 may be replaceable with respect to the rod 11 b. Thus, the label pad portion 14 having the optimum size and shape corresponding to the size and shape of the label 62a can be used, and the label can be more reliably attached with higher attaching quality.

Note that, as for the label pads 14a, 14b, the bottom surfaces 14a1, 14b1 may be flat surfaces, and the label pads 14a, 14b are not limited to rectangular solids. For example, the label pads 14a and 14b may have a truncated cone shape and have vent holes formed in a flat bottom surface. The number of the vent holes is not limited, but is preferably plural.

The TK unit 51 may include a plurality of tag adsorbing portions 11. For example, the printer 62 may be caused to sequentially push out the labels 62a3 and 62a4 corresponding to the two sheets of products WP1 and WP2, respectively, and the two label suction portions 11 may suction the labels 62a3 and 62a4, respectively, and then perform the attaching operation on the products WP1 and WP 2.

Thus, the TK unit 51 does not need to perform two reciprocations between the products WP1, WP2 and the printer 62, and may actually perform one reciprocation. Therefore, the label pasting operation can be performed efficiently at a plurality of positions.

Label 62a may be deformed into label 621a shown in fig. 19 (a). Fig. 19 (a) is a view of the label 621a as viewed from the lower surface (adhesive surface).

A pair of edges in the width direction (direction orthogonal to the discharge direction indicated by an arrow) of the surface of the label 621a having the adhesive layer that becomes the lower surface at the time of discharge is a non-adhesive portion 621b that extends in the discharge direction and does not have the adhesive layer. That is, the label 621a has an adhesive portion 621c hatched at the center in the width direction and a pair of non-adhesive portions 621b across the adhesive portion 621c in the width direction on the lower surface.

On the other hand, as shown in fig. 19 (b), when the printer 62 uses the label 621a, a pair of supports 62b that are supported from below so that the label 621a is in a horizontal posture are attached to positions corresponding to the non-adhesive portions 621b of the discharged label 621 a.

Thereby, the label 621a discharged to a predetermined protruding amount without release paper is supported substantially in a horizontal posture by the pair of supports 62 b. Therefore, it is not necessary to blow air from below to maintain the posture, and the standby posture until adsorption is stable.

The label 62a of the printer 62 may not be formed by half-cutting the residual release paper from the roll shape as described above. The label 62a may be printed in a roll shape together with the release paper, for example, and a cutter may be provided inside the printer 62, and after printing, when the label is sucked and transferred by the label pad unit 14, the label may be separated from the release paper and cut by the cutter provided inside the printer 62.

The product WP is not limited to being cut out from a plate-like material. The term "plate-like" means a member having a plate-like shape regardless of the presence or absence of processing in a preceding step or the type of processing.

(example 2)

Next, the overall structure of the laser processing system STA including the product conveying apparatus 52A of embodiment 2 will be described.

In the laser processing system STA, the TK unit 51 is replaced with the TK unit 51A, and the external configuration is substantially the same as the laser processing system ST shown in fig. 1. In fig. 1, a symbol 51A, a symbol 52A, and a symbol STA are shown in parentheses.

As shown in fig. 20, the TK unit 51A is configured to delete the label holding portion 11 included in the subsidiary portion 4, and to provide the base portion 2 with the label holding portion 21, compared with the TK unit 51. As shown in fig. 22, in the control device 54, the CPU54d includes a rotary cylinder control unit 54d, and the rotary cylinder control unit 54d controls the operation of the rotary cylinder 211 (see fig. 21) included in the label suction unit 21.

Therefore, the laser processing system ST of embodiment 1 and the laser processing system STA of embodiment 2 have the same configuration and are capable of performing the same operations except for the label holding unit 11 and the label holding unit 21.

The label suction portion 21 provided in the base portion 2 will be described with reference to fig. 20 to 24.

Fig. 20 is a perspective view of the TK unit 51A, fig. 21 is a perspective view explaining the operation of the label holding section 21, and fig. 22 to 23 are a functional block diagram of the entire laser processing system ST for explaining the operation control of the label holding section 21 and a block diagram related to the label holding section 21. Fig. 24 (a) is a front view of the product adsorbing portion 51aA included in the TK unit 51A, and fig. 24 (b) is a bottom view of the product adsorbing portion 51 aA.

As shown in fig. 20 and 21, the TK unit 51A includes a TK elevation drive unit 73A, a main body portion 1A, and a product adsorption portion 51aA as a conveyance base.

The TK elevation driving unit 73A includes a servo motor (not shown) and is provided on the movable frame 52 j. The main body 1A is supported to be movable up and down with respect to the movable frame 52j, using a servo motor of the TK elevating driving unit 73A as a power source. The product suction unit 51aA is attached to the lower portion of the body 1A.

By the operation of the TK rotation driving unit 74A, the product suction unit 51aA is rotated about the conveyance base rotation axis CL51A extending vertically with respect to the main body portion 1A (see arrow DR 1A). The rotation range is, for example, 180 ° clockwise and counterclockwise respectively from the posture shown in fig. 20, and the total is 360 °.

The product suction unit 51aA as a conveyance base includes a base 2A and a pair of auxiliary units 3A and 4A. When the product suction unit 51aA has a substantially symmetrical shape in plan view, the conveyance base rotation axis CL51A is set to pass through the center of the product suction unit 51 aA.

The base 2 is formed substantially in a hexahedral shape.

The pair of auxiliary units 3A and 4A are supported at the front ends of the supporting arm portions 3aA and 4aA, and the supporting arm portions 3aA and 4aA are moved in and out from the base portion 2A in the left and right directions by the operation of the auxiliary arm driving units 783A and 784A, respectively.

By the operation of the auxiliary wrist driving units 783A and 784A, the auxiliary units 3A and 4A are moved between a basic position in which they are in close contact with the base 2A and an extended position in which they extend to the left and right (see arrow DRc).

That is, the auxiliary units 3A and 4A horizontally move so as to approach and separate from the conveyance base rotation axis CL 51A.

In fig. 20, the auxiliary portions 3A, 4A located at the basic position are shown by solid lines, and the auxiliary portions 3A, 4A located at the extended position are shown by dot-dash lines.

As shown in fig. 20 and 24, a plurality of suction units 5 similar to those of example 1 are disposed below the base portion 2A and the auxiliary portions 3A and 4A, with the vertical direction as the axis.

As the adsorption unit 5, an adsorption unit 5d and an adsorption unit 5e having a stronger suction force than the adsorption unit 5d are used.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 24, a plurality of suction units 5e having a strong suction force are arranged in a close staggered arrangement in the central region of the base portion 2A. In a peripheral area of a frame shape surrounding the central area, a plurality of suction units 5d having a lower suction force than the suction units 5e are arranged in a staggered arrangement so as to be less dense than the suction units 5 e.

The arrangement interval D5 (see fig. 24 (b)) in the front-rear direction of the suction unit 5D is an interval at which the linear arm 212 can enter without interfering with the suction unit 5D.

A product suction pad 5c is provided below each suction unit 5. As shown in fig. 22 and 23, the product suction pad portion 5c is connected to a pump 771 for generating a negative pressure, and the operation of the pump 771 is controlled by the compressed air switching portion 76.

The lower tip of the product suction pad portion 5c is provided with a rubber suction pad portion 5c1 formed in a circular truncated cone shape. Thus, the interior of the suction pad portion 5c1 becomes a negative pressure by the operation of the pump 771, and the flat plate member such as the product WP can be sucked. The operation of the pump 771 is directly controlled by the compressed air switching unit 76, and the compressed air switching unit 76 is controlled by the control device 54.

As shown in fig. 21 and 24, the label suction unit 21 includes a rotary cylinder 211 having a main body 211a and a rod 211b, an arm 212, and a pad 22.

The main body portion 211a is fixed to the base 2 in a posture in which the pivot axis CL21 is parallel to the transport base pivot axis CL 51A. The lever 211b moves up and down on the rotation axis CL21 with a predetermined stroke and rotates within an angular range of 180 °.

An arm 212 is attached to the tip of the rod 211b via a connecting bracket 213. The arm 212 is attached to the arm 212 in a posture extending in a direction orthogonal to the rotation axis CL 21.

The arm 212 is formed in a linear shape extending in a radial direction around the rotation axis CL 21. A pad 22 is attached to the tip end of the arm 212. The cushion portion 22 has the same configuration as the cushion portion 12 in embodiment 1.

That is, the mat portion 22 has the label mat portion 23 as a combination of the label mats 23a, 23 b. The label pads 23a, 23b are formed as a set of the same members, and are formed as rectangular parallelepiped sponges which are long in the left-right direction in fig. 20, respectively. The material is, for example, neoprene sponge. Therefore, the label pads 23a, 23b have elasticity at least in the up-down direction.

The label pads 23a and 23b have a plurality of ventilation holes (not shown) penetrating vertically, and as shown in fig. 23, the ventilation holes are connected to hoses 23c and 23d drawn out from the upper surface of the arm 212 via the arm 212. In fig. 23, the hoses 23c and 23d are connected to a pump 772 for generating negative pressure.

As described above, the pump 771 and the pump 772 are connected to the compressed air switching unit 76. The compressed air switching unit 76 controls the following operations of the pump 771 and the pump 772 under the control of the control device 54: air suction is performed at either one of the product suction pad portion 5c of the suction unit 5 and the label pad portion 23 of the label suction portion 21, or both.

When the pump 772 is operated to apply a negative pressure to the label pad portion 23 of the label suction portion 21 by the control of the compressed air switching portion 76, air is sucked from the air vent holes (not shown) in the bottom surfaces of the label pads 23a and 23 b. Thereby, the label 62a can be sucked to the bottom surface of the label pad portion 23.

When the negative pressure path is applied to the product suction pad portion 5c of the suction unit 5 by the control of the compressed air switching portion 76, air is sucked from the suction pad portion 5c 1. Thereby, the product WP can be adsorbed to the product adsorption pad portion 5 c.

By the operation of the rotating cylinder 211, the arm 212 having the label pad 23 at the tip end is rotated at a rotation angle of 180 °. The arm 212 shown in fig. 20 is located at the right end position when viewed from above the range of the rotation angle.

The rotary cylinder 211 incorporates a servo motor, for example, and is operated under the control of the control device 54. In detail, as shown in fig. 23, the lever 211b moves in a direction (up-down direction) along the rotation axis CL21 in accordance with the linear movement signal SG1 from the control device 54, and rotates around the rotation axis CL21 within a predetermined angular range in accordance with the rotation signal SG 2. Accordingly, the rotation axis CL21 is hereinafter referred to as a label suction rotation axis CL 21.

By the linear and rotational movements of the rotary cylinder 211, at least four positions, i.e., the first position PS1 to the fourth position PS4, can be obtained by the arm 212 connected to the rod 211 b.

Fig. 24 to 27 show the state in which the arm 212 is located at the first position PS1 to the fourth position PS4, respectively.

In the first position PS1 shown in fig. 24, the arm 212 is located at the lowermost position of the up-and-down movement, and is located at the lowermost position around the counterclockwise direction in the bottom view of fig. 24 (b) in the rotational range. This extreme end position is referred to as the first pivot position of the arm 212.

At this time, the entire arm 212 is located below the adsorption unit 5 in the vertical direction. Therefore, even if the lever 211b is rotated and the arm 212 is turned, the arm 212 does not interfere with the suction unit 5.

In the first position PS1, the position of the arm 212 on the plane of the label suction pivot axis CL21 is located at a position separated forward by a distance Da from the conveyance base pivot axis CL 51A. In the arm 212, the label pad portion 23 is located outside the outer shape of the conveyance base 51aA, and the wrist length between the label suction rotation axis CL21 and the center axis CL22 of the label pad portion 23, that is, the distance Db is equal to the distance Da.

In the second position PS2 shown in fig. 25, the arm 212 is located at the lowermost position of the up-and-down movement, and is located at the central position rotated 90 ° from the first position PS1 in the rotational range, similarly to the first position PS 1.

In the third position PS3 shown in fig. 26, the arm 212 is located at the lowermost position of the vertical movement, similarly to the first position PS1 and the second position PS2, and is located at the lowermost position in the clockwise direction in the bottom view of fig. 26(b) rotated 180 ° from the first position SP1 in the rotational range. In the third position PS3, the center axis CL22 of the label pad portion 23 is located at the same position as the carrier base rotation axis CL51A of the base 2A. This position is referred to as the second swing position of the arm 212.

In the fourth position PS4 shown in fig. 27, the arm 212 is located at the same position as the second position PS2 within the rotational range and at the uppermost position of the up-and-down movement. The label pad 23 is located inside the outer shape of the carrier base 51 aA.

In the fourth position PS4, the lower surfaces of the label pads 23a and 23b are located above the lower surface of the suction pad portion 5c1 of the suction unit 5 by the distance He. The distance He is set to: when the workpiece W is sucked by the suction unit 5, neither of the label pads 23a and 23b comes into contact with the workpiece W regardless of the deformation of the suction pad portion 5c 1.

A state in which the tag 62a is picked up from the printer 62 by the TK unit 51A including the tag pickup portion 21, a state in which the tag 62a picked up by the TK unit 51A is attached to the product WP, and a state in which the product WP is picked up by the product pickup portion 51aA will be described with reference to fig. 28 to 30. Note that the control device 54 is not shown in fig. 28 to 30.

As shown in fig. 28, in the acquisition action of the tag 62a, the control device 54 rotates the TK unit 51A so that the arm 212 becomes the first position PS1, and rotates the TK unit 51A so that the arm 212 becomes a posture extending in the left-right direction. Next, the TK unit 51A is moved to the vicinity of the printer 62, and the pump 772 is operated to suck the pickup label 62 a.

When the arm 212 is located at the first position PS1, the label pad portion 23 protrudes further to the outside than the base portion 2A. Therefore, the TK unit 51A only needs to move a small distance, and the movement efficiency is good.

As shown in fig. 29, in the attaching operation of the label 62a to the product WP, the control device 54 rotates the TK unit 51A to the third position PS3 of the arm 212 and rotates the TK unit according to the attaching direction of the label 62 a. Then, the position of the conveyance base pivot axis CL51A, which is the center position of the TK unit 51A, is matched with the attachment position, which is the center position of the label 62a attached to the product WP. Next, the TK unit 51A is lowered (arrow DRj2), the pump 772 is stopped, and the label 62a is pressed and adhered to the product WP, and then raised.

As shown in fig. 30, in the suction operation of the product WP, the control device 54 causes the arm 212 to be at the fourth position PS4 via the second position PS 2. Thereby, the label pad portion 23 is retracted to an upper position not to affect the suction of the product WP.

The control device 54 horizontally moves the TK unit 51A to above the adsorption position in the product WP and then lowers it (arrow DRmA). Next, the control device 54 operates the pump 771 to suck and hold the product WP by the suction unit 5.

After the product WP is sucked and held, the product WP is transferred to a predetermined place in the same manner as described with reference to fig. 14 in example 1.

In this way, the TK unit 51A is a device for conveying the product WP and is also a label affixing device for affixing the label 62a to the product WP.

Fig. 31 is a schematic plan view for explaining an example of the position and orientation of the product suction portion 51aA at the time of acquisition and attachment of the label 62a by the TK unit 51A in the laser processing system STA. Fig. 31 shows the work pallet 31, the work W placed on the work pallet 31, and the product suction unit 51 aA.

The portion (P1) shown on the upper right of fig. 31 shows the manner of acquisition of the label 62a, the portion (P2) shown on the upper left shows the first manner of label attachment, and the portion (P3) shown on the lower left shows the second manner of label attachment. In each embodiment, the outline of the base portion 2A and the auxiliary portions 3A and 4A is shown by a chain line.

As shown in the (P1) section of fig. 31, when the TK unit 51A acquires the label 62A from the printer 62, the arm 212 is set to the first position PS1, whereby the label holding section 21 can be acquired at a position away from the base 2A.

Thus, even if the printer 62 is provided at a position distant from the workpiece tray 31, the label 62A can be acquired with the position of the conveyance base pivot axis CL51A as the center of the base 2A being maintained within a range corresponding to the workpiece tray 31.

As shown in the (P2) and (P3) sections, the center of the sticking position of the label 62A coincides with the conveyance base rotation axis CL51A of the base 2A of the TK unit 51A. Therefore, the direction of the label 62A to be attached can be freely determined by rotating the base 2A.

For example, the direction of application of the label 62a in the (P2) section is rotated by 180 ° with respect to the direction at the time of acquisition from the printer 62, and the direction of application of the label 62a in the (P3) section is rotated by 90 ° counterclockwise with respect to the direction at the time of acquisition from the printer 62.

As described above, in the laser processing system STA according to embodiment 2, when the labels 62A are attached to the same position in different directions, it is not necessary to move the TK unit 51A in the horizontal direction, and only the base 2A may be rotated at the same position. Therefore, the operation of attaching the label 62a in any direction can be performed efficiently.

In addition, in the label 62a attaching operation, since only the center position of the TK unit 51A needs to be moved within the range corresponding to the workpiece tray 31, the moving time is short, and the attaching operation can be efficiently performed.

In the TK unit 51 explained in embodiment 1, the distance L12 between the position of the rotational axis CL51 as the center of the base 2 and the central axis CL12 of the pad part 12 is not 0 (zero), and varies according to the approaching and separating movement of the subsidiary part 4 with respect to the base 2.

Therefore, in embodiment 1, in the program for managing the operation of the TK unit 51, it is necessary to specify the coordinates of the two positions of the center position of the suction held product WP and the center position of the attached label 62a and to specify the coordinates of the attached position of the label 62a so as to always reflect the distance between the subsidiary part 4 and the base part 2.

In contrast, in the TK unit 51A of embodiment 2, the distance between the position of the conveyance base rotation axis CL51A as the center of the base 2A and the central axis CL22 of the pad 22 is 0 (zero), and the auxiliary part 4A does not change even if it moves close to and away from the base 2A.

Therefore, the center position of the suction-held product WP can be specified in the program so as to match the coordinates of the center position of the sticker 62a, and the program is simplified and has fewer program errors.

Embodiment 2 of the present invention is not limited to the above configuration and procedure, and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

The arm 212 may not be linear. For example, as shown in fig. 32, the suction units 5d of the suction units 5 of the base 2A may be arranged in a closely staggered arrangement, and the linear arms 212 may be formed as the non-linear arms 212A that do not interfere with the suction units 5e when the linear arms 212 cannot be retracted between the suction units 5d at the fourth position PS 4. In fig. 32, the arm 212A has a zigzag shape, for example.

The rotary cylinder 211 is not limited to being operated by a servo motor. For example, the rod 211b may be driven linearly and rotated by air using an air cylinder.

Fig. 33 is a diagram showing an example of an air circuit in the case where the rotary cylinder 211 is an air cylinder. In this modification, the laser processing system STA includes an air driving unit 8 that drives the rotary cylinder 211.

The air driving unit 8 includes five-port type solenoid valves 25 and 26, speed controllers 251, 252, 251, and 262, air paths AR1 and AR2 connected to the solenoid valve 25 at one end, and air paths AR3 and AR4 connected to the solenoid valve 26. The operation of the electromagnetic valves 25 and 26 is controlled by the rotary cylinder control unit 54 d.

The air path AR1 has a speed controller 251, and the other end is connected to an air chamber for lowering the rod 211b by the supply of air. The air path AR2 has a speed controller 252, and the other end is connected to an air chamber that raises the rod 211b by the supply of air.

The air path AR3 has a speed controller 261, and the other end side is connected to an air chamber that rotates the lever 211b counterclockwise (arrow DRt1) in fig. 34 by the supply of air. The air path AR4 has a speed controller 262, and the other end side is connected to an air chamber for rotating the lever 211b clockwise in fig. 34 (arrow DRt2) by the supply of air.

The solenoid valve 25 selectively supplies air to either of the air paths AR1 and AR2 by the control of the rotary cylinder control unit 54 d. Thereby, the rod 211b moves up and down, and is maintained at a selected one end position in the up-down stroke. The solenoid valve 26 selectively supplies air to either of the air paths AR3 and AR4 under the control of the rotary cylinder control unit 54 d. Thereby, the lever 211b is rotated and maintained at the selected one end position within the rotation range.

Therefore, the first position PS1 and the third position PS3 of the arm 212 are obtained only by the switching operation of the solenoid valves 25 and 26.

When the arm 212 is maintained at the second position PS2 and the fourth position PS4, which are the centers of the rotational ranges, control is performed, for example, as follows. That is, the speed controllers 261 and 262 are adjusted to adjust the discharge speed of the air discharged from the air cells. At the same time, the timing of supplying air by the operation of the solenoid valve 26 is adjusted. By this adjustment, the pressure balance of the two air chambers contributing to the rotation is obtained, and the arm 212 is maintained at the center position of the rotation range.

In this case, it is expected that a difference in the rotational position of the holding arm 212 occurs to some extent. Therefore, as shown in fig. 23, a guide plate 24 may be provided on the base 2 side, and a guide roller 213b may be provided on the arm 212 side.

The guide plate 24 has an inclined portion that expands in width to serve as a guide at a lower portion, opens, and has a guide slit 241 extending upward. The guide roller 213b is attached to the front end of the roller bracket 213a, and can be engaged with the guide slit 241 and moved up and down substantially without a gap in the width direction.

Thereby, the guide roller 213b of the roller holder 213a attached to the arm 212 side is guided by the guide slit 241 of the guide plate 24 at the fourth position PS4 and engaged therewith. Therefore, the rotational position of the arm 212 is firmly determined, so that the arm 212 reliably enters and retreats between the suction units 5.

In the first embodiment, the second embodiment, and their modifications, the printer 62 may also be a printer 62A shown in fig. 34. The printer 62A includes a base plate 65 and a label receiving plate 66 as a member for receiving the label 62A discharged from the discharge port 67.

The base plate 65 has a seal frame portion 65c formed of rubber or the like at a central portion and projecting upward in a frame shape, and a through hole (not shown) provided in a range of the seal frame portion 65 c.

The label receiving plate 66 is coated on the upper surface on which the label 62a is placed, and has a plurality of small-diameter vent holes 66c on the lower surface side and in a range surrounded by the seal frame portion 65c in a state of being attached to the base plate 65.

The label receiving plate 66 is attached to the base plate 65 with the lower surface thereof closely contacting the seal frame portion 65c by the bolt 65 b. In this state, the space surrounded by the seal frame portion 65c communicates with the outside only through the through hole of the base plate 65 and the plurality of vent holes 66c of the label receiving plate 66.

The label receiving plate 66 is formed with a non-adhesive layer 66a on the upper surface thereof by coating. The non-adhesive layer 66a has non-adhesiveness with respect to the contacted adhesive.

That is, the label 62a placed on the label receiving plate 66 is placed only, and the adhesive is not attached to the label receiving plate 66. Therefore, the label 62a placed on the label receiving plate 66 can be easily moved by being sucked by the label pad portion 23.

Here, the coating layer is, for example, a treatment of sequentially laminating a carbide-based thermally sprayed film and a silicone resin film on a base material, and a surface layer formed by the treatment.

When the label 62A is discharged from the printer 62A, the label 62A is slid and placed on the label receiving plate 66. At this time, air is supplied from the outside into the seal frame portion 65c through the through hole of the base plate 65. This air is blown out upward and outward from the vent hole 66c of the label receiving plate 66, and slightly lifts the label 62a during discharge.

Thus, the tip end portion of the label 62a during discharge is less likely to rub against the label receiving plate 66. Therefore, the coating is difficult to peel off, and the non-adhesiveness of the label receiving plate 66 is maintained for a long time.

The product conveying device 52A having the above-described structure can adsorb the product WP by the product adsorption pad portion 5c of the adsorption unit 5, and can move the adsorbed product WP to any position by the movement of the TK unit 51.

The product conveying device 52A sucks and holds the label 62A, which is pushed out from the printer 62 and exposed, by the label sucking unit 21. The label 62a sucked and held can be attached to an arbitrary position on the upper surface WPb of the product WP by the horizontal movement, the vertical movement, and the rotation of the TK unit 51A and the vertical movement and the rotation of the arm 212 of the label suction unit 21. Further, the product conveying device 52A can easily attach the label 62A to the upper surface WPb in any direction with the position of the conveying base pivot axis CL51A of the TK unit 51A as the attachment center position.

In the second swing position of the arm 212, the label pad portion 23 is located at any one of the lower center position of the base portion 2A in the transport base 52aA and the position intersecting the transport base rotation axis CL51 below the base portion 2A.

The transport base pivot axis CL51A may be set so as not to pass through the center position even if the outer shape of the transport base 51aA in plan view is symmetrical.

When the outer shape of the transport base 51aA in the plan view is asymmetric and the center cannot be set, the position on the plane of the label pad portion 23 at the second turning position is a position intersecting the transport base pivot axis CL51A below the base 2A.