JP2011177096A - Apparatus for detecting shoulder joint position of poultry carcass - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for automatically detecting the shoulder joint position of a poultry carcass. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus includes an arm member 2 which has a downward-protrusion formed in a tip and is placed on the upper side of a conveyer 100 running while maintaining the upper half part 300 of the poultry carcass from which a cephalic part is extirpated and viscera is eliminated; a spring 5 for downwardly biasing an arm member top by oscillating the arm member 2 in the circumference of a horizontal axis line; a stopper 2f' for specifying the lowest position of the arm member top; a first detector for detecting the vertical distance of the arm member top from the conveyer 100; and a second detector for detecting the horizontal distance of the arm member from the conveyer 100. The detection apparatus presses an arm-member top vicinity section biased downwardly by the spring 5 to the shoulder joint neighborhood of the poultry carcass from above, transfers the arm member top vicinity section to a shoulder joint depression part, and detects the vertical distance and horizontal distance of the arm member top from the conveyer 100 when the downward protrusion of the arm member top makes contact with and rides on a shoulder joint depression part of the poultry carcass. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically detecting the position of a shoulder joint of a poultry carcass.

Prior to the work of separating the wings from the upper half of the edible carcass whose head has been removed and the internal organs removed, the work of creasing the edible carcass along the scapula edge is performed. The muscle insertion work starts from the indentation between the humeral end of the shoulder joint and the end of the scapula, passes from the start position to the scapula and the upper end of the scapula, and ends the lower end of the scapula To the position, the blade is moved along the bone edge while being brought into contact with the bone edge. The scoring work has been done manually.

In order to improve the efficiency of dismantling the poultry carcass, it is desirable to automate the work of creasing into the poultry carcass along the scapula margin.
Automating the creasing has been done by arranging a conveyor that travels while supporting the upper half of the poultry carcass from which the head has been removed and the internal part has been removed, and a robot arm is arranged on the side of the conveyor. It is desirable to realize this by attaching a cutter to the tip of the robot arm and automatically operating the cutter in conjunction with the movement of the conveyor.
Since there are individual differences in the size of the upper half of the poultry carcass, there are also individual differences in the position of the shoulder joint depression. Therefore, in order to automatically perform the creasing using the robot arm, it is necessary to automatically detect the position of the shoulder joint depression portion of each poultry carcass conveyed by the conveyor prior to the creasing operation. .
This invention is made | formed in view of the said subject, and it aims at providing the apparatus which detects automatically the position of the shoulder joint hollow part of a poultry carcass.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the present invention, the upper half of the poultry carcass whose head has been excised and the internal part removed, and the upper half of the dorsal or ventral side facing forward in the direction of travel The arm member is disposed above the conveyor that travels while being supported from below, is swingable about a vertical axis and a horizontal axis, and has a downward protrusion at the tip, and the arm member is connected to the horizontal axis. A first detecting device that detects a vertical distance from the conveyor of the arm member tip end, a spring that swings around and biases the arm member tip end downward, a stopper that defines the lowest position of the arm member tip end, and And a second detection device that detects a horizontal distance of the arm member tip from the conveyor, and a portion near the arm joint tip that is biased downward by a spring to the shoulder joint vicinity of the moving poultry carcass Press from above, near the tip of the arm member along the roundness of the humeral or scapular end The vertical distance from the conveyor of the arm member tip when the downward projection of the arm member tip abuts on the shoulder joint well of the moving poultry carcass And a horizontal distance are detected, and a poultry carcass shoulder joint position detecting device is provided.

When the vicinity of the distal end of the arm member biased downward by the spring is pressed against the shoulder joint vicinity of the moving chicken carcass from above, the distal end of the arm member that receives the biasing force of the spring is the end of the humerus Or it moves to the hollow part of the shoulder joint along the roundness of the end of the shoulder bone. Since the downward protrusion is formed at the tip of the arm member, the tip of the arm member reaches the highest position when the protrusion comes into contact with the recess of the shoulder joint. The point in time when the arm member tip reaches the highest position can be detected from the change history of the detection signal from the first position detector. Based on the time-dependent change history of the detection signal from the first position detection device and the time-change history of the detection signal from the second detection device, the arm member tip portion at the time when the arm member tip portion reaches the highest position. By detecting the vertical distance from the conveyor and the horizontal distance from the conveyor at the tip of the arm member, it is possible to detect the vertical distance and the horizontal distance from the conveyor at the shoulder joint recess.
The apparatus according to the present invention can automatically detect the position of the shoulder joint depression of the edible carcass.

In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the first detection device and the second detection device include an optical sensor.
In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the first detection device and the second detection device include a potentiometer or an encoder that detects the swing angle of the arm member.
The position of the arm member tip may be detected using an optical sensor, or may be detected using a potentiometer or encoder that detects the swing angle of the arm member.

1 is a perspective view of a poultry carcass shoulder joint position detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the arm member with which the poultry carcass shoulder joint position detection apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention is equipped, and a poultry carcass shoulder joint. (A) is the figure which looked down at the poultry carcass and the arm member from above, (b) is the figure which looked at the poultry carcass and the arm member horizontally from the conveyor side, (c) It is the figure which looked at the poultry carcass and the arm member horizontally from the front of the conveyor traveling direction. It is a perspective view of the arm member front-end | tip part of the poultry carcass shoulder joint position detection apparatus which concerns on the other Example of this invention.

A poultry carcass shoulder joint position detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of upright support cones 101 are attached to the conveyor 100 forming a part of the poultry carcass creasing device at predetermined intervals in the extending direction of the conveyor 100. ing. The conveyor 100 runs in the direction indicated by the white arrow in FIGS. The upper half 200 of the poultry carcass is externally fitted to the support cone 101 from above, and the support cone 101 enters the abdominal cavity from below to support the upper half 200 of the poultry carcass from below. The upper half 200 of the poultry carcass has its dorsal side directed forward in the traveling direction, and the center in the width direction coincides with the conveyor center line L.
A pair of robot arms (not shown) are arranged with a downstream portion (not shown) of the conveyor 100 interposed therebetween. A cutting tool is attached to the robot arm, and a recess 203 between the humeral end 201 and the scapular end 202 of the shoulder joint of the poultry carcass upper half 200 is set as a starting position, and from the starting position. The blade is opposed to the upper half 200 of the poultry carcass approaching through the shoulder bone and the upper end portion of the scapula 204 to the end position of the lower end portion of the scapula 204, and is in contact with the edge of the bone. The blade moves along the edge of the bone and automatically crates into the upper half of the edible carcass 200.
A pair of optical sensors 300 are disposed above the conveyor 100 with the upstream portion of the conveyor 100 interposed therebetween.

A pair of poultry carcass shoulder joint position detection devices 1 are arranged with a portion slightly downstream of the optical sensor 300 in the upstream portion of the conveyor 100 interposed therebetween.
The poultry carcass shoulder joint position detection device 1 has a tip 2c that can swing around a vertical axis X passing through the first fulcrum 2a and a horizontal axis Y passing through the second fulcrum 2b, and the first fulcrum 2a An arm member 2 extending through the second fulcrum 2b and the tip 2c is provided. A downward projecting portion 2c ′ is formed at the tip portion 2c. The arm member 2 is disposed above the conveyor 100.
A fulcrum 2a far from the tip 2c of the arm member 2 forms a part of the support member 2d. The support member 2 d is driven horizontally by the stepping motor 3 and can approach and separate from the conveyor 100. Therefore, the horizontal distance from the conveyor center line L of the first fulcrum 2a is variable.

A portion of the part 2e extending between the first fulcrum 2a and the second fulcrum 2b of the arm member 2 and the pair of arms 2d ′ extending from the support member 2d extends horizontally. It is connected via a pair of existing springs 4. As a result, the arm member distal end portion 2c is held at a predetermined first neutral position with respect to swinging around the vertical axis X passing through the first fulcrum 2a when there is no load.
A part projecting toward the part 2e beyond the second fulcrum 2b of the part 2f extending between the second fulcrum 2b and the tip part 2c of the arm member 2 and an arm part 2e 'extending from the part 2e are vertically It is connected via a spring 5 extending to. The arm member tip 2c is biased downward by the spring 5. A stopper 2f ′ extending from the part 2f is in contact with a part projecting toward the part 2f beyond the second fulcrum 2b of the part 2e, and the distal end portion 2c is held at the lowest position when there is no load.
The horizontal axis Y extends perpendicular to the extending direction of the part 2e. Therefore, the arm member 2 has a linear shape in which the part 2e and the part 2f are aligned when looking down from above along the vertical axis X. When the distal end portion 2c is at the first neutral position and at the lowest position, the arm member 2 looks down from above along the vertical axis line X, and the distal end portion 2c is located on the conveyor 100 with respect to the conveyor center line L. It is slightly inclined in the direction of approaching the conveyor center line L from the first fulcrum 2a toward the front end 2c.
When the distal end portion 2c is in the first neutral position and in the lowest position, the arm member 2 has a bent line shape in which the portion 2f is bent downward with respect to the portion 2e when viewed horizontally along the horizontal axis Y. Have.

A potentiometer 6 is disposed adjacent to the first fulcrum 2a to detect the swing angle around the vertical axis X from the first neutral position of the arm member tip 2c.
Adjacent to the second fulcrum 2b, a potentiometer 7 for detecting a swing angle around the horizontal axis Y from the lowest position of the arm member tip 2c is disposed.
The optical sensor 300, the stepping motor 3, and the potentiometers 6 and 7 are connected to the control device 8.

The operation of the poultry carcass shoulder joint position detection device 1 will be described.
An operator (not shown) fits the upper half of the poultry carcass 200 into the support cone 101 from above, enters the support cone 101 into the abdominal cavity from below, and the upper half of the poultry carcass is supported by the support cone 101. 200 is supported from below. The poultry carcass upper half 200 is supported by the support cone 101 with the back side directed forward in the direction of travel of the conveyor 100 and the center in the width direction aligned with the conveyor center line L.
A conveyor 100 in which a plurality of support cones 101 aligned in the longitudinal direction support the upper half 200 of the poultry carcass from below runs in the direction of the white arrow in FIGS.
A pair of optical sensors 300 facing each other across the conveyor 100 measure the shoulder width of the upper half 200 of the poultry carcass passing between the two. The measurement result is transmitted to the control device 8.

The control device 8 recognizes the approach to the arm member 2 of the poultry carcass upper half 200 and the shoulder width of the poultry carcass upper half 200 based on the input signal from the optical sensor 300.
Based on the shoulder width of the upper half of the poultry carcass 200 and the correlation data stored in advance between the shoulder width of the poultry carcass and the shoulder joint position, the control device 8 controls the upper half of the poultry carcass 200. The horizontal distance of the shoulder joint from the conveyor center line L is calculated, and the calculated value is stored as the expected horizontal position of the shoulder joint of the upper half 200 of the poultry carcass. Next, the control device 8 drives the stepping motor 3 to move the support member 2d, and thus the first fulcrum 2a closer to and away from the conveyor 100, and to predict the expected horizontal joint of the shoulder joint of the upper half 200 of the poultry carcass approaching. The arm member tip 2c is moved to the position.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, the vicinity of the distal end of the arm member 2 in which the distal end portion 2c is in the first neutral position and in the lowest position passes below the first fulcrum 2a and approaches the distal end portion 2c of the arm member. It pushes against the shoulder joint vicinity part of the feeding bird carcass upper half 200 which is being pushed from above. As the poultry carcass upper half 200 advances, the part 2 f of the arm member 2 is pushed upward against the biasing force of the spring 5. The portion 2 f that receives the biasing force of the spring 5 moves along the roundness of the humeral end portion 201 or the scapular end portion 202 to the indented portion 203 between the two as the edible carcass upper half 200 advances. After sliding down, it is guided by the depression 203.
As the poultry carcass upper half 200 advances, the arm member tip 2c swings upward about the horizontal axis Y passing through the second fulcrum 2b and conveys around the vertical axis X passing through the first fulcrum 2a. It swings away from the center line L.
As the poultry carcass upper half 200 advances, when the downward projection 2c ′ of the arm member tip 2c approaches the depression 203 of the shoulder joint and abuts on the portion, the arm member tip 2c Reaches the highest position, and when the downward protrusion 2c ′ of the arm member tip 2c passes through the shoulder joint recess 203, the arm member tip 2c is lowered toward the lowest position.

The control device 8 changes the input signals from the potentiometers 6 and 7 with time, more specifically, from the reference value corresponding to zero swing angle to the reference value through the peak value corresponding to the maximum swing angle. The time-dependent change for the cycle, that is, the time-dependent change during the passage of the upper half 200 of the single edible carcass through the edible carcass shoulder joint position detecting device 1 is stored.

The control device 8 immediately detects the peak value of the input signal based on the history of change of the input signal from the potentiometer 7 as soon as the change with time of one cycle is completed, and previously determines between the input signal value and the swing angle. Based on the stored correlation, the maximum swing angle α upward from the lowest position of the arm member tip 2c is calculated. As can be seen from the above description, the maximum swing angle α is obtained when the downward projection 2c ′ of the arm member tip 2c is in contact with the depression 203 of the shoulder joint of the upper half of the poultry carcass 200. The swing angle.
Since the relative positional relationship in the vertical direction between the distal end 2c and the second fulcrum 2b when the arm member distal end 2c is at the lowest position is known, the control device 8 determines the known relative positional relationship and the maximum Using the swing angle α, the arm member tip 2c when the downward projection 2c ′ of the arm member tip 2c abuts against the depression 203 of the shoulder joint of the poultry carcass upper half 200 and The relative positional relationship in the vertical direction with respect to the second fulcrum 2b is calculated.
In the control device 8, the known vertical distance of the second fulcrum 2b from the conveyor 100 and the downward projection 2c ′ of the arm member tip 2c abuts against the shoulder joint recess 203 of the upper half 200 of the poultry carcass. On the basis of the vertical relative position between the arm member tip 2c and the second fulcrum 2b, the downward projection 2c 'of the arm member tip 2c is the upper half 200 of the poultry carcass. The vertical distance from the conveyor 100 of the arm member front end portion 2c when it rides on the shoulder 203 of the shoulder joint is calculated. A value obtained by subtracting the height of the protrusion 2c ′ from the vertical distance is a vertical distance from the conveyor 100 of the recess 203 of the shoulder joint of the upper half 200 of the poultry carcass.

Next, based on the change history of the input signal from the potentiometer 7 and the change history of the input signal from the potentiometer 6, the control device 8 outputs the signal from the potentiometer 6 when the input signal from the potentiometer 7 reaches the peak value. An input signal value is detected, and a swing angle β around the vertical axis X from the first neutral position of the arm member tip 2c is calculated based on a previously stored correlation between the input signal value and the swing angle. .
Since the relative positional relationship seen from above between the distal end portion 2c and the first fulcrum 2a when the arm member distal end portion 2c is in the first neutral position is known, the control device 8 determines the known relative positional relationship. Using the swing angle β, the arm member tip 2c when the downward projection 2c ′ of the arm member tip 2c rides on the shoulder joint recess 203 of the upper half 200 of the poultry carcass And the relative positional relationship looking down from above between the first fulcrum 2a.
The control device 8 calculates the horizontal distance from the conveyor center line L of the first fulcrum 2a from the rotation angle of the stepping motor 3 when the arm member tip 2c is moved to the expected horizontal position of the shoulder joint, and the horizontal The distance between the arm member distal end 2c and the first fulcrum 2a when the downward projection 2c ′ of the arm member distal end 2c rides on the shoulder joint recess 203 of the poultry carcass upper half 200 Based on the relative positional relationship looking down from above, the downward projection 2c ′ of the arm member tip 2c abuts against the depression 203 of the shoulder joint of the poultry carcass upper half 200 and rides on, The horizontal distance from the conveyor center line L of the arm member tip 2c is calculated. The said horizontal distance is a horizontal distance from the conveyor center line L of the hollow part 203 of the shoulder joint of the poultry carcass upper half 200.

The control device 8 transmits the vertical distance from the conveyor 100 of the recess 203 of the shoulder joint of the upper half 200 of the poultry carcass and the horizontal distance from the conveyor center line L to the control device of the robot arm (not shown). . Based on the received positional information, the robot arm control device moves the blade to the position of the recess 203 of the shoulder joint of the approaching upper half of the poultry carcass 200 to move the upper half of the poultry carcass 200. I wait.

As can be seen from the above description, according to the poultry carcass shoulder joint position detection device 1 according to the present embodiment, the position of the shoulder joint dent 203 of the upper half 200 of the poultry carcass is automatically detected. Can do.

In the above embodiment, the arm member tip 2c is swung around the vertical axis X passing through the distant first fulcrum 2a and swung around the horizontal axis Y passing through the near second fulcrum 2b. However, the arm member tip 2c may be swung around a horizontal axis passing through the farther first fulcrum 2a and swung around a vertical axis passing through the closer second fulcrum 2b.
In the above embodiment, the first fulcrum 2a and the second fulcrum 2b do not coincide with each other, but the two fulcrum coincide with each other so that one continuous arm member has a vertical axis and a horizontal axis passing through a single fulcrum. You may comprise so that it may rock | fluctuate around.
The optical sensor 300 and the stepping motor 3 are removed, and the operator manually approaches and separates the support member 2d from the conveyor 100 while visually recognizing the upper half 200 of the edible carcass, and the arm member tip 2c is moved to the edible carcass. The upper half 200 may be moved to the vicinity of the shoulder joint. In this case, it is necessary to detect the distance of the first fulcrum 2a from the conveyor center line L with a sensor.
An encoder may be used in place of the potentiometers 6 and 7.
A servo motor may be used instead of the stepping motor 3.
The upper half 200 of the poultry carcass may be externally fitted to the support cone 101 from above with the abdomen facing forward in the direction of travel.

  Instead of detecting the swing angle of the arm member 2, when the downward projection 2 c ′ of the arm member tip 2 c comes in contact with the recess 203 of the shoulder joint of the upper half of the poultry carcass 200, The vertical distance of the arm member tip 2c from the conveyor 100 and the horizontal distance from the conveyor center line L may be directly detected using optical sensors. As shown in FIG. 3, a reflector 9 having a T-shaped cross section is attached to the upper surface of the arm member tip 2c, and the upper surface 9a and the side surface 9b of the T-shaped cross section are irradiated with light from the sensors 10a and 10b. The distances from the side sensors 10a and 10b are detected, and as a result, the vertical distance from the conveyor 100 and the horizontal distance from the conveyor center line L of the arm member tip 2c are detected. If an optical sensor with relatively low directivity is used, the arm member when the downward projection 2c ′ of the arm member tip 2c is brought into contact with the depression 203 of the shoulder joint of the upper half 200 of the poultry carcass Even if the position of the tip 2c varies due to individual differences between the poultry carcasses, the position of the arm member tip 2c can be detected. The control device 8 detects the peak value of the input signal based on the change history of the input signal from the optical sensor 10a that detects the vertical distance, and the input signal from the optical sensor 10a that detects the vertical distance is the peak value. The vertical distance from the conveyor 100 of the shoulder joint recess 203 based on the input signal value from the optical sensor 10a for detecting the vertical distance and the input signal value from the optical sensor 10b for detecting the horizontal distance. And the horizontal distance from the conveyor center line L is calculated.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be widely used for an operation for automatically creasing a poultry carcass along a scapula edge.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Poultry carcass shoulder joint position detection apparatus 2 Arm member 2a 1st fulcrum 2b 2nd fulcrum 2c Tip part 2c 'Downward projecting part 2f' Stopper 3 Stepping motor 4, 5 Spring 6, 7 Potentiometer 8 Control apparatus 9 Reflector 10a 10b Photosensor 100 Conveyor 101 Support cone 200 Poultry carcass upper half 201 End of humerus 202 End of shoulder 203 Indentation 300 Optical sensor L Conveyor center line

Claims (3)

The upper half of the poultry carcass with the head removed and the internal part removed is placed above the conveyor that travels while supporting the upper half with the back or abdomen facing forward in the direction of travel. An arm member that is swingable about a vertical axis and a horizontal axis and has a downward protrusion at the tip, and swings the arm member about the horizontal axis to move the tip of the arm member downward A biasing spring, a stopper for defining the lowest position of the arm member tip, a first detection device for detecting a vertical distance from the conveyor at the arm member tip, and a horizontal distance from the conveyor at the arm member tip And a second detection device for detecting, pressing the vicinity of the distal end of the arm member biased downward by a spring against the vicinity of the shoulder joint of the moving poultry carcass from above, the end of the humerus or the end of the shoulder Move the vicinity of the tip of the arm member to the shoulder joint depression along the roundness of the arm, And detecting the vertical distance and the horizontal distance from the conveyor of the arm member tip when the downward projection of the arm member tip comes into contact with the shoulder joint depression of the shoulder Joint position detection device. The first detection apparatus and the second detection apparatus each include an optical sensor, and the poultry carcass shoulder joint position detection apparatus according to claim 1. 2. The apparatus for detecting a shoulder position of a poultry carcass shoulder according to claim 1, wherein the first detection device and the second detection device include a potentiometer or an encoder that detects a swing angle of the arm member.

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