JP5367416B2 - Transfer robot device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a conveying robot device, which can shorten the time required by the whole conveying process. The conveying robot device has a control device and a conveying robot, the conveying robot can execute the processing relative to an instruction, the instruction is indicated by synchronous exchange with the control device, when the executing of the current instruction is read with the next instruction in parallel, and the next instruction and the current instruction are continuously executed, thereby executing a plurality of instructions continuously in one synchronous exchange.

Description

  The present invention relates to a control apparatus and a transfer robot apparatus including a transfer robot that executes a command by handshaking with the control apparatus.

A transfer robot frequently used in an industrial field is generally connected to an external control device and operates in accordance with a command from the control device. Both have a communication function and can communicate with each other by handshaking (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
For example, a transfer robot used in a process of heat-treating a liquid crystal glass substrate is itself a single command execution machine. In order to perform a continuous operation, one command is completed (execution is completed), the operation returns to the origin position, and the control device performs a handshake to the completely stopped transport robot and gives the next command. It is necessary to repeat.

JP-A-8-234825 JP 2002-108424 A

However, in the system in which handshake is executed every time one command is completed as described above, it takes time for a plurality of handshakes, and it is wasteful to return to the origin position every time and complete a stop. As a result, the time required for the entire process becomes longer. In general, the transfer robot has an overlap function that allows the next command to be executed without returning to the origin position. However, if handshaking is performed for each completed command, this function cannot be utilized.
In view of such conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a transfer robot apparatus that can shorten the time required for the entire transfer process.

The transfer robot apparatus of the present invention can execute processing corresponding to a command instructed by a handshake between the control device and the control device, and reads the next command in parallel during execution of the current command, This is provided with a transfer robot that executes this following the current command.
In the transfer robot apparatus as described above, the next command is read in parallel while the current command is being executed, and then executed, so that a plurality of commands are continuously performed in one handshake. Can be executed.

In addition, the transfer robot reads the next command only when information indicating that it is a mode in which a plurality of commands are continuously executed is received from the control device, and when the information is not received, the execution of the command only end with that Do in.
If it is determined whether or not the next command should be read based on such information, a reliable determination can be made, and a wasteful operation is not performed when the command is not continuous (single).

Further, the transfer robot may have an overlap function and execute the next command without completely stopping at the end of execution of the command.
In this case, since the next command can be executed by the overlap function without stopping completely at the end of one command, the time required for executing all the conveyance steps is further reduced.

  According to the transfer robot apparatus of the present invention, since a plurality of commands can be executed continuously by one handshake, the time required for executing all the transfer processes is compared with the case of performing the handshake for each command. Shortened.

It is a figure which shows the conveyance robot apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention with a peripheral apparatus. It is a flowchart of operation | movement of a conveyance robot. 3 is a flowchart (subroutine) showing details of command processing (step S3) in FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a transfer robot apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention together with peripheral apparatuses. This is, for example, a transfer robot apparatus for heat-treating a liquid crystal substrate. In the figure, the transfer robot device is constituted by a double-arm transfer robot 1 and a control device 2 comprising a PLC (programmable controller). The transfer robot 1 and the control device 2 are connected by a cable 3, and the transfer robot 1 can execute processing corresponding to a command instructed by handshaking with the control device 2.

  Specifically, first, the transfer robot 1 carries in a work (not shown) of the liquid crystal substrate from the carry-in unit 4 with a double arm. At this time, for example, arm expansion and contraction and suction operations are performed. Next, the transfer robot 1 stores the workpieces in the first furnace body 5 and the second furnace body 6 using each of the double arms. Further, after releasing the stored work, another work that has already been heat-treated is taken out and returned. Then, these heat-treated workpieces are stored in the cooling unit (or carry-out unit) 7 and sent to the next process.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the operation of the transfer robot 1. After the start of the operation, the transfer robot 1 first performs a predetermined initial process for preparing for the operation (step S1). Subsequently, the transfer robot 1 determines whether or not a handshake has been received from the control device 2 (step S2). The handshake is accepted, for example, when the transport robot 1 receives a strobe signal from the control device 2. Upon receipt of the handshake, the transfer robot 1 enters command processing (step S3), and after completion of the execution, performs a command end processing such as returning to the origin position and completely stopping (step S4).

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart (subroutine) showing details of the command processing (step S3) in FIG. In FIG. 3, the transfer robot 1 reads a command from the control device 2 (step S31). Specifically, after writing a command from the control device 2 to the transfer robot 1, the control device 2 makes a read request to the transfer robot 1, whereby the transfer robot 1 reads the command. Then, the transfer robot 1 starts executing the read command (step S32). For example, if the command is “carry-in”, the transfer robot 1 starts to carry in the workpiece from the carry-in unit 4 (FIG. 1).

  Subsequently, the transfer robot 1 determines whether or not it is a command continuous request, that is, a mode in which a plurality of commands are continuously executed (step S33). The continuous request is output as a flag indicating whether the command is single / continuous by the control device 2, and is output as a continuous signal (for example, H level is fixed) during continuous operation. On the other hand, when the command is alone, this flag is at the L level. When there is no continuous request (that is, when it is independent), the transfer robot 1 determines whether or not the execution of the command has been completed in step S34, and returns to the main routine (FIG. 2) upon completion to execute the command end processing (step S4) is performed.

On the other hand, if there is a continuous request in step S33, the transfer robot 1 reports to the control device 2 that the next command can be received (that the next command can be received) from the start to the completion of the execution of the current command. (Step S35). If it is not time to report, the current command is executed and the timing is waited. Note that “complete” here means completion of only the substantial contents of the command, and does not include returning to the origin position and completely stopping.
Specifically, one command includes a plurality of operations. For example, a series of operations such as turning to a specified position, ascending, extending a hand, ascending, receiving a workpiece, sucking, and returning the hand. In order. Therefore, for example, the transfer robot 1 performs a next command acceptance report simultaneously with the start of the operation of finally returning the hand.

  Upon receiving the next command acceptance report, the control device 2 writes the next command to the transfer robot 1 and, when the writing is completed, gives the transfer robot 1 a notification that the next command has been written. Therefore, the transfer robot 1 waits for a next command written notification from the control device 2 (step S36), and when it is confirmed that it has been written, returns to step S31 to read the written next command. After reading, the transfer robot 1 starts executing the next command (step S32). However, the actual robot operation is executed following the last operation of the current command. For example, if the command currently being executed is carried in, the next command is stored in the furnace.

  As described above, the next command can be written while waiting for the time required to complete the execution of one command, and can be read if written. That is, a command to be executed next can be reserved. On the other hand, the read “next command” becomes the “current command”, and the transfer robot 1 starts executing (step S32). Then, the transfer robot 1 sends a next command acceptance report to the control device 2 between the start of execution and completion (step S35). If it is not yet time for the report, the current command is executed and the timing for the report is awaited. Then, the transfer robot 1 issues a next command acceptance report simultaneously with the start of the last operation of the current command (step S35).

  For example, if the command to be executed is the order of the A command, the B command, and the C command, the transfer robot 1 receives the writing of the B command while the A command is being executed (specifically, simultaneously with the start of the last operation) Read when writing is complete. However, no further writing is performed until the C command is written. Then, the transfer robot 1 immediately executes the B command following the A command. In addition, the transfer robot 1 receives the C command while the B command is being executed (specifically, at the same time as the start of the last operation), and reads it when the writing is completed. In this way, a plurality of commands are continuously processed while only the next command can be reserved. When all the continuous commands are executed and there is no continuous request (“NO” in step S33), the transfer robot 1 waits for the execution of the last command (step S34). ) And the command end process is performed (step S4).

In the transfer robot apparatus as described above, the next command is written / read in parallel during the execution of the current command (in other words, it is pre-read), and is then executed sequentially. Multiple commands can be executed in a single handshake. Therefore, the time required for executing all the transport steps is reduced as compared with the case where handshaking is performed for each command.
For example, compared with a case where handshaking is performed for each command from loading to storage in the cooling unit 7, it is possible to shorten the time by about 2 seconds.

  Also, the transfer robot 1 reads the next command only when it receives information (a flag with a continuous request) from the control device 2 indicating that it is a mode in which a plurality of commands are continuously executed. If it is not received, it can be determined whether or not the next command should be read by ending only with the execution of the current command, and it is useless when it is not continuous (single) Never do.

  On the other hand, the transfer robot 1 has an overlap function. That is, it is possible to execute the next command without returning to the origin position and completely stopping. With this overlap function, it is possible to execute the next command without complete stop at the end of one command, so that the time required for executing all the transport steps is further shortened. For example, when compared with a case where each command from carrying in to storing in the cooling unit 7 is completely stopped each time a handshake is performed, a shortening of about 6 seconds is possible. That is, when combined with the reduction by reducing the number of handshakes, it can be reduced by about 8 seconds. For example, in two furnaces, the throughput is 3928 sheets / day in the tact 44 seconds of the transfer robot device, but when it is reduced by 8 seconds to 36 seconds, the throughput is 4800 sheets / day, improving productivity. To do.

  Although not described in the above embodiment, when an emergency stop operation is performed, the transfer robot 1 immediately stops execution of the current command and discards the next command. Therefore, the emergency stop can surely stop the current and subsequent operations of the transfer robot 1.

1 Transfer robot 2 Control device

Claims (2)

A control device;
A transfer robot capable of executing processing corresponding to a command instructed by handshaking with the control device, reading the next command in parallel during execution of the current command, and executing this following the current command It equipped with a door,
The transfer robot reads the next command only when information indicating that the mode is a mode in which a plurality of commands are continuously executed is received from the control device, and when the information is not received, A transfer robot apparatus characterized in that it is terminated only by execution .   The transfer robot apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer robot has an overlap function and executes the next command without completely stopping at the end of execution of the command.

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