Silo inner wall cleaning device and cleaning method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a silo inner wall (11) cleaning device and a cleaning method thereof, the device is composed of a traction robot (10), a universal joint connector (1), a cleaner (5) and land wheels (8), and the traction robot (10) dominates cleaning control of cleaning operation and control of a cleaning path; by means of the universal structure of the universal joint connector (1), when the structure of the silo inner wall (11) changes, for example, when a vertical face is converted into a conical face, the angle of the sweeper (5) can be changed based on the universal adaptation function of the universal joint connector (1) so that the sweeper (5) can be better attached to the silo inner wall (11), and it is guaranteed that grains accumulated at any position and corner of the silo inner wall (11) can be effectively swept. The ground wheel (8) calculates the synchronous speed of the ground wheel (8) based on the traction speed of the traction robot (10), provides driving force for the lower part of the sweeper (5) according to the synchronous speed, and can keep the sweeper (5) to synchronously advance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of grain storage management automation, and in particular relates to a silo inner wall cleaning device and a cleaning method thereof. Background Art

[0002] In the field of port grain storage, grain will accumulate on the inner wall of the silo, and cleaning the accumulated grain is a necessary task. The current common way of cleaning the silo is to have a certain number of workers enter through the window or the top window of the silo with ropes to clean the accumulated grain, but this operation method has great risks. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Technical issues

[0003] With the development of automated control, silo cleaning tends to be technical, mechanized, automated and intelligent. High-efficiency mechanical silo cleaning equipment can clean the grain accumulation on the inner wall of the silo, which can save labor, ensure the safety of labor, and improve the efficiency of cleaning the grain accumulation on the inner wall of the silo. However, although the current silo cleaning technology has achieved a certain degree of mechanization, automation and intelligence, it also has the problem of incomplete cleaning of the inner wall of the silo, for example: the grain accumulation on the inner wall of the silo is not easy to clean during the cleaning process, and the corners of the inner wall of the silo are difficult to clean. Technical Solutions

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a silo inner wall cleaning device and a cleaning method thereof. Based on a universal joint connector, the cleaner can arbitrarily change the cleaning angle according to the structure of the silo inner wall, and combined with the ground wheel to ensure the synchronous movement of the upper and lower ends of the cleaner, so that the grain accumulated on the vertical surface, inclined surface or corners of the silo inner wall of the silo can be thoroughly cleaned, thereby realizing the mechanization, automation and intelligence of the silo inner wall cleaning, improving the cleaning quality, efficiency and accuracy of cleaning the grain accumulated on the silo inner wall, saving time cost and labor cost, ensuring the safety of the labor force, and making the cleaning of the grain accumulated on the inner wall of the silo more time-saving, labor-saving, convenient, quick and clean.

[0005] The present invention is implemented by the following technical solutions:

[0006] A silo inner wall cleaning device is provided, comprising a cleaner for cleaning the inner wall of the silo, a traction robot, a universal joint connector and a ground wheel;

[0007] The traction robot is used to control the cleaning operation, plan the cleaning path, and traction the cleaner to move along the inner wall of the silo along the cleaning path;

[0008] The universal joint connector is connected between the sweeper and the traction robot, is controlled by the traction robot, and pulls the sweeper to move along the inner wall of the silo; when the structure of the inner wall of the silo changes, the universal joint connector is used to change the operating angle of the sweeper so that the sweeper fits the inner wall of the silo;

[0009] The ground wheel, wherein the shaft is connected to the lower end of the sweeper, is rotated by the driving of the ground wheel motor and is used to provide a lower driving force for the sweeper to keep the upper and lower ends of the sweeper advancing synchronously.

[0010] In some embodiments of the present invention, the device further comprises:

[0011] A connecting plate connected between the universal joint connector and the sweeper;

[0012] The cleaning motor is fixed on the connecting plate and is used to be controlled by the traction robot to drive the cleaner to rotate.

[0013] In some embodiments of the present invention, the device further comprises:

[0014] A reinforcing rod has one end fixed to the connecting plate and the other end connected to the central axis of the ground wheel through a bracket.

[0015] In some embodiments of the present invention, the sweeper further comprises:

[0016] The support wheel is fixed on the reinforcing rod through a support bracket and is arranged inside the sweeper.

[0017] In some embodiments of the present invention, the ground wheel adopts a Mecanum wheel structure.

[0018] The present invention further provides a silo inner wall cleaning method, which is applied to the silo inner wall cleaning device as described above, comprising:

[0019] After receiving the cleaning task start instruction, the traction speed of the traction robot is obtained;

[0020] Calculating a synchronous speed of the ground wheel based on the traction speed;

[0021] The ground wheel motor is controlled to drive the ground wheel at the synchronous speed so that the upper and lower ends of the sweeper are synchronously advanced during the sweeping operation.

[0022] In some embodiments of the present invention, the method further comprises:

[0023] The cleaning task start instruction is sent to the traction robot through a cloud platform or a cloud server; the cleaning task start instruction includes the traction speed, silo inner wall structure data and cleaning path planning data.

[0024] In some embodiments of the present invention, when calculating the synchronous speed of the ground wheel based on the traction speed, the method includes:

[0025] Acquire the silo inner wall parameters; the silo inner wall parameters include silo structure data and cone inclination angle;

[0026] Determining whether the cleaner is operating on the conical surface of the silo inner wall based on the silo inner wall parameters;

[0027] When the sweeper operates on a conical surface, the synchronous speed of the ground wheel is calculated based on the sweeper length, the conical surface inclination angle and the traction speed.

[0028] In some embodiments of the present invention, the method further comprises:

[0029] Collect images of the inner wall of the silo;

[0030] Identify the amount of grain cleaned based on the image of the silo inner wall;

[0031] The traction speed is determined according to the amount of grain cleaned.

[0032] In some embodiments of the present invention, after collecting the image of the inner wall of the silo, the method includes:

[0033] Partitioning the silo inner wall image according to a set partitioning rule;

[0034] The amount of regional cleaning is identified for each partitioned image;

[0035] For each zone, determining a zone traction speed based on the zone clearing amount;

[0036] Calculating a regional synchronous speed of the ground wheel based on the regional traction speed;

[0037] The ground wheel motor is controlled to drive the ground wheel at the regional synchronous speed, so that the upper and lower ends of the sweeper are synchronously advanced during the cleaning operation in the corresponding partition. Beneficial Effects

[0038] Compared with the prior art, the advantages and positive effects of the present invention are as follows: in the technical solution proposed by the present invention, the silo inner wall cleaning device is composed of a traction robot, a universal joint connector, a sweeper and a ground wheel; the traction robot dominates the control of the cleaning operation and the planning of its cleaning path, and tows the sweeper along the inner wall of the silo according to the planned path; the universal joint connector with its universal structure can change the angle of the sweeper based on its own universal structure when the structure of the silo inner wall changes, for example, when it is converted from a vertical surface to a conical surface, so as to better fit the inner wall of the silo, thereby ensuring effective cleaning of grain accumulated in any position and corner of the silo inner wall; the ground wheel calculates its own synchronous speed based on the traction speed of the traction robot, provides driving force for the lower part of the sweeper according to the synchronous speed, and can keep the sweeper advancing synchronously; based on the silo inner wall cleaning device provided by the present invention, the quality and efficiency of cleaning grain accumulated on the inner wall of the silo can be improved, the labor cost can be reduced, and the automation and intelligence level of silo inner wall cleaning can be improved.

[0039] Furthermore, the structural frame composed of the connecting plate, the reinforcing rod and the sweeper can keep the sweeper in a stable mechanical structure during the cleaning operation, which is not easy to deform, and ensures that the cleaning intensity of the cleaning operation is not affected by the structural deformation. The control data of the traction robot is transmitted to the ground wheel motor through the data line, and the data line can be guided to the lower end of the sweeper through the reinforcing rod, or fixed to the outside of the reinforcing rod to ensure that it does not fall off and affect the cleaning operation.

[0040] Furthermore, the support wheel arranged in the middle of the sweeper supports the sweeper and prevents the sweeper from bending and deformation. It is particularly suitable for the structure of a longer sweeper. The support wheel is a passive wheel and rotates synchronously with the speed of the traction robot and the ground wheel.

[0041] Furthermore, the Mecanum wheel has two driving force components, upward and forward, during operation, which can increase the driving force of the sweeper, prevent the lower part of the sweeper from being pulled off, and reduce the friction between the sweeper and the inner wall of the silo when it descends.

[0042] In the silo inner wall cleaning method proposed in the present invention, the synchronous speed of the ground wheel is calculated according to the traction speed of the traction robot, so that the ground wheel is synchronized with the traction robot and the cleaner is kept advancing synchronously. During the synchronous advancement process, the grain accumulated on the inner wall of the silo is cleaned to ensure that there are no blind spots in the cleaning of the inner wall of the silo.

[0043] Furthermore, the control platform of the port can be used as a cloud platform or cloud server. When it is necessary to clean the designated silo, a cleaning task start instruction is sent to the traction robot, which includes the silo inner wall structure data, cleaning path planning data and the traction speed set in combination with the silo inner wall structure; the silo inner wall structure data here include but are not limited to the silo vertical surface data, silo conical surface data, silo irregular corner data, etc., the cleaning path planning data here include but are not limited to the reciprocating cleaning path along the silo vertical surface, the cleaning path of the silo conical surface, the cleaning path of the silo irregular corner, etc., and the traction speed here can be specified or calculated based on the actual silo inner wall structure.

[0044] Of course, in actual applications, the silo inner wall structure data, cleaning path planning data, and traction speed set in combination with the silo inner wall structure data can also be input through the traction robot's configuration interface or the intelligent control terminal, and then the cleaning task can be started.

[0045] Furthermore, the silo inner wall cleaning device of the present invention can be adapted to any grain storage silo in the port based on the cleaning method. When the inner wall of the silo is vertical, the synchronous speed and the traction speed are usually the same. When the inner wall of the silo is inclined in a conical surface, the synchronous speed of the ground wheel can be calculated by combining the length of the cleaner, the inclination angle of the conical surface and the traction speed. The synchronous speed is less than the traction speed, thereby ensuring that the cleaner is synchronously advanced even when operating on the conical inclined surface. For the irregular corners of the inner wall of the silo, the irregular corners can be split into several inclined surfaces, and the synchronous speed of the ground wheel is calculated for each inclined surface.

[0046] Furthermore, an image acquisition module can be installed above the silo. Before the cleaning operation is implemented, the image of the inner wall of the silo is obtained through the image acquisition module. Based on the image recognition method, the degree of grain accumulation on the inner wall of the silo, that is, the amount of grain cleaning, can be judged. When the amount of grain cleaning is small, the cleaner can be controlled to advance quickly. When the amount of grain cleaning is large, the advancement speed can be appropriately slowed down to ensure that the grain can be thoroughly cleaned.

[0047] In actual situations, the grain accumulation on the inner wall of the silo is not uniform. After obtaining the image of the inner wall of the silo, the inner wall of the silo can be partitioned based on the image of the inner wall of the silo, and different cleaning operations can be performed for each partitioned area. The image is identified for each partitioned area to obtain the regional cleaning amount, and the partition traction speed is determined according to the regional cleaning amount. The partition synchronization speed of the ground wheel is calculated according to the partition traction speed. When the traction robot drives the sweeper to the corresponding partitioned area to perform cleaning operations, the partition traction speed and partition synchronization speed calculated by the current partition are used to synchronously propel the sweeper. The area with less grain accumulation is cleaned quickly to improve the cleaning efficiency, and the area with more grain accumulation is cleaned relatively slowly to ensure the cleaning quality. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0048] The accompanying drawings are part of the present invention and are used to provide a further understanding of the present invention. The exemplary embodiments and descriptions of the present invention are used to explain the present invention, but do not constitute an improper limitation of the present invention. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some embodiments. For those skilled in the art, other accompanying drawings can be obtained based on these accompanying drawings without creative work.

[0049] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the silo inner wall cleaning device proposed by the present invention;

[0050] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the silo inner wall cleaning device proposed by the present invention on the vertical inner wall;

[0051] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the silo inner wall cleaning device proposed by the present invention on the inner wall of the conical surface;

[0052] Figure 4 The steps of the silo inner wall cleaning method proposed by the present invention are schematically shown;

[0053] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the image partitioning of the inner wall of the silo in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0054] Figure 6 for Figure 5 The silo inner wall partitions shown correspond to the silo inner wall image partitions;

[0055] Figure markings: 1-universal joint connector, 2-connecting plate, 3-sweeping motor, 4-reinforcing rod, 5-sweeper, 6-support wheel, 7-ground wheel motor, 8-ground wheel, 9-controller, 10-traction robot, 11-silo inner wall, 12-silo conical connection, 13-silo bottom surface.

[0056] It should be noted that these drawings and textual descriptions are not intended to limit the conceptual scope of the present invention in any way, but are intended to illustrate the concept of the present invention for those skilled in the art by referring to specific embodiments. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0057] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. The following embodiments are used to illustrate the present invention but are not used to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0058] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that the directions or positional relationships indicated by terms such as “upper”, “lower”, “front”, “back”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “inside” and “outside” are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific direction, be constructed and operated in a specific direction, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present invention.

[0059] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected" and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be directly connected or connected through an intermediate medium. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0060] like Figures 1 to 3 As shown, the silo inner wall cleaning device in the embodiment of the present invention is composed of a universal joint connector 1, a connecting plate 2, a cleaning motor 3, a reinforcing rod 4, a cleaner 5, a supporting wheel 6, a ground wheel motor 7, a ground wheel 8 and a controller 9.

[0061] The traction robot 10 is hung on the connecting plate 2 and is used for controlling the cleaning operation, controlling the cleaning operation path, and traction of the cleaner 5 .

[0062] The connecting plate 2, the reinforcing rod 4, the ground wheel 7 and the corresponding brackets form a structural frame. One end of the sweeper 5 is fixed to the connecting plate 2 through a bearing, connected to the sweeping motor 3 through a reducer, and the other end is connected to the reinforcing rod 4 through a bearing and a bracket. The sweeper 5 can rotate forward and reverse under the action of the sweeping motor 3 to complete the cleaning of grain residues.

[0063] The support wheel 6 is connected to the reinforcing rod 4 through a support bracket, and is connected to the sweeper 5 through a bearing, which not only plays a supporting role, but also does not affect the rotation of the sweeper. The support wheel 6 has no power and can rotate with the translation of the sweeper 5.

[0064] The ground wheel 8 is driven to rotate by the ground wheel motor 7, which adds a propulsion force to the lower part of the sweeper 5, so that the sweeper 5 can move in translation under uniform force. The ground wheel 8 adopts a Mecanum wheel structure, which has two driving force components, upward and forward, during operation, which can reduce the friction force when the sweeper 5 slides down along the warehouse wall, and provide the lower driving force for the sweeper 5 during operation, so as to keep the lower end of the sweeper 5 and the traction robot at the upper end moving synchronously.

[0065] The controller 9 is mounted on the frame structure of the sweeper 5, and can collect the running speed of the traction robot 10 through the data interface, and control the synchronous operation of the ground wheel 8. The controller 9 adopts a standardized interface, bus control, 2 power lines, 2 data lines, and a simple and unified interface.

[0066] The lower end of the universal joint connector 1 is fixed on the connecting plate 2, and the upper end can be fixed on the traction robot 10, and the traction robot 10 drives the traction robot 10 to run and clean along the inner wall 11 of the silo.

[0067] like Figure 4 As shown, the cleaning operation steps implemented by the silo inner wall cleaning device given in this embodiment include:

[0068] S1: Start the cleaning task.

[0069] The central control station (which may be a cloud platform, cloud server, etc. of a port or granary) sends a cleaning task start instruction to the traction robot 10.

[0070] Before starting the cleaning task, the control center can first obtain the image of the inner wall of the silo from the image acquisition module, identify the amount of grain cleaning, that is, the degree of grain accumulation based on the image of the inner wall of the silo, and then calculate the traction speed suitable for the cleaning amount according to the amount of grain cleaning, that is, the driving speed of the traction robot 10. When the cleaning task start instruction is issued to the traction robot, the traction speed is included in the cleaning task start instruction.

[0071] Furthermore, the silo inner wall image can be processed as follows: Figure 5 and Figure 6 The zoning rule shown is implemented, and each partition image Ai corresponds to an operation area Ii of the inner wall of the silo. Then, the area cleaning amount is identified for each partition image, and the corresponding area traction speed is calculated for each partition based on its corresponding area cleaning amount. When the traction robot 10 runs to different areas, it switches to different area traction speeds.

[0072] S2: Obtain the traction speed of the traction robot, and calculate the synchronous speed of the ground wheel based on the traction speed.

[0073] The controller 9 obtains the traction speed (or regional traction speed) and the silo inner wall structure data (including silo vertical surface data and silo conical surface data, etc.) from the traction robot 10, and calculates the synchronous speed of the ground wheel according to the silo inner wall structure and the traction speed (or regional traction speed); when the silo inner wall is a vertical surface, the synchronous speed is the same as the traction speed, and when the silo inner wall is a conical surface, the synchronous speed of the ground wheel 8 is calculated based on the length of the sweeper, the inclination angle of the conical surface and the traction speed (regional traction speed). Specifically, the actual walking path of the ground wheel 8 can be calculated according to the trigonometric formula based on the length of the sweeper and the inclination angle of the conical surface, and the synchronous speed of the ground wheel 8 is calculated according to the difference between the actual walking path of the ground wheel 8 and the driving path of the traction robot 10.

[0074] S3: Control the ground wheel motor to drive the ground wheel at a synchronous speed so that the upper and lower ends of the sweeper are pushed forward synchronously during the sweeping operation.

[0075] The controller 10 controls the ground wheel motor 7 to drive the ground wheel 8 and the traction robot 10 to advance synchronously. During the synchronous advancement, the grain accumulated on the inner wall of the silo being passed is cleaned.

[0076] The part of the present invention that plans the cleaning path can be manually planned or algorithmically planned in combination with the structure and size of the inner wall of the silo. For the part not limited by the present invention, those skilled in the art can implement it according to means in the field. There is no cleaning track on the inner wall 11 of the silo. The traction robot 10 is arranged on the cleaning track using a structure such as a card slot, and performs operations along the cleaning track to plan the cleaning path.

[0077] It should be noted that, in the specific implementation process, the above-mentioned control part can be implemented by a hardware processor executing computer execution instructions in software form stored in the memory, which will not be elaborated here, and the programs corresponding to the actions performed by the above-mentioned control circuit can be stored in the computer-readable storage medium of the system in software form, so that the processor can call and execute the operations corresponding to the above-mentioned modules.

[0078] The computer-readable storage medium mentioned above may include volatile memory, such as random access memory; may also include non-volatile memory, such as read-only memory, flash memory, hard disk or solid-state drive; may also include a combination of the above types of memory.

[0079] The processor mentioned above may also be a general term for multiple processing elements. For example, the processor may be a central processing unit, or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc., or may be a dedicated processor.

[0080] It should be pointed out that the above description is not a limitation of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above examples. Changes, modifications, additions or substitutions made by ordinary technicians in this technical field within the essential scope of the present invention should also fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A silo inner wall cleaning device, comprising a cleaner for cleaning the inner wall of a silo, characterized in that: It also includes a traction robot, a universal joint connector and a ground wheel; The traction robot is used to control the cleaning operation, plan the cleaning path, and traction the cleaner to move along the inner wall of the silo along the cleaning path; The universal joint connector is connected between the sweeper and the traction robot, is controlled by the traction robot, and pulls the sweeper to move along the inner wall of the silo; when the structure of the inner wall of the silo changes, the universal joint connector is used to change the operating angle of the sweeper so that the sweeper fits the inner wall of the silo; The ground wheel, wherein the shaft is connected to the lower end of the sweeper, is rotated by the driving of the ground wheel motor and is used to provide a lower driving force for the sweeper to keep the upper and lower ends of the sweeper advancing synchronously.

2. The silo inner wall cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The device also includes: A connecting plate connected between the universal joint connector and the sweeper; The cleaning motor is fixed on the connecting plate and is used to be controlled by the traction robot to drive the cleaner to rotate.

3. The silo inner wall cleaning device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The device also includes: A reinforcing rod has one end fixed to the connecting plate and the other end connected to the central axis of the ground wheel through a bracket.

4. The silo inner wall cleaning device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The sweeper also includes: The support wheel is fixed on the reinforcing rod through a support bracket and is arranged inside the sweeper.

5. The silo inner wall cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The ground wheel adopts a Mecanum wheel structure.

6. A silo inner wall cleaning method, applied to the silo inner wall cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: include: After receiving the cleaning task start instruction, the traction speed of the traction robot is obtained; Calculating a synchronous speed of the ground wheel based on the traction speed; The ground wheel motor is controlled to drive the ground wheel at the synchronous speed so that the upper and lower ends of the sweeper are synchronously advanced during the sweeping operation.

7. The method for cleaning the inner wall of a silo according to claim 6, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The cleaning task start instruction is sent to the traction robot through a cloud platform or a cloud server; the cleaning task start instruction includes the traction speed, silo inner wall structure data and cleaning path planning data.

8. The silo cleaning method according to claim 7, characterized in that: When calculating the synchronous speed of the ground wheel based on the traction speed, the method comprises: Acquire the silo inner wall parameters; the silo inner wall parameters include silo structure data and cone inclination angle; Determining whether the cleaner is operating on the conical surface of the silo inner wall based on the silo inner wall parameters; When the sweeper operates on a conical surface, the synchronous speed of the ground wheel is calculated based on the sweeper length, the conical surface inclination angle and the traction speed.

9. The method for cleaning the inner wall of a silo according to claim 7, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Collect images of the inner wall of the silo; Identify the amount of grain cleaned based on the image of the silo inner wall; The traction speed is determined according to the amount of grain cleaned.

10. The silo inner wall cleaning method according to claim 9, characterized in that: After collecting the image of the inner wall of the silo, the method includes: Partitioning the silo inner wall image according to a set partitioning rule; The amount of regional cleaning is identified for each partitioned image; For each zone, determining a zone traction speed based on the zone clearing amount; Calculating a regional synchronous speed of the ground wheel based on the regional traction speed; The ground wheel motor is controlled to drive the ground wheel at the regional synchronous speed, so that the upper and lower ends of the sweeper are synchronously advanced during the cleaning operation in the corresponding partition.

Images