Automatic feeding and peeling device for Tongling white ginger

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of ginger processing, and discloses an automatic Tongling white ginger feeding and peeling device which comprises a feeding mechanism and a peeling mechanism, the feeding mechanism comprises a belt conveyor, a quantitative feeding hopper, a recognition assembly, a ginger splitting assembly, a feeding mechanical arm and a clamping feeding assembly, and the clamping feeding assembly comprises conveying belt sets which are spaced up and down; the belt face of one conveying belt set is sleeved with a flexible plate, and a plurality of arc-shaped grooves are formed in the flexible plate at intervals. The peeling mechanism comprises two sets of peeling assemblies, each peeling assembly comprises a rolling brush assembly and a clamping and conveying assembly which are arranged left and right, each clamping and conveying assembly comprises a mounting base, a plurality of clamping assemblies and driving assemblies are arranged on the mounting bases, and the distance between the clamping assemblies is consistent with the distance between the arc-shaped grooves. According to the full-process automatic production line, the full-process automatic production line from quantitative ginger feeding, shape recognition, forking and splitting to orderly feeding, segmented peeling and conveying is constructed, the processing efficiency is improved, and the large-scale production requirement can be met.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of ginger processing technology, and in particular to an automated feeding and peeling device for Tongling white ginger. Background Technology

[0002] Tongling white ginger, a famous geographical indication product in my country and a globally important agricultural cultural heritage recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, enjoys a high reputation in domestic and international markets for its unique qualities of "white skin, tender flesh, no residue and juicy, and rich ginger aroma". It is not only the core pillar industry of the local agricultural economy, but also a treasure of characteristic agricultural products with a history of thousands of years.

[0003] Currently, the peeling of Tongling white ginger still largely relies on traditional processing methods, mainly divided into manual peeling and semi-mechanized peeling. Manual peeling involves operators using knives or abrasive tools to process the ginger. While this method allows for adjustments to the force and angle based on the ginger's shape, reducing ginger loss, it is extremely labor-intensive. Operators are prone to fatigue from repetitive actions, leading to low peeling efficiency and difficulty meeting the demands of large-scale production. Peeling quality is also significantly affected by human factors; varying skill levels and proficiency among operators can result in incomplete peeling and excessive scraping of the ginger flesh, leading to raw material waste.

[0004] To overcome the drawbacks of manual peeling, some companies have begun to experiment with semi-mechanized peeling equipment, such as drum-type peelers and brush-type peelers. These machines use a motor-driven peeling component to create friction between the ginger and the peeling material, thus improving processing efficiency to some extent. However, Tongling white ginger has an irregular shape and many branches, making it prone to stacking and jamming when processed by existing semi-mechanized equipment. This results in some ginger failing to effectively contact the peeling component, leading to poor peeling results and even missed peeling.

[0005] Therefore, developing an automated device that can adapt to the morphological characteristics of Tongling white ginger and achieve precise feeding, efficient splitting, and targeted peeling, in order to solve the bottleneck problems in the existing technology, has become an urgent need to promote the upgrading of the Tongling white ginger industry. Summary of the Invention

[0006] To address the aforementioned problems, this invention provides an automated feeding and peeling device for Tongling white ginger.

[0007] The above-mentioned technical objective of the present invention is achieved through the following technical solution: an automated feeding and peeling device for Tongling white ginger, comprising... The feeding mechanism includes a belt conveyor and a clamping feeding assembly. The belt conveyor is arranged sequentially from front to back as follows: a quantitative feeding hopper, an identification component, a ginger splitting component, and a feeding robot. The quantitative feeding hopper stores ginger and intermittently feeds it onto the belt conveyor in quantitative amounts. The identification component identifies the shape of the ginger. The ginger splitting component breaks the ginger into individual ginger pieces. The feeding robot clamps the split ginger pieces and feeds them into the clamping feeding assembly. The clamping feeding assembly includes two sets of conveyor belts arranged at intervals. One set of conveyor belts has a flexible plate annularly fitted on its surface. The flexible plate is vertically arranged and has several arc-shaped grooves spaced apart on it. The peeling mechanism includes two sets of peeling components arranged front and rear. Each peeling component includes a roller brush assembly arranged left and right and a clamping and conveying assembly. The roller brush assembly includes two sets of peeling roller brushes arranged vertically. The clamping and conveying assembly includes a mounting base that moves horizontally along the conveying direction of the belt conveyor. The mounting base is provided with a plurality of clamping components arranged at intervals along the conveying direction of the belt conveyor and a driving assembly that drives the plurality of clamping components to clamp or release synchronously. The spacing between the clamping components is consistent with the spacing between the arc grooves. The roller brush assembly of the first set of peeling components is arranged on one side of the clamping and feeding assembly. The roller brush assemblies and clamping and conveying assemblies of the front and rear peeling components are arranged crosswise. The control mechanism is used to regulate the entire working process and control the movement of each moving part within each mechanism.

[0008] Furthermore, the identification component includes a first gantry frame mounted on the belt conveyor and an identification camera mounted on the first gantry frame. The ginger splitting component includes a second gantry frame mounted on the belt conveyor and several splitting manipulators mounted on the second gantry frame. The identification camera is used to capture images of ginger and transmit them to the control mechanism. After analysis, the control mechanism generates work instructions to control the actions of the several splitting manipulators to split the ginger.

[0009] Furthermore, the clamping and feeding assembly includes a cabinet located at the end of the belt conveyor, a top plate on the cabinet, and two lifting cylinders spaced apart on the top plate. The piston rods of the lifting cylinders point downward and pass through the top plate. The conveyor belt assembly includes a conveyor support, conveyor rollers located at both ends of the conveyor support, a conveyor belt connecting the two conveyor rollers, and a drive motor for driving one of the conveyor rollers to rotate. The conveyor support of the lower conveyor belt assembly is fixedly mounted on the cabinet, and the conveyor support of the upper conveyor belt assembly is connected to the ends of the piston rods of the two lifting cylinders.

[0010] Furthermore, the roller brush assembly includes a fixed bracket, on which two rotating rollers are rotatably mounted. The length direction of the rotating rollers is consistent with the conveying direction of the belt conveyor. A rotating motor for driving the rotating rollers is mounted on the fixed bracket at the end of the rotating rollers. Two sets of peeling roller brushes are respectively mounted on the upper and lower rotating rollers, and the bristle length of the peeling roller brushes gradually increases from front to back.

[0011] Furthermore, the fixed bracket is provided with a mounting frame, and the mounting frame is provided with a flushing water pipe with one end connected to the water pump and the water tank and the other end sealed. The flushing water pipe is provided with several high-pressure nozzles that communicate with the pipe cavity. The high-pressure nozzles are located on the side of the peeling roller brush near the clamping and conveying assembly and the nozzles face downwards.

[0012] Furthermore, a mounting box is provided on the side of the mounting base near the roller brush assembly. Several support rods are arranged at intervals along the conveying direction of the belt conveyor on the side of the mounting box near the roller brush assembly. The cross-section of the support rod is Y-shaped. The number of clamping components is the same as the number of support rods and corresponds one-to-one. Each clamping component includes three clamping arms corresponding to the three protruding edges of the support rods. Two connecting rods are provided between the clamping arms and the corresponding protruding edges of the support rods. The two ends of the two connecting rods are rotatably connected to the clamping arms and the support rods, respectively, to form a parallelogram linkage mechanism. A drive plate is slidably sleeved on the support rods. Three drive rods are provided on the drive plate corresponding to the three protruding edges of the support rods. One end of each drive rod is rotatably connected to the drive plate, and the other end is rotatably connected to the middle of one of the connecting rods in the parallelogram linkage mechanism at the corresponding protruding edge.

[0013] Furthermore, the drive assembly includes a fixed base and a clamping cylinder disposed on the top of the mounting box. The fixed base is arranged at intervals along the conveying direction of the belt conveyor and corresponds one-to-one with the drive plate. The cylinder body of the clamping cylinder is fixed on the fixed base, and the piston rod end is connected to the corresponding drive plate. A manifold is disposed on the mounting base, and an air supply assembly is disposed at the bottom of the mounting base. The air supply assembly is connected to the manifold through an air pipe. The manifold is provided with several air outlets and is connected to the air outlets of the clamping cylinders through air pipes. The air supply assembly supplies air to each clamping cylinder through the manifold to drive the drive plate to slide on the support rod.

[0014] Furthermore, the mounting box contains several rotating shafts with their core directions perpendicular to the conveying direction of the belt conveyor. The number of rotating shafts is the same as the number of support rods, and one end of the rotating shaft passes through the mounting box and is fixedly connected to the support rod near the roller brush assembly. The drive plate has a circular outer circumference and is fitted with an annular plate. The drive plate is rotatably connected to the annular plate, and the annular plate is fixedly connected to the piston rod end of the clamping cylinder. A rotating gear is provided on the shaft of the rotating shaft located in the mounting box. A rack is slidably arranged in the mounting box, and the rack meshes with the rotating gears on all the rotating shafts. One of the rotating shafts has a through hole concentrically opened. A sliding rod is axially slidably arranged in the through hole. A spiral groove is opened on the outer wall of the sliding rod. A spiral protrusion that cooperates with the spiral groove is provided on the inner wall of the through hole. The clamping and conveying assembly also includes a guide plate arranged along the conveying direction of the belt conveyor. A guide groove is opened along the length of the guide plate. The guide groove includes a wavy groove and straight grooves located at both ends of the wavy groove. A guide rod is provided at the end of the sliding rod away from the rotating shaft. The guide rod is slidably engaged with the guide groove.

[0015] Furthermore, the mounting box is provided with a guide rod on one side of the sliding rod, and a guide plate is slidably provided on the guide rod. The end of the guide plate away from the guide rod is fixedly connected to the sliding rod, and a limiting circular plate is fixedly provided on the rod body located on the upper and lower sides of the guide plate.

[0016] Furthermore, the clamping and conveying assembly includes a support base, on which a support plate is provided. A connecting plate is provided between the support plate and the mounting base. Two first connecting rods are provided between the support plate and the connecting plate, and two second connecting rods are provided between the connecting plate and the mounting base. Both ends of the first and second connecting rods have downwardly protruding convex shafts. The support plate, the connecting plate, and the mounting base are all provided with corresponding connecting holes. The convex shafts at both ends of the two first connecting rods are rotatably connected to the corresponding connecting holes on the support plate and the connecting plate to form a parallelogram linkage mechanism. The convex shafts at both ends of the two second connecting rods are rotatably connected to the corresponding connecting holes on the connecting plate and the mounting base to form a parallelogram linkage mechanism. The convex shafts at the connecting plate ends of the inner first and second connecting rods pass downward through the connecting plate and are fixedly provided with drive gears. The two drive gears mesh. The support base is also provided with a drive cylinder. The cylinder body end of the drive cylinder is hinged to the support base, and the piston rod end is hinged to the middle of the outer first connecting rod.

[0017] In summary, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: 1. In this application, a feeding mechanism, a peeling mechanism, and a control mechanism are set up to construct a fully automated production line from quantitative feeding of ginger, shape recognition, branching and splitting, to orderly feeding, segmented peeling and conveying. This completely eliminates the dependence on manual operation, greatly improves processing efficiency, and can meet the needs of large-scale production.

[0018] 2. In this application, an identification component and a ginger splitting component are set up. After the identification camera takes a picture of the ginger, it is transmitted to the control mechanism. The control mechanism accurately locates the fork position through image analysis and drives the splitting robot to break the fork into independent ginger pieces, so as to avoid incomplete peeling or damage to the ginger pieces due to the fork during the subsequent peeling process. Two sets of peeling components are set up, and the roller brush component and the clamping and conveying component in the two sets are arranged crosswise, so as to peel both ends of the ginger pieces separately, ensuring the peeling effect.

[0019] 3. In this application, a mounting base, mounting box, Y-shaped support rod, clamping arm, connecting rod, drive plate, drive rod, and clamping cylinder are provided. Two connecting rods are rotatably connected to the clamping arm and support rod to form a parallelogram linkage mechanism. The drive plate slides on the Y-shaped support rod to drive the drive rod to move, which in turn drives the parallelogram linkage mechanism to deform, thereby causing the three clamping arms to separate or close synchronously, realizing the clamping and releasing of the ginger piece. Furthermore, the manifold and air supply assembly supply air to several clamping cylinders in a unified manner, so that each clamping component maintains the same clamping force. This not only controls the simultaneous action of each clamping component, but also allows each clamping component to adaptively clamp the ginger piece, ensuring stable clamping.

[0020] 4. In this application, a rotating shaft, rotating gear, rack, sliding rod, guide plate, guide groove, and annular plate are provided. During the horizontal movement of each clamping component driven by the mounting base, the sliding rod is driven to slide by the wavy groove in the guide groove. Then, the spiral groove on the sliding rod is driven to rotate by the spiral protrusion in the through hole of the rotating shaft. This causes the clamping components to rotate the ginger piece, so that the ginger piece rotates during the horizontal movement of the clamping components. This allows for better cooperation with the peeling roller brush, enabling all-round peeling and ensuring the peeling effect. Attached Figure Description

[0021] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the belt conveyor and its components according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the clamping and feeding assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the peeling mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the peeling component according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the clamping and conveying assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 7 This is a structural schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present invention to highlight the first connecting rod and the second connecting rod. Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the mounting box, clamping assembly, and driving assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 9 This is a structural diagram illustrating the internal structure of the mounting box and the sliding rod portion in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the clamping component according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] In the diagram: 10. Belt conveyor; 11. Quantitative feeding hopper; 12. Identification component; 121. First gantry frame; 122. Identification camera; 13. Ginger splitting component; 131. Second gantry frame; 132. Splitting robot; 14. Feeding robot; 20. Clamping and feeding component; 21. Conveyor belt assembly; 211. Conveyor support; 212. Conveyor roller; 213. Conveyor belt; 22. Flexible board; 23. Arc groove; 24. Cabinet; 25. Top plate; 26. Lifting cylinder; 30. Roller brush assembly; 31. Peeling roller brush; 32. Fixed support; 33. Rotating roller; 34. Rotating motor; 35. Mounting frame; 36. Flushing water pipe; 37. High-pressure nozzle; 40. Clamping and conveying component; 41. Mounting base; 42. Clamping component; 4 21. Clamping arm; 422. Connecting rod; 423. Drive plate; 424. Drive rod; 425. Annular plate; 43. Drive assembly; 431. Fixed seat; 432. Clamping cylinder; 433. Manifold; 434. Air supply assembly; 44. Mounting box; 441. Rotating shaft; 442. Rotating gear; 443. Rack; 444. Through hole; 445. Sliding rod; 446. Guide rod; 447. Guide rod; 448. Guide plate; 449. Limiting circular plate; 45. Support rod; 46. Guide plate; 461. Wavy groove; 462. Straight groove; 47. Support seat; 471. Support plate; 48. Connecting plate; 481. First connecting rod; 482. Second connecting rod; 483. Protruding shaft; 484. Drive gear; 49. Drive cylinder. Detailed Implementation

[0023] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of this application without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0024] like Figure 1-10 As shown in the illustration, this application discloses an automated feeding and peeling device for Tongling white ginger, including a feeding mechanism, a peeling mechanism, and a control mechanism. The feeding mechanism is used for storing and feeding ginger and forking it to facilitate subsequent peeling operations. The peeling mechanism is used for peeling the split ginger pieces. The control mechanism is used for regulating the entire working process and controlling the movements of each moving part within each mechanism.

[0025] Specifically, the feeding mechanism includes a belt conveyor 10 and a clamping feeding assembly 20. The belt conveyor 10 is arranged from front to back with a quantitative feeding hopper 11, an identification assembly 12, a ginger splitting assembly 13, and a feeding robot 14. The belt conveyor 10 is a conventional industrial belt conveyor 10, arranged in a horizontal direction, for conveying ginger. Its belt width can be designed according to the maximum diameter of Tongling white ginger, and the conveying speed can be adjusted by the control mechanism.

[0026] The quantitative feeding hopper 11 is used to store ginger and intermittently feed the ginger into the belt conveyor 10. It is equipped with an electromagnetic vibrating feeder and a quantitative gate at its bottom. The vibration frequency of the electromagnetic vibrating feeder and the opening and closing degree of the quantitative gate are controlled by the control mechanism to realize intermittent quantitative feeding, avoid ginger accumulation on the belt, and ensure the accuracy of subsequent identification and separation.

[0027] The identification component 12 is used to identify the shape of ginger, including a first gantry 121 mounted on the belt conveyor 10 and an identification camera 122 mounted on the first gantry 121. The first gantry 121 spans both sides of the belt conveyor 10. The identification camera 122 is an industrial CCD camera, fixed below the crossbeam of the first gantry 121, with its lens facing the belt surface of the belt conveyor 10, and its shooting range covering the entire width of the belt. The identification camera 122 is connected to the image acquisition card of the control mechanism, capturing images of the ginger on the belt in real time and transmitting them to the control mechanism. The control mechanism has a built-in image recognition algorithm that accurately identifies the outline, size, and branching position of the ginger through grayscale processing, edge detection, and other operations.

[0028] The ginger splitting assembly 13 is used to break apart the forked branches of ginger to form individual ginger pieces. It includes a second gantry frame 131 mounted on the belt conveyor 10 and several splitting manipulators 132 mounted on the second gantry frame 131. The second gantry frame 131 spans both sides of the belt conveyor 10. Each splitting manipulator 132 uses 3-5 pneumatic grippers, evenly arranged along the width of the belt on the crossbeam of the second gantry frame 131. The opening and closing degree of each gripper can be independently adjusted. When the control mechanism detects the forked position of the ginger, it generates a splitting command, controlling the manipulators 132 to split the ginger. One manipulator 132 precisely grips the main stem of the ginger, while the other manipulators 132 grip the forked branches and move in the opposite direction to break them apart, forming individual ginger pieces. For ginger without obvious forking, the control mechanism does not issue a splitting command, the manipulators 132 do not move, and the ginger pieces directly enter the next stage.

[0029] The feeding robot 14 grips and feeds the separated ginger pieces into the clamping and feeding assembly 20. This multi-degree-of-freedom pneumatic robot is mounted on a side bracket at the end of the belt conveyor 10, with its working range covering the area from the end of the belt conveyor 10 to the feed end of the clamping and feeding assembly 20. The robot's grippers are made of flexible rubber to avoid damaging the ginger pieces. Based on the ginger piece position information transmitted by the control mechanism, it precisely grips the separated individual ginger pieces and transfers them into the clamping and feeding assembly 20.

[0030] The clamping and feeding assembly 20 is located at the end of the belt conveyor 10 and connects to the peeling mechanism. It includes a cabinet 24, a top plate 25, a lifting cylinder 26, and two sets of conveyor belts 213. The cabinet 24, located at the end of the belt conveyor 10, has a frame structure and provides installation support. The two sets of conveyor belts 213 are identical in structure and are arranged vertically at intervals. Each set of conveyor belts 213 includes a conveyor support 211, conveyor rollers 212 at both ends of the conveyor support 211, a conveyor belt 213 connecting the two conveyor rollers 212, and a drive motor that drives one of the conveyor rollers 212 to rotate. The drive motor drives one of the conveyor rollers 212 to rotate, thereby moving the conveyor belt 213 and achieving horizontal conveying. A top plate 25 is mounted on top of the cabinet 24. Two lifting cylinders 26 are spaced apart on the top plate 25. The piston rods of the lifting cylinders 26 point downwards and pass through the top plate 25. The conveyor brackets 211 of the upper conveyor belt group 213 21 are connected to the ends of the piston rods of the two lifting cylinders 26. The conveyor brackets 211 of the lower conveyor belt group 213 21 are fixedly mounted on the cabinet 24. The height of the upper conveyor belt group 213 21 is adjusted by extending and retracting the lifting cylinders 26, thereby adjusting the distance between the upper and lower conveyor belts 213 to accommodate ginger pieces of different sizes. A flexible plate 22, made of food-grade silicone, is annularly fitted onto the surface of one of the conveyor belt groups 213 21. The flexible plate 22 is vertically arranged and has several arc-shaped grooves 23 spaced apart along the conveying direction. The arc-shaped grooves 23 cooperate with the conveyor belt 213 on the other side to form a clamping space that fits the shape of the ginger piece. On the one hand, it prevents the ginger piece from sliding during the conveying process, and on the other hand, it can be used to hold the ginger piece, so that the ginger piece is arranged at intervals on the conveyor belt 213 and conveyed forward, so as to be clamped by the subsequent peeling component.

[0031] The peeling mechanism includes two sets of peeling components arranged in front and behind. Each peeling component includes a roller brush assembly 30 and a clamping and conveying assembly 40 arranged in the left and right. The roller brush assembly 30 of the first set of peeling components is arranged on one side of the clamping and feeding assembly 20. The roller brush assembly 30 and the clamping and conveying assembly 40 of the front and rear peeling components are arranged crosswise to form a cross-processing structure, which processes both sides of the ginger piece to ensure that it is peeled cleanly.

[0032] The roller brush assembly 30 includes a fixed bracket 32 ​​and a peeling roller brush 31. Two rotating rollers 33 are rotatably mounted on the fixed bracket 32, with the length direction of the rollers 33 aligned with the conveying direction of the belt conveyor 10. The peeling roller brush 31 is arranged in two sets, one on each of the upper and lower rotating rollers 33. A rotating motor 34 is mounted on the fixed bracket 32 ​​at the end of each rotating roller 33 to drive its rotation. The rotating motor 34 drives the rotating rollers 33 to rotate, causing the peeling roller brush 31 to rub against the ginger and scrape off the ginger's skin. Considering the thin skin and tender flesh of Tongling white ginger, the bristles of the peeling roller brush 31 gradually increase in length from front to back. This allows the ginger to gradually come into contact with the bristles as it moves forward, quickly removing the dirt and most of the loose skin from the ginger's surface, completing the initial cleaning and peeling. Then, it further penetrates the surface texture and fine depressions of the ginger to finely polish any remaining skin, ensuring even and thorough peeling.

[0033] A mounting bracket 35 is also provided on the fixed support 32. The mounting bracket 35 has a flushing water pipe 36 with one end connected to the water pump and water tank and the other end sealed. Several high-pressure nozzles 37, communicating with the pipe cavity, are installed on the pipe wall of the flushing water pipe 36. The high-pressure nozzles 37 are located on the side of the peeling roller brush 31 near the clamping and conveying assembly 40, with the nozzles facing downwards. During the peeling process, water is continuously sprayed through the high-pressure nozzles 37. This serves two purposes: firstly, to wash away the skin flakes and dirt on the surface of the ginger pieces, preventing them from adhering to the surface and affecting the peeling effect; secondly, to clean the peeling roller brush 31, preventing skin flakes from tangling on the bristles and extending the service life of the roller brush.

[0034] The clamping and conveying assembly 40 includes a mounting base 41 that moves horizontally along the conveying direction of the belt conveyor 10. The mounting base 41 is provided with a plurality of clamping components 42 arranged at intervals along the conveying direction of the belt conveyor 10, and a driving assembly 43 that drives the plurality of clamping components 42 to clamp or release synchronously. The spacing between the clamping components 42 is consistent with the spacing between the arc grooves 23. It is used to clamp the ginger pieces on the support of the upper and lower conveying belt 213 of the feeding assembly 20, so as to realize the stable clamping and horizontal conveying of the ginger pieces, and cooperate with the roller brush assembly 30 to complete the peeling work.

[0035] The clamping and conveying assembly 40 also includes a support base 47, on which a support plate 471 is provided. A connecting plate 48 is provided between the support plate 471 and the mounting base 41. Two first connecting rods 481 are provided between the support plate 471 and the connecting plate 48, and two second connecting rods 482 are provided between the connecting plate 48 and the mounting base 41. Both ends of the first connecting rods 481 and the second connecting rods 482 are provided with downwardly protruding convex shafts 483. The support plate 471, the connecting plate 48, and the mounting base 41 are all provided with corresponding connecting holes. The convex shafts 483 at both ends of the two first connecting rods 481 are rotatably connected to the corresponding connecting holes on the support plate 471 and the connecting plate 48, respectively, to form a parallelogram linkage 422 mechanism. The convex shafts 483 at both ends of the two second connecting rods 482 are rotatably connected to the corresponding connecting holes on the connecting plate 48 and the mounting base 41, respectively, to form a parallelogram linkage 422 mechanism, thus constituting a two-stage parallelogram linkage 422 mechanism. The first connecting rod 481 and the second connecting rod 482, located on the inner side, have a convex shaft 483 at the connection end with the connecting plate 48, which passes downward through the connecting plate 48 and is fixedly mounted with a drive gear 484. The two drive gears 484 mesh to ensure the synchronous movement of the two-stage parallelogram linkage 422 mechanism. A drive cylinder 49 is then mounted on the support base 47. The cylinder body of the drive cylinder 49 is hinged to the support base 47, and the piston rod end is hinged to the middle of the first connecting rod 481 located on the outer side. The drive cylinder 49 drives the first connecting rod 481 to move, and under the synchronous movement of the two-stage parallelogram linkage 422 mechanism, it drives the mounting base 41 to move smoothly in the horizontal direction.

[0036] A mounting box 44 is provided on the side of the mounting base 41 adjacent to the roller brush assembly 30. Several support rods 45 are arranged at intervals along the conveying direction of the belt conveyor 10 on the side of the mounting box 44 adjacent to the roller brush assembly 30. The cross-section of each support rod 45 is Y-shaped. The number of clamping components 42 corresponds to the number of support rods 45. Each clamping component 42 includes three clamping arms 421 corresponding to the three protruding edges of the support rods 45. The design of the three clamping arms 421 can accommodate individual ginger pieces of different shapes, ensuring clamping stability and positioning accuracy during the peeling process. The clamping ends of the clamping arms 421 are elongated to accommodate ginger pieces of different lengths. A flexible rubber pad is provided on the inner side of the clamping arms 421 to provide cushioning during clamping and prevent damage to the ginger pieces.

[0037] Two connecting rods 422 are provided between the clamping arm 421 and the corresponding convex edge of the support rod 45. The two ends of the two connecting rods 422 are rotatably connected to the clamping arm 421 and the support rod 45 respectively to form a parallelogram connecting rod 422 mechanism. In this way, the clamping arm 421 can be driven to move by driving one of the connecting rods 422, thereby realizing the opening and closing of the three clamping arms 421. A drive plate 423 is slidably sleeved on the support rod 45. Three drive rods 424 are provided on the drive plate 423 corresponding to the three convex edges of the support rod 45. One end of the drive rod 424 is rotatably connected to the drive plate 423, and the other end is rotatably connected to the middle of one of the connecting rods 422 in the parallelogram connecting rod 422 mechanism at the corresponding convex edge. In this way, the three drive rods 424 can be driven to move by driving the drive plate 423 to slide on the support rod 45, thereby driving the three clamping arms 421 to move and realize the opening and closing.

[0038] The drive assembly 43 includes a fixed base 431 and a clamping cylinder 432 disposed on the top of the mounting box 44. The fixed base 431 is arranged at intervals along the conveying direction of the belt conveyor 10 and corresponds one-to-one with the drive plate 423. The cylinder body of the clamping cylinder 432 is fixed on the fixed base 431, and the piston rod end is connected to the corresponding drive plate 423, thereby driving the drive plate 423 to slide on the support rod 45 through the clamping cylinder 432. The mounting base 41 is equipped with a manifold 433, and the bottom of the mounting base 41 is equipped with an air supply assembly 434, which includes an air compressor and a solenoid valve. The air supply assembly 434 and the manifold 433 are connected by an air pipe. The manifold 433 is provided with several air outlets, which are connected to the air outlets of each clamping cylinder 432 through air pipes. The solenoid valve is controlled by a control mechanism to achieve centralized air supply from the air supply assembly 434 to each clamping cylinder 432 through the manifold 433 to drive the drive plate 423 to slide on the support rod 45. By centrally supplying air to each clamping cylinder 432 through the air supply assembly 434 and the manifold 433, the air pressure of multiple sets of clamping cylinders 432 can be kept consistent. Combined with the parallelogram linkage 422 mechanism between the support rod 45 and the clamping arm 421, adaptive clamping force adjustment can be achieved for Tongling white ginger pieces of different shapes and sizes, which not only ensures clamping stability but also avoids damage to the ginger pieces.

[0039] The mounting box 44 also contains several rotating shafts 441 whose core direction is perpendicular to the conveying direction of the belt conveyor 10. The number of rotating shafts 441 is the same as the number of support rods 45, and one end of the shaft 441 passes through the mounting box 44 and is fixedly connected to the support rod 45. Thus, the rotating shafts 441 can drive the support rods 45 to rotate synchronously, thereby realizing the rotation of the clamping component 42. This allows the ginger pieces to be flipped synchronously when they come into contact with the peeling roller brush 31, ensuring all-round peeling. The drive plate 423 has a circular outer periphery and is fitted with an annular plate 425. The drive plate 423 and the annular plate 425 are rotatably connected. The annular plate 425 is fixedly connected to the piston rod end of the clamping cylinder 432. In this way, the clamping cylinder 432 can drive the drive plate 423 to slide on the support rod 45 by driving the annular plate 425 to move horizontally, thereby realizing the opening and closing of the clamping arm 421. When the rotating shaft 441 drives the support rod 45 to rotate, the drive plate 423 can rotate synchronously with the support rod 45, while the annular plate 425 remains fixed. In this way, the drive plate 423 can realize both horizontal sliding and rotational actions without interfering with each other.

[0040] A rotating gear 442 is installed on the shaft of the rotating shaft 441 located inside the mounting box 44. A rack 443 is slidably installed inside the mounting box 44, and the rack 443 meshes with the rotating gears 442 on all the rotating shafts 441. By sliding the rack 443 inside the mounting box 44, all the rotating gears 442 can be driven to rotate, thereby mobilizing all the rotating shafts 441 to rotate and realizing the rotation of all the clamping components 42. A through hole 444 is concentrically opened in one of the rotating shafts 441. A sliding rod 445 is axially slidably installed in the through hole 444. A spiral groove is opened on the outer wall of the sliding rod 445, and a spiral protrusion that cooperates with the spiral groove is provided on the inner wall of the through hole 444. Through the cooperation of the spiral groove and the spiral protrusion, when the sliding rod 445 slides in the through hole 444, it can drive the rotating shaft 441 to rotate.

[0041] The clamping and conveying assembly 40 also includes a guide plate 46 arranged along the conveying direction of the belt conveyor 10. A guide groove is formed on the guide plate 46 along its length. The guide groove includes a wavy groove 461 and straight grooves 462 located at both ends of the wavy groove 461. A guide rod 446 is provided at the end of the sliding rod 445 away from the rotating shaft 441, and the guide rod 446 slides in conjunction with the guide groove. When the guide rod 446 on the sliding rod 445 moves within the straight groove 462, the sliding rod 445 does not move axially in the through hole 444, thus preventing the rotating shaft 441 from rotating. When the guide rod 446 on the sliding rod 445 moves within the wavy groove 461, the guide rod 446 carries the sliding rod 445 along with the wavy groove 461, causing the sliding rod 445 to reciprocate axially in the through hole 444. With the cooperation of the spiral groove and the spiral protrusion, the corresponding rotating shaft 441 is driven to rotate reciprocally, which in turn drives the support rod 45 fixed to the rotating shaft 441 and its clamping assembly 42 to rotate, and drives the rack 443 in the mounting box 44 to reciprocate, driving the other rotating gears 442 and the rotating shaft 441 to rotate reciprocally, so that all the clamping assemblies 42 clamp the ginger pieces and flip them back and forth, peeling the ginger pieces from all directions.

[0042] To improve the stability of the sliding rod 445's movement, a guide rod 447 is provided on the side of the mounting box 44 corresponding to the sliding rod 445. A guide plate 448 is slidably mounted on the guide rod 447. The end of the guide plate 448 away from the guide rod 447 is fixedly connected to the sliding rod 445. The guide rod 447 and the guide plate 448 limit and guide the sliding rod 445, ensuring the sliding stability of the sliding rod 445. Limiting circular plates 449 are fixedly installed on the rod body of the guide rod 446 located on the upper and lower sides of the guide plate 46 to prevent the guide rod 446 from falling out of the guide groove.

[0043] The peeling mechanism also includes a scrap collection trough and a finished product collection trough located below the two sets of peeling components. The scrap collection trough has a U-shaped structure and extends along the arrangement direction of the two sets of peeling components, covering the entire working area of ​​the roller brush assembly 30. The side walls of the trough are inclined and covered with smooth stainless steel plates. A water tank with a stainless steel grid plate is installed at the bottom of the trough, allowing scraps and rinsing wastewater to enter the water tank through the stainless steel grid plate. Accidentally detached ginger pieces are blocked by the stainless steel grid plate. A filter box is also installed at the outlet of the water tank to collect scraps and filter out rinsing wastewater, achieving efficient collection of scraps and centralized treatment of wastewater. The finished product collection trough is located behind the roller brush assembly 30 of the second set of peeling components. After the clamping and conveying assembly 40 of the second set of peeling components has clamped all the ginger pieces through the roller brush assembly 30, the clamping assembly 42 releases the ginger pieces, allowing them to fall into the finished product collection trough, thus collecting the peeled finished product. The finished product collection trough can be a movable structure, which can be removed when full and replaced with an empty one. Alternatively, a discharge port can be provided on the finished product collection trough, and it can be connected to the next process via a belt conveyor 10 or other conveying components.

[0044] The core workflow of the automated feeding and peeling device for Tongling white ginger in this embodiment is as follows: quantitative feeding → shape recognition → branching and splitting → robotic arm feeding → clamping and conveying → segmented peeling → finished product output. Each link is precisely connected through the control mechanism to ensure continuous production.

[0045] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. All technical solutions falling within the scope of the present invention's concept are within the scope of protection of the present invention. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, any improvements and modifications made without departing from the principles of the present invention should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automated feeding and peeling device for Tongling white ginger, characterized in that: include The feeding mechanism includes a belt conveyor and a clamping feeding assembly. The belt conveyor is arranged sequentially from front to back as follows: a quantitative feeding hopper, an identification component, a ginger splitting component, and a feeding robot. The quantitative feeding hopper stores ginger and intermittently feeds it onto the belt conveyor in quantitative amounts. The identification component identifies the shape of the ginger. The ginger splitting component breaks the ginger into individual ginger pieces. The feeding robot clamps the split ginger pieces and feeds them into the clamping feeding assembly. The clamping feeding assembly includes two sets of conveyor belts arranged at intervals. One set of conveyor belts has a flexible plate annularly fitted on its surface. The flexible plate is vertically arranged and has several arc-shaped grooves spaced apart on it. The peeling mechanism includes two sets of peeling components arranged front and rear. Each peeling component includes a roller brush assembly arranged left and right and a clamping and conveying assembly. The roller brush assembly includes two sets of peeling roller brushes arranged vertically. The clamping and conveying assembly includes a mounting base that moves horizontally along the conveying direction of the belt conveyor. The mounting base is provided with a plurality of clamping components arranged at intervals along the conveying direction of the belt conveyor and a driving assembly that drives the plurality of clamping components to clamp or release synchronously. The spacing between the clamping components is consistent with the spacing between the arc grooves. The roller brush assembly of the first set of peeling components is arranged on one side of the clamping and feeding assembly. The roller brush assemblies and clamping and conveying assemblies of the front and rear peeling components are arranged crosswise. The control mechanism is used to regulate the entire working process and control the movement of each moving part within each mechanism.

2. The automated feeding and peeling device for Tongling white ginger according to claim 1, characterized in that: The identification component includes a first gantry frame mounted on the belt conveyor and an identification camera mounted on the first gantry frame. The ginger splitting component includes a second gantry frame mounted on the belt conveyor and several splitting manipulators mounted on the second gantry frame. The identification camera is used to capture images of ginger and transmit them to the control mechanism. After analysis, the control mechanism generates work instructions to control the actions of the several splitting manipulators to split the ginger.

3. The automated feeding and peeling device for Tongling white ginger according to claim 1, characterized in that: The clamping and feeding assembly includes a cabinet located at the end of the belt conveyor. The cabinet has a top plate with two lifting cylinders spaced apart on it. The piston rods of the lifting cylinders point downward and pass through the top plate. The conveyor belt assembly includes a conveyor support, conveyor rollers located at both ends of the conveyor support, a conveyor belt connecting the two conveyor rollers, and a drive motor for driving one of the conveyor rollers to rotate. The conveyor support of the lower conveyor belt assembly is fixedly mounted on the cabinet, and the conveyor support of the upper conveyor belt assembly is connected to the ends of the piston rods of the two lifting cylinders.

4. The automated feeding and peeling device for Tongling white ginger according to claim 1, characterized in that: The roller brush assembly includes a fixed bracket, on which two rotating rollers are rotatably mounted. The length direction of the rotating rollers is consistent with the conveying direction of the belt conveyor. A rotating motor for driving the rotating rollers is mounted on the fixed bracket at the end of the rotating rollers. Two sets of peeling roller brushes are respectively mounted on the upper and lower rotating rollers, and the bristle length of the peeling roller brushes gradually increases from front to back.

5. The automated feeding and peeling device for Tongling white ginger according to claim 4, characterized in that: The fixed bracket is equipped with a mounting frame, and the mounting frame is equipped with a flushing water pipe with one end connected to the water pump and water tank and the other end sealed. Several high-pressure nozzles communicating with the pipe cavity are provided on the pipe wall of the flushing water pipe. The high-pressure nozzles are located on the side of the peeling roller brush near the clamping and conveying assembly and the nozzles face downwards.

6. The automated feeding and peeling device for Tongling white ginger according to claim 1, characterized in that: A mounting box is provided on the side of the mounting base near the roller brush assembly. Several support rods are arranged at intervals along the conveyor direction of the belt conveyor on the side of the mounting box near the roller brush assembly. The cross-section of the support rod is Y-shaped. The number of clamping components is the same as the number of support rods and corresponds one-to-one. Each clamping component includes three clamping arms corresponding to the three protruding edges of the support rods. Two connecting rods are provided between the clamping arms and the corresponding protruding edges of the support rods. The two ends of the two connecting rods are rotatably connected to the clamping arms and the support rods, respectively, to form a parallelogram linkage mechanism. A drive plate is slidably sleeved on the support rods. Three drive rods are provided on the drive plate corresponding to the three protruding edges of the support rods. One end of each drive rod is rotatably connected to the drive plate, and the other end is rotatably connected to the middle of one of the connecting rods in the parallelogram linkage mechanism at the corresponding protruding edge.

7. The automated feeding and peeling device for Tongling white ginger according to claim 6, characterized in that: The drive assembly includes a fixed base and a clamping cylinder mounted on the top of the mounting box. The fixed bases are arranged at intervals along the conveying direction of the belt conveyor and correspond one-to-one with the drive plates. The cylinder body of the clamping cylinder is fixed on the fixed base, and the piston rod end is connected to the corresponding drive plate. A manifold is provided on the mounting base, and an air supply assembly is provided at the bottom of the mounting base. The air supply assembly is connected to the manifold through an air pipe. The manifold has several air outlets and is connected to the air outlets of the clamping cylinders through air pipes. The air supply assembly supplies air to each clamping cylinder through the manifold to drive the drive plate to slide on the support rod.

8. The automated feeding and peeling device for Tongling white ginger according to claim 7, characterized in that: The mounting box contains several rotating shafts with their core direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the belt conveyor. The number of rotating shafts is the same as the number of support rods, and one end of each shaft passes through the mounting box and is fixedly connected to the support rod near the roller brush assembly. The drive plate is circular on its outer periphery and fitted with an annular plate. The drive plate is rotatably connected to the annular plate, and the annular plate is fixedly connected to the piston rod end of the clamping cylinder. A rotating gear is mounted on the shaft of each rotating shaft located inside the mounting box. A rack is slidably mounted inside the mounting box, and the rack meshes with the rotating gears on all rotating shafts. One of the rotating shafts has a through hole coaxially formed. A sliding rod is axially slidably mounted inside the through hole. A spiral groove is formed on the outer wall of the sliding rod, and a spiral protrusion that mates with the spiral groove is formed on the inner wall of the through hole. The clamping and conveying assembly also includes a guide plate arranged along the conveying direction of the belt conveyor. A guide groove is formed along the length of the guide plate. The guide groove includes a wavy groove and straight grooves at both ends of the wavy groove. A guide rod is mounted on the end of the sliding rod away from the rotating shaft, and the guide rod slidably engages with the guide groove.

9. The automated feeding and peeling device for Tongling white ginger according to claim 8, characterized in that: The mounting box is provided with a guide rod on one side of the sliding rod, and a guide plate is slidably mounted on the guide rod. The end of the guide plate away from the guide rod is fixedly connected to the sliding rod, and a limit plate is fixedly mounted on the rod body located on the upper and lower sides of the guide plate.

10. The automated feeding and peeling device for Tongling white ginger according to claim 1, characterized in that: The clamping and conveying assembly includes a support base, on which a support plate is mounted. A connecting plate is provided between the support plate and a mounting base. Two first connecting rods are provided between the support plate and the connecting plate, and two second connecting rods are provided between the connecting plate and the mounting base. Both ends of the first and second connecting rods have downwardly protruding convex shafts. The support plate, connecting plate, and mounting base all have corresponding connecting holes. The convex shafts at both ends of the two first connecting rods are rotatably connected to the corresponding connecting holes on the support plate and the connecting plate, respectively, forming a parallelogram linkage mechanism. The convex shafts at both ends of the two second connecting rods are rotatably connected to the corresponding connecting holes on the connecting plate and the mounting base, respectively, forming a parallelogram linkage mechanism. The convex shafts at the connecting plate ends of the inner first and second connecting rods pass downward through the connecting plate and are fixedly mounted with drive gears. The two drive gears mesh. The support base also has a drive cylinder. The cylinder body end of the drive cylinder is hinged to the support base, and the piston rod end is hinged to the middle of the outer first connecting rod.

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