Robot system and method for cathode stripping in electrometallurgical and industrial processes

Abstract

At present, the cathode stripping process as it is carried out today presents the disadvantage of being carried out manually or through equipment specially designed for this task, but inevitably it requires human intervention whether for stripping or classification. Due to the above a robot system has been developed to automate the process of cathode stripping process. The robotic system is composed mainly of a robotic manipulator (1) of at least 5 degrees of freedom, and a gripping mechanism (2) which allows to take a cathode, (3) from a feeding rack (4) located at one of its sides, and which moves the cathodes through a defined path to the stripping station (5), where synchronized with the carousel the cathode (3) stripping method from the base plate will take place in a sequential and programmed way through different operations of hammering, bending and separation. Then, the robotic manipulator (1) takes the base plate and moves it to the unloading rack while the cathode (3) is stored in pallet for being later moved. Additionally, this robotic system comprises a station for the removal of rejected cathodes and a station for the reposition of plates.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 60 / 734,986 filed 2005 Nov. 10 by the present inventor FEDERAL SPONSORED RESEARCH: [0002] Not Applicable SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM [0003] Not ApplicableBACKGROUND [0004] 1. Field of Invention [0005] This invention relates to the use of robotic technology in mining industry specifically in hazardous areas such as the electro-winning plant. BACKGROUND [0006] 2. Prior Art [0007] The electrodeposition process is one of the current and simplest methods to recover, in a pure and selective way, the metals in a solution. This process mainly uses the permanent cathodes which are deposited in benches for a determined period of time and through the electrometallurgical process, the metal in the solution starts to deposit in the walls of the plate until reaching a determined weight. Once the weight is reached, the cathodes are retrieved (harvest) through an operation ca...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0019] A robot system for automated cathode stripping has been developed. The use of this automated robot system to carry out the task avoids human intervention in the cathode stripping process from the mother blank.

Problems solved by technology

The gripping mechanism acts once the separation has been started, but they are not enough to complete the whole separation process.

Particularly, copper stripping as it is done today, has the disadvantage of being carried out manually or through equipment specially designed for this task, but it inevitably requires human intervention, whether for stripping or classification.

The personnel carrying out the stripping process is subjected to a high physical demand and harsh environmental conditions.

The atmosphere in an electro-winning plant is highly contaminated and presents potential risks for the plant personnel.

Maintenance procedures are difficult to carry out due to room space problems.

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