Sheet material taking and placing device, sheet material processing machine and processing method

Abstract

The present invention discloses a sheet material picking and placing device, a sheet material processing machine and a processing method. The device includes a material box and a sheet material picking and placing mechanical arm; the sheet material picking and placing mechanical arm includes a carrier, a flip driver and a first driving mechanism; a picking and placing part is arranged on the carrier, and the picking and placing part includes two pickers for picking and placing sheets, and the two pickers are respectively arranged on both sides of the carrier along a direction perpendicular to the length of the carrier, so that after one of the pickers picks up the processed sheets in the processing area, the other picker can be translated relative to the processing area to fill the sheets to be processed into the processing area. The picking and placing part with two pickers is arranged on the same side of the carrier, so that the two sheets can be kept on the same side of the mechanical arm. When replacing sheets in the processing area, it is only necessary to directly translate a certain distance after taking the processed sheets to put down the sheets to be processed, so that the replacement time is greatly reduced, so that the waiting time of the processing spindle is greatly reduced, and the overall processing efficiency is greatly improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of glass screen processing of electronic products, and in particular to a sheet material taking and placing device, a sheet material processing machine and a processing method. Background Art

[0002] In the 3C industry (Computer, Communication and Consumer Electronics), multi-spindle machine tools and their automatic loading and unloading devices are widely used in the processing of screen glass or touch screen glass (such as mobile phone glass) sheet parts.

[0003] For example, Chinese patent application number 201220196703.2 discloses a plate processing device; Chinese patent application number 201510316063.2 discloses a plate loading and unloading device, a mobile phone glass processing center, and a processing method; Chinese patent application number 201720308268.0 discloses a rotating mechanism for loading and unloading plates, a plate loading and unloading device, and a processing center; Chinese patent application number 201720450862.3 discloses a baffle, a material trough, and a bracket for a material trough; Chinese patent application number 201210542090.8 discloses a sheet material box.

[0004] The above-mentioned prior arts all attempt to solve the problems of efficiency, space, accuracy, stability and reliability of automatic loading and unloading of plates and parts.

[0005] However, in the patent with application number 201220196703.2, when taking and changing materials at the processing table, a swing arm manipulator is used, and the swing arm manipulator can only swing 90 degrees, so a lifting holder is needed to realize the material taking and changing handover, which leads to a long time for taking and changing materials. The handover on the lifting holder also increases the risk of scratch damage to the glass material. When achieving more efficient dual-spindle operation, it is through the front and rear mirror symmetry setting, and it is impossible to achieve multi-spindle multi-line operation, and the unit area and single machine efficiency are obviously limited.

[0006] The above problems are solved in the Chinese patent with application number 201510316063.2. Firstly, a rotating mechanism with a rotating rod is adopted, and the rotating rod can rotate 360 ​​degrees. A rotating block is installed on the rotating rod, and a double-sided pick-up and placement part is provided on the rotating block, so there is no need to set up an additional lifting holder; secondly, by extending the rotating rod and arranging a number of rotating blocks on the rotating rod corresponding to the processing table or processing head, it is easy to expand multi-spindle and multi-line operations and the structure is more compact.

[0007] First, when more spindles are extended, the overhang of the rotating rod reduces the accuracy of picking and placing materials. Even if a rotating rod with double supports at both ends is used, such as the Chinese patent application number 201720308268.0, the cumulative error of multiple spindles reduces the processing accuracy. Especially during batch processing, the process capability (CPK value) of the machine tool equipment drops sharply, and high-precision processing cannot be achieved, and the controllability is also reduced.

[0008] In addition, since the rotating block is installed on the rotating rod, the plate is loaded upright into the material trough, and the plate is inserted into the material trough to a certain depth, the material trough stopper rod is easy to interfere with the rotating rod, and the corresponding prior art application number is 201720450862.3 of the Chinese patent discloses a material trough and its stopper. When the plate is loaded into the material trough, the rotating block on the rotating rod absorbs the plate in the material trough, and it is necessary to avoid the interference between the rotating rod and the material trough stopper, and it is difficult to grasp the symmetry center of the plate in the up and down directions. The material trough must have a certain fault tolerance for the loading of the plate. When the rotating block absorbs the upper part of the plate, it often leads to failure of material absorption. The Chinese patent with application number 201220196703.2 has an eccentric swing arm manipulator, and there will be no such problem, but the eccentric swing arm manipulator can only swing and rotate 90 degrees, and requires a lifting retainer to connect, which increases the movement line. The method adopted in the embodiment of the Chinese patent with application number 201510316063.2 is "fixing the upper part of the rotating block on the rotating rod so that the rotation is an eccentric rotating axis for more effective control." However, this method makes the plate material part eccentric when rotating, the travel path of the material taking and changing robot is longer when taking and changing materials, the rotational inertia increases during rotation, and the stability of the plate material part is reduced.

[0009] On the other hand, a rotating rod is installed on the rotating mechanism, a rotating block is installed on the rotating rod, and a pick-and-place part is installed on the rotating block. This involves many installation steps, a large number of parts, low component rigidity, and complicated assembly and adjustment.

[0010] In addition, by installing the rotating block on the rotating rod, the existence of the rod and the installation structure increases the thickness of the changers on both sides. When changing materials at the trough end, the trough must leave more empty slots to fit the rotating rod changer, which reduces the capacity of the trough. In reality, the automatic loading and unloading device that replaces manual labor is expected to increase the number of plate materials loaded into the trough as much as possible within the limited trough space, so as to increase the trough capacity, so that the automatic continuous processing time is long after the trough is loaded once, and the trough replacement frequency is reduced.

[0011] The above-mentioned prior art has a longer processing time than the material change time. Therefore, the loading and unloading devices are in an idle standby state for a long time during processing, and are not fully mobilized, and the beat is unreasonable, resulting in a high unit cost. In particular, the Chinese patent with application number 201510316063.2 requires that when changing materials on the processing table, after taking away the processed plate, it is necessary to exit the processing area to obtain a flipping space so that the plate to be processed can be flipped down and placed on the processing table for further processing. In this way, the time for changing materials in the processing area is greatly increased, and the processing area needs to reserve a large space to provide conditions for the rotating rod to drive the rotating block to flip, but the processing area often needs to design other modules, which is bound to increase the space occupation of the equipment.

[0012] In the well-known existing technologies, the arrangement of the trough is basically divided into two ways: one is that the plates are arranged vertically in the horizontal direction (horizontal trough); the other is that the plates are arranged horizontally in the up-down direction (vertical trough). The vertical arrangement relies on gravity for positioning in the vertical direction, and the plates are separated by separators in the trough. The plates will not slide in the trough, and the whole tray of troughs is easy to transport. The trough as a whole occupies a large horizontal space in the equipment. Due to the separators between the plates and the special fault tolerance requirements, the intervals between the plates are large, so the trough capacity is low; the other way is that the plates are arranged horizontally in the up-down direction. The horizontally arranged plates rely on gravity for positioning in the up-down direction in the trough, but the horizontal direction is easy to slide because of the need to leave openings for taking and changing materials, which increases the risk of sliding during transportation. The trough as a whole occupies space in the up-down direction in the equipment, and occupies less space in the horizontal direction (only about half of the vertical placement). Since the plates are naturally positioned in the up-down direction by gravity, there are no special fault tolerance requirements for the separators set between them, and the intervals between the plates are small, so the trough capacity is high. That is, when the plates are arranged vertically in the trough along the horizontal direction (horizontal trough), the trough capacity is low and occupies a large horizontal area, but the fixation is good and it is easy to move; when the plates are arranged horizontally in the trough along the up and down directions (vertical trough), the trough capacity is high and occupies a small horizontal area, but the fixation is poor and it is inconvenient to move.

[0013] The above prior art has the following problems to be solved:

[0014] 1. There is only one picker in the pick-and-place part, which takes the sheet from the processing area and puts it into the material trough, then picks up another sheet and puts it into the processing area, or there is a pair of pickers in the pick-and-place part, but after one picker takes the sheet, it still needs to exit the processing area to adjust the direction of the other picker, resulting in a long waiting time for the processing spindle and low efficiency in taking and changing materials;

[0015] 2. Simplify the mechanical structure of the rotating mechanism to make it simple and quick to assemble and adjust. In particular, the less time is spent on taking and changing materials in the processing area, the more conducive it is to improving processing efficiency;

[0016] 3. Further reduce the space occupied by the device and the movement space of the device, or arrange more processing devices in a limited space;

[0017] 4. Make full use of the loading and unloading devices, especially the mechanical arms for picking and placing materials, to reduce their idle time as much as possible and reduce the cost of each machine;

[0018] 5. It avoids the interference between the rotating rod and the trough stopper and reduces the movement line, making the automatic loading and unloading device more stable and reliable in taking and replacing materials, reducing the downtime caused by failures;

[0019] 6. Increase the capacity of the trough to reduce the frequency of trough replacement and extend the continuous processing time.

[0020] In short, how to improve efficiency, reduce space occupancy, and achieve stability and reliability based on existing technologies is an important issue in improving the technical level of production equipment, and ultimately reduce costs and achieve good economic efficiency. Summary of the invention

[0021] The present invention provides a sheet material taking and placing device, a sheet material processing machine and a processing method to solve the above problems.

[0022] The present invention provides a sheet picking and placing device, comprising a material box and a sheet picking and placing robot arm for picking and placing sheets between the material box and a processing area; the sheet picking and placing robot arm comprises a carrier extending with a transverse direction as a length direction, a flipping driver driving the carrier to flip with the length direction as an axis, and a first driving mechanism driving the flipping driver together with the carrier to move in the vertical and longitudinal directions; a picking and placing portion is arranged on the carrier, the picking and placing portion comprises two pickers for picking and placing sheets, and the two pickers are respectively arranged on both sides of the carrier along a direction perpendicular to the length of the carrier, so that after one of the pickers picks up the processed sheets in the processing area, the other picker can be translated relative to the processing area to fill the sheets to be processed into the processing area; the material box has a material trough for arranging and holding the sheets, and the number of the material troughs is consistent with the number of the picking and placing portions on the sheet picking and placing robot arm and they are arranged correspondingly.

[0023] Preferably, at least two groups of pick-and-place parts are arranged in the length direction on the same surface of the carrier, and the material box also has more than two material slots accordingly, which is conducive to expanding the pick-and-place parts and doubling the processing efficiency.

[0024] Preferably, one end of the trough is set as an empty trough area where no sheet material to be processed is placed during initial processing, so that after the pick-up and placement unit takes back the processed sheet material from the processing area, the processed sheet material is arranged sequentially from the empty trough area end of the trough to the sheet material area end of the trough to form a trough shared by the sheet material to be processed and the processed sheet material, which is more conducive to the orderly storage or removal of the sheet material.

[0025] Preferably, the material trough has a partition groove for placing the sheets flat and arranged vertically, and the front sheet placement area and the rear sheet placement area are respectively arranged in the longitudinal direction of the material trough, and the front sheet placement area and the rear sheet placement area are arranged in opposite directions and have opposite openings. The two placement areas can increase the capacity of the material trough and can adapt to a faster and more orderly method of storing and retrieving sheets.

[0026] Preferably, the material trough has partitions for allowing the sheets to be laid flat and arranged vertically or for allowing the sheets to stand upright and arranged longitudinally. The sheets are placed in an orderly manner in such a material trough, which is more convenient for the orderly placement of the placement unit.

[0027] Preferably, the material trough has a partition groove for placing the sheet flat and arranged vertically, the partition groove includes a front clamping part for fixing the front of the sheet and a rear clamping part for fixing the rear of the sheet, the rear clamping part is lower than the horizontal position of the front clamping part to make the rear of the sheet sink and form an inclined placement. This special structure of the material trough can prevent the sheet from slipping without setting any stopper.

[0028] Preferably, the material trough has partition grooves that allow the sheets to be placed flat and arranged vertically. A stopper is provided at the opening of the material trough to prevent the sheets from slipping out during transportation. The stopper can be movably installed at the opening of the material trough and can be removed from the opening of the material trough during processing, thereby enabling the sheets to be placed horizontally and have an anti-slip function.

[0029] Preferably, a material box adjustment drive device is provided at the bottom of the material box for adjusting the position of the material trough in the transverse direction so as to align it longitudinally with the pick-up and placement portion. The material box adjustment drive device includes a material box transverse track and a material box driver for driving the material box to move on the material box transverse track. The simple structural design can enable the material box to achieve the function of precise alignment.

[0030] Preferably, the carrier is a carrier plate, on which the pick-and-place parts are distributed transversely, one transverse end of the carrier plate is mounted on the flip driver, and two pickers of each group of pick-and-place parts are directly arranged on both sides of the same surface of the carrier plate with the transverse flip axis of the flip driver as the center line. The plate-type integrated structural design can save more steps of installing the pick-and-place parts on the carrier.

[0031] Preferably, the carrier plate is provided with an outwardly opening avoidance groove between adjacent pick-and-place parts. The avoidance groove can save material and lighten the carrier, and allow the pick-and-place parts to quickly pick up and place sheets without touching the material trough with the blocking rod.

[0032] Preferably, the end of the carrier plate used for mounting on the flip driver forms a contraction portion with a width smaller than the width of the carrier plate body, the end of the contraction portion is provided with a mounting portion with a width larger than the width of the contraction portion body, and the mounting portion forms two shoulders in the horizontal direction relative to the contraction portion for mounting the carrier plate on the flip driver. This special mounting structure is convenient for workers to mount the carrier body on the flip driver, and is also convenient for disassembly for maintenance.

[0033] Preferably, the carrier is used to be installed on one end of the flip driver to form a plate structure, and a rectangular groove adapted to the carrier plate structure is provided on the flip driver, which is conducive to the rapid installation and positioning of the carrier and further makes the installation structure more stable.

[0034] Preferably, the carrier is a carrying rod, on which carrying blocks are installed in a transverse distribution, and two pickers are arranged on the carrying block as two pickers of a set of picking and placing parts. Although the cooperation of the rod and the block increases the installation process, a single carrying block is conducive to individual replacement and maintenance.

[0035] Preferably, the pick-and-place portion forms a symmetrical structure with the transverse axis of the carrier as the symmetry axis, and the two pickers on the pick-and-place portion are symmetrically arranged relative to the transverse axis of the carrier. This symmetrical structure can better conform to the principles of mechanics to keep the robot arm balanced as a whole, prevent shaking caused by rotational imbalance, and reduce errors.

[0036] Preferably, the first driving mechanism includes a longitudinal track, a longitudinal bearing platform, a longitudinal driver for driving the longitudinal bearing platform to move on the longitudinal track, a vertical track arranged on the longitudinal bearing platform, a vertical bearing platform and a vertical driver for driving the vertical bearing platform to move on the vertical track, and the flip driver is installed on the vertical bearing platform. A reasonable and concise track design is adopted to improve driving efficiency and reduce space occupation.

[0037] Preferably, processing areas are provided on both sides of the material trough in the longitudinal direction, and the pick-and-place unit picks and places the sheets between the material box and the processing areas on both sides. The same robotic arm and material box simultaneously supply sheets to the processing areas on both sides, which greatly improves the processing efficiency and can even be expanded to a production line mode.

[0038] A sheet material processing machine provided in the present invention comprises the above-mentioned sheet material taking and placing device, and also comprises a processing spindle and a processing table arranged in a processing area corresponding to the material trough.

[0039] Preferably, the number of the processing spindles, the pick-and-place parts, and the material troughs are consistent and arranged one-to-one in the longitudinal direction. The one-to-one arrangement in the longitudinal direction can improve the processing efficiency and enhance the processing accuracy.

[0040] Preferably, a longitudinal slide rail for moving the processing table in the longitudinal direction is provided in the processing area. The processing table is driven by a processing table driver to move longitudinally along the longitudinal slide rail. The processing table serves as a mobile workbench, which can reduce the longitudinal stroke of the robot arm, greatly improve the processing efficiency, and also greatly increase the material taking and changing space in the processing area, which is beneficial to the efficiency of taking and putting materials.

[0041] Preferably, it also includes a machine table, a first driving mechanism drives the sheet picking and placing robot arm to move longitudinally and vertically relative to the machine table, a fixed-beam gantry is arranged on one side of the machine table in the longitudinal direction, a transverse track and a transverse driver for driving the processing spindle to move on the transverse track are arranged on the fixed-beam gantry, a longitudinal moving table which can move longitudinally on the machine table is arranged below the processing spindle on the machine table, the processing table is installed on the longitudinal moving table, and the material box is installed on the side of the machine table opposite to the processing spindle. The cooperation between the machine table and the fixed-beam gantry can ensure the stable operation and overall transportation of the entire equipment, and the machine table can also provide installation space for various accessories.

[0042] Preferably, an empty slot area with a width greater than the thickness of the placement portion is provided at one end of the material slot in the sheet arrangement direction for the processed sheets to be arranged from the empty slot area to the other end. The provision of the empty slot area is more conducive to orderly placement of sheets.

[0043] Preferably, a tool magazine is arranged on the rear side of the fixed-beam gantry, a tool head mounting seat corresponding to the machining spindle is arranged in the tool magazine, a longitudinal slide rail is arranged on the machine platform, a tool head transport mechanism for moving between the tool magazine and the machining spindle to replace the tool head is arranged on the longitudinal slide rail, the tool head transport mechanism is provided with a clamping portion for clamping, removing or installing the tool head from the tool magazine or the machining spindle, and the tool magazine is arranged on the rear side of the fixed-beam gantry to cooperate with the longitudinal slide rail on the machine platform, which is beneficial to prevent tool head contamination and fully utilize the machine platform space.

[0044] Preferably, it also includes a machine platform, a first driving mechanism drives the sheet picking and placing mechanical arm to move longitudinally and vertically relative to the machine platform, fixed beam gantry frames are arranged on both sides of the machine platform in the longitudinal direction, transverse tracks and transverse drivers for driving the processing spindle to move on the transverse tracks are arranged on the fixed beam gantry frames, a processing area is arranged on the machine platform below the processing spindle, and a material box is installed between the two processing areas. The work efficiency can be greatly improved without substantially increasing the occupied space.

[0045] It also includes parallel machines set on both sides or one side of the machine, fixed beam gantry with processing spindles installed on both sides or one side of the parallel machine, the fixed beam gantry on the parallel machine is back-to-back with the fixed beam gantry near the machine, and the parallel machine is equipped with the same sheet picking and placing mechanical arm, processing area and material box as the machine. Multiple machines can be set in parallel to form a production line, improve processing efficiency, and even form a unified processing procedure.

[0046] Preferably, a common tool magazine is arranged between the parallel machine and the fixed beam gantry with the machine backing, a tool head mounting seat corresponding to the processing spindle is arranged in the common tool magazine, a common longitudinal slide rail is arranged between the machine and the parallel machine, a tool head transport mechanism for moving between the tool magazine and the processing spindles on both sides of the fixed beam gantry with the machine backing to replace the tool head is arranged on the common longitudinal slide rail, and a clamping part for clamping, removing or installing the tool head from the tool magazine or the processing spindle is arranged on the tool head transport mechanism. The two machines arranged in parallel share a common tool magazine and a common tool head transport mechanism, which makes full use of the limited space on the machine, and the structural design of one tool magazine and two machines also greatly saves the corresponding material cost and control cost.

[0047] The present invention also provides a sheet material taking and placing method, which is used in a sheet material taking and placing device, and comprises the following steps:

[0048] A: The carrier of the sheet picking and placing robot arm rotates to a state where the plane of the picking and placing part is parallel to the plane of the sheet and the picker faces the sheet to be processed, and the picker close to the side of the material trough picks up the sheet to be processed and takes it out of the material trough;

[0049] B: The carrier on the sheet picking and placing robot moves relative to the processing area so that the picking and placing part enters the processing area. The carrier rotates until the plane of the picking and placing part is parallel to the plane of the processing area and the sheet faces downward. The idle picker in the picking and placing part takes away the processed sheet on the processing area. The picking and placing part moves longitudinally relative to the processing area, and the picker that picks up the sheet to be processed places the sheet to be processed into the processing area.

[0050] C: The pick-and-place unit picks up the processed sheet and moves it to the material trough. The carrier rotates so that the picker that has picked up the processed sheet approaches the material trough and keeps the plane of the processed sheet parallel to the plane of the sheet in the material trough, and puts the processed sheet into the material trough;

[0051] D: After the pick-and-place unit exits the trough, the sheet picking and placing is completed, or after the pick-and-place unit exits the trough, the process returns to step A.

[0052] This method embodies that the robot arm only makes adaptive adjustments on one side of the material trough area, but no adjustment is required in the processing area. The pick-and-place part can directly translate relative to the processing area to realize a very simple sheet picking and placing method for picking up processed sheets and placing sheets to be processed, which greatly reduces the waiting time of the processing spindle and greatly improves the processing efficiency.

[0053] Preferably, before step A, a first full-load material taking step is also included: one of the pickers of the pick-and-place unit takes out the sheet to be processed from one end of the material trough and then exits the material trough, the carrier carries the pick-and-place unit to the other end of the material trough, and the carrier flips over so that another picker picks up the sheet to be processed at the other end of the material trough, or a sheet is placed in an empty slot area at one end of the material trough in advance, the pick-and-place unit of the carrier extends into the empty slot area to take out the pre-placed sheet, and then the carrier flips over so that another picker picks up the sheet to be processed adjacent to the empty slot area; the carrier The body carries the pick-up and place part to the processing area, one of the pickers places the sheet to be processed in the processing area, the pick-up and place part exits the processing area and waits for the sheet in the processing area to be processed. The idle picker of the pick-up and place part picks up the processed sheet in the processing area, and moves longitudinally to another picker to place the sheet to be processed in the processing area. The pick-up and place part exits the processing area and moves to the material box; the body rotates so that the picker that has picked up the processed sheet approaches the material slot and keeps the plane of the processed sheet parallel to the plane of the sheet in the material slot, and puts the processed sheet into the material slot. This method can ensure full loading for the first time and improve efficiency.

[0054] Preferably, the sheets are laid flat in the trough and arranged vertically, and the picker faces downward and picks up the sheets to be processed from top to bottom in the trough: after the picker close to the trough takes the sheets to be processed out of the trough, the carrier carries the pick-up and place part to the processing area, the idle picker on the pick-up and place part picks up the processed sheets in the processing area, the pick-up and place part translates longitudinally relative to the processing area and the picker close to the trough puts the sheets to be processed into the processing area, the carrier carries the pick-up and place part to the trough, the pick-up and place part flips over so that the picker that has picked up the processed sheets faces upward and puts the processed sheets into the upper empty trough area of ​​the trough; or, the sheets are in the trough. When the picker is facing upward and picking up the sheet to be processed from the bottom to the top in the trough, the picker close to the trough takes the sheet to be processed out of the trough, and the pick-up and place part flips so that the picker that picked up the sheet to be processed faces downward, and the carrier carries the pick-up and place part to the processing area, and the idle picker on the pick-up and place part picks up the processed sheet in the processing area, and the pick-up and place part moves longitudinally relative to the processing area and the picker that picked up the sheet to be processed puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area, and the carrier carries the pick-up and place part to the trough, and the picker that picked up the processed sheet keeps facing downward and puts the processed sheet into the empty trough area at the lower end of the trough. For vertical troughs, the robot arm can pick up materials from top to bottom or from bottom to top, with flexible selection methods, suitable for more processing scenarios, and high efficiency of picking and placing.

[0055] Preferably, the sheets are erected in the material trough and arranged longitudinally, and the picker faces the processing area and picks up the sheets to be processed from far to near in the material trough relative to the processing area: after the picker close to the material trough takes the sheets to be processed out of the material trough, the pick-up and place portion flips over so that the picker faces downward, the carrier carries the pick-up and place portion to the processing area, and the idle picker on the pick-up and place portion picks up the processed sheets in the processing area, the pick-up and place portion translates longitudinally relative to the processing area and the picker close to the material trough puts the sheets to be processed into the processing area, the carrier carries the pick-up and place portion to the material trough, and the pick-up and place portion flips over so that the picker that has picked up the processed sheets faces away from the processing area and puts the processed sheets into the empty slot area at the far end of the material trough; or, the sheets When the picker stands upright in the trough and is arranged longitudinally, with its back to the processing area, and picks up the sheet to be processed from near to far relative to the processing area in the trough: after the picker close to the trough takes the sheet to be processed out of the trough, the pick-up and place unit flips so that the picker that has picked up the sheet to be processed faces downward, the carrier carries the pick-up and place unit to the processing area, and the idle picker on the pick-up and place unit picks up the processed sheet in the processing area, the pick-up and place unit translates longitudinally relative to the processing area and the picker that has picked up the sheet to be processed puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area, the carrier carries the pick-up and place unit to the trough, and the pick-up and place unit flips so that the picker that has picked up the processed sheet faces the processing area and puts the processed sheet into the near-end empty trough area of ​​the trough. For horizontal troughs, materials can be taken from front to back or from back to front, with flexible selection methods, suitable for more processing scenarios, and high efficiency in taking and placing materials.

[0056] Preferably, an empty slot area is set at one end of the material trough, and the picker takes the processed sheets from the processing area and places them in sequence from the empty slot area to the end of the sheet to be processed. The empty slot area is set at one end of the material trough, which is more conducive to orderly and efficient placement of sheets.

[0057] Preferably, the sheet is placed obliquely in the trough, and when the picker takes the sheet to be processed out of the trough or puts the processed sheet into the trough, the flip driver drives the carrier to rotate so that the inclination angle of the pick-up and placement part is consistent with the inclination angle of the sheet in the trough, and the first drive mechanism drives the carrier at a corresponding speed ratio in the vertical and longitudinal directions at the same time so that the pick-up and placement part of the carrier moves obliquely at a certain speed. In view of the special setting of the sheet, the vertical and longitudinal speed ratios of the first drive mechanism are coordinated to realize the oblique pick-up and placement of the sheet, thereby improving the pick-up and placement efficiency.

[0058] Preferably, the step of the relative movement of the carrier and the processing area on the sheet picking and placing robot arm so that the picking and placing part enters the processing area includes: the carrier moves a certain distance toward the processing area so that the picking and placing part enters the processing area to pick up or place the material, or the processing table moves a certain distance toward the material trough so that the picking and placing part enters the processing area to pick up or place the material, or the processing table moves a certain distance toward the material trough and the carrier also moves a certain distance toward the processing area so that the picking and placing part enters the processing area to pick up or place the material. According to different occasions, the relative translation method of the carrier and the processing area can be selected to facilitate the search for a more reasonable way of picking and placing the material.

[0059] The present invention also provides a sheet material taking and placing method, wherein processing areas are respectively arranged on both sides of the material trough in the longitudinal direction, and when the taking and placing part takes and places the sheet material between the material box and the processing areas on both sides, the method specifically includes the following steps:

[0060] A1: When the processing spindle on one side processes the sheet, one of the pickers of the pick-and-place unit takes out the sheet to be processed from the material trough area, keeps one of the pickers picking up the sheet to be processed, and the other picker is unloaded and moves to the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on the other side. After the processing spindle on the other side completes the processing of the sheet, the unloaded picker picks up the processed sheet in the processing area, and the picker carrying the sheet to be processed puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on the other side. After the pick-and-place unit leaves the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on the other side, the processing spindle processes the sheet to be processed;

[0061] B1: The pick-and-place unit carries the processed sheet and puts it into the material slot area, and takes out a sheet to be processed from the material slot area and runs it to the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on one side. After the processing spindle on this side completes the processing of the sheet, the unloaded picker picks up the processed sheet, and the other picker puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on one side. After the pick-and-place unit leaves the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on this side, the processing spindle processes the sheet to be processed;

[0062] C1: The pick-and-place unit carries the processed sheet material into the trough area and then enters step A1, or the pick-and-place unit carries the processed sheet material into the trough area and then the pick-and-place unit takes the processed sheet material in the processing areas on both sides back to the trough area to end the processing.

[0063] Preferably, the material trough has partitions for placing sheets flat and arranged vertically, and a front sheet placement area and a rear sheet placement area are respectively arranged in the longitudinal direction of the material trough. When the front sheet placement area and the rear sheet placement area are arranged back to back and have opposite openings, the following steps are specifically included: the front picker of the pick-and-place unit picks up the sheet to be processed in the rear sheet placement area of ​​the material trough to complete the material picking; the pick-and-place unit runs to the processing area, and the rear picker of the pick-and-place unit picks up the processed sheet in the processing area, and then the front picker of the pick-and-place unit puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area to complete the material replacement; the pick-and-place unit When it runs to the material trough area, the rear picker of the pick-and-place unit puts the processed sheet into the front sheet placement area of ​​the material trough to complete material storage; the rear picker of the pick-and-place unit continues to take out the sheet to be processed from the front sheet placement area of ​​the material trough to complete material picking; when the pick-and-place unit runs to the processing area, the front picker of the pick-and-place unit picks up the processed sheet in the processing area, and then the rear picker of the pick-and-place unit puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area to complete material replacement; when the pick-and-place unit runs to the material trough area, the front picker of the pick-and-place unit puts the processed sheet into the rear sheet placement area of ​​the material trough to complete material storage.

[0064] It can be seen from the above technical scheme that since the present invention adopts a pick-up and placement part with two pickers on the same side of the carrier, the two sheets can be kept on the same side of the robot arm. When changing sheets in the processing area, it is only necessary to directly move a certain distance after taking the processed sheet to put down the sheet to be processed. This subverts the previous idea that the robot arm needs to be flipped in the processing area to change sheets, or needs two different processing tables or even buffer zones to cooperate in changing materials. Since the robot arm in the processing area only needs to move a small distance relatively to change sheets, the replacement time is greatly reduced, so that the waiting time of the processing spindle is greatly reduced, and the overall processing efficiency is greatly improved. At the same time, with the arranged material trough structure for holding sheets, it can ensure that when the processing spindle processes sheets, the sheets have enough time to be placed in the material trough and can be accessed in an orderly manner, thereby improving the access efficiency. At the same time, the trough mode can be selected as a vertical trough or a horizontal trough. The appropriate trough mode can be selected according to different scenarios, which is more conducive to adapting to different model processing machines, especially when adapting to the vertical trough type. The material loading and unloading is more efficient and the space occupied in the vertical direction is reduced. The stroke of the robot arm is short, and the length of the machine can also be shortened, further reducing the space occupied in the workshop, which is more conducive to realizing the integrated and miniaturized design direction. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0065] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0066] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of a processing machine using a vertical trough in which sheets are placed obliquely in Example 1 of the present invention;

[0067] Figure 2 It is a schematic side view of the structure of a processing machine using a vertical trough in which sheets are placed obliquely in Example 1 of the present invention;

[0068] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of a processing machine using a horizontal trough in Example 1 of the present invention;

[0069] Figure 4 is a side structural schematic diagram of a processing machine using a horizontal trough in Example 1 of the present invention;

[0070] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the planar structure of a sheet picking and placing mechanical arm with a special structure in Example 2 of the present invention;

[0071] Figure 6 In Example 2 of the present invention, Figure 5Schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the sheet picking and placing robot arm improved on the basis;

[0072] Figure 7 , 8 It is a schematic diagram of the taking and placing part taking and placing materials when a vertical material trough with inclined sheet material is used in Example 3 of the present invention;

[0073] Fig. 9 Schematic diagram of the structure of the processing machine in the processing island mode and the production line mode in Embodiment 4 of the present invention;

[0074] Fig.10 The flowchart of the processing method in Example 5 of the present invention;

[0075] Fig.11 , 12 13 is a schematic diagram of the pick-and-place unit changing materials in the processing area, picking up materials and placing materials in the horizontal material trough in Example 6 of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0076] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0077] Embodiment 1:

[0078] In this embodiment and the following other embodiments, clarifying the orientation is helpful for readers to understand the technical solution more clearly, but it does not absolutely limit the orientation definition when the device is rearranged. Figure 1 For reference, the X-axis direction is horizontal, that is, the direction in which the carrier extends, the Y-axis direction is longitudinal, that is, the direction in which the pick-and-place portion is driven from the material trough to the processing area, and the Z-axis direction is vertical, that is, the up and down direction of the processing spindle.

[0079] The embodiment of the present invention provides a sheet material processing machine, such as Figure 1As shown, it includes a processing spindle 1 and a processing table 2, and also includes a sheet picking and placing device. The processing spindle includes a spindle motor 11 and a processing cutter head 12. The processing cutter head 12 is replaceable to facilitate processing of different types of workpiece sheets. The processing table 2 is arranged in a processing area. The processing area is an artificially demarcated area, which is actually used to distinguish between the material trough area and the processing area. The sheet is processed in the processing area, and storage and retrieval are completed in the material trough area. In some cases, there is only one processing table in the processing area, and the processing table is the processing area. In some cases, the processing table is movable longitudinally, and the area where the processing table moves is used as the processing area. For example, a longitudinal slide rail for moving the processing table in the longitudinal direction is arranged in the processing area, and the processing table is driven by a processing table driver to move longitudinally along the longitudinal slide rail. For some processing machines, the machine table is not needed, and the processing spindle and the processing table can be directly installed on the production line; it should be further explained that the present embodiment takes the processing spindle of engraving and milling as an example, but for other processing machines, it can be a sweeper, a polisher, or even a material conveyor, so for the sheet material picking and placing device, the processing area does not have to be equipped with a processing spindle, and the processing area can be just a material transfer area of ​​the material conveyor. For processing machines that require closed environment processing, a machine table 9 is also included. The machine table can be a marble machine table or a metal machine table. A protective cover can be set on the machine table to close the processing environment and ensure safety. In this embodiment, the longitudinal track is installed on one of the two lateral sides of the machine table 9, which is beneficial to the spatial layout of the whole machine. A fixed beam gantry 91 is arranged on one side of the machine in the longitudinal direction. A transverse track and a transverse driver for driving the machining spindle to move on the transverse track are arranged on the fixed beam gantry 91. The machining spindle can be displaced vertically and horizontally relative to the machining area. A longitudinal moving table 20 that can move longitudinally on the machine is arranged below the machining spindle 1 on the machine 9. The machining table 2 is installed on the longitudinal moving table 20. The unified installation of the machining table by the moving table is more conducive to unified control, and unified installation and maintenance are also more convenient. For the relevant driving mechanism, Figure 1 There is no need to show them one by one.

[0080] For a multi-spindle processing machine, the replacement of the cutter head is a design that needs to be faced. In this embodiment, a tool magazine 6 is arranged at the rear side of the fixed beam gantry, and a cutter head mounting seat 61 corresponding to the processing spindle 1 is arranged in the tool magazine 6. A longitudinal slide rail 62 is arranged on the machine table 9. A cutter head transport mechanism 63 for moving between the tool magazine 6 and the processing spindle 1 to replace the cutter head is arranged on the longitudinal slide rail 62. The cutter head transport mechanism 63 is provided with a clamping portion 64 for clamping, removing or installing the cutter head from the tool magazine 6 or the processing spindle 1. The tool magazine 6 is arranged at the rear side of the fixed beam gantry 9, which is conducive to isolation from the processing spindle 1, reducing the pollution to the head seat, and it is also very convenient to replace the cutter head, reducing the interference of the tool magazine on the processing spindle. The movable table 20 can even share the longitudinal slide rail 62 set in the tool magazine, or the cutter head transport mechanism 63 can even share the longitudinal slide rail of the movable table 20, which efficiently utilizes the limited space of the machine table.

[0081] The sheet picking and placing device is used to provide a material picking and placing function for the processing machine. The sheet picking and placing device includes a material box 3 and a sheet picking and placing robot arm 5 for picking and placing the sheet 4 between the material box 3 and the processing area (processing table 2); the sheet picking and placing robot arm 5 includes a carrier 51 extending with the transverse direction as the length direction, a flipping drive 52 for driving the carrier 51 to flip with the length direction as the axis, and a first driving mechanism 53 for driving the flipping drive together with the carrier to move vertically and longitudinally.

[0082] A pick-and-place unit 510 is provided on the carrier 51. The pick-and-place unit 510 is used to pick and place sheets. The pick-and-place unit includes two pickers 511 and 512 for picking and placing sheets. The two pickers actually serve as two modules of a pick-and-place unit. The pick-and-place unit may have specific structural features or may simply include two pickers and a bearing or mounting structure. The pickers are still responsible for picking and placing a sheet. The pickers may use suction cups. A picker may use a large suction cup or may include several small suction cups. For example, Figure 1 In the example, four small suction cups are arranged in a rectangular shape as a picker.

[0083] The pick-and-place unit 510 in this embodiment subverts the conventional design. The two pickers 511 and 512 of the pick-and-place unit 510 are respectively arranged on both sides of the carrier 51 along a direction perpendicular to the length of the carrier 51. Figure 2 is a side view of the carrier, the length direction of the carrier is Figure 2 The direction is perpendicular to the paper surface. Figure 1 The three-dimensional structure of the carrier is shown, which is equivalent to a pick-and-place portion and the carrier intersecting crosswise to form a cross structure. Figure 1In the figure, a structure is shown in which a carrier includes four pick-up and place parts which are arranged in an extended manner along the length direction (lateral direction) of the carrier. For example, the carrier 51 is rotated to the point where the two pickers 511 and 512 of the pick-up and place part 510 are both facing downward, and the two pickers are located on the front and rear sides of the carrier in a longitudinal direction, one after the other. In this way, the two pickers are arranged on the same side of the carrier, so that one picker 511 can pick up the processed sheet 4 in the processing area (processing table 2), and the other picker 512 can be translated relative to the processing area to fill the sheet to be processed into the processing area, without flipping the sheet. During the replacement of the processing area, the picker here can be translated relative to the processing area to put the sheet into the processing area, which includes the meaning that the picker is lifted and put down and translated in the air; as a special adaptation, the material box 3 has a material trough for arranging and holding the sheets. The so-called arrangement of the sheets means that the sheets are placed in order, and the number of the material troughs is consistent with the number of the pick-and-place parts on the sheet picking and placing robot arm and they are set accordingly. For example, if there is only one pick-and-place part, only one material trough is set, and the material trough is set on the travel route of the pick-and-place part to form a corresponding setting, so that the pick-and-place part has the best shortcut to the material trough to store and access the sheets. Figure 1 The material box 3 has four material slots, which are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction. The material slots can be assembled together independently, or one material box can be divided into four material slots. Figure 1 The figure also shows four pick-up and place parts corresponding to four material troughs. The processing machine is a device for engraving and milling sheets, so a processing table 2 is set up, and the sheet 4 is processed on the processing table 2. The processing table 2 is set in the processing area and corresponds to the material trough, and also corresponds to the travel route of the pick-up and place part 510. In this way, the starting point and the end point of the sheet are the best shortcuts of two points and one line, which is conducive to shortening the travel path of the pick-up and place part for picking up and placing the sheet.

[0084] It can be understood that the two pick-ups 511 and 512 on both sides are arranged on the same surface, which can be the same surface in the same plane, such as Figure 2 What is shown in the figure is the same plane. Of course, the two pickers can also be different planes of the same plane. The so-called different planes refer to that there is a certain height difference between the two planes, but the directions are the same. The purpose of doing this is to deal with the situation when there are auxiliary devices such as positioning fixtures that are higher than the workpiece on the processing table. The two pickers in front and behind and the materials on them will not interfere with the fixtures and other auxiliary devices during the switching process.

[0085] In order to improve processing efficiency, the carrier in the embodiment of the present invention is extended horizontally to form a certain length, which also provides conditions for the expansion and installation of the pick-up and placement parts on it. At least two groups of pick-up and placement parts are arranged along the length direction on the same surface of the carrier, and the material box also has more than two material slots. The same surface of the carrier specifically refers to the same surface relative to the flip, that is, the pickers on the carrier are facing the same surface. Figure 1Taking the processing machine in the figure as an example, if there are four pick-up and place parts on the same carrier, there are eight pickers, and four material slots in the material box are also set accordingly. The material box is the carrier of the material slot, and the material slot can also be a material box alone, or several material slots can be assembled into a material box. For several material slots assembled into a material box, it is easy to uniformly install and disassemble and repair. The material slot in the material box can be a vertical material slot, such as Figure 1 , Figure 2 The trough in the tank is a vertical trough or a horizontal trough. Figure 3 , Figure 4 The trough in the machine is a horizontal trough, that is, the trough has partitions that allow the sheets to be laid flat and arranged vertically or to be erected and arranged longitudinally. If the sheets are laid flat and arranged up and down, the trough is a vertical trough, and the height of the trough determines the sheet capacity. If the sheets are erected and arranged horizontally, the trough is a horizontal trough, and the length of the trough determines the sheet capacity.

[0086] Since the trough may be slightly offset in the horizontal direction during the material loading and unloading process, manual debugging would require too much manpower and time. In this embodiment, a material box adjustment drive device is provided at the bottom of the material box for adjusting the position of the material box in the horizontal direction so that the material box is aligned with the loading and unloading portion in the longitudinal direction. The material box adjustment drive device includes a material box transverse track and a material box driver (not shown in the figure) for driving the material box to move on the material box transverse track. Figure 1 A material box mounting platform 11 for mounting the material box thereon is provided on the machine platform 1. The material box adjustment drive device mentioned above can also be arranged on the material box mounting platform 11.

[0087] In this embodiment, the first driving mechanism 53 includes a longitudinal track 531, a longitudinal support platform 532, and a longitudinal driver ( Figure 3 ), a vertical track 533, a vertical platform 534 and a vertical driver 535 for driving the vertical platform 534 to move on the vertical track 533, and the flip driver 52 is installed on the vertical platform 534. The above driving methods for linear travel can all be achieved by using a drive motor in conjunction with a lead screw assembly, which can very accurately control the running distance and running speed of the controlled component. The flip driver can use a drive motor, which has more precise control over the flip angle and flip speed of the carrier. Of course, more pick-up and drop parts and pickers are placed on the carrier plate to expand the multi-spindle. The flip driver can also be equipped with a force-enhancing reducer to output a larger torque and drive more pick-up and drop parts.

[0088] In this embodiment, the number of the processing spindle 1, the pick-up and placement part 510, and the material trough are consistent and arranged one by one in the longitudinal direction, forming a uniform fit of the components in the longitudinal direction and having the shortest travel distance, and the highest processing efficiency. In other embodiments, it is not excluded that one processing spindle corresponds to two or more processing tables, or one processing table corresponds to two or more spindles, so as to realize the same material being processed by different processing spindles to complete a special process.

[0089] It can be seen that the processing machine in this embodiment has a special structure of the mechanical arm, and cooperates with the material trough that orderly discharges the sheets, so that the pick-and-place part shuttles between the material trough and the processing area to transport the sheets. It can ensure that the pick-and-place part in the processing area moves a certain distance relative to the processing table in the longitudinal direction, thus realizing the "one pick-and-one place" replacement process of the sheets, and the waiting time of the processing spindle is extremely short. If it is replaced with a double-sided structure of the pick-and-place part, after the sheet is picked up, it needs to exit the processing area, rotate in a spacious space, and then return to the processing area to put down the sheet, which greatly prolongs the waiting time of the processing spindle. Obviously, the mechanical arm used in the processing machine in this embodiment can greatly improve the processing efficiency. In addition, the structure of the robot arm in this embodiment is also extremely efficient for the robot arm to take materials from or put materials into the trough, whether it is a vertical trough or a horizontal trough, assuming that one of the pickers in the pick-and-place unit faces upward when taking away the sheet to be processed, when the other pick-and-place unit takes back the processed sheet, the picker faces downward to put the processed sheet into the empty trough area of ​​the trough, and then flips the picker upward to continue picking up the sheet to be processed. During the process of taking and putting materials in the trough area, the processing state of the processing spindle is not affected, thereby reasonably allocating the robot arm mobilization time, that is, allowing the robot arm in the trough area to have more operating time, while reducing the downtime waiting time of the processing spindle in the processing area. Compared with the current processing equipment that has never considered the allocation of material taking and putting time and processing waiting time, this embodiment has made a great contribution from the perspective of reasonably allocating time for each stage.

[0090] Embodiment 2:

[0091] For a sheet picking and placing device, the design of the sheet picking and placing robot arm can be continuously optimized to adapt to more processing occasions. For example, the carrier is a bearing rod, and bearing blocks are installed on the bearing rod in a horizontal distribution. Two pickers are arranged on the bearing block as two pickers of a set of picking and placing parts. The advantage of this combined installation type of robot arm is that it is convenient for the disassembly and maintenance of a single picking and placing part, and it can be extended and expanded as needed in the later stage. However, the installation of the bearing block on the bearing rod requires adaptation design, and manual installation and wiring are required, which is costly, especially since the bearing block itself has a certain thickness. In order to ensure the pipeline layout, one side of the bearing block is installed on the bearing rod, and the bearing rod itself also has a certain thickness. The superposition of the thickness of the two components makes the actual thickness of the picking and placing part very large, and a wider empty slot area is required when adapting the material slot, which leads to the compression of the capacity of the entire material slot.

[0092] This embodiment provides an optimal robot arm solution, which is used for a sheet material picking and placing device. Figure 5 As shown (without the driving mechanism), it includes a carrier 51 extending in the horizontal direction as the length direction, the carrier 51 is a carrier plate 51, and the pick-and-place parts 510 are distributed in the horizontal direction on the carrier plate 51. One lateral end 501 of the carrier plate 51 is installed on the flip driver, and the two pickers 511 and 512 of each group of pick-and-place parts are directly arranged on both sides of the same surface of the carrier plate 51 with the flip axis of the flip driver in the horizontal direction as the center line. It can be seen that in this solution, the carrier adopts an integrated plate structure, and the pick-and-place parts are equivalent to being virtualized. Figure 5 The dotted line in the middle is the pick-and-place part. The picker is directly mounted on the carrier plate, which greatly compresses the thickness of the entire pick-and-place part and makes the pick-and-place part as thin as possible. This long rectangular plate-like robot has the thinnest pick-and-place part thickness and eliminates the problem of installing various components. The pipeline can be arranged from the designed gap in the carrier plate, and the blocking rod of the trough can be moved back accordingly to avoid being touched by the carrier plate. This integrated structure of the robot is also the best in terms of structural stability, and there will be no problem of the pick-and-place part (carrier block) being loose.

[0093] In order to adapt to most material troughs and improve the versatility of this integrated robot arm, the support plate 51 is located between adjacent pick-and-place parts 510 and is provided with an outwardly opening avoidance groove 500, such as Figure 6 The avoidance groove 500 can be molded and completed at the beginning of production. The design of the avoidance groove can also further reduce the weight of the robot arm, making the robot arm easier to drive and reducing power consumption.

[0094] The supporting plate 51 is used to be installed on one end of the flip driver 52 to form a contraction portion 514 whose width is smaller than the width of the supporting plate body. This design can further reduce the overall weight on the one hand, and form a structure of an avoidance groove on the other hand. The end of the contraction portion is provided with a mounting portion 513 whose width is larger than the width of the contraction portion 514 body, so as to increase the combined area between the supporting plate and the flip driver, thereby increasing the stability. The mounting portion 513 is formed with respect to the contraction portion 514 to form two shoulders 515 for mounting the supporting plate on the flip driver in the horizontal direction. Screws or bolts can be used to pass through the two shoulders to fix the supporting plate to the flip driver. This structure is very convenient for manual installation and provides sufficient space for installing screws or bolts. The horizontal installation method is most conducive to fixation and force.

[0095] The carrier is used to be installed to one end of the flip drive to form a plate structure. A rectangular groove that is compatible with the carrier plate structure is provided on the flip drive. During installation, one end of the carrier plate slides into the rectangular groove, which is very convenient. On the one hand, the rectangular groove can play a guiding and positioning role. On the other hand, one end of the carrier plate is deep in the groove, which is more conducive to the stability of the structure. At least the groove wall of the rectangular groove can exert a certain supporting force on the carrier plate.

[0096] The pick-and-place part forms a symmetrical structure with the transverse axis of the carrier as the symmetry axis. The two pickers on the pick-and-place part are symmetrically arranged relative to the transverse axis of the carrier. This symmetrical structure is beneficial to the flipping balance of the carrier, reduces energy consumption, and enables the pick-and-place part to be easier to control when picking up and placing sheets at the material trough, and the appearance of the entire robotic arm is more beautiful.

[0097] The carrier can obtain a consistent, neat and reasonable cross-section through an extrusion and stretching process, and the length is not limited.

[0098] Embodiment 3:

[0099] For a sheet material loading and unloading device, the design of the material box can be continuously optimized to adapt to more processing occasions. The horizontal material trough with upright sheets will occupy more space in the vertical direction. If the material trough space needs to be increased, the longitudinal length of the material trough will be lengthened, which will increase the stroke of the robot arm and compress the longitudinal space of the machine. Alternatively, the longitudinal length of the machine needs to be increased, which will increase the space occupied by the machine. However, the vertical material trough with flat sheets does not need to occupy too much space in the horizontal direction (vertical direction). The capacity of the material trough depends on the vertical height of the material trough. In this way, the longitudinal space of the machine will not be squeezed, and the longitudinal space of the machine can even be further reduced to obtain a smaller space occupation. At the same time, the originally useless vertical space can be fully utilized. Therefore, the vertical material trough is adopted as the preferred solution in this embodiment.

[0100] For example, Figure 1The material box shown in the figure is a model. The material trough has partitions for placing sheets flat and arranged vertically. The front sheet placement area and the rear sheet placement area are respectively arranged in the longitudinal direction of the material trough. The front sheet placement area and the rear sheet placement area are arranged back to back and have opposite openings. This structural design obviously increases the capacity of the material trough and can also adapt to the best processing method. For example, the robot arm can make the picker face downward, and the picker on the rear side of the pick-and-place unit picks up the sheets to be processed in the front sheet placement area and then runs to the processing area. The picker on the front side of the pick-and-place unit picks up the processed sheets in the processing area and the picker on the rear side puts down the sheets to be processed. The pick-and-place unit returns to the material trough area, and the front picker of the pick-and-place unit puts the processed sheets into the rear sheet placement area of ​​the material trough. During the whole process, the robot arm can adjust the direction of the picker without flipping, which greatly reduces the pick-and-place time of the pick-and-place unit in the material trough area. In a further improvement scheme for optimizing the design based on setting the front sheet placement area and the rear sheet placement area in such a material trough, there is no need to set a flipping drive in the robot arm, that is, the sheet picking and placing robot arm includes a carrier extending in the transverse direction as the length direction, and a picking and placing part is arranged on the carrier, and the picking and placing part includes two pickers arranged downward for picking and placing sheets, and the two pickers are respectively arranged on both sides of the carrier along a direction perpendicular to the length of the carrier, so that after one of the pickers picks up the processed sheet in the processing area, the other picker can be translated relative to the processing area to fill the sheet to be processed into the processing area; the carrier can be directly installed on the first driving mechanism, that is, the carrier is installed on the vertical carrying table of the first driving mechanism, and the vertical carrying table bears the installation structure of the flipping drive as in Example 1. The above-mentioned material trough that cooperates with the robot arm needs to set the spacing between adjacent slots to be larger than the thickness of the pick-up and placement part so that the picker of the pick-up and placement part can extend into between the two sheets of adjacent slots to pick up the sheets. In this way, the picker always faces downward to take and store sheets in the vertical material trough, and there is no need to set up an empty slot area. The design of the single-sided picker of the pick-up and placement part helps to minimize the thickness of the pick-up and placement part, which is beneficial to reducing the spacing between adjacent slots of the material trough to increase the capacity.

[0101] For vertical troughs, since the sheets are laid flat, the problem that needs to be faced is that the sheets may slide out of the trough during transportation. This is also the reason why most designers of processing machines choose horizontal troughs and avoid vertical troughs. In a feasible embodiment, the trough has partitions that allow the sheets to be laid flat and arranged vertically. A stopper is provided at the opening of the trough to prevent the sheets from sliding out during transportation. The stopper can be movably installed at the opening of the trough so that the stopper can be removed from the opening of the trough during processing. The stopper of this movable installation structure can effectively prevent the sheets from sliding out of the trough, but it requires manual labor or the addition of an automatic device to drive the stopper to move away, which is time-consuming. Adding an automatic device will inevitably lead to design errors and high costs.

[0102] In view of the above problems, an optimal material trough solution is designed. This embodiment provides a material trough for a sheet material taking and placing device, such as Figure 7 , Figure 8 As shown, the trough has a partition groove for placing the sheet 4 flat and arranged in the vertical direction. The partition groove includes a front clamping part 301 fixed to the front of the sheet and a rear clamping part 302 fixed to the rear of the sheet. The rear clamping part 302 is lower than the horizontal position of the front clamping part 301 to make the rear of the sheet 4 sink to form an inclined placement. It can be understood that in this case, in order to distinguish from the vertical placement of the sheet, this slightly inclined placement of the sheet can still be regarded as a kind of flat placement. In this technical solution, there is no need to add additional stopper components, which saves costs, and the structure is simple and easy to implement. Machine tool designers are often limited to the design thinking of simplified drive, and horizontal grooves or vertical grooves are the most suitable for simplified drive. However, with the trough as the core and the trough of the oblique groove as the reference datum, reverse change of drive can solve more problems. The trough with the simplest structure can realize the sliding of the sheet, and the inclined placement of the sheet can make the trough as a whole more stable and will not overturn. In terms of driving, only the first driving mechanism needs to be adaptively adjusted. For example, the pick-and-place unit is driven to continuously iterate in the longitudinal and vertical directions, so that the robot arm as a whole enters or is withdrawn at an angle that matches the inclined slot. In this embodiment, it is preferred that the first driving mechanism drives the carrier at a corresponding speed ratio in the vertical and longitudinal directions at the same time, so that the carrier carrying the pick-and-place unit moves at a certain speed, which is more efficient. Figure 7 The middle is a schematic diagram of the pick-and-place unit tilting a processed sheet 4; Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram showing that the pick-and-place unit is about to take out a sheet 4 to be processed at an angle.

[0103] It is understandable that, whether it is a vertical trough or a horizontal trough, the pick-and-place part will occupy a certain space when it extends into the trough to take the material. If the trough is full of sheets, a transfer area or a buffer area needs to be provided. The additional space is not what the designer wants. Therefore, in this embodiment, one end of the trough is set as an empty trough area where no sheet to be processed is placed during initial processing ( Figure 4In the material box 3, an empty slot area 30 is specially marked, in which a processed sheet has been placed. It is used for the pick-and-place unit to retrieve the processed sheet from the processing area and arrange the processed sheet from one end of the empty slot area of ​​the material trough to one end of the to-be-processed sheet area of ​​the material trough in sequence to form a material trough shared by the to-be-processed sheet and the processed sheet. The empty slot area is an area reserved after the to-be-processed sheet is arranged in the material trough, but it is not always idle. The first processed sheet and subsequent processed sheets will be discharged from this area. As the to-be-processed sheets decrease and the processed sheets increase, the empty slot area is eventually transferred from one end of the material trough to the other end. After the processing is completed, the material box or the material trough can be directly taken away. In this way, there is no need to allocate additional space while sacrificing the fullness of the material trough, and the efficiency of taking and placing sheets can be greatly improved. Generally speaking, the thickness of the pick-and-place part will be greater than the spacing between two sheets between adjacent slots in the trough, especially for the pick-and-place part that is installed on the bearing rod with a bearing block. In this case, an empty slot area is required. An empty slot area with a width greater than the thickness of the pick-and-place part is set at one end of the trough in the direction of sheet arrangement, so that the processed sheets are arranged from the empty slot area to the other end. Often, leaving one slot empty in the empty slot area allows the pick-and-place part to normally pick and place sheets from the trough. For a thicker pick-and-place part, more slots need to be left empty, which will reduce the actual capacity of the trough. Therefore, designers will design the pick-and-place part to be as thin as possible. Obviously, setting a picker on one side is more conducive to minimizing the thickness of the pick-and-place part, especially when the carrier adopts a bearing plate design, which can achieve the thinnest thickness.

[0104] Embodiment 4:

[0105] This embodiment is improved on the basis of the above embodiment, mainly forming a processing island mode with two processing areas opposite to each other around the sheet material taking and placing device, such as Fig. 9 As shown, the specific technical solution is to set processing areas (processing table 2) on both sides of the material trough (material box 3) in the longitudinal direction, and the pick-up and placement part of the carrier 51 picks and places the sheet between the material box and the processing areas on both sides. Because in the existing loading and unloading devices, such as the several processing machines mentioned in the background technology, the processing spindle and processing area are set on one side of the machine in the longitudinal direction, and the material trough is relatively set on the other side of the machine in the longitudinal direction. At the same time, in the complete processing machine, the entire machine will be completely covered by a protective cover to ensure safety. Only a sliding door is opened on the side of the machine where the material trough is set, so as to facilitate the operator to replace the material trough. The design concept of "the mechanical arm slides in the longitudinal direction of the machine, and the machine opens a sliding door in the longitudinal direction" has been followed by those skilled in the art. Even if a multi-axis linked mechanical arm is used in the corresponding processing equipment to be able to pick up and place materials in all directions, it will still be difficult to operate with a fixed arranged material trough.

[0106] In view of this, the present embodiment breaks through the existing conventional thinking and changes the idea of ​​setting a sliding door on one side of the material trough, so that the processing machine formed in this way is more efficient.

[0107] A machine table 9 is provided in the processing machine, a first driving mechanism 53 is installed on one side of the machine table 9 in the horizontal direction, a fixed beam gantry 91 is provided on both sides of the machine table 9 in the vertical direction, a transverse track and a transverse driver for driving the processing spindle 1 to move on the transverse track are provided on the fixed beam gantry 91, a processing area is provided on the machine table 9 below the processing spindle 1, and a material box 3 is installed between the two processing areas. The first driving mechanism is installed on one side of the machine table in the horizontal direction, which can facilitate the expansion of the carrier of the sheet picking and placing robot arm in the horizontal direction.

[0108] In other embodiments, the first drive mechanism can be arranged above the machine using a suspended track, or even a structure in which the longitudinal slide rail of the first drive mechanism is arranged in the middle of the machine and the carrier of the mechanical arm extends to both sides in the horizontal direction, as long as the sheet picking and placing mechanical arm can move longitudinally and vertically relative to the machine. If the first drive mechanism is arranged on the upper side of the machine, sliding doors can be arranged on both sides of the machine in the horizontal direction to replace the material trough, and the space of the machine can be further utilized.

[0109] In order to facilitate the unified setting of each processing machine, corresponding improvement measures are made in the present embodiment so that multiple processing machines can be connected in parallel to form a production line mode. The specific plan is to arrange parallel machines on both sides or one side of the machine in the longitudinal direction, and to arrange fixed-beam gantries with processing spindles installed on both sides or one side of the parallel machines in the longitudinal direction. The fixed-beam gantry on the parallel machines is arranged back to back with the fixed-beam gantry close to the machine, and the parallel machines are provided with the same sheet picking and placing robotic arms, processing areas and material boxes as those on the machine.

[0110] This parallel mode allows more shared space to exist between adjacent machines, for example, a shared tool magazine. The specific solution is: a shared tool magazine is set between the parallel machine 9 and the fixed-beam gantry set back against the machine. In fact, the machine and the parallel machine can have exactly the same structure. A tool head mounting seat corresponding to the machining spindle 1 is set in the shared tool magazine 6, and a shared longitudinal slide rail 62 is set on the machine and the parallel machine. A tool head transport mechanism 63 is set on the shared longitudinal slide rail 62 for moving between the tool magazine and the machining spindles on both sides of the fixed-beam gantry set back against the machine to replace the tool head. The tool head transport mechanism is provided with a clamping portion for clamping, removing or installing the tool head from the tool magazine or the machining spindle.

[0111] like Fig. 9As shown, the production line formed in this embodiment includes at least two parallel machines, each parallel machine is provided with a fixed beam gantry on both longitudinal sides, a common tool magazine is provided between every two adjacent (back-to-back) fixed beam gantries, a common longitudinal slide rail is provided between every two adjacent machines, a tool head transport mechanism is provided on the common longitudinal slide rail for moving between the tool magazine and the two side processing spindles on the back-to-back fixed beam gantry to replace the tool head, and a clamping part is provided on the tool head transport mechanism for clamping, removing or installing the tool head from the tool magazine or the processing spindle. Of course, there may be special machines at both ends of the entire production line, that is, the machine at the end may be a single fixed beam gantry, which can form a back-to-back arrangement with the fixed beam gantry of the adjacent machine, but the machine at the end may also be a structure with fixed beam gantries on both longitudinal sides, except that the tool magazine behind the fixed beam gantry at the outer end is not shared. Therefore, it meets the requirement as long as a common tool magazine is set at the rear side of two adjacent fixed-beam gantries of adjacent machines.

[0112] The tool magazine structure involved can completely use the tool magazine device and related applications disclosed in the patent document disclosed in China with publication number CN109465664A.

[0113] Since the production line formed by this parallel machine does not have sliding doors in the front and back of the machine in the longitudinal direction, but can be provided with sliding doors or openings on both sides or one side of the machine in the transverse direction for replacing the material trough, it is more conducive to adding a material trough transportation line on the side of the machine to form a horizontal conveying line connected with the transportation line. The material trough is transported to the lateral side of each machine through the transportation line, and then transported into the machine through the horizontal conveying line, further realizing the automated production line.

[0114] Embodiment 5:

[0115] With respect to the sheet processing machine in the above-mentioned embodiment, this embodiment provides a more efficient processing method, which is suitable for a sheet picking and placing device in which the picking and placing part includes two pickers for picking and placing sheets, and the two pickers are respectively arranged on both sides of the carrier along a direction perpendicular to the length of the carrier, and a manipulator structure is combined with a material trough to sequentially discharge the sheets. The processing machine is processed according to the following steps.

[0116] Since the pick-and-place unit includes two pickers, in some environments, when picking up materials for the first time, both pickers can pick up sheets respectively to achieve the first full-load picking of materials. Figure 6The robotic arm in the example is more conducive to the reader's understanding. One of the pickers 511 of the pick-and-place part takes out the sheet to be processed from one end of the material trough and then exits the material trough. The carrying body carries the pick-and-place part to the other end of the material trough, and the carrying body flips over so that the other picker 512 picks up the sheet to be processed at the other end of the material trough; the carrying body carries the pick-and-place part to the processing area, and one of the pickers 511 puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area. After the pick-and-place part exits the processing area and waits for the sheets in the processing area to be processed, the idle picker 511 of the pick-and-place part picks up the processed sheet in the processing area, and moves longitudinally to place the sheet to be processed into the processing area by another picker 512. The pick-and-place part exits the processing area and moves to the material box; the carrying body rotates so that the picker 511 that has picked up the processed sheet is close to the material trough and keeps the plane of the processed sheet parallel to the plane of the sheet in the material trough, and puts the processed sheet into the material trough.

[0117] Another way to fully load the pick-and-place section when taking materials for the first time is to reserve sufficient space in the empty slot area of ​​the material trough, and place a sheet to be processed in advance at one end of the empty slot area, the pick-and-place section extends into the empty slot area to absorb the sheet to be processed in the empty slot area, the pick-and-place section exits the material trough and flips so that another idle picker faces the sheet to be processed placement area, and then extends into the material trough to continue taking out a sheet to be processed, thereby fully loading the pick-and-place section.

[0118] Another way to reduce the empty slot area of ​​the trough and increase the capacity of the trough while achieving the first full load of the pick-and-place unit is to set a temporary storage area next to the trough, put a sheet to be processed into the temporary storage area, and first have a picker pick up the sheet to be processed in the temporary storage area, and then the pick-and-place unit is adjusted, and another idle picker reaches into the trough to take out the sheet to be processed, so as to achieve full load of the pick-and-place unit. After the pick-and-place unit is fully loaded, it runs to the processing area to discharge the material and replace the sheet, which is no different from the above.

[0119] In the actual processing process, it is not necessary to fully load the pick-and-place unit when taking materials for the first time. In view of the idea of ​​the present technical solution to mobilize as many robotic arms as possible, and when the spindle is processing, more time can be allocated for the robotic arms to operate in the trough area to take or place materials. Therefore, in the most optimized processing method, when taking materials for the first time, the pick-and-place unit can only take out one sheet to be processed. The specific implementation method is as follows: Figure 6 The robot arm is used as an example to facilitate the reader's understanding. Fig.10 .

[0120] The first is the material picking step: at the beginning of processing, the two pickers of the pick-and-place part are unloaded, and the carrier of the sheet picking and placing robot arm rotates to a state where the plane of the pick-and-place part is parallel to the plane of the sheet so that one of the pickers of the pick-and-place part can extend into the material trough. At this time, the picker should face the sheet to be processed so that the picker can move forward slightly after extending into the material trough to pick up the sheet to be processed. Since the two pickers of the pick-and-place part are arranged one after the other in the longitudinal direction relative to the carrier, the picker close to one side of the material trough picks up the sheet to be processed and takes it out of the material trough, thereby completing the step of picking up materials in the material trough. It should be noted that in this step, if the plane of the pick-and-place part is already parallel to the plane of the sheet at the beginning and the picker is also facing the sheet to be processed, the plane of the pick-and-place part is considered to be rotated 0°. If fine-tuning is required, the pick-and-place part will be driven to rotate a small angle. If the plane of the pick-and-place part is perpendicular to the plane of the sheet, the pick-and-place part needs to be rotated 90°. In short, when the pick-and-place part is taking materials in the trough area, it needs to be adjusted according to the angle of the picker to achieve reaching into the trough to take materials.

[0121] Next is the material changing step: the carrier on the sheet picking and placing robot moves relative to the processing area so that the picking and placing part enters the processing area. In view of the fact that the processing area can be set as a mobile table mode for longitudinal movement, the step of the carrier on the sheet picking and placing robot moves relative to the processing area so that the picking and placing part enters the processing area includes: the carrier moves a certain distance toward the processing area so that the picking and placing part enters the processing area to pick up or put down materials, or the processing table moves a certain distance toward the material trough so that the picking and placing part enters the processing area to pick up or put down materials, or the processing table moves a certain distance toward the material trough and the carrier also moves a certain distance toward the processing area so that the picking and placing part enters the processing area to pick up or put down materials. The mobile table in the processing area actively approaches the material trough area, which, on the one hand, reduces the stroke of the sheet picking and placing robot arm and improves the processing efficiency, and on the other hand, when the mobile table approaches the material trough area, it walks out of the interference area of ​​the processing spindle and can obtain a relatively open area, which is convenient for the picking and placing part to quickly and efficiently replace the material trough. The carrier rotates to a state where the plane of the pick-and-place part is parallel to the plane of the processing area and the sheet faces downward, so that the picker can directly pick up the processed sheet and quickly put down the sheet to be processed. Of course, this action can also be completed before entering the processing area. The pick-and-place part can be adjusted in the material trough area to make the sheet face downward, and then the idle picker in the pick-and-place part takes the processed sheet on the processing area. The pick-and-place part is longitudinally translated relative to the processing area, and the picker that picks up the sheet to be processed places the sheet to be processed into the processing area, thereby completing the material replacement step.

[0122] Then comes the material storage step: the pick-up and place unit picks up the processed sheet and moves it to the material trough, the carrier rotates so that the picker that picks up the processed sheet is close to the material trough and keeps the plane of the processed sheet parallel to the plane of the sheet in the material trough, and puts the processed sheet into the material trough, thereby completing the material storage step. It should be noted that in this step, if the pick-up and place unit retrieves the processed sheet from the processing area, in view of the situation that the thickness of the pick-up and place unit is greater than the spacing between adjacent slots in the material trough, an empty slot area is set at one end of the material trough, and the picker retrieves the processed sheet from the processing area and arranges it in sequence from one end of the empty slot area to one end of the sheet to be processed. The direction of the picker during material storage will be flipped 180° relative to the direction of the picker during material retrieval. For example, if the picker faces up during material retrieval, the picker should face down during material storage, that is, the plane of the pick-up and place unit remains parallel to the plane of the sheet in the material trough and the picker faces the side of the empty slot area, and then the sheet is smoothly put back into the material trough. If it is a horizontal trough, the pick-and-place unit needs to perform a ±90° flip adjustment when retrieving the sheet from the processing area so that the picker faces the empty trough area and stands upright. If fine-tuning is required, the pick-and-place unit will be driven to rotate a small angle. In short, when the pick-and-place unit stores materials in the trough area, it also needs to be adjusted according to the angle of the picker to achieve the ability to reach into the trough and store materials.

[0123] Finally, the step of judging whether to exit or cycle: According to the number of sheets to be processed in the trough, it can be determined that after the processing spindle processes a certain number of sheets, it is necessary to stop the machine and replace the trough that is already full of processed sheets. At this time, the system determines whether the processed sheet put back into the trough is the last sheet. If it is the last processed sheet, the pick-and-place unit exits the trough and ends the sheet picking and placing. If it is not the last processed sheet, it means that it is necessary to continue to pick up materials for the processing area, and the pick-and-place unit exits the trough and returns to the above-mentioned material picking step.

[0124] It can be seen from the above that the processing method in this embodiment can be applied to horizontal material troughs or vertical material troughs. In the whole processing method, the pick-and-place part can be almost adjusted in the processing area, and the pick-and-place part directly moves relative to the processing area in parallel to realize material change. The waiting time of the processing spindle for material change is minimized, and the processing time period of the processing spindle is cleverly covered by the time period of the robot arm taking and storing materials in the material trough area. The complex actions of the robot arm are placed in the material trough area, and the simple actions of the robot arm are left in the processing area, so as to reasonably allocate the action time and action area of ​​the robot arm.

[0125] In addition to material troughs that are arranged vertically or placed horizontally, the processing method of this embodiment is still applicable to sheets that are placed at an angle in the material trough, except that the drive will make appropriate adjustments when the picker takes the sheet to be processed out of the material trough or puts the processed sheet into the material trough. That is, the flip driver drives the carrier to rotate so that the inclination angle of the pick-up and placement part is consistent with the inclination angle of the sheet in the material trough, and the first drive mechanism drives the carrier at the same time in the vertical and longitudinal directions at a corresponding speed ratio so that the pick-up and placement part of the carrier moves at an inclined speed. According to the special setting of the sheet, the vertical and longitudinal speed ratios of the first drive mechanism are coordinated to achieve inclined pick-up and placement of the sheet, thereby improving the pick-up and placement efficiency.

[0126] Embodiment 6:

[0127] This embodiment optimizes the processing method based on the above-mentioned embodiment 5, so that the processing method is more efficient when it is applicable to vertical troughs and horizontal troughs.

[0128] Taking a vertical trough as an example, there are two processing modes, one of which is that the sheets are placed flat in the trough and arranged vertically, and the picker picks up the sheets to be processed from top to bottom in the trough with the picker facing downward. After the picker close to the trough takes the sheets to be processed out of the trough, the carrier carries the pick-up and place part to the processing area, and the idle picker on the pick-up and place part picks up the processed sheets in the processing area. The pick-up and place part is longitudinally translated relative to the processing area and the picker close to the trough puts the sheets to be processed into the processing area. The carrier carries the pick-up and place part to the trough, and the pick-up and place part flips so that the picker that has picked up the processed sheets faces upward and puts the processed sheets into the empty slot area at the upper end of the trough. In the whole mode, after the picker takes out the sheets from the trough with the picker facing downward, it can directly enter the processing area for material replacement, but when retrieving the processed sheets, the picker needs to be flipped and adjusted so that the picker faces upward and puts the processed sheets into the empty slot area.

[0129] Another mode is that the sheets are placed flat in the material trough and arranged vertically, and the picker faces upward to pick up the sheets to be processed from the bottom to the top in the material trough. After the picker close to the material trough takes the sheets to be processed out of the material trough, the pick-up and place part flips over so that the picker that has picked up the sheets to be processed faces downward, and the carrier carries the pick-up and place part to the processing area. The idle picker on the pick-up and place part picks up the processed sheets in the processing area. The pick-up and place part translates longitudinally relative to the processing area and the picker that has picked up the sheets to be processed puts the sheets to be processed into the processing area. The carrier carries the pick-up and place part to the material trough, and the picker that has picked up the processed sheets remains facing downward and puts the processed sheets into the empty slot area at the lower end of the material trough. In the whole mode, after the picker takes out the sheet from the material slot with the picker facing upward, it needs to be flipped and adjusted so that the picker faces downward before entering the processing area to change materials. However, when retrieving the processed sheet, the picker does not need to be flipped and adjusted, and the processed sheet can be directly placed into the empty slot area with the picker facing downward.

[0130] It can be seen that for a vertical trough, the picker only needs to be adjusted once during the process of picking up or placing the material. Relatively speaking, the processing method will be simpler and the processing efficiency will be better. If the sheet is placed at an angle, the drive can still be adjusted according to the embodiment 5 for the inclined sheet.

[0131] Taking the horizontal trough as an example, there are also two processing modes, see Fig.11 , Fig.12 , Fig.13 Schematic diagram of the loading and unloading unit changing materials in the processing area, and loading and unloading materials in the horizontal trough.

[0132] One of them is that the sheets are vertically arranged in the trough, Fig.12 As shown, the picker 511 faces the processing area and picks up the sheet to be processed from far to near relative to the processing area in the material trough. After the picker 511 close to the material trough takes the sheet to be processed out of the material trough, the pick-up and place portion is flipped to make the picker face downward, and the carrier carries the pick-up and place portion to the processing area. The idle picker on the pick-up and place portion picks up the processed sheet in the processing area. The pick-up and place portion of the carrier 51 is longitudinally translated relative to the processing area (processing table 2) and the picker close to the material trough puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area. For example, Fig.11 In the embodiment, the processing table 2 is movable. Fig.11 The processing table shown by the dotted line is the position where the picker of the pick-up and place unit picks up the processed sheet before changing the position, and the processing table shown by the solid line is the position where the picker of the pick-up and place unit puts down the sheet to be processed. The carrier carries the pick-up and place unit to the material slot, and the pick-up and place unit flips so that the picker that has picked up the processed sheet faces away from the processing area and puts the processed sheet into the empty slot area at the far end of the material slot. In the whole mode, after the picker takes out the sheet from the material slot to the left or right, it must be flipped and adjusted so that the picker faces downward before entering the processing area for material change, and when retrieving the processed sheet, the picker still needs to be flipped and adjusted (90°), and the processed sheet can be put into the empty slot area only after the pick-up and place unit is parallel to the sheet in the material slot.

[0133] Another mode is that the sheets are erected in the material trough and arranged longitudinally, and the picker picks up the sheets to be processed from near to far relative to the processing area in the material trough with its back to the processing area. After the picker close to the material trough takes the sheets to be processed out of the material trough, the pick-up and place portion is flipped so that the picker that has picked up the sheets to be processed faces downward, and the carrier carries the pick-up and place portion to the processing area. The idle picker on the pick-up and place portion picks up the processed sheets in the processing area, and the pick-up and place portion translates longitudinally relative to the processing area and the picker that has picked up the sheets to be processed puts the sheets to be processed into the processing area, and the carrier carries the pick-up and place portion to the material trough, and the pick-up and place portion is flipped so that the picker that has picked up the processed sheets faces the processing area and puts the processed sheets into the empty slot area at the near end of the material trough. In the entire mode, after the picker takes out the sheet from the material trough with the picker facing upward, it must be flipped and adjusted so that the picker faces downward before entering the processing area to change materials. When retrieving the processed sheet, the picker still needs to be flipped and adjusted (90°). The processed sheet can only be placed in the empty trough area after the pick-up and place part is parallel to the sheet in the trough.

[0134] It can be seen that for horizontal troughs, the processing method used is a little more complicated than that for vertical troughs, and the adjustment actions of the pickup will increase, but it will still be an efficient processing mode.

[0135] Embodiment 7:

[0136] This embodiment only provides a preferred processing method for a special robot arm in combination with a special material trough. There is no need to set a flipping drive in the robot arm, that is, the sheet picking and placing robot arm includes a carrier extending in the horizontal direction as the length direction, and a picking and placing part is set on the carrier. The picking and placing part includes two pickers arranged downward for picking and placing sheets, and the two pickers are respectively arranged on both sides of the carrier along the direction perpendicular to the length of the carrier, so that after one of the pickers picks up the processed sheets in the processing area, the other picker can be translated relative to the processing area to fill the sheets to be processed into the processing area; the carrier can be directly installed on the first driving mechanism, that is, the carrier is installed on the vertical bearing platform of the first driving mechanism, and the vertical bearing platform bears the installation structure of the flipping drive in Example 1. The structure of the special material trough is that the material trough has a partition groove for placing sheets flat and vertically arranged, and the front sheet placement area and the rear sheet placement area are respectively arranged in the longitudinal direction of the material trough, and the front sheet placement area and the rear sheet placement area are arranged back to back and have opposite openings, that is, a vertical material trough with two rows back to back is formed. The above-mentioned material trough that cooperates with the robot arm needs to set the spacing between adjacent grooves to be larger than the thickness of the pick-up and placement part so that the picker of the pick-up and placement part can extend into between the two sheets of adjacent grooves to pick up the sheets. In this way, the picker always takes and stores sheets in the vertical material trough facing downward, and there is no need to set up an empty slot area.

[0137] Before introducing the method, for ease of understanding, considering that the material trough defines the front sheet placement area and the rear sheet placement area, the two pickers of the pick-and-place part are correspondingly defined as the front picker and the rear picker. For example, the side away from the processing spindle in the longitudinal direction is called the front side, and the side close to the processing spindle is called the rear side. The corresponding preferred processing method includes:

[0138] Rear side material picking step: The front side picker of the pick-and-place unit picks up the sheet to be processed in the rear side sheet placement area of ​​the material trough to complete the material picking step.

[0139] A material changing step in a processing area: the pick-and-place unit moves to the processing area, the rear picker of the pick-and-place unit picks up the processed sheet in the processing area, and then the front picker of the pick-and-place unit puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area to complete the material changing.

[0140] Front side material storage step: the pick-and-place unit runs to the material trough area, and the rear picker of the pick-and-place unit puts the processed sheets into the front side sheet placement area of ​​the material trough to complete the material storage.

[0141] Front side material picking step: The rear side picker of the pick-and-place unit continues to pick up the sheet to be processed from the front side sheet placement area of ​​the material trough to complete the material picking.

[0142] Second, the material changing step in the processing area: the pick-and-place unit runs to the processing area, the front picker of the pick-and-place unit picks up the processed sheet in the processing area, and then the rear picker of the pick-and-place unit puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area to complete the material changing.

[0143] Rear side material storage step: the pick-and-place unit runs to the material trough area, and the front side picker of the pick-and-place unit puts the processed sheets into the rear side sheet placement area of ​​the material trough to complete the material storage.

[0144] At this point, the two pickers in the pick-and-place unit have completed the entire process of cross-pickup and replacement. In fact, material storage and material retrieval are completed on the same side of the material trough, which is conducive to saving storage and retrieval time. At this time, the front picker of the pick-and-place unit can return to the rear sheet placement area of ​​the material trough to pick up the sheet to be processed to complete the material retrieval step, and the cycle is repeated until all the sheets to be processed in the material trough are processed and replaced with processed sheets, and the processing is completed. Of course, it is also possible to use the rear picker of the pick-and-place unit to pick up materials from the front sheet placement area of ​​the material trough as the starting step, and the cycle is also entered until the processing is completed.

[0145] From the above, it can be seen that this processing method enables the two pickers of the pick-and-place part to alternately pick up and place materials in the two sheet placement areas of the material trough. After the pickers store the processed sheets in the area on the corresponding side, they can directly take out the sheets to be processed from the bottom without too much travel, which greatly saves the time for picking up and placing materials and also increases the capacity of the material trough.

[0146] Of course, when a sheet picking and placing robot arm is provided with a flipping drive, the processing method in this embodiment can still be applied, but the flipping drive may not be used frequently.

[0147] Embodiment 8:

[0148] Based on the above-mentioned embodiment 7, if the material trough has a partition groove that allows the sheet to be placed flat and arranged in a vertical direction, the partition groove includes a front clamping part fixed to the front of the sheet and a rear clamping part fixed to the rear of the sheet, and the rear clamping part is lower in horizontal position relative to the front clamping part to make the rear of the sheet sink to form an inclined placement. This special structure of the material trough does not need to set any stopper components to achieve sheet anti-slip. Then the robot arm is restored to the structure with a flip driver in embodiment 1 or 2. The sheet is placed obliquely in the material trough, and when the picker takes the sheet to be processed out of the material trough or puts the processed sheet into the material trough, the flip driver drives the carrier to rotate so that the inclination angle of the pick-up and placement part is consistent with the inclination angle of the sheet in the material trough, and the first drive mechanism drives the carrier at the same time in the vertical and longitudinal directions at a corresponding speed ratio so that the carrier carrying the pick-up and placement part moves obliquely at a certain speed. In this processing method, the flip driver can be used only to adapt to the oblique entry and exit of the material trough where the sheet is placed obliquely, and there is no need to flip it significantly, reducing the operation of the flip driver, saving time and control costs.

[0149] Of course, since the sheet picking and placing robot arm is provided with a flipping drive structure, the material picking and placing methods in the above-mentioned embodiments 1, 2, and 5 can still be applied to the case where the processing areas are set on both sides and the material box is set as the material box in embodiment 6. For example, in the following method:

[0150] A1: When the processing spindle on one side processes the sheet, one of the pickers of the pick-and-place part takes out the sheet to be processed from the material trough area, and one of the pickers picks up the sheet to be processed while the other picker is unloaded and runs to the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on the other side. After the processing spindle on the other side completes the processing of the sheet, the unloaded picker picks up the processed sheet in the processing area, and the picker carrying the sheet to be processed puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on the other side. After the pick-and-place part leaves the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on the other side, the processing spindle processes the sheet to be processed.

[0151] B1: The pick-and-place unit carries the processed sheets and places them into the material trough area, and takes out a sheet to be processed from the material trough area and runs it to the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on one side. After the processing spindle on this side completes processing of the sheet, the unloaded picker picks up the processed sheet, and the other picker places the sheet to be processed into the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on one side. After the pick-and-place unit leaves the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on this side, the processing spindle processes the sheet to be processed.

[0152] C1: The pick-and-place unit carries the processed sheet material into the trough area and then enters step A1, or the pick-and-place unit carries the processed sheet material into the trough area and then the pick-and-place unit takes the processed sheet material in the processing areas on both sides back to the trough area to end the processing.

[0153] It can be seen that the above method does not limit whether the material box is a two-row vertical material trough, and a single-row vertical or horizontal material trough can be used, such as the trough in Example 1 or Example 3. In fact, for a robot arm with other structures, as long as one pick-up and placement part corresponds to two pickers, the above double-side processing area processing method can also be applied.

[0154] If the material box adopts a structure in which two rows of sheets are placed obliquely and back-to-back with vertical material troughs and processing areas are set on both sides, the present embodiment further provides a corresponding optimal processing method as follows.

[0155] Rear side material picking step: the flip driver adjusts the angle of the pick-and-place part, and the front side picker of the pick-and-place part picks up the sheet to be processed in the sheet placement area at the rear side of the material trough to complete the material picking.

[0156] A material changing step in a processing area: the pick-and-place unit moves to the processing area, the rear picker of the pick-and-place unit picks up the processed sheet in the processing area, and then the front picker of the pick-and-place unit puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area to complete the material changing.

[0157] Front side material storage step: the pick-and-place unit moves to the material trough area, the flip driver adjusts the angle of the pick-and-place unit, and the rear picker of the pick-and-place unit puts the processed sheet into the front sheet placement area of ​​the material trough to complete the material storage.

[0158] Front side material picking step: the flip driver adjusts the angle of the pick-and-place unit, and the rear picker of the pick-and-place unit continues to take out the sheet to be processed from the front sheet placement area of ​​the material trough to complete the material picking.

[0159] Second, the material changing step in the processing area: the pick-and-place unit runs to the processing area, the front picker of the pick-and-place unit picks up the processed sheet in the processing area, and then the rear picker of the pick-and-place unit puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area to complete the material changing.

[0160] Rear side material storage step: the pick-and-place unit moves to the material trough area, the flip driver adjusts the angle of the pick-and-place unit, and the front side picker of the pick-and-place unit puts the processed sheet into the rear side sheet placement area of ​​the material trough to complete the material storage.

[0161] The processing machine and processing method including the sheet material picking and placing device provided by the present invention are introduced in detail above. Specific examples are used in this article to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the present invention. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the core idea of ​​the present invention. At the same time, for general technical personnel in this field, according to the ideas and methods of the present invention, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scopes. In summary, the content of this specification should not be understood as a limitation on the present invention.

Claims

1. A sheet material taking and placing device, characterized in that: The invention comprises a material box and a sheet picking and placing mechanical arm for picking and placing sheets between the material box and the processing area; the sheet picking and placing mechanical arm comprises a carrier extending in the transverse direction as the length direction, a flipping driver driving the carrier to flip in the length direction as the axis, and a first driving mechanism driving the flipping driver and the carrier to move in the vertical and longitudinal directions; a picking and placing part is arranged on the carrier, and the picking and placing part comprises two pickers for picking and placing sheets, and the two pickers are respectively arranged on both sides of the carrier along a direction perpendicular to the length of the carrier, and one of the pickers picks up the processed sheets in the processing area, and the other picker can be translated relative to the processing area to fill the sheets to be processed into the processing area; the material box has a material trough for arranging and holding the sheets, and the material trough is connected to the picking and placing sheet The number of pick-and-place parts on the material robot arm is consistent and correspondingly arranged; a pick-and-place part with two pickers is arranged on the same side of the carrier, so that two sheets of sheet material can be kept on the same side of the robot arm. When changing sheets in the processing area, it is only necessary to directly translate a certain distance after taking the processed sheet to put down the sheet to be processed; at least two or more groups of pick-and-place parts are arranged along the length direction on the same side of the carrier, and there are also more than two material slots in the material box accordingly; the first driving mechanism includes a longitudinal track, a longitudinal bearing platform, a longitudinal driver driving the longitudinal bearing platform to move on the longitudinal track, a vertical track arranged on the longitudinal bearing platform, a vertical bearing platform and a vertical driver driving the vertical bearing platform to move on the vertical track, and the flip driver is installed on the vertical bearing platform.

2. The sheet material taking and placing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: One end of the material trough is set as an empty trough area where no sheet material to be processed is placed during initial processing. It is used for the picking and placing part to take back the processed sheets from the processing area and arrange the processed sheets in sequence from one end of the empty trough area of ​​the material trough to one end of the sheet material area to be processed of the material trough to form a material trough shared by the sheets to be processed and the processed sheets.

3. The sheet material taking and placing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material trough has partitions for placing sheets flat and arranged vertically. A front sheet placement area and a rear sheet placement area are respectively arranged in the longitudinal direction of the material trough. The front sheet placement area and the rear sheet placement area are arranged back to back and have opposite openings.

4. The sheet material taking and placing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The material trough has partitions for allowing the sheets to be laid flat and arranged vertically or for allowing the sheets to stand upright and arranged longitudinally.

5. The sheet material taking and placing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material trough has partitions for placing the sheets flat and arranged vertically. The partitions include a front clamping portion for fixing the front of the sheet and a rear clamping portion for fixing the rear of the sheet. The rear clamping portion is lower than the horizontal position of the front clamping portion to make the rear of the sheet sink and form an inclined placement.

6. The sheet material taking and placing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The trough has partitions for placing sheets flat and arranged vertically. A stopper is arranged at the opening of the trough to prevent the sheets from sliding out during transportation. The stopper can be movably installed at the opening of the trough and can be removed from the opening of the trough during processing.

7. The sheet material taking and placing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A material box adjustment drive device is provided at the bottom of the material box for adjusting the position of the material slot in the transverse direction so that the material slot is longitudinally aligned with the pick-and-place portion. The material box adjustment drive device includes a material box transverse track and a material box driver for driving the material box to move on the material box transverse track.

8. The sheet material taking and placing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The carrier is a carrier plate, on which the pick-and-place parts are distributed laterally. One lateral end of the carrier plate is installed on the flip driver. The two pickers of each group of pick-and-place parts are directly arranged on both sides of the same surface of the carrier plate with the lateral flip axis of the flip driver as the center line.

9. The sheet material taking and placing device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The load-bearing plate is provided with an outwardly opening avoidance groove between adjacent pick-and-place parts.

10. The sheet material taking and placing device according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that: The supporting plate is used to be installed on one end of the flip driver to form a contraction portion with a width smaller than the width of the supporting plate body, and the end of the contraction portion is provided with a mounting portion with a width greater than the width of the contraction portion body. The mounting portion forms two shoulders relative to the contraction portion that can install the supporting plate on the flip driver in the horizontal direction.

11. The sheet material taking and placing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The carrier is used to be installed on one end of the flip driver to form a plate structure, and a rectangular groove matching the carrier plate structure is arranged on the flip driver.

12. The sheet material taking and placing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The carrier is a carrier rod, on which carrier blocks are installed in a transverse distribution, and on which two pickers are arranged as two pickers of a set of pick-and-place parts.

13. The sheet material taking and placing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The pick-and-place portion forms a symmetrical structure with the transverse axis of the carrier as the symmetry axis, and two pickers on the pick-and-place portion are symmetrically arranged relative to the transverse axis of the carrier.

14. The sheet material taking and placing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: Processing areas are respectively arranged on both sides of the material trough in the longitudinal direction, and the taking and placing part takes and places the sheets between the material box and the processing areas on both sides.

15. A sheet material processing machine, characterized in that The sheet material loading and unloading device comprises the sheet material loading and unloading device as described in any one of claims 1 to 14, and further comprises a processing spindle and a processing table arranged in a processing area corresponding to the material trough.

16. The sheet material processing machine according to claim 15, characterized in that The number of the processing spindles, the pick-and-place parts, and the material troughs are consistent and they are arranged one by one in the longitudinal direction.

17. The sheet material processing machine according to claim 15, characterized in that A longitudinal slide rail for the longitudinal movement of the processing table is arranged in the processing area, and the processing table is driven by a processing table driver to move longitudinally along the longitudinal slide rail.

18. The sheet material processing machine according to claim 15, characterized in that An empty slot area with a width greater than the thickness of the pick-and-place portion is provided at one end of the material slot in the sheet arrangement direction, so that the processed sheets can be arranged from the empty slot area to the other end.

19. The sheet material processing machine according to claim 15, characterized in that: It also includes a machine table, a first driving mechanism driving a sheet picking and placing robot arm to move longitudinally and vertically relative to the machine table, a fixed-beam gantry is arranged on one side of the machine table in the longitudinal direction, a transverse track and a transverse driver for driving a processing spindle to move on the transverse track are arranged on the fixed-beam gantry, a longitudinal moving table which can move longitudinally on the machine table is arranged below the processing spindle on the machine table, the processing table is installed on the longitudinal moving table, and a material box is installed on the side of the machine table opposite to the processing spindle.

20. The sheet material processing machine according to claim 19, characterized in that A tool magazine is arranged on the rear side of the fixed-beam gantry, and a tool head mounting seat corresponding to the machining spindle is arranged in the tool magazine. A longitudinal slide rail is arranged on the machine table, and a tool head transport mechanism for moving between the tool magazine and the machining spindle to replace the tool head is arranged on the longitudinal slide rail. The tool head transport mechanism is provided with a clamping part for clamping, removing or installing the tool head from the tool magazine or the machining spindle.

21. The sheet material processing machine according to claim 15, characterized in that It also includes a machine platform, a first driving mechanism driving a sheet picking and placing robot arm to move longitudinally and vertically relative to the machine platform, fixed-beam gantries are arranged on both sides of the machine platform in the longitudinal direction, transverse tracks and transverse drivers for driving a processing spindle to move on the transverse tracks are arranged on the fixed-beam gantries, a processing area is arranged on the machine platform below the processing spindle, and a material box is installed between the two processing areas.

22. The sheet material processing machine according to claim 21, characterized in that It also includes a parallel machine arranged on both sides or one side of the machine, a fixed-beam gantry with a processing spindle installed on both sides or one side of the parallel machine, the fixed-beam gantry on the parallel machine is back-to-back with the fixed-beam gantry close to the machine, and the parallel machine is provided with the same sheet picking and placing robotic arm, processing area and material box as those on the machine.

23. The sheet material processing machine according to claim 22, characterized in that A common tool magazine is arranged between the parallel machine and the fixed-beam gantry arranged back to the machine, a tool head mounting seat corresponding to the machining spindle is arranged in the common tool magazine, a common longitudinal slide rail is arranged on the machine and the parallel machine, a tool head transport mechanism is arranged on the common longitudinal slide rail for moving between the tool magazine and the machining spindles on both sides of the fixed-beam gantry arranged back to replace the tool head, and a clamping part is provided on the tool head transport mechanism for clamping, removing or installing the tool head from the tool magazine or the machining spindle.

24. A sheet material handling method, used in a sheet material handling device, characterized in that: The steps include: A: The carrier of the sheet picking and placing robot arm rotates to a state where the plane of the picking and placing part is parallel to the plane of the sheet and the picker faces the sheet to be processed, and the picker close to the side of the material trough picks up the sheet to be processed and takes it out of the material trough; B: The carrier on the sheet picking and placing robot moves relative to the processing area so that the picking and placing part enters the processing area. The carrier rotates until the plane of the picking and placing part is parallel to the plane of the processing area and the sheet faces downward. The idle picker in the picking and placing part takes away the processed sheet on the processing area. The picking and placing part moves longitudinally relative to the processing area, and the picker that picks up the sheet to be processed places the sheet to be processed into the processing area. C: The pick-and-place unit picks up the processed sheet and moves it to the material trough. The carrier rotates so that the picker that has picked up the processed sheet approaches the material trough and keeps the plane of the processed sheet parallel to the plane of the sheet in the material trough, and puts the processed sheet into the material trough; D: After the pick-and-place unit exits the trough, the sheet picking and placing is completed, or after the pick-and-place unit exits the trough, the process returns to step A.

25. The sheet material taking and placing method according to claim 24, characterized in that: Before step A, it also includes the first full-load material picking step: one of the pickers of the pick-and-place part takes out the sheet to be processed from one end of the material trough and then exits the material trough, the carrier carries the pick-and-place part to the other end of the material trough, and the carrier flips over so that the other picker picks up the sheet to be processed at the other end of the material trough; the carrier carries the pick-and-place part to the processing area, and one of the pickers puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area, the pick-and-place part exits the processing area and waits for the sheets in the processing area to complete processing, then the idle picker of the pick-and-place part picks up the processed sheet in the processing area, and longitudinally translates and places the sheet to be processed into the processing area by another picker, and the pick-and-place part exits the processing area and moves to the material box; the carrier rotates so that the picker that has picked up the processed sheet approaches the material trough and keeps the plane of the processed sheet parallel to the plane of the sheet in the material trough, and puts the processed sheet into the material trough.

26. The sheet material handling method according to claim 24, characterized in that: The sheets are placed flat in the material trough and arranged vertically, and the picker is facing downward and picking up the sheets to be processed from top to bottom in the material trough: after the picker close to the material trough takes the sheets to be processed out of the material trough, the carrier carries the pick-up and place part to the processing area, and the idle picker on the pick-up and place part picks up the processed sheets in the processing area, the pick-up and place part is longitudinally translated relative to the processing area, and the picker close to the material trough puts the sheets to be processed into the processing area, the carrier carries the pick-up and place part to the material trough, and the pick-up and place part is flipped so that the picker that has picked up the processed sheets faces upward and puts the processed sheets into the upper empty slot area of ​​the material trough; Alternatively, the sheets are laid flat in the trough and arranged vertically, and the picker faces upward to pick up the sheets to be processed from the bottom to the top in the trough: after the picker close to the trough takes the sheets to be processed out of the trough, the pick-up and place portion flips over so that the picker that has picked up the sheets to be processed faces downward, the carrier carries the pick-up and place portion to the processing area, the idle picker on the pick-up and place portion picks up the processed sheets in the processing area, the pick-up and place portion translates longitudinally relative to the processing area and the picker that has picked up the sheets to be processed puts the sheets to be processed into the processing area, the carrier carries the pick-up and place portion to the trough, the picker that has picked up the processed sheets remains facing downward and puts the processed sheets into the empty trough area at the lower end of the trough.

27. The sheet material handling method according to claim 24, characterized in that: The sheets are erected in the material trough and arranged in the longitudinal direction. When the picker faces the processing area and picks up the sheets to be processed from far to near in the material trough relative to the processing area: after the picker close to the material trough takes the sheets to be processed out of the material trough, the pick-up and place part flips over so that the picker faces downward, the carrier carries the pick-up and place part to the processing area, and the idle picker on the pick-up and place part picks up the processed sheets in the processing area. The pick-up and place part translates longitudinally relative to the processing area and the picker close to the material trough puts the sheets to be processed into the processing area. The carrier carries the pick-up and place part to the material trough, and the pick-up and place part flips over so that the picker that has picked up the processed sheets faces away from the processing area and puts the processed sheets into the empty slot area at the far end of the material trough. Alternatively, the sheets are erected in the material trough and arranged longitudinally, and the picker is facing away from the processing area and picks up the sheets to be processed from near to far in the material trough relative to the processing area: after the picker close to the material trough takes the sheets to be processed out of the material trough, the pick-up and place portion flips so that the picker that has picked up the sheets to be processed faces downward, the carrier carries the pick-up and place portion to the processing area, the idle picker on the pick-up and place portion picks up the processed sheets in the processing area, the pick-up and place portion translates longitudinally relative to the processing area and the picker that has picked up the sheets to be processed puts the sheets to be processed into the processing area, the carrier carries the pick-up and place portion to the material trough, the pick-up and place portion flips so that the picker that has picked up the processed sheets faces the processing area and puts the processed sheets into the empty slot area at the near end of the material trough.

28. The sheet material taking and placing method according to claim 24, characterized in that: An empty slot area is set at one end of the material slot, and the picker takes the processed sheets back from the processing area and arranges them in sequence from one end of the empty slot area to one end of the sheets to be processed.

29. The sheet material taking and placing method according to claim 24, characterized in that: The sheet is placed at an angle in the material trough. When the picker takes the sheet to be processed out of the material trough or puts the processed sheet into the material trough, the flip driver drives the carrier to rotate so that the inclination angle of the pick-up and placement part is consistent with the inclination angle of the sheet in the material trough. The first drive mechanism drives the carrier at the same time in the vertical and longitudinal directions at a corresponding speed ratio so that the pick-up and placement part of the carrier moves at an inclination at a certain speed.

30. The sheet material taking and placing method according to claim 24, characterized in that: The step of relative movement of the carrier on the sheet picking and placing robot arm and the processing area so that the picking and placing part enters the processing area includes: the carrier moves a certain distance toward the processing area so that the picking and placing part enters the processing area to pick up or place materials, or the processing table moves a certain distance toward the material trough so that the picking and placing part enters the processing area to pick up or place materials, or the processing table moves a certain distance toward the material trough and the carrier also moves a certain distance toward the processing area so that the picking and placing part enters the processing area to pick up or place materials.

31. A sheet material taking and placing method, characterized in that: Processing areas are respectively arranged on both sides of the material trough in the longitudinal direction. When the taking and placing part takes and places the sheet between the material box and the processing areas on both sides, the following steps are specifically included: A1: When the processing spindle on one side processes the sheet, one of the pickers of the pick-and-place unit takes out the sheet to be processed from the material trough area, keeps one of the pickers picking up the sheet to be processed, and the other picker is unloaded and moves to the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on the other side. After the processing spindle on the other side completes the processing of the sheet, the unloaded picker picks up the processed sheet in the processing area, and the picker carrying the sheet to be processed puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on the other side. After the pick-and-place unit leaves the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on the other side, the processing spindle processes the sheet to be processed; B1: The pick-and-place unit carries the processed sheet and puts it into the material slot area, and takes out a sheet to be processed from the material slot area and runs it to the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on one side. After the processing spindle on this side completes the processing of the sheet, the unloaded picker picks up the processed sheet, and the other picker puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on one side. After the pick-and-place unit leaves the processing area corresponding to the processing spindle on this side, the processing spindle processes the sheet to be processed; C1: the pick-and-place unit carries the processed sheet material into the material trough area and then enters step A1, or the pick-and-place unit carries the processed sheet material into the material trough area and then the pick-and-place unit takes the processed sheet material in the processing areas on both sides back to the material trough area respectively, and the processing ends; Among them, the pick-up and placement part with two pickers is arranged on the same side of the carrier, which can keep two sheets on the same side of the robot arm. When changing sheets in the processing area, it is only necessary to directly move a certain distance after picking up the processed sheet to put down the sheet to be processed.

32. The sheet material handling method according to claim 31, characterized in that: The material trough has partitions for placing sheets flat and arranged vertically, and a front sheet placement area and a rear sheet placement area are respectively arranged in the longitudinal direction of the material trough. When the front sheet placement area and the rear sheet placement area are arranged in opposite directions and have opposite openings, the steps are specifically included as follows: The front picker of the pick-and-place section picks up the sheet to be processed in the rear sheet placement area of ​​the material trough to complete the material picking; the pick-and-place section runs to the processing area, and the rear picker of the pick-and-place section picks up the processed sheet in the processing area, and then the front picker of the pick-and-place section puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area to complete the material change; the pick-and-place section runs to the material trough area, and the rear picker of the pick-and-place section puts the processed sheet into the front sheet placement area of ​​the material trough to complete the material storage; the rear picker of the pick-and-place section continues to take out the sheet to be processed from the front sheet placement area of ​​the material trough to complete the material picking; the pick-and-place section runs to the processing area, and the front picker of the pick-and-place section picks up the processed sheet in the processing area, and then the rear picker of the pick-and-place section puts the sheet to be processed into the processing area to complete the material change; the pick-and-place section runs to the material trough area, and the front picker of the pick-and-place section puts the processed sheet into the rear sheet placement area of ​​the material trough to complete the material storage.

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