Pushing component and feeding device

Abstract

The present invention provides a material pushing assembly and a feeding device. The material pushing assembly includes a connecting member and a material pushing body. The connecting member is connected to the driving assembly and moves following the driving assembly. The material pushing body is arranged on the connecting member. The material pushing body includes a bearing portion and a blanking portion formed on one side of the bearing portion along the pushing direction. The blanking portion has a blanking surface with a gradually decreasing height. The material pushing body advances under the action of the driving assembly to push the material box at the bottom of the storage rack, and the material box above drops onto the bearing portion; after the feeding is completed, the material pushing body retreats following the external driving assembly. Blocked by the storage rack, the material box on the bearing portion gradually drops along the blanking surface on the blanking portion.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of household appliances, and particularly to a material pushing component and a feeding device. Background Art

[0002] With the development of society and the progress of technology, the automation of household appliances has become the future development trend. Currently, in the field of food processing, the automation of food processing equipment such as dough mixers, noodle presses, and dumpling-making machines has been widely applied. In the cooking field, household appliances such as automatic stir-fry machines with more ingredient boxes and relatively complex cooking processes are gradually being promoted and used. There are various structures of automatic stir-fry machines on the market currently. For fully automatic stir-fry machines, generally, multiple raw material boxes need to be set up, and the feeding mechanism inputs the dish raw materials in different raw material boxes into the frying pan at different times according to the predetermined frying program.

[0003] To achieve automatic feeding of dish raw materials in batches, Chinese Patent CN110393429A provides a multi-layer automatic feeding mechanism for an automatic stir-fry machine. This automatic feeding mechanism has multiple juxtaposed partition racks, and multiple raw material boxes are placed along the height direction in each partition rack. The setting of multiple partition racks and multiple raw material boxes enables the automatic stir-fry machine to combine multiple raw materials to quickly form the required dishes during frying, greatly improving the frying efficiency. However, in this patent, the pushing of the raw material boxes is achieved through the cooperation of an automatic lifting table and a stepping feeding component. The automatic lifting table includes a T-shaped screw lifting table, a lifting motor, a lifting flat plate, and a linear bearing guiding component; while the stepping feeding component includes a fixing plate, a sprocket and chain component, a driving motor, and a linear slide rail. The entire mechanism is very complex and large in volume.

[0004] Furthermore, multiple raw material boxes are placed along the height direction in the partition rack. When the bottom raw material box is transported away by the automatic lifting table, the multiple raw material boxes above will directly fall down, and the raw materials in the raw material boxes are extremely likely to fall out or spill, especially when the raw material boxes store liquid or flowing raw materials. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In order to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides a material pushing component and a feeding device with a simple structure and a very small volume.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a pusher assembly, which includes a connecting member and a pusher body. The connecting member is connected to the driving assembly and moves following the driving assembly. The pusher body is disposed on the connecting member. The pusher body includes a bearing portion and a blanking portion formed on one side of the bearing portion along the pushing direction. The blanking portion has a blanking surface with a gradually decreasing height. The pusher body advances under the action of the driving assembly to push the cartridge at the bottom of the storage rack, and the cartridge above drops onto the bearing portion; after the feeding is completed, the pusher body retreats following the driving assembly. Blocked by the storage rack, the cartridge on the bearing portion gradually drops along the blanking surface on the blanking portion.

[0007] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the front end face of the blanking portion is a vertical or inclined plane. During feeding, the front end face of the blanking portion abuts against the outer side wall of the cartridge to push the cartridge.

[0008] According to an embodiment of the present invention, in the longitudinal section of the pusher body, the contour line of the blanking surface is a curve or an inclined straight line.

[0009] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the lowest point of the blanking surface is flush with or lower than the upper surface of the cartridge receiving portion on the storage rack. The cartridge receiving portion has a through groove for the pusher body to pass through for pushing the cartridge.

[0010] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the pusher assembly further includes a pusher. The pusher is rotatably connected to the blanking portion. In the feeding state, the pusher extends along the side where the cartridge is located and its front end extends beyond the blanking surface;

[0011] During feeding, the front end face of the pusher pushes the cartridge forward;

[0012] After the feeding is completed, the pusher follows the pusher body and retreats. The falling cartridge presses down the pusher to make it rotate, and the cartridge continues to move along the blanking surface.

[0013] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the pusher assembly further includes a pin shaft, a torsion spring, and a limiting member. The pin shaft penetrates through the pusher and the blanking portion. The torsion spring is sleeved on the pin shaft. The limiting member is disposed on the blanking portion and above the pin shaft. The limiting member limits the rotation angle when the pusher rebounds from the pressed state, so that the front end face of the pusher matches the outer side wall of the cartridge during pushing.

[0014] According to an embodiment of the present invention, in the feeding state, the pusher extends along the pushing direction and the front end face of the pusher is a vertical plane.

[0015] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the top surface of the bearing portion is a horizontal plane.

[0016] Correspondingly, the present invention also provides a feeding device, which is located on one side of a material storage rack and pushes multiple material boxes stacked on the material storage rack. The feeding device includes the above-mentioned pushing assembly and a drive assembly. The drive assembly includes a base, a motor, a lead screw, and a guide rail. The motor is mounted on the base. The lead screw is arranged along the pushing direction, with one end of the lead screw connected to the motor and the other end fixed to the base. The guide rail is threadedly connected to the lead screw and moves back and forth along the lead screw. The connector on the pushing assembly is fixedly connected to the guide rail and moves with the guide rail.

[0017] In summary, the pusher body in the pusher assembly and feeding device provided by the present invention follows the movement of the drive assembly via the connecting member. By setting the pusher body to include a bearing portion and a blanking portion, during feeding, under the action of the driving assembly, the pusher body moves forward and pushes the material box located at the bottom of the storage rack forward. When the material box at the bottom is completely pushed away from the storage rack, the material box located above it will fall smoothly onto the bearing portion. After feeding is completed, the pusher body follows the driving assembly to retreat. Due to the obstruction of the storage rack, the material box will not follow the movement of the bearing portion, but will gradually and slowly fall along the blanking surface of the blanking portion under the action of its own gravity. The arrangement of the bearing portion and the blanking portion ensures that when the material box at the bottom layer is pushed out, the material box at the upper layer falls at a very small distance each time, and the force acting on the blanking portion each time is very small (the corresponding reaction force is also very small). Therefore, the material box falls very smoothly and the raw materials therein will not spill. In addition, the pushing assembly formed by the connecting member and the pusher body is very simple and compact.

[0018] In order to make the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, preferred embodiments are given below with reference to the accompanying drawings for detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 Shown is a schematic structural diagram of a pusher assembly provided in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 1A Shown Figure 1 Schematic cross-section diagram.

[0021] Figure 2 Shown Figure 1 Enlarged schematic diagram of point A in the middle.

[0022] Figure 3 Shown is a schematic structural diagram of a feeding device provided in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 3A Shown Figure 3 The feeding device shown is a cross-sectional schematic diagram in the pushing state.

[0024] Figure 4 Shown Figure 3Schematic assembly diagram of the feeding device shown in the feeding state with the material box.

[0025] Figure 5 As shown Figure 3 Schematic assembly diagram of the feeding device shown in the retracted state after feeding is completed with the material box.

[0026] Figure 6 Schematic structural diagram of the pusher assembly provided by another embodiment of the present invention is shown. Detailed implementation mode

[0027] In the existing automatic cooking machine, multiple material boxes stacked along the height on the partition rack greatly improve the cooking efficiency. However, in this storage method, when the bottom material box is pushed out, the material boxes located above will directly fall down, and the falling distance is the height of one material box. The falling distance is too high, and the raw materials in the material box are very likely to spill out.

[0028] In view of this, this embodiment provides a pusher assembly and a pusher device applicable to pushing multiple material boxes stacked along the height. As Figure 1 and Figure 1A shown, the pusher assembly 10 provided in this embodiment includes a connecting member 1 and a pusher body 2. The connecting member 1 is connected to the driving assembly 20 and moves following the driving assembly 20. The pusher body 2 is arranged on the connecting member 1. The pusher body 2 includes a bearing portion 21 and a blanking portion 22 formed on one side of the bearing portion 21 along the pushing direction. The blanking portion 22 has a blanking surface 221 with a gradually decreasing height. The pusher body 2 advances under the action of the driving assembly 20 to push the material box 301 at the bottom of the storage rack, and the material box 302 above falls onto the bearing portion 21; after the feeding is completed, the pusher body 2 retreats following the driving assembly 20. Blocked by the storage rack 30, the material box 302 on the bearing portion 21 gradually falls along the blanking surface 221 on the blanking portion.

[0029] In the pusher assembly 10 provided in this embodiment, as Figure 4 shown, the setting of the bearing portion 21 enables the material box 302 above to fall smoothly onto the bearing portion 21 when the material box 301 at the bottom of the storage rack is completely pushed out. Specifically, the highest point of the bearing portion is set as close as possible to the bottom of the material box 302 above without interfering with the upper material box. Preferably, in this embodiment, the distance between the highest point on the bearing portion 21 and the bottom of the upper material box 302 is 1 centimeter. However, the present invention does not make any limitation on this.

[0030] In actual use, the pushing component 10 needs to push the lower material box 301 to a target position, such as on the flipping mechanism of an automatic cooking machine; usually, there is a certain distance between the target position and the storage rack. Therefore, after the pushing body 2 pushes the lower material box 301 out of the storage rack, it still needs to move forward. At this time, the upper material box 302 will move along the upper surface of the bearing part 21. Therefore, preferably, the top surface of the bearing part 21 is set as a horizontal plane. However, the present invention does not make any limitation in this regard. In other embodiments, when the target position where the lower material box is pushed is very close to the material box, the bearing part can also be set as an arc-shaped curved surface with a very small curvature.

[0031] The setting of the bearing part 21 realizes the first stable falling of the upper material box 302 during the pushing stage. Further, after the feeding is completed, as Figure 5 shown, the pushing body 2 retreats following the driving component 20. Restricted by the side wall of the storage rack or the blocking plate located on the side of the storage rack, the upper material box 302 will not retreat following the pushing body 2. The upper material box 302 moves relative to the pushing body 2 and gradually moves from the bearing part 21 to the blanking part 22. There is a blanking surface 221 with a gradually decreasing height on the blanking part 22. The upper material box 302 gradually descends along the blanking surface 221 under the action of its own gravity. The setting of the blanking surface 221 reduces the height of each descent of the upper material box 302, so that the upper material box 302 can stably fall onto the material box receiving part 40 on the storage rack, effectively solving the splashing during the falling process of the material box. In this embodiment, the settings of the bearing part 21 and the blanking part 22 decompose the very long blanking distance into multiple sections of falling distances, so that the falling is very stable.

[0032] In this embodiment, as Figure 1 and Figure 1A shown, on the longitudinal section of the pushing body 2, the contour line of the blanking surface 221 is a circular arc curve. However, the present invention does not make any limitation in this regard. In other embodiments, on the longitudinal section of the pushing body, the contour line of the blanking surface can also be an inclined straight line; or a stepped broken line. In this structure, the heights of the steps can be the same or different; or other shaped curves, such as an elliptical arc curve or a curve composed of multiple arcs with different curvatures.

[0033] To enable the material box to stably fall onto the storage rack, in this embodiment, as Figure 4 and Figure 5 shown, it is also set that the lowest point of the blanking surface 221 is flush with or lower than the upper surface of the material box receiving part on the storage rack. At this time, to avoid interference between the pushing body 2 and the upper surface of the material box receiving part 30, the material box receiving part 40 needs to have a through groove for the pushing main body 2 to pass through for pushing the material box. In this embodiment, as Figure 4 and Figure 5As shown, a through groove 401 extending in the pushing direction is formed in the middle of the cartridge receiving portion 40.

[0034] In this structure, in the pushing state, the front end surface of the blanking surface 221 cannot abut against the side wall of the lower cartridge 301 below. For a blanking surface with a circular arc or inclined straight contour line, when pushing, the lower cartridge 301 may move upward a very small distance along the blanking surface 221 (the moving distance depends on the distance between the top of the bearing portion and the bottom of the upper cartridge), which not only makes the pushing unstable but also affects the assembly between the cartridge and the subsequent flipping mechanism.

[0035] Therefore, in this embodiment, the pushing component further includes a pushing member 3. The pushing member 3 is rotatably connected to the blanking portion 22. In the feeding state, the pushing member 3 extends along the side where the cartridge is located and its front end extends past the blanking surface 221. When feeding, the front end surface of the pushing member 3 pushes the lower cartridge 301 forward smoothly. After the feeding is completed, the pushing member 3 follows the pushing body 2 and retracts. When the upper cartridge 302 drops, it presses down on the pushing member 3 to make it rotate, and the upper cartridge 302 continues to move downward along the blanking surface 221 until it drops onto the cartridge receiving portion 40. However, the present invention makes no limitation thereto. In other embodiments, when the contour line of the blanking surface in the longitudinal section is a broken line with multiple steps, the bottommost step wall will abut against the side wall of the cartridge and push the cartridge to move along the pushing direction. In this case, there is no need to provide a pushing member. Or in other embodiments, as Figure 6 shown, the front end surface of the blanking portion 22 can also be set as a vertical plane 222 and the lowest point of the blanking surface 221 is higher than the upper surface of the cartridge receiving portion 40. In this structure, there is no need to provide a pushing member. When feeding, the front end surface of the blanking portion 21 abuts against the outer side wall of the cartridge to push the lower cartridge 301, and the vertical front end surface of the blanking portion 21 slightly increases the dropping height of the upper cartridge 302 at the last moment. However, the present invention makes no limitation to the shape of the front end surface of the blanking portion. In other embodiments, when the outer side wall of the cartridge is inclined, correspondingly, the front end surface of the blanking portion can also be set to be inclined.

[0036] Specifically, in this embodiment, the pushing component further includes a pin shaft 4, a torsion spring 5, and a limiting member 6. The pin shaft 4 penetrates through the pushing member 3 and the blanking portion 21. The torsion spring 5 is sleeved on the pin shaft 4. The limiting member 6 is arranged on the blanking portion 21 and above the pin shaft 4. The limiting member 6 limits the rotation angle when the pushing member 3 rebounds from the pressed state, so that the front end surface of the pushing member 3 matches the outer side wall of the cartridge when pushing. However, the present invention makes no limitation to the rotational connection structure between the pushing member and the blanking portion.

[0037] As Figure 1AAs shown, in this embodiment, limited by the limiting member 6, in the feeding state, the pushing member 3 extends along the pushing direction and the front end face of the pushing member 3 is a vertical plane. However, the present invention makes no limitation thereto. In other embodiments, when the outer side wall of the cartridge is inclined, the front end face of the pushing member may also be provided as an inclined plane.

[0038] Correspondingly, as Figure 3 and Figure 3A shown, this embodiment further provides a feeding device, which is located on one side of the storage rack and pushes a plurality of cartridges stacked in height on the storage rack. The feeding device includes the above-mentioned pushing assembly 10 and the driving assembly 20. The driving assembly 20 includes a base 201, a motor 202, a lead screw 203 and a guide rail 204. The motor 202 is installed on the base 201. The lead screw 203 is arranged along the pushing direction, one end of the lead screw 203 is connected to the motor 202, and the other end is fixed to the base 201. The guide rail 204 is threadedly connected to the lead screw 203 and moves back and forth along the lead screw 203. The connecting member 1 on the pushing assembly 10 is fixedly connected to the guide rail 204 and reciprocates back and forth with the guide rail 204 to realize the stable transportation of the cartridge.

[0039] In summary, in the pushing assembly and the feeding device provided by the present invention, the pushing body follows the driving assembly through the connecting member. By setting the pushing body to include a bearing portion and a blanking portion, during feeding, under the action of the driving assembly, the pushing body moves forward and pushes the cartridge at the bottom of the storage rack forward. When the bottom cartridge is completely pushed away from the storage rack, the cartridge above it will smoothly fall onto the bearing portion. After the feeding is completed, the pushing body follows the driving assembly and retreats. Blocked by the storage rack, the cartridge will not move with the bearing portion, but will gradually and slowly fall along the blanking surface on the blanking portion under its own gravity. The setting of the bearing portion and the blanking portion enables the upper cartridge to fall a very small distance each time after the bottom cartridge is pushed out, and the force acting on the blanking portion each time when falling is very small (the corresponding reaction force is also very small). Therefore, the cartridge falls very smoothly and the raw materials inside it will not spill out. In addition, the pushing assembly formed by the connecting member and the pushing body is very simple and compact.

[0040] Although the present invention has been disclosed above with the preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in this art can make some modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the scope defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A pusher component, characterized in that, Comprising: A connecting piece, connected to the driving component and moving along with the driving component; A pusher body, arranged on the connecting piece, the pusher body includes a bearing part and a blanking part formed on one side of the bearing part along the pushing direction, and the blanking part has a blanking surface with a gradually decreasing height; The pusher body advances under the action of the driving component, pushing the cartridge case at the bottom of the storage rack, and the cartridge case above drops onto the bearing part; after the feeding is completed, the pusher body retreats along with the driving component, and blocked by the storage rack, the cartridge case on the bearing part gradually drops along the blanking surface on the blanking part; Wherein, the pusher assembly further includes a pusher, the pusher is rotatably connected to the blanking part, and in the feeding state, the pusher extends along the side where the cartridge case is located and its front end extends past the blanking surface; During feeding, the front end face of the pusher pushes the cartridge case forward; After the feeding is completed, the pusher retreats along with the pusher body, and the dropping cartridge case presses down the pusher to make it rotate, and the cartridge case continues to move along the blanking surface.

2. The pusher assembly according to claim 1, wherein In the longitudinal section of the pusher body, the contour line of the blanking surface is a curve or an inclined straight line.

3. The pusher assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, The lowest point of the blanking surface is flush with or lower than the upper surface of the cartridge case receiving part on the storage rack, and the cartridge case receiving part has a through groove for the pusher body to pass through for pushing the cartridge case.

4. The pusher assembly according to claim 1, wherein The pusher assembly further includes: A pin shaft, penetrating through the pusher and the blanking part; A torsion spring, sleeved on the pin shaft; A limiting part, arranged on the blanking part and located above the pin shaft, the limiting part limits the rotation angle when the pusher rebounds from the pressed state, so that the front end face of the pusher matches the outer side wall of the cartridge case during pushing.

5. The pusher assembly according to claim 1, wherein In the feeding state, the pusher extends along the pushing direction and the front end face of the pusher is a vertical plane.

6. The pusher assembly according to claim 1, wherein, The top surface of the bearing part is a horizontal plane.

7. A feeding device, characterized in that, Located on one side of the storage rack, pushing a plurality of cartridge cases stacked in height on the storage rack, the feeding device includes: The pusher assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 6; and A driving component, including: A base; A motor, installed on the base; A lead screw, arranged along the pushing direction, one end of the lead screw is connected to the motor, and the other end is fixed to the base; A guide rail, threadedly connected to the lead screw and moving back and forth along the lead screw, the connecting piece on the pusher assembly is fixedly connected to the guide rail and moves along with the guide rail.

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