Automatic loading and unloading device and control method thereof

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of mechanical equipment, and in particular to an automatic loading and unloading device and a control method thereof. The device includes a controller, a loading and unloading mechanism and a feeding mechanism. The loading and unloading mechanism includes a mobile base, a first rotary cylinder, a first manipulator and a second manipulator; the first rotary cylinder is arranged on the mobile base, the first manipulator and the second manipulator are perpendicular, and are both arranged on the rotating disk of the first rotary cylinder; the feeding mechanism includes a feeding shaft, a second rotary cylinder and a processing manipulator, a second rotary cylinder is arranged on the side of the feeding shaft close to the first rotary cylinder, and a processing manipulator is arranged on the rotating disk of the second rotary cylinder. The device and method provided in the embodiment of the present application can realize the automatic installation and disassembly of the blade blank through the cooperation of the automatic loading and unloading mechanism and the feeding mechanism, which can not only improve the work efficiency, but also improve the processing accuracy.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of mechanical equipment, and in particular to an automatic loading and unloading device and a control method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Typically, when using wire cutting equipment to process blades, a special fixture is required to fix the blade blank to be processed on the wire cutting equipment so that the metal wire (such as molybdenum wire) of the wire cutting equipment can cut the blade blank into a target shape under the action of pulse current.

[0003] like Figure 1 As shown, the commonly used fixture for fixing the blade blank includes a base, a positioning plate, a clamping plate and a clamping screw. The base is fixed on the online cutting equipment, the clamping plate is arranged on the base through the clamping screw, and the positioning plate is located between the clamping plate and the base. The fixture can fix the blade blank in the slot of the positioning plate through the clamping force between the clamping plate and the base, so as to fix the blade blank on the online cutting equipment. It is obvious that in each process of using the fixture to fix the blade blank, manual loading and unloading is required, that is, the clamping screw is manually unscrewed, the processed blade blank is removed from the slot, or the blade blank to be processed is placed in the slot of the positioning plate, and then the clamping screw is tightened.

[0004] In the long-term use of the above-mentioned fixture, manual and repeated removal of the clamping screw to load and unload the blade blank not only reduces the work efficiency, but also causes the fixture to wear, reduces the service life of the fixture, and enlarges the matching clearance between the various parts of the fixture, increasing the processing error. Therefore, it is urgent to provide a device that can automatically load and unload materials. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present application provides an automatic loading and unloading device and a control method thereof to solve the problems of low working efficiency and low processing precision in the prior art.

[0006] In the first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an automatic loading and unloading device, comprising: a controller, and a loading and unloading mechanism and a feeding mechanism connected to the controller, wherein the loading and unloading mechanism comprises a mobile base, a first rotary cylinder, a first manipulator and a second manipulator; the first rotary cylinder is arranged on the mobile base, the first manipulator and the second manipulator are perpendicular, and are both arranged on the rotating disk of the first rotary cylinder; the feeding mechanism comprises a feeding shaft, a second rotary cylinder and a processing manipulator, the second rotary cylinder is arranged on the side of the feeding shaft close to the first rotary cylinder, and the processing manipulator is arranged on the rotating disk of the second rotary cylinder.

[0007] In a first implementation of the first aspect, the processing robot comprises a base plate, a V-shaped material groove, a clamping claw and a connecting rod, wherein the base plate is arranged on the rotating disk of the second rotating cylinder, and at least one V-shaped material groove is arranged on the end surface of the base plate; the clamping claw comprises a connecting plate and a pressure plate, one end of the connecting plate is connected to the clamping claw cylinder and is arranged on the side of the base plate away from the second rotating cylinder, the other end of the connecting plate is connected to one end of the pressure plate, and the other end of the pressure plate is facing the V-shaped material groove; the connecting rod is fixed on the side, located between the base plate and the clamping claw, and is movably connected to the pressure plate.

[0008] In a second implementation of the first aspect, the pressure plate of the clamping claw includes at least one sub-pressure plate, and each of the sub-pressure plates is in the same plane and parallel to each other.

[0009] In a third implementation of the first aspect, the movable base includes a processing axis X, a processing axis Y, and a processing axis Z that are perpendicular to each other, the processing axis Y is arranged on the processing axis X, and the processing axis Z is arranged at one end of the processing axis Y close to the feeding mechanism; the processing axis Z is provided with the first rotating cylinder.

[0010] In a fourth implementation of the first aspect, the processing axis X, the processing axis Y, and the processing axis Z are all fully sealed structures.

[0011] In a fifth implementation of the first aspect, rubber pads are provided on the clamping surfaces of the holding ends of the first manipulator and the second manipulator.

[0012] In a sixth implementation of the first aspect, the distance between the clamping end of the first manipulator and the center of the rotating disk of the first rotating cylinder is equal to the distance between the clamping end of the second manipulator and the center of the rotating disk of the first rotating cylinder.

[0013] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a control method for an automatic loading and unloading device, which is used to control the automatic loading and unloading device provided in the first aspect, and includes the following steps:

[0014] S1 controls the first manipulator to move to the material picking position and clamp the material to be processed;

[0015] S2 controls the first rotary cylinder to rotate 90°, so that the second manipulator is vertically downward, and controls the second manipulator to move to the waiting position;

[0016] S3: After the processing of the material held by the processing robot is completed, controlling the processing robot to rotate to a vertical upward state;

[0017] S4 controls the processing robot to open, and controls the second robot to clamp the processed material;

[0018] S5 controls the first rotary cylinder to rotate 90° so that the first manipulator is in a vertical downward state;

[0019] S6 controls the first manipulator to move downward to deliver the material to be processed to the clamping end of the processing manipulator;

[0020] S7 controls the processing robot to clamp the material;

[0021] S8 controls the first manipulator to open and move upward;

[0022] S9 controls the processing robot to rotate 90° to a horizontal processing position;

[0023] S10 controls the first rotary cylinder to rotate 90° so that the second manipulator is in a vertical downward state, and after controlling the second manipulator to move to the material discharge position, controls the second manipulator to open so that the processed material falls into the collecting box;

[0024] S11 repeats steps S1-S10.

[0025] In a first implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes: resetting the processing robot at every preset time interval or after processing a preset number of materials.

[0026] In the automatic loading and unloading device and its control method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the controller can control the first manipulator and the second manipulator in the automatic loading and unloading mechanism to automatically transport and load and unload materials, and fix the materials through the processing manipulator of the feeding mechanism, and rotate them to the processing position to cooperate with the processing, which can not only improve the work efficiency but also improve the processing accuracy. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the present application, the drawings required for use in the embodiments are briefly introduced below. Obviously, for ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative work.

[0028] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a commonly used blade blank fixing fixture.

[0029] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the coordination between the automatic loading and unloading device and the wire cutting equipment provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0030] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the structure of the automatic loading and unloading device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0031] Figure 4A connection block diagram of the automatic loading and unloading device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0032] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of a processing robot provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0033] Figure 6 A top view of the matching structure of the automatic loading and unloading device and the wire cutting equipment provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0034] Description of reference numerals:

[0035] 01. Base; 02. Positioning plate; 03. Clamping plate; 04. Clamping screw.

[0036] 1. Controller; 2. Loading and unloading mechanism; 21. Mobile base; 211. Processing axis X; 212. Processing axis Y; 213. Processing axis Z; 22. First rotary cylinder; 23. First manipulator; 24. Second manipulator; 25. Rubber pad; 3. Feeding mechanism; 31. Feeding axis; 32. Second rotary cylinder; 33. Processing manipulator; 331. Bottom plate; 332. V-shaped trough; 333. Clamping claw; 334. Connecting rod; 335. Sub-pressing plate; 336. Connecting plate; 337. Pressing plate; 4. Material taking box; 5. Material collecting box; 6. Wire cutting equipment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] 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.

[0038] See also Figure 2 An automatic loading and unloading device provided in an embodiment of the present application is usually used in conjunction with a wire cutting device to automatically load and unload wire cutting materials (such as blade blanks).

[0039] See also Figure 3 and Figure 4 The automatic loading and unloading device includes a controller, and a loading and unloading mechanism and a feeding mechanism connected to the controller. The controller is used to control the loading and unloading mechanism to perform loading and unloading operations, and to control the feeding mechanism to perform the operation of clamping materials and cooperate with the wire cutting equipment.

[0040] The loading and unloading mechanism comprises a mobile base, a first rotating cylinder, a first manipulator and a second manipulator. The first rotating cylinder is arranged on the mobile base, and the first manipulator and the second manipulator are vertical and are both arranged on a rotating disk of the first rotating cylinder.

[0041] The mobile base can drive the first manipulator and the second manipulator to move in three-dimensional space. In an embodiment of the present application, the mobile base includes a processing axis X, a processing axis Y, and a processing axis Z. The processing axis X, the processing axis Y, and the processing axis Z are perpendicular to each other, and the processing axis Y is arranged on the processing axis X, and the processing axis Z is arranged at one end of the processing axis Y close to the feeding mechanism. In other words, these three processing axes constitute a processing coordinate system, and each processing axis can move within its own travel range. Normally, during the normal installation and use of the device, the plane formed by the processing axis X and the processing axis Y is parallel to the horizontal plane, and the processing axis Z is in a vertical downward state.

[0042] In an embodiment of the present application, the processing axis X, the processing axis Y and the processing axis Z are all driven by ball screws. Ball screw drive has the characteristics of high precision, high efficiency and low friction, and can reduce the moving step length of the three processing axes and improve the accuracy of the device. The processing axis X and the processing axis Y are both carried and driven by double linear guides. The double linear guides can increase the straightness of the movement of the first manipulator and the second manipulator, and improve the control accuracy of the automatic loading and unloading device. The processing axis Z is carried and guided by a single-row flat wide guide rail. In addition, the processing axis X, the processing axis Y and the processing axis Z all adopt a fully sealed structure to prevent the oil mist and water mist generated during the wire cutting process from contaminating the interior of the processing axis.

[0043] The first rotary cylinder is arranged on the processing axis Z, and the first manipulator and the second manipulator are arranged on the rotating disk of the first rotary cylinder, perpendicular to each other, and the clamping ends (i.e., the ends for clamping the blade blank) are oriented in a direction away from the center of the rotating disk. In addition, the clamping surfaces of the first manipulator and the second manipulator (i.e., the surfaces for clamping the blade blank) are perpendicular to the plane formed by the processing axis Y and the processing axis Z.

[0044] Normally, during the use of the device, one of the first manipulator and the second manipulator is in a horizontal state, and the other is in a vertical downward state. The vertical downward state means that the holding end of the first manipulator or the second manipulator is directly below its fixed end (i.e., one end fixed to the first rotating cylinder). When the first rotating cylinder is working, it can drive the first manipulator and the second manipulator to rotate, and adjust their position from horizontal to vertical, or from vertical to horizontal. In addition, the first manipulator and the second manipulator can work independently to clamp the blade blank.

[0045] In a possible implementation, the distance between the clamping end of the first manipulator and the center of the rotating disk of the first rotary cylinder is equal to the distance between the clamping end of the second manipulator and the center of the rotating disk of the first rotary cylinder. In other words, when the first manipulator and the second manipulator are vertically downward, their clamping ends are in the same position. This avoids the need for the first rotary cylinder to readjust its position each time the state of the first manipulator and the second manipulator is switched.

[0046] During the operation of the loading and unloading device, the processing axis X, the processing axis Y and the processing axis Z cooperate with each other, and the positions of the first manipulator and the second manipulator in three-dimensional space can be controlled to cooperate with the feeding mechanism to automatically load and unload materials. For example, the position of the first manipulator is adjusted to the material taking position so that the first manipulator clamps the blade blank; or the position of the first manipulator is adjusted to the material loading position so that the blade blank can be automatically installed.

[0047] It is worth noting that the loading and unloading device provided in the embodiment of the present application is provided with two manipulators, namely the first manipulator and the second manipulator. For example, when loading and unloading is required, the unloaded material can be unloaded by using the second manipulator at the loading and unloading position, and then the material to be processed held by the first manipulator can be directly fixed on the feeding mechanism, which is conducive to improving the efficiency of loading and unloading.

[0048] In addition, a rubber pad may be provided on the clamping surfaces of the first manipulator and the second manipulator's clamping ends to reduce damage to the surface of the material by the first manipulator and the second manipulator in the process of clamping the material.

[0049] The feeding mechanism comprises a feeding shaft, a second rotary cylinder and a processing manipulator. The feeding shaft is parallel to the processing axis X, and a second rotary cylinder is arranged on one side of the feeding shaft close to the loading and unloading mechanism, and the processing manipulator is arranged on a rotating disk of the second rotary cylinder.

[0050] In the feeding mechanism, the feeding shaft can drive the processing robot to move along the straight line where the feeding shaft is located, so as to adjust the relative position between the blade blank and the wire-cutting wire and cut out the target shape. The second rotary cylinder can drive the processing robot to rotate to load and unload materials. For example, the processing robot is driven to rotate from a horizontal position to a vertical position so that the processing robot clamps the blade blank delivered by the first robot; or, after the processing robot completes the clamping operation, the processing robot is driven to rotate from a vertical position to a horizontal position so that the blade blank is in the processing position and cooperates with the wire cutting equipment for cutting.

[0051] As an optional implementation, Figure 5As shown, the processing robot includes a base plate, a V-shaped material groove, a clamping claw and a connecting rod. The base plate is arranged on the rotating disk of the second rotary cylinder, and at least one V-shaped material groove is arranged on the end surface of the base plate. The clamping claw includes a connecting plate and a pressing plate, one end of which is connected to the clamping claw cylinder (i.e., a cylinder specifically used to drive the clamping claw) and is arranged on the side of the base plate away from the second rotary cylinder, and the other end of the connecting plate is connected to one end of the pressing plate, and the other end of the pressing plate is facing the V-shaped material groove. The connecting rod is fixed on the side, located between the base plate and the clamping claw, and is movably connected to the pressing plate.

[0052] The connecting plate of the clamping claw can move away from or towards the side (i.e., the side of the bottom plate away from the second rotating cylinder) under the action of the clamping claw cylinder. Since the pressing plate is movably fixed on the connecting rod, when the connecting plate moves, it will drive the pressing plate to rotate around the connecting rod. Specifically, when the connecting plate is away from the side, the pressing plate will press the position of the V-groove, apply a pressing force to the blade blank between the clamping claw and the bottom plate, and fix the blade blank. When the connecting plate is close to the side, the pressing plate will move away from the position of the V-groove, cancel the pressing force applied to the bottom plate and the blade blank, and realize unloading.

[0053] Since the blade blank is usually diamond-shaped, during the processing of the blade blank, one end of the blade blank is fixed in the V-shaped groove to prevent its position from wandering and affecting the cutting accuracy; the other end of the blade blank protrudes from the side of the bottom plate with the V-shaped groove so that it can be cut using the wire cutting equipment. In order to improve the efficiency of each loading and unloading and wire cutting, several more V-shaped grooves, such as 3, can be set on the processing robot.

[0054] As an optional embodiment, in the processing robot, the clamping plate of the clamping claw can be provided with at least one sub-pressing plate, each sub-pressing plate is in the same plane and parallel to each other. When the number of the sub-pressing plate is one and the pressing plate is relatively wide, one sub-pressing plate can be used to press multiple blanks. When the number of the sub-pressing plate is multiple, the sub-pressing plate is usually narrow, and one sub-pressing plate is used in conjunction with a V-shaped material trough, for example, Figure 5 As shown, three sub-pressing plates can be provided. Compared with using a same wider sub-pressing plate in conjunction with multiple V-shaped troughs, multiple sub-pressing plates with narrower widths can reduce the weight of the processing robot.

[0055] The working process of the automatic loading and unloading device is realized by the controller. In the embodiment of the present application, the controller is configured to perform the following steps:

[0056] Step S1, control the first manipulator to move to the material taking position and clamp the material to be processed. Figure 6 As shown, the material taking position is the location of the material taking box, and a plurality of materials to be processed are neatly stacked in the material taking box.

[0057] Step S2, control the first rotary cylinder to rotate 90 degrees, make the second manipulator vertically downward, and control the second manipulator to move to the waiting position. The waiting position refers to the position waiting to load and unload materials on the processing manipulator, usually near the processing manipulator, which is specifically determined according to the pre-configuration.

[0058] Step S3, after the material clamped by the processing manipulator is processed, the processing manipulator is rotated to a vertical upward state. At this time, the opening of the V-shaped material trough of the processing manipulator is just vertically upward, which is convenient for loading and unloading.

[0059] Step S4, control the processing robot to open, and control the second robot to clamp the processed material. After this step, the V-shaped material trough of the processing robot is empty.

[0060] Step S5, control the first rotary cylinder to rotate 90 degrees, so that the first manipulator is in a vertical downward state. This state is ready for placing the unprocessed material into the V-shaped trough in the next step.

[0061] Step S6, controlling the first robot to move downward, and placing the material to be processed into the V-shaped material trough of the processing robot.

[0062] Step S7, controlling the processing robot to clamp the material.

[0063] Step S8, controlling the first manipulator to open and move upward.

[0064] Step S9, controlling the processing robot to rotate 90° to a horizontal processing position.

[0065] Step S10, control the first rotary cylinder to rotate 90 degrees, so that the second manipulator is in a vertical downward state, and after controlling the second manipulator to move to the material discharge position, control the second manipulator to open, so that the processed material falls into the collection box. Among them, steps S9 and S10 can be performed simultaneously.

[0066] S11 repeats steps S1-S10.

[0067] It should be noted that during the first operation of the automatic loading and unloading device, there is no need to unload the processed materials. Therefore, the control process of the automatic loading and unloading device by the controller does not include steps S2-S5.

[0068] In addition, after long-term operation, the processing robot of the automatic loading and unloading device may produce cumulative errors, resulting in inaccurate position. Therefore, the initial position of the processing robot needs to be corrected during the processing. Specifically, according to the initial position of the processing robot set during the initial processing, in the later operation process, after each interval or after processing a certain number of blade blanks, the robot is "reset" once, that is, it returns to the initial position set during the initial processing.

[0069] To sum up, the automatic loading and unloading device and the control method thereof provided in the embodiment of the present application can realize the automatic installation and disassembly of the blade blank through the cooperation of the automatic loading and unloading mechanism and the feeding mechanism, which can not only improve the work efficiency but also improve the processing accuracy.

[0070] It should be noted that relational terms such as "first" and "second" are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "include", "comprises" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that an article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "comprises a..." do not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the elements.

[0071] The above description is only a specific implementation of the present application, so that those skilled in the art can understand or implement the present application. Various modifications to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present application. Therefore, the present application will not be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but will conform to the widest range consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

[0072] It should be understood that the present application is not limited to what has been described above, and various modifications and changes may be made without departing from its scope. The scope of the present application is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An automatic loading and unloading device, characterized in that: include: A controller (1), and a loading and unloading mechanism (2) and a feeding mechanism (3) connected to the controller (1), wherein: The loading and unloading mechanism (2) comprises a movable base (21), a first rotating cylinder (22), a first manipulator (23) and a second manipulator (24); the first rotating cylinder (22) is arranged on the movable base (21), the first manipulator (23) and the second manipulator (24) are vertical and are both arranged on a rotating disk of the first rotating cylinder (22); The distance between the clamping end of the first manipulator (23) and the center of the rotating disk of the first rotating cylinder (22) is equal to the distance between the clamping end of the second manipulator (24) and the center of the rotating disk of the first rotating cylinder (22); The feeding mechanism (3) comprises a feeding shaft (31), a second rotating cylinder (32) and a processing robot (33); the second rotating cylinder (32) is arranged on a side of the feeding shaft (31) close to the first rotating cylinder (22); the processing robot (33) is arranged on a rotating disk of the second rotating cylinder (32); wherein the second rotating cylinder (32) is used to rotate the processing robot (33) from a horizontal position to a vertical position so that the processing robot (33) clamps the blade blank delivered by the first robot (23); or, after the processing robot (33) clamps the blade blank, the processing robot (33) is rotated from a vertical position to a horizontal position so that the blade blank clamped by the processing robot (33) is in a processing position; The processing robot (33) comprises a bottom plate (331), a V-shaped material trough (332), a clamping claw (333) and a connecting rod (334), wherein: The bottom plate (331) is arranged on the rotating disk of the second rotating cylinder (32), and at least one V-shaped material groove (332) is arranged on the end surface of the bottom plate (331); The clamping claw (333) comprises a connecting plate (336) and a pressing plate (337), one end of the connecting plate (336) is connected to the clamping claw cylinder and is arranged on the side of the bottom plate (331) away from the second rotating cylinder (32), the other end of the connecting plate (336) is connected to one end of the pressing plate (337), and the other end of the pressing plate (337) faces the V-shaped trough (332); The connecting rod (334) is fixed on the side surface, is located between the bottom plate (331) and the clamping claw (333), and is movably connected to the pressing plate (337).

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that The pressing plate (337) includes at least one sub-pressing plate (335), and each of the sub-pressing plates (335) is located in the same plane and parallel to each other.

3. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that The movable base (21) comprises a processing axis X (211), a processing axis Y (212), and a processing axis Z (213) which are perpendicular to each other; the processing axis Y (212) is arranged on the processing axis X (211); the processing axis Z (213) is arranged at one end of the processing axis Y (212) close to the feeding mechanism (3); and the first rotating cylinder (22) is arranged on the processing axis Z (213).

4. The device according to claim 3, characterized in that The processing axis X (211), the processing axis Y (212) and the processing axis Z (213) are all fully sealed structures.

5. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: Rubber pads (25) are provided on the clamping surfaces of the clamping ends of the first manipulator (23) and the second manipulator (24).

6. A control method for an automatic loading and unloading device, characterized in that: Used to control the automatic loading and unloading device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising the following steps: S1 controls the first manipulator (23) to move to the material taking position and clamp the material to be processed; S2 controls the first rotary cylinder (22) to rotate 90°, so that the second manipulator (24) moves vertically downward, and controls the second manipulator (24) to move to a waiting position; S3: after the processing of the material held by the processing robot (33) is completed, controlling the processing robot (33) to rotate to a vertical upward state; S4 controls the processing robot (33) to open, and controls the second robot (24) to clamp the processed material; S5 controls the first rotary cylinder (22) to rotate 90° so that the first manipulator (23) is in a vertical downward position; S6 controls the first manipulator (23) to move downward to deliver the material to be processed to the clamping end of the processing manipulator (33); S7 controls the processing robot (33) to clamp the material; S8 controls the first manipulator (23) to open and move upward; S9 controls the processing robot (33) to rotate 90° to a horizontal processing position; S10 controls the first rotary cylinder (22) to rotate 90 degrees, so that the second manipulator (24) is in a vertical downward state, and after controlling the second manipulator (24) to move to the material discharge position, controls the second manipulator (24) to open, so that the processed material falls into the collecting box (5); S11 repeats steps S1-S10.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The method further comprises: resetting the processing robot (33) at every preset time interval or after processing a preset amount of material.

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