Ferris wheel type material code collection and handover unit and its use method

Abstract

The present invention discloses a Ferris wheel-type material code retrieval and handover unit and a method for using the same. The Ferris wheel-type material code retrieval and handover unit includes a support chassis, a Ferris wheel-type storage device, and an electronic control device. The Ferris wheel-type storage device is an overall roller structure, including end plates, a support transmission shaft, a rotary drive mechanism, a trough assembly, and a coding control assembly. The trough assemblies are arranged in multiple groups between the left and right end plates, and the multiple groups of trough assemblies are evenly distributed along the circumferential direction of the end plates at the circumferential edge positions of the end plates. Each trough assembly includes a trough body with an open top and support shafts coaxially fixedly arranged at the left and right ends of the trough body. The support shafts of the trough assembly are mounted on the left and right end plates via bearing seats. The present invention can improve production efficiency while reducing the labor intensity of operators, and is particularly suitable for wire harness processing production lines that frequently retrieve semi-finished wires and cables of multiple varieties and specific lengths when producing combined wire harnesses.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a material code retrieval and handover unit and a method for using the same, in particular to a Ferris wheel type material code retrieval and handover unit suitable for batch classification, stacking and sequential retrieval of wires and cables during wire harness processing and a method for using the same, belonging to the technical field of wire harness processing. Background Art

[0002] Wire harness processing is designed to facilitate installation and maintenance, ensuring that electrical equipment can operate under the harshest conditions. Wires and cables of varying specifications and colors are rationally arranged with various connectors for each device. These are then combined by welding or crimping terminals, and bundled with insulating materials to form a wiring harness. Ultimately, this allows for the transmission of specific signals and currents. Wire harnesses are widely used in robotics, automotive, medical devices, and other fields.

[0003] During the wiring harness processing, when a variety of wires and cables of different specifications and colors are assembled together, the terminal crimping and assembly at both ends of the wires and cables are the most important processes. Due to the different lengths, diameters and other specifications of the various wires and cables in the wiring harness products, it is very difficult to achieve automated production. At present, the terminal crimping and assembly processes at both ends of the wires and cables are still largely manual operations. Usually, the semi-finished wires and cables of different specifications and colors that have been cut to length are manually classified and placed in different special trays. Then, the operator takes the semi-finished wires and cables of different specifications from different special trays as needed for terminal crimping and assembly. This traditional production method has the following disadvantages:

[0004] 1. Since the diameter of the wires and cables used in wiring harness products is usually relatively small and flexible, the semi-finished wires and cables placed in special trays are easy to get tangled together. Especially for the semi-finished wires and cables with longer lengths, it is usually troublesome to take the set number of semi-finished wires and cables in sequence according to the design requirements of the wiring harness products, and the production efficiency is low.

[0005] 2. The method of manually distinguishing different special trays and taking out semi-finished wires and cables from different special trays is easy to cause visual fatigue and high labor intensity for operators, which invisibly reduces production efficiency.

[0006] 3. For wire harness products that require a large number of wires and cables of different specifications and colors, the paving area of each special pallet is often large, and operators usually need to move around frequently to complete material collection, resulting in low production efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0007] In response to the problems existing in the above-mentioned prior art, the present invention provides a Ferris wheel type material code retrieval and handover unit and its use method, which can improve production efficiency while reducing the labor intensity of operators. It is particularly suitable for wire harness processing production lines that frequently retrieve semi-finished wires and cables of multiple varieties and specific lengths when producing combined wire harnesses.

[0008] In order to achieve the above purpose, the Ferris wheel type material code taking and handover unit includes a support frame, a Ferris wheel type storage device and an electronic control device;

[0009] The supporting frame is a frame structure including a left upright frame and a right upright frame which are symmetrically arranged on both sides;

[0010] The Ferris wheel type storage device is an overall roller structure, including end plates, a supporting transmission shaft, a rotary drive mechanism, a trough assembly and a coding control assembly;

[0011] The end plates of the disc structure include a left end plate and a right end plate that are symmetrically arranged on the left and right sides;

[0012] A support transmission shaft coaxially arranged with the end plate passes through the left end plate and the right end plate, and the support transmission shaft is fixedly connected to the left end plate and the right end plate respectively. The support transmission shaft is mounted on the left vertical frame and the right vertical frame of the support base frame through a bearing seat.

[0013] The rotary drive mechanism includes a rotary drive motor and a transmission drive structure. The output shaft of the rotary drive motor fixedly mounted on the support frame is connected to the support drive shaft through the transmission drive structure.

[0014] A plurality of trough assemblies are arranged between the left end plate and the right end plate, and the plurality of trough assemblies are evenly distributed at the circumferential edge of the end plate along the circumferential direction of the end plate. Each trough assembly includes a trough body with an open top and support shafts coaxially fixedly arranged at the left and right ends of the trough body. The trough body is a box-shaped structure. The support shafts of the trough assembly are mounted on the left and right end plates through bearing seats. The central axis of the support shaft is arranged parallel to the central axis of the supporting transmission shaft, and the axis center position of the support shaft is located above the center of gravity position of the trough body.

[0015] The encoding control component includes an encoder that can control the rotation angle of the supporting transmission shaft according to the number of the trough components to set the rotation angle;

[0016] The area corresponding to the front of the Ferris wheel type storage device is the material taking area or the material stacking area, and the area corresponding to the rear of the Ferris wheel type storage device is the material stacking area or the material taking area;

[0017] The electronic control device includes a controller, a control panel, a support transmission shaft rotation control circuit, and a trough assembly positioning control circuit. The controller is electrically connected to the control panel, the rotation drive motor, and the encoder respectively.

[0018] As an embodiment of the present invention, the encoder is a rotary encoder coaxially mounted on the supporting transmission shaft.

[0019] As another embodiment of the present invention, the encoder is an encoder that uses the end plate as a code disk, including an encoding output component and an encoding reading component; the encoding output components are set to multiple groups according to the number of material trough components, and each group of encoding output components is positioned on the left end plate or the right end plate of the end plate corresponding to the position of each material trough component, and each group of encoding output components is arranged on the connecting axis between the support shaft and the support transmission shaft; the encoding reading component with a reading head facing the encoding output component is fixedly installed on the left vertical frame or the right vertical frame of the support base corresponding to the position of the encoding output component, and the height dimension of the reading head of the encoding reading component relative to the support base is matched with the height dimension of the support transmission shaft relative to the support base, and the controller is electrically connected to the encoding reading component of the encoder.

[0020] As a further improvement of the present invention, the encoding output component is a light-transmitting through-hole structure, and the encoding reading component is a matching photoelectric switch structure; or the encoding output component is a boss structure, and the encoding reading component is a matching proximity switch or distance sensor structure; or the encoding output component is a digital inkjet printer, and the encoding reading component is a pattern recognition sensor.

[0021] A method for using a Ferris wheel-type material code collection and handover unit, using equipment positioning production:

[0022] Step 1: According to the types, quantities and assembly sequence of wires and cables required for the same wiring harness product, set the types and quantities of wires and cables to be stacked in each group of trough components in sequence;

[0023] Step 2: The controller controls the rotation drive motor to drive the end plate to rotate and reset the Ferris wheel storage device, so that the trough assembly corresponding to the first code rotates to the set position corresponding to the coding area;

[0024] Step three, the coding operator located in the coding area stacks the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled into the first coded trough component. After completing the stacking, the controller controls the rotation drive motor to make the support transmission shaft drive the end plate to rotate. When the encoder feedback indicates that the second coded trough component has moved to the set angle, the controller controls the rotation drive motor to stop, and the second coded trough component is positioned at the set position of the corresponding coding area. The coding operator located in the coding area stacks the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled into the second coded trough component. And so on. The coding operator located in the coding area sequentially stacks the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled into the trough components.

[0025] When the trough assembly corresponding to the first code rotates to the set position of the corresponding material picking area, the material picking operator located in the material picking area takes out the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled from the first coded trough assembly. After the taking is completed, the controller controls the rotation drive motor to make the support transmission shaft drive the end plate to rotate until the second coded trough assembly is positioned at the set position of the corresponding material picking area. Similarly, the material picking operator located in the material picking area sequentially takes out the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled in the trough assembly, realizing the continuous operation of the material encoding operator encoding the wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled in the material encoding area while the material picking operator takes the wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled in the material picking area.

[0026] As a further improvement of the present invention, the code fetching operation is controlled by time:

[0027] In step 1, the positioning and stacking time of the trough components and the positioning and retrieval time are also set;

[0028] In step 3, the stacking operator in the stacking area stacks the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled into the first coded trough assembly. After the positioning and stacking time, the controller controls the rotation drive motor to drive the support transmission shaft to rotate the end plate;

[0029] The material picking operator in the picking area takes out the corresponding set quantity of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled from the first coded trough component. After the positioning and picking time, the controller controls the rotation drive motor to make the support transmission shaft drive the end plate to rotate.

[0030] As a further improvement of the present invention, a control panel is provided on the material stacking area and the material retrieving area of the Ferris wheel type storage device. After the material retrieving operator in the material retrieving area completes the retrieving work, he issues an instruction on completing the retrieving through the control panel. After the material stacking operator in the material stacking area completes the stacking work, he issues an instruction on completing the stacking through the control panel. After the controller receives all the instructions on completing the retrieving and the instructions on completing the stacking, it controls the rotation drive motor to cause the support transmission shaft to drive the end plate to rotate.

[0031] As a further improvement of the present invention, a plurality of Ferris wheel type material code fetching and handing units are provided, and the material coding areas of the plurality of Ferris wheel type material code fetching and handing units are located in the same area or in the same direction.

[0032] A method for using a Ferris wheel-type material code taking and handover unit adopts a mobile production mode of equipment: multiple Ferris wheel-type material code taking and handover units are provided, and the code taking and handover operators are located at different positioning operation positions respectively;

[0033] Step 1: According to the types, quantities and assembly sequence of wires and cables required for the same wiring harness product, set the types and quantities of wires and cables to be stacked in each group of trough components in sequence;

[0034] Step 2: The on-site transfer vehicle transfers the first empty Ferris wheel type material code fetching and handover unit to the positioning operation position of the code operator, and makes the code area of the first empty Ferris wheel type material code fetching and handover unit face the positioning operation position of the code operator. The code operator first controls the rotation drive motor of the first empty Ferris wheel type material code fetching and handover unit through the controller to drive the end plate to rotate and reset the Ferris wheel type storage device, so that the corresponding first coded trough assembly rotates to the set position of the corresponding code area; then the code operator stacks the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled into the first coded trough assembly. After the stacking is completed, the stacking operator controls the rotation drive motor through the controller to make the support transmission shaft drive the end plate to rotate. When the encoder feedback indicates that the second coded trough component has moved to the set angle, the controller controls the rotation drive motor to stop, and the second coded trough component is positioned at the set position of the corresponding stacking area. The stacking operator stacks the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled into the second coded trough component. Similarly, the stacking operator sequentially stacks the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled into the trough component until the stacking of all trough components of the first Ferris wheel type material code collection and delivery unit is completed.

[0035] The material picking operator firstly controls the rotation drive motor of the first Ferris wheel type material picking and handing unit that has completed stacking to drive the end plate to rotate, resets the Ferris wheel type storage device, and rotates the corresponding first coded trough assembly to the set position of the corresponding material picking area; then, the material picking operator takes out the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled from the first coded trough assembly. After the taking is completed, the material picking operator controls the rotation drive motor of the controller to drive the support transmission shaft to drive the end plate to rotate until the second coded trough assembly is positioned at the set position of the corresponding material picking area. By analogy, the material picking operator sequentially takes out the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled in the trough assembly until the taking of all trough assemblies of the first Ferris wheel type material picking and handing unit is completed;

[0036] By analogy, after the material stacking operator completes the stacking of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled in a Ferris wheel-style material retrieval and handover unit, they are transferred to the material retrieval operator's positioning operation position by the on-site transfer vehicle. After the material retrieval operator completes the retrieval of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled in a Ferris wheel-style material retrieval and handover unit, they are transferred to the material stacking operator's positioning operation position by the on-site transfer vehicle, thus realizing the continuous operation of one material stacking operator serving multiple material retrieval operators at the same time.

[0037] As a further improvement of the present invention, the bottom of the supporting frame of each Ferris wheel type material code picking and handover unit is provided with a bottom pallet for AGV to drill into and carry out the transfer, and the on-site transfer vehicle is AGV.

[0038] Compared with the existing technology, this Ferris wheel type material code taking and handover unit can not only expand the storage space, but also effectively reduce the floor space, which is suitable for the layout of on-site production facilities and reduces unnecessary time consumption; this Ferris wheel type material code taking and handover unit adopts the method of laying out the wires and cables of different models and colors of the same wiring harness product in different box-shaped material troughs according to the type, quantity and assembly sequence of the wires and cables required, and adopts the method of completing the installation demand supply of all the wires and cables of a wiring harness product by rotating the Ferris wheel type storage device one circle, which can greatly reduce the phenomenon of wires and cables being entangled with each other and difficult to separate, thereby improving production efficiency; this Ferris wheel type material code taking and handover unit adopts the method of laying out the wires and cables of different models and colors of the same wiring harness product in different box-shaped material troughs according to the type, quantity and assembly sequence of the wires and cables required, and The handover unit is a continuous operation unit. Through the rotation of the Ferris wheel-type storage device, the wires and cables required by the assembly sequence are supplied in sequence. The operators who take the materials do not need to perform manual identification, the labor intensity is low, and the production efficiency is high. This Ferris wheel-type material retrieval and handover unit can adopt the equipment positioning production method to realize the continuous operation of stacking wires and cables in the stacking area while taking the wires and cables in the taking area. It can also adopt the equipment flow production method to realize the continuous operation of one stacking operator serving multiple taking operators at the same time, which can greatly improve the production efficiency. It is particularly suitable for wire harness processing production lines that frequently take semi-finished wires and cables of multiple varieties and specific lengths when producing combined wire harnesses. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the present invention from the left rear perspective;

[0040] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the present invention from the right rear perspective;

[0041] Figure 3 It is a structural schematic diagram of the right end surface of the present invention;

[0042] Figure 4 3D schematic diagram of the trough assembly of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 5 yes Figure 4 I-direction local enlarged view;

[0044] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure when the working table is set in the present invention;

[0045] Figure 7 This is a schematic structural diagram of the right end face when the working table is provided in the present invention;

[0046] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the arrangement of the coding output components on the end plate in an embodiment of the present invention in which the number of trough assemblies is 14 groups.

[0047] In the figure: 1. Support chassis, 2. Ferris wheel type storage device, 21. End plate, 22. Support transmission shaft, 23. Rotary drive motor, 24. Material trough body, 25. Support shaft, 26. Encoding output component, 27. Encoding reading component. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0049] like Figure 1 、 Figure 2 As shown, the Ferris wheel type material code retrieval and delivery unit includes a supporting base frame 1, a Ferris wheel type storage device 2 and an electronic control device.

[0050] The supporting base frame 1 is a frame structure including a left upright frame and a right upright frame which are symmetrically arranged on the left and right sides.

[0051] The Ferris wheel type storage device 2 is a drum structure as a whole, including an end plate 21, a support transmission shaft 22, a rotary drive mechanism, a trough assembly and a coding control assembly;

[0052] The disc-shaped end plate 21 includes a left end plate and a right end plate that are symmetrically arranged on both sides;

[0053] The support transmission shaft 22 is coaxially arranged with the end plate 21 and passes through the left end plate and the right end plate. The support transmission shaft 22 is fixedly connected to the left end plate and the right end plate respectively. The support transmission shaft 22 is mounted on the left and right upright frames of the support base frame 1 through bearing seats.

[0054] The rotary drive mechanism includes a rotary drive motor 23 and a transmission drive structure. The output shaft of the rotary drive motor 23 fixedly mounted on the support frame 1 is connected to the support drive shaft 22 through the transmission drive structure. The transmission drive structure can be a belt drive structure, a chain drive structure, or a gearbox structure in which the output shaft is coaxially connected to the support drive shaft 22, or other transmission structures.

[0055] The number of trough assemblies is set to multiple groups and is arranged between the left end plate and the right end plate, and the multiple groups of trough assemblies are evenly distributed along the circumferential direction of the end plate 21 at the circumferential edge of the end plate 21, such as Figure 4 、 Figure 5 As shown, each trough assembly includes a trough body 24 with an open top and support shafts 25 coaxially fixedly arranged at the left and right ends of the trough body 24. The trough body 24 is a box-shaped structure. The support shafts 25 of the trough assembly are mounted on the left and right end plates through bearing seats. The central axis of the support shaft 25 is parallel to the central axis of the support transmission shaft 22, and the axis position of the support shaft 25 is above the center of gravity of the trough body 24. That is, when the support transmission shaft 22 drives the left and right end plates to rotate, like a Ferris wheel structure, the trough body 24 always maintains a top-up posture.

[0056] The coding control assembly includes an encoder that can control the rotation angle of the support transmission shaft 22 and is configured to adjust the rotation angle according to the number of the trough assemblies. The encoder can be a rotary encoder coaxially mounted on the support transmission shaft 22 or an encoder that uses the end plate 21 as a code disk, such as Figure 3As shown, the encoder using the end plate 21 as a code disk includes an encoding output component 26 and an encoding reading component 27. The encoding output components 26 are set to multiple groups according to the number of material trough components. Each group of encoding output components 26 is positioned on the left end plate or the right end plate of the end plate 21 corresponding to the position of each material trough component, and each group of encoding output components 26 is arranged on the connecting axis between the support shaft 25 and the support transmission shaft 22; the encoding reading component 27 with a reading head facing the encoding output component 26 is fixedly installed on the left vertical frame or the right vertical frame of the support base 1 corresponding to the position of the encoding output component 26, and the height dimension of the reading head of the encoding reading component 27 relative to the support base 1 is matched with the height dimension of the support transmission shaft 22 relative to the support base 1. The coding output component 26 can be a light-transmitting through-hole structure, and the coding reading component 27 can be a matching photoelectric switch structure. Coding is achieved by setting light-transmitting through-holes of different numbers and different intervals in the corresponding material trough components. The photoelectric switch can realize rotation control and positioning control of the end plate 21 through the light-transmitting through-hole coding, thereby realizing the movement and position positioning of any material trough component; the coding output component 26 can be a boss structure, and the coding reading component 27 can be a matching proximity switch or distance sensor structure. Coding is achieved by setting bosses of different numbers and different intervals in the corresponding material trough components. The proximity switch or distance sensor can realize rotation control and positioning control of the end plate 21 through boss coding, thereby realizing the movement and position positioning of any material trough component; the coding output component 26 can also be directly a digital inkjet code, and the coding reading component 27 can be a matching pattern recognition sensor. Coding is achieved by different digital inkjet codes set for the corresponding material trough components. The pattern recognition sensor can realize rotation control and positioning control of the end plate 21 through digital inkjet coding, thereby realizing the movement and position positioning of any material trough component;

[0057] The area corresponding to the front of the Ferris wheel type storage device 2 is the material taking area or the material stacking area, and the area corresponding to the rear of the Ferris wheel type storage device 2 is the material stacking area or the material taking area.

[0058] The electronic control device includes a controller, a control panel, a support transmission shaft rotation control circuit, and a trough assembly positioning control circuit. The controller is electrically connected to the control panel, the rotation drive motor 23, and the encoder respectively.

[0059] Taking the example of 14 trough assemblies, the encoding output component 26 being a boss structure, and the encoding reading component 27 being a matching proximity switch structure, the encoding reading component 27 includes four proximity switch reading heads arranged side by side. During the rotation of the supporting transmission shaft 22, when the boss structure is opposite to the proximity switch reading head, the proximity switch sends an electrical signal, otherwise no electrical signal is sent. In this way, four binary digits can be used to correspond to the trough assemblies in different positions and to number the trough assemblies. The specific encoding is shown in Table 1 below. The installation position of the corresponding boss structure on the left end plate or the right end plate of the end plate 21 is as follows: Figure 8 shown.

[0060] Table 1 Fourteen trough component numbers

[0061]

[0062] In order to prevent the wires and cables from getting tangled with each other, the trough body 24 can be a box-shaped structure with a length dimension in the left-right direction much greater than a width dimension in the front-back direction, that is, the wires and cables are laid flat in the trough body 24 along the length direction of the trough body 24. The Ferris wheel-type storage device 2 can be used to complete the installation and supply of all the wires and cables of a wiring harness product by rotating one circle. That is, the number of wires and cables stacked in each group of trough components is preferably no more than 3, and it is beneficial to stack 1 wire and cable, which can greatly reduce the phenomenon of wires and cables getting tangled with each other and being difficult to separate. When taking wires and cables from the trough body 24, the operator can directly move the trough body 24 to flip it around the central axis of the support shaft 25, and then the wires and cables can be dumped out.

[0063] The specific work of the stacking operators in the stacking area can be simply stacking the wires and cables, or they can first crimp the wires and cables to form semi-finished products to be assembled, and then stack them. The corresponding specific work of the retrieving operators in the retrieving area can be first taking out the wires and cables, then crimping the wires and cables to form semi-finished products to be assembled, and then assembling them, or they can first take out the semi-finished products to be assembled and then assemble them directly. When adopting the equipment positioning production method, the specific work of the stacking operators and the retrieving operators can achieve the stacking and retrieving at the same time in both the above-mentioned specific operation methods.

[0064] Taking the operation mode as an example, in which the specific job of the stacking operator is to simply stack the wires and cables, and the specific job of the picking operator is to first take out the wires and cables and crimp the terminals to form semi-finished products to be assembled before assembling them, when the equipment positioning production mode is adopted, according to the types, quantities and assembly sequence requirements of the wires and cables required for the same wire harness product, the types and quantities of wires and cables to be stacked in each group of trough components are set in sequence, so that the wires and cables can be stacked in the stacking area while being taken in the picking area. Specifically, first, the controller controls the rotation drive motor 23 to drive the end plate 21 to rotate to reset the Ferris wheel type storage device 2, so that the material trough assembly corresponding to code No. 1 rotates to the set position of the corresponding material coding area, and then the material coding operator located in the material coding area stacks the corresponding set number of wires and cables into the material trough assembly with code No. 1. After the stacking is completed, the controller controls the rotation drive motor 23 to drive the support transmission shaft 22 to drive the end plate 21 to rotate. When the code output component 26 of the material trough assembly corresponding to code No. 2 is read by the code reading component 27, the controller controls the rotation drive motor 23 to stop the action, and the material trough assembly with code No. 2 is positioned at the set position of the corresponding material coding area, and the material coding operator located in the material coding area stacks the corresponding set number of wires and cables into the material trough assembly with code No. 2. Cable, and so on, the coding operators located in the coding area sequentially stack the corresponding set number of wires and cables into the material trough assembly; when the material trough assembly corresponding to code No. 1 rotates to the set position of the corresponding material picking area, the material picking operators located in the material picking area take out the corresponding set number of wires and cables from the material trough assembly with code No. 1 to perform tasks such as crimping terminals and assembly. After the collection is completed, the controller controls the rotation drive motor 23 to cause the support transmission shaft 22 to continue to drive the end plate 21 to rotate until the material trough assembly with code No. 2 is positioned at the set position of the corresponding material picking area, and so on, the material picking operators located in the material picking area sequentially take out the corresponding set number of wires and cables located in the material trough assembly, thereby realizing the continuous operation of coding the wires and cables in the coding area while taking the wires and cables in the material picking area. Figure 6 、 Figure 7 As shown, by adopting the equipment positioning production method, an operating platform that is convenient for placing tools and assembly operations can be set up in the stacking area and the material picking area. The operating platform can be horizontally mounted on the left and right vertical frames, or on a separately set operating table.

[0065] As an embodiment of the present invention, a method of controlling the coding operation by time can be adopted, that is, setting the positioning stacking time and the positioning retrieval time of the material trough assembly, and the coding operator located in the coding area stacks the corresponding set number of wires and cables into the material trough assembly coded No. 1. After the positioning stacking time, the controller controls the rotation drive motor 23 to make the support transmission shaft 22 drive the end plate 21 to rotate; the material retrieval operator located in the material retrieval area takes out the corresponding set number of wires and cables from the material trough assembly coded No. 1 to perform terminal crimping, combined assembly and other operations. After the positioning retrieval time, the controller controls the rotation drive motor 23 to make the support transmission shaft 22 drive the end plate 21 to rotate.

[0066] In order to avoid the situation where the supporting transmission shaft 22 drives the end plate 21 to rotate when the stacking or retrieval is not completed in the continuous operation of stacking wires and cables in the stacking area and taking wires and cables in the picking area, as a further improvement scheme of the present invention, the Ferris wheel type storage device 2 is provided with a control panel on the stacking area and the picking area. After the picking operator in the picking area completes the taking work, he sends an instruction to complete the taking through the control panel. After the stacking operator in the stacking area completes the stacking work, he sends an instruction to complete the stacking through the control panel. After the controller receives all the instructions to complete the taking and the instructions to complete the stacking, it controls the rotation drive motor 23 to operate so that the supporting transmission shaft 22 drives the end plate 21 to rotate.

[0067] Since the time taken by the material picking operators located in the material picking area to take out the wires and cables for crimping terminals, assembly and other tasks is longer than the time taken by the material coding operators located in the material coding area to code the wires and cables, in order to further improve efficiency, as a further improvement scheme of the present invention, the Ferris wheel type material picking and coding delivery units are set to be multiple, and the coding areas of multiple Ferris wheel type material picking and coding delivery units are located in the same area or the same direction, that is, the Ferris wheel type material picking and coding delivery units can be set to two oppositely opposed units, and the two Ferris wheel type material picking and coding delivery units share the same material coding area, and the material coding operators located in the material coding area can code the wires and cables on the two Ferris wheel type material picking and coding delivery units at the same time, or the Ferris wheel type material picking and coding delivery units can be set to be multiple side by side, and the material coding areas of multiple Ferris wheel type material picking and coding delivery units are located on the same side of the Ferris wheel type storage device 2, and the material coding operators located in the material coding area can code the wires and cables on multiple Ferris wheel type material picking and coding delivery units at the same time.

[0068] Since the time it takes for a coding operator to code wires and cables is much faster than the time it takes for a picking operator to take out wires and cables for crimping terminals, assembly, etc., in order to further improve efficiency, as a further improvement scheme of the present invention, a mobile production mode of equipment is adopted, that is, a plurality of Ferris wheel-type material coding and handover units are provided, and the bottom of the supporting base frame 1 of each Ferris wheel-type material coding and handover unit is provided with a bottom support plate for AGV to drill into and carry and transfer. The coding operator and the picking operator are respectively located in different positioning operation positions. After the coding operator completes the coding of wires and cables of a Ferris wheel-type material coding and handover unit, the AGV transfers them to the positioning operation position of the picking operator. After the picking operator completes the taking of wires and cables of a Ferris wheel-type material coding and handover unit, the AGV transfers them to the positioning operation position of the coding operator, and the picking operator completes the taking of wires and cables of a Ferris wheel-type material coding and handover unit, the AGV transfers them to the positioning operation position of the coding operator, so that one coding operator can serve multiple picking operators at the same time.

[0069] This Ferris wheel type material code retrieval and handover unit is not only suitable for wire harness processing production lines, but also for other workpieces or products that need to be classified, stacked and handed over for continuous operations.

Claims

1. A Ferris wheel type material retrieval and delivery unit, used for batch classification and stacking of wires and cables and sequential retrieval during wiring harness processing, characterized in that: It comprises a supporting base frame (1), a Ferris wheel type storage device (2) and an electric control device; The supporting base frame (1) is a frame structure comprising a left upright frame and a right upright frame which are symmetrically arranged on the left and right sides; The Ferris wheel type storage device (2) is an overall roller structure, comprising an end plate (21), a supporting transmission shaft (22), a rotary drive mechanism, a trough assembly and a coding control assembly; The end plate (21) of the disc structure includes a left end plate and a right end plate that are symmetrically arranged on the left and right sides; A support transmission shaft (22) coaxially arranged with the end plate (21) is provided through the left end plate and the right end plate, and the support transmission shaft (22) is fixedly connected to the left end plate and the right end plate respectively, and the support transmission shaft (22) is mounted on the left vertical frame and the right vertical frame of the support base frame (1) through a bearing seat. The rotary drive mechanism comprises a rotary drive motor (23) and a transmission drive structure, wherein the output shaft of the rotary drive motor (23) fixedly mounted on the support base (1) is connected to the support transmission shaft (22) via the transmission drive structure; A plurality of trough assemblies are arranged between the left end plate and the right end plate, and the plurality of trough assemblies are evenly distributed along the circumferential direction of the end plate (21) at the circumferential edge of the end plate (21), each trough assembly comprises a trough body (24) with an open top and support shafts (25) coaxially fixedly arranged at the left and right ends of the trough body (24), the trough body (24) is a box-shaped structure, the support shafts (25) of the trough assembly are mounted on the left and right end plates through bearing seats, the central axis of the support shaft (25) is arranged parallel to the central axis of the supporting transmission shaft (22), and the axis position of the support shaft (25) is located above the center of gravity of the trough body (24); The coding control component includes an encoder that can control the rotation angle of the support transmission shaft (22) by setting the rotation angle according to the number of material trough components; the encoder is a rotary encoder coaxially mounted on the support transmission shaft (22); or the encoder is an encoder that uses the end plate (21) as a code disk, including a coding output component (26) and a coding reading component (27), the coding output component (26) is set to multiple groups according to the number of material trough components, each group of coding output components (26) is positioned and arranged on the left end plate or the right end plate of the end plate (21) corresponding to the position of each material trough component, and each group of coding output components (26) is arranged on the connecting axis between the support shaft (25) and the support transmission shaft (22), the coding reading component (27) with a reading head facing the coding output component (26) is fixedly mounted on the left vertical frame or the right vertical frame of the support base frame (1) corresponding to the position of the coding output component (26), and the height dimension of the coding reading component (27) relative to the support base frame (1) is matched with the height dimension of the support transmission shaft (22) relative to the support base frame (1); The area corresponding to the front of the Ferris wheel type storage device (2) is the material taking area or the material stacking area, and the area corresponding to the rear of the Ferris wheel type storage device (2) is the material stacking area or the material taking area; The electronic control device includes a controller, a control panel, a support drive shaft rotation control circuit, and a trough assembly positioning control circuit. The controller is electrically connected to the control panel and the rotation drive motor (23), and is electrically connected to the rotary encoder, or the controller is electrically connected to the code reading component (27) of the encoder using the end plate (21) as a code disk. The Ferris wheel-type material code collection and handover unit lays out different models and colors of wires and cables of the same wiring harness product in different box-shaped material troughs according to the type, quantity and assembly sequence of the wires and cables. The Ferris wheel-type storage device completes the installation supply of all wires and cables for a wiring harness product in one rotation, reducing the phenomenon of wires and cables being entangled and difficult to separate, thereby improving production efficiency.

2. The Ferris wheel type material code taking and handover unit according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The coding output component (26) is a light-transmitting through-hole structure, and the coding reading component (27) is a matching photoelectric switch structure; or the coding output component (26) is a boss structure, and the coding reading component (27) is a matching proximity switch or distance sensor structure; or the coding output component (26) is a digital inkjet printer, and the coding reading component (27) is a pattern recognition sensor.

3. A method for using the Ferris wheel type material code retrieval and delivery unit based on the Ferris wheel type material code retrieval and delivery unit according to claim 1, characterized in that: Using equipment positioning production method: Step 1: According to the types, quantities and assembly sequence of wires and cables required for the same wiring harness product, set the types and quantities of wires and cables to be stacked in each group of trough components in sequence; Step 2: The controller controls the rotation drive motor (23) to drive the end plate (21) to rotate and reset the Ferris wheel storage device (2), so that the trough component corresponding to the first code rotates to the set position corresponding to the coding area; Step 3: The coding operator in the coding area codes the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled into the first coded trough assembly. After the coding is completed, the controller controls the rotary drive motor (23) to operate so that the support transmission shaft (22) drives the end plate (21) to rotate. When the encoder feedback indicates that the second coded trough assembly has moved to the set angle, the controller controls the rotary drive motor (23) to stop operating. The second coded trough assembly is positioned at the set position of the corresponding coding area. The coding operator in the coding area codes the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled into the second coded trough assembly. Similarly, the coding operator in the coding area codes the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled into the trough assembly in sequence. When the trough assembly corresponding to the first code rotates to the set position of the corresponding material taking area, the material taking operator located in the material taking area takes out the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled from the first code trough assembly. After the taking is completed, the controller controls the rotation drive motor (23) to operate so that the support transmission shaft (22) drives the end plate (21) to rotate until the second code trough assembly is positioned at the set position of the corresponding material taking area. Similarly, the material taking operator located in the material taking area sequentially takes out the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled in the trough assembly, thereby realizing the continuous operation of the material coding operator coding the wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled in the material coding area while the material taking operator takes out the wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled in the material taking area.

4. The method for using the Ferris wheel type material code taking and handover unit according to claim 3 is characterized in that: Control the code acquisition operation by time: In step 1, the positioning and stacking time of the trough components and the positioning and retrieval time are also set; In step three, the stacking operator in the stacking area stacks the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled into the first coded trough assembly. After the positioning and stacking time, the controller controls the rotation drive motor (23) to operate so that the support transmission shaft (22) drives the end plate (21) to rotate; The material taking operator located in the material taking area takes out the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled from the first coded material trough component. After the positioning and taking time, the controller controls the rotation drive motor (23) to operate so that the support transmission shaft (22) drives the end plate (21) to rotate.

5. The method for using the Ferris wheel type material code taking and handing unit according to claim 3 is characterized in that: The Ferris wheel type storage device (2) is provided with a control panel on both the stacking area and the retrieving area. After the retrieving operator in the retrieving area completes the retrieving work, he issues a command to complete the retrieving through the control panel. After the stacking operator in the stacking area completes the stacking work, he issues a command to complete the stacking through the control panel. After the controller receives all the commands to complete the retrieving and stacking, it controls the rotation drive motor (23) to operate so that the support transmission shaft (22) drives the end plate (21) to rotate.

6. The method for using the Ferris wheel type material code taking and handing unit according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that: The Ferris wheel type material code fetching and handover units are provided in plurality, and the material coding areas of the plurality of Ferris wheel type material code fetching and handover units are located in the same area or in the same direction.

7. A method for using the Ferris wheel type material code retrieval and delivery unit based on the Ferris wheel type material code retrieval and delivery unit according to claim 1, characterized in that: Adopt the equipment flow production mode: Ferris wheel-style material code collection and handover units are set up in multiple, and the code collection operators and the material collection operators are located in different positioning operation positions; Step 1: According to the types, quantities and assembly sequence of wires and cables required for the same wiring harness product, set the types and quantities of wires and cables to be stacked in each group of trough components in sequence; Step 2: The on-site transfer vehicle transfers the first empty Ferris wheel type material code collection and transfer unit to the positioning operation position of the code collection operator, and makes the code collection area of the first empty Ferris wheel type material code collection and transfer unit face the positioning operation position of the code collection operator. The code collection operator first controls the rotation drive motor (23) of the first empty Ferris wheel type material code collection and transfer unit through the controller to drive the end plate (21) to rotate and perform a reset operation on the Ferris wheel type storage device (2), so that the corresponding first coded trough component rotates to the set position of the corresponding code collection area; then the code collection operator places the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled into the first coded trough component, completing the process. After stacking, the stacking operator controls the rotation drive motor (23) through the controller to make the support transmission shaft (22) drive the end plate (21) to rotate. When the encoder feedback indicates that the second coded trough component moves to the set angle, the controller controls the rotation drive motor (23) to stop, and the second coded trough component is positioned at the set position of the corresponding stacking area. The stacking operator stacks the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled into the second coded trough component. Similarly, the stacking operator sequentially stacks the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled into the trough component until the stacking work of all the trough components of the first Ferris wheel type material fetching and handover unit is completed. Step 3: The on-site transfer vehicle transfers the first Ferris wheel type material code collection and transfer unit that has been completed to the positioning operation position of the material collection operator, and makes the material collection area of the first Ferris wheel type material code collection and transfer unit that has been completed face the positioning operation position of the material collection operator. The material collection operator first controls the rotation drive motor (23) of the first Ferris wheel type material code collection and transfer unit that has been completed by the controller to drive the end plate (21) to rotate and reset the Ferris wheel type storage device (2), so that the corresponding first coded trough component rotates to the set position of the corresponding material collection area. Then the material taking operator takes out the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled from the first coded material trough component. After the taking is completed, the material taking operator controls the rotation drive motor (23) through the controller to make the support transmission shaft (22) drive the end plate (21) to rotate until the second coded material trough component is positioned at the set position of the corresponding material taking area. Similarly, the material taking operator sequentially takes out the corresponding set number of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled in the material trough component until the taking work of all the material trough components of the first Ferris wheel material taking and handover unit is completed; By analogy, after the material stacking operator completes the stacking of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled in a Ferris wheel-style material retrieval and handover unit, they are transferred to the material retrieval operator's positioning operation position by the on-site transfer vehicle. After the material retrieval operator completes the retrieval of wires and cables or semi-finished products to be assembled in a Ferris wheel-style material retrieval and handover unit, they are transferred to the material stacking operator's positioning operation position by the on-site transfer vehicle, thus realizing the continuous operation of one material stacking operator serving multiple material retrieval operators at the same time.

8. The method for using the Ferris wheel type material code taking and handing unit according to claim 7, characterized in that: The bottom of the supporting chassis (1) of each Ferris wheel type material code fetching and handover unit is provided with a bottom support plate for AGV to drill into and carry and transfer. The transfer vehicle in the field is AGV.

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