An intelligent conveying system and method for casting pouring and cooling

Abstract

The present invention belongs to the technical field of mold conveying in a foundry workshop, and relates to an intelligent conveying system and method for mold assembly, pouring, cooling. It includes an assembly station, a pouring station, a cooling station, a shakeout station, as well as a roller conveyor equipment, an RGV transfer car, and a gantry manipulator for transferring molds between the assembly station, the pouring station, the cooling station and the shakeout station; the roller conveyor equipment is used to provide a path for transferring between stations, the RGV transfer car provides a carrying device for converting between stations, and the gantry manipulator is used to provide loading and unloading operations between the station and the RGV transfer car. The present invention has the advantages of both conveying flexibility, strong environmental adaptability, high conveying efficiency, low maintenance cost, etc., and solves the problems of automatic transfer of molds during the subsequent processes after assembly, and automatic return of empty pallets, sand boxes and chill blocks.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of mold conveying in foundry workshops, and relates to an intelligent conveying system and method for mold assembly, pouring, and cooling. Background Art

[0002] Sand casting generally needs to go through processes such as mold making, core making, molding, assembly, pouring, cooling, shakeout, machining, and grinding to form the final product. Among them, the front processes of mold assembly are more concentratedly arranged in the workshop and are easy to automate. In the traditional foundry workshop, due to the large size of workpieces, many supporting equipments, and large workshop span in the latter processes after mold assembly, the transfer of workpieces between processes needs to be realized manually by forklifts, trailers or overhead cranes, resulting in low efficiency. And the pouring process is completed manually, with high danger. At the same time, there is also a large amount of cross-workshop transfer work of empty pallets, sand boxes, and chill blocks after the casting is formed.

[0003] The environment of the foundry workshop is complex, with a lot of harmful gases and dust. Traditional foundry workshops often have a large amount of manual work, and the workload is mostly concentrated in the logistics transfer link, resulting in low equipment utilization rate and high manual labor intensity. In recent years, some casting manufacturers have begun to use automated equipments such as roller conveyors and transfer vehicles to solve the above problems. However, due to the large workshop span and the complex cooperation of various process equipments, most of them are only applied to the transfer of workpieces between simple processes and do not completely eliminate the participation of manual labor. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, the purpose of the present invention is to provide an intelligent conveying system and method for mold pouring and cooling, so as to solve problems such as the automated transfer of molds between the latter processes after mold assembly and the automated return of empty pallets, sand boxes, and chill blocks.

[0005] To achieve the above purpose, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

[0006] An intelligent conveying system for mold assembly, pouring, and cooling includes a mold assembly station, a pouring station, a cooling station, a shakeout station, and a roller conveying equipment, an RGV transfer cart, and a gantry manipulator for transferring molds between the mold assembly station, the pouring station, the cooling station, and the shakeout station; the roller conveying equipment is used to provide a path for transferring between stations, the RGV transfer cart provides a loading and unloading device for converting between stations, and the gantry manipulator is used to provide loading and unloading operations between the station and the RGV transfer cart.

[0007] Optionally, there are several pouring stations and gantry manipulators, and the intelligent scheduling system schedules the gantry manipulator to allocate the molds to the pouring stations according to the working conditions of the pouring stations and the mold conditions.

[0008] Optionally, it further includes an automatic pouring device, and the mold at the pouring station is grabbed by the gantry manipulator and sent to the automatic pouring device for pouring.

[0009] Optionally, the cooling station is equipped with exhaust gas extraction and waste gas treatment equipment.

[0010] Optionally, the box assembling station, pouring station, cooling station and sand dropping station are all equipped with code scanning equipment, and the RGV transfer trolley and the casting are all provided with barcodes for binding the casting information and recording the station information and binding with the casting information. The intelligent scheduling system sets and records the cooling time according to the casting information.

[0011] Optionally, the workstation information includes pouring information, cooling information, pouring time, and cooling time.

[0012] Optionally, the RGV transfer vehicle is provided with a motorized roller for cooperating with a roller conveyor device.

[0013] A method for intelligently conveying mold assembly, pouring and cooling, provides the above-mentioned intelligent conveying system for mold assembly, provides a code scanning device at each workstation and provides an intelligent scheduling system, RGV transfer trolleys and castings are provided with barcodes, and the intelligent scheduling system records each mold information and the pouring information and cooling information corresponding to the mold information, and dispatches a gantry manipulator according to the mold information and the working conditions of the pouring station to allocate the pouring station, determine and record the pouring time, and determine and record the cooling time; the optimal transfer path is calculated by the intelligent scheduling system.

[0014] Optionally, the gantry manipulator scheduling process includes at least two allocations. The gantry manipulators are allocated by group. The first level of allocation determines the gantry manipulator group. The last level of allocation determines the specific gantry manipulator. After the specific gantry manipulator is determined, the casting mold is docked through the gantry manipulator.

[0015] Optionally, after the mold at the shakeout station is offline, the mold information is scanned and unbound, and the RGV transfer trolley connects to the new mold and rebinds it when there is a vacancy in the transfer at the closing station, forming a closed loop.

[0016] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0017] 1. The present invention sets a code scanning device at each workstation and provides a barcode on the mold and the tray, so as to realize the binding of the mold information and the tray information, and automatically record the mold pouring information, cooling information, pouring time, cooling time information, etc.

[0018] 2. The intelligent scheduling system of the present invention can automatically allocate pouring stations to the mold according to the mold information and the current status of each equipment of the mold, solves the operation scheduling problem of multiple assembling stations and multiple pouring stations, and improves the utilization efficiency of the pouring equipment.

[0019] 3. The intelligent scheduling system of the present invention calculates the optimal path, enables automated transportation from mold assembly to pouring, cooling, and finally to shakeout, and can also achieve the automatic return and caching of pallets and replenish empty pallets for the mold assembly station.

[0020] 4. The present invention uses a gantry manipulator to cooperate with an automatic pouring device for casting grabbing and pouring, enabling the automated docking of the transportation device and the pouring device.

[0021] 5. The present invention is equipped with a powered roller track on the upper part of the RGV transfer cart, which can cooperate with the roller track transportation device to achieve the automated transfer of molds.

[0022] 6. In the subsequent processes after mold assembly, including inter-process transfer, pouring, mold cooling, etc., the present invention can achieve full-automatic operation. Only at the shakeout station, workers need to use a crane to lift the sand mold, greatly reducing the labor intensity of manual transfer in the foundry workshop.

[0023] 7. The mold cooling station of the present invention is equipped with a cooling corridor, exhaust equipment, waste gas treatment equipment, etc., which can prevent the pouring fumes from overflowing and purify the workshop environment.

[0024] Other advantages, objectives, and features of the present invention will be described to some extent in the subsequent specification, and to some extent, will be obvious to those skilled in the art based on the study of the following text, or can be learned from the practice of the present invention. The objectives and other advantages of the present invention can be achieved and obtained through the following specification. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be described in detail and preferably with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

[0026] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 2 is a control flow chart of the present invention.

[0028] Reference numerals: mold assembly station 1, roller track transportation device 2, RGV transfer cart 3, pouring station 4, gantry manipulator 5, pallet buffer area 6, cooling station 7, shakeout station 8, RGV for returning sand box chill 9. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0029] The following specific examples illustrate the implementation manners of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the content disclosed in this specification. The present invention can also be implemented or applied through other different specific implementation manners. Various details in this specification can also be modified or changed based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It should be noted that the diagrams provided in the following embodiments only schematically illustrate the basic concept of the present invention. Without conflict, the following embodiments and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other.

[0030] Among them, the drawings are only for illustrative purposes, showing only schematic diagrams, not physical diagrams, and should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention; in order to better illustrate the embodiments of the present invention, some components in the drawings will be omitted, enlarged or reduced, which do not represent the dimensions of the actual products; for those skilled in the art, it is understandable that some well-known structures and their descriptions in the drawings may be omitted.

[0031] In the drawings of the embodiments of the present invention, the same or similar reference numerals correspond to the same or similar components; in the description of the present invention, it should be understood that if there are terms such as "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "front", "rear", etc. indicating the orientation or positional relationship, they are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, the terms describing the positional relationship in the drawings are only for illustrative purposes and should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0032] Please refer to Figures 1 to 2 , which is an intelligent conveying system for mold assembling, pouring and cooling, including a mold assembling station 1, a pouring station 4, a cooling station 7, a shakeout station 8, and a roller conveyor device 2, an RGV transfer cart 3, and a gantry manipulator 5 for transferring the mold between the mold assembling station 1, the pouring station 4, the cooling station 7 and the shakeout station 8; the roller conveyor device 2 is used to provide a path for transferring between stations, the RGV transfer cart 3 provides a carrying device for transferring between stations, and the gantry manipulator 5 is used to provide loading and unloading operations between the station and the RGV transfer cart 3.

[0033] Optionally, there are several pouring stations 4 and gantry manipulators 5. The intelligent scheduling system schedules the gantry manipulator 5 to allocate the mold to the pouring station 4 according to the working conditions of the pouring station 4 and the mold situation. It also includes an automatic pouring device. The mold at the pouring station 4 is grabbed by the gantry manipulator 5 and transported to the automatic pouring device for pouring. The cooling station 7 is equipped with exhaust gas extraction and waste gas treatment equipment. Scanning devices are provided at the mold closing station 1, pouring station 4, cooling station 7, and shakeout station 8. Barcodes are provided on the RGV transfer cart 3 and the castings, which are used to bind the mold information and record the station information and bind it to the mold information. The intelligent scheduling system sets and records the cooling time according to the mold information. The station information includes pouring information, cooling information, pouring time, and cooling time. The RGV transfer cart 3 is equipped with a power roller table for cooperating with the roller conveyor equipment 2.

[0034] The present invention also relates to a method for intelligent transportation of mold closing, pouring, and cooling. It provides the above-mentioned intelligent transportation system for mold closing, pouring, and cooling. Scanning devices are set at each station and an intelligent scheduling system is provided. Barcodes are provided on the RGV transfer cart 3 and the castings. The intelligent scheduling system records various mold information and the corresponding pouring information and cooling information for the mold information. According to the mold information and the working conditions of the pouring station 4, the gantry manipulator is scheduled to allocate the pouring station 4, determine and record the pouring time, and determine and record the cooling time. The intelligent scheduling system calculates the optimal transfer path. The scheduling process of the gantry manipulator 5 includes at least two allocations. The gantry manipulator 5 is allocated by group. The first-level allocation determines the group of the gantry manipulator 5, and the last-level allocation determines the specific gantry manipulator 5. After determining the specific gantry manipulator, the gantry manipulator 5 docks with the mold. After the mold at the shakeout station 8 is taken offline, the mold information is scanned and unbound. When there is a vacancy at the mold closing station 1 for the RGV transfer cart 3 to transfer, it picks up a new mold and rebinds it, forming a closed loop.

[0035] The specific technical solution of the present invention is as follows:

[0036] (1) The present invention is composed of a mold closing station 1 conveying equipment, an RGV transfer cart 3, a roller conveyor equipment 2, a gantry manipulator 5, an automatic pouring device, a pallet buffer area 6, an intelligent scheduling system, etc.

[0037] (2) After the mold at the mold closing station 1 meets the pouring conditions, the scanning device at the station is used to bind the sand box molding information with the pallet. The scheduling system allocates a pouring station 4 for the mold. The RGV transfer cart 3 will automatically run to the mold closing station 1 to pick up the mold and cooperate with the roller conveyor equipment 2 to transfer the mold to the pouring station 4.

[0038] (3) After the mold is transported to the pouring station 4, the gantry manipulator 5 of the automatic pouring device will grab the mold onto the pouring machine to complete automatic pouring.

[0039] (4) After pouring, the mold will be sent back to the pouring station 4 by the gantry robot 5, and the intelligent scheduling system will automatically transfer the mold to the cooling station 7 for cooling.

[0040] (5) The cooling station 7 is equipped with exhaust and waste gas treatment equipment to prevent the pouring fume from overflowing and purify the air environment of the workshop. At the same time, a code scanning device is provided at the starting end of the cooling station 7 to read the casting information. The intelligent scheduling system will set the cooling time according to the casting information.

[0041] (6) After the cooling time is reached, the conveying system will transfer the mold to the vibrating sand-falling station 8. After the operator lowers the mold to the conveying equipment through the crane, he uses the station scanning device to release the binding information between the pallet and the workpiece. The pallet will automatically return to the pallet buffer station through the conveying system. When there is no pallet at the box closing station 1, it will automatically go to the box closing station 1 for replenishment, forming a closed loop.

[0042] (7) After the sand is shaken out, the sand box chiller is sorted out by the operator and returned to RGV9 through the sand box chiller installed in the sand falling room, and is automatically transferred to the front section of the box assembly.

[0043] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that the technical solution of the present invention can be modified or replaced by equivalents without departing from the purpose and scope of the technical solution, which should be included in the scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. An intelligent conveying method for mold assembling, pouring and cooling, characterized in that, it includes a mold assembling station, a pouring station, a cooling station, a shakeout station, as well as a roller conveyor equipment, an RGV transfer cart, and a gantry manipulator for transporting the mold between the mold assembling station, the pouring station, the cooling station and the shakeout station; the roller conveyor equipment is used to provide a path for transferring between stations, the RGV transfer cart provides a loading and unloading device for transferring between stations, and the gantry manipulator is used to provide loading and unloading operations between the station and the RGV transfer cart; several pouring stations and gantry manipulators are provided, and the intelligent scheduling system schedules the gantry manipulator to allocate the mold to the pouring station according to the working conditions of the pouring station and the mold situation; scanning devices are provided at the mold assembling station, the pouring station, the cooling station, and the shakeout station, and barcodes are provided on the RGV transfer cart and the casting for binding the mold information and recording the station information and binding it with the mold information, and the intelligent scheduling system sets and records the cooling time according to the mold information; scanning devices are set at each station and an intelligent scheduling system is provided, barcodes are provided on the RGV transfer cart and the casting, and the intelligent scheduling system records various mold information and the corresponding pouring information and cooling information of the mold information. According to the mold information and the working conditions of the pouring station, the gantry manipulator is scheduled to allocate the pouring station, determine and record the pouring time, and determine and record the cooling time; the optimal transfer path is calculated through the intelligent scheduling system.

2. The intelligent conveying method for mold assembling, pouring and cooling according to claim 1, characterized in that: it further includes an automatic pouring device, and the mold at the pouring station is grabbed by the gantry manipulator to the automatic pouring device for pouring.

3. The intelligent conveying method for mold assembling, pouring and cooling according to claim 1, characterized in that: the cooling station is equipped with exhaust and waste gas treatment equipment.

4. The intelligent conveying system for mold assembling, pouring and cooling according to claim 1, characterized in that: the station information includes pouring information, cooling information, pouring time, and cooling time.

5. The intelligent conveying method for mold assembling, pouring and cooling according to claim 1, characterized in that: the RGV transfer cart is provided with a mobile roller conveyor for cooperating with the roller conveyor equipment.

6. The intelligent conveying method for mold assembling, pouring and cooling according to claim 1, characterized in that: the scheduling process of the gantry manipulator includes at least two allocations. The gantry manipulator is allocated by group. The first-level allocation determines the group of the gantry manipulator, and the last-level allocation determines the specific gantry manipulator. After determining the specific gantry manipulator, the gantry manipulator docks with the mold.

7. The intelligent conveying method for mold assembling, pouring and cooling according to claim 1, characterized in that: after the mold at the shakeout station is taken offline, the mold information is scanned and unbound. When the RGV transfer cart is vacant at the mold assembling station, it connects to a new mold and rebinds, forming a closed loop.

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