An automated production line material car

Abstract

The present invention provides a material trolley for an automated production line, which comprises a structural frame, which can be used to place a material trolley body; a positioning mechanism is provided on the structural frame, a roller is provided at the bottom of the structural frame, and guide mechanisms are provided on the left and right sides of the structural frame respectively; a material support rod is provided on the material trolley body; the material trolley body can be guided by the guide mechanism, thereby being moved horizontally and arranged on the structural frame, and can be locked or unlocked with the positioning mechanism; the automated production line material trolley provided by the present invention has a clear principle, a compact and simple structure, a clear control logic, can realize the positioning of the material trolley body with a simple structural frame, meets the production switching requirements of a flexible production line, reduces investment costs, and has simple equipment that is easy to maintain.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of material carts for automated production lines, and in particular relates to a material cart for automated production lines. Background Art

[0002] At present, there are two main forms of automated production line material carts at the side of automated production lines in the industry: one is a special tooling, that is, the tooling is fixed on the ground. After manual installation, the robot automatically grabs the parts and arranges the installation according to the production line demand information. In this way, when multiple models are produced on mixed lines, because the tooling is fixed and cannot be switched, the tooling structure design is relatively complex and the flexibility of the production line is limited; the other is to use a forklift to deliver parts of different models to a shared positioning tool via an automated production line material cart. This method can meet the requirements of production line flexibility, but there are great safety hazards when forklifts operate at the side of the production line, which is not conducive to on-site production management and has low efficiency.

[0003] Based on the technical problems existing in the material carts of the above-mentioned automated production lines, there is no relevant solution yet; therefore, there is an urgent need to find effective solutions to solve the above-mentioned problems. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to address the deficiencies in the above-mentioned technologies and to propose an automated production line trolley, which aims to solve one of the problems of component positioning and complex structure of the existing automated production line trolleys.

[0005] The present invention provides a material trolley for an automated production line, which comprises a structural frame, which can be used to place a material trolley body; a positioning mechanism is provided on the structural frame, a roller is provided at the bottom of the structural frame, and guide mechanisms are provided on the left and right sides of the structural frame respectively; a material support rod is provided on the material trolley body; the material trolley body can be guided by the guide mechanism, thereby being moved horizontally and arranged on the structural frame, and can be locked or unlocked with the positioning mechanism.

[0006] Furthermore, the positioning mechanism includes an anti-locking mechanism and a locking mechanism; the anti-locking mechanism is arranged at the lower end of the front side of the structural frame, and the locking mechanism is arranged at the rear side of the structural frame; the material cart body can move back and forth between the front side and the rear side of the structural frame; the anti-locking mechanism is used to lock the material cart body and trigger the locking mechanism to position the material cart body.

[0007] Furthermore, the anti-locking mechanism includes a foot pedal and a position sensor, and the locking mechanism includes a clamping block and a cylinder; a person can lock the trolley body by stepping on the foot pedal; the position sensor is used to detect the locking information of the trolley body and send a control signal to the cylinder, so that the cylinder drives the clamping block to position the trolley body on the structural frame; or, a person can interrupt the signal of the position sensor by stepping on the foot pedal, so that the cylinder drives the clamping block to open the trolley body.

[0008] Furthermore, the material cart includes buffers, and two buffers are respectively arranged at two ends of the rear side of the structural frame. When the material cart body moves to the rear side of the structural frame in the horizontal direction, it can abut against the buffers.

[0009] Furthermore, the buffer includes a buffer support frame and an in-place stopper, the buffer support frame is fixedly arranged on the structural frame; the in-place stopper is arranged on the buffer support frame and facing the trolley body; one or more buffer adjustment gaskets can be arranged between the in-place stopper and the buffer support frame to adjust the gap between the in-place stopper and the trolley body along the X direction.

[0010] Furthermore, the guide mechanism includes a coarse guide rod and a fine guide wheel; a plurality of fine guide wheels are arranged on the side of the structural frame along the moving direction of the material cart body, and both sides of the material cart body can roll through the fine guide wheels, thereby moving to the structural frame; the coarse guide rod is arranged at the front end of the fine guide wheel, thereby being able to guide the material cart body onto the fine guide wheel.

[0011] Furthermore, the precision guide wheel includes a guide roller and a roller connecting seat, the roller connecting seat is fixedly arranged on the structural frame; the guide roller is rotatably arranged on the roller connecting seat, and is in rolling contact with the side of the material car body through its rotating surface.

[0012] Furthermore, one or more guide adjustment gaskets can be arranged between the roller connecting seat and the structural frame to adjust the gap between the guide roller and the trolley body along the Y direction.

[0013] Furthermore, multiple material support rods are arranged on the material cart body in the vertical direction for stacking parts; the material cart includes a material cart identification sensor, which is arranged on the structural frame. The material cart identification sensor includes a material cart detection switch and multiple parts identification switches. The material cart detection switch is used to detect whether there is a material cart body on the structural frame; each part identification switch is used to detect the different characteristics of each part, and the information of the material cart body and the parts it carries is read through the detection signal arrangement of each part identification switch.

[0014] Furthermore, the material cart includes a parts sensor; the parts sensor is arranged on the structural frame and is used to detect whether there are parts on the material cart body.

[0015] The automated production line trolley provided by the present invention can realize the position positioning of an ordinary loading trolley in the automated production line, and the positioning accuracy can meet the requirement of a robot carrying a gripper to accurately grab parts in the trolley; through the vehicle type recognition sensor in the automated production line trolley, the gripper system can automatically recognize the vehicle type information corresponding to the parts carried by the trolley, and through a simple anti-locking mechanism and sensor signal detection and control of the cylinder locking the trolley body, it can be easily operated by personnel, thereby meeting the needs of flexible mixed-line production of the entire production line; it has the advantages of low production cost, good stability and wide applicability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0017] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a material cart for an automated production line of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 2 This is a working principle diagram of the X-axis locking mechanism of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 3 This is an axial view of the anti-locking mechanism of the material cart in place of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the detection and identification principle of the material cart and the parts carried thereon of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the pulley guide limit principle of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the working status of a material cart in an automated production line of the present invention.

[0024] In the figure: 1. coarse guide rod; 2. fine guide wheel; 21. guide roller; 22. roller connecting seat; 23. guide adjustment gasket; 3. anti-locking mechanism; 31. foot pedal; 32. position sensor; 4. structural frame; 5. locking mechanism; 51. clamping block; 52. cylinder; 6. buffer; 61. in-position block; 62. buffer adjustment gasket; 7. part sensor; 8. material cart identification sensor; 81. material cart detection switch; 82. first part identification switch; 83. second part identification switch; 84. third part identification switch; 9. material cart body; 91. material support rod; 10. parts. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and beneficial effects to be solved by the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0026] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "fixed to" or "disposed on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or indirectly on the other element. When an element is referred to as being "connected to" another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or indirectly connected to the other element.

[0027] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "multiple" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined. The meaning of "several" is one or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0028] In the description of the present invention, it is necessary to understand that the directions or positional relationships indicated by the terms "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", etc. are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying 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 direction, be constructed and operated in a specific direction, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present invention.

[0029] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0030] As shown in Figure 1 to Figure 6As shown, the present invention provides a material cart for an automated production line, specifically a material cart for an automated production line, which has an automatic identification function, thereby being able to meet the needs of flexible mixed-line production of the entire production line; specifically, the material cart includes a structural frame 4, and the structural frame 4 can be used to place a material cart body 9; specifically, a positioning mechanism is provided on the structural frame 4, and rollers are provided at the bottom of the structural frame 4 to achieve mobile walking; further, guide mechanisms are respectively provided on the left and right sides of the structural frame 4 to guide the material cart body 9 to enter the structural frame 4; a material support rod 91 is provided on the material cart body 9, and the material support rod 91 is used to place and support parts 10; specifically, the material cart body 9 can be guided by the guide mechanism The structure is guided so as to be moved horizontally and arranged on the structural frame 4, and can be locked or unlocked with the positioning mechanism; the automated production line trolley provided by the present invention can realize the positioning of the loading trolley of the welding line, so as to realize that the ordinary trolley can meet the needs of the automated production line robot to accurately pick up and place parts; it can realize that one person can complete the switching and positioning of the loading trolley on the production line, and the trolley can be easily switched to meet the flexible production of the production line. Through the automated production line trolley, the position positioning of the ordinary loading trolley in the automated production line can be realized, and the positioning accuracy can meet the robot carrying gripper to accurately grab parts in the trolley, so that personnel can easily operate it, thereby meeting the needs of flexible mixed line production of the entire production line.

[0031] Preferably, in combination with the above scheme, as shown in Figures 1 to Figure 6 As shown, in this embodiment, specific reference Figure 2 and Figure 3 The positioning mechanism includes an anti-locking mechanism 3 and a locking mechanism 5; wherein the anti-locking mechanism 3 is arranged at the lower end of the front side of the structural frame 4, which can play a preliminary fixation role; further, the locking mechanism 5 is arranged on the rear side of the structural frame 4, which can play a direct positioning role; further, the material cart body 9 can reciprocate between the front side and the rear side of the structural frame 4, thereby realizing material loading and unloading; further, the anti-locking mechanism 3 is used to lock the material cart body 9, and trigger the locking mechanism 5 to position the material cart body 9; adopting the above scheme, through a simple anti-locking mechanism and sensor signal detection and control of the cylinder locking the material cart body, it can be easily operated by personnel, thereby meeting the needs of flexible mixed-line production of the entire production line.

[0032] Preferably, in combination with the above scheme, as shown in Figures 1 to Figure 6 As shown, specific reference Figure 2 and Figure 3, the anti-locking mechanism 3 includes a foot pedal 31 and a position sensor 32; further, the locking mechanism 5 includes a clamping block 51 and a cylinder 52; specifically, a person can lock the material cart body 9 by stepping on the foot pedal 31; the position sensor 32 is used to detect the locking information of the material cart body 9, and send a control signal to the cylinder 52, so that the cylinder 52 drives the clamping block 51 to position the material cart body 9 on the structural frame 4 to achieve locking; further, a person can also step on the foot pedal 31 on the anti-locking mechanism 3 for the second time, and the signal of the sensor 32 on the anti-locking mechanism 3 is interrupted, thereby controlling the cylinder 52 in the locking mechanism 5 to open, and the operator pulls out the material cart, and assembles the material cart full of parts in place in the above manner; that is, a person can interrupt the signal of the position sensor 32 by stepping on the foot pedal 31, so that the cylinder 52 drives the clamping block 51 to open the material cart body 9.

[0033] Preferably, in combination with the above scheme, as shown in Figures 1 to Figure 2 As shown, the material cart includes a buffer 6, and two buffers 6 are respectively arranged at the two ends of the rear side of the structural frame 4, so as to play a buffering role along both sides, reduce the impact of the material cart body 9 on the entire material cart, protect the material cart from kinetic energy impact, and avoid collision damage between the material cart body 9 and the structural frame 4; specifically, when the material cart body 9 moves to the rear side of the structural frame 4 in the horizontal direction, it can abut against the buffer 6 to achieve buffering.

[0034] Preferably, in combination with the above scheme, as shown in Figures 1 to Figure 6 As shown, the buffer 6 includes a buffer support frame and an in-position stopper 61, wherein the buffer support frame is fixedly arranged on the structural frame 4; the in-position stopper 61 is arranged on the buffer support frame and is arranged facing the material cart body 9, so that it can play a role of front buffering; specifically, the in-position stopper 61 is made of silicone material or foam material; further, one or more buffer adjustment gaskets 62 can be arranged between the in-position stopper 61 and the buffer support frame, so as to adjust the gap between the in-position stopper 61 and the material cart body 9 along the X direction, that is, the position degree can be adjusted by adjusting the buffer adjustment gasket 62, the adjustment amount is 3mm, and the specific control accuracy can reach ±0.5mm.

[0035] Preferably, in combination with the above scheme, as shown in Figures 1 to Figure 6 As shown, specific reference Figure 4The guide mechanism includes a coarse guide rod 1 and a fine guide wheel 2; multiple fine guide wheels 2 are arranged on the side of the structural frame 4 along the moving direction of the material cart body 9, and the two sides of the material cart body 9 can roll through the fine guide wheels 2 to move to the structural frame 4; the coarse guide rod 1 is arranged at the front end of the frontmost fine guide wheel 2, so as to guide the material cart body 9 onto the fine guide wheel 2; specifically, the two coarse guide rods 1 are respectively arranged in the horizontal direction to form an "eight"-shaped structure, which can facilitate the initial guidance of the material cart body 9.

[0036] Preferably, in combination with the above scheme, as shown in Figures 1 to Figure 6 As shown, specific reference Figure 4 The precision guide wheel 2 includes a guide roller 21 and a roller connecting seat 22; wherein, the roller connecting seat 22 is fixedly arranged on the structural frame 4; the guide roller 21 is rotatably arranged on the roller connecting seat 22, and is in rolling contact with the side of the material vehicle body 9 through its rotating surface; specifically, the guide roller 21 rotates around the vertical axis, and is in rolling contact with the side of the material vehicle body 9 through its rotating surface, thereby realizing rolling contact guidance.

[0037] Preferably, in combination with the above scheme, as shown in Figures 1 to Figure 6 As shown, specific reference Figure 4 One or more guide adjustment gaskets 23 can be arranged between the roller connecting seat 22 and the structural frame 4, so as to adjust the gap between the guide roller 21 and the material cart body 9 along the Y direction; in the above scheme, by having four groups of precision guide wheels 2 in each of the left and right rows of the structural frame 4, the guide roller 21 is installed on the roller connecting seat 22, and the Y-direction position of the guide roller 21 is adjusted by the guide adjustment gasket 23 to control the Y-direction size of the material cart body 9. The precision guide wheel 2 can be guided by the roller with the material cart body 9, so that the operator can more easily and conveniently realize the pushing and pulling of the material cart body 9 under the premise of high-precision control, and the accuracy can be controlled within ±1.5mm, thereby realizing the positioning control of the material cart body 9 in the X and Y directions.

[0038] Preferably, in combination with the above scheme, as shown in Figures 1 to Figure 6As shown, a plurality of material support rods 91 are arranged on the material cart body 9 in the vertical direction, so as to be used for stacking parts 10; specifically, the material cart includes a material cart identification sensor 8, which is arranged on the structural frame 4 to realize the collection and identification of the material cart part information; specifically, the material cart identification sensor 8 includes a material cart detection switch 81 and a plurality of part identification switches, and the material cart detection switch 81 is used to detect whether there is a material cart body 9 on the structural frame 4; each part identification switch is used to detect the difference characteristics of each part 10, and read the information of the material cart body 9 and the parts 10 it carries through the arrangement of the detection signals of each part identification switch; specifically, the part identification switch It includes a first part identification switch 82, a second part identification switch 83 and a third part identification switch 84. The first part identification switch 82, the second part identification switch 83 and the third part identification switch 84 are combined with the different vehicle model difference characteristics on the material cart body 9 for detection. The signal arrangement of the first part identification switch 82, the second part identification switch 83 and the third part identification switch 84 for vehicle model identification is used to read the material cart and the parts carried by the material cart, so that the gripper system can automatically identify the vehicle model information corresponding to the parts carried by the material cart, thereby meeting the production needs of the flexible production line; the part information on the material cart is judged through the automatic identification function to avoid missing or incorrect installation and prevent the risk of incorrect or missing installation.

[0039] Preferably, in combination with the above scheme, as shown in Figures 1 to Figure 6 As shown, the material cart includes a parts sensor 7; the parts sensor 7 is arranged on the structural frame 4, and is used to detect whether there are parts 10 on the material cart body 9; with the above scheme, the parts sensor 7 is used to detect whether there are parts on the material cart. When there is no detection signal from the parts sensor 7, the side column light of the production line lights up red to remind employees to replace the material cart in time.

[0040] The automated production line trolley provided by the present invention can realize the position positioning of an ordinary loading trolley in the automated production line, and the positioning accuracy can meet the requirement of a robot carrying a gripper to accurately grab parts in the trolley; through the vehicle type recognition sensor in the automated production line trolley, the gripper system can automatically recognize the vehicle type information corresponding to the parts carried by the trolley, and through a simple anti-locking mechanism and sensor signal detection and control of the cylinder locking the trolley body, it can be easily operated by personnel, thereby meeting the needs of flexible mixed-line production of the entire production line; it has the advantages of low production cost, good stability and wide applicability.

[0041] Compared with the prior art, the automated production line material cart provided by the present invention has a clear principle, a compact and simple structure, and a clear control logic. It can use a simple structural frame to achieve the positioning of the material cart body, meet the production switching requirements of the flexible production line, reduce investment costs, and the equipment is simple and easy to maintain.

[0042] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the present invention in any form. Any technician familiar with the art can make many possible changes and modifications to the technical solution of the present invention by using the above-mentioned technical content without departing from the scope of the technical solution of the present invention, or modify it into an equivalent embodiment of equivalent changes. Therefore, any changes, modifications, equivalent changes and modifications made to the above embodiments based on the technology of the present invention without departing from the content of the technical solution of the present invention belong to the protection scope of the present technical solution.

Claims

1. An automated production line feed car, characterized in that: The material cart comprises a structural frame (4), and the structural frame (4) can be used to place the material cart body (9); a positioning mechanism is provided on the structural frame (4), a roller is provided at the bottom of the structural frame (4), and guide mechanisms are provided on the left and right sides of the structural frame (4); a material support rod (91) is provided on the material cart body (9); the material cart body (9) can be guided by the guide mechanism so as to be moved in a horizontal direction and arranged on the structural frame (4), and can be locked or unlocked with the positioning mechanism; the positioning mechanism comprises an anti-locking mechanism (3) and a locking mechanism (5); the anti-locking mechanism (3) is arranged on the front side of the structural frame (4). The locking mechanism (5) is arranged at the lower end of the surface, and the locking mechanism (5) is arranged on the rear side of the structural frame (4); the material trolley body (9) can reciprocate between the front side and the rear side of the structural frame (4); the anti-locking mechanism (3) is used to lock the material trolley body (9) and trigger the locking mechanism (5) to position the material trolley body (9); the anti-locking mechanism (3) includes a foot pedal (31) and a position sensor (32), and the locking mechanism (5) includes a clamping block (51) and a cylinder (52); the material trolley body (9) can be locked manually by stepping on the foot pedal (31); the position sensor (32) is used to detect the position of the material trolley body (9). The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a material trolley body (9) and a method for manufacturing a material trolley body (9) comprising: receiving information about the locking of the material trolley body (9) and sending a control signal to the air cylinder (52), so that the air cylinder (52) drives the clamping block (51) to position the material trolley body (9) on the structural frame (4); or, manually stepping on the foot pedal (31) interrupts the signal of the position sensor (32), so that the air cylinder (52) drives the clamping block (51) to open the material trolley body (9); a plurality of material support rods (91) are arranged on the material trolley body (9) in a vertical direction, so as to be used for stacking parts (10); the material trolley comprises a material trolley identification sensor (8), and the material trolley identification sensor ( 8) is arranged on the structural frame (4), the material cart identification sensor (8) includes a material cart detection switch (81) and a plurality of parts identification switches, the material cart detection switch (81) is used to detect whether the material cart body (9) is on the structural frame (4); each of the parts identification switches is used to detect the difference characteristics of each part (10), and read the information of the material cart body (9) and the parts (10) carried by it through the arrangement of the detection signals of each of the parts identification switches; the material cart includes a parts sensor (7); the parts sensor (7) is arranged on the structural frame (4), and is used to detect whether the parts (10) are on the material cart body (9).

2. The automated production line feeder according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material cart comprises a buffer (6), wherein two buffers (6) are respectively arranged at two ends of the rear side of the structural frame (4), and the material cart body (9) can abut against the buffer (6) when it moves to the rear side of the structural frame (4) in a horizontal direction.

3. The automated production line feeder according to claim 2, characterized in that: The buffer (6) comprises a buffer support frame and an in-position stopper (61); the buffer support frame is fixedly arranged on the structural frame (4); the in-position stopper (61) is arranged on the buffer support frame and faces the material vehicle body (9); one or more buffer adjustment gaskets (62) can be arranged between the in-position stopper (61) and the buffer support frame, so as to adjust the gap between the in-position stopper (61) and the material vehicle body (9) along the X direction.

4. The automated production line feeder according to claim 1, characterized in that: The guide mechanism comprises a coarse guide rod (1) and a fine guide wheel (2); a plurality of the fine guide wheels (2) are arranged on the side of the structural frame (4) along the moving direction of the material cart body (9), and both sides of the material cart body (9) can roll through the fine guide wheels (2) to move onto the structural frame (4); the coarse guide rod (1) is arranged at the front end of the fine guide wheel (2), so as to guide the material cart body (9) onto the fine guide wheel (2).

5. The automated production line feeder according to claim 4, characterized in that: The precision guide wheel (2) comprises a guide roller (21) and a roller connecting seat (22), wherein the roller connecting seat (22) is fixedly arranged on the structural frame (4); the guide roller (21) is rotatably arranged on the roller connecting seat (22) and is in rolling contact with the side surface of the material vehicle body (9) through its rotating surface.

6. The automated production line feeder according to claim 5, characterized in that: One or more guide adjustment gaskets (23) can be provided between the roller connecting seat (22) and the structural frame (4), so as to adjust the gap between the guide roller (21) and the material vehicle body (9) along the Y direction.

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