Automatic material distribution device and method

Abstract

The present invention relates to an automatic material distribution device and method, the material distribution device comprises a belt transmission mechanism, a width limiting rod, an anti-jamming baffle and a guide mechanism, the belt transmission mechanism comprises a conveyor belt, the width limiting rod and the anti-jamming baffle are both located above the conveyor belt, the gap between the width limiting rod and the anti-jamming baffle constitutes a transmission channel, the extension direction of the transmission channel is parallel to the moving direction of the conveyor belt, when a workpiece is located on the conveyor belt moving forward, the guide mechanism can guide the workpiece to the transmission channel, and move through the transmission channel to a fixed position located on the belt transmission mechanism. The present invention reduces the difficulty and workload of teaching and debugging of a robot arm.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of automation technology, in particular to automatic material distribution technology. Background Art

[0002] With the popularization of automated processing, automated units often need to be equipped with a silo. Traditional silos are relatively limited, with a high degree of manual participation, insufficient efficiency improvement, and insufficient effect of reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

[0003] Most traditional silos are in the form of trays, and the capacity of the trays is limited to the coverage of the robotic arm. In small-batch, multi-variety application scenarios, tray-type silos often cannot cover most products. In addition, due to the influence of processing or assembly tolerances, the robotic arm or manual labor needs to grasp or take at multiple positions, making the teaching and debugging of the robotic arm difficult and labor-intensive. Summary of the invention

[0004] One of the purposes of the present invention is to provide an automated material dividing device to solve the problem that a robotic arm or manual labor needs to grasp or pick up at multiple positions, and the difficulty and workload of teaching and debugging the robotic arm are considerable; the second purpose is to provide an automated material dividing method.

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows:

[0006] An automatic material dividing device includes a belt transmission mechanism, a width limiting rod, an anti-jamming baffle and a guide mechanism, the belt transmission mechanism includes a conveyor belt, the width limiting rod and the anti-jamming baffle are both located above the conveyor belt, the gap between the width limiting rod and the anti-jamming baffle constitutes a conveying channel, the extension direction of the conveying channel is parallel to the moving direction of the conveyor belt, when a workpiece is located on the conveyor belt moving in the forward direction, the guide mechanism can guide the workpiece to the conveying channel, and move through the conveying channel to a fixed position located on the belt transmission mechanism.

[0007] According to the above-mentioned technical means, under the action of the guiding mechanism and the conveying channel, the disorderly placed workpieces can be transformed into orderly movement one by one through the movement of the belt until they reach the fixed position of the belt transmission mechanism. Therefore, it is only necessary to arrange the robot at the fixed position to lower the workpiece and convey it to the loading position.

[0008] Furthermore, the anti-jamming baffle has a blocking tip, which is configured as a pointed shape and is located at the rear end of the conveying channel. The extension direction of the tip of the blocking tip intersects with the extension direction of the conveying channel and at least extends to a corresponding position in the middle of the width direction of the conveying channel. When the conveyor belt moves in the reverse direction, part of the workpieces in the conveying channel can change their position on the conveyor belt under the obstruction of the blocking tip, and when the conveyor belt moves in the forward direction, the part of the workpiece can move along the blocking tip toward the conveying channel.

[0009] Furthermore, the guiding mechanism includes a first guide rod and a limiting surface arranged on the anti-jamming baffle, the limiting surface is located at the rear end of the shielding tip, the first guide rod and the limiting surface are both arranged obliquely relative to the transmission channel, the first guide rod and the limiting surface are combined to form an "eight" shape, and the distance between the first guide rod and the limiting surface gradually decreases along the direction approaching the transmission channel.

[0010] Furthermore, the guiding mechanism includes a first guide rod and a limiting surface arranged on the anti-jamming baffle, the limiting surface is located at the rear end of the shielding tip, the first guide rod and the limiting surface are both arranged obliquely relative to the transmission channel, the first guide rod and the limiting surface are combined to form an "eight" shape, and the distance between the first guide rod and the limiting surface gradually decreases along the direction approaching the transmission channel.

[0011] Furthermore, the automatic material dividing device also includes a second guide rod, the two ends of the first guide rod are respectively hinged to the frame of the belt transmission mechanism and one end of the width limiting rod, the two ends of the second guide rod are respectively hinged to the frame of the belt transmission mechanism and another end of the width limiting rod, and the first guide rod, the second guide rod, the width limiting rod and the frame of the belt transmission mechanism are combined to form a four-bar linkage mechanism.

[0012] Furthermore, an adjustment block is provided on the frame of the conveyor belt, the adjustment block is rotatably connected to the frame of the conveyor belt, an arc groove is provided on the adjustment block, the frame of the conveyor belt is provided with bolts passing through the arc groove, and the second guide rod rests on the adjustment block.

[0013] Furthermore, a beam sensor is provided at the preset position, and when a workpiece passes through an infrared signal emitted by an infrared emission module of the beam sensor, the push rod extends.

[0014] Furthermore, the through-beam sensor is arranged on a U-shaped bracket, one end of the opening of the U-shaped bracket is fixed on the width-limiting rod, and the other end is fixed on the anti-jamming baffle.

[0015] An automatic material dispensing method based on the above automatic material dispensing device,

[0016] S1: Place multiple workpieces on the conveyor belt in disorder;

[0017] S2: The conveyor belt moves forward. Under the action of the guide mechanism, all workpieces move toward the conveying channel until a workpiece passes the preset position.

[0018] S3: the conveyor belt stops, the push rod extends, and the push rod is located between the workpiece and its adjacent workpiece;

[0019] S4: The conveyor belt moves in the reverse direction, the workpiece abuts against the push rod, and the remaining workpieces move with the conveyor belt;

[0020] S5: When the distance of the conveyor belt moving in the reverse direction is greater than the distance from the push rod to the shielding top, the conveyor belt stops, and at least part of the workpiece moving with the conveyor belt changes its position on the conveyor belt under the obstruction of the shielding top;

[0021] S6: The conveyor belt is forward, and the workpiece against the push rod is transferred to a fixed position, and then the workpiece at the fixed position is transferred to the loading position by a robot or manually;

[0022] S7: Repeat S2-S6 until all workpieces are transferred to the loading position.

[0023] Beneficial effects of the present invention:

[0024] The present invention places the workpieces in disorder at the front end of the conveyor belt. Under the action of the guide mechanism and the conveying channel, the disorderly placed workpieces can be transformed into orderly movements one by one through the movement of the belt until they reach the fixed position of the belt transmission mechanism. Therefore, it is only necessary to arrange the manipulator at the fixed position to lower the workpiece and convey it to the loading position, thereby reducing the difficulty and workload of teaching and debugging the manipulator.

[0025] The present invention is provided with a shielding top. Since the workpieces are placed in disorder on the conveyor belt, it is easy for a number of workpieces to get stuck in the fish mouth and maintain force balance at the position of the conveying channel. The shielding top can enable the workpieces to flow to one side under the obstruction of the sharp corner when the conveyor belt is reversed. After the forward rotation, the workpieces all flow forward against the shielding top, thus avoiding the situation where the workpieces are stuck due to force balance, thereby avoiding the accumulation of workpieces. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 It is a side view of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the current limiting mechanism of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 3 It is a top view of the current limiting mechanism;

[0029] Figure 4This is a schematic diagram of the process of the sensor identifying the first workpiece, where the arrow direction is the transmission direction of the conveyor belt;

[0030] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the push rod extension process;

[0031] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the reverse movement of the conveyor belt, where the arrow direction is the moving direction of the conveyor belt;

[0032] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the first workpiece arriving at the material collection point, where the arrow direction is the moving direction of the conveyor belt;

[0033] Figure 8 The diagram is a schematic diagram of the width adjustment method of the transmission channel, where the arrow direction is the moving direction of the adjustment block.

[0034] Among them, 1-current limiting mechanism; 2-controller; 3-conveyor belt, 4-servo motor; 5-full material limiter; 101-hinge seat; 102-first gear lever; 103-width limiting rod; 104-adjusting block; 105-anti-jamming baffle; 106-push rod; 107-U-shaped bracket; 108-second gear lever; 109-transmission channel; 110-guide mechanism; 1051-shielding top; 1052-limiting surface; 6-workpiece. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] The following will refer to the accompanying drawings and preferred embodiments to illustrate the implementation of the technical solution of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the contents disclosed in this specification. The present invention can also be implemented or applied through other different specific implementations, and the details in this specification can also be modified or changed in various ways based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It should be understood that the preferred embodiments are only for illustrating the present invention, not for limiting the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0036] It should be noted that the illustrations provided in the following embodiments are only schematic illustrations of the basic concept of the present invention, and thus the drawings only show components related to the present invention rather than being drawn according to the number, shape and size of components in actual implementation. In actual implementation, the type, quantity and proportion of each component may be changed arbitrarily, and the component layout may also be more complicated.

[0037] This embodiment proposes an automatic material distribution device, such as Figure 1-Figure 3As shown, it includes a belt transmission mechanism, which includes a conveyor belt 3. A full material limiter 5 is provided on the frame of the belt transmission mechanism to limit the number of workpieces 6 to avoid a reduction in the material distribution efficiency due to an excessive number of workpieces. The servo motor 4 is used to drive the conveyor belt 3 to move, and the forward and reverse movements of the conveyor belt 3 are driven by the forward and reverse rotations of the servo motor 4. The controller 2 is connected to the servo motor 4 by signal, and the servo motor 4 can be remotely controlled by the controller 2.

[0038] The current limiting mechanism 1 includes a width limiting rod 103 and an anti-jamming baffle 105, both of which are arranged above the conveyor belt 3. The width limiting rod 103 is fixed on the frame on one side of the conveyor belt 3, and the anti-jamming baffle 105 is fixed on the frame on the other side of the conveyor belt 3. The gap between the two forms a conveying channel 109. The extension direction of the conveying channel 109 is parallel to the moving direction of the conveyor belt 3. The conveyor belt 3 can convey the workpiece 6 to a fixed position through the conveying channel 109. The robot only needs to pick up the material at the material picking point without moving to multiple positions.

[0039] The width limiting rod 103 is connected to the first gear rod 102 and the second gear rod 108. Two hinge seats 101 are arranged on the frame of the belt transmission mechanism. The first gear rod 102 and the second gear rod 108 are both connected to the width limiting rod 103. Specifically, one end of the first gear rod 102 is hinged to the end of the width limiting rod 103 corresponding to the entrance of the transmission channel 109, and the other end is hinged to the front hinge seat 101. One end of the second gear rod 108 is hinged to the other end of the width limiting rod 103, and the other end is hinged to another hinge seat 101. The frame of the belt transmission mechanism, the first gear rod 102, the second gear rod 108 and the width limiting rod 103 form a four-bar linkage mechanism. The position of the width limiting rod 103 is adjusted by adjusting the inclination degree of the first gear rod 102 and the second gear rod 108, and then the distance between the width limiting rod 103 and the anti-jamming baffle 105, that is, the width of the transmission channel 109, is adjusted, so as to adapt to workpieces of various diameters and realize multi-variety processing.

[0040] In this embodiment, Figure 8 As shown, an adjustment block 104 is provided on the frame of the belt transmission mechanism, and the adjustment block 104 is rotatably connected to the frame of the belt transmission mechanism. An arc groove is provided on the adjustment block 104, and then a bolt is passed through the arc groove and fixed to the frame of the belt transmission mechanism. The first gear rod 102 is against the adjustment block 104, and the inclination degree of the first gear rod 102 can be adjusted by rotating the adjustment block 104.

[0041] In this embodiment, a U-shaped bracket 107 is mounted on the conveying channel 109, one end of the opening of the U-shaped bracket 107 is fixed on the width limiting rod 103, and the other end is fixed on the anti-jamming baffle 105, and a through-beam sensor (not shown in the figure) is arranged on the U-shaped bracket 107 to detect whether there is incoming material. Specifically: according to common knowledge, the through-beam sensor includes an infrared emitting module and an infrared receiving module. When there is incoming material, the infrared receiving module can receive the ray signal emitted by the infrared emitting module. When there is incoming material, the workpiece 6 blocks the infrared signal emitted by the infrared emitting module, and the infrared receiving module cannot receive the infrared signal at this time.

[0042] A push rod 106 is provided on the anti-jamming baffle 105 at a position corresponding to the through-beam sensor. The push rod 106 is a telescopic shaft of a pen-shaped cylinder and can be extended or retracted. When the controller 2 receives an incoming material signal from the through-beam sensor, the controller 2 controls the push rod 106 to extend. At this time, the push rod 106 is located between the workpiece and its adjacent workpiece.

[0043] In this embodiment, the beam sensor and the push rod 106 are both arranged at a preset position of the conveying channel 109 , and the preset position is defined according to factors such as the size of the workpiece 6 , the size of the conveyor belt 3 , and the transmission speed.

[0044] In this embodiment, the anti-jamming baffle 105 has a shielding tip 1051, and the shielding tip 1051 is a sharp angle structure. The shielding tip 1051 extends in the width direction of the transmission channel 109, and the shielding tip 1051 is located at the rear end of the transmission channel 109. The tip of the shielding tip 1051 extends at least to the middle position in the width direction of the transmission channel 109. In this embodiment, the direction from the entrance to the exit of the transmission channel 109 is the forward direction, and the direction from the exit to the entrance is the backward direction.

[0045] In this embodiment, a guide mechanism 110 is arranged at the front end of the shielding top 1051. The guide mechanism 110 is composed of a limiting profile 1052 and a first gear rod 102. The limiting profile 1052 is arranged on the anti-jamming baffle 105 and is located at the rear end of the shielding top 1051. The limiting profile 1052 and the first gear rod 102 are both arranged obliquely relative to the transmission direction of the conveyor belt 3. The combination of the two is an "eight" shape, and the distance between the two gradually decreases along the forward direction. When the workpiece 6 is placed on the conveyor belt 3 in an unordered manner, the conveyor belt 3 drives the workpiece 6 to move, and under the action of the limiting profile 1052 and the first gear rod 102, the workpiece 6 is guided to the transmission channel 109.

[0046] The implementation method of this embodiment is as follows: Figure 4 and Figure 5As shown, multiple workpieces 6 are conveyed forward along the conveyor belt (the conveyor belt 3 moves forward), and under the guiding action of the guide mechanism 110, the workpieces 6 are guided to the conveying channel 109 and enter from the entrance of the conveying channel 109 until the first workpiece 6 is recognized by the through-beam sensor. When the first workpiece 6 passes through the preset position (the control logic here is: in the process of the workpiece 6 passing through the preset position, the workpiece 6 blocks the infrared signal, and after passing through, the signal receiving module immediately receives the infrared signal, and then the controller 2 controls the push rod 106 to extend), the push rod 106 extends, and at this time the push rod 106 is located in the gap between the first workpiece 6 and its two adjacent workpieces 6, and at this time the conveyor belt 3 stops;

[0047] like Figure 6 As shown, the controller 2 controls the servo motor 4 to drive the conveyor belt 3 to move in the reverse direction. At this time, the first workpiece 6 abuts against the push rod 106, and the remaining workpieces 6 move backward under the drive of the conveyor belt 3. Since the conveyor belt 3 stops after the reverse movement distance is greater than the distance from the push rod 106 to the tip of the blocking top 1051, at least part of the workpieces 6 moving backward move toward the side away from the blocking top 1051 under the blocking effect of the blocking top 1051, that is, move toward the side of the belt conveyor mechanism away from the fixed anti-jamming baffle 105, thereby changing the position of part of the workpieces 6, avoiding that too many workpieces 6 are piled up in the conveying channel 109, and the workpieces that were originally placed in disorder can be sent out in an orderly and intermittent manner.

[0048] like Figure 7 As shown, at this time, the conveyor belt 3 moves forward, and the part of the workpiece that moves in the reverse direction along the shielding top 1051 moves toward the conveying channel 109, the push rod 106 retracts, and the conveyor belt 3 moves a fixed distance, moves the workpiece 6 to a fixed position and then stops, and the robot or manual only needs to take the workpiece here;

[0049] The above steps are repeated until all the workpieces 6 are transferred to the fixed position.

[0050] This embodiment also proposes an automatic material dispensing method based on an automatic material dispensing device, specifically:

[0051] S1: Place multiple workpieces on the conveyor belt in disorder;

[0052] S2: The conveyor belt moves forward. Under the action of the guide mechanism, all workpieces move toward the conveying channel until a workpiece passes the preset position.

[0053] S3: the conveyor belt stops, the push rod extends, and the push rod is located between the workpiece and its adjacent workpiece;

[0054] S4: The conveyor belt moves in the reverse direction, the workpiece abuts against the push rod, and the remaining workpieces move with the conveyor belt;

[0055] S5: When the distance of the conveyor belt moving in the reverse direction is greater than the distance from the push rod to the shielding top, the conveyor belt stops, and at least part of the workpiece moving with the conveyor belt changes its position on the conveyor belt under the limiting action of the shielding top;

[0056] S6: The conveyor belt is moving forward, and the workpiece against the push rod is transported to a fixed position, and the workpiece is moved to the loading position by the manipulator;

[0057] S7: Repeat S2-S6 until all workpieces are transferred to the loading position.

[0058] The above embodiments are only preferred embodiments for fully illustrating the present invention, and the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any equivalent substitution or change made by a person skilled in the art based on the present invention is within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automatic material distribution device, characterized in that: The invention comprises a belt transmission mechanism, a width limiting rod (103), an anti-jamming baffle (105) and a guide mechanism (110), wherein the belt transmission mechanism comprises a conveyor belt (3), the width limiting rod (103) and the anti-jamming baffle (105) are both located above the conveyor belt (3), a gap between the width limiting rod (103) and the anti-jamming baffle (105) constitutes a conveying channel (109), an extension direction of the conveying channel (109) is parallel to a moving direction of the conveyor belt (3), and when a workpiece is located on the conveyor belt (3) moving in the forward direction, the guide mechanism (110) can guide the workpiece to the conveying channel (109), and the workpiece is moved to a fixed position of the belt transmission mechanism through the conveying channel (109); The anti-jamming baffle (105) has a shielding tip (1051), the shielding tip (1051) is configured as a pointed angle, the shielding tip (1051) is located at the rear end of the conveying channel (109), the extension direction of the tip of the shielding tip (1051) intersects with the extension direction of the conveying channel (109), and at least extends to a corresponding position in the middle of the width direction of the conveying channel (109); when the conveyor belt (3) moves in the reverse direction, part of the workpieces in the conveying channel (109) can change their position on the conveyor belt (3) under the obstruction of the shielding tip (1051); when the conveyor belt (3) moves in the forward direction, the part of the workpieces can move along the shielding tip (1051) toward the conveying channel (109); A push rod (106) is provided on the conveying channel (109); when the conveyor belt (3) moves forward and drives a workpiece to pass a preset position, the conveyor belt (3) stops, and the push rod (106) extends to between the workpiece and an adjacent workpiece; then, when the conveyor belt (3) moves reversely until the distance of the reverse movement is greater than the distance from the push rod (106) to the shielding top (1051), the workpiece abuts against the push rod (106), the conveyor belt (3) stops, and the push rod (106) retracts; The guide mechanism (110) comprises a first baffle rod (102) and a limiting profile (1052) arranged on the anti-jamming baffle plate (105); the limiting profile (1052) is located at the rear end of the shielding tip (1051); the first baffle rod (102) and the limiting profile (1052) are both arranged obliquely relative to the transmission channel (109); the first baffle rod (102) and the limiting profile (1052) are combined to form an "eight" shape; the distance between the first baffle rod (102) and the limiting profile (1052) gradually decreases in a direction approaching the transmission channel (109).

2. The automatic material distribution device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The automatic material dispensing device further comprises a second baffle rod (108), the two ends of the first baffle rod (102) being respectively hinged to the frame of the belt transmission mechanism and one end of the width limiting rod (103), the two ends of the second baffle rod (108) being respectively hinged to the frame of the belt transmission mechanism and the other end of the width limiting rod (103), and the first baffle rod (102), the second baffle rod (108), the width limiting rod (103) and the frame of the belt transmission mechanism are combined to form a four-bar linkage.

3. The automatic material distribution device according to claim 2, characterized in that: An adjusting block (104) is provided on the frame of the conveyor belt (3), the adjusting block (104) being rotatably connected to the frame of the conveyor belt (3), an arc-shaped groove is provided on the adjusting block (104), the frame of the conveyor belt (3) is provided with a bolt passing through the arc-shaped groove, and the second blocking rod (108) abuts against the adjusting block (104).

4. The automatic material distribution device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A beam sensor is provided at the preset position, and when a workpiece passes through an infrared signal emitted by an infrared emission module of the beam sensor, the push rod (106) extends.

5. The automatic material distribution device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The through-beam sensor is arranged on a U-shaped bracket (107); one end of the opening of the U-shaped bracket (107) is fixed to the width-limiting rod (103), and the other end is fixed to the anti-jamming baffle (105).

6. An automatic material dispensing method based on the automatic material dispensing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: S1: placing multiple workpieces in a disorderly manner on a conveyor belt (3); S2: the conveyor belt (3) moves forward, and under the action of the guide mechanism (110), all the workpieces move toward the conveying channel (109) until a workpiece passes a preset position; S3: the conveyor belt (3) stops, the push rod (106) extends, and the push rod (106) is located between the workpiece and its adjacent workpiece; S4: the conveyor belt (3) moves in the reverse direction, the workpiece abuts against the push rod (106), and the remaining workpieces move along with the conveyor belt (3); S5: when the distance the conveyor belt (3) moves in the reverse direction is greater than the distance from the push rod (106) to the shielding top (1051), the conveyor belt (3) stops, and at least part of the workpieces moving with the conveyor belt (3) change their positions on the conveyor belt (3) under the obstruction of the shielding top (1051); S6: The conveyor belt (3) moves forward to convey the workpiece resting on the push rod (106) to a fixed position, and then the workpiece at the fixed position is conveyed to the loading position by a robot or manually; S7: Repeat S2-S6 until all workpieces are transferred to the loading position.

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