Zinc oxide whisker heating furnace and control method thereof

Abstract

The application discloses a zinc oxide whisker heating furnace and a control method thereof, and belongs to the field of zinc oxide whisker production equipment. The zinc oxide whisker heating furnace comprises a furnace body, a whisker collecting groove and a lifting mechanism connected with a furnace cover. A zinc wire winding mechanism is rotatably connected to the furnace cover. The top end of a connecting rod of the whisker collecting groove is provided with a clamping groove, and the middle part is provided with an annular groove. A silicon carbide connecting rod is connected to the zinc wire winding mechanism, and the silicon carbide connecting rod is matched with the clamping groove. A rotating table is fixedly connected to a supporting frame. The rotating table is fixedly provided with a first electric telescopic mechanism extending towards the furnace body. The first electric telescopic mechanism is fixedly connected with a second electric telescopic mechanism. The second electric telescopic mechanism is connected with a clamping jaw matched with the annular groove. A controller is connected with the lifting mechanism, the rotating table, the first electric telescopic mechanism and the second electric telescopic mechanism. The scheme can realize automatic taking out and installation of the whisker collecting groove, and manual taking out with the aid of tools or waiting for the whisker collecting groove to cool down is not needed, so that the safety of zinc oxide whisker production is ensured.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of oxide whisker production, in particular to a zinc oxide whisker heating furnace and a control method thereof. BACKGROUND

[0002] The batch production of tetrapod-shaped zinc oxide whiskers mainly uses high-purity zinc materials such as zinc ingots and zinc powder as raw materials, and is obtained through high-temperature (700-800℃) melting and 1000-1200℃ oxidation treatment. CN201921997234.2 discloses a heating device for producing zinc oxide whiskers based on zinc wire, which longitudinally lays the zinc wire on the column (i.e. only one layer is wound on the column) to reasonably utilize the space in the shell.

[0003] Although the existing heating device can fully utilize the space, after the production of zinc oxide whiskers is completed, manual material taking is generally adopted. Since the whiskers need to be generated through oxidation reaction at about 1000 degrees, the temperature in the furnace body is high, and direct manual taking out may cause safety hazards. When the zinc wire raw material is added into the furnace body, it is mainly wound manually. Since the temperature is high during the production of whiskers by the heating device, after the product whiskers are taken out, the zinc wire is directly wound on the column, which is high in temperature and prone to safety accidents. If the zinc wire is wound after cooling, the waiting time is long and heat is wasted. SUMMARY

[0004] In view of the above deficiencies in the prior art, the zinc oxide whisker heating furnace and the control method thereof provided by the present application solve the problem of safety hazards caused by manual operation through the full-automatic upper and lower whisker collection tanks.

[0005] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purposes, the technical solutions adopted by the present application are as follows:

[0006] In a first aspect, a zinc oxide whisker heating furnace is provided, which includes a furnace cover, a furnace body with heating elements arranged on the inner wall, a controller, a whisker collection tank, and a lifting mechanism fixedly connected with the furnace cover for opening the furnace cover, the lifting mechanism being installed on a support frame; the outer edge of the furnace cover is provided with a cutting knife for shearing the zinc wire; the furnace cover is rotatably connected with a zinc wire winding mechanism extending into the furnace body;

[0007] The outer diameter of the whisker collection tank is equal to the inner diameter of the furnace body, and the connecting rod at the top of the middle part of the whisker collection tank is provided with a clamping groove, and an annular groove is formed in the middle part; a silicon carbide connecting rod is connected to the zinc wire winding mechanism, and the silicon carbide connecting rod is in close cooperation with the clamping groove;

[0008] A rotating table is fixedly connected to the support frame, a first electric telescopic mechanism extending towards the furnace body is fixed to the rotating table, a second electric telescopic mechanism extending towards the center of the furnace body is fixedly connected to the first electric telescopic mechanism, and a clamping jaw cooperating with the annular groove is connected to the end of the second electric telescopic mechanism.

[0009] The controller is electrically connected with the lifting mechanism, the rotating table, the first electric telescopic mechanism and the second electric telescopic mechanism respectively.

[0010] Further, the zinc wire winding mechanism comprises a silicon carbide mounting frame mounted in the furnace body, an upper end of the silicon carbide mounting frame is mounted on a bearing at the center of the furnace cover and is fixedly connected with an output end of a rotating motor on the furnace cover, at least three silicon carbide rods for winding the zinc wire are connected to the silicon carbide mounting frame and are located on the same circumference, an installation hole for inserting the zinc wire is formed adjacent to a bottom end of each silicon carbide rod, anti-skid lines are arranged on the silicon carbide rods, and the rotating motor is electrically connected with the controller.

[0011] Further, the zinc oxide whisker heating furnace further comprises a zinc wire storage mechanism arranged at the top end of the outer sidewall of the furnace body and opposite the cutting knife, a wire feeding mechanism fixed on the zinc wire storage mechanism and a first image collector facing the direction of the furnace body; the wire feeding mechanism comprises a third electric telescopic mechanism, and an end portion of the third electric telescopic mechanism is provided with a supporting block;

[0012] A first motor connected with a lead screw is fixed to an upper surface of the supporting block, and a fixed clamping block is mounted to a lower surface of the supporting block; a sliding groove is formed between the fixed clamping block and the first motor, and a movable clamping block for clamping the zinc wire in cooperation with the fixed clamping block is arranged in the sliding groove; the movable clamping block is mounted on the lead screw through a lead screw nut; the first image collector, the third electric telescopic mechanism and the first motor are electrically connected with the controller.

[0013] Further, the zinc wire storage mechanism comprises a storage box fixed to the outer sidewall of the furnace body, strip-shaped grooves for clamping winding rollers are formed in opposite sidewalls of the storage box, and a box cover of the storage box is movably arranged at the top of the storage box through a sliding groove and sliding block structure.

[0014] Further, an air inlet channel is arranged in the furnace body wall, an electromagnetic valve is arranged at an inlet of the air inlet channel, and an outlet of the air inlet channel is in communication with an inner cavity of the furnace body; a visual window is sealingly mounted on the top of the furnace cover, and a second image collector for collecting an image of the zinc wire wound on the zinc wire winding mechanism through the visual window is arranged on the supporting frame.

[0015] The controller extracts a real-time diameter of the zinc wire in the zinc wire image and calculates a vaporization speed of the zinc wire; the electromagnetic valve opening degree is adjusted according to the vaporization speed of the zinc wire to introduce oxygen and zinc vapor to oxidize and grow the zinc oxide whisker; the second image collector and the electromagnetic valve are electrically connected with the controller.

[0016] Further, the method for the controller to extract a real-time diameter of the zinc wire in the zinc wire image and calculate a vaporization speed of the zinc wire comprises:

[0017] The zinc wire image is subjected to gray scale conversion and then binarization processing;

[0018] The non-zinc wire area in the binarized image is removed by using an adaptive morphological background removal method based on image sharpness;

[0019] An edge detection method is used to extract the zinc wire from the image with the non-zinc wire area removed, so as to obtain a profile image of the zinc wire;

[0020] A two-pass four-neighbor connected region advance method is used to extract the connected regions in the profile image, and each connected region is matched with the connected regions of the zinc wires with various diameters stored in the database;

[0021] The diameter of the corresponding connected region is taken as the highest matching degree, and the mean value of the diameters of all the obtained connected regions is taken as the diameter of the zinc wire in the furnace body;

[0022] The diameter difference of the zinc wire in the adjacent two images is calculated, and then the zinc wire evaporation mass is calculated based on the length of the wound zinc wire;

[0023] According to the interval of the adjacent two image acquisition times and the zinc wire evaporation mass, the evaporation speed of the zinc wire is calculated.

[0024] Further, the electromagnetic valve opening degree acquisition method is:

[0025] The multiple theoretical speeds stored in the database are read, and the difference between the evaporation speed and the theoretical evaporation speed is calculated, the theoretical speed corresponding to the smallest difference in the preset range is selected, and the valve opening degree corresponding to the current theoretical speed is taken as the final electromagnetic valve opening degree to be adjusted.

[0026] Further, the lifting mechanism includes a second motor mounted on the top platform of the support frame, and the output shaft of the second motor is connected with a rotating shaft mounted on the top platform through a bearing seat;

[0027] Two chains passing through the top platform are connected to the rotating shaft, and the lower ends of the chains are fixedly connected with the furnace cover; a plurality of sleeves are arranged on the half-circumferential edge of the furnace cover, and a plurality of guide rods connected to the top platform pass through the sleeves and are in sliding fit with the sleeves.

[0028] In a second aspect, a control method of a zinc oxide whisker heating furnace is provided, which includes the following steps:

[0029] S1, the furnace cover is opened by using the lifting mechanism, the first electric telescopic mechanism is started to elongate, and the empty whisker collection groove is clamped by the claw and the annular groove;

[0030] S2, the rotating table and the second electric telescopic mechanism are started, so that the clamping groove of the whisker collection groove is located directly below the silicon carbide connecting rod, and the first electric telescopic mechanism is controlled to shorten the whisker collection groove and assemble it to the silicon carbide connecting rod;

[0031] S3, start the second electric telescopic mechanism to shorten, and then control the first electric telescopic mechanism and the second electric telescopic mechanism to shorten to the initial state;

[0032] S4, adopt the first image collector to collect the image information of the silicon carbide rod, and judge whether the installation hole closest to the wire feeding mechanism is located in front of the wire feeding mechanism, if yes, enter step S6, otherwise enter step S5;

[0033] S5, calculate the angle of rotation of the installation hole closest to the wire feeding mechanism when it is rotated to the front of it, and control the rotating motor to rotate the zinc wire winding mechanism according to the calculated angle, and then enter step S6;

[0034] S6, start the first motor to move the movable clamping block towards the fixed clamping block to clamp the zinc wire, and then control the third electric telescopic mechanism to move the zinc wire into the installation hole;

[0035] S7, control the first motor to reverse, so that the movable clamping block moves away from the fixed clamping block, and the third electric telescopic mechanism retracts, and then start the lifting mechanism to descend, and simultaneously start the rotating motor to rotate the zinc wire winding mechanism;

[0036] S8, when the furnace cover is buckled with the furnace body, the lifting mechanism and the rotating motor are closed, and the zinc wire cut by the cutting knife is separated from the zinc wire in the furnace body;

[0037] S9, start the heating element to heat the zinc wire, and every preset time, the second image collector collects the image of the zinc wire wound on the zinc wire winding mechanism through the visual window;

[0038] S10, the controller extracts the real-time diameter of the zinc wire in the zinc wire image, and calculates the vaporization speed of the zinc wire; according to the vaporization speed of the zinc wire, adjust the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve;

[0039] S11, when the image collected by the second image collector shows that the zinc wire is completely vaporized, and after a preset time, the heating element is closed, and the lifting mechanism is used to open the furnace cover;

[0040] S12, start the first electric telescopic mechanism and the second electric telescopic mechanism to elongate, so that the clamping jaw cooperates with the annular groove, and then control the first electric telescopic mechanism to continue to elongate, so that the whisker collecting groove is separated from the silicon carbide connecting rod;

[0041] S13, control the rotating table to rotate, and place the whisker collecting groove on the output platform, to complete the production of zinc oxide whiskers once.

[0042] The beneficial effects of the present application are: the present scheme opens the furnace cover through the lifting mechanism, and then through the cooperation of the rotating table, the first electric telescopic mechanism and the second electric telescopic mechanism, the full-automatic whisker collection tank can be taken out and installed, without manual taking out with tools or waiting for the whisker collection tank to cool down, which ensures the safety of zinc oxide whisker production.

[0043] When the zinc wire is fed, through the cooperation of the wire feeding mechanism, the zinc wire winding mechanism, the lifting mechanism and the rotating motor, the full-automatic feeding of the zinc wire can be realized, and at this time, manual winding for feeding after the zinc wire winding mechanism cools down is also not needed, which improves the safety of feeding into the furnace body at high temperature.

[0044] The present scheme can be fully automatic after the feeding process and the production of oxidized whisker is completed, without the participation of workers, so that the feeding, whisker collection tank installation and taking out during production can be realized at high temperature, without waiting for the furnace to cool down, reducing the heat loss in the heating furnace, thereby greatly reducing the production cost. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0045] Figure 1 It is a structure schematic view of the furnace cover of the zinc oxide whisker heating furnace in the closed state.

[0046] Figure 2 It is a structure schematic view of the second electric telescopic mechanism assembling the whisker collection tank to the silicon carbide connecting rod.

[0047] Figure 3 It is a structure schematic view of the second electric telescopic mechanism assembling the whisker collection tank to the silicon carbide connecting rod. Figure 2 It is an enlarged view of A in the figure.

[0048] Figure 4 It is an enlarged view of B in the figure. Figure 2 It is an enlarged view of B in the figure.

[0049] Figure 5 It is a structure schematic view of the wire feeding mechanism installed on the zinc wire storage mechanism.

[0050] Figure 6 It is a side view of the wire feeding mechanism.

[0051] 1, furnace cover; 11, sleeve; 12, visual window; 2, furnace body; 21, air inlet channel; 22, electromagnetic valve; 3, whisker collection tank; 31, connecting rod; 311, clamping groove; 312, annular groove; 4, lifting mechanism; 41, second motor; 42, bearing seat; 43, rotating shaft; 44, chain;

[0052] 5, support frame; 51, rotating table; 52, first electric telescopic mechanism; 53, second electric telescopic mechanism; 54, clamping jaw; 55, top platform; 56, guide rod; 57, second image collector; 6, cutting knife; 7, zinc wire winding mechanism; 71, silicon carbide mounting frame; 72, rotating motor; 73, silicon carbide rod; 731, mounting hole; 74, silicon carbide connecting rod;

[0053] 8, zinc wire storage mechanism; 81, storage box; 82, winding roller; 83, strip-shaped groove; 84, box cover; 85, first image collector; 9, wire feeding mechanism; 91, third electric telescopic mechanism; 92, support block; 93, first motor; 94, fixed clamping block; 95, movable clamping block; 96, screw nut; 10, zinc wire. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] The specific embodiments of the present application are described below to facilitate the understanding of the present application for those skilled in the art, but it should be clear that the present application is not limited to the scope of the specific embodiments, and for those skilled in the art, it is obvious that various changes are within the spirit and scope of the present application defined and determined by the appended claims, and all the inventions utilizing the concept of the present application are within the scope of protection.

[0055] Example 1

[0056] As Figure 1 shown, the zinc oxide whisker heating furnace provided by the present scheme includes a furnace cover 1, a furnace body 2 provided with heating elements on the inner wall, a controller, a whisker collection tank 3, and a lifting mechanism 4 fixedly connected with the furnace cover 1 for opening the furnace cover 1, and the lifting mechanism 4 is installed on a support frame 5; in order to facilitate the installation of the whisker collection tank 3 and the furnace cover 1, the furnace body 2 of the present scheme is circular.

[0057] Among them, the support frame 5 preferably adopts a door type structure, and it is installed directly above the center position of the furnace body 2, and two support legs are arranged on both sides thereof to ensure the stability after lifting the furnace cover 1, and a top platform 55 is arranged on the top thereof to facilitate the installation of the power part of the lifting mechanism 4 and the rotating table 51 behind.

[0058] The outer edge of the furnace cover 1 is provided with a cutting knife 6 for shearing the zinc wire 10, since the hardness of the zinc wire 10 is not very large, the cutting knife 6 can select a relatively sharp hard alloy knife, if the diameter of the zinc wire 10 is relatively large, an electric cutting knife 6 can also be selected to be installed here.

[0059] Again referring to Figure 1The furnace cover 1 is rotationally connected with a zinc wire winding mechanism 7 extending into the furnace body 2, and the zinc wire winding mechanism 7 is made of silicon carbide material due to being located in the furnace body 2.

[0060] The upper end of the silicon carbide mounting frame 71 is mounted on a bearing in the center of the furnace cover 1 and is fixedly connected with the output end of a rotating motor 72 on the furnace cover 1; the bearing is sealingly mounted on the furnace cover 1, and the bearing and the sealing structure are made of a material resistant to 1000 high temperature.

[0061] The silicon carbide mounting frame 71 is connected with at least three silicon carbide rods 73 located on the same circumference for winding the zinc wire 10, and the number of the silicon carbide rods 73 is preferably the best when they are arranged to approximately form a circle, so as to ensure that more zinc wires 10 can be wound on the silicon carbide mounting frame 71 to ensure the yield of single production.

[0062] Each silicon carbide rod 73 is provided with a mounting hole 731 adjacent to the bottom end for inserting the zinc wire 10, and the diameter of the mounting hole 731 is slightly larger than the diameter of the zinc wire 10 to facilitate the smooth installation of the zinc wire 10; the silicon carbide rod 73 is provided with anti-skid lines to increase the friction of the zinc wire 10 wound on the silicon carbide rod 73, so as to avoid the zinc wire 10 from sliding and accumulating together, which affects the vaporization speed of the zinc wire 10; the rotating motor 72 is electrically connected with the controller.

[0063] The outer diameter of the whisker collecting groove 3 is equal to the inner diameter of the furnace body 2, and the top end of the connecting rod 31 in the middle of the whisker collecting groove 3 is provided with a clamping groove 311, and an annular groove 312 is formed in the middle; the zinc wire winding mechanism 7 is connected with a silicon carbide connecting rod 74, and the silicon carbide connecting rod 74 is tightly matched with the clamping groove 311.

[0064] The support frame 5 is fixedly connected with a rotating table 51, and the rotating table 51 is fixedly connected with a first electric telescopic mechanism 52 extending towards the furnace body 2, and the first electric telescopic mechanism 52 is fixedly connected with a second electric telescopic mechanism 53 extending towards the center of the furnace body 2, and the end of the second electric telescopic mechanism 53 is connected with a clamping jaw 54 matched with the annular groove 312.

[0065] The controller is electrically connected with the lifting mechanism 4, the rotating table 51, the first electric telescopic mechanism 52 and the second electric telescopic mechanism 53.

[0066] The rotary table 51 of this scheme is mainly used to adjust the orientation of the claw 54 on the second electric telescopic mechanism 53 to ensure that the claw 54 is facing the groove 311 on the connecting rod 31; the first electric telescopic mechanism 52 is mainly used to lift and lower the second electric push rod so that the claw 54 and the annular groove 312 are on the same straight line; the second electric telescopic mechanism 53 is mainly used to move the claw 54 to ensure that the claw 54 can be directly engaged in the annular groove 312.

[0067] In this design, the length of the chuck 54 is preferably greater than the diameter of the connecting rod 31 to ensure that the chuck 54 stably clamps the whisker collecting groove 3. After clamping, the first electric telescopic mechanism 52 continues to extend, and the whisker collecting groove 3 disengages from the slot 311 under the action of downward force, thereby realizing the removal of the whisker collecting groove 3.

[0068] After the whisker collection tank 3 is removed, it is placed on the output platform. Then, an empty whisker collection tank 3 can be taken from the input platform and installed by the cooperation of the rotating platform, the first electric telescopic mechanism 52 and the second electric telescopic mechanism 53.

[0069] In implementation, the preferred lifting mechanism 4 of this scheme includes a second motor 41 mounted on the top platform 55 of the support frame 5, and the output shaft of the second motor 41 is connected to a rotating shaft 43 mounted on the top platform 55 via a bearing seat 42.

[0070] Two chains 44 are connected to the rotating shaft 43 and pass through the top platform 55. The lower end of the chains 44 is fixedly connected to the furnace cover 1. Multiple sleeves 11 are provided on the half-circumferential edge of the furnace cover 1 to ensure that the whisker collection tank 3 is smoothly sent into the furnace cover 1. Multiple guide rods 55 connected to the top platform 55 pass through the sleeves 11 and slide with the sleeves 11.

[0071] This solution achieves the lifting and lowering of the furnace cover 1 through the cooperation of the chain 44, the second motor 41, and the rotating shaft 43. Its structure is simple, and there is no need to worry about a large amount of dust generated in the production workshop affecting the movement of each component of the lifting mechanism 4, thus ensuring the stability of the operation of the lifting mechanism 4. Because its structure is relatively simple and all the components are very mature in the market, the cost is low.

[0072] Since the chain 44 is a flexible structure, it will sway when it carries the furnace cover 1 upward. The cooperation of the multiple sleeves 11 and guide rods 55 can prevent the furnace cover 1 from swaying during the upward process, thereby ensuring accurate alignment when the furnace cover 1 is closed later.

[0073] Example 2

[0074] This embodiment is a further improvement on embodiment 1. Specifically, the zinc oxide whisker heating furnace also includes a zinc wire storage mechanism 8 disposed at the top of the outer wall of the furnace body 2 and aligned with the cutting blade 6, a wire feeding mechanism 9 fixed on the zinc wire storage mechanism 8, and a first image acquisition device 85 facing the furnace body 2. Since the zinc wire storage mechanism 8 of this application is higher than the top of the furnace body 2, in order to avoid the zinc wire storage mechanism 8 and the wire feeding mechanism 9 interfering with the transfer of the whisker collection tank 3, this solution preferably places the rotating table 51 and the zinc wire storage mechanism 8 on different vertical planes. Specifically, it can be located on the side of the furnace cover 1 where the sleeve 11 is provided.

[0075] The first image acquisition unit 85 is used to acquire image information of the silicon carbide mounting bracket 71, extract the mounting hole 731 in the image, analyze whether the mounting hole 731 closest to the wire feeding mechanism 9 is directly facing the wire feeding mechanism 9. If not, it can calculate the rotation angle when it rotates to be directly facing the wire feeding mechanism 9, and then start the first motor 93 to rotate.

[0076] The wire feeding mechanism 9 includes a third electric telescopic mechanism 91, and a support block 92 is provided at the end of the third electric telescopic mechanism 91. A first motor 93 connected to a lead screw is fixed on the upper surface of the support block 92, and a fixed clamping block 94 is installed on the lower surface. A sliding groove is provided between the fixed clamping block 94 and the first motor 93, and a movable clamping block 95 is provided in the sliding groove to cooperate with the fixed clamping block 94 to clamp the zinc wire 10. The movable clamping block 95 is installed on the lead screw through a lead screw nut 96. The first image acquisition device 85, the third electric telescopic mechanism 91 and the first motor 93 are all electrically connected to the controller.

[0077] This solution, through the cooperation of the movable clamping block 95 and the fixed clamping block 94, can stably clamp zinc wires 10 of different diameters, so as to ensure that when the third electric push rod extends, it pulls the zinc wire 10 to move and inserts the zinc wire 10 into the mounting hole 731.

[0078] In implementation, the preferred zinc wire storage mechanism 8 includes a storage box 81 fixed to the outer side wall of the furnace body 2. The opposite side wall of the storage box 81 is provided with a strip groove 83 for the winding roller 82 of the zinc wire 10 to be inserted. The cover 84 of the storage box 81 is movably set on the top of the storage box 81 through a sliding block structure.

[0079] The lid 84 is slidably installed on the top of the storage box 81, which facilitates quick replacement of the zinc wire 10 after use, so as to avoid the wire feeding mechanism 9 being removed when the zinc wire 10 is replaced. This eliminates the need to readjust the alignment of the wire feeding mechanism 9 after each replacement of the zinc wire 10, ensuring the accuracy of subsequent delivery of the zinc wire 10 to the mounting hole 731.

[0080] Example 3

[0081] This embodiment is a further improvement based on Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2. Specifically, an air inlet channel 21 is provided inside the furnace body 2 wall, an electromagnetic valve 22 is provided at the inlet of the air inlet channel 21, and the outlet is connected to the inner cavity of the furnace body 2; a viewing window 12 is sealed and installed on the top of the furnace cover 1, and a second image acquisition device 57 is provided on the support frame 5 to acquire images of the zinc wire 10 wound on the zinc wire winding mechanism 7 through the viewing window 12.

[0082] The controller extracts the real-time diameter of the zinc wire 10 from the image of the zinc wire 10 and calculates the vaporization rate of the zinc wire 10; it adjusts the opening of the solenoid valve 22 according to the vaporization rate of the zinc wire 10 to introduce oxygen and oxidize the zinc vapor to produce zinc oxide whiskers; the second image acquisition unit 57 and the solenoid valve 22 are electrically connected to the controller.

[0083] This scheme calculates the vaporization rate of zinc wire 10 to determine the amount of vaporization, allowing for real-time adjustment of the oxygen content in furnace 2. This ensures that zinc vapor and oxygen undergo a full oxidation reaction, thereby increasing the yield of zinc oxide whiskers.

[0084] In one embodiment of the present invention, the method for the controller to extract the real-time diameter of the zinc wire 10 from the image of the zinc wire 10 and calculate the vaporization rate of the zinc wire 10 includes:

[0085] The image of zinc wire 10 was converted to grayscale and then binarized.

[0086] A method based on image sharpness adaptive morphological background removal is used to remove non-zinc wire 10 regions from the binarized image;

[0087] The zinc wire 10 was extracted from the image after removing the non-zinc wire 10 region using an edge detection method, resulting in the contour image of the zinc wire 10.

[0088] A two-pass four-neighbor connected region advance method is used to extract connected regions in the contour image, and each connected region is matched with the connected regions of zinc wire 10 with various diameters stored in the database;

[0089] The diameter of the corresponding connected component is taken as the one with the highest matching degree, and the average of the diameters of all the connected components is taken as the diameter of the zinc wire 10 inside the furnace body 2.

[0090] The diameter difference of zinc wire 10 in two adjacent images is calculated, and then the vaporization mass of zinc wire 10 is calculated based on the length of the wound zinc wire 10.

[0091] The vaporization rate of zinc wire 10 is calculated based on the time interval between two adjacent image acquisitions and the vaporization mass of zinc wire 10.

[0092] This scheme, through the combination of edge detection and connected components, can accurately determine the diameter of zinc wire 10 in the captured image. Then, by combining the diameters extracted from two adjacent images, the vaporization rate of zinc wire 10 can be quickly determined. Neural networks can also be used to calculate the vaporization rate.

[0093] In implementation, the preferred method for obtaining the opening degree of solenoid valve 22 in this scheme is as follows:

[0094] Read multiple theoretical speeds stored in the database, calculate the difference between the vaporization speed and the theoretical vaporization speed, select the theoretical speed corresponding to the smallest difference within the preset range, and use the valve opening corresponding to the current theoretical speed as the final opening of the solenoid valve 22 that needs to be adjusted.

[0095] The multiple theoretical speeds stored in the database of this scheme can be obtained through experiments. For example, the amount of oxygen required at different vaporization speeds can be determined first, and the opening degree of solenoid valve 22 required at this amount of oxygen can be formed to create a comparison table of vaporization speed and valve opening. In the subsequent production process, the valve opening can be determined by combining the comparison table with the actual vaporization speed of zinc wire 10.

[0096] Example 4

[0097] This embodiment provides a control method for a zinc oxide whisker heating furnace, which is the optimal control scheme for the zinc oxide whisker heating furnace during production. The specific steps include:

[0098] S1. The furnace cover 1 is opened by the lifting mechanism 4, and the first electric telescopic mechanism 52 is activated to extend. The empty whisker collection tank 3 is clamped by the claw 54 in cooperation with the annular groove 312.

[0099] S2. Start the rotating table 51 and the second electric telescopic mechanism 53 so that the slot 311 of the whisker collection groove 3 is located directly below the silicon carbide connecting rod 74. Control the first electric telescopic mechanism 52 to shorten and assemble the whisker collection groove 3 onto the silicon carbide connecting rod 74.

[0100] S3. Start the second electric telescopic mechanism 53 to shorten, and then control the first electric telescopic mechanism 52 and the second electric telescopic mechanism 53 to shorten to the initial state.

[0101] S4. Use the first image acquisition device 85 to acquire image information of silicon carbide rod 73, and determine whether the mounting hole 731 closest to the wire feeding mechanism 9 is located in front of the wire feeding mechanism 9. If yes, proceed to step S6; otherwise, proceed to step S5.

[0102] S5. Calculate the angle that the mounting hole 731 closest to the wire feeding mechanism 9 needs to rotate to its front, and control the rotary motor 72 to rotate the zinc wire winding mechanism 7 according to the calculated angle, and then proceed to step S6.

[0103] S6. Start the first motor 93 to move the movable clamping block 95 toward the fixed clamping block 94 to clamp the zinc wire 10. Then control the third electric telescopic mechanism 91 to move the zinc wire 10 and send the zinc wire 10 into the mounting hole 731.

[0104] S7. Control the first motor 93 to reverse, so that the movable clamping block 95 moves away from the fixed clamping block 94, the third electric telescopic mechanism 91 retracts, and then the lifting mechanism 4 is started to descend, and the rotary motor 72 is started to rotate the zinc wire winding mechanism 7 simultaneously.

[0105] S8. When the furnace cover 1 is fastened to the furnace body 2, the lifting mechanism 4 and the rotary motor 72 are closed, and the zinc wire 10 cut by the cutting blade 6 is separated from the zinc wire 10 inside the furnace body 2.

[0106] S9. Start the heating element to heat the zinc wire 10, and every preset time, the second image acquisition device 57 acquires images of the zinc wire 10 wound on the zinc wire winding mechanism 7 through the viewing window 12.

[0107] S10: The controller extracts the real-time diameter of the zinc wire 10 from the image of the zinc wire 10 and calculates the vaporization rate of the zinc wire 10; the opening degree of the solenoid valve 22 is adjusted according to the vaporization rate of the zinc wire 10.

[0108] S11. When the image acquired by the second image acquisition device 57 shows that the zinc wire 10 has been completely vaporized, the heating element is turned off after a preset time, and the furnace cover 1 is opened by the lifting mechanism 4.

[0109] S12. Start the first electric telescopic mechanism 52 and the second electric telescopic mechanism 53 to extend, so that the claw 54 engages with the annular groove 312. Then control the first electric telescopic mechanism 52 to continue to extend, so that the whisker collection groove 3 disengages from the silicon carbide connecting rod 74.

[0110] S13. Control the rotary table 51 to rotate, place the whisker collection tank 3 on the output platform, and complete the production of zinc oxide whiskers.

[0111] This scheme uses the above-mentioned control method to generate zinc oxide whiskers. Each process can be fully automated. In addition, with the cooperation of the image acquisition device, the vaporization rate of zinc wire 10 in the furnace body 2 can be understood, so as to adjust the oxygen content in the furnace body 2 in a timely manner and improve the yield of zinc oxide whiskers.

Claims

1. A zinc oxide whisker heating furnace, comprising a furnace cover and a furnace body with heating elements disposed on the inner wall, characterized in that, It also includes a controller, a whisker collection tank, and a lifting mechanism fixedly connected to the furnace cover for opening the furnace cover. The lifting mechanism is mounted on a support frame. The outer edge of the furnace cover is provided with a cutting blade for shearing zinc wire. A zinc wire winding mechanism extending into the furnace body is rotatably connected to the furnace cover. The outer diameter of the whisker collecting trough is equal to the inner diameter of the furnace body, and the top of the connecting rod in the middle of the whisker collecting trough is provided with a slot, and an annular groove is opened in the middle; a silicon carbide connecting rod is connected to the zinc wire winding mechanism, and the silicon carbide connecting rod is tightly fitted with the slot. A rotating platform is fixedly connected to the support frame. A first electric telescopic mechanism extending towards the furnace body is fixedly connected to the rotating platform. A second electric telescopic mechanism extending towards the center of the furnace body is fixedly connected to the first electric telescopic mechanism. A claw that cooperates with the annular groove is connected to the end of the second electric telescopic mechanism. The controller is electrically connected to the lifting mechanism, the rotary table, the first electric telescopic mechanism, and the second electric telescopic mechanism, respectively.

2. The zinc oxide whisker heating furnace according to claim 1, characterized in that, The zinc wire winding mechanism includes a silicon carbide mounting frame installed inside the furnace body. The upper end of the silicon carbide mounting frame is mounted on a bearing at the center of the furnace cover and is fixedly connected to the output end of a rotary motor on the furnace cover. At least three silicon carbide rods located on the same circumference are connected to the silicon carbide mounting frame for winding zinc wire. Each silicon carbide rod has a mounting hole near its bottom for inserting zinc wire. The silicon carbide rods are provided with anti-slip textures. The rotary motor is electrically connected to a controller.

3. The zinc oxide whisker heating furnace according to claim 2, characterized in that, It also includes a zinc wire storage mechanism located at the top of the outer wall of the furnace body and aligned with the cutting blade, a wire feeding mechanism fixed on the zinc wire storage mechanism, and a first image acquisition device facing the furnace body; the wire feeding mechanism includes a third electric telescopic mechanism, and a support block is provided at the end of the third electric telescopic mechanism. The upper surface of the support block is fixed with a first motor connected to a lead screw, and the lower surface is fitted with a fixed clamping block; a sliding groove is provided between the fixed clamping block and the first motor, and a movable clamping block is provided in the sliding groove to cooperate with the fixed clamping block to clamp the zinc wire; the movable clamping block is installed on the lead screw through a lead screw nut; the first image acquisition device, the third electric telescopic mechanism and the first motor are all electrically connected to the controller.

4. The zinc oxide whisker heating furnace according to claim 3, characterized in that, The zinc wire storage mechanism includes a storage box fixed to the outer wall of the furnace body. The opposite side wall of the storage box has a strip groove for the winding roller for winding zinc wire to be inserted. The lid of the storage box is movably mounted on the top of the storage box through a sliding block structure.

5. The zinc oxide whisker heating furnace according to claim 1 or 4, characterized in that, An air intake channel is provided inside the furnace body wall. The inlet of the air intake channel is equipped with a solenoid valve, and the outlet is connected to the inner cavity of the furnace body. A viewing window is sealed on the top of the furnace cover, and a second image acquisition device is provided on the support frame to acquire images of the zinc wire wound on the zinc wire winding mechanism through the viewing window. The controller extracts the real-time diameter of the zinc wire from the zinc wire image and calculates the vaporization rate of the zinc wire; it adjusts the opening of the solenoid valve according to the vaporization rate of the zinc wire to introduce oxygen and oxidize the zinc vapor to grow zinc oxide whiskers; the second image acquisition device and the solenoid valve are electrically connected to the controller.

6. The zinc oxide whisker heating furnace according to claim 5, characterized in that, The method for the controller to extract the real-time diameter of the zinc wire from the zinc wire image and calculate the vaporization rate of the zinc wire includes: The zinc wire image is converted to grayscale and then binarized. A method based on image sharpness adaptive morphological background removal is used to remove non-zinc wire regions from binarized images; The zinc wire is extracted from the image after removing the non-zinc wire area using an edge detection method, resulting in the contour image of the zinc wire; A two-pass four-neighbor connected region advance method is used to extract connected regions in the contour image, and each connected region is matched with the connected regions of zinc wires of various diameters stored in the database; The diameter of the corresponding connected component is taken as the one with the highest matching degree, and the average of the diameters of all the connected components is taken as the diameter of the zinc wire in the furnace. The diameter difference of the zinc wire in two adjacent images is calculated, and then the vaporization mass of the zinc wire is calculated based on the length of the wound zinc wire. The vaporization rate of the zinc wire is calculated based on the time interval between two consecutive image acquisitions and the vaporization mass of the zinc wire.

7. The zinc oxide whisker heating furnace according to claim 6, characterized in that, The method for obtaining the opening degree of the solenoid valve is as follows: Read multiple theoretical speeds stored in the database, calculate the difference between the vaporization speed and the theoretical vaporization speed, select the theoretical speed corresponding to the smallest difference within the preset range, and use the valve opening corresponding to the current theoretical speed as the final solenoid valve opening that needs to be adjusted.

8. The zinc oxide whisker heating furnace according to claim 1, characterized in that, The lifting mechanism includes a second motor mounted on the top platform of the support frame, and the output shaft of the second motor is connected to a rotating shaft mounted on the top platform via a bearing seat; Two chains are connected to the rotating shaft and pass through the top platform. The lower end of the chains is fixedly connected to the furnace cover. Multiple sleeves are provided on half of the circumference edge of the furnace cover. Multiple guide rods connected to the top platform pass through the sleeves and slide with the sleeves.

9. A control method for a zinc oxide whisker heating furnace according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, Including the following steps: S1. The furnace cover is opened by a lifting mechanism, the first electric telescopic mechanism is activated to extend, and the empty whisker collection tank is clamped by the cooperation of the claws and the annular groove. S2. Start the rotary table and the second electric telescopic mechanism to position the slot of the whisker collection groove directly below the silicon carbide connecting rod, and control the first electric telescopic mechanism to shorten and assemble the whisker collection groove onto the silicon carbide connecting rod. S3. Start the second electric telescopic mechanism to shorten, and then control the first and second electric telescopic mechanisms to shorten to their initial state; S4. Use the first image acquisition device to acquire image information of silicon carbide rod, and determine whether the mounting hole closest to the wire feeding mechanism is located in front of the wire feeding mechanism. If yes, proceed to step S6; otherwise, proceed to step S5. S5. Calculate the angle that needs to be rotated when the mounting hole closest to the wire feeding mechanism is rotated to its front, and control the rotary motor to rotate the zinc wire winding mechanism according to the calculated angle, and then proceed to step S6. S6. Start the first motor to move the movable clamping block toward the fixed clamping block to clamp the zinc wire, and then control the third electric telescopic mechanism to move the zinc wire and feed the zinc wire into the mounting hole. S7. Control the first motor to reverse, so that the movable clamping block moves away from the fixed clamping block, the third electric telescopic mechanism retracts, and then start the lifting mechanism to descend, and simultaneously start the rotary motor to rotate the zinc wire winding mechanism. S8. When the furnace cover is fastened to the furnace body, the lifting mechanism and the rotary motor are turned off, and the zinc wire cut by the cutting blade is separated from the zinc wire inside the furnace body. S9. Start the heating element to heat the zinc wire, and at preset intervals, the second image acquisition device acquires images of the zinc wire wound on the zinc wire winding mechanism through the viewing window. S10. The controller extracts the real-time diameter of the zinc wire from the zinc wire image and calculates the vaporization rate of the zinc wire; it then adjusts the opening of the solenoid valve according to the vaporization rate of the zinc wire. S11. When the image acquired by the second image acquisition device shows that all the zinc wire has vaporized, the heating element is turned off after a preset time, and the furnace cover is opened by the lifting mechanism. S12. Start the first electric telescopic mechanism and the second electric telescopic mechanism to extend, so that the claws engage with the annular groove. Then control the first electric telescopic mechanism to continue to extend, so that the whisker collection groove is disengaged from the silicon carbide connecting rod. S13. Control the rotary table to rotate and place the whisker collection tank on the output platform to complete the production of one zinc oxide whisker.

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