An automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision

Abstract

The present invention provides a small household appliance automatic sorting line based on machine vision, which includes a separation mechanism, a vision recognition mechanism, and a sorting mechanism. The separation mechanism separates the stacked small household appliances, and then the vision recognition mechanism identifies the separated individual small household appliances, confirms the categories of the small household appliances, and sends the recognition results to the sorting mechanism. After passing through the vision recognition mechanism, the small household appliances enter the sorting mechanism, and the sorting mechanism automatically sorts them. The present invention greatly saves the labor cost of small household appliance sorting, and greatly improves the sorting efficiency and accuracy, and better meets the requirements of enterprise recycling production.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of solid waste recycling, and particularly relates to an automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision. Background Art

[0002] With the improvement of living standards and the continuous progress of technology, the types of current household small appliances are becoming more and more complex and the quantity is also increasing. Correspondingly, there will be certain difficulties in recycling small household appliances.

[0003] Nowadays, some of the household appliance recycling and processing processes in large waste recycling stations already use automated sorting equipment. However, most of the equipment is for common large household appliances in life, such as refrigerators, televisions, etc. The processing of daily small household appliances is not very good. Moreover, although most equipment applies machine vision and artificial intelligence, due to the mutual occlusion between small household appliances in the stacked state, the camera of the machine vision cannot completely capture images, and there may be certain errors in the recognition of small household appliances in the stacked state by the machine vision, resulting in the need for manual re-sorting, and re-sorting still requires a large amount of manpower. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision to solve the technical problems raised in the background art.

[0005] To achieve the above purpose, the present invention provides an automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision, including a separation mechanism, a vision recognition mechanism, and a sorting mechanism; wherein,

[0006] The separation mechanism includes a feeding conveyor belt, a first separation conveyor belt and a second separation conveyor belt for separating stacked small household appliances, a first transition conveyor belt and a second transition conveyor belt. The discharging end of the feeding conveyor belt is oppositely arranged with the feeding end of the first separation conveyor belt. The first transition conveyor belt, the second separation conveyor belt, the second transition conveyor belt and the feeding conveyor belt are successively connected end to end and oppositely arranged. The transportation direction of the second separation conveyor belt is opposite to the transportation direction of the first separation conveyor belt;

[0007] The sorting mechanism includes a sorting conveyor belt, a sorting and feeding component straddling the sorting conveyor belt, and collection boxes oppositely arranged on both sides of the sorting conveyor belt;

[0008] The vision recognition mechanism includes a support frame, a recognition camera installed on the top of the support frame, and a commutation and conveying component installed in the support frame. The recognition camera is arranged facing the end of the first separation conveyor belt. The commutation and conveying component is located at the end of the first separation conveyor belt and is oppositely arranged with the head end of the first transition conveyor belt and the head end of the sorting conveyor belt;

[0009] Both the sorting and feeding component and the commutation and conveying component are electrically connected to the identification camera.

[0010] Furthermore, the first separation conveyor belt includes a frame, a plurality of cams evenly spaced along the extending direction of the top of the frame, a conveying belt sleeved on the cams, and a motor for driving the cams to rotate;

[0011] Both ends of the cam are rotatably mounted on the frame through a rotating shaft. The cam includes a wheel shaft and two protruding parts arranged on the surface of the wheel shaft. The protruding parts extend along the extending direction of the wheel shaft. The two protruding parts are respectively arranged on both sides of the wheel shaft and are respectively distributed at both ends of the wheel shaft. The length dimension of the protruding part is half of the length dimension of the wheel shaft.

[0012] Furthermore, the surface of the protruding part is an arc surface.

[0013] Furthermore, the feeding conveyor belt is a partition conveyor belt.

[0014] Furthermore, both the first transition conveyor belt and the second transition conveyor belt are belt conveyors.

[0015] Furthermore, the commutation and conveying component includes a stepping motor, an inclined plate, and a motor bracket for fixing the stepping motor. The rotating shaft of the stepping motor is arranged upward. The inclined plate is fixedly installed on the rotating shaft of the stepping motor. The inclined plate is oppositely arranged with the end of the first separation conveyor belt, the head of the first transition conveyor belt, and the head of the sorting conveyor belt;

[0016] The stepping motor is electrically connected to the identification camera.

[0017] Furthermore, the sorting and feeding component includes a feeding bracket and a plurality of feeders installed on the feeding bracket. A feeding plate for feeding is installed on the feeder. The feeder is electrically connected to the identification camera.

[0018] Furthermore, the feeding plate is a semi-circular arc plate with an opening facing downward. The middle position at the top of the feeding plate is fixedly installed on the feeder.

[0019] Furthermore, the sorting conveyor belt is a belt conveyor;

[0020] A plurality of inclined guide grooves are installed on both sides of the sorting conveyor belt. The discharge ports at the bottom ends of the guide grooves are directly opposite to the top of the collection box.

[0021] Furthermore, a partition conveyor belt is also arranged between the head of the sorting conveyor belt and the commutation and conveying component.

[0022] The beneficial effects of the present invention are embodied in:

[0023] The automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision of the present invention includes a separation mechanism, a vision recognition mechanism, and a sorting mechanism. The stacked small household appliances are separated by the separation mechanism, and then the single small household appliances after separation are recognized by the vision recognition mechanism to confirm the categories of the small household appliances, and the recognition results are sent to the sorting mechanism. After passing through the vision recognition mechanism, the small household appliances enter the sorting mechanism, and the sorting mechanism automatically performs sorting. The present invention greatly saves the labor cost of sorting small household appliances, and greatly improves the sorting efficiency and accuracy, and better meets the requirements of enterprise recycling production. Description of the Drawings

[0024] Figure 1 Schematic structural diagram of an automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision provided by an embodiment of the present invention Figure 1 ;

[0025] Figure 2 Schematic structural diagram of an automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision provided by an embodiment of the present invention Figure 2 ;

[0026] Figure 3 Schematic structural diagram of the separation mechanism of an automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 4 Schematic structural diagram of the cam of an automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 5 Schematic structural diagram of the vision recognition mechanism of an automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 6 Schematic structural diagram of the commutation conveying assembly of an automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 7 Schematic structural diagram of the sorting mechanism of an automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Among them, separation mechanism 100, feeding conveyor belt 101, first separation conveyor belt 102, second separation conveyor belt 103, first transition conveyor belt 104, second transition conveyor belt 105, frame 1021, conveyor belt 1022, axle 1023, convex part 1024;

[0032] Vision recognition mechanism 200, support frame 201, recognition camera 202, commutation conveying component 203, stepping motor 2031, inclined plate 2032, motor support bracket 2033;

[0033] Sorting mechanism 300, sorting conveyor belt 301, collection box 302, material pushing support bracket 303, material pusher 304, material pushing plate 305, material guiding groove 306. Specific embodiments

[0034] The specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the schematic diagrams. According to the following description, the advantages and features of the present invention will be clearer. It should be noted that the drawings are all in a very simplified form and use non-precise scales, only for the purpose of facilitating and clearly assisting in explaining the purpose of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0035] As Figure 1 and Figure 2 shown, an automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision provided in this embodiment includes a separation mechanism 100, a vision recognition mechanism 200, and a sorting mechanism 300.

[0036] Among them, as Figure 3 shown, the separation mechanism 100 includes a feeding conveyor belt 101, a first separation conveyor belt 102 and a second separation conveyor belt 103 for separating stacked small household appliances, a first transition conveyor belt 104 and a second transition conveyor belt 105. The discharging end of the feeding conveyor belt 101 is oppositely arranged with the feeding end of the first separation conveyor belt 102. The first transition conveyor belt 104, the second separation conveyor belt 103, the second transition conveyor belt 105 and the feeding conveyor belt 101 are connected end to end and oppositely arranged in sequence. The transportation direction of the second separation conveyor belt 103 is opposite to the transportation direction of the first separation conveyor belt 102.

[0037] Specifically, the first separation conveyor belt 102 includes a frame 1021, a plurality of cams evenly spaced along the extending direction of the top of the frame 1021, a conveying belt 1022 sleeved on the cams, and a motor for driving the cams to rotate. The two ends of the cams are rotatably installed on the frame 1021 through rotating shafts. As Figure 4 shown, the cam includes a wheel shaft 1023 and two protruding portions 1024 arranged on the surface of the wheel shaft 1023. The protruding portions 1024 extend along the extending direction of the wheel shaft 1023. The two protruding portions 1024 are respectively arranged on both sides of the wheel shaft 1023. The two protruding portions 1024 are respectively distributed at both ends of the wheel shaft 1023. The length dimension of the protruding portion 1024 is half of the length dimension of the wheel shaft 1023. The surface of the protruding portion 1024 is an arc surface.

[0038] All kinds of small household appliances recovered are first preliminarily piled up, and then the piled small household appliances are poured into the feeding conveyor belt 101. The feeding conveyor belt 101 adopts a partition conveyor belt. When the piled small household appliances are poured into the partition conveyor belt, the partitions on the partition conveyor belt will divide the whole pile of small household appliances into small piles, and then orderly convey them onto the first separation conveyor belt 102.

[0039] After the small household appliances are conveyed onto the first separation conveyor belt 102, during the rotation of the cam, the protruding parts 1024 at both ends of the cam will continuously protrude left and right alternately. By continuously jacking up both sides of the conveying belt 1022, it will cause the conveying belt 1022 to vibrate slightly. And when a pile of small household appliances is conveyed irregularly through the surface of the conveying belt 1022, some will be randomly blocked by the protruding places on the conveying belt 1022, so as to be separated from the small household appliances in front. Some stacked small household appliances will just be jacked up by the protruding part 1024, and the stacked small household appliances will slide and disperse to both sides of the protruding part 1024 under the action of gravity, separating the stacked small household appliances.

[0040] As Figure 2 and Figure 5 As shown in the figure, the visual recognition mechanism 200 includes a support frame 201, an identification camera 202 installed at the top of the support frame 201, and a commutation conveying component 203 installed inside the support frame 201. The identification camera 202 is arranged facing the end of the first separation conveyor belt 102. The commutation conveying component 203 is located at the end of the first separation conveyor belt 102 and is oppositely arranged with the head end of the first transition conveyor belt 104 and the head end of the sorting conveyor belt 301 of the sorting mechanism 300.

[0041] Specifically, as Figure 6 shown in the figure, the commutation conveying component 203 includes a stepping motor 2031, an inclined plate 2032, and a motor bracket 2033 for fixing the stepping motor 2031. The rotating shaft of the stepping motor 2031 is arranged upward. The inclined plate 2032 is fixedly installed on the rotating shaft of the stepping motor 2031. The inclined plate 2032 is oppositely arranged with the end of the first separation conveyor belt 102, the head end of the first transition conveyor belt 104, and the head end of the sorting conveyor belt 301. The stepping motor 2031 is electrically connected to the identification camera 202.

[0042] The identification camera 202 is used to identify whether the small household appliances conveyed to the end of the first separation conveyor belt 102 are separated orderly and have a certain interval, and transmit an instruction to the stepping motor 2031 to determine the rotation direction of the stepping motor 2031, so as to adjust the inclination direction of the inclined plate 2032.

[0043] After the identification camera 202 identifies the small household appliances at the end of the first separation conveyor belt 102, if the small household appliances are evenly separated with a certain interval, a first control instruction is sent to the stepping motor 2031 to tilt the inclined plate 2032 toward the sorting conveyor belt 301. The separated small household appliances are conveyed into the sorting conveyor belt 301, and the sorting mechanism 300 classifies the small household appliances according to the types of small household appliances identified by the identification camera 202 and dials them into the corresponding collection bins 302.

[0044] If the identification camera 202 identifies that there are still stacks or no intervals among the small household appliances at the end of the first separation conveyor belt 102, the identification camera 202 sends a second control instruction to the stepping motor 2031 to tilt the inclined plate 2032 toward the first transition conveyor belt 104. The unseparated small household appliances are conveyed by the first transition conveyor belt 104 to the second separation conveyor belt 103. The structure of the second separation conveyor belt 103 is the same as that of the first separation conveyor belt 102. After the unseparated small household appliances are separated again by the second separation conveyor belt 103, they are re-introduced into the feeding conveyor belt 101 through the second transition conveyor belt 105, and then re-introduced into the first separation conveyor belt 102 by the feeding conveyor belt 101 for separation and identification. In this embodiment, both the first transition conveyor belt 104 and the second transition conveyor belt 105 are belt conveyors.

[0045] As Figure 7 shown, the sorting mechanism 300 includes a sorting conveyor belt 301, a sorting and dialing component spanning across the sorting conveyor belt 301, and collection bins 302 arranged oppositely on both sides of the sorting conveyor belt 301. Specifically, the sorting and dialing component includes a dialing support 303 and a plurality of dialing machines 304 installed on the dialing support 303. A dialing plate 305 for dialing is installed on the dialing machine 304. The dialing machine 304 is electrically connected to the identification camera 202 and executes the control instructions sent by the identification camera 202. The dialing machine 304 is used to drive the dialing plate 305 to reciprocate along the width direction of the sorting conveyor belt 301, so as to dial different types of small household appliances into the corresponding collection bins 302.

[0046] The dialing plate 305 is a semi-circular arc plate with an opening facing downward, and the middle position at the top of the dialing plate 305 is fixedly installed on the dialing machine 304. The dialing plate 305 is designed as a semi-circular arc plate, and the outer side wall of the dialing plate 305 contacts the small household appliances, which better adapts to the shape of the small household appliances and reduces the situation of bumping with the surface of the small household appliances.

[0047] In this embodiment, the sorting conveyor belt 301 is a belt conveyor. A plurality of inclined material guiding grooves 306 are installed on both sides of the sorting conveyor belt 301. The discharge ports at the bottom ends of the material guiding grooves 306 are arranged facing the tops of the collection bins 302, assisting the classified small household appliances to fall into the collection bins 302. The collection bins 302 are used to hold the sorted small household appliances.

[0048] A partition conveyor belt 400 is further provided between the head end of the sorting conveyor belt 301 and the reversing conveying assembly 203. The partition conveyor belt 400 is used for transitional transmission to prevent the small household appliances after separation from re-aggregating during the transmission process, which may affect the accuracy of subsequent sorting and feeding components for sorting the small household appliances.

[0049] In summary, the automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision of the present invention includes a separation mechanism, a vision recognition mechanism, and a sorting mechanism. The separation mechanism separates the stacked small household appliances, and then the vision recognition mechanism identifies the individual small household appliances after separation, confirms the categories of the small household appliances, and sends the recognition results to the sorting mechanism. After passing through the vision recognition mechanism, the small household appliances enter the sorting mechanism, and the sorting mechanism automatically sorts them. The present invention greatly saves the labor cost of sorting small household appliances, and greatly improves the sorting efficiency and accuracy, which better meets the requirements of enterprise recycling production.

[0050] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not impose any limitations on the present invention. Any person skilled in the art within the technical field, without departing from the technical solution of the present invention, makes any form of equivalent replacement or modification and other changes to the technical solution and technical content disclosed by the present invention, which are all within the content of the technical solution of the present invention and still fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision, characterized in that: It includes a separation mechanism (100), a visual recognition mechanism (200), and a sorting mechanism (300); among them, the separation mechanism (100) includes a feeding conveyor belt (101), a first separation conveyor belt (102) and a second separation conveyor belt (103) for separating stacked small household appliances, a first transition conveyor belt (104) and a second transition conveyor belt (105). The discharge end of the feeding conveyor belt (101) is oppositely arranged with the feeding end of the first separation conveyor belt (102). The first transition conveyor belt (104), the second separation conveyor belt (103), the second transition conveyor belt (105), and the feeding conveyor belt (101) are successively connected end to end and oppositely arranged. The transportation direction of the second separation conveyor belt (103) is opposite to the transportation direction of the first separation conveyor belt (102); the sorting mechanism (300) includes a sorting conveyor belt (301), a sorting and dialing component spanning across the sorting conveyor belt (301), and collection bins (302) oppositely arranged on both sides of the sorting conveyor belt (301); the visual recognition mechanism (200) includes a support frame (201), an identification camera (202) installed on the top of the support frame (201), and a commutation and conveying component (203) installed inside the support frame (201). The identification camera (202) is arranged facing the end of the first separation conveyor belt (102). The commutation and conveying component (203) is located at the end of the first separation conveyor belt (102) and is oppositely arranged with the head end of the first transition conveyor belt (104) and the head end of the sorting conveyor belt (301); both the sorting and dialing component and the commutation and conveying component (203) are electrically connected to the identification camera (202).

2. The automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision according to claim 1, characterized in that The first separation conveyor belt (102) includes a frame (1021), a plurality of cams evenly spaced along the extending direction of the top of the frame (1021), a conveying belt (1022) sleeved on the cams, and a motor for driving the cams to rotate; both ends of the cam are rotatably installed on the frame (1021) through a rotating shaft. The cam includes a wheel shaft (1023) and two protruding parts (1024) arranged on the surface of the wheel shaft (1023). The protruding parts (1024) extend along the extending direction of the wheel shaft (1023). The two protruding parts (1024) are respectively arranged on both sides of the wheel shaft (1023). The two protruding parts (1024) are respectively distributed at both ends of the wheel shaft (1023). The length dimension of the protruding part (1024) is half of the length dimension of the wheel shaft (1023).

3. The automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision according to claim 2, wherein The surface of the protruding part (1024) is an arc surface.

4. The automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision according to claim 1, wherein The feeding conveyor belt (101) is a partition conveyor belt.

5. The automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision according to claim 1, characterized in that, Both the first transition conveyor belt (104) and the second transition conveyor belt (105) are belt conveyors.

6. The automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision according to claim 1, characterized in that, The commutation conveying assembly (203) includes a stepping motor (2031), an inclined plate (2032), and a motor bracket (2033) for fixing the stepping motor (2031). The rotating shaft of the stepping motor (2031) is arranged upward. The inclined plate (2032) is fixedly installed on the rotating shaft of the stepping motor (2031). The inclined plate (2032) is oppositely arranged with the end of the first separation conveyor belt (102), the head of the first transition conveyor belt (104), and the head of the sorting conveyor belt (301). The stepping motor (2031) is electrically connected to the identification camera (202).

7. The automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision according to claim 1, characterized in that, The sorting and feeding assembly includes a feeding bracket (303) and a plurality of feeders (304) installed on the feeding bracket (303). A feeding plate (305) for feeding is installed on the feeder (304). The feeder (304) is electrically connected to the identification camera (202).

8. The automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision according to claim 7, wherein The feeding plate (305) is a semi-circular arc plate with an opening facing downward. The middle position at the top of the feeding plate (305) is fixedly installed on the feeder (304).

9. The automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision according to claim 1, characterized in that The sorting conveyor belt (301) is a belt conveyor. A plurality of inclined material guiding grooves (306) are installed on both sides of the sorting conveyor belt (301). The discharge ports at the bottom ends of the material guiding grooves (306) are arranged facing the top of the collection box (302).

10. The automatic sorting line for small household appliances based on machine vision according to claim 1, wherein, A partition conveyor belt (400) is further arranged between the head of the sorting conveyor belt (301) and the commutation conveying assembly (203).

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