Automatic feeding device for polysilicon rods

Abstract

The present invention relates to an automatic feeding device for polycrystalline silicon rods. The number of silicon rods fed each time is three, and the automatic feeding device for polycrystalline silicon rods includes a feeding manipulator, a picking manipulator and a flipping mechanism; two sets of parallel corresponding first supporting blocks are provided at the end of the feeding manipulator; two parallel second supporting blocks are provided at the end of the picking manipulator; the flipping mechanism includes a frame, a mounting seat, a flipping cylinder, a third supporting block, a pressing cylinder and a pressing plate. Before the polycrystalline silicon rods are fed into the crusher, the three silicon rods use their own gravity to gradually transition from a herringbone arrangement to a straight line. The three silicon rods arranged in a straight line enter the crusher in an orderly manner by gravity, thereby avoiding the loss of the silicon rods during movement. At the same time, the manipulator does not need to wait until the materials are discharged in sequence before returning to the initial position to take the silicon rods, which greatly improves the continuity of the feeding device and thus improves work efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of conveying equipment, and in particular to an automatic feeding device for polysilicon rods. Background Art

[0002] At present, the feeding equipment for polysilicon rods on the market basically cooperates with two manipulators, one manipulator is responsible for lifting the silicon rods, and the other manipulator is responsible for transporting and flipping the rods. After the silicon rods arrive at the crusher mouth, there are two ways of feeding. One is that the manipulator grabs multiple silicon rods and throws them into the crusher together. The other is that the manipulator slides the multiple silicon rods it has grabbed into the crusher one by one. In the first way, throwing the silicon rods together will cause the time they work in the crusher to be prolonged. The silicon rods are repeatedly squeezed and crushed in the crusher, resulting in an increase in small materials and powder, reducing economic benefits. The second way is only applicable to crushers with the feed port facing upward, and the feeding speed is slow. The manipulator can only pick up the materials after all the silicon rods have been put down, which makes the working continuity and uniformity of the equipment poor, affecting the subsequent automatic packaging. In addition, the manipulator grabs the silicon rods at the same time, which causes sliding, squeezing and friction between the silicon rods, which will also produce additional powder and cause losses. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Based on this, it is necessary to provide a polysilicon rod automatic feeding device with fast speed and low loss to address the problem that traditional feeding equipment has high loss of silicon rod materials and poor continuity leading to low work efficiency.

[0004] An automatic feeding device for polycrystalline silicon rods, wherein the number of silicon rods fed each time is three, and the automatic feeding device for polycrystalline silicon rods comprises:

[0005] The feeding robot has two sets of parallel corresponding first supporting blocks at its end, and the upper surfaces of the two sets of first supporting blocks are each provided with a first V-shaped groove, and the two sets of first V-shaped grooves are used to place silicon rods. When the three silicon rods are placed, they are arranged in a herringbone shape;

[0006] A material retrieving manipulator, at the end of which is provided with two parallel second supporting blocks, each of which has two adjacent second V-shaped grooves on its upper surface, and is used to hold the silicon material rods arranged in a herringbone shape on the first V-shaped groove;

[0007] The flipping mechanism includes a frame, a mounting seat, a flipping cylinder, a third support block, a pressing cylinder and a pressure plate; the mounting seat is rotatably arranged on the frame by the flipping cylinder; the third support block is fixedly connected to the mounting seat, and the upper surface of the third support block is provided with three adjacent third V-shaped grooves in sequence, and the third support block is also provided with an avoidance groove for crossing with the second support block. The second support block passes through the avoidance groove and places the silicon material rods arranged in a herringbone shape on it into the third V-shaped groove on the third support block, and the three silicon material rods are changed from a herringbone shape to a straight shape; the pressing cylinder is arranged on the mounting seat, and the pressure plate is arranged above the third support block. It is raised and lowered by the pressing cylinder and is used to fix the silicon rod material in the third V-shaped groove.

[0008] As a preferred example, the lengths of the two groups of the first supporting blocks along the length direction of the silicon rod are smaller than the distance between the two second supporting blocks.

[0009] As a preferred example, the moving path of the first supporting block is vertical lifting.

[0010] As a preferred example, the two second supporting blocks are both in the shape of long strips and are always kept in a horizontal state.

[0011] As a preferred example, the moving path of the second support block is to move upward from below the horizontal plane of the first V-groove to lift the silicon rod material; and move downward from above the horizontal plane of the third V-groove to place the silicon rod material on the third support block.

[0012] As a preferred example, the bottom corner of the second V-shaped groove corresponds to the inclined surface of the third V-shaped groove in the direction of gravity.

[0013] As a preferred example, the pressing plates and the pressing cylinders are provided in two groups, and the two pressing plates respectively correspond to the middle positions of two of the third V-shaped grooves.

[0014] As a preferred example, the number of silicon rods fed by the automatic polycrystalline silicon rod feeding device each time may be one, two, or more than three.

[0015] As a preferred example, the groove surfaces of the first V-shaped groove, the second V-shaped groove and the third V-shaped groove are all provided with an alloy protective layer.

[0016] As a preferred example, the first supporting block, the second supporting block, the third supporting block and the pressing plate are all provided with a polyurethane protective layer.

[0017] The beneficial effect of the present invention is that before feeding the polycrystalline silicon rods into the crusher, the three silicon rods in the automatic feeding device gradually transition from a herringbone arrangement to a straight line arrangement using their own gravity. The three silicon rods arranged in a straight line then enter the crusher in an orderly manner through gravity. Compared with the traditional feeding method using a robot to grab and feed the silicon rods, this method avoids loss of the silicon rods during movement. At the same time, the robot does not need to wait until the silicon rods are discharged in sequence before returning to its original position to retrieve the silicon rods, greatly improving the continuity of the feeding device's operation and thus enhancing work efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the front structure of the automatic feeding device for polysilicon rods;

[0019] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the second supporting block;

[0020] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the flip mechanism;

[0021] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the third supporting block;

[0022] Figure 5 It is a structural diagram when the second supporting block and the third supporting block are staggered;

[0023] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the silicon ingot in the initial state when the second supporting block and the third supporting block are interlaced;

[0024] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the silicon ingot during the flattening process when the second supporting block and the third supporting block are staggered;

[0025] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the silicon rod material after flattening when the second support block and the third support block are staggered.

[0026] In the figure: silicon rod material 1, first supporting block 2, second supporting block 3, second V-shaped groove 31, turning mechanism 4, frame 41, mounting seat 42, turning cylinder 43, third supporting block 44, third V-shaped groove 441, air avoidance groove 442, pressing cylinder 45, pressing plate 46, crusher 5. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0028] It should be noted that when a component is referred to as being "mounted on" another component, it may be directly on the other component or there may be a central component. When a component is considered to be "set on" another component, it may be directly set on the other component or there may be a central component. When a component is considered to be "fixed to" another component, it may be directly fixed to the other component or there may be a central component.

[0029] It should be understood that the terms "length", "width", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", etc., indicating the orientation or position relationship, are based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on this application.

[0030] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains. The terms used herein in the specification of the present invention are for the purpose of describing specific embodiments only and are not intended to limit the present invention. The term "or / and" as used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0031] During actual use of the automatic feeding device for polycrystalline silicon rods proposed in the present invention, the number of silicon rods fed each time can be 1, 2, 3, or even more. The top silicon rod 1 in the herringbone stack can be a plurality of shorter silicon rods 1. The total length of the plurality of shorter silicon rods 1 does not exceed or slightly exceeds the length of the silicon rod 1 below, as long as they will not fall. Regardless of the number of materials fed, the technical solution and working principle of the automatic feeding device for polycrystalline silicon rods remain unchanged. In order to more clearly describe the design point of the present invention, this embodiment is illustrated by taking the number of silicon rods 1 fed each time as an example. The three silicon rods 1 are distributed in a herringbone shape during the feeding and movement process. Before entering the crusher 5, the three silicon rods 1 use the self-gravity of the silicon rods 1 to gradually transition from a herringbone shape to a straight line shape. The three silicon rods 1 arranged in a straight line then enter the crusher 5 in an orderly manner, thereby avoiding the loss of the silicon rods 1 during the movement, and at the same time, the continuity of the feeding is good.

[0032] See also Figure 1In order to realize the above functions, the automatic feeding device for polysilicon rods includes a feeding manipulator, a picking manipulator and a turning mechanism 4. In this embodiment, the picking manipulator is arranged between the feeding manipulator and the turning mechanism 4, and the side of the turning mechanism 4 away from the feeding manipulator is where the crusher 5 is located. The feeding manipulator and the picking manipulator are both mature industrial manipulators, and their composition structure and movement mode are all existing technologies, which will not be described in detail here. The design of the present invention lies in the coordination relationship between the moving paths of the feeding manipulator, the picking manipulator and the turning mechanism 4, and the tooling structure on the feeding manipulator, the picking manipulator and the turning mechanism 4 that contacts the silicon rod material 1.

[0033] like Figure 1 As shown, path a is the movement path of the feeding robot. The silicon rods 1 stacked in a triangular shape are stacked by the front-end equipment. The feeding robot lifts and transports the silicon rods 1 stacked in a triangular shape from the front-end equipment. Its up and down circular movement raises and lowers the silicon rods 1, allowing the retrieving robot to retrieve and transport the silicon rods 1 and continuously transport new silicon rods 1. Path b is the movement path of the retrieving robot: the retrieving robot first moves to the right to the bottom of the feeding robot, corresponding to the silicon rods 1. The retrieving robot then moves upward, lifting the silicon rods 1 on the feeding robot until they reach the tipping mechanism 4. The retrieving robot then moves to the right to the top of the tipping mechanism 4, then slowly descends, placing the silicon rods 1 on the tipping mechanism 4. The retrieving robot then moves to the left and then downward to return to its initial position. The retrieving robot then moves in a circular motion according to path b. Path c is the movement trajectory of the tipping mechanism 4, which flips toward the side near the crusher 5, causing the silicon rods 1 on it to roll into the crusher 5.

[0034] The tooling structure on the feeding robot consists of two sets of parallel corresponding first support blocks 2. The first support blocks 2 can also be set in other styles, but they all need to have a first V-shaped groove on the top for placing the silicon rods 1. When the silicon rods 1 are placed in the first V-shaped groove, two of the silicon rods 1 are located at the bottom, both in the first V-shaped groove, and the other silicon rod 1 is placed in the middle position above the above two silicon rods 1. Because the first V-shaped groove restricts the silicon rod 1 at the bottom so that it does not roll, the silicon rod 1 at the top can be placed stably, forming a stable herringbone structure with the silicon rod 1 at the bottom.

[0035] like Figure 2As shown, the tooling structure on the material-retrieving robot is two parallel second support blocks 3 fixed at the end of the material-retrieving robot. The second support blocks 3 are long and always remain horizontal during the movement, and two adjacent second V-shaped grooves 31 are provided on the upper surface of the two second support blocks 3. The size and spacing of the adjacent second V-shaped grooves 31 correspond to those of the first V-shaped grooves, so that they can lift the silicon rod 1 in a triangular shape from the first V-shaped groove. The spacing between the two second support blocks 3 is greater than the length of the first support block 2 along the length direction of the silicon rod 1, and is less than the length of the silicon rod 1 located below. In this way, when lifting, the two second support blocks 3 first move synchronously to the two ends of the first support block 2, and then rise upward until the second V-shaped groove 31 contacts the silicon rod 1 and lifts it.

[0036] like Figure 3 As shown, the feeding manipulator finally transports the silicon rod 1 to the flip mechanism 4, and the flip mechanism 4 sends multiple silicon rods 1 into the crusher 5 in an orderly manner. The flip mechanism 4 includes a frame 41, a mounting seat 42, a flip cylinder 43, a third support block 44, a clamping cylinder 45 and a pressure plate 46. The frame 41 is arranged on one side of the feeding manipulator and can be stably installed on the ground. The mounting seat 42 is arranged on the top of the frame 41 and is rotatably connected to the frame 41 through a bearing. One end of the flip cylinder 43 is hinged to the frame 41, and the other end is hinged to the mounting seat 42. The mounting seat 42 is driven to rotate toward one side of the crusher 5 mouth by the extension and contraction of the flip cylinder 43, so that the silicon rod 1 thereon rolls into the crusher 5.

[0037] like Figure 4 As shown, the third bracket 44 is fixed to the top of the mounting base 42. The upper surface of the third bracket 44 is provided with three adjacent third V-shaped grooves 441, and is also provided with a clearance groove 442 for intersecting with the second bracket 3. The structure of the third bracket 44 and the structural relationship used in conjunction with the second bracket 3 are one of the design points of the present invention: Figure 5 As shown, when the second support block 3 places the silicon rod 1 on the third support block 44 from top to bottom, the two second support blocks 3 just pass through the avoidance groove 442 and place the silicon rod 1 thereon in the third V-shaped groove 441. In this process, please refer to Figure 6 、 Figure 7 and Figure 8, is the change in the stacking form of the silicon rods 1 during the interlacing process of the second support block 3 and the third support block 44. In the initial state, the silicon rods 1 are arranged in a herringbone shape on the second support block 3. During the descending process of the second support block 3, the two second V-shaped grooves 31 need to correspond to the three third V-shaped grooves 441 on the vertical plane, that is, the bottom sharp corners of the second V-shaped grooves 31 are located at the inclined surfaces of the third V-shaped grooves 441 corresponding to the direction of gravity. When the second V-shaped grooves 31 and the third V-shaped grooves 441 coincide with each other, the silicon rods 1 in the second V-shaped grooves 31 first contact the inclined surfaces of the third V-shaped grooves 441. Under the action of the weight of the silicon rods 1 themselves, the two silicon rods 1 at the bottom gradually roll to both sides along the inclined surfaces, causing the silicon rods 1 at the top to move downward. As the second support block 3 continues to descend, the silicon rods 1 are continuously flattened until three silicon rods 1 fall into the three third V-shaped grooves 441 respectively, and the inclined surfaces of the third V-shaped grooves 441 are used as guides to automatically complete the transition of the silicon rods 1 from the "P" shape to the "S" shape.

[0038] In this embodiment, a clamping cylinder 45 is fixed to the mounting base 42, and a pressure plate 46 is disposed above the third support block 44 and secured to the piston rod of the clamping cylinder 45. The clamping cylinder 45 drives the pressure plate 46 up and down to secure the silicon ingot 1 within the third V-groove 441. It is worth noting that two sets of pressure plates 46 and clamping cylinders 45 are sufficient. The two pressure plates 46 correspond one-to-one with the two third V-grooves 441 on the side away from the crusher 5, meaning that the pressure plates 46 only secure the two rearmost silicon ingots 1. When the mounting base 42 is tilted, the flattened silicon ingot 1 closest to the crusher 5 is directly introduced into the crusher 5 for crushing. After a period of crushing, one of the pressure plates 46 is released, allowing the second silicon ingot 1 to roll into the crusher 5 under the action of gravity. After a period of time, the third silicon ingot 1 is released, allowing it to enter the crusher 5. During this process, the feeding robot and the picking robot can still perform their own tasks without waiting at the crusher 5. After the silicon rods 1 on the third support block 44 are fed, the picking robot will place the new silicon rods 1 on the flipping mechanism 4. The robot can pick up materials and the flipping mechanism 4 can discharge materials at the same time. Compared with traditional robots, the robot does not need to wait for the materials to be discharged in sequence before returning to the initial position to pick up the silicon rods 1, which greatly improves the continuity of the feeding device and thus improves work efficiency. On the other hand, the silicon rods 1 enter the crusher 5 evenly and orderly on the third support block 44. At the same time, there is no relative friction between the silicon rods 1 and the entire feeding device. This feeding method avoids the increase of small materials and powder caused by multiple silicon rods 1 entering the crusher 5 at the same time, and is more conducive to crushing, with less loss and a higher proportion of crushed materials in the target range size.

[0039] Since polysilicon rods are very sensitive to metal contamination, the requirements are very strict. The feeding device comprehensively considers the protection of silicon rods, and all risk points that come into contact with the silicon rod material 1 and cause contamination to the silicon rod material 1 are protected. Figure 2 and Figure 4 As shown, in this embodiment, the inner walls of the first, second, and third V-grooves 31, 441 are all provided with a tungsten carbide alloy protective layer, and the outer surfaces of the first, second, and third brackets 2, 3, and 44 are all coated with a polyurethane coating. The pressure plate 46 is also coated with polyurethane, and a canvas cover is provided at the junction of the piston and cylinder body of the compression cylinder 45 to prevent debris from the silicon rod 1 from entering the compression cylinder 45 and causing wear.

[0040] This invention is suitable for automated water-quenching crushing projects at polysilicon manufacturers. Compared to manual feeding, it saves manpower and improves work efficiency. Compared to traditional automatic feeding solutions, this automatic feeding device for polysilicon rods operates faster and has lower losses. Furthermore, sequential feeding facilitates the continuity and uniformity of the output from the subsequent crusher 5, creating better conditions for subsequent automatic packaging.

[0041] The technical features of the above-mentioned embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. In order to make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above-mentioned embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0042] The above-described embodiments merely illustrate several implementations of the present invention, and while their descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the patent. It should be noted that a person skilled in the art would be able to make numerous variations and improvements without departing from the spirit of the present invention, all of which fall within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the patent for this invention shall be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An automatic feeding device for polycrystalline silicon rods, wherein the number of silicon rods (1) fed each time is three, characterized in that: The polysilicon rod automatic feeding device comprises: A feeding manipulator, at the end of which two groups of parallel corresponding first supporting blocks (2) are provided, the upper surfaces of the two groups of the first supporting blocks (2) are both provided with first V-shaped grooves, the two groups of the first V-shaped grooves are used to place silicon rods (1), and when the three silicon rods (1) are placed, they are arranged in a herringbone shape; A material-retrieving manipulator, at the end of which two parallel second supporting blocks (3) are provided, and the upper surfaces of the two second supporting blocks (3) are each provided with two adjacent second V-shaped grooves (31), which are used to hold up the silicon material rods arranged in a herringbone shape on the first V-shaped groove; The turning mechanism (4) comprises a frame (41), a mounting seat (42), a turning cylinder (43), a third support block (44), a pressing cylinder (45) and a pressing plate (46); the mounting seat (42) is rotatably arranged on the frame (41) through the turning cylinder (43); the third support block (44) is fixedly connected to the mounting seat (42), and the upper surface of the third support block (44) is provided with three sequentially adjacent third V-shaped grooves (441); the third support block (44) is also provided with a third V-shaped groove for contact with the second support block (3). The second support block (3) passes through the avoidance groove (442) and places the silicon rod arranged in a triangular shape in the third V-shaped groove (441) on the third support block (44), and the three silicon rods are changed from a triangular shape to a straight shape; the pressing cylinder (45) is arranged on the mounting seat (42), and the pressing plate (46) is arranged above the third support block (44), which is raised and lowered by the pressing cylinder (45) to fix the silicon rod material (1) in the third V-shaped groove (441).

2. The automatic feeding device for polycrystalline silicon rods according to claim 1, characterized in that: The length of the two groups of the first supporting blocks (2) along the length direction of the silicon rod (1) is smaller than the distance between the two second supporting blocks (3).

3. The automatic feeding device for polycrystalline silicon rods according to claim 1, characterized in that: The moving path of the first supporting block (2) is vertical lifting.

4. The automatic feeding device for polycrystalline silicon rods according to claim 1, characterized in that: The two second supporting blocks (3) are both long strips and are always kept in a horizontal state.

5. The automatic feeding device for polycrystalline silicon rods according to claim 1, characterized in that: The moving path of the second supporting block (3) is to move upward from below the horizontal plane of the first V-shaped groove to lift the silicon rod material (1); and to move downward from above the horizontal plane of the third V-shaped groove (441) to place the silicon rod material (1) on the third supporting block (44).

6. The automatic feeding device for polycrystalline silicon rods according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom corner of the second V-shaped groove (31) corresponds to the inclined surface of the third V-shaped groove (441) in the direction of gravity.

7. The automatic feeding device for polycrystalline silicon rods according to claim 1, characterized in that: The pressing plates (46) and the pressing cylinders (45) are provided in two groups, and the two pressing plates (46) respectively correspond to the middle positions of two of the third V-shaped grooves (441).

8. The automatic feeding device for polycrystalline silicon rods according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of silicon rods (1) fed each time by the automatic polycrystalline silicon rod feeding device can also be one, two or more than three.

9. The automatic feeding device for polycrystalline silicon rods according to claim 1, characterized in that: An alloy protective layer is provided on the groove surfaces of the first V-shaped groove, the second V-shaped groove (31) and the third V-shaped groove (441).

10. The automatic feeding device for polycrystalline silicon rods according to claim 9, characterized in that: The first supporting block (2), the second supporting block (3), the third supporting block (44) and the pressing plate (46) are all provided with a polyurethane protective layer.

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