A feeding device and a processing device

Abstract

The application provides a feeding device and a processing device. The feeding device comprises a workpiece carrier, a workpiece transfer assembly, a recycling assembly and a stacking assembly. The feeding device has a material taking station, a recycling station and a stacking station. The workpiece carrier comprises a box and a plurality of trays. Each tray is used for containing workpieces. In the material taking station, the workpieces in each tray are used for feeding. The tray and the box after feeding are subjected to a recycling operation. The stacking assembly can carry the box transferred by the recycling assembly and perform a stacking operation. The application uses the box as a carrier to complete the automatic feeding of the workpieces by using a plurality of trays, thereby improving the production flexibility and production efficiency of the feeding device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of machinery, and more particularly to a feeding device and a processing device. Background Technology

[0002] Automatic feeders are a common type of automated feeding equipment. Materials are placed in pallets, and multiple pallets are stacked together for feeding. After a product is removed from a pallet, a stacking mechanism transfers the empty pallets for stacking, and then the next layer of products is fed, thus completing the feeding and stacking of empty pallets.

[0003] Currently, this type of feeding machine can only feed and pick up similar products and pallets, which is less flexible and has low production efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of the above problems, the present invention proposes a feeding device and a processing device to solve the above problems or at least partially solve the above problems. In one aspect, the object of the present invention is to provide a feeding device, including a workpiece carrier, a workpiece transfer assembly, a recycling assembly, and a stacking assembly;

[0005] The workpiece carrier includes a bin and a pallet. A bin contains two or more pallets, each of which is used to hold the workpiece.

[0006] The feeding equipment is equipped with a picking station, a recycling station, and a stacking station. At the picking station, the workpieces in the pallet are used for feeding. At the recycling station, the pallets and bins after feeding are recycled. At the stacking station, the recycled bins are stacked.

[0007] The workpiece transfer assembly can drive the hopper to reciprocate between the picking station and the recycling station. After picking up the material, the hopper is transferred to the recycling assembly.

[0008] The recycling assembly includes a bin support device and a bin transfer mechanism. The bin support device can position and fix the bins after material removal, and then the bins carry the pallets after material removal. The bin transfer mechanism is used to carry the bins recovered by the bin support device and transfer them to the stacking assembly.

[0009] The stacking assembly can carry the bins transferred by the bin transfer mechanism and stack them.

[0010] Further material box support devices also include a receiving plate, a material box positioning mechanism, and a receiving plate lifting mechanism;

[0011] The material box positioning mechanism is used to fix the material box on the receiving plate, and the receiving plate lifting mechanism is used to drive the receiving plate to reciprocate between the workpiece transfer assembly and the material box transfer device.

[0012] Furthermore, the stacking assembly includes a bin lifting and docking mechanism and a bin stacking device;

[0013] The bin lifting and docking mechanism is used to receive the bins transferred by the bin transfer mechanism and can drive the bins to move upward along the stacking direction of the bins so that the bin stacking structure can receive the bins.

[0014] The bin stacking device includes a recycling hanging plate, an empty bin lifting drive mechanism, and an empty bin clamping mechanism; the recycling hanging plate is driven by the empty bin clamping mechanism and can move from both sides of the bin towards the middle to support the bin; the empty bin lifting drive mechanism is used to drive the recycling hanging plate and the bin it clamps to reciprocate along the bin stacking direction.

[0015] Furthermore, the workpiece transfer assembly includes a bin transfer drive mechanism, a bin mounting plate, and a mounting plate clamping mechanism;

[0016] The material box hanging plate can be driven by the hanging plate clamping mechanism to move from both sides of the material box towards the middle to clamp the material box, and driven by the material box transfer drive mechanism to drive the material box to move between the picking station and the recycling station.

[0017] Furthermore, the feeding equipment also includes a feeding assembly and a feeding lifting mechanism;

[0018] The feeding assembly is used to convey two or more vertically stacked bins to the feeding lifting mechanism;

[0019] The feeding lifting mechanism is used to drive two or more vertically stacked material boxes to reciprocate in the vertical direction;

[0020] The workpiece transfer assembly is located above the feeding and lifting mechanism. The workpiece transfer assembly can move in coordination with the feeding and lifting mechanism to separate the top layer of material box from the vertically stacked material boxes and then transport it to the picking station.

[0021] According to another aspect of the present invention, a processing apparatus is also provided, which includes any of the aforementioned feeding devices.

[0022] Furthermore, the feeding equipment also includes a material handling component, which is used to perform material handling operations on the workpieces placed on the pallet.

[0023] Furthermore, the loading equipment also includes a pallet handling component, which is used to move the pallet after material is picked up and place the pallet into the material bin.

[0024] Furthermore, the processing equipment also includes a two-axis translation stage capable of reciprocating linearly along the feeding direction and width direction, with the material handling assembly and pallet transport assembly respectively fixedly connected to the two-axis translation stage.

[0025] Furthermore, the picking assembly and pallet handling assembly respectively include quick-change grippers and / or suction cups.

[0026] The technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present invention has at least the following technical effects or advantages: Compared with the prior art, the technical solution of the present invention uses a material box as a carrier and two or more pallets to complete the automatic feeding of workpieces, which improves the production efficiency and flexibility of equipment production.

[0027] The above description is merely an overview of the technical solution of the present invention. In order to better understand the technical means of the present invention and to implement it in accordance with the contents of the specification, and to make the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention more apparent and understandable, specific embodiments of the present invention are described below. Attached Figure Description

[0028] Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments. The accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the invention. Furthermore, the same reference numerals denote the same parts throughout the drawings. In the drawings:

[0029] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the overall structure of the processing equipment is shown;

[0030] Figure 2 It shows Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the workpiece transfer assembly and stacking assembly shown in the figure;

[0031] Figure 3 It shows Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the workpiece transfer assembly shown in the figure;

[0032] Figure 4 It shows Figure 1 The schematic diagram of the material handling assembly and pallet transport assembly shown in the figure;

[0033] Figure 5 It shows Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the main structure of the recycling component in the processing equipment;

[0034] Figure 6 It shows Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the main structure of the feeding lifting mechanism in the processing equipment;

[0035] Figure 7 It shows Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the stacked components in the processing equipment;

[0036] Figure 8 It shows Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the main structure of the bin stacking device in the stacking assembly;

[0037] Figure 9It shows Figure 7 A side view of a stacked assembly containing a hopper.

[0038] in,

[0039] 1-Rack;

[0040] 2-Feeding assembly, 21-Feeding port, 22-Feeding conveyor belt, 23-Feeding lifting mechanism;

[0041] 3-Workpiece transfer assembly; 31-Bag transfer drive mechanism; 32-Bag hanging plate; 33-Hanging plate clamping mechanism;

[0042] 4-Recycling component; 41-Bag transfer mechanism; 42-Bag support device; 421-Receiving plate; 4211-Guide block; 422-Receiving plate lifting mechanism; 423-Bag positioning mechanism.

[0043] 5-Stacking assembly, 51-Bag lifting and docking mechanism, 511-Support platform, 512-Support platform lifting drive mechanism, 513-Bracket, 52-Bag stacking device, 521-Support frame, 522-Empty bin lifting drive mechanism, 523-Mounting plate, 524-Empty bin clamping mechanism, 525-Recycling hanging plate;

[0044] 6-Material handling assembly, 61-Suction cup, 63-Quick change module;

[0045] 7-Pallet handling components;

[0046] 8-Two-axis translation stage;

[0047] 9-Feeding sensor, 10-Bag, 11-Tray, 12-Limiting groove, 13-Workpiece. Detailed Implementation

[0048] The embodiments of this application will now be described in detail with reference to the figures, including one or more examples of the embodiments of this application. Each example is provided for the purpose of explaining this application and not for limiting it. In fact, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and variations can be made to this application without departing from the scope or spirit of this application. For example, a feature described or illustrated as part of one embodiment may be used with another embodiment to produce yet another embodiment. Therefore, it is intended that this application cover such modifications and variations, which are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. As used in this specification, the terms “first,” “second,” etc., are used interchangeably to distinguish one component from another and are not intended to indicate the location or importance of the components. As used in this specification, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the terms “a,” “an,” “the,” and “the” are intended to indicate the presence of one or more elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be other elements in addition to the listed elements. The same numbers in all the figures represent the same elements, and the invention will be further explained and described below in conjunction with specific embodiments.

[0049] This invention provides a feeding device and a processing device, which uses a material box 10 as a carrier and two or more pallets 11 to complete the automatic feeding of workpieces, greatly improving the production efficiency and flexibility of the equipment.

[0050] refer to Figures 1-2 This invention provides a feeding device, including a workpiece carrier, a workpiece transfer assembly 3, a recycling assembly 4, and a stacking assembly 5. The feeding device includes a picking station, a recycling station, and a stacking station. At the picking station, workpieces 13 placed in a tray 11 are fed; at the recycling station, the loaded tray 11 and the material box 10 are recycled; at the stacking station, the recycled material box 10 is stacked.

[0051] refer to Figure 6 The workpiece carrier includes a hopper 10 and pallets 11. Each hopper 10 contains two or more pallets 11, each pallet 11 holding a workpiece 13. The pallets 11 can be of the same or different specifications, and the workpieces 13 held within each pallet 11 can be the same or different. Each pallet 11 has multiple limiting grooves 12 that match the shape of the material to restrict its position. Different material shapes correspond to different limiting groove shapes 12, so the size and number of limiting grooves 12 within different pallets 11 can be set as needed.

[0052] In this embodiment, two or more trays 11 are used, and at least two of the trays 11 contain different workpieces 13, so as to realize automatic feeding of different workpieces 13 and improve the feeding efficiency of the feeding machine and processing equipment.

[0053] refer to Figure 6 In one feasible embodiment, the number of vertically stacked bins 10 is three. Each bin contains four trays, and each tray is used to hold different workpieces.

[0054] refer to Figure 3 The workpiece transfer assembly 3 can transfer the material box 10 and move back and forth between the material picking station and the recycling station. After picking up the material, the material box 10 is transferred to the recycling assembly 4.

[0055] Specifically, the workpiece transfer assembly 3 includes a material box transfer drive mechanism 31, a material box hanging plate 32, and a hanging plate clamping mechanism 33; the material box hanging plate 32 can be driven by the hanging plate clamping mechanism 33 to move from both sides of the material box 10 toward the middle to clamp the material box 10, and under the drive of the material box transfer drive mechanism 31, it drives the material box 10 to reciprocate between the material picking station and the recycling station.

[0056] refer to Figures 1-2 The recycling component 4 can carry the hopper 10 transferred by the workpiece transfer component 3 and transfer it to the stacking component 5. The recycling component 4 includes a hopper support device 42, which can position and fix the hopper 10 after material removal, and then the hopper 10 carries each pallet 11 after material removal.

[0057] refer to Figure 2 and Figure 5 The hopper support device 42 also includes a receiving plate 421, a hopper positioning mechanism 423, and a receiving plate lifting mechanism 422. The hopper positioning mechanism 423 is used to fix the hopper 10 onto the receiving plate 421, and the receiving plate lifting mechanism 422 is used to drive the receiving plate 421 to reciprocate between the workpiece transfer assembly 3 and the hopper transfer device.

[0058] In a preferred embodiment, a guide block 4211 is further provided on the receiving plate 421, and a guide groove and / or recess is provided at the bottom of the material box 10. The guide block 4211 is provided in correspondence with the guide groove and / or recess to realize the positioning of the material box 10 and the receiving plate 421.

[0059] refer to Figure 5 More preferably, a suction cup 61 is also provided on the receiving tray 421, and the positioned material box 10 is fixed to the receiving tray 421 by the suction cup 61. In an alternative embodiment, a gripper (not shown) and / or a suction cup 61 can also be used to fix the material box 10 and the receiving tray 421 to improve the fixing effect of the material box 10. The guide block 4211, the suction cup 61 and / or the gripper constitute the material box positioning mechanism 423.

[0060] The material box positioning mechanism 423 is fixedly installed on the receiving plate lifting mechanism 422. The receiving plate lifting mechanism 422 can be a linear motion driver, including but not limited to cylinders, linear motors, hydraulic cylinders and cam linkage mechanisms.

[0061] The recycling assembly 4 also includes a bin transfer mechanism 41, which is used to carry the bin 10 recycled by the bin support device 42 and transfer it to the stacking assembly 5.

[0062] refer to Figures 7-9 The stacking assembly 5 can carry the boxes 10 transferred by the box transfer mechanism 41 and stack them.

[0063] refer to Figure 7 In one feasible implementation, the stacking assembly 5 includes a bin lifting and docking mechanism 51 and a bin stacking device 52. The bin lifting and docking mechanism 51 is used to receive the bins 10 transferred by the bin transfer mechanism 41 and can drive the bins 10 to move upward along their stacking direction (vertical direction H) so that the bin stacking device 52 can receive the bins 10.

[0064] refer to Figure 8 The bin stacking device 52 includes a recycling hanging plate 525, an empty bin lifting drive mechanism 522, and an empty bin clamping mechanism 524. The recycling hanging plate 525 is driven by the empty bin clamping mechanism 524 and can move from both sides of the bin 10 towards the center to support the bin 10. The empty bin lifting drive mechanism 522 is used to drive the recycling hanging plate 525 and the bin 10 it clamps to reciprocate along its stacking direction.

[0065] The empty hopper lifting drive mechanism 522 can be a linear motion driver, including but not limited to cylinders, linear motors, hydraulic cylinders, and cam linkage mechanisms.

[0066] refer to Figure 8 In one feasible embodiment, the bin stacking device 52 includes an empty bin lifting drive mechanism 522 fixed on the frame 1. The drive part of the empty bin lifting drive mechanism 522 is fixedly connected to the mounting plate 523, and the mounting plate 523 is driven to move up and down in the vertical direction H by the reciprocating motion of its drive part. In a preferred embodiment, the empty bin lifting drive mechanism 522 is detachably fixedly connected to the frame 1 through a support frame 521.

[0067] refer to Figure 8 An empty material box clamping mechanism 524 is installed on the mounting plate 523. The empty material box clamping mechanism 524 can drive the recycling hanging plate 525 to move from both sides of the material box 10 towards the middle to support the material box 10, and lift the material box 10 under the drive of the empty material box lifting drive mechanism 522.

[0068] In the aforementioned embodiment, the ability of the recycling hanging plate 525 to support the material box 10 specifically means that the material box 10 can be supported by the tightened recycling hanging plate 525 so as not to fall, and in this state, the material box 10 can be lifted upward a certain distance along its stacking direction by the material box lifting docking mechanism 51.

[0069] Specifically, two sets of empty material box clamping mechanisms 524 are provided, arranged opposite each other along the width direction D of the frame 1. Each empty material box clamping mechanism 524 is provided with four recycling hanging plates 525. The four recycling hanging plates 525 are fixedly connected to the drive unit of each empty material box clamping mechanism 524 through connecting plates, so that under the drive of the drive unit, they move along the width direction D from both sides of the material box 10 toward the middle to support the material box 10.

[0070] refer to Figure 7 The empty material box lifting drive mechanism 522 can drive the empty material box clamping mechanism 524 to move up and down. The empty material box clamping mechanism 524 can drive the recycling hanging plate 525 to extend or retract. When the drive parts of the two oppositely arranged empty material box clamping mechanisms 524 extend or retract relative to the material box with the recycling hanging plate 525, they can support or release the two sides of the material box 10.

[0071] In one feasible embodiment, the material bin lifting and docking mechanism 51 includes a support platform 511 supporting the material frame and a support platform lifting drive mechanism 512 fixed on the frame 1. The drive unit of the support platform lifting drive mechanism 512 is connected to the bottom of the support platform 511 via a connector, and drives the support platform 511 to move up and down in the vertical direction H through the reciprocating motion of its drive unit. In a preferred embodiment, the support platform lifting drive mechanism 512 is detachably fixedly connected to the frame 1 via a bracket 513.

[0072] In this embodiment, the support platform lifting drive mechanism 512 can be a linear motion driver, including but not limited to cylinders, linear motors, hydraulic cylinders, and cam linkage mechanisms.

[0073] Furthermore, the feeding equipment also includes a feeding component 2 and a feeding lifting mechanism 23.

[0074] refer to Figures 1-2 and Figure 3 The feeding component 2 is used to convey two or more vertically stacked material boxes 10 to the feeding lifting mechanism 23. The feeding lifting mechanism 23 is used to drive the vertically stacked material boxes 10 to reciprocate along the vertical direction H.

[0075] Specifically, the feeding assembly 2 includes a feeding port 21 and a feeding conveyor. Workers stack full material boxes 10 vertically H on the feeding port 21. The feeding conveyor is preferably a feeding conveyor belt 22 with limit guides (not shown) on both sides, which transports the stacked material boxes 10 to the feeding lifting mechanism 23.

[0076] The workpiece transfer assembly 3 is located on top of the feeding and lifting mechanism 23. The workpiece transfer assembly 3 can move and cooperate with the feeding and lifting mechanism 23 to separate the top layer of the material box 10 from the vertically stacked material boxes 10 and then transport it to the picking station.

[0077] At the top of the feeding lifting mechanism 23, the material box hanging plate 32 can be driven by the hanging plate clamping mechanism 33 to move from both sides of the material box 10 toward the middle to clamp the material box 10.

[0078] In a preferred embodiment, the top area of ​​the feeding lifting mechanism 23 is the material picking station. When the topmost material box 10 moves to a specific position in the vertical direction H, the material box hanging plate 32 moves from both sides of the material box 10 toward the middle until it can just hold the material box 10.

[0079] Then, the feeding lifting mechanism 23 moves the material bins 10 of the second-to-top layer and below it downwards a certain distance to separate the material bins 10 of the top layer and the second-to-top layer from each other. The distance between the material bins 10 of the top layer and the second-to-top layer after separation is only necessary to avoid movement interference and facilitate material handling.

[0080] After the topmost bin 10 is separated from the vertically stacked bins, the workpiece 13 is retrieved. After the bin 10 is retrieved, the bin transfer drive mechanism 31 drives the bin 10 to be transferred from the retrieval station to the recycling station.

[0081] refer to Figures 1-2 In one embodiment, the feeding conveyor belt 22 and the workpiece transfer assembly 3 are arranged opposite each other in the vertical direction H, and the feeding conveyor belt 22, the feeding lifting mechanism 23 and the workpiece transfer assembly 3 form a U-shaped material box 10 conveying channel with one side open in space.

[0082] Furthermore, the material box transfer mechanism 41 is also arranged opposite to the feeding conveyor, and is located vertically between the feeding conveyor belt 22 and the workpiece transfer assembly 3. The material box 10 after material handling is transferred between the material box transfer mechanism 41 and the workpiece transfer assembly 3 via the recovery assembly 4.

[0083] In one feasible embodiment, the feeding device further includes a discharge port (not shown), which is arranged opposite to the feeding port 21 in the vertical direction H, and both are on the same side of the feeding device. The stacked bins 10 are located in the discharge port area. This improves the efficiency of feeding and receiving materials, and increases productivity.

[0084] refer to Figure 1 A processing device, comprising a frame 1 and a feeding device as described in any of the preceding embodiments.

[0085] refer to Figure 4Furthermore, the processing equipment also includes a material handling assembly 6, which is used to perform material handling operations on the workpiece 13 on the workpiece carrier. In this embodiment, the material handling assembly 6 includes a suction cup 61, which is mounted on a two-axis translation stage 8 that can move along the feeding direction L and the width direction D, and the suction cup 61 can be driven by a driving mechanism to move up and down in the vertical direction H.

[0086] In an alternative embodiment, the material handling assembly 6 may also use grippers to partially or completely replace the suction cup 61, and the grippers are preferably quick-change grippers. In this embodiment, the frame 1 of the feeding device or processing device is preferably also provided with a quick-change module 63 to realize the quick replacement of grippers of different specifications, so as to use different types of workpieces 13.

[0087] Further reference Figure 6 The processing equipment also includes a pallet handling assembly 7, which is used to handle the pallet 11 after material handling and place the pallet 11 into the material box 10. In this embodiment, the pallet handling assembly 7 includes a suction cup 61, which is mounted on a two-axis translation stage 8 that can move along the feeding direction L and the width direction D, and can also be driven up and down by a drive mechanism along the vertical direction H.

[0088] In one feasible embodiment, the pallet handling assembly 7 and the material handling assembly 6 are mounted on the same two-axis translation stage 8 that can move along the feeding direction L and the width direction D, so as to reduce manufacturing costs and save installation space.

[0089] The driving mechanism that drives the suction cup 61 and / or gripper to move up and down in the vertical direction H can be a linear motor, a cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, or a cam linkage mechanism. That is, as long as it can satisfy the reciprocating motion in the vertical direction H, it is acceptable. In this embodiment, the specific structure is not limited.

[0090] Alternatively, depending on the needs, the feeding equipment may not include the pallet handling component 7, and the pallet 11 may be handled by the picking component 6, although this method may affect the picking or handling efficiency of the workpiece 13 and the pallet 11.

[0091] In an alternative embodiment, the pallet handling assembly 7 may also use grippers to partially or completely replace the suction cup 61, and the grippers are preferably quick-change grippers. In this embodiment, the frame 1 of the loading device or processing device is preferably also provided with a quick-change module 63 to enable quick replacement of grippers of different specifications.

[0092] Please continue reading Figure 1 As shown, the frame 1 is also equipped with feeding sensors 9. The feeding sensors 9 preferably use radio frequency components to sense the feeding bins 10 and trays 11, thereby improving the degree of automation control of the processing equipment.

[0093] When the processing equipment provided in this embodiment of the invention uses the material box 10 and pallet 11 loaded with workpiece 13 for loading operations, the working principle is as follows:

[0094] The feeding equipment is equipped with a feeding station, a picking station, a recycling station, a stacking station, and a receiving station. At the picking station, the workpiece 13 in the workpiece carrier is used for feeding; at the recycling station, the pallet 11 and the material box 10 after feeding can be recycled; at the stacking station, the recycled material box 10 can be stacked.

[0095] Operators or logistics robots stack three boxes 10, each with four internal pallets 11, vertically along direction H (i.e., the stacking direction), at the feeding port 21 of the feeding station. The stacked boxes 10 are then transferred to the feeding lifting mechanism 23 via the feeding conveyor belt 22. The feeding lifting mechanism 23 lifts the three stacked boxes 10 upwards vertically along direction H. A workpiece transfer assembly 3 is located on top of the feeding lifting mechanism 23. The workpiece transfer assembly 3 can move in coordination with the feeding lifting mechanism 23. That is, when the feeding lifting mechanism 23 moves to the top, the box hanging plate 32 of the workpiece transfer assembly 3 moves from both sides of the box 10 toward the middle under the drive of the hanging plate clamping mechanism 33 to clamp the box 10. Then, the feeding lifting mechanism 23 moves the second-to-top layer and the box 10 below it downwards a certain distance to separate the top layer and the second-to-top layer of boxes 10 from each other.

[0096] The two-axis translation stage 8 drives the material handling assembly 6 to reciprocate relative to the pallet 11 along the feeding direction L and the width direction D. The suction cup 61 and / or grippers are used to perform the material handling operation to remove the workpiece 13 contained in the limiting groove 12 of each pallet 11. After the material handling is completed, each pallet 11 is transported by the pallet handling assembly 7 to the material box 10 located at the recycling station.

[0097] It should be noted that initially, an empty bin 10 needs to be placed on the bin transfer mechanism 41 of the recycling component 4 to recycle the pallets 11 contained in the bin 10; thereafter, the empty bin 10 after material removal is used to carry the empty pallets 11 after material removal from the next bin 10.

[0098] After the material box 10 and its pallet 11 on the material box transfer mechanism 41 are recovered, the receiving plate lifting mechanism 422 drives the receiving plate 421 to move the material box 10 downward in the vertical direction H, close to the material box transfer device, and unlocks the material box 10, that is, the suction cup and / or gripper set on the receiving plate 421 releases the lock on the material box 10, and transfers the material box 10 to the material box transfer mechanism 41 through the lifting movement of the receiving plate lifting mechanism 422.

[0099] The hopper transfer mechanism 41 preferably uses two synchronous conveyor belts spaced D apart along the width direction. The distance between the two synchronous conveyor belts is greater than the maximum width of the receiving tray 421 but less than the width of the hopper 10. Thus, through the lifting and lowering movement of the receiving tray lifting mechanism 422, the receiving tray 421 can move upwards to receive the hopper 10 transferred by the workpiece transfer assembly 3 after being picked up, and move downwards to transfer the hopper 10 to the hopper transfer mechanism 41, i.e., the synchronously arranged conveyor belts.

[0100] At the stacking station, the bin transfer mechanism 41 transfers the bins 10 to the bin lifting and docking mechanism 51. At this time, the bin lifting and docking mechanism 51, in conjunction with the bin stacking device 52, completes the stacking operation of the empty bins 10. After the empty bins 10 are stacked to a certain height, an operator or material robot removes the stacked empty bins 10 from the discharge port.

[0101] It should be noted that, in any of the foregoing embodiments, the aforementioned bin transfer drive mechanism 31, bin transfer mechanism 41, and feeding conveyor can be a conveyor belt, conveyor chain, linear guide rail, linear motor, etc. Considering conveying accuracy, cost, and maintainability, a synchronous conveyor belt driven by a pulse motor is preferred in this embodiment.

[0102] The above description represents the preferred embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, based on the essence of the technical solutions disclosed in this invention, other modifications and improvements can be made, but all such modifications and improvements should be covered within the protection scope of this invention. This specification uses embodiments to disclose this application, including the preferred embodiments, and also enables those skilled in the art to practice this application, including manufacturing and using any apparatus or system and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of this application is defined by the claims and may include other embodiments conceived by those skilled in the art. If such other embodiments include structural elements that are not different from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements that are not substantially different from the literal language of the claims, then they are deemed to be within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A feeding device, comprising a workpiece carrier, a workpiece transfer assembly, a recycling assembly, and a stacking assembly, characterized in that, The workpiece carrier includes a bin and a tray. Each bin contains two or more trays, and each tray is used to hold workpieces. At least two of the trays contain different workpieces to achieve automatic feeding of different workpieces. The feeding equipment is equipped with a picking station, a recycling station, and a stacking station; at the picking station, the workpieces in the tray are used for feeding; at the recycling station, the tray and the material box after feeding are recycled; at the stacking station, the recycled material box is stacked. Initially, an empty bin needs to be placed on the bin transfer mechanism of the recycling component to recycle the pallets contained in the bins at the picking station; thereafter, the empty bin before picking up the material is used to carry the empty pallets after picking up the material in the next bin. The workpiece transfer assembly can drive the material box to reciprocate between the material picking station and the recycling station, and the material box after picking up the material is transferred to the recycling assembly; The recycling assembly includes a bin support device and a bin transfer mechanism. The bin support device can position and fix the bin after material removal, and then the bin carries each of the pallets after material removal. The bin transfer mechanism is used to carry the bins recycled by the bin support device and transfer them to the stacking assembly. The stacking assembly is capable of carrying the boxes transferred by the box transfer mechanism and stacking them. The hopper support device also includes a receiving plate, a hopper positioning mechanism, and a receiving plate lifting mechanism. The material box positioning mechanism is used to fix the material box onto the receiving plate, and the receiving plate lifting mechanism is used to drive the receiving plate to reciprocate between the workpiece transfer assembly and the material box transfer mechanism.

2. The feeding device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The stacking assembly includes a bin lifting and docking mechanism and a bin stacking device; The hopper lifting and docking mechanism is used to receive the hopper transferred by the hopper transfer mechanism, and can drive the hopper to move upward along the stacking direction of the hoppers, so that the hopper stacking structure can receive the hopper. The bin stacking device includes a recycling hanging plate, an empty bin lifting drive mechanism, and an empty bin clamping mechanism; the recycling hanging plate is driven by the empty bin clamping mechanism and can move from both sides of the bin towards the middle to support the bin; the empty bin lifting drive mechanism is used to drive the recycling hanging plate and the bin it clamps to reciprocate along the stacking direction of the bins.

3. The feeding device according to any one of claims 1-2, characterized in that, The workpiece transfer assembly includes a material box transfer drive mechanism, a material box hanging plate, and a hanging plate clamping mechanism; The material box hanging plate can be driven by the hanging plate clamping mechanism to move from both sides of the material box towards the middle to clamp the material box, and driven by the material box transfer driving mechanism to drive the material box to move between the material picking station and the recycling station.

4. The feeding device according to any one of claims 1-2, characterized in that, The feeding equipment also includes a feeding assembly and a feeding lifting mechanism; The feeding assembly is used to convey two or more vertically stacked bins to the feeding lifting mechanism; The feeding lifting mechanism is used to drive two or more vertically stacked material boxes to reciprocate in the vertical direction; The workpiece transfer assembly is located on the upper part of the feeding and lifting mechanism. The workpiece transfer assembly can move and cooperate with the feeding and lifting mechanism to separate the top layer of material box from the vertically stacked material boxes and then transport it to the material picking station.

5. A processing equipment, characterized in that, The processing equipment includes a frame and a feeding device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The processing equipment according to claim 5, characterized in that, The feeding device also includes a material handling component, which is used to perform material handling operations on the workpieces placed on the tray.

7. The processing equipment according to claim 6, characterized in that, The feeding equipment also includes a pallet handling component, which is used to handle the pallet after material is picked up and place the pallet into the material box.

8. The processing equipment according to claim 7, characterized in that, The processing equipment also includes a two-axis translation stage capable of reciprocating linearly along the feeding direction and the width direction, and the material picking component and the pallet handling component are respectively fixedly connected to the two-axis translation stage.

9. The processing equipment according to claim 7, characterized in that, The material handling assembly and the pallet transport assembly each include quick-change grippers and / or suction cups.

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