A manifold pipe end processing loading and unloading mechanism

Abstract

This invention discloses a loading and unloading mechanism for manifold pipe end processing, including a frame, on which a tooling fixture, a non-powered feeding mechanism, and a loading and conveying mechanism are mounted. The tooling fixture includes two clamping blocks and a clamping driver capable of driving the two clamping blocks to close and separate. The non-powered feeding mechanism includes an inclined slide rail on which the workpiece can slide freely, and a baffle capable of preventing the workpiece from falling from the lower end of the inclined slide rail. The upper part of the inclined slide rail matches the inner curve of the workpiece. The loading and conveying mechanism includes a loading gripper capable of grasping the workpiece located at the lower end of the inclined slide rail, and a first traveling mechanism capable of driving the loading gripper to convey the workpiece between the two clamping blocks. This mechanism can realize automatic loading of manifold pipes, which is beneficial to improving work efficiency and reducing labor costs.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of heat exchanger manufacturing technology, and in particular to a feeding and unloading mechanism for processing the ends of branch pipes. Background Technology

[0002] A manifold, as the name suggests, is a pipe with one input end but at least two output ends, and is commonly used in central air conditioning or other heat exchangers.

[0003] Reference Figure 1 The U-shaped manifold includes a Y-shaped section and two output pipe ends. In order for the two output pipe ends of the manifold to be connected with other pipe fittings, we need to perform expansion and contraction operations on the two output pipe ends of the manifold. At least one step is machined on the pipe end, and then an inner concave point is made on the outer wall of the step. When the pipe fittings are connected, the inner concave point is used for positioning. In the existing technology, semi-automatic machines are generally used to process the two output ends of the manifold. Manual loading and unloading are required, which has low processing efficiency and consumes a lot of manpower. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Therefore, the purpose of this invention is to provide a loading and unloading mechanism for processing the end of a branch pipe, which can automatically load U-shaped workpieces to the processing position.

[0005] The technical solution adopted by this invention to solve its technical problem is as follows:

[0006] A manifold pipe end processing loading and unloading mechanism includes a frame, on which are mounted:

[0007] The tooling fixture includes two clamping blocks and a clamping tube actuator capable of driving the two clamping blocks to close and separate.

[0008] The non-powered feeding mechanism includes an inclined slide rail on which the workpiece can slide freely, and a baffle that can prevent the workpiece from falling from the lower end of the inclined slide rail, the upper part of the inclined slide rail matching the inner curve of the workpiece.

[0009] The loading and conveying mechanism includes a loading gripper capable of grabbing a workpiece located at the lower end of the inclined slide rail, and a first traveling mechanism capable of driving the loading gripper to transport the workpiece between two clamping blocks.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the two clamping blocks are an upper clamping block and a lower clamping block, and the lower surface of the upper clamping block and the upper surface of the lower clamping block are provided with clamping grooves for clamping the Y-shaped portion of the workpiece.

[0011] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the workpiece is placed in the clamping groove of the lower clamping block, the two output tube ends of the workpiece extend from the rear edge of the lower clamping block, and the frame is provided with a support member that can move to the rear of the lower clamping block and support the two output tube ends of the workpiece.

[0012] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the frame is provided with a drive actuator capable of driving the drive member to rotate or move up and down, and when the drive member rotates or moves up, it moves to the rear of the lower clamping block.

[0013] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first traveling mechanism includes a loading and conveying frame fixed to the frame, a first slide movably mounted on the loading and conveying frame and located in front of the tooling fixture, a first feeding driver capable of driving the first slide to move back and forth along the loading and conveying frame, a first lifting seat movably mounted on the first slide, a first lifting driver capable of driving the first lifting seat to move up and down relative to the first slide, a rotating seat disposed on the first lifting seat, and a rotating driver capable of driving the rotating seat to rotate. The loading gripper is disposed on the rotating seat, and the loading bracket is located below the loading gripper.

[0014] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the loading gripper includes two clamping rods and a driver capable of driving the two clamping rods to close and open, and the inner side of the clamping rods is provided with a groove for clamping the workpiece.

[0015] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the frame is further provided with a non-powered material receiving mechanism, a finished product picking mechanism, and a material unloading and conveying mechanism.

[0016] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the unpowered material receiving mechanism includes an inclined slide rail on which the workpiece can slide freely, and a baffle that can prevent the workpiece from falling from the lower end of the inclined slide rail, the upper part of the inclined slide rail matching the inner curve of the workpiece; the unloading and conveying mechanism includes an unloading gripper capable of clamping the workpiece, and a second traveling mechanism capable of driving the loading gripper to transport the workpiece to the inclined guide rail of the unloading bracket; the finished product picking mechanism includes a transfer gripper capable of grabbing the workpiece, and a third traveling mechanism capable of driving the transfer gripper to move between the working area of ​​the tooling fixture and the working area of ​​the unloading gripper.

[0017] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the second traveling mechanism includes a material unloading and conveying frame fixed to the frame, a second slide movably mounted on the material unloading and conveying frame, a second feeding driver capable of driving the second slide to move back and forth along the material unloading and conveying frame, a second lifting seat movably mounted on the second slide, a second lifting driver capable of driving the second lifting seat to move up and down relative to the second slide, a second rotating seat disposed on the second lifting seat, and a second rotating driver capable of driving the second rotating seat to rotate. The material unloading gripper is disposed on the rotating seat, and the material unloading bracket is located below the material unloading gripper.

[0018] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the third walking mechanism includes a transfer bracket fixed to the frame, a transfer seat movably disposed on the transfer bracket, and a transfer driver capable of driving the transfer seat to move left and right on the transfer bracket, wherein the transfer gripper is mounted on the transfer seat.

[0019] The beneficial effects of this invention are:

[0020] First, the automatic feeding of branch pipes helps improve work efficiency and reduce labor costs.

[0021] Secondly, after the loading gripper removes the bottom workpiece at the predetermined position, the remaining workpieces will automatically slide down to fill the gap under the action of gravity. After the first workpiece is processed, the loading gripper can move to the same position again to grab the workpiece. This automatic feeding process does not require external power and is energy-saving and environmentally friendly.

[0022] Third, before the loading clamp places the workpiece onto the lower clamp, the support component moves to the back of the lower clamp. Then, the loading clamp places the workpiece onto the lower clamp. At this time, the Y-shaped part of the workpiece is supported in the clamping groove of the lower clamp, and the output tube end of the workpiece is supported in the support groove of the support component. This prevents the workpiece from falling off the lower clamp due to instability. After the upper clamp presses down to clamp the workpiece, the support component can be moved away, making room for the expansion mechanism, shrinking mechanism, and marking mechanism to process.

[0023] Fourth, after the workpiece is placed on the inclined guide rail of the unloading bracket by the unloading clamp, the workpiece will automatically slide down along the inclined guide rail without additional power. Slowly, a row of finished workpieces can be automatically and neatly arranged on the inclined guide rail of the unloading bracket. The neat arrangement is conducive to subsequent automated production processing. Attached Figure Description

[0024] Figure 1 This is the production flow diagram for the manifold;

[0025] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 3 This is a structural diagram showing the working state of tooling fixtures, non-powered feeding mechanisms, and material handling mechanisms;

[0027] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the first working state of the main part of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the second working state of the main part of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 6 This is a structural diagram of the working state of the non-powered material receiving mechanism and the material unloading and handling mechanism. Detailed Implementation

[0030] The technical solution of the present invention will now be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0031] It should be noted that all directional indications (such as up, down, left, right, front, back, etc.) in this invention are only used to explain the relative positional relationships and movement of the components in a specific posture (as shown in the accompanying drawings). If the specific posture changes, the directional indications will also change accordingly. Furthermore, descriptions involving "preferred," "second-best," etc., in this invention are for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, a feature defined as "preferred" or "second-best" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of those features.

[0032] Reference Figures 1 to 6 The present invention proposes a branch pipe end processing loading and unloading mechanism, including a frame 1, on which tooling fixtures, a non-powered feeding mechanism, a loading and transporting mechanism, a non-powered receiving mechanism, a finished product picking mechanism, and an unloading and transporting mechanism are provided.

[0033] The tooling fixture includes two clamping blocks and a clamping drive 201 that can drive the two clamping blocks to close and separate.

[0034] The non-powered feeding mechanism includes an inclined slide rail 32 on which the workpiece 4 can slide freely, and a baffle 33 that can prevent the workpiece 4 from falling from the lower end of the inclined slide rail 32. The top of the inclined slide rail 32 is an arc transition that matches the inner curve of the workpiece 4.

[0035] The loading and conveying mechanism includes a loading gripper 51 capable of gripping the workpiece 4 located at the lower end of the inclined slide rail 32, and a first traveling mechanism capable of driving the loading gripper 51 to transport the workpiece 4 between two clamping blocks.

[0036] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the two clamping blocks are an upper clamping block 21 and a lower clamping block 22. The lower surface of the upper clamping block 21 and the upper surface of the lower clamping block 22 are both provided with clamping grooves 202 for clamping the Y-shaped portion 41 of the workpiece 4. The lower clamping block 22 is fixed relative to the frame 1. The clamping drive 201 can be a cylinder, hydraulic cylinder, motor or other device. The output end of the clamping drive 201 is connected to the upper clamping block 21 to drive it to move up and down relative to the lower clamping block 22.

[0037] In this invention, the process of loading workpiece 4 onto the tooling fixture is as follows: First, multiple workpieces 4 are placed on the inclined guide rail of the loading bracket 31, with the two output tube ends 42 of workpiece 4 facing downwards. At this time, under the action of gravity, workpiece 4 will slide downwards until all workpieces 4 are arranged one by one closely on the loading bracket 31 from bottom to top. After the machine is started, the loading gripper 51 grabs the bottommost workpiece 4, that is, the workpiece 4 blocked by the baffle 33. Then, under the action of the first traveling mechanism, the workpiece 4 is transported to the middle of the two clamping blocks. Then, the workpiece 4 is placed on the lower clamping block 22. Next, the loading gripper 51 retracts, and finally the upper clamping block 21 presses down to clamp the workpiece 4. After clamping, the Y-shaped part 41 of workpiece 4 is located in the clamping groove 202 of the two clamping blocks, and the two output tube ends 42 of workpiece 4 extend from the rear edge of the lower clamping block 22 and are exposed. At this time, the two output tube ends 42 of workpiece 4 can be automatically processed by the tube expansion mechanism, tube shrinking mechanism, and dotting mechanism.

[0038] Compared with existing technologies, the above solution has the following advantages: First, it realizes automatic feeding of the manifold, which helps to improve work efficiency and reduce labor costs; Second, after the feeding gripper 51 removes the bottom workpiece 4 at the predetermined position, the remaining workpieces 4 will automatically slide down to fill the gap under the action of gravity. After the first workpiece 4 is processed, the feeding gripper 51 can move to the same position again to grab the workpiece 4. This automatic feeding process does not require external power and is energy-saving and environmentally friendly.

[0039] When workpiece 4 is placed on the lower clamping plate, since both output pipe ends 42 of workpiece 4 are located outside the rear edge of the lower clamping plate, the center of workpiece 4 may fall off the rear side of the lower clamping plate due to being outside the lower clamping plate. To solve this problem, the frame 1 is provided with a support member 61 that can move to the rear of the lower clamping block 22 and support the two output pipe ends 42 of workpiece 4. There are two configuration options for the support member 61. First, the support member 61 is lower than the lower clamping block 22, and the support driver 64 can be a cylinder, hydraulic cylinder, motor, or other device that can drive the support member 61 to move upward to the rear of the lower clamping block 22. Second, the support member 61 is located to the left or right of the lower clamping block 22, and the support driver 64 is a motor that can drive the support member 61 to rotate upward to the rear of the lower clamping block 22. In the above scheme, before the loading clamp 51 places the workpiece 4 on the lower clamping plate, the support member 61 moves to the rear of the lower clamping plate, and then the loading clamp 51 places the workpiece 4 on the lower clamping plate. At this time, the Y-shaped part 41 of the workpiece 4 is supported in the clamping groove 202 of the lower clamping plate, and the output tube end 42 of the workpiece 4 is supported in the support groove 611 of the support member 61. After the upper clamping plate presses down to clamp the workpiece 4, the support member 61 can be moved away to make room for the tube expansion mechanism, tube shrinking mechanism and dotting mechanism.

[0040] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first traveling mechanism includes a loading and conveying frame 52 fixed to the frame 1, a first slide 53 movably mounted on the loading and conveying frame 52 and located in front of the tooling fixture, a first feeding driver 54 capable of driving the first slide 53 to move back and forth along the loading and conveying frame 52, a first lifting seat 55 movably mounted on the first slide 53, a first lifting driver 56 capable of driving the first lifting seat 55 to move up and down relative to the first slide 53, a rotating seat 57 disposed on the first lifting seat 55, and a rotating driver 58 capable of driving the rotating seat 57 to rotate. The loading gripper 51 is disposed on the rotating seat 57, and the loading bracket 31 is located below the loading gripper 51.

[0041] In the above scheme, the loading gripper 51 includes two gripping rods 512 and a driver capable of driving the two gripping rods 512 to close and open. The inner side of each gripping rod 512 has a groove for holding the workpiece 4. Specifically, the driver is a pneumatic gripper 511, with the two gripping rods 512 respectively fixed to the two fingers of the pneumatic gripper 511. The inner side of each gripping rod 512 has a groove for holding the workpiece 4, and the bottom surface of the groove is an arc surface that mates with the output tube end 42 of the workpiece 4. When conveying the workpiece 4, the two gripping rods 512 are respectively clamped on the two output tube ends 42 of the workpiece, which can prevent the workpiece 4 from rotating relative to the loading gripper 51.

[0042] In the above scheme, the limiting structure on the feeding bracket 31 includes two support rods 34 disposed on both sides of the feeding bracket 31. The two support rods 34 can abut against the inner side of the workpiece 4 to restrict the workpiece 4 from rotating when it slides down the inclined guide rail.

[0043] In some embodiments of the present invention, the first walking mechanism described above may also adopt other structural forms, such as a 6-DOF robotic arm, a 5-DOF robotic arm, etc. The limiting structure described above may also use a plate instead of the corresponding support rod 34.

[0044] Reference Figures 4 to 6 The non-powered material receiving mechanism 310 includes an inclined slide rail 32 on which the workpiece 4 can slide freely, and a baffle 33 that prevents the workpiece 4 from falling from the lower end of the inclined slide rail 32. The upper part of the inclined slide rail 32 matches the inner curve of the workpiece 4. The unloading and conveying mechanism includes an unloading gripper 71 capable of gripping the workpiece 4, and a second traveling mechanism capable of driving the loading gripper 51 to transport the workpiece 4 onto the inclined guide rail of the unloading bracket 39. The finished product picking mechanism includes a transfer gripper 81 capable of gripping the workpiece 4, and a third traveling mechanism capable of driving the transfer gripper 81 to move between the working area of ​​the tooling fixture and the working area of ​​the unloading gripper 71.

[0045] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the second traveling mechanism includes a material handling frame 72 fixed to the frame 1, a second slide 73 movably mounted on the material handling frame 72, a second feeding driver 74 capable of driving the second slide 73 to move back and forth along the material handling frame 72, a second lifting seat 75 movably mounted on the second slide 73, a second lifting driver 76 capable of driving the second lifting seat 75 to move up and down relative to the second slide 73, a second rotating seat 77 disposed on the second lifting seat 75, and a second rotating driver 78 capable of driving the second rotating seat 77 to rotate. A material handling gripper 71 is disposed on the rotating seat 57, and a material handling bracket 39 is located below the material handling gripper 71. The third traveling mechanism includes a transfer bracket 82 fixed to the frame 1, a transfer seat 83 movably disposed on the transfer bracket 82, a transfer driver 84 capable of driving the transfer seat 83 to move left and right on the transfer bracket 82, and a transfer gripper 81 mounted on the transfer seat 83.

[0046] In the above scheme, the unloading gripper 71 adopts a pneumatic gripper 511, and each of the two fingers of the pneumatic gripper 511 is provided with a clamping groove that can clamp the Y-shaped part 41 of the workpiece 4. The transfer gripper 81 adopts a pneumatic gripper 511, and each of the two fingers of the pneumatic gripper 511 is provided with a clamping groove that can clamp the two output pipe ends 42 of the workpiece 4.

[0047] After workpiece 4 is processed, the transfer gripper 81 moves to the position of the tooling fixture, and then clamps the two output pipe ends 42 of workpiece 4. Next, the upper clamping block 21 moves upward to release workpiece 4. Then, the transfer gripper 81 takes out workpiece 4 and transports it to the working area of ​​the unloading gripper 71. Then, the unloading gripper 71 clamps workpiece 4, the transfer gripper 81 releases, and finally, under the action of the second traveling mechanism, the unloading gripper 71 can place the processed workpiece 4 on the inclined guide rail of the unloading bracket 39. Finally, the unloading gripper 71 releases, and workpiece 4 slides down along the inclined guide rail. Slowly, a row of workpieces 4 can be automatically and neatly arranged on the inclined guide rail of the unloading bracket 39. The neat arrangement is conducive to subsequent automated production processing.

[0048] The above are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and do not limit the patent scope of the present invention. All equivalent structural transformations made using the contents of the present invention's specification and drawings under the inventive concept of the present invention, or direct or indirect applications in other related technical fields, are included within the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A loading and unloading mechanism for processing the ends of a branch pipe, comprising a frame (1), characterized in that, The frame (1) is equipped with: The tooling fixture includes two clamping blocks and a clamping tube actuator (201) capable of driving the two clamping blocks to close and separate. The non-powered feeding mechanism (300) includes an inclined slide rail (32) on which the workpiece (4) can slide freely, and a baffle (33) that can prevent the workpiece (4) from falling from the lower end of the inclined slide rail (32), the upper part of the inclined slide rail (32) matching the inner curve of the workpiece (4). The loading and conveying mechanism includes a loading gripper (51) capable of gripping the workpiece (4) located at the lower end of the inclined slide rail (32), and a first traveling mechanism capable of driving the loading gripper (51) to transport the workpiece (4) between two clamping blocks; The two clamping blocks are an upper clamping block (21) and a lower clamping block (22). The lower surface of the upper clamping block (21) and the upper surface of the lower clamping block (22) are provided with clamping grooves (202) for clamping the Y-shaped part (41) of the workpiece (4). When the workpiece (4) is placed in the clamping groove (202) of the lower clamping block (22), the two output pipe ends (42) of the workpiece (4) extend from the rear edge of the lower clamping block (22). The frame (1) is provided with a support member (61) that can move to the rear of the lower clamping block (22) and support the two output pipe ends (42) of the workpiece (4). The frame (1) is provided with a drive driver (64) that can drive the drive member (61) to rotate or move up and down. When the drive member (61) rotates or moves up, it moves to the rear of the lower clamp (22).

2. The branch pipe end processing loading and unloading mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first traveling mechanism includes a loading and conveying frame (52) fixed to the frame (1), a first slide (53) movably mounted on the loading and conveying frame (52) and located in front of the tooling fixture, a first feeding driver (54) capable of driving the first slide (53) to move back and forth along the loading and conveying frame (52), a first lifting seat (55) movably mounted on the first slide (53), a first lifting driver (56) capable of driving the first lifting seat (55) to move up and down relative to the first slide (53), a rotating seat (57) disposed on the first lifting seat (55), and a rotating driver (58) capable of driving the rotating seat (57) to rotate. The loading gripper (51) is disposed on the rotating seat (57), and the loading bracket (31) is located below the loading gripper (51).

3. A branch pipe end processing loading and unloading mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The loading clamp (51) includes two clamping rods (512) and a driver that can drive the two clamping rods (512) to close and open. The inner side of the clamping rods (512) is provided with a groove for clamping the workpiece (4).

4. The branch pipe end processing loading and unloading mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, The frame (1) is also equipped with a non-powered material receiving mechanism (310), a finished product picking mechanism, and a material unloading and handling mechanism.

5. The branch pipe end processing loading and unloading mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that, The non-powered material receiving mechanism (310) includes an inclined slide rail (32) on which the workpiece (4) can slide freely, and a baffle (33) that can prevent the workpiece (4) from falling from the lower end of the inclined slide rail (32), the upper part of the inclined slide rail (32) matching the inner curve of the workpiece (4). The unloading and conveying mechanism includes an unloading gripper (71) capable of clamping the workpiece (4), and a second traveling mechanism capable of driving the loading gripper (51) to transport the workpiece (4) to the inclined guide rail of the unloading bracket (39). The finished product handling mechanism includes a transfer gripper (81) capable of gripping the workpiece (4) and a third traveling mechanism capable of driving the transfer gripper (81) to move between the working area of ​​the tooling fixture and the working area of ​​the unloading gripper (71).

6. The branch pipe end processing loading and unloading mechanism according to claim 5, characterized in that, The second traveling mechanism includes a material handling frame (72) fixed to the frame (1), a second slide (73) movably mounted on the material handling frame (72), a second feeding driver (74) capable of driving the second slide (73) to move back and forth along the material handling frame (72), a second lifting seat (75) movably mounted on the second slide (73), a second lifting driver (76) capable of driving the second lifting seat (75) to move up and down relative to the second slide (73), a second rotating seat (77) disposed on the second lifting seat (75), and a second rotating driver (78) capable of driving the second rotating seat (77) to rotate. The material handling gripper (71) is disposed on the rotating seat (57), and the material handling bracket (39) is located below the material handling gripper (71).

7. The branch pipe end processing loading and unloading mechanism according to claim 5, characterized in that, The third walking mechanism includes a transfer bracket (82) fixed to the frame (1), a transfer seat (83) movably disposed on the transfer bracket (82), and a transfer driver (84) capable of driving the transfer seat (83) to move left and right on the transfer bracket (82). The transfer gripper (81) is mounted on the transfer seat (83).

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