A vacuum suction cup device and its demolding method

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of mechanical grasping, and discloses a vacuum suction cup device, comprising a base and two clamping arms arranged on opposite sides of the base, the clamping arm is in an L shape and is connected to an inclined extension section at either end, and the extension section is hinged to the base, and also comprises a vacuum suction cup, the vacuum suction cup is arranged below the hinge of the extension section, the vacuum suction cup is connected to a pillar running through the base, the side of the extension section is connected to a trigger member, and the top of the pillar is arranged on the rotation path of the trigger member, by minimizing the contact area with the clamped object to avoid being affected by residual concrete, and adopting a multi-point clamping method to ensure that the clamped object can be firmly clamped, and the L-shaped clamping arm is used to cooperate with the trigger member and the vacuum suction cup to achieve synchronous clamping from the left and right sides and the upper and lower ends, respectively, and the adsorption effect of the vacuum suction cup is used to complete the limitation or fixation of the clamped object.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of mechanical grasping, and in particular to a vacuum suction cup device and a demoulding method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Concrete precast is a kind of concrete product produced in a standardized and mechanized factory. At present, some small concrete precasts are all produced in an assembly line. The staff first puts the plastic mold on the conveying equipment, and then uses the filling equipment to fill each mold with concrete one by one. After the concrete is solidified and formed, the demoulding conveying equipment is used to turn the mold upside down on the conveying roller during the conveying process, and a certain amount of mechanical vibration is used to accelerate the demoulding. Finally, the mold is grabbed by the mold grabbing equipment during the conveying process to separate the precast part from the mold.

[0003] The prior art (authorization announcement number CN216030840U, authorization announcement date 2022.03.15) discloses a new type of manipulator, and specifically discloses moving the demolding and unloading mechanism to directly above the mold box, then operating the mold clamping assembly to enable the grab hook to clamp the mold box, and at the same time operating the suction plate assembly to enable the vacuum suction cup to suck the wall panel in the mold box. In order to increase the contact area between the clamping section and the mold box to ensure the grabbing stability of the grab hook, a protective plate of a certain width is also added to the side of the clamping section close to the wall panel.

[0004] The above-mentioned manipulator still has the following problems:

[0005] In the process of pouring concrete into the mold, it is inevitable that solidified concrete will remain on the mold surface or in the mold groove. In the process of clamping the mold box, the protective plate of the grab hook will first contact with the residual concrete. Although the grab hook adds a certain width of the protective plate, the actual stabilizing effect is extremely limited. It is foreseeable that when using a large-area protective plate, if one side of the protective plate contacts the residual concrete first, the other side of the protective plate will be in a suspended state, which will make the clamping unstable. Summary of the invention

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum suction cup device and a demoulding method thereof to solve the above problems. The specific technical scheme is as follows:

[0007] A vacuum suction cup device comprises a base and two clamping arms arranged on opposite sides of the base, wherein the clamping arm is L-shaped and either end of the clamping arm is connected to an inclined extension section, part of the extension section is arranged above the end of the base, and the extension section is hinged to the base, and also comprises a vacuum suction cup, which is arranged below the hinge of the extension section, the vacuum suction cup is connected to a pillar running through the base, the side of the extension section is connected to a trigger member, and the top of the pillar is arranged on the rotation path of the trigger member.

[0008] Preferably, an angle is formed between the trigger member and the extension section, and the degree of the angle is 25-35°.

[0009] Preferably, a truncated cone cap is connected to the top end of the pillar, a return spring is sleeved on the pillar, and the return spring is arranged between the truncated cone cap and the base.

[0010] Preferably, the trigger member has an arc-shaped end surface for pressing the frustoconical cap.

[0011] Preferably, a groove is provided in the middle section of the arc-shaped end surface, and a rubber block protruding from the groove is installed in the groove.

[0012] Preferably, it further comprises a driving mechanism, wherein the driving mechanism comprises a cylinder, and the cylinder is hinged to the extension section.

[0013] Preferably, a negative pressure vacuum pump is further included, and a pipeline is connected between the negative pressure vacuum pump and the vacuum suction cup.

[0014] A demoulding method, applied to the above-mentioned vacuum suction cup device, comprises the following steps:

[0015] The two clamping arms are arranged on both sides of the clamped object, and the driving mechanism is started to drive the clamping arms to rotate for the first time so that one end of the clamping arm extends under the clamped object, and the inner wall of the clamping arm abuts against the clamped object;

[0016] The driving mechanism is then started to drive the clamping arm to rotate for the second time, the clamped object is lifted by the clamping arm, and its extended section drives the trigger member to rotate and causes the trigger member to squeeze the truncated cone cap, the squeezed truncated cone cap moves downward together with the support and causes the vacuum suction cup to press the clamped object tightly, one end of the two clamping arms clamps both sides of the clamped object in the first direction, and the vacuum suction cup cooperates with the other end of the clamping arm to clamp the clamped object in the second direction, and the vacuum suction cup simultaneously adsorbs the clamped object;

[0017] Pull the vacuum suction cup device to bring the clamped object out to complete demoulding.

[0018] Preferably, the second rotation angle of the clamping arm is 20-30°.

[0019] Preferably, the negative pressure vacuum pump is started when the vacuum suction cup is pressed against the clamped object.

[0020] Beneficial effects of the present invention: The present invention minimizes the contact area with the clamped object to avoid being affected by residual concrete, and adopts a multi-point clamping method to ensure that the clamped object can be firmly clamped. The L-shaped clamping arm is used in conjunction with a trigger member and a vacuum suction cup to achieve synchronous clamping from the left and right sides and the upper and lower ends, and the adsorption effect of the vacuum suction cup is used to complete the limitation or fixation of the clamped object.

[0021] Additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will be given in part in the description below, and in part will become apparent from the description below, or will be understood through the practice of the present invention. Of course, it is not necessary to achieve all of the advantages described above at the same time to implement any product or method of the present application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative labor.

[0023] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 2 It is another structural schematic diagram of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 3 It is a schematic structural diagram of a pillar of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 4 It is a structural schematic diagram of the trigger member of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 5 It is another structural schematic diagram of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 6 It is a structural schematic diagram of the vacuum cylinder of the present invention.

[0029] In the figure: base 1, clamping arm 2, driving mechanism 3, extension section 4, vacuum suction cup 5, negative pressure vacuum pump 6, support 7, trigger member 8, frustum cover cap 9, return spring 10, rubber block 11, pipeline 12, vacuum cylinder 13, vertical section 21, horizontal section 22. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention are described clearly and completely below. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of them. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0031] Based on the problem in the prior art that the hook is easily affected by the concrete remaining outside the mold due to the addition of a protective plate, thus causing the clamping to be unstable, the present invention provides a vacuum suction cup device to solve the above problem. Figure 1-5 , which comprises a base 1 and two clamping arms 2 arranged on opposite sides of the base 1. The base 1 is also equipped with a driving mechanism 3 for driving the clamping arms 2 to rotate. The driving mechanism 3 may be a linear actuator such as a cylinder or an electric push rod. The driving mechanism 3 drives the clamping arms 2 so that the inner side of the clamping arms 2 abuts against the clamped object, thereby clamping the clamped object from the side. The above two clamping arms 2 are set as a group, and multiple groups of clamping arms 2 can be set to work simultaneously;

[0032] In order to further optimize the clamping effect and make the clamping more stable, the present invention also provides some preferred embodiments. Specifically, the clamping arm 2 is L-shaped and is connected to an inclined extension section 4 at either end. The angle between the clamping arm 2 and the extension section 4 is an obtuse angle. Part of the extension section 4 is arranged above the end of the base 1 and is hinged to the base 1 by the extension section 4. In this embodiment, one end of the L-shaped clamping arm 2 can extend into the bottom of the clamped object. Before performing the clamping operation, the L-shaped clamping arm 2 can be used to pry up the clamped object. During the clamping operation, the end of the clamping arm 2 extending into the bottom of the clamped object can provide support for the clamped object to prevent the clamped object from falling off before it is firmly clamped. Furthermore, the end of the clamping arm 2 gradually shrinks from the inside to the outside and forms an inclined surface or an arc surface on the end face of the clamping arm 2, that is, the end of the clamping arm 2 is flattened to facilitate insertion into the bottom of the clamped object.

[0033] In some preferred embodiments, a vacuum suction cup 5 and a negative pressure vacuum pump 6 are further included. The negative pressure vacuum pump 6 is arranged on the base 1 and a pipe 12 is connected between the negative pressure vacuum pump 6 and the vacuum suction cup 5. The vacuum suction cup 5 is arranged below the hinge of the extension section 4. During the clamping process, the vacuum suction cup 5 is used to absorb the clamped object, which can reduce the load on one end of the clamping arm 2 used to support the clamped object during the clamping process. It can be understood that in the present application, the material of the clamped object is usually hardened concrete, which is heavy. Using the vacuum suction cup 5 to absorb the clamped object can avoid deformation of the clamping arm 2 due to the heavy burden.

[0034] On the basis of the above-mentioned embodiment, the vacuum suction cup 5 needs to be closely attached to the clamped object during operation. Therefore, the vacuum suction cup 5 is usually provided with a lifting device for controlling the vacuum suction cup 5 to be lifted and lowered. The lifting device can be manually controlled or automated. Manual control requires manual adjustment, which is cumbersome. For the automated lifting device, only the base 1 can be used to install the lifting device. Installing the lifting device will inevitably increase the weight of the base 1, which puts forward higher requirements for lifting the base 1, and is not conducive to lifting the base 1 after clamping.

[0035] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present application also provides some preferred embodiments. Specifically, the vacuum suction cup 5 is connected to a pillar 7 that passes through the base 1, that is, the base 1 is provided with a corresponding hole for installing the pillar 7, and the pillar 7 is slidably matched with the base 1. It is worth mentioning that a channel connecting the bottom and the side is provided in the pillar 7 to connect the pipeline 12 and the vacuum suction cup 5, and a trigger member 8 is connected to the side of the extension section 4. The top of the pillar 7 is set on the rotation path of the trigger member 8. By rotating the clamping arm 2, the trigger member 8 can be driven to rotate and then press down the pillar 7, so that the vacuum suction cup 5 connected to the pillar 7 moves downward until it abuts against the clamped object. In this embodiment, by setting the trigger member 8, the rotation of the clamping arm 2 and the lifting and lowering of the vacuum suction cup 5 can be simultaneously controlled by a single driving mechanism 3, thereby minimizing the weight added to the base 1. The design using a single driving mode is usually simpler than multiple driving modes, reduces the complexity of the design, and is also convenient for later maintenance.

[0036] Furthermore, the present invention also provides some embodiments to facilitate the cooperation between the trigger member 8 and the pillar 7, wherein the top of the pillar 7 is connected to a conical cap 9, and the trigger member 8 is a cam, and has an arc-shaped end surface for squeezing the conical cap 9, that is, when the trigger member 8 rotates, either side of the trigger member 8 directly slides to the arc-shaped end surface before contacting the conical cap 9 of the pillar 7, and the pillar 7 or the vacuum suction cup 5 will be lowered to the lowest height to ensure that the vacuum suction cup 5 can fit tightly with the clamped object to facilitate the adsorption operation; on this basis, a reset spring 10 is also provided on the pillar 7, and the reset spring 10 is arranged between the conical cap 9 and the base 1, and the reset spring 10 is used to achieve the reset of the pillar 7 when the conical cap 9 is in an un-squeezed state.

[0037] Generally, an angle is formed between the trigger member 8 and the extension section 4, and the degree of the angle is 25-35°, and the trigger member 8 can only achieve the effect of squeezing the truncated cone cap 9 mentioned above when it is set in the direction of the angle between the clamping arm 2 and the extension section 4. It should be noted that in this embodiment, the end of the clamping arm 2 used to support the clamped object should be kept below the vacuum suction cup 5 as much as possible to ensure that when the driving mechanism 3 drives the clamping arm 2 to rotate, the end of the clamping arm 2 used to support the clamped object lifts the clamped object and completes the clamping of the clamped object in the second direction with the descending vacuum suction cup 5. The angle between the trigger member 8 and the extension section 4 is proportional to the length of the clamping arm 2. When the angle is 25°, the other end of the clamping arm 2 or the extension section 4 is the longest, and the larger the angle that the trigger member 8 needs to rotate is, the more suitable it is for clamping larger objects. When the angle is 35°, the other end of the clamping arm 2 or the extension section 4 is the shortest, and the smaller the angle that the trigger member 8 needs to rotate is, the more suitable it is for clamping smaller objects.

[0038] In some preferred embodiments, the trigger member 8 is a cam and a groove is provided in the middle section of its arc-shaped end face, and a rubber block 11 protruding from the groove is installed in the groove. The end face of the protruding part of the rubber block 11 is an arc end face. The rubber block 11 can be used to make the vacuum suction cup 5 reach a reasonable height to cooperate with the clamped object without damaging the clamped object. In addition, there is a large friction between the rubber block 11 and the conical cap 9 to ensure that the trigger member 8 can be firmly placed on the conical cap 9 during the clamping operation to avoid deviation of the trigger member 8. Therefore, only the middle section of the arc-shaped end face of the trigger member 8 needs to be provided with a rubber block, and the other side faces need to be kept smooth to facilitate cooperation with the conical cap 9.

[0039] Preferably, in order to ensure that the negative pressure vacuum pump 6 can be started synchronously when the rubber block 11 squeezes the conical cap 9, a corresponding travel switch can be set for the trigger member 8 or a pressure sensor can be built into the rubber block 11. The travel switch or pressure sensor is connected to the signal of the negative pressure vacuum pump 6. When the trigger member 8 rotates a certain angle to trigger the travel switch or the rubber block 11 squeezes the trigger pressure sensor, the negative pressure vacuum pump 6 is started.

[0040] In addition, the present invention also provides a demoulding method, which specifically comprises the following steps:

[0041] Two clamping arms 2 are arranged on both sides of the clamped object, and the two sections of the L-shaped clamping arm 2 are defined as a vertical section 21 and a horizontal section 22, respectively. The driving mechanism 3 is started to drive the clamping arm 2 to rotate for the first time so that the horizontal section 22 of the clamping arm 2 extends under the clamped object. Specifically, the end of the horizontal section 22 is inserted between the clamped object and the mold, and the connection between the clamped object and the mold is pried open, and the inner wall of the horizontal section 22 abuts against the clamped object, while the inner wall of the vertical section 21 keeps a certain distance from the clamped object.

[0042] The driving mechanism 3 is restarted to drive the clamping arm 2 to rotate for the second time. The clamped object is lifted by the horizontal section 22 of the clamping arm 2, and its extended section 4 drives the trigger member 8 to rotate and causes the trigger member 8 to squeeze the conical cap 9. The squeezed conical cap 9 moves downward together with the support 7 and causes the vacuum suction cup 5 to press the clamped object. In the process of lifting the clamped object by the horizontal section 22, the clamped object will actually contact the inner wall of the vertical section 21 and slide along the inner wall of the vertical section 21. Therefore, it is necessary to minimize the thickness of the vertical section 21 to the greatest extent and reduce the friction between the vertical section 21 and the clamped object to facilitate sliding. At this time, the vertical sections 21 of the two clamping arms 2 are respectively in the first The two sides of the clamped object are clamped in one direction, and the vacuum suction cup 5 cooperates with the horizontal section 22 of the clamping arm 2 to clamp the clamped object in the second direction. The vacuum suction cup 5 absorbs the clamped object at the same time. It should be noted that this embodiment minimizes the contact area with the clamped object as much as possible to avoid being affected by residual concrete, and adopts a multi-point clamping method to ensure that the clamped object can be firmly clamped. This implementation realizes synchronous clamping from the left and right sides and the upper and lower ends, and the adsorption effect of the vacuum suction cup 5 is used to complete the limitation or fixation of the clamped object; finally, the vacuum suction cup 5 device is pulled to bring the clamped object out to complete demoulding.

[0043] Generally, the second rotation angle of the clamping arm 2 is 20-30°, which corresponds to the angle between the extension section 4 and the trigger member 8, and can be flexibly adjusted within the angle between the extension section 4 and the trigger member 8 in combination with the position and length of the column.

[0044] like Figure 6As shown, in some embodiments, a vacuum pump 13 is also included. In this embodiment, the vacuum pump 13 is used to replace the negative pressure vacuum pump 6, and there is no need to set a corresponding travel switch for the trigger 8 or to build a pressure sensor in the rubber block 11. Specifically, a mounting frame is connected to the base 1 to connect the vacuum pump 13. The vacuum pump 13 is arranged on the outside of the clamping arm 2, and the piston of the vacuum pump 13 is arranged on the rotation path of the extension section 4. Similar to the above, when the trigger 8 rotates a certain angle, for example, when the support 7 descends to the vacuum suction cup 5 and contacts the clamped object, it starts to squeeze the piston of the vacuum pump 13, so that the vacuum pump 13 cooperates with the vacuum suction cup 5 to adsorb the clamped object. Preferably, an air pipeline is connected between the vacuum pump 13 and the vacuum suction cup 5.

[0045] It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", etc. in this document are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features.

[0046] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the details of the exemplary embodiments described above and that the present invention can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential features of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments should be considered exemplary and non-restrictive in all respects, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the above description, and it is intended that all changes falling within the meaning and scope of the equivalent elements of the claims be included in the present invention.

Claims

1. A vacuum suction cup device, comprising a base and two clamping arms arranged on opposite sides of the base, characterized in that: The clamping arm is L-shaped and is connected to an inclined extension section at either end, part of the extension section is arranged above the end of the base, and the extension section is hinged to the base, and also includes a vacuum suction cup, the vacuum suction cup is arranged below the hinge of the extension section, the vacuum suction cup is connected to a pillar running through the base, the side of the extension section is connected to a trigger member, the top of the pillar is arranged on the rotation path of the trigger member, the top of the pillar is connected to a truncated cone cap, a return spring is sleeved on the pillar, and the return spring is arranged between the truncated cone cap and the base, the trigger member has an arc-shaped end face for squeezing the truncated cone cap, the middle section of the arc-shaped end face is provided with a groove, a rubber block protruding from the groove is installed in the groove, and also includes a negative pressure vacuum pump, a pipeline is connected between the negative pressure vacuum pump and the vacuum suction cup, a pressure sensor is built into the rubber block, and the pressure sensor is connected to the negative pressure vacuum pump signal.

2. A vacuum suction cup device according to claim 1, characterized in that: An angle is formed between the trigger member and the extension section, and the degree of the angle is 25-35°.

3. A vacuum suction cup device according to claim 2, characterized in that: It also includes a driving mechanism, which includes a cylinder, and the cylinder is hinged to the extension section.

4. A demoulding method, applied to the vacuum suction cup device as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: The two clamping arms are arranged on both sides of the clamped object, and the driving mechanism is started to drive the clamping arms to rotate for the first time so that one end of the clamping arm extends under the clamped object, and the inner wall of the clamping arm abuts against the clamped object; The driving mechanism is then started to drive the clamping arm to rotate for the second time, the clamped object is lifted by the clamping arm, and its extended section drives the trigger member to rotate and causes the trigger member to squeeze the truncated cone cap, the squeezed truncated cone cap moves downward together with the support and causes the vacuum suction cup to press the clamped object tightly, one end of the two clamping arms clamps both sides of the clamped object in the first direction, and the vacuum suction cup cooperates with the other end of the clamping arm to clamp the clamped object in the second direction, and the vacuum suction cup simultaneously adsorbs the clamped object; Pull the vacuum suction cup device to bring the clamped object out to complete demoulding.

5. A demoulding method according to claim 4, characterized in that: The second rotation of the clamping arm is 20-30°.

6. A demoulding method according to claim 5, characterized in that: When the vacuum suction cup presses the clamped object tightly, the negative pressure vacuum pump is started.

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