Control Method of Flexible Vibration Bowl Feeding Equipment

Abstract

The present invention discloses a control method for a flexible vibratory bowl feeding device, which relates to the technical field of vibratory bowl feeding. The control method for the flexible vibratory bowl feeding device includes the following steps: when the transfer tooling is at the feeding station, controlling a plurality of the feeding devices to work so as to sequentially feed various materials onto the transfer tooling; transferring the transfer tooling full of materials at the feeding station to the material supply station and placing it in the material taking area of the material supply device for the processing equipment to take materials; controlling the return device to move out the transfer tooling that has completed material taking through the material taking area and send it back to the feeding station. During the entire processing process, the transfer tooling starts from the feeding station, flows to the material supply station, is taken by the equipment and then is conveyed back to the feeding station by the return device to achieve circulation. At the same time, a plurality of feeding devices can be spliced to feed different types or different quantities of materials, which can adapt to changing production requirements.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of vibratory bowl feeding, and particularly to a control method for a flexible vibratory bowl feeding device. Background Art

[0002] In the process of processing consumer electronic products, a feeding machine in the form of combining vibratory bowl screening with linear module transmission and reflux is usually used to achieve multi-insert feeding and injection molding. With the frequent update and replacement of products, the types and quantities of materials need to be changed, and accordingly, the number and layout of vibratory bowls need to be changed. By replacing the linear modules and splicing and installing them, however, the linear module transmission form has high requirements for installation accuracy and relatively high manufacturing costs. This combination form not only prolongs the production cycle of products but also greatly increases the production and debugging costs. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The main object of the present invention is to propose a control method for a flexible vibratory bowl feeding device, which uses a modular flexible vibratory bowl feeding device for material feeding, has a high degree of automation, and can achieve material feeding and the return of the transfer tooling.

[0004] To achieve the above object, the present invention proposes a control method for a flexible vibratory bowl feeding device. The flexible vibratory bowl feeding device has a feeding station and a loading station arranged at intervals in the transverse direction. The flexible vibratory bowl feeding device includes a plurality of loading devices located at the loading station, a feeding device located at the feeding station, and a reflux device whose conveying path passes through the feeding station and the loading station. A material taking area is formed on the feeding device, and the feeding device includes a material taking part for transferring the fully loaded transfer tooling in the loading device to the material taking area.

[0005] The control method for the flexible vibratory bowl feeding device includes the following steps:

[0006] When the transfer tooling is at the loading station, control the plurality of loading devices to work to sequentially load various materials onto the transfer tooling;

[0007] Transfer the transfer tooling full of materials at the loading station to the feeding station and place it in the material taking area of the feeding device for the processing equipment to take materials;

[0008] Control the reflux device to move out the transfer tooling that has completed material taking through the material taking area and send it back to the position of the loading station.

[0009] In an embodiment, each of the loading devices includes a first mounting frame, a carrying bracket, a material transferring part, and a plurality of vibratory bowl assemblies arranged on the first mounting frame. The material transferring part is movably installed in the transverse direction, and the carrying bracket can move in the transverse direction and can correspond to a plurality of the vibratory bowl assemblies in sequence during the movement.

[0010] When the transfer tooling is at the loading station, the step of controlling a plurality of the loading devices to work to sequentially load various materials onto the transfer tooling includes:

[0011] Controlling the material transfer part in the loading device far from the feeding station to transfer a transfer tooling to the corresponding bearing bracket;

[0012] Controlling the bearing bracket to drive the transfer tooling to sequentially pass through a plurality of the vibrating disk assemblies so as to be able to receive corresponding materials;

[0013] Controlling the material transfer part in the adjacent loading device to transfer the transfer tooling after material taking to the corresponding bearing bracket until the transfer tooling completes material taking in the loading device adjacent to the feeding station.

[0014] In an embodiment, the vibrating disk assembly includes a first vibrating disk, a first vision detection part and a first transfer part;

[0015] The step of controlling the bearing bracket to drive the transfer tooling to sequentially pass through a plurality of the vibrating disk assemblies so as to be able to receive corresponding materials includes:

[0016] Controlling the bearing bracket to stop at a position longitudinally corresponding to one of the first vibrating disks;

[0017] Marking the materials that meet the preset requirements detected by the first vision detection part, and controlling the first transfer part to pick up and transfer the marked materials to the transfer tooling on the bearing bracket;

[0018] Controlling the bearing bracket to continue to move until it stops near the first vibrating disk in another loading device to complete the taking of corresponding materials.

[0019] In an embodiment, the feeding device includes a second mounting frame and a material taking part movably mounted on the second mounting frame along the transverse direction;

[0020] The step of transferring the transfer tooling full of materials at the loading station to the feeding station and making it in the material taking area of the feeding device for the processing equipment to take materials includes:

[0021] Controlling the material taking part to move transversely to extend into the loading station to pick up the transfer tooling full of materials at the loading station;

[0022] Controlling the material taking part to drive the transfer tooling full of materials to be transferred to the material taking area;

[0023] After the material taking part stays in the material taking area for a preset duration, control the material taking part to drive the transfer tooling that has completed material taking to continue moving until it is far away from the material taking area.

[0024] In one embodiment, the loading device includes a carrying bracket for placing the transfer tooling, and the material taking part includes a material taking main body movably installed along the transverse direction and a lifting member movably installed along the vertical direction to the material taking main body;

[0025] The steps of controlling the material taking part to move transversely to extend into the loading station and pick up the transfer tooling full of materials at the loading station include:

[0026] Control the material taking main body to move transversely so that the lifting member is located below the transfer tooling full of materials;

[0027] Control the lifting member to move upward to drive the transfer tooling full of materials to separate from the corresponding carrying bracket.

[0028] In one embodiment, the steps of controlling the return device to move out the transfer tooling that has completed material taking through the material taking area and return it to the loading station in an empty state include:

[0029] Control the return device to move out the transfer tooling that has completed material taking through the material taking area and make it stay on the side of the loading station facing away from the feeding station;

[0030] Obtain the state of the transfer tooling transferred by the return device;

[0031] If the transfer tooling is empty, send the corresponding transfer tooling back to the loading station.

[0032] In one embodiment, the return device further includes a discharging assembly;

[0033] After the step of obtaining the state of the transfer tooling transferred by the return device, the following steps are further included:

[0034] If there is at least one material remaining on the transfer tooling;

[0035] After controlling the discharging assembly to move out the remaining materials on the transfer tooling, send the corresponding transfer tooling back to the loading station.

[0036] In one embodiment, the steps of controlling the discharging assembly to move out the remaining materials on the transfer tooling and then send the corresponding transfer tooling back to the loading station include:

[0037] Obtain the state of the materials moved out by the discharging assembly;

[0038] If it is qualified material, put it back into the corresponding feeding device.

[0039] In one embodiment, each of the feeding devices includes a first mounting frame and a loading bracket, a material transferring part, and a plurality of vibrating bowls assemblies arranged on the first mounting frame;

[0040] The step of controlling the return device to move out the transfer tooling that has completed material taking through the material taking area and send it back to the feeding station includes:

[0041] Controlling the return device to move out the transfer tooling that has completed material taking through the material taking area to the side of the feeding station facing away from the material supply station;

[0042] Controlling the material transferring part to transfer the corresponding transfer tooling to the feeding station and place it on the corresponding loading bracket.

[0043] In one embodiment, the step of controlling the material transferring part to transfer the corresponding transfer tooling to the feeding station and place it on the corresponding loading bracket includes:

[0044] When the material transferring part receives a material transfer instruction, controlling the material transferring part to move to place the corresponding transfer tooling on the corresponding loading bracket.

[0045] In the technical solution of the invention, when the transfer tooling is at the feeding station, the transfer tooling passes through a plurality of feeding devices to sequentially load various materials onto the transfer tooling. The fully loaded transfer tooling flows to the material supply station and can stay in the material taking area of the material supply device for the processing equipment to take materials. The return device moves out the transfer tooling that has completed material taking through the material taking area and sends it back to the feeding station. During the whole processing process, the transfer tooling starts from the feeding station, flows to the material supply station, is taken by the equipment, and then is transported back to the feeding station by the return device to achieve circulation. At the same time, a plurality of feeding devices can be spliced to load different types or different quantities of materials, which can meet the changing production requirements. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0046] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the following drawings are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can be obtained based on the structures shown in these drawings.

[0047] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the flexible vibrating bowl feeding device provided by the present invention;

[0048] Figure 2 For Figure 1Schematic structural diagram of the upper feeding device;

[0049] Figure 3 For Figure 1 Schematic side view of the upper feeding device;

[0050] Figure 4 For Figure 1 Schematic structural diagram of the feeding device;

[0051] Figure 5 For Figure 1 Schematic structural diagram of the discharging assembly;

[0052] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of an embodiment of the control method of the flexible vibratory bowl feeding device provided by the present invention;

[0053] Figure 7 For Figure 6 Flow chart of the control method of the flexible vibratory bowl feeding device;

[0054] Figure 8 Schematic diagram of the device structure of the hardware operating environment involved in the control method of the flexible vibratory bowl feeding device in the embodiments of the present application.

[0055] Explanation of the reference numerals in the drawings:

[0056] 100. Flexible vibratory bowl feeding device; 1. Upper feeding device; 11. First mounting frame; 12. Carrying bracket; 13. Vibratory bowl assembly; 131. First vibratory bowl; 132. First vision detection component; 133. First transfer part; 134. Second vibratory bowl; 14. Material transfer part; 2. Feeding device; 21. Second mounting frame; 22. Material picking part; 221. Material picking main body; 222. Lifting part; 23. Positioning bracket; 24. Material picking area; 3. Return device; 31. Third mounting frame; 32. Conveyor belt; 33. Handling device; 331. Handling part; 34. Discharging assembly; 341. Second vision detection component; 342. Second transfer part; 343. Guide pipe; 344. Aggregate box; a. Upper feeding station; b. Feeding station;

[0057] 1001. Processing device; 1002. ROM; 1003. Storage device; 1004. RAM; 1005. Bus; 1006. I / O interface; 1007. Input device; 1008. Output device; 1009. Communication device.

[0058] The realization, functional characteristics and advantages of the object of the present invention will be further described with reference to the embodiments and the accompanying drawings. Detailed implementation manners

[0059] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0060] It should be noted that if there are directional indications involved in the embodiments of the present invention, the directional indications are only used to explain the relative position relationship, movement conditions, etc. between components in a specific posture. If the specific posture changes, the directional indications will also change accordingly.

[0061] In addition, if there are descriptions involving "first", "second", etc. in the embodiments of the present invention, the descriptions of "first", "second", etc. are only for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly indicating the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, the features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In addition, the technical solutions between various embodiments can be combined with each other, but it must be based on the fact that those of ordinary skill in the art can implement them. When the combination of technical solutions is contradictory or cannot be implemented, it should be considered that such a combination of technical solutions does not exist and is not within the protection scope required by the present invention.

[0062] Please refer to Figure 1 、 Figure 3 and Figure 4 , the flexible vibratory bowl feeding device 100 has a feeding station b and a loading station a arranged at intervals in the transverse direction. The flexible vibratory bowl feeding device 100 includes at least one loading device 1, a feeding device 2, and a return device 3. The loading device 1 is located at the loading station a. The loading device 1 includes a first mounting frame 11, a carrying bracket 12, and at least one vibratory bowl assembly 13. The vibratory bowl assembly 13 and the carrying bracket 12 are arranged at intervals in the longitudinal direction on the first mounting frame 11. The carrying bracket 12 is used for placing the transfer tooling. The vibratory bowl assembly 13 is used to adjust the posture of the material and place the adjusted material on the transfer tooling located on the carrying bracket 12. The feeding device 2 is located at the feeding station b. The feeding device 2 includes a second mounting frame 21 and a material taking part 22 movably mounted in the transverse direction on the second mounting frame 21. A material taking area 24 is formed on the second mounting frame 21. The material taking part 22 is used to transfer the fully loaded transfer tooling in the loading device 1 to the material taking area 24 for the processing equipment to take the material. The conveying path of the return device 3 passes through the feeding station b and the loading station a, and is used to remove the transfer tooling at the loading station a and return it to the loading station a in a vacant state.

[0063] In the technical solution of the present invention, the transfer tooling is placed on the carrying bracket 12 and vibratory feeding is performed through the vibratory bowl assembly 13, which can accurately and quickly adjust the insert material or complex component material to a predetermined posture. The material is placed at a specified position on the transfer tooling in the predetermined posture. Then, the pick-up part 22 transfers the fully loaded transfer tooling to the pick-up area 24, and the external processing equipment picks up the material. The transfer tooling after picking up the material is returned from the feeding station b by the return device 3, so that it can return to the feeding station a to complete the cycle of the transfer tooling. The degree of automation is high. The feeding device 1, the feeding device 2, and the return device 3 are divided into different modules. When it is necessary to replace different types or different quantities of materials, it can be realized by splicing the feeding device 1 or adding different numbers of vibratory bowl assemblies 13 in the feeding device 1. The return device 3 does not affect the splicing of the feeding device 1 and can ensure return, reducing the debugging cost. Also, through its highly flexible adjustability, it adapts to the changing production requirements.

[0064] The present invention does not limit the specific form of the vibratory bowl assembly 13. It can be a spiral vibratory bowl. The material is vibrated along a spiral path from the center of the vibratory bowl during the conveying process to adjust the posture, and finally is output from the upper end of the vibratory bowl. In some embodiments, please refer to Figure 3 , the vibratory bowl assembly 13 includes: a first vibratory bowl 131, a first vision detection part 132, a first transfer part 133, and a controller. The first vibratory bowl 131 is arranged on the first mounting bracket 11 and is used to carry the material and adjust the posture of the material through vibration; the first vision detection part 132 is arranged on the first mounting bracket 11 and is used to detect the posture of the material on the first vibratory bowl 131; the first transfer part 133 is located above the first vibratory bowl 131 and can be movably mounted on the first mounting bracket 11 in the transverse, longitudinal, and vertical directions; the controller is electrically connected to the first vision detection part 132 and the first transfer part 133 to control the first transfer part 133 to pick up and transfer the material according to the detection result of the first vision detection part 132. The material is placed on the first vibratory bowl 131, and the first vibratory bowl 131 operates at a set frequency. After each vibration, the first vision detection part 132 detects the posture of the current material on the first vibratory bowl 131, marks the material that meets the preset requirements, and the controller controls the first transfer part 133 to pick up the marked material to the transfer tooling. This structural form has an efficient sorting and sequencing function and can accurately and quickly arrange multiple inserts or complex components to a predetermined position.

[0065] It should be understood that the first transfer part 133 can pick up one material at a time or multiple materials at the same time, and the present invention does not limit this. The controller mentioned here can be the total controller of the flexible vibratory bowl feeding equipment 100 or the controller separately set on the first mounting bracket 11 for this step.

[0066] It should be noted that the first transfer part 133 can be structures such as clamping jaws and suction cups, and is specifically driven to move by a multi-axis drive assembly, so as to realize movement in multiple directions.

[0067] Considering that material accumulation will affect its vibration sorting effect, in some embodiments, the vibrating disk assembly 13 further includes a second vibrating disk 134. The second vibrating disk 134 is located on the side of the first vibrating disk 131. The second vibrating disk 134 has a discharge end extending above the first vibrating disk 131. The second vibrating disk 134 is used to transfer a plurality of concentrated materials to the first vibrating disk 131 through vibration dispersion. An operator or an external manipulator first stacks a certain number of materials on the second vibrating disk 134. The vibration of the second vibrating disk 134 dispersedly conveys the concentrated materials to the first vibrating disk 131, so as to ensure that the materials on the first vibrating disk 131 are arranged dispersedly and will not accumulate.

[0068] It should be understood that the second vibrating disk 134 is set as a hopper feeding vibrating disk. The first vibrating disk 131 is set as a plane jittering vibrating disk.

[0069] Furthermore, please refer to Figure 2 , a plurality of vibrating disk assemblies 13 are arranged on the first mounting bracket 11 at intervals in the transverse direction, and are used to respectively adjust the postures of different types of materials; the carrying bracket 12 can move in the transverse direction so as to correspond to a plurality of vibrating disk assemblies 13 in sequence during the movement process. At this time, each feeding device 1 can sort and feed multiple types of materials at the same time. Through the movable setting of the carrying bracket 12, multiple types of materials can be sequentially placed in the transfer tooling during the movement process of the carrying bracket 12 to complete the feeding action.

[0070] For example, three vibrating disk assemblies 13 are arranged at intervals in the transverse direction. Initially, the carrying bracket 12 corresponds to a vibrating disk assembly 13 at the edge. After the first transfer part 133 completes the feeding, the carrying bracket 12 moves to another adjacent vibrating disk assembly 13. After the corresponding first transfer part 133 completes the feeding, it continues to move to correspond to the last vibrating disk assembly 13. After the last first transfer part 133 completes the feeding, the transfer tooling completes the feeding of all types of materials of the current feeding device 1.

[0071] Furthermore, a plurality of carrying brackets 12 can be provided. The plurality of carrying brackets 12 are spaced at intervals in the transverse direction and are all movably arranged in the transverse direction. Each carrying bracket 12 can sequentially pass through a plurality of vibrating disk assemblies 13, so as to realize the synchronous feeding of a plurality of transfer toolings and improve the efficiency.

[0072] Even further, please refer to again Figure 1, there are multiple loading devices 1, and the multiple loading devices 1 are arranged horizontally. The loading device 1 at the edge is adjacent to the feeding device 2; each loading device 1 further includes a material transfer part 14, and the material transfer part 14 is movably installed horizontally on the corresponding first mounting bracket 11 so as to be able to transfer the flow tooling on the adjacent loading device 1 to the corresponding bearing bracket 12. The multiple loading devices 1 all pick up and transfer the flow tooling on the bearing brackets 12 in adjacent devices through the material transfer part 14. Thereby, the design of the external manipulator can be saved, the overall layout can be made more compact, and at the same time, it can adapt to splicing and is convenient for quick adjustment.

[0073] The present invention does not limit the structural form of the material transfer part 14, which can be a suction cup structure, a clamping jaw structure, etc., and the material transfer part can be driven to move by a cylinder, a lead screw structure, etc.

[0074] It should be noted that the flow tooling is not a conventional tray, but partitions are set according to a variety of different types of materials, and different profiling areas are set corresponding to different materials to ensure that the materials are conveyed in a fixed posture. Corresponding positioning, detection and other structures are actually provided on the flow tooling.

[0075] Please refer to Figure 4 , in some embodiments, the material picking part 22 includes a material picking main body 221 and a lifting part 222. The material picking main body 221 is movably installed horizontally and can move horizontally to protrude from the second mounting bracket 21; the lifting part 222 is movably installed vertically on the material picking main body 221, and the lifting part 222 is used to carry the flow tooling. The material picking main body 221 drives the lifting part 222 to move horizontally. The lifting part 222 can be located below the corresponding bearing bracket 12, and the lifting part 222 can move up and down, so as to pass through the hollow position of the bearing bracket 12 to lift the flow tooling upward to separate from the bearing bracket 12. At this time, the material picking main body 221 drives the lifting part 222 to move horizontally in the reverse direction to transfer the flow tooling to the material picking area 24.

[0076] In other embodiments, the material picking part 22 can also be a suction cup structure, a clamping jaw structure, etc. In this embodiment, the structures of the material transfer part 14 and the material picking part 22 are the same.

[0077] Considering the stability of the transfer tooling when picking up materials at the feeding station b, in some embodiments, the feeding device 2 further includes a positioning bracket 23 disposed in the material picking area 24. The material picking part 22 is used to place the transfer tooling on the positioning bracket 23 for the processing equipment to pick up materials, and the material picking part 22 is also used to remove the transfer tooling on the positioning bracket 23 and transfer it to the side of the material picking area 24 facing away from the feeding station a to correspond to the return device 3. The positioning bracket 23 is arranged in the middle of the second mounting bracket 21 or on the side of the second mounting bracket 21 close to the first mounting bracket 11. During the lateral movement of the material picking part 22, it first stays in the material picking area 24, so that the transfer tooling is fully loaded and fixed on the positioning bracket 23 to ensure its stability. After the external robotic arm completes the material picking, the transfer tooling can return to the material picking part 22 and be driven to be spaced from the positioning bracket 23, thus facilitating the return device 3 to work for the return transfer of the transfer tooling.

[0078] It should be noted that the material picking part 22 can be set as a structure in which the material picking main body 221 and the lifting part 222 cooperate, and the lifting and lowering of the lifting part 222 are used to complete the up-lifting material picking and the down-lowering placement of the transfer tooling. It is also possible to design the positioning bracket 23 to have a lifting function. When the material picking part 22 stays in the material picking area 24, the positioning bracket 23 is lifted to pick up the transfer tooling and keep it at this height for the processing equipment to pick up materials. After the material picking is completed, it descends to put the transfer tooling back on the material picking part 22.

[0079] In order to realize the return conveying function of the return device 3, in some embodiments, the return device 3 includes a third mounting bracket 31, a plurality of conveyor belts 32 and a handling device 33. The third mounting bracket 31 is adjacent to the first mounting bracket 11 and is located on the side of the feeding station a facing away from the feeding station b; the plurality of conveyor belts 32 extend horizontally, and the plurality of conveyor belts 32 are correspondingly arranged on the first mounting bracket 11 and the second mounting bracket 21, and the conveying surfaces of the plurality of conveyor belts 32 are arranged flush; the handling device 33 includes two handling parts 331 movably arranged in the up-down direction. One of the handling parts 331 is arranged on the second mounting bracket 21 and is used to transfer the transfer tooling to the adjacent conveyor belt 32, and the other handling part 331 is arranged on the third mounting bracket 31 and is used to transfer the transfer tooling on the corresponding conveyor belt 32 to correspond to the bearing bracket 12. That is, the return device 3 is dispersed on the first mounting bracket 11 and the second mounting bracket 21. When a plurality of first mounting brackets 11 are spliced, the conveyor belts 32 are correspondingly spliced, so that it can directly adapt to the conveying requirements of a longer distance, and the adjustability of the conveyor belts 32 enables it to be quickly adjusted according to the specific size, shape and layout requirements of the splicing unit without frequently replacing the entire module or performing complex splicing and installation. The lifting of the handling part 331 can adapt to the height difference between the conveyor belt 32 and the material picking part 22.

[0080] Specifically, the handling unit 331 can be driven to move through a cylinder or a lead screw structure. By rising to a specified position to receive the transfer tooling, in one way, there is a dislocation between the handling unit 331 and the material taking unit 22. When the handling unit 331 jacks up the process tooling, the material taking unit 22 can laterally move away from the corresponding area, enabling the handling unit 331 to fall without interference. In another way, a stop is provided at the corresponding position of the second mounting frame 21. During the process of the material taking unit 22 laterally resetting, the transfer tooling is blocked by the stop and thus separated from the material taking unit 22, and naturally falls onto the handling unit 331.

[0081] Considering the orientation coordination, the handling table is located on the side of the first mounting frame 11. Therefore, the feeding device 1 located at the edge can transfer the transfer tooling on the corresponding handling unit 331 to the carrying bracket 12 through the material shifting unit 14. In other embodiments, a robotic arm can also be added to the third mounting frame 31 to move the transfer tooling on the handling unit 331 to the carrying bracket 12.

[0082] When the processing equipment takes materials, it may only take away some materials due to equipment picking failures or detecting abnormal materials on the transfer tooling. At this time, although the transfer tooling has passed through the material taking area 24, there are still materials remaining above it, rather than being in an empty state. If the transfer tooling in this situation returns to the feeding station a, it will cause abnormal feeding. Therefore, in some embodiments, please refer to Figure 5 , the return device 3 further includes a material discharging component 34. The material discharging component 34 includes a second vision detection component 341, a second transfer part 342, and a controller. The second vision detection component 341 is arranged on the third mounting frame 31 and is used to detect the quantity of materials on the transfer tooling on the corresponding handling unit 331. The second transfer part 342 is movably installed on the third mounting frame 31 in the vertical, horizontal, and longitudinal directions. The controller is electrically connected to the second vision detection component 341 and the second transfer part 342 to control the second transfer part 342 to pick up and transfer materials according to the detection result of the second vision detection component 341. That is, it is detected by the second vision detection component 341 whether there are still materials on the transfer tooling on the handling unit 331. If there are no materials, the transfer tooling can return to the feeding station a. If there are materials, the materials are removed by the second transfer part 342, so that the transfer tooling returns to the feeding station a in an empty state, thus ensuring the stability of the entire process.

[0083] It should be noted that the second transfer part 342 can be structures such as clamping jaws or suction cups, and is specifically driven to move through a multi-axis drive component, so as to achieve movement in multiple directions.

[0084] It should be noted that the controller mentioned here can be the total controller of the flexible vibrating disk feeding device 100, or a controller specifically set on the third mounting frame 31 for this step.

[0085] Further, the material discharging assembly 34 further includes a material guiding pipe 343 and a material collecting box 344. The material guiding pipe 343 is arranged on the third mounting bracket 31 and is inclined in the up-down direction. The upper end of the material guiding pipe 343 is used to receive the materials removed by the second transferring part 342; the material collecting box 344 is arranged at the lower end of the material guiding pipe 343 and is used to collect the materials. The material guiding pipe 343 is inclined so that the materials can naturally fall into the material collecting box 344 under the action of gravity along a certain inclined path, completing the collection of the materials. The material guiding pipe 343 can adapt to the height difference between the second transferring part 342 and the material collecting box 344.

[0086] Further, the upper end of the material guiding pipe 343 is in a horn shape, so as to facilitate receiving the materials.

[0087] Take Figure 1 the embodiment of

[0088] The operator puts the blanked insert materials into each second vibrating disk 134, and the second vibrating disk 134 vibrates to disperse the concentrated insert materials into the corresponding first vibrating disk 131. The first vision detection part 132 identifies the product postures in the first vibrating disk 131 and marks the insert materials that meet the grasping conditions. The first transferring part 133 moves to the vision marking position, grasps the qualified insert materials and rotates them to the specified postures. At the same time, the first transferring part 133 moves above the transfer tooling position, puts the insert materials into the transfer tooling, drives the bearing bracket 12 to move, and transports the transfer tooling to the position corresponding to the next first vibrating disk 131, successively realizing vibration, identification and grasping, placing the materials into the transfer tooling, and conveying to the next working station until all the product inserts are placed into the transfer tooling. The material taking part 22 will move the full transfer tooling to the material taking area 24, so as to correspond to the material taking position of the injection molding machine manipulator. After the injection molding machine manipulator finishes taking the materials, the handling part 331 will move the transfer tooling to the conveyor belt 32. Multiple conveyor belts 32 take over the transmission to send the transfer tooling to the third mounting bracket 31, and the second vision detection part 341 detects the number of materials on the transfer tooling and removes the redundant materials. At this time, a cycle is completed, and it only needs to wait for the material transferring part 14 of the adjacent feeding device 1 to take away the empty transfer tooling.

[0089] The technical solution of the present invention realizes the automatic feeding of materials and can be applied to the feeding of equipment such as injection molding machines and presses. This equipment combines the vibrating bowl technology with an adjustable conveying mechanism, significantly improving the module splicing efficiency of existing feeding equipment and greatly reducing the debugging and maintenance costs. The vibrating bowl has an efficient sorting and sequencing function, which can accurately and quickly arrange multi-inserts or complex components to the predetermined positions. The adjustability of the conveyor belt enables it to be quickly adjusted according to the specific size, shape, and layout requirements of the splicing unit, without the need to frequently replace the entire module or perform complex splicing installations. This feature not only significantly improves the module splicing speed and reduces the debugging cost, but also adapts to the changing production requirements through its highly flexible adjustability.

[0090] Please refer to Figures 6 to 7 , based on the above flexible vibrating bowl feeding equipment, the present invention proposes a control method for a flexible vibrating bowl feeding equipment, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0091] S10: When the transfer tooling is at the feeding station a, control multiple feeding devices 1 to work to sequentially feed various materials onto the transfer tooling;

[0092] It should be understood that the multiple feeding devices 1 are arranged side by side horizontally and are adjacent to each other. The transfer tooling can be transferred between two adjacent feeding devices 1 through the material transfer part 14 provided on the feeding device 1.

[0093] Specifically, each feeding device 1 performs the screening and feeding of a single material or multiple materials.

[0094] For example, a total of 3 feeding devices 1 are set, and each feeding device 1 feeds 3 kinds of materials. After the transfer tooling passes through the first feeding device 1, it carries 3 materials. When it continues to pass through the second feeding device 1, it carries 6 materials. After passing through the third feeding device 1, it carries 9 materials. The 9 materials on the transfer tooling are independent of each other and do not contact each other.

[0095] S20: Transfer the transfer tooling full of materials at the feeding station a to the feeding station and place it in the material taking area 24 of the feeding device 2 for the processing equipment to take materials;

[0096] It should be understood that the main function of this flexible vibrating bowl feeding equipment is to sort and feed materials. The transfer tooling in the material taking area 24 should be full of materials. When this equipment is applied to the feeding of an injection molding machine, the transfer work waits here for the injection molding machine robotic arm to take materials.

[0097] It should be noted that the waiting duration can be set, and it is assumed that the processing equipment has completed material taking after the set waiting duration is satisfied. Alternatively, through electrical signal transmission, the flexible vibratory bowl feeding device and the processing equipment can be communicatively connected, and after the processing equipment completes material taking, an electrical signal is sent to the flexible vibratory bowl feeding device. An optoelectronic sensor can also be set, and it is considered that material taking has been completed when it is detected that the robotic arm of the processing equipment is far from the material taking area 24.

[0098] S30: Control the return device 3 to move out the transfer tooling that has completed material taking in the material taking area 24 and send it back to the loading station a.

[0099] In the technical solution of the invention, when the transfer tooling is at the loading station a, the transfer tooling passes through multiple loading devices 1 to sequentially load various materials onto the transfer tooling. The fully loaded transfer tooling flows to the feeding station and can stay in the material taking area 24 of the feeding device 2 for the processing equipment to take materials. The return device 3 moves out the transfer tooling that has completed material taking in the material taking area 24 and sends it back to the loading station a. During the entire processing process, the transfer tooling starts from the loading station a, flows to the feeding station, is taken by the equipment, and then is transported back to the loading station a by the return device 3 to achieve circulation. At the same time, multiple loading devices 1 can be spliced to load different types or different quantities of materials, which can adapt to changing production requirements.

[0100] Further, based on the structural form of the loading device 1, step S10 includes:

[0101] S11: Control the material transfer part 14 in the loading device 1 far from the feeding station to transfer a transfer tooling to the corresponding bearing bracket 12;

[0102] It should be understood that according to the return path of the transfer tooling, the return device 3 will transfer the transfer tooling to a position level with the material transfer part 14 after returning the transfer tooling from the feeding station, so as to adapt to the transfer height and transfer stroke of the material transfer part 14.

[0103] S12: Control the bearing bracket 12 to drive the transfer tooling to sequentially pass through multiple vibratory bowl assemblies 13 to be able to receive the corresponding materials;

[0104] It should be understood that the moving stroke of the bearing bracket 12 needs to match the set number of vibratory bowl assemblies 13. During the lateral movement of the bearing bracket 12, it can respectively stop on the side of the corresponding vibratory bowl assembly 13.

[0105] Specifically, when the carrier bracket 12 stays at each vibrating disk assembly 13, its relative position with each vibrating disk assembly 13 can be consistent. Considering that the positions of the materials in each vibrating disk assembly 13 placed on the transfer tooling are different, and considering the transfer setting procedure of the materials, it is also possible that when the carrier bracket 12 stays at the side of each vibrating disk assembly 13, the installation area corresponding to the material of the vibrating disk assembly 13 is longitudinally aligned with the vibrating disk assembly 13. At this time, the previous material may be laterally offset from the vibrating disk assembly 13.

[0106] S13: Control the transfer part 14 in the adjacent feeding device 1 to transfer the transfer tooling after picking up the material to the corresponding carrier bracket 12 until the transfer tooling completes picking up the material in the feeding device 1 adjacent to the feeding station.

[0107] It should be noted that the carrier bracket 12 can move laterally on the corresponding first mounting frame 11, and its moving stroke corresponds to the spacing of the vibrating disk assemblies 13 on the first mounting frame 11. In adjacent feeding devices 1, the transfer tooling is transferred through the transfer part 14. The transfer part 14 of each feeding device 1 picks up the transfer tooling at the previous station until it reaches the last carrier bracket 12 on the feeding path.

[0108] The transfer of the transfer tooling at the feeding station a can be completed by the splicing of the feeding device 1 itself without adding other structures, and the transfer tooling moves in a one-way straight line.

[0109] Further, in step S12,

[0110] S121: Control the carrier bracket 12 to stop at a position longitudinally corresponding to one of the first vibrating disks 131;

[0111] It should be understood that taking the example where multiple first vibrating disks 131, the first mounting frame 11, and the second mounting frame 21 are all arranged in the left - right direction, the carrier bracket 12 initially stops at the corresponding position of the first first vibrating disk 131 on the rightmost side of the last first mounting frame 11.

[0112] S122: Mark the materials that meet the preset requirements detected by the first vision detection part 132, and control the first transfer part 133 to pick up and transfer the marked materials to the transfer tooling on the carrier bracket 12.

[0113] It should be understood that when the first vibrating disk 131 works at a certain frequency, stops after each vibration, and the first vision detection part 132 detects the posture of the materials on its vibrating disk, the preset requirements are the posture requirements of the materials. The preset requirements for different materials are different, and the orientation of the material or the position of a certain surface can be used as the index of the preset requirements.

[0114] S123: Control the carrier bracket 12 to continue moving until it stays near the first vibrating disk 131 in another feeding device 1 to complete the material picking of the corresponding material.

[0115] The carrier bracket 12 moves from right to left and stays on the side of the adjacent first vibrating disk 131. Repeat step S122 until the carrier bracket 12 moves to the leftmost first vibrating disk 131 and completes the material picking. Then the carrier bracket 12 stops moving and stays at the current position waiting for the feeding device 2 to take away the full-load transfer tooling on it.

[0116] It should be understood that after the transfer tooling on the carrier bracket 12 of each first mounting bracket 11 is taken away, the carrier bracket 12 needs to move back to its initial position and wait to receive a new transfer tooling.

[0117] Furthermore, based on the structural form of the feeding device 2, step S20 includes:

[0118] S21: Control the material picking part 22 to move horizontally into the feeding station a to pick up the transfer tooling full of materials at the feeding station a.

[0119] It should be understood that initially, the material picking part 22 is on the second mounting bracket 21. When transfer is needed, it needs to move horizontally to protrude from the second mounting bracket 21 until it reaches the carrier bracket 12 in the corresponding first mounting bracket 11 to take out the transfer tooling.

[0120] S22: Control the material picking part 22 to drive the transfer tooling full of materials to the picking area 24.

[0121] After the material picking part 22 picks up the transfer tooling, there are two stopping positions. The first stopping position is the picking area 24, which is for the convenience of the processing equipment to pick up the transfer tooling.

[0122] It should be understood that it can be that the material picking part 22 always picks up the transfer tooling. When in the picking area 24, the material picking part 22 stops, and corresponding positioning structures are set on it to ensure the fixation of the transfer tooling. Or the material picking part 22 can place the transfer tooling on the positioning bracket 23 located in the picking area 24.

[0123] S23: After the material picking part 22 stays in the picking area 24 for a preset duration, control the material picking part 22 to drive the transfer tooling that has completed the material picking to continue moving until it moves away from the picking area 24.

[0124] It should be understood that the preset duration is measured according to the actual duration of the processing equipment for picking materials. The material picking part 22 drives the transfer tooling away from the picking area 24. On the one hand, it is convenient for the return device 3 to carry the transfer tooling. On the other hand, when two material picking parts 22 work alternately, it will not prevent the subsequent transfer tooling from being sent in.

[0125] When the material taking part 22 includes a material taking main body 221 and a lifting member 222, in step S21

[0126] Control the lateral movement of the material taking main body 221 so that the lifting member 222 is located below the transfer tooling full of materials;

[0127] Control the upward movement of the lifting member 222 to drive the transfer tooling full of materials to separate from the corresponding bearing bracket 12.

[0128] Lower or lift the transfer tooling by the up and down movement of the lifting member 222, and utilize the height difference to complete the transfer and placement.

[0129] It should be understood that in step S23, when the lifting member 222 drives the bearing transfer tooling to reach the material taking area 24, control the lifting member 222 to drop to place the transfer tooling on the positioning bracket 23, keep the lifting member 222 stationary, after waiting for a preset time duration, control the lifting member 222 to lift up to lift the transfer tooling, and control the movement of the material taking main body 221 to drive the transfer tooling away from the material taking area 24.

[0130] Further, step S30 includes:

[0131] S31: Control the return device 3 to move out the transfer tooling that has completed material taking through the material taking area 24, and make it stay on one side of the loading station a facing away from the feeding station;

[0132] Specifically, convey the transfer tooling through the handling part 331 and a plurality of conveyor belts 32 and make it stay on one side of the loading station a facing away from the feeding station.

[0133] S32: Obtain the state of the transfer tooling transferred by the return device 3;

[0134] Specifically, lift the transfer tooling through the handling part 331 to be located above the third mounting bracket 31, and detect whether there is material on the transfer tooling through the second vision detection part 341. If there is no material, the transfer tooling is in an empty state. If there is material, the transfer tooling is in a loaded state.

[0135] S33: If the transfer tooling is empty, send the corresponding transfer tooling back to the loading station a.

[0136] It should be understood that after the transfer tooling returns to the loading station a, a new material will be placed at its corresponding position. If there is remaining material on the transfer tooling, then the new material cannot be placed, resulting in a malfunction of the process. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the transfer tooling is in an empty state and sent back to the loading station a through detection, so as to ensure the smoothness of the entire process.

[0137] S33’: If there is at least one remaining material on the transfer tooling;

[0138] S34’: After controlling the discharging assembly 34 to remove the remaining materials on the transfer tooling, send the corresponding transfer tooling back to the loading station a;

[0139] It should be understood that when the transfer tooling is in the material-loading state, the materials on the transfer tooling that have not been taken away by the processing equipment are transferred into the aggregate box 344 through the second transfer part 342 for collection, so as to realize discharging.

[0140] The materials stored in the aggregate box 344 may be the materials detected to be defective during the previous process of taking materials, or may just be the materials whose postures do not meet the requirements of taking materials. Therefore, it is necessary to reclassify the materials.

[0141] The specific steps are as follows:

[0142] Obtain the state of the materials removed by the discharging assembly 34;

[0143] If they are qualified materials, put them back into the corresponding loading device 1. If they are defective materials, discard them.

[0144] In this way, waste of materials is avoided. At the same time, the detection of materials can share the equipment of other production lines without being separately set in this equipment.

[0145] Further, in step S30,

[0146] S31: Control the return device 3 to move the transfer tooling that has completed material taking in the material taking area 24 to the side of the loading station a opposite to the feeding station;

[0147] S32: Control the material transfer part 14 to transfer the corresponding transfer tooling to the loading station a and place it on the corresponding bearing bracket 12.

[0148] Specifically, the transfer tooling is transferred from the upper layer to the lower layer through the handling part 331 so that it can be conveyed by the conveyor belt 32. In order to ensure that the transfer tooling returns to the loading station a empty, only after the return device 3 has completed the return will it be detected. Only when the material transfer part 14 receives the material transfer instruction, will it control the material transfer part 14 to move to place the corresponding transfer tooling on the corresponding bearing bracket 12. When the material transfer instruction is not received, the material transfer part 14 is in the standby state, and waste discharging procedures may be carried out on the third mounting bracket 31.

[0149] The controller mentioned in this application is the general controller of the flexible vibrating disk feeding equipment. The controller includes: at least one processor; and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor; wherein, the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor so that the at least one processor can execute the control method of the flexible vibrating disk feeding equipment in the first embodiment above.

[0150] Refer to the following Figure 8 , which shows a schematic structural diagram of a controller suitable for implementing the controller of the embodiments of the present application. The controller in the embodiments of the present application may include, but is not limited to, mobile terminals such as mobile phones, laptop computers, digital broadcast receivers, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant), PADs (Portable Application Description), PMPs (Portable Media Player), etc., and fixed terminals such as digital TVs, desktop computers, etc. Figure 8 The controller shown is merely an example and should not impose any limitations on the functions and usage scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0151] As Figure 8 shown, the controller may include a processing device 1001 (such as a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, etc.), which can perform various appropriate actions and processes according to a program stored in a read-only memory (ROM: Read Only Memory) or a program loaded from a storage device 1003 into a random access memory (RAM: Random Access Memory). In the RAM 1004, various programs and data required for the operation of the flexible vibrating disk feeding device are also stored. The processing device 1001, the ROM 1002, and the RAM 1004 are connected to each other through a bus 1005. An input / output (I / O) interface 1006 is also connected to the bus. Generally, the following systems may be connected to the I / O interface 1006: an input device 1007 including, for example, a touch screen, a touchpad, a keyboard, a mouse, an image sensor, a microphone, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, etc.; an output device 1008 including, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD: Liquid Crystal Display), a speaker, a vibrator, etc.; a storage device 1003 including, for example, a magnetic tape, a hard disk, etc.; and a communication device 1009. The communication device 1009 may allow the controller to communicate with other devices wirelessly or wiredly to exchange data. Although the figure shows a controller with various systems, it should be understood that it is not required to implement or have all the systems shown. Instead, more or fewer systems may be implemented or had.

[0152] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not limit the patent scope of the present invention accordingly. Any equivalent structural transformation made under the inventive concept of the present invention by using the content of the specification and drawings of the present invention, or any direct / indirect application in other related technical fields, is included in the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A control method for a flexible vibratory bowl feeder device, characterized in that, The flexible vibrating disk feeding device has a feeding station and a loading station arranged at intervals in the transverse direction. The flexible vibrating disk feeding device includes a plurality of loading devices located at the loading station, a feeding device located at the feeding station, and a return device whose conveying path passes through the feeding station and the loading station. A material taking area is formed on the feeding device. The feeding device includes a material taking part for moving the fully loaded transfer tooling in the loading device to the material taking area. The material taking part includes a material taking main body movably installed in the transverse direction and a lifting part movably installed in the vertical direction on the material taking main body. The loading device includes a bearing bracket for placing the transfer tooling. The flexible vibrating disk feeding device further includes a discharging assembly, and the discharging assembly includes a second vision detection piece; The control method of the flexible vibrating disk feeding device includes the following steps: When the transfer tooling is at the loading station, control the plurality of loading devices to work to sequentially load various materials onto the transfer tooling; Control the material taking main body to move horizontally to extend into the loading station, and drive the transfer tooling full of materials to separate from the corresponding bearing bracket through the up-and-down movement of the lifting part, and drive the transfer tooling full of materials to be transferred to the material taking area; When the material taking part stays in the material taking area for a preset duration to ensure that the external device completes the material taking action, control the material taking part to drive the transfer tooling that has completed the material taking to continue moving until it is far away from the material taking area; Control the return device to move out the transfer tooling that has completed the material taking through the material taking area and send it back to the loading station; Identify the state of the transfer tooling through the second vision detection piece. If there is remaining material on the transfer tooling and the remaining material is qualified material, put the material back into the corresponding loading device to avoid waste of materials and repeated loading of materials into the transfer tooling at the loading station, and send the empty transfer tooling back to the loading station.

2. The control method of the flexible vibrating disk feeding device according to claim 1, characterized in that Each of the loading devices includes a first mounting rack, and a bearing bracket, a material moving part and a plurality of vibrating disk assemblies arranged on the first mounting rack. The material moving part is movably installed in the transverse direction, and the bearing bracket can move in the transverse direction and can correspond to a plurality of the vibrating disk assemblies in sequence during the movement; The step of, when the transfer tooling is at the loading station, controlling the plurality of loading devices to work to sequentially load various materials onto the transfer tooling includes: Control the material moving part in the loading device far from the feeding station to move a transfer tooling to the corresponding bearing bracket; Control the bearing bracket to drive the transfer tooling to sequentially pass through a plurality of the vibrating disk assemblies to be able to receive the corresponding materials; Control the material moving part in the adjacent loading device to move the transfer tooling after taking the material to the corresponding bearing bracket until the transfer tooling completes the material taking in the loading device adjacent to the feeding station.

3. The control method of the flexible vibrating disk feeding device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The vibrating disk assembly includes a first vibrating disk, a first vision detection piece and a first transfer part; The step of controlling the bearing bracket to drive the transfer tooling to sequentially pass through a plurality of the vibrating disk assemblies to be able to receive the corresponding materials includes: Control the carrier bracket to stay at a position longitudinally corresponding to one of the first vibrating trays; Mark the materials that meet the preset requirements detected by the first vision detection component, and control the first transfer part to pick up and transfer the marked materials to the transfer tooling on the carrier bracket; Control the carrier bracket to continue moving until it stops near the first vibrating tray in the other feeding device to complete the material picking of the corresponding material.

4. The control method of the flexible vibrating disk feeding device according to claim 1, wherein Each of the feeding devices includes a first mounting frame, and a carrier bracket, a material transfer part and a plurality of vibrating tray components arranged on the first mounting frame; The step of controlling the return device to move out the transfer tooling that has completed material picking in the material picking area and send it back to the feeding station includes: Control the return device to move out the transfer tooling that has completed material picking in the material picking area to the side of the feeding station facing away from the feeding station; Control the material transfer part to transfer the corresponding transfer tooling to the feeding station and place it on the corresponding carrier bracket.

5. The control method of the flexible vibrating disk feeding device according to claim 4, characterized in that, The step of controlling the material transfer part to transfer the corresponding transfer tooling to the feeding station and place it on the corresponding carrier bracket includes: When the material transfer part receives a material transfer instruction, control the material transfer part to move to place the corresponding transfer tooling on the corresponding carrier bracket.

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