A kind of net placing machine for knuckle casting

Abstract

The present application provides a steering knuckle casting mesh releasing machine, which belongs to the technical field of steering knuckle casting, and comprises a frame and a mechanical arm and a material storage mechanism arranged above the frame, wherein an electric clamp for picking up a filter is arranged at the execution end of the mechanical arm; the execution end of the mechanical arm is provided with a material preparation disk, a first motor for driving the material preparation disk to rotate and a cylinder for driving the material preparation disk to rise and fall, a plurality of bearing grooves for inserting the filter are arranged in a circumferential array on the material preparation disk, a plurality of clamping plates are radially slidably connected inside each of the bearing grooves, and a driving member is arranged on the material preparation disk; a swing arm and a second motor are arranged on the frame, a turnover disk and a third motor are arranged at the distal end of the swing arm, and a plurality of bearing columns are arranged on the upper surface of the turnover disk; a feeding mechanism is arranged on the frame; the present application can reduce the probability of dislocation of the filter inside the turnover component while improving the overall efficiency of the steering knuckle casting mesh releasing work.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of steering knuckle casting, and in particular to a steering knuckle casting net placing machine. Background Art

[0002] The steering knuckle, also known as the "ram's horn", is one of the important parts in the automobile steering axle. It can make the car run stably and sensitively transmit the driving direction. The steering knuckle can bear the front load of the car, support and drive the front wheels to rotate around the kingpin. It is a key component to ensure the steering stability and responsiveness of the car.

[0003] During the casting process of the steering knuckle, a conical filter is usually installed between the top of the riser and the sprue sleeve to remove inclusions and impurities in the molten metal. At present, the installation of the conical filter is generally carried out manually. In order to improve the casting efficiency and reduce the operating risks of personnel, some casting equipment will be equipped with a manipulator to assemble the conical filter.

[0004] Referring to the Chinese patent document with announcement number CN218775633U and announcement date March 31, 2023, named "Rotary Disc Net Release Device for Casting", multiple filter screens can be loaded at one time by using a turntable as a turnover component, which can avoid frequent and large-scale net removal operations and improve the overall efficiency of steering knuckle casting work by reducing operating time.

[0005] Referring to the above technical solution, when the filter is transferred and assembled by a robot, the robot often transfers the filter on the storage device to the turnover component one by one, and then the robot assembles the filter on the turnover component to the mold one by one, but this method will still affect the overall efficiency of the steering knuckle casting work to a certain extent; and when the robot is assembling the filter, the turnover component will often move with the robot, and this process may cause the filter to be misplaced inside the turnover component, thereby affecting the normal grasping of the robot in the subsequent work process. Summary of the invention

[0006] In view of this, the present application provides a steering knuckle casting mesh placing machine, which is mainly used to solve the problems of low turnover efficiency of the filter screen and easy misalignment during the turnover process of the filter screen.

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present application provides a steering knuckle casting mesh placing machine, including a frame and a mechanical arm and a storage mechanism arranged above the frame, wherein an electric clamp for picking up the filter is arranged at the execution end of the mechanical arm; the execution end of the mechanical arm is provided with a preparation disk, a first motor for driving the preparation disk to rotate and a cylinder for driving the preparation disk to rise and fall, a plurality of bearing slots for inserting the filter are opened in a circumferential array on the preparation disk, a plurality of clamps are radially slidably connected inside each of the bearing slots, and a driving member for driving the clamps to slide inside the bearing slot is arranged on the preparation disk; a swing arm and a second motor for driving the swing arm to rotate are arranged on the frame, a turnover disk and a third motor for driving the turnover disk to rotate are arranged at the distal end of the swing arm, and a plurality of bearing columns corresponding to the bearing slots are arranged on the upper surface of the turnover disk; a loading mechanism is arranged on the frame for transferring the filter stored on the storage mechanism to the turnover disk.

[0008] By adopting the above technical scheme, the transfer of multiple filter screens can be completed at one time by utilizing the cooperation of the preparation tray and the turnover tray. When the preparation tray participates in the assembly of the filter screens, the turnover tray can simultaneously participate in the loading of the next batch of filter screens. With the cooperation of the clamping plate, the filter screens can also be clamped and positioned to prevent the filter screens from being misplaced or offset.

[0009] Optionally, the driving member includes a large diameter toothed disk rotatably connected to the middle part of the preparation disk, and a driven gear ring capable of engaging with the large diameter toothed disk is rotatably connected inside each load-bearing groove, and each driven gear ring is provided with a plurality of guide grooves corresponding to the clamping plates one by one, and the guide grooves are inclined from the distal end of the driven gear ring toward the proximal end of the driven gear ring, and the clamping plates are provided with guide columns capable of being inserted into the guide grooves, and the preparation disk is provided with a fourth motor capable of driving the large diameter toothed disk to rotate.

[0010] By adopting the above technical solution, the clamping plate inside each bearing groove can be tightened.

[0011] Optionally, a positioning column is provided at the center of the turnover disk, and a positioning hole for inserting the positioning column is provided at the center of the bottom surface of the preparation disk.

[0012] By adopting the above technical solution, coaxial positioning of the turnover plate and the material preparation plate can be achieved.

[0013] Optionally, the material storage mechanism includes a material storage tray arranged on a frame and a fifth motor for driving the material storage tray to rotate, and a plurality of triangular plates and a plurality of groups of limit members for supporting the filter are arranged in a circumferential array on the material storage tray, each group of limit members includes three vertical rods, and the filter can be placed between the three vertical rods in the same group in a vertical stacked manner.

[0014] By adopting the above technical solution, the filters can be stored in a vertical stacking manner, saving space.

[0015] Optionally, the triangular plates are hinged to the storage tray via torsion springs, the vertical poles are hinged to the storage tray via rocker arms, and the triangular plates are provided with strip avoidance holes for the vertical poles to pass through, so that the three vertical poles in the same group tend to tighten toward the center of the triangular plate.

[0016] By adopting the above technical solution, the vertically stacked filter screens can be adaptively elastically clamped.

[0017] Optionally, the feeding mechanism includes a linear drive arranged on a frame, and the execution end of the linear drive is provided with a sixth motor and two clamping arms, the two clamping arms are symmetrically arranged with each other in a hinged manner, and the sixth motor is used to drive the two clamping arms to tighten or loosen with their own hinge points as a reference, and the bottom ends of the two clamping arms are provided with clamping wheels for clamping the filter.

[0018] By adopting the above technical solution, the filter screen stored on the material storage tray can be removed by clamping and taking out the material.

[0019] Optionally, each of the clamping arms is provided with a tape unwinding reel, a tape rewinding reel and an unwinding motor for driving the tape unwinding reel to rotate.

[0020] By adopting the above technical solution, the stability of the filter screen material picking operation can be improved by means of sticking while clamping the material, so as to prevent the filter screen from slipping during the clamping process.

[0021] Optionally, a camera is provided on the electric clamp to detect whether the filter is in place.

[0022] In summary, compared with the prior art, the present application includes at least one of the following beneficial technical effects:

[0023] 1. Two disc-shaped turnover parts are used to complete the turnover of multiple filter screens at one time. When one disc-shaped turnover part cooperates with the manipulator to assemble the filter screens one by one, the other disc-shaped turnover part can directly load the next batch of filter screens, reducing the overall time consumption of the steering knuckle casting and placing the screens, thereby improving the efficiency of the steering knuckle casting work.

[0024] 2. When the robot is assembling the filter, it can clamp and position multiple filter screens on the disc-shaped circulating component that moves with it, reducing the probability of the filter screens being misplaced inside the disc-shaped circulating component, so as to improve the quality of subsequent steering knuckle casting and net placement.

[0025] 3. The filters are stored in a vertical stacking manner and can be clamped elastically and adaptively, which can meet the storage requirements of filters of different sizes while reducing the possibility of misalignment and collapse of the filters. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a steering knuckle casting net-laying machine for this application;

[0027] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the material preparation tray for this application;

[0028] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the material preparation tray and the driving member for this application;

[0029] Figure 4 An exploded view of the driven gear ring and the splint for this application;

[0030] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the turntable and feeding mechanism of this application;

[0031] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the material storage mechanism of this application.

[0032] Explanation of the accompanying drawings: 1. frame; 2. mechanical arm; 21. electric gripper; 3. material storage mechanism; 31. material storage tray; 32. fifth motor; 33. triangle plate; 34. vertical pole; 4. material preparation tray; 41. first motor; 42. cylinder; 43. load-bearing groove; 44. clamping plate; 45. driving member; 451. large diameter gear disc; 452. driven gear ring; 453. guide groove; 454. guide column; 455. fourth motor; 5. swing arm; 51. second motor; 52. revolving disk; 53. third motor; 54. load-bearing column; 6. feeding mechanism; 61. linear drive; 62. sixth motor; 63. clamping arm; 64. clamping wheel; 65. tape unwinding disk; 66. tape rewinding disk; 67. unwinding motor; 7. positioning column; 8. positioning hole; 9. camera. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the following will be combined with the embodiments of the present application. Figure 1-Figure 6 , the technical scheme of the embodiment of the present application is clearly and completely described. Obviously, the described embodiment is a part of the embodiment of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the described embodiment of the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field belong to the scope of protection of this application.

[0034] Reference Figure 1 The present embodiment provides a knuckle casting mesh placing machine, comprising a frame 1 and a mechanical arm 2, a turnover mechanism, a storage mechanism 3 and a feeding mechanism 6 arranged above the frame 1. The execution end of the mechanical arm 2 is provided with an electric clamp 21 for picking up the filter screen, the storage mechanism 3 is used for storing the filter screen in large quantities, and the feeding mechanism 6 is used for transferring the filter screen stored on the storage mechanism 3 to the turnover mechanism.

[0035] Among them, refer to Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 5 , the turnover mechanism includes a material preparation tray 4, a first motor 41, a cylinder 42, a bearing slot 43, a clamping plate 44, a driving member 45, a second motor 51, a swing arm 5, a turnover tray 52, a third motor 53 and a bearing column 54. The first motor 41 and the cylinder 42 are both fixedly connected to the execution end of the robot arm 2, and the transition plate rotatably connected to the material preparation tray 4 is fixedly connected to the execution end of the cylinder 42. The output shaft of the first motor 41 is connected to the material preparation tray 4 in an axial sliding connection. The first motor 41 and the cylinder 42 can respectively drive the material preparation tray 4 to rotate or lift during operation. The bearing slots 43 are arranged in a circumferential array on the material preparation tray 4, and the bearing slots 43 can be inserted into the filter. The clamping plates 44 are arranged in a circumferential array inside the bearing slots 43 in a radial sliding manner, and the driving member 45 is used to drive the clamping plates 44 to slide inside the bearing slots 43. The second motor 51 is arranged on the frame 1, the swing arm 5 is arranged on the output shaft of the second motor 51, the turntable 52 is rotatably connected to the distal end of the swing arm 5, the third motor 53 is arranged at the distal end of the swing arm 5 and can drive the turntable 52 to rotate, and the bearing columns 54 are arranged in a circular array on the upper surface of the turntable 52, and the bearing columns 54 correspond one by one to the bearing grooves 43.

[0036] When the steering knuckle casting and net laying work is carried out, the filter stored on the storage mechanism 3 is first transferred to the turnover plate 52 through the feeding mechanism 6, which serves as the first turnover process of the filter. In this process, the second motor 51 can drive the swing arm 5 and the turnover plate 52 to change their positions to prevent the turnover plate 52 from interfering with the operation of the feeding mechanism 6, and the third motor 53 can drive the turnover plate 52 to rotate, so as to provide operating space for subsequent filter transfer work after completing the transfer of one filter. The mechanical arm 2 then drives the material preparation plate 4 to move to just above the turnover plate 52, and the material preparation plate 4 is abutted against the upper surface of the turnover plate 52 through the cooperation of the first motor 41 and the cylinder 42. At this time, the filter screens sleeved on the outside of each bearing column 54 on the turnover plate 52 will pass through the corresponding bearing grooves 43 on the material preparation plate 4, and under the action of the driving member 45, the multiple clamping plates 44 inside each bearing groove 43 will be tightened inward and abut against the filter screen, and then the cylinder 42 and the mechanical arm 2 will drive the material preparation plate 4 to rise and separate from the turnover plate 52, completing the transfer of multiple filter screens at one time while preventing the filter screens from shifting in position; and in the process of the electric clamp 21 performing subsequent picking and assembly work on the filter screen on the material preparation plate 4, the second motor 51, the third motor 53 and the feeding mechanism 6 cooperate to enable the turnover plate 52 to be put into the first turnover process of the filter screen again, so that the assembly work and turnover work of the filter screen are carried out simultaneously, and the overall time consumption of the steering knuckle casting and net placing work is reduced as much as possible.

[0037] Among them, refer to Figure 3 and Figure 4The driving member 45 includes a large-diameter toothed disc 451, a driven toothed ring 452, a guide groove 453, a guide column 454 and a fourth motor 455. The large-diameter toothed disc 451 is rotatably connected to the middle of the preparation disc 4, and a plurality of driven toothed rings 452 are provided and are rotatably connected to the inside of each bearing groove 43, and the driven toothed rings 452 can mesh with the large-diameter toothed disc 451. Each driven toothed ring 452 is provided with a plurality of guide grooves 453 corresponding to the clamping plates 44, and the guide grooves 453 are inclined from the distal end of the driven toothed ring 452 toward the proximal end of the driven toothed ring 452, and each clamping plate 44 is provided with a guide column 454 that can be inserted into the guide groove 453. The large-diameter toothed disc 451 can be provided in the form of a double-layer toothed disc, and the fourth motor 455 is provided on the preparation disc 4 and can drive the large-diameter toothed disc 451 to rotate in a gear transmission manner.

[0038] When the fourth motor 455 drives the large diameter toothed disc 451 to rotate, the multiple driven gear rings 452 will rotate accordingly due to the meshing connection relationship between themselves and the large diameter toothed disc 451. At this time, the circumferential position of the guide groove 453 will change, thereby causing the position of the guide column 454 to change, and then the splint 44 where the guide column 454 is located will also undergo radial displacement.

[0039] Among them, refer to Figure 5 and Figure 6 The material storage mechanism 3 includes a material storage tray 31, a fifth motor 32, a plurality of triangular plates 33 and a plurality of groups of limiting members. The material storage tray 31 is rotatably connected to the frame 1, and the fifth motor 32 is arranged on the frame 1 and can drive the material storage tray 31 to rotate. The plurality of triangular plates 33 are circumferentially arrayed on the material storage tray 31 by means of torsion spring hinges, and each group of limiting members includes three vertical rods 34, and the vertical rods 34 are hinged on the material storage tray 31 by rocker rods, and strip-shaped avoidance holes for the vertical rods 34 to pass through are provided on the triangular plates 33, and the three vertical rods 34 in the same group can have a tendency to tighten toward the center of the triangular plates 33 under the action of the triangular plates 33 and the torsion springs.

[0040] When the filter is stored between the three vertical poles 34 of the same group in a vertical stack, the triangular plate 33 will rotate due to the action of the torsion spring, causing the three vertical poles 34 of the same group to tighten toward the center of the triangular plate 33, and can elastically and adaptively clamp the filter placed on the triangular plate 33, which can meet the storage needs of filters of different sizes and reduce the risk of misalignment and collapse of the filter during storage.

[0041] Among them, refer to Figure 1 and Figure 4The feeding mechanism 6 includes a linear drive 61, a sixth motor 62, two clamping arms 63, two clamping wheels 64 and two clamping auxiliary parts. The linear drive 61 is arranged on the frame 1, the sixth motor 62 is arranged at the execution end of the linear drive 61, and the two clamping arms 63 are symmetrically arranged at the execution end of the linear drive 61 in a hinged manner. The sixth motor 62 can drive the two clamping arms 63 to tighten or loosen based on their own hinge points through gear transmission. The two clamping wheels 64 are respectively rotatably connected to the bottom ends of the two clamping arms 63. The two clamping auxiliary parts are respectively arranged on the two clamping arms 63. The clamping auxiliary parts include a tape unwinding disk 65, a tape winding disk 66 and an unwinding motor 67. The tape unwinding disk 65 and the tape winding disk 66 are both rotatably connected to the clamping arm 63. The unwinding motor 67 is arranged on the clamping arm 63 and is used to drive the tape unwinding disk 65 to rotate. After the external tape roll is assembled on the tape unwinding reel 65 , the unwinding end of the external tape roll can be passed around the clamping wheel 64 and fixed on the tape winding reel 66 , so that the tape contacts the filter screen instead of the clamping wheel 64 .

[0042] When the filter needs to be transferred from the storage tray 31 to the turnover tray 52, the two clamping arms 63 are moved to a suitable height through the cooperation of the linear drive 61, and then the sixth motor 62 drives the two clamping arms 63 to tighten, so that the two clamping wheels 64 clamp the top filter on the storage tray 31, and then the top filter on the storage tray 31 can be transferred to the turnover tray 52 through the cooperation of the linear drive 61 and the two clamping arms 63. In addition, in the process of the two clamping wheels 64 clamping the filter, the external tape roll assembled on the tape unwinding disk 65 can replace the clamping wheels 64 to contact the filter, and complete the loading of the filter in a clamping and sticking manner to prevent the filter from slipping off between the two clamping wheels 64.

[0043] Reference Figure 2 and Figure 5 A positioning column 7 is provided at the center of the turnover disk 52, and a positioning hole 8 for inserting the positioning column 7 is provided at the center of the bottom surface of the preparation disk 4.

[0044] During the process of rotating the filter screen, the positioning column 7 can also play the same role as the bearing column 54 to carry an additional filter screen, and this filter screen can be directly grabbed by the electric clamp 21 before the turnover disk 52 and the preparation disk 4 come into contact. In addition, when the turnover disk 52 and the preparation disk 4 come into contact, since the filter screen carried by the outside of the positioning column 7 has been directly grabbed by the electric clamp 21, the positioning column 7 can be inserted into the positioning hole 8 to achieve coaxial positioning of the turnover disk 52 and the preparation disk 4, thereby improving the stability of the turnover of the filter screen.

[0045] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 A camera 9 is provided on the electric clamp 21 to detect whether the filter is placed in place.

[0046] After the knuckle casting and net placing work is completed, the camera 9 can determine whether the filter is placed in place by means of video monitoring.

[0047] The implementation principle of a steering knuckle casting net-laying machine in the embodiment of the present application is:

[0048] When the steering knuckle casting and net laying work is carried out, the filter stored on the storage mechanism 3 is first transferred to the turnover plate 52 through the feeding mechanism 6, which serves as the first turnover process of the filter. In this process, the second motor 51 can drive the swing arm 5 and the turnover plate 52 to change their positions to prevent the turnover plate 52 from interfering with the operation of the feeding mechanism 6, and the third motor 53 can drive the turnover plate 52 to rotate, so as to provide operating space for subsequent filter transfer work after completing the transfer of one filter.

[0049] Then the robotic arm 2 drives the material preparation tray 4 to move to just above the turnover tray 52, and the material preparation tray 4 is abutted against the upper surface of the turnover tray 52 through the cooperation of the first motor 41 and the cylinder 42. At this time, the filter screens sleeved on the outside of each bearing column 54 on the turnover tray 52 will pass through the corresponding bearing grooves 43 on the material preparation tray 4. Under the action of the driving member 45, the multiple clamps 44 inside each bearing groove 43 will tighten inward and abut against the filter screen, and then the cylinder 42 and the robotic arm 2 will drive the material preparation tray 4 to rise and separate from the turnover tray 52, completing the transfer of multiple filter screens at one time while preventing the filter screens from shifting in position.

[0050] In addition, during the subsequent picking and assembly process of the filter screen on the preparation tray 4 by the electric clamp 21, the second motor 51, the third motor 53 and the feeding mechanism 6 cooperate to enable the turnover tray 52 to be put back into the first turnover process of the filter screen, so that the assembly work and turnover work of the filter screen can be carried out simultaneously, thereby reducing the overall time consumption of the steering knuckle casting and placing the screen as much as possible.

[0051] In addition, it should be noted that in the description of this application, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal communication of two components. For those skilled in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in this application can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0052] The above is a preferred embodiment of the present application. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principles described in the present application. These improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A knuckle casting net-laying machine, comprising a frame and a mechanical arm and a material storage mechanism arranged above the frame, wherein: The execution end of the mechanical arm is provided with an electric clamp for picking up the filter screen, which is characterized by: The execution end of the mechanical arm is provided with a material preparation tray, a first motor for driving the material preparation tray to rotate, and a cylinder for driving the material preparation tray to rise and fall. The material preparation tray is provided with a plurality of bearing slots for inserting filter screens in a circumferential array, and a plurality of clamping plates are radially slidably connected inside each bearing slot. The material preparation tray is provided with a driving member for driving the clamping plates to slide inside the bearing slots. The frame is provided with a swing arm and a second motor for driving the swing arm to rotate, a turntable and a third motor for driving the turntable to rotate are provided at the distal end of the swing arm, and a plurality of bearing columns corresponding to the bearing grooves are provided on the upper surface of the turntable; The frame is provided with a feeding mechanism for transferring the filter screen stored on the storage mechanism to the turnover plate; The driving member includes a large-diameter toothed disk rotatably connected to the middle part of the preparation disk, and a driven gear ring capable of engaging with the large-diameter toothed disk is rotatably connected inside each load-bearing groove, and each driven gear ring is provided with a plurality of guide grooves corresponding to the clamping plates one by one, and the guide grooves are inclined from the distal end of the driven gear ring toward the proximal end of the driven gear ring, and the clamping plates are provided with guide columns capable of being inserted into the guide grooves, and the preparation disk is provided with a fourth motor capable of driving the large-diameter toothed disk to rotate.

2. A steering knuckle casting net-laying machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: A positioning column is arranged at the center of the turnover disk, and a positioning hole for inserting the positioning column is arranged at the center of the bottom surface of the material preparation disk.

3. A steering knuckle casting net-laying machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material storage mechanism includes a material storage tray arranged on a frame and a fifth motor for driving the material storage tray to rotate. A plurality of triangular plates and a plurality of groups of limit members for supporting the filter are arranged in a circumferential array on the material storage tray. Each group of limit members includes three vertical poles. The filter can be placed between the three vertical poles in the same group in a vertical stacking manner.

4. A steering knuckle casting net-laying machine according to claim 3, characterized in that: The triangular plates are hinged on the material storage tray via torsion springs, the vertical poles are hinged on the material storage tray via rocker arms, and the triangular plates are provided with strip avoidance holes for the vertical poles to pass through, so that the three vertical poles in the same group tend to tighten toward the center of the triangular plate.

5. The net-laying machine for knuckle casting according to claim 1, characterized in that: The feeding mechanism includes a linear drive arranged on a frame, and the execution end of the linear drive is provided with a sixth motor and two clamping arms. The two clamping arms are symmetrically arranged with each other in a hinged manner. The sixth motor is used to drive the two clamping arms to tighten or loosen with their own hinge points as a reference, and the bottom ends of the two clamping arms are provided with clamping wheels for clamping the filter.

6. A steering knuckle casting net-laying machine according to claim 5, characterized in that: Each of the clamping arms is provided with a tape unwinding disk, a tape rewinding disk and an unwinding motor for driving the tape unwinding disk to rotate.

7. The net-laying machine for knuckle casting according to claim 1, characterized in that: The electric clamp is provided with a camera for detecting whether the filter is in place.

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