Valve automated disassembly system and method

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of valve disassembly, and discloses a valve automatic disassembly system and method, the valve automatic disassembly system comprising a ground rail robot, a truss robot, a positioner comprising a rotary worktable for clamping a valve to be disassembled, the rotary worktable driving the valve to be disassembled to rotate to a corresponding work area, a radial drilling machine, an industrial robot, a quick-change clamp head one installed on a six-degree-of-freedom mechanical arm of the industrial robot, the quick-change clamp head one being capable of clamping any one of an electric wrench with a biasing head, a pneumatic clamp toe, and an electromagnetic induction heating head, and a power-assisted manipulator, a quick-change clamp head two on the power-assisted manipulator being capable of clamping any one of an impact hammer, a nut breaking cutter, a cutting machine, a large-torque electric wrench, and an electric impact wrench.The present application can realize both semi-automatic and fully-automatic valve disassembly, integrates overall disassembly system control, improves disassembly efficiency, and solves the problems of low efficiency, high risk, and low automation level in disassembly of coal chemical industry valves.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of valve disassembly technology, and more specifically, to an automated valve disassembly system and method. Background Technology

[0002] Valves used in coal chemical and petrochemical industries are typically placed in harsh environments, requiring disassembly and maintenance over long periods. Current valve disassembly processes primarily involve: nuts on valves that have become heavily corroded or rusted, resulting in a high degree of fit between the nut and the bolt; these are currently disassembled manually using specialized tools (heating the nut before tightening or cutting it off); bolt threads damaged by corrosion or rust are also disassembled manually using specialized tools (cutting off the exposed bolt portion and drilling out the embedded bolt portion); and the disassembly and transport of all components must be done manually or with the assistance of a crane. Currently, the repair cycle for large-sized valves can reach 15 days. Because there are currently no automated valve disassembly lines, the disassembly process is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and results in high labor costs. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In view of this, and in order to solve the problems existing in the prior art, the present invention proposes an automated valve disassembly system and method, the specific technical solution of which is as follows:

[0004] An automated valve disassembly system includes:

[0005] A ground-rail robot is installed on a ground rail for transporting valves and can move horizontally along the axis of the ground rail to transfer valves and their components.

[0006] A gantry robot includes a support frame, two X-axis motion mechanisms spaced apart on the support frame, a Y-axis motion mechanism slidably connected between the two X-axis motion mechanisms, and a Z-axis motion mechanism that can slide along the Y-axis. The Z-axis motion mechanism is provided with a clamping part and drives the clamping part to reciprocate along the Z-axis direction. The clamping part can clamp a tool for disassembling a valve stem or a tool for disassembling an upper valve body.

[0007] The positioner is mounted on a positioner rail and can move horizontally along the axis of the positioner rail; the positioner includes a rotary table for clamping the valve to be disassembled, the rotary table drives the valve to be disassembled to rotate to the corresponding working area; the clamping part on the gantry robot can use the upper valve body disassembly tooling to place the valve and its parts on the rail robot onto the positioner.

[0008] A radial drilling machine is located outside the positioner. The drill bit on the radial drilling machine is used to machine the bottom hole for the wire taker on the screw and to directly drill and remove the screw that has not been removed.

[0009] The industrial robot includes a first industrial robot and a second industrial robot located on both sides of the positioner. Both the first and second industrial robots are equipped with a six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm. The quick-change gripper head installed on the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm can clamp any one of the following: an electric wrench with an offset head, a pneumatic gripper, or an electromagnetic induction heating head. The valve core removal gripper can be clamped on the quick-change gripper head or on the clamping part of the gantry robot.

[0010] There are five assisted robotic arms, which are located on both sides of the positioner. The first assisted robotic arm, the second assisted robotic arm and the second industrial robot are located on the same side, and the third assisted robotic arm, the fourth assisted robotic arm and the fifth assisted robotic arm are located on the same side as the first industrial robot. The quick-change gripper head installed on the assisted robotic arms can clamp any one of the following: impact hammer, nut cutter, cutting machine, high torque electric wrench and electric impact wrench.

[0011] Preferably, the ground-rail robot is equipped with a telescopic tray for placing valves and their components; and / or, the rotary table of the positioner is equipped with a hydraulic chuck for clamping valves to be disassembled.

[0012] Preferably, the first assisting robot, the second industrial robot, and the second assisting robot are arranged sequentially along the extension direction of the positioner's ground rail, with the first assisting robot being closest to the radial drilling machine; the fifth assisting robot, the fourth assisting robot, and the third assisting robot are also arranged sequentially along the extension direction of the positioner's ground rail, with the fifth assisting robot being closest to the radial drilling machine, and the first industrial robot is installed adjacent to the side of the fifth assisting robot facing the positioner's ground rail.

[0013] This invention also proposes an automated valve disassembly method, which applies the aforementioned automated valve disassembly system, including a semi-automatic valve disassembly method and a fully automated valve disassembly method. The fully automated valve disassembly method is suitable for valves with very light corrosion.

[0014] In the first semi-automatic valve disassembly method, the working area of ​​the first assisting robot in the valve automatic disassembly system is defined as station ①, the working area of ​​the second industrial robot is defined as station ②, the working area of ​​the second assisting robot is defined as station ③, the working area of ​​the third assisting robot is defined as station ④, the working area of ​​the fourth assisting robot is defined as station ⑤, the working area of ​​the fifth assisting robot is defined as station ⑥, and the working area of ​​the radial drilling machine is defined as station ⑦.

[0015] A valve body disassembly fixture is mounted on the gantry robot. The gantry robot, in conjunction with the valve body disassembly fixture, is used to transfer the valve to be disassembled from the ground rail robot to the positioner. The valve to be disassembled is then mounted on the rotary table of the positioner, and the rotary table moves the valve to be disassembled into each workstation.

[0016] The semi-automatic valve disassembly method involves the following steps for disassembling a single valve:

[0017] (ii) For valves with no or slight corrosion, where most nuts and bolts are easy to remove.

[0018] S1. At workstation ⑥, the fifth-powered robotic arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench to quickly disassemble the nut.

[0019] S2. After the nut is disassembled, the position is changed to workstation ① by the positioner. The first assist robot arm is used to clamp the impact hammer to disassemble the upper and lower valve bodies. The upper valve body is removed by the quick-change clamping tooling of the gantry robot.

[0020] S3. Change the position to the workstation using the positioner ⑥ Use the electric impact wrench on the fifth assist manipulator to put the nut on the screw.

[0021] S4. The screw with the nut on its back is moved to the workstation by the positioner. ⑤ The electric impact wrench is clamped by the fourth assist robot arm for quick disassembly.

[0022] (III) For valves that are severely corroded, in which most nuts and screws are difficult to remove.

[0023] Nut disassembly:

[0024] S1. At station ⑤, use the fourth assist robot to clamp a high-torque electric wrench to loosen the nut. The loosened nut is then moved to station ⑥ by a positioner to use the fifth assist robot to clamp an electric impact wrench for quick release.

[0025] S2. The remaining uncracked nuts are at station ② where the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot is used to clamp the electromagnetic induction heating head to heat the nuts; the heated nuts are then moved to station ⑤ where the fourth assisting robotic arm is used to clamp the high-torque electric wrench to loosen them; the loosened nuts are then moved to station ⑥ where the fifth assisting robotic arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench for quick release.

[0026] S3. Finally, the remaining unloosened nuts are directly moved to station ① by the positioner and the first assist robot arm is used to clamp the nut cutter and cut it.

[0027] upper valve body disassembly:

[0028] After the nut is removed, the upper and lower valve bodies are disassembled at station ① using the first assisted manipulator to quickly change the clamping impact hammer, and the upper valve body is removed by the gantry robot using the quick-change clamping tooling for disassembling the upper valve body.

[0029] Screw disassembly:

[0030] S1. At station ⑥, the fifth assist robot arm is used to clamp an electric impact wrench to put a nut on the screw. The screw with the nut on it is moved to station ⑤ by a positioner and a high-torque electric wrench is used to loosen it. The loosened screw is moved to station ⑥ by a positioner and a high-torque electric wrench is used to quickly release it.

[0031] S2. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, at station ②, the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot is used to clamp an electromagnetic induction heating head to heat the screw; after heating, the screw is moved to station ⑤ by a positioner and a high-torque electric wrench is clamped to loosen it; the loosened screw is moved to station ⑥ by a positioner and an electric impact wrench is clamped to quickly disassemble it.

[0032] S3. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, the position is changed to station ⑥ using a positioner, and the remaining screw is cut using a quick-change cutting machine with the fifth-assisted robotic arm. After cutting, the screw is changed to station ⑦ using a radial drilling machine to drill a pilot hole for the wire taker. The screw with the pilot hole drilled is changed to between station ① and station ② using a positioner, and the wire taker is driven into the pilot hole by the pneumatic gripper using the impact hammer on the first-assisted robotic arm and the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot. The screw with the wire taker is changed to station ⑤ using a positioner, and a high-torque electric wrench is used to loosen it using the fourth-assisted robotic arm. The loosened screw is changed to station ⑥ using a positioner, and a quick-change electric impact wrench is used for quick disassembly using the fifth-assisted robotic arm.

[0033] S4. The screws that are still not disassembled are moved to station ⑦ by a positioner and then drilled out one by one using a radial drilling machine.

[0034] (iii) For situations where the nut and screw in a valve cannot be disassembled and direct cutting is required.

[0035] S1. At workstation ①, the first assist robot arm is used to clamp the nut cutter and cut the nuts sequentially.

[0036] S2. After the nut is disassembled, the upper and lower valve bodies are disassembled at station ① using the first assist robot to quickly change the clamping impact hammer, and the upper valve body is removed by the gantry robot to quickly change the clamping tool for disassembling the upper valve body.

[0037] S3. The position is changed to station ⑥ by the positioner. The fifth assist robot arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench to put the nut on the screw. The screw with the nut is changed to station ⑤ by the positioner. The fourth assist robot arm is used to clamp the high torque electric wrench to loosen it. The loosened screw is changed to station ⑥ by the positioner. The fifth assist robot arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench for quick release.

[0038] S4. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, at station ②, the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot is used to clamp the electromagnetic induction heating head to heat the screw; after heating, the screw is moved to station ⑤ by a positioner and a high-torque electric wrench is clamped to loosen it; the loosened screw is moved to station ⑥ by a positioner and an electric impact wrench is clamped to quickly disassemble it.

[0039] S5. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, the position is changed to station ⑥ using a positioner, and the remaining screw is cut using a quick-change cutting machine with the fifth-assisted robotic arm. After cutting, the screw is changed to station ⑦ using a radial drilling machine to drill a pilot hole for the wire taker. The screw with the pilot hole drilled is changed to between station ① and station ② using a positioner, and the wire taker is driven into the pilot hole by the pneumatic gripper using the impact hammer on the first-assisted robotic arm and the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot. The screw with the wire taker is changed to station ⑤ using a positioner, and a high-torque electric wrench is used to loosen it using the fourth-assisted robotic arm. The loosened screw is changed to station ⑥ using a positioner, and an electric impact wrench is used for quick disassembly using the fifth-assisted robotic arm.

[0040] S6. The screws that are still not disassembled are moved to station ⑦ by a positioner and then drilled out one by one using a radial drilling machine.

[0041] In the second semi-automatic valve disassembly method, the working area of ​​the first assisting robot in the valve automatic disassembly system is defined as station ①, the working area of ​​the second industrial robot is defined as station ②, the working area of ​​the second assisting robot is defined as station ③, the working area of ​​the third assisting robot is defined as station ④, the working area of ​​the fourth assisting robot is defined as station ⑤, the working area of ​​the fifth assisting robot is defined as station ⑥, and the working area of ​​the radial drilling machine is defined as station ⑦; the middle of station ①, station ②, station ⑤, and station ⑥ corresponds to the left working area, and the middle of station ②, station ③, station ④, and station ⑤ corresponds to the right working area;

[0042] A valve body disassembly fixture is mounted on the gantry robot. The gantry robot, in conjunction with the valve body disassembly fixture, is used to transfer the valve to be disassembled from the ground rail robot to the positioner. The valve to be disassembled is then mounted on the rotary table of the positioner, and the rotary table moves the valve to be disassembled into each workstation.

[0043] The semi-automatic valve disassembly method involves the following steps for disassembling a single valve:

[0044] (ii) For valves with no or slight corrosion, where most nuts and bolts are easy to remove.

[0045] S1. At workstation ⑥, the fifth-powered robotic arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench to quickly disassemble the nut.

[0046] S2. After the nut is disassembled, the position is changed to workstation ① by the positioner. The first assist robot arm is used to clamp the impact hammer to disassemble the upper and lower valve bodies. The upper valve body is removed by the quick-change clamping tooling of the gantry robot.

[0047] S3. After disassembling the upper valve body, the positioner is transferred to station ③ via the positioner ground rail; at station ③, the second assist robot arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench to feed the screw back the nut.

[0048] S4. The screw with the nut on its back is moved to the workstation by a positioner. ④ The electric impact wrench is clamped by the third-powered robot arm for quick disassembly.

[0049] (ii) Regarding the situation where valves are severely corroded, and most nuts and screws are difficult to remove.

[0050] Nut disassembly:

[0051] S1. At station ⑤, use the fourth assist robot to clamp a high-torque electric wrench to loosen the nut. The loosened nut is then moved to station ③ by a positioner to use the second assist robot to clamp an electric impact wrench for quick release.

[0052] S2. The remaining uncracked nuts are at station ② where the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot clamps an electromagnetic induction heating head to heat the nuts; the heated nuts are then moved to station ⑤ where the fourth assisting robotic arm clamps a high-torque electric wrench to loosen them; the loosened nuts are then moved to station ③ where the second assisting robotic arm clamps an electric impact wrench for quick release.

[0053] S3. Finally, the remaining unloosened nuts are directly moved to the workstation by the positioner. ④ The nut cutter is used to clamp the nuts with the third-assist robot arm and cut them.

[0054] upper valve body disassembly:

[0055] After the nut is removed, the positioner is transferred to station ① via the positioner ground rail; at station ①, the first assist robot arm is used to clamp the impact hammer to disassemble the upper and lower valve bodies, and the upper valve body is removed by the gantry robot quick-change clamping tool for disassembling the upper valve body.

[0056] Screw disassembly:

[0057] S1. After disassembling the upper valve body, the positioner is transferred to station ③ via the positioner's ground rail; at station ③, the second assist robot arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench to put the nut on the screw; the screw with the nut on it is moved to station ⑤ via the positioner and the fourth assist robot arm is used to clamp the high-torque electric wrench to loosen it; the loosened screw is moved to station ③ via the positioner and the second assist robot arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench for quick release;

[0058] S2. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, at station ②, the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot is used to clamp an electromagnetic induction heating head to heat the screw; after heating, the screw is moved to station ⑤ by a positioner and a high-torque electric wrench is clamped to loosen it; the loosened screw is moved to station ③ by a positioner and an electric impact wrench is clamped to quickly disassemble it.

[0059] S3. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, the positioner is transferred to station ⑥ via the positioner's ground rail. The remaining screw is then cut using the fifth-assisted robotic arm's quick-change cutting machine. After cutting, the screw is moved to station ⑦ via the positioner and a radial drilling machine is used to drill a pilot hole for the wire taker. The screw with the drilled pilot hole is moved between station ① and station ② via the positioner. The wire taker is driven into the pilot hole by the pneumatic gripper gripper, which is then engaged by the impact hammer on the first-assisted robotic arm and the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot. The positioner is moved to the right working area via the positioner's ground rail and moved to station ⑤ via the positioner. A high-torque electric wrench is used to loosen the screw with the wire taker by the fourth-assisted robotic arm. The loosened screw is moved to station ③ via the positioner and a high-torque electric impact wrench is used for quick disassembly by the second-assisted robotic arm.

[0060] S4. The positioner is moved to station ⑦ via the positioner's ground rail. The screws that are still not disassembled are then drilled out one by one using a radial drilling machine.

[0061] (iii) For situations where the nut and screw in a valve cannot be disassembled and direct cutting is required.

[0062] S1. At workstation ④, the third-assist robot arm is used to clamp the nut cutter and cut the nuts sequentially.

[0063] S2. After the nut is disassembled, the positioner is transferred to station ① via the positioner ground rail. At station ①, the first assist robot is used to quickly change the clamping impact hammer to disassemble the upper and lower valve bodies. The upper valve body is removed by the gantry robot using the quick-change clamping tooling for disassembling the upper valve body.

[0064] S3. After disassembling the upper valve body, the positioner is transferred to station ③ via the positioner's ground rail; at station ③, the second-assist robot arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench to put the nut on the screw; the screw with the nut on it is moved to station ⑤ via the positioner and loosened using a high-torque electric wrench; the loosened screw is moved to station ③ via the positioner and the second-assist robot arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench for quick release.

[0065] S4. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, at station ②, the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot is used to clamp the electromagnetic induction heating head to heat the screw; after heating, the screw is moved to station ⑤ by a positioner and a high-torque electric wrench is clamped to loosen it; the loosened screw is moved to station ③ by a positioner and an electric impact wrench is clamped to quickly disassemble it.

[0066] S5. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, the positioner is moved to station ⑥, and the fifth-assisted robotic arm is used to clamp and cut the remaining screws. After cutting, the screws are moved to station ⑦, where a radial drilling machine is used to drill the pilot hole for the wire taker. The screws with the pilot hole drilled are moved to between station ① and station ②, where the impact hammer on the first-assisted robotic arm and the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot are used to clamp and pneumatic grippers to drive the wire taker into the pilot hole. After all the screws that have not been disassembled have been fitted with wire takers, the positioner is moved to the right working area via the positioner's ground rail. The positioner is moved to station ⑤, where the fourth-assisted robotic arm is used to clamp a high-torque electric wrench to loosen the screws with wire takers. The loosened screws are moved to station ③, where the second-assisted robotic arm is used to clamp an electric impact wrench for quick removal.

[0067] S6. The positioner is moved to station ⑦ via the positioner rail, and the screws that are still not disassembled are drilled out one by one using a radial drilling machine.

[0068] Preferably, in the above two semi-automatic valve disassembly methods, after the screw is completely disassembled, the valve stem in the valve is disassembled by the valve stem disassembly tooling clamped by the clamping part of the gantry robot, and then the valve core in the valve is disassembled by the quick-change valve core disassembly gripper on the clamping part of the gantry robot.

[0069] Preferably, in the above two semi-automatic valve disassembly methods, the method of using an electric impact wrench to apply a nut to the screw includes using a long socket to apply the nut, cutting a flat end to the screw, or welding a nut to the screw.

[0070] Preferably, in the above two semi-automatic valve disassembly methods, the method of loosening the screw with the back nut using a high-torque electric wrench includes using a high-torque electric wrench with an offset head, a hydraulic wrench with a collar, or designing a split socket.

[0071] In the fully automated valve disassembly method, the working area of ​​the first assisting robot in the valve automated disassembly system is defined as station ①, the working area of ​​the second industrial robot is defined as station ②, the working area of ​​the second assisting robot is defined as station ③, the working area of ​​the third assisting robot is defined as station ④, the working area of ​​the fourth assisting robot is defined as station ⑤, the working area of ​​the first industrial robot is defined as station ⑥, and the working area of ​​the radial drilling machine is defined as station ⑦.

[0072] A valve body disassembly fixture is mounted on the gantry robot. The gantry robot, in conjunction with the valve body disassembly fixture, is used to transfer the valve to be disassembled from the ground rail robot to the positioner. The valve to be disassembled is then mounted on the rotary table of the positioner, and the rotary table moves the valve to be disassembled into each workstation.

[0073] This fully automated valve disassembly method includes the following steps:

[0074] S1. At workstation ⑥, use the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the first industrial robot to clamp an electric wrench with an offset head to quickly disassemble the nut and screw.

[0075] S2. The upper valve body is disassembled and removed using a gantry robot clamping the valve body disassembly fixture;

[0076] S3. The valve stem is removed by quickly changing the clamping tool of the gantry robot to disassemble the valve stem.

[0077] S4. The position is changed to station ② by a positioner, and the valve core is removed from the lower valve body by the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot.

[0078] Compared to existing technologies, this invention proposes a valve disassembly production line that integrates a power-assisted manipulator, industrial robot, positioner, radial drilling machine, gantry robot, ground-rail robot, and ground-rail equipment, achieving both semi-automation and full automation. The valve to be disassembled is clamped onto a positioner that can move on a ground-rail. Centered on the positioner, two industrial robots and a gantry robot, using specialized disassembly fixtures (for disassembling the upper valve body and valve stem), automate the disassembly of valves with relatively light rust / corrosion. For valves with severe rust / corrosion, the gantry robot, radial drilling machine, power-assisted manipulator, and industrial robot, using corresponding specialized disassembly fixtures, automate the disassembly of valves with severe rust / corrosion. This invention provides an automated, efficient, safe, and reliable disassembly method for valve components (nuts, screws, valve cores, valve stems, and valve bodies) in the coal chemical industry.

[0079] The present invention separates the manual working area from the working areas of the radial drilling machine and industrial robot, reducing the risks associated with human-machine collaboration. Disassembly tools are mounted on assistive manipulators and industrial robots, further reducing the labor intensity and risks of manual disassembly. The invention also integrates overall disassembly system control, improving disassembly efficiency and solving the problems of low efficiency, high risk, and low automation in the disassembly of coal chemical valves, providing key technological and equipment support for valve remanufacturing. Attached Figure Description

[0080] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on the provided drawings without creative effort.

[0081] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of an automated valve disassembly system according to the present invention.

[0082] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the interaction between the ground-rail robot and the ground rail used for transporting valves in this invention.

[0083] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the gantry robot and the corresponding special disassembly fixtures that can cooperate with it in this invention.

[0084] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the cooperation between the positioner and the positioner's ground rail in this invention.

[0085] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the industrial robot and the corresponding special disassembly tooling that can cooperate with it in this invention.

[0086] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the assistive robotic arm and the corresponding specialized disassembly fixtures that can cooperate with it in this invention.

[0087] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the workstations in a semi-automatic valve disassembly method.

[0088] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the workstations in a fully automated valve disassembly method.

[0089] In the diagram: 1-Ground rail robot, 2-Gantry robot, 3-Positioner, 4-Radial drilling machine, 5-First industrial robot, 6-Second industrial robot, 7-First assisting manipulator, 8-Second assisting manipulator, 9-Third assisting manipulator, 10-Fourth assisting manipulator, 11-Fifth assisting manipulator, 12-Ground rail for handling valves, 13-Ground rail for positioner, 14-Hydraulic chuck, 15-Telescopic pallet, 16-Tooling for valve stem disassembly, 17-Tooling for upper valve body disassembly, 18-Electric wrench with offset head, 19-Pneumatic gripper, 20-Electromagnetic induction heating head, 21-Valve core disassembly gripper, 22-Impact hammer, 23-Nut splitter, 24-Cuter, 25-High torque electric wrench, 26-Electric impact wrench, 27-Support frame, 28-X-axis motion mechanism, 29-Y-axis motion mechanism, 30-Z-axis motion mechanism, 31-Clamping part. Detailed Implementation

[0090] Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and intended to explain the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0091] In the description of this invention, it should be understood that the terms "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this invention.

[0092] Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of this invention, "a plurality of" means two or more, unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0093] Example:

[0094] See Figures 1-6 This invention provides an automated valve disassembly system, comprising:

[0095] The ground rail robot 1 is installed on the ground rail 12 for transporting valves and can move horizontally along the axis of the ground rail 12 for transporting valves and their components.

[0096] The gantry robot 2 includes a support frame 27, two X-axis motion mechanisms 28 spaced apart on the support frame 27, a Y-axis motion mechanism 29 slidably connected between the two X-axis motion mechanisms 28, and a Z-axis motion mechanism 30 that can slide along the Y-axis. The Z-axis motion mechanism 30 is provided with a clamping part 31 and drives the clamping part 31 to reciprocate along the Z-axis direction. The clamping part 31 can clamp the valve stem disassembly tool 16 or the upper valve body disassembly tool 17. The worker can change the valve stem disassembly tool 16, the upper valve body disassembly tool 17, and the valve core disassembly gripper 21 on the clamping part 31 as needed. The upper valve body disassembly tool 17 is specifically an internal support type clamp.

[0097] The positioner 3 is mounted on the positioner rail 13 and can move horizontally along the axis of the positioner rail 13; the positioner 3 includes a rotary table for clamping the valve to be disassembled, and the rotary table drives the valve to be disassembled to rotate to the corresponding working area; the clamping part 31 on the gantry robot 2 can use the upper valve body disassembly tooling 17 to place the valve and its components on the rail robot 1 onto the positioner 3;

[0098] The radial drilling machine 4 is located outside the positioner. The drill bit on the radial drilling machine 4 is used to machine the bottom hole for the wire taker on the screw and to directly drill and remove the screw that has not been removed.

[0099] The industrial robots include a first industrial robot 5 and a second industrial robot 6 located on both sides of the positioner. Both the first industrial robot 5 and the second industrial robot 6 are equipped with six-degree-of-freedom robotic arms. The quick-change gripper head installed on the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm can clamp any one of the following: an electric wrench 18 with a bias head, a pneumatic gripper 19, or an electromagnetic induction heating head 20. The valve core removal gripper 21 can be clamped on the quick-change gripper head or on the clamping part 31 of the gantry robot 2. The worker can change the electric wrench 18 with a bias head, the pneumatic gripper 19, the electromagnetic induction heating head 20, or the valve core removal gripper 21 on the quick-change gripper head as needed.

[0100] There are five assisted robotic arms, located on both sides of the positioner. The first assisted robotic arm 7, the second assisted robotic arm 8, and the second industrial robot 6 are located on the same side, while the third assisted robotic arm 9, the fourth assisted robotic arm 10, and the fifth assisted robotic arm 11 are located on the same side as the first industrial robot 5. The quick-change gripper head 2 installed on the assisted robotic arms can hold any one of the following: impact hammer 22, nut breaker 23, cutting machine 24, high-torque electric wrench 25, and electric impact wrench 26. The worker can change the impact hammer 22, nut breaker 23, cutting machine 24, high-torque electric wrench 25, or electric impact wrench 26 on the quick-change gripper head 2 as needed.

[0101] The ground-rail robot 1 is equipped with a telescopic tray 15 for placing valves and their components. The rotary table of the positioner 3 is equipped with a hydraulic chuck 14 for clamping valves to be disassembled.

[0102] In this embodiment, the specific positions of each mechanism are arranged as follows: the first assisting robot 7, the second industrial robot 6, and the second assisting robot 8 are arranged sequentially along the extension direction of the positioner's ground rail, with the first assisting robot 7 being closest to the radial drilling machine 4; the fifth assisting robot 11, the fourth assisting robot 10, and the third assisting robot 9 are also arranged sequentially along the extension direction of the positioner's ground rail, with the fifth assisting robot 11 being closest to the radial drilling machine 4, and the first industrial robot 5 is installed adjacent to the side of the fifth assisting robot 11 facing the positioner's ground rail 13.

[0103] In a further specific embodiment, two positioners 3 can be installed on the positioner rail 13 along its axial direction. The first positioner 3, closer to the radial drilling machine 4, is used to disassemble valves with less rust, while the second positioner 3 is used to disassemble valves with more severe rust. Alternatively, the two positioners 3 can work together simultaneously. After the first positioner 3 disassembles the easily disassembled parts of the valve, the gantry robot 2 transfers the remaining parts of the valve to the second positioner 3 for further disassembly, thereby improving the valve disassembly efficiency.

[0104] In a further specific embodiment, the high-torque electric wrench 25 and electric impact wrench 26 clamped on the assistive robotic arm can be replaced with a high-torque electric wrench with an offset head and an electric impact wrench with an offset head, respectively, as needed.

[0105] The electromagnetic induction heating head 20 installed on the industrial robot is used to heat the rusted and difficult-to-remove nuts and screws, using the principle of thermal expansion and contraction to break down the rust layer structure so that they can be disassembled.

[0106] For screws that are difficult to disassemble, a wire extractor is required for disassembly. Since the wire extractor has a reverse wire structure, a bottom hole for the wire extractor must first be drilled on the screw using a radial drilling machine 4, and then the wire extractor is driven into the bottom hole using a pneumatic chuck 19 in conjunction with an impact hammer 22. This process requires the screw protruding from the valve body to be cut off first, so a cutting machine 24 is required.

[0107] This invention also applies the aforementioned automated valve disassembly system to provide an automated valve disassembly method, specifically including a semi-automatic valve disassembly method and a fully automated valve disassembly method, wherein the fully automated valve disassembly method is suitable for valves with very light corrosion.

[0108] In one of the semi-automatic valve disassembly methods, such as Figure 7As shown, the working area of ​​the first assisting robot in the valve automated disassembly system is defined as station ①, the working area of ​​the second industrial robot is defined as station ②, the working area of ​​the second assisting robot is defined as station ③, the working area of ​​the third assisting robot is defined as station ④, the working area of ​​the fourth assisting robot is defined as station ⑤, the working area of ​​the fifth assisting robot is defined as station ⑥, and the working area of ​​the radial drilling machine is defined as station ⑦.

[0109] A valve body disassembly fixture 17 is clamped onto the gantry robot 2. The valve to be disassembled is transferred from the ground rail robot 1 to the positioner 3 using the gantry robot 2 and the valve body disassembly fixture 17. The valve to be disassembled is then clamped onto the rotating worktable of the positioner 3, and the rotating worktable moves the valve to be disassembled into each workstation.

[0110] The semi-automatic valve disassembly method involves the following steps for disassembling a single valve:

[0111] (III) For valves with no or slight corrosion, where most nuts and bolts are easy to remove and can be quickly disassembled.

[0112] S1. At workstation ⑥, the fifth assist robot arm 11 is used to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 to quickly disassemble the nut.

[0113] S2. After the nut is disassembled, the position is changed to workstation ① by the positioner. The first assisting manipulator 7 clamps the impact hammer 22 to disassemble the upper and lower valve bodies, and the upper valve body is removed by the gantry robot 2 quickly clamping the upper valve body disassembly tooling 17.

[0114] S3. Change the position to the workstation using the positioner ⑥ Use the electric impact wrench 26 on the fifth assist robot arm 11 to put the nut on the screw.

[0115] S4. The screw with the nut on its back is moved to the workstation by the positioner. ⑤ The electric impact wrench 26 is clamped by the fourth assist robot arm 10 for quick disassembly.

[0116] (iv) For valves severely corroded, where most nuts and bolts are difficult to remove: Nut disassembly:

[0117] S1. At workstation ⑤, the fourth assist robot 10 is used to clamp the high-torque electric wrench 25 to loosen the nut. The loosened nut is then moved to workstation ⑥ by a positioner to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 for quick release using the fifth assist robot 11.

[0118] S2. The remaining uncracked nuts are at station ② where the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot 6 is used to clamp the electromagnetic induction heating head 20 to heat the nuts; the heated nuts are then moved to station ⑤ where the fourth assisting robotic arm 10 is used to clamp the high-torque electric wrench 25 to loosen them; the loosened nuts are then moved to station ⑥ where the fifth assisting robotic arm 11 is used to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 for quick release.

[0119] S3. Finally, the remaining unloosened nuts are directly moved to station ① by positioner 3 and the first assist robot arm 7 is used to clamp the nut cutter 23 for cutting.

[0120] Upper valve body disassembly: After the nut is removed, the upper and lower valve bodies are disassembled at station ① using the first assist robot 7 quick-change clamping impact hammer 22, and the upper valve body is removed by the gantry robot 2 quick-change clamping upper valve body disassembly tooling 17.

[0121] Screw disassembly:

[0122] S1. At station ⑥, the fifth assist robot 11 is used to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 to put the nut on the screw. The screw with the nut on it is moved to station ⑤ by the positioner and the fourth assist robot 10 is used to clamp the high torque electric wrench 25 to loosen it. The loosened screw is moved to station ⑥ by the positioner and the fifth assist robot 11 is used to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 for quick release.

[0123] S2. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, at station ②, the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot 6 is used to clamp the electromagnetic induction heating head 20 to heat the screw; after heating, the screw is moved to station ⑤ by a positioner and the fourth assisting robotic arm 10 is used to clamp the high-torque electric wrench 25 to loosen it; the loosened screw is moved to station ⑥ by a positioner and the fifth assisting robotic arm 11 is used to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 for quick disassembly;

[0124] S3. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, the position is changed to station ⑥ using a positioner, and the remaining screw is cut using the quick-change cutting machine 24 of the fifth assist robot 11. After cutting, the screw is changed to station ⑦ using a radial drilling machine 4 to drill a pilot hole for the wire taker. The screw with the pilot hole drilled is changed to between station ① and station ② using a positioner, and the wire taker is driven into the pilot hole by the pneumatic gripper 19 with the pneumatic hammer 22 on the first assist robot 7 and the six-degree-of-freedom robot arm on the second industrial robot 6. The screw with the wire taker is changed to station ⑤ using a positioner, and the high-torque electric wrench 25 is clamped by the fourth assist robot 10 to loosen the screw with the wire taker. The loosened screw is changed to station ⑥ using a positioner, and the electric impact wrench 26 is quickly clamped by the fifth assist robot 11 for quick disassembly.

[0125] S4. The screws that are still not disassembled are moved to station ⑦ by a positioner and then drilled out one by one using a radial drilling machine 4.

[0126] (iii) For situations where the nut and screw in a valve cannot be disassembled and direct cutting is required.

[0127] S1. At workstation ①, the first assistive robot arm 7 is used to clamp the nut cutter 23 and cut the nuts in sequence.

[0128] S2. After the nut is disassembled, the upper and lower valve bodies are disassembled at station ① using the first assisting robot 7 to quickly change the clamping impact hammer 22, and the upper valve body is removed by the gantry robot 2 using the quick-change clamping upper valve body disassembly tooling 17.

[0129] S3. The position is changed to station ⑥ by the positioner. The fifth assist robot 11 is used to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 to put the nut on the screw. The screw with the nut is changed to station ⑤ by the positioner. The fourth assist robot 10 is used to clamp the high torque electric wrench 25 to loosen it. The loosened screw is changed to station ⑥ by the positioner. The fifth assist robot 11 is used to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 for quick release.

[0130] S4. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, at station ②, the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot 6 is used to clamp the electromagnetic induction heating head 20 to heat the screw; after heating, the screw is moved to station ⑤ by a positioner and the fourth assisting robotic arm 10 is used to clamp the high-torque electric wrench 25 to loosen it; the loosened screw is moved to station ⑥ by a positioner and the fifth assisting robotic arm 11 is used to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 for quick disassembly;

[0131] S5. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, the position is changed to station ⑥ using a positioner, and the remaining screw is cut using the quick-change cutting machine 24 of the fifth assist robot 11. After cutting, the screw is changed to station ⑦ using a radial drilling machine 4 to drill a pilot hole for the wire taker. The screw with the pilot hole drilled is changed to between station ① and station ② using a positioner, and the wire taker is driven into the pilot hole by the pneumatic gripper 19 with the pneumatic hammer 22 on the first assist robot 7 and the six-degree-of-freedom robot arm on the second industrial robot 6. The screw with the wire taker is changed to station ⑤ using a positioner, and the high-torque electric wrench 25 is clamped by the fourth assist robot 10 to loosen the screw with the wire taker. The loosened screw is changed to station ⑥ using a positioner, and the electric impact wrench 26 is clamped by the fifth assist robot 11 for quick disassembly.

[0132] S6. The screws that are still not disassembled are moved to station ⑦ by a positioner and then drilled out one by one using a radial drilling machine 4.

[0133] In another semi-automatic valve disassembly method, such as Figure 7As shown, in the valve automated disassembly system, the working area of ​​the first assisting robot is defined as station ①, the working area of ​​the second industrial robot is defined as station ②, the working area of ​​the second assisting robot is defined as station ③, the working area of ​​the third assisting robot is defined as station ④, the working area of ​​the fourth assisting robot is defined as station ⑤, the working area of ​​the fifth assisting robot is defined as station ⑥, and the working area of ​​the radial drilling machine is defined as station ⑦. The middle of station ①, station ②, station ⑤, and station ⑥ corresponds to the left working area, and the middle of station ②, station ③, station ④, and station ⑤ corresponds to the right working area.

[0134] A valve body disassembly fixture 17 is clamped onto the gantry robot 2. The valve to be disassembled is transferred from the ground rail robot 1 to the positioner 3 using the gantry robot 2 and the valve body disassembly fixture 17. The valve to be disassembled is then clamped onto the rotating worktable of the positioner 3, and the rotating worktable moves the valve to be disassembled into each workstation.

[0135] The semi-automatic valve disassembly method involves the following steps for disassembling a single valve:

[0136] (III) For valves with no or slight corrosion, where most nuts and bolts are easy to remove and can be quickly disassembled.

[0137] S1. At workstation ⑥, the fifth assist robot arm 11 is used to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 to quickly disassemble the nut.

[0138] S2. After the nut is disassembled, the position is changed to workstation ① by the positioner. The first assisting manipulator 7 clamps the impact hammer 22 to disassemble the upper and lower valve bodies, and the upper valve body is removed by the gantry robot 2 quickly clamping the upper valve body disassembly tooling 17.

[0139] S3. After disassembling the upper valve body, the positioner 3 is transferred to station ③ via the positioner ground rail 13; at station ③, the second assist manipulator 8 is used to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 to feed the screw back nut.

[0140] S4. The screw with the nut on its back is moved to the work station by the positioner. ④ The electric impact wrench 26 is clamped by the third-assist robot arm 9 for quick disassembly.

[0141] (ii) Regarding the situation where valves are severely corroded, and most nuts and screws are difficult to remove.

[0142] Nut disassembly:

[0143] S1. At workstation ⑤, the fourth assist robot 10 is used to clamp the high-torque electric wrench 25 to loosen the nut. The loosened nut is then moved to workstation ③ by a positioner to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 for quick release using the second assist robot 8.

[0144] S2. The remaining uncracked nuts are at station ② where the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot 6 clamps the electromagnetic induction heating head 20 to heat the nuts; the heated nuts are then moved to station ⑤ where the fourth assisting robotic arm 10 clamps the high-torque electric wrench 25 to loosen them; the loosened nuts are then moved to station ③ where the second assisting robotic arm 8 clamps the electric impact wrench 26 for quick release.

[0145] S3. Finally, the remaining unloosened nuts are directly moved to the workstation by the positioner 3. The third assist robot 9 is used to clamp the nut cutter 23 and cut it.

[0146] Upper valve body disassembly: After the nut is removed, the positioner 3 is transferred to station ① via the positioner ground rail 13; at station ①, the first assisting robot 7 is used to clamp the impact hammer 22 to disassemble the upper and lower valve bodies, and the upper valve body is removed by the gantry robot 2 using the quick-change clamping tool 17 for disassembling the upper valve body.

[0147] Screw disassembly:

[0148] S1. After disassembling the upper valve body, the positioner 3 is transferred to station ③ via the positioner ground rail 13; at station ③, the second assist robot 8 is used to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 to put the nut on the screw; the screw with the nut is moved to station ⑤ via the positioner and the fourth assist robot 10 is used to clamp the high torque electric wrench 25 to loosen it; the loosened screw is moved to station ③ via the positioner and the second assist robot 8 is used to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 for quick release;

[0149] S2. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, at station ②, the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot 6 is used to clamp the electromagnetic induction heating head 20 to heat the screw; after heating, the screw is moved to station ⑤ by a positioner and the fourth assisting robotic arm 10 is used to clamp the high-torque electric wrench 25 to loosen it; the loosened screw is moved to station ③ by a positioner and the second assisting robotic arm 8 is used to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 for quick disassembly;

[0150] S3. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, the positioner 3 is transferred to station 6 via the positioner rail 13. The remaining screw is cut using the quick-change cutting machine 24 of the fifth assist robot arm 11. After cutting, the screw is moved to station 7 via the positioner and the bottom hole for the wire taker is drilled using the radial drilling machine 4. The screw with the bottom hole drilled is moved to between station 1 and station 2 via the positioner. The wire taker is driven into the bottom hole by the pneumatic gripper 19 with the pneumatic hammer 22 on the first assist robot arm 7 and the six-degree-of-freedom robot arm on the second industrial robot 6. The positioner 3 is moved to the right working area via the positioner rail 13. The positioner is moved to station 5 and the high-torque electric wrench 25 is clamped by the fourth assist robot arm 10 to loosen the screw with the wire taker. The loosened screw is moved to station 3 via the positioner and the electric impact wrench 26 is clamped by the second assist robot arm 8 for quick disassembly.

[0151] S4. The positioner 3 is moved to station ⑦ via the positioner ground rail 13. The screws that are still not disassembled are drilled out one by one by the radial drilling machine 4.

[0152] (iii) For situations where the nut and screw in a valve cannot be disassembled and direct cutting is required.

[0153] S1. At workstation ④, the third-assistance robot 9 is used to clamp the nut cutter 23 and cut the nuts in sequence.

[0154] S2. After the nut is removed, the positioner 3 is transferred to station ① via the positioner ground rail 13. At station ①, the first assisting manipulator 7 is used to quickly change the clamping impact hammer 22 to disassemble the upper and lower valve bodies. The upper valve body is removed by the gantry robot 2 using the quick-change clamping upper valve body disassembly tooling 17.

[0155] S3. After disassembling the upper valve body, the positioner 3 is transferred to station ③ via the positioner ground rail 13. At station ③, the second assist robot 8 is used to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 to put the nut on the screw. The screw with the nut is moved to station ⑤ via the positioner and loosened using the high torque electric wrench 25. The loosened screw is moved to station ③ via the positioner and the second assist robot 8 is used to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 for quick release.

[0156] S4. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, at station ②, the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot 6 is used to clamp the electromagnetic induction heating head 20 to heat the screw; after heating, the screw is moved to station ⑤ by a positioner and the fourth assisting robotic arm 10 is used to clamp the high-torque electric wrench 25 to loosen it; the loosened screw is moved to station ③ by a positioner and the second assisting robotic arm 8 is used to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 for quick disassembly;

[0157] S5. For screws that cannot be disassembled, the positioner is moved to station ⑥, and the fifth assist robot 11 is used to clamp the cutting machine 24 to cut the remaining screws. After cutting, the screws are moved to station ⑦ by the positioner, and the radial drilling machine 4 is used to drill the bottom hole for the wire taker. The screws with the bottom hole drilled are moved to between station ① and station ② by the positioner, and the impact hammer 22 on the first assist robot 7 and the six-degree-of-freedom robot arm on the second industrial robot 6 are used to clamp the pneumatic gripper 19 to drive the wire taker into the bottom hole for the wire taker. After all the screws that have not been disassembled are fitted with the wire taker, the positioner 3 is moved to the right working area via the positioner ground rail 13, and the positioner is moved to station ⑤ by the fourth assist robot 10 to clamp the high-torque electric wrench 25 to loosen the screws with the wire taker. The loosened screws are moved to station ③ by the positioner, and the second assist robot 8 is used to clamp the electric impact wrench 26 for quick removal.

[0158] S6. The positioner 3 is moved to station ⑦ via the positioner ground rail 13. The screws that are not disassembled are then drilled out one by one by the radial drilling machine 4.

[0159] In the two semi-automatic valve disassembly methods described above, after the screw is completely disassembled, the valve stem is disassembled by the valve stem disassembly tool 16 clamped by the clamping part 31 of the gantry robot 2, and then the valve core is disassembled by the quick-change valve core disassembly gripper 21 on the clamping part 31 of the gantry robot 2.

[0160] Of the two semi-automatic valve disassembly methods mentioned above, the method of using an electric impact wrench 26 to attach a nut to the screw includes using a long socket to attach the nut, cutting a flat end to the screw, or welding a nut to the screw. Among these methods, the method of using a long socket to attach the nut is preferred.

[0161] Of the two semi-automatic valve disassembly methods mentioned above, the method of loosening the screw with the back nut using a high-torque electric wrench 25 includes using a high-torque electric wrench with an offset head, a hydraulic wrench with a collar, or designing a split socket. Among these, the high-torque electric wrench with an offset head is preferred.

[0162] In fully automated valve disassembly methods, such as Figure 8 As shown, the working area of ​​the first assisting robot in the valve automated disassembly system is defined as station ①, the working area of ​​the second industrial robot is defined as station ②, the working area of ​​the second assisting robot is defined as station ③, the working area of ​​the third assisting robot is defined as station ④, the working area of ​​the fourth assisting robot is defined as station ⑤, the working area of ​​the first industrial robot is defined as station ⑥, and the working area of ​​the radial drilling machine is defined as station ⑦.

[0163] A tool 17 for upper valve body disassembly is clamped on the truss robot 2, the truss robot 2 cooperates with the tool 17 for upper valve body disassembly to transfer the valve to be disassembled from the gantry robot 1 to the positioner 3, and clamp the valve to be disassembled onto the rotating worktable of the positioner 3, and the rotating worktable transfers the valve to be disassembled into each station;

[0164] The fully automatic valve disassembly method comprises the following steps:

[0165] S1, at station ⑥, a six-degree-of-freedom mechanical arm on a first industrial robot 5 clamps an electric wrench 18 with an offset head to quickly disassemble nuts and screws;

[0166] S2, clamping the tool 17 for upper valve body disassembly by the truss robot 2 to disassemble and remove the upper valve body;

[0167] S3, quickly changing and clamping a valve stem disassembly tool 16 by the truss robot 2 to disassemble and remove the valve stem;

[0168] S4, converting the position to station ② by the positioner, and clamping a valve core disassembly gripper 21 by a six-degree-of-freedom mechanical arm on a second industrial robot 6 to take the valve core out of the lower valve body.

[0169] The automated valve disassembly system and method of the present invention solves the problem that the prior art cannot automatically, time-saving and labor-saving disassemble coal chemical valves, and the system and method can be applied to valves of different specifications.

[0170] Each embodiment in this specification is described in a progressive manner, each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments, and the same and similar parts between each embodiment can be referred to each other. For the device disclosed in the embodiment, since it corresponds to the method disclosed in the embodiment, the description is relatively simple, and relevant parts can be referred to the description of the method section.

[0171] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables those skilled in the art to implement or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be obvious to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention will not be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to conform to the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. An automated valve disassembly system, characterized in that, include: A ground-rail robot is installed on a ground rail for transporting valves and can move horizontally along the axis of the ground rail to transfer valves and their components. A gantry robot includes a support frame, two X-axis motion mechanisms spaced apart on the support frame, a Y-axis motion mechanism slidably connected between the two X-axis motion mechanisms, and a Z-axis motion mechanism that can slide along the Y-axis. The Z-axis motion mechanism is provided with a clamping part and drives the clamping part to reciprocate along the Z-axis direction. The clamping part can clamp a tool for disassembling a valve stem or a tool for disassembling an upper valve body. The positioner is mounted on a positioner rail and can move horizontally along the axis of the positioner rail; the positioner includes a rotary table for clamping the valve to be disassembled, the rotary table drives the valve to be disassembled to rotate to the corresponding working area; the clamping part on the gantry robot can use the upper valve body disassembly tooling to place the valve and its parts on the rail robot onto the positioner. A radial drilling machine is located outside the positioner. The drill bit on the radial drilling machine is used to machine the bottom hole for the wire taker on the screw and to directly drill and remove the screw that has not been removed. The industrial robot includes a first industrial robot and a second industrial robot located on both sides of the positioner. Both the first and second industrial robots are equipped with a six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm. The quick-change gripper head installed on the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm can clamp any one of the following: an electric wrench with an offset head, a pneumatic gripper, or an electromagnetic induction heating head. The valve core removal gripper can be clamped on the quick-change gripper head or on the clamping part of the gantry robot. There are five assisted robotic arms, which are located on both sides of the positioner. The first assisted robotic arm, the second assisted robotic arm and the second industrial robot are located on the same side, and the third assisted robotic arm, the fourth assisted robotic arm and the fifth assisted robotic arm are located on the same side as the first industrial robot. The quick-change gripper head installed on the assisted robotic arm can clamp any one of the following: impact hammer, nut cutter, cutting machine, high torque electric wrench and electric impact wrench. Among them, the electromagnetic induction heating head installed on the industrial robot is used to heat the rusted and difficult-to-remove nuts and screws, and destroy the rust layer structure by means of thermal expansion and contraction. For screws that are difficult to disassemble, a radial drilling machine is used to drill a bottom hole for the wire taker on the screw, and a pneumatic chuck is used in conjunction with an impact hammer to drive the wire taker into the bottom hole. This process requires the screw protruding from the valve body to be cut off first with a cutting machine.

2. The automated valve disassembly system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The ground-rail robot is equipped with a telescopic tray for placing valves and their components; and / or, the positioner's rotary table is equipped with a hydraulic chuck for clamping valves to be disassembled.

3. The automated valve disassembly system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first assist robot, the second industrial robot, and the second assist robot are arranged sequentially along the extension direction of the positioner's ground rail, with the first assist robot being closest to the radial drilling machine; the fifth assist robot, the fourth assist robot, and the third assist robot are also arranged sequentially along the extension direction of the positioner's ground rail, with the fifth assist robot being closest to the radial drilling machine, and the first industrial robot is installed adjacent to the side of the fifth assist robot facing the positioner's ground rail.

4. An automated valve disassembly method, characterized in that, The valve automatic disassembly system according to any one of claims 1-3 includes a semi-automatic valve disassembly method and a fully automatic valve disassembly method, wherein the fully automatic valve disassembly method is suitable for valves with very light corrosion.

5. The automated valve disassembly method according to claim 4, characterized in that, In the first semi-automatic valve disassembly method, the working area of ​​the first assisting robot in the valve automatic disassembly system is defined as station ①, the working area of ​​the second industrial robot is defined as station ②, the working area of ​​the second assisting robot is defined as station ③, the working area of ​​the third assisting robot is defined as station ④, the working area of ​​the fourth assisting robot is defined as station ⑤, the working area of ​​the fifth assisting robot is defined as station ⑥, and the working area of ​​the radial drilling machine is defined as station ⑦. A valve body disassembly fixture is mounted on the gantry robot. The gantry robot, in conjunction with the valve body disassembly fixture, is used to transfer the valve to be disassembled from the ground rail robot to the positioner. The valve to be disassembled is then mounted on the rotary table of the positioner, and the rotary table moves the valve to be disassembled into each workstation. The semi-automatic valve disassembly method involves the following steps for disassembling a single valve: (i) For valves with no or slight corrosion, where most nuts and bolts are easy to remove. S1. At workstation ⑥, the fifth-powered robotic arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench to quickly disassemble the nut. S2. After the nut is disassembled, the position is changed to workstation ① by the positioner. The first assist robot arm is used to clamp the impact hammer to disassemble the upper and lower valve bodies. The upper valve body is removed by the quick-change clamping tooling of the gantry robot. S3. Change the position to the workstation using the positioner ⑥ Use the electric impact wrench on the fifth assist manipulator to put the nut on the screw. S4. The screw with the nut on its back is moved to the workstation by the positioner. ⑤ The electric impact wrench is clamped by the fourth assist robot arm for quick disassembly. (ii) For valves that are severely corroded, in which most nuts and bolts are difficult to remove. Nut disassembly: S1. At station ⑤, use the fourth assist robot to clamp a high-torque electric wrench to loosen the nut. The loosened nut is then moved to station ⑥ by a positioner to use the fifth assist robot to clamp an electric impact wrench for quick release. S2. The remaining uncracked nuts are at station ② where the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot is used to clamp the electromagnetic induction heating head to heat the nuts; the heated nuts are then moved to station ⑤ where the fourth assisting robotic arm is used to clamp the high-torque electric wrench to loosen them; the loosened nuts are then moved to station ⑥ where the fifth assisting robotic arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench for quick release. S3. Finally, the remaining unloosened nuts are directly moved to station ① by the positioner and the first assist robot arm is used to clamp the nut cutter and cut it. upper valve body disassembly: After the nut is removed, the upper and lower valve bodies are disassembled at station ① using the first assisted manipulator to quickly change the clamping impact hammer, and the upper valve body is removed by the gantry robot using the quick-change clamping tooling for disassembling the upper valve body. Screw disassembly: S1. At station ⑥, the fifth assist robot arm is used to clamp an electric impact wrench to put a nut on the screw. The screw with the nut on it is moved to station ⑤ by a positioner and a high-torque electric wrench is used to loosen it. The loosened screw is moved to station ⑥ by a positioner and a high-torque electric wrench is used to quickly release it. S2. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, at station ②, the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot is used to clamp an electromagnetic induction heating head to heat the screw; after heating, the screw is moved to station ⑤ by a positioner and a high-torque electric wrench is clamped to loosen it; the loosened screw is moved to station ⑥ by a positioner and an electric impact wrench is clamped to quickly disassemble it. S3. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, the position is changed to station ⑥ using a positioner, and the remaining screw is cut using a quick-change cutting machine with the fifth-assisted robotic arm. After cutting, the screw is changed to station ⑦ using a radial drilling machine to drill a pilot hole for the wire taker. The screw with the pilot hole drilled is changed to between station ① and station ② using a positioner, and the wire taker is driven into the pilot hole by the pneumatic gripper using the impact hammer on the first-assisted robotic arm and the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot. The screw with the wire taker is changed to station ⑤ using a positioner, and a high-torque electric wrench is used to loosen it using the fourth-assisted robotic arm. The loosened screw is changed to station ⑥ using a positioner, and a quick-change electric impact wrench is used for quick disassembly using the fifth-assisted robotic arm. S4. The screws that are still not disassembled are moved to station ⑦ by a positioner and then drilled out one by one using a radial drilling machine. (iii) For situations where the nut and screw in the valve cannot be removed and direct cutting is required. S1. At workstation ①, the first assist robot arm is used to clamp the nut cutter and cut the nuts sequentially. S2. After the nut is disassembled, the upper and lower valve bodies are disassembled at station ① using the first assist robot to quickly change the clamping impact hammer, and the upper valve body is removed by the gantry robot to quickly change the clamping tool for disassembling the upper valve body. S3. The position is changed to station ⑥ by the positioner. The fifth assist robot arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench to put the nut on the screw. The screw with the nut is changed to station ⑤ by the positioner. The fourth assist robot arm is used to clamp the high torque electric wrench to loosen it. The loosened screw is changed to station ⑥ by the positioner. The fifth assist robot arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench for quick release. S4. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, at station ②, the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot is used to clamp the electromagnetic induction heating head to heat the screw; after heating, the screw is moved to station ⑤ by a positioner and a high-torque electric wrench is clamped to loosen it; the loosened screw is moved to station ⑥ by a positioner and an electric impact wrench is clamped to quickly disassemble it. S5. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, the position is changed to station ⑥ using a positioner, and the remaining screw is cut using a quick-change cutting machine with the fifth-assisted robotic arm. After cutting, the screw is changed to station ⑦ using a radial drilling machine to drill a pilot hole for the wire taker. The screw with the pilot hole drilled is changed to between station ① and station ② using a positioner, and the wire taker is driven into the pilot hole by the pneumatic gripper using the impact hammer on the first-assisted robotic arm and the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot. The screw with the wire taker is changed to station ⑤ using a positioner, and a high-torque electric wrench is used to loosen it using the fourth-assisted robotic arm. The loosened screw is changed to station ⑥ using a positioner, and an electric impact wrench is used for quick disassembly using the fifth-assisted robotic arm. S6. The screws that are still not disassembled are moved to station ⑦ by a positioner and then drilled out one by one using a radial drilling machine.

6. The automated valve disassembly method according to claim 4, characterized in that, In the second semi-automatic valve disassembly method, the working area of ​​the first assisting robot in the valve automatic disassembly system is defined as station ①, the working area of ​​the second industrial robot is defined as station ②, the working area of ​​the second assisting robot is defined as station ③, the working area of ​​the third assisting robot is defined as station ④, the working area of ​​the fourth assisting robot is defined as station ⑤, the working area of ​​the fifth assisting robot is defined as station ⑥, and the working area of ​​the radial drilling machine is defined as station ⑦; the middle of station ①, station ②, station ⑤, and station ⑥ corresponds to the left working area, and the middle of station ②, station ③, station ④, and station ⑤ corresponds to the right working area; A valve body disassembly fixture is mounted on the gantry robot. The gantry robot, in conjunction with the valve body disassembly fixture, is used to transfer the valve to be disassembled from the ground rail robot to the positioner. The valve to be disassembled is then mounted on the rotary table of the positioner, and the rotary table moves the valve to be disassembled into each workstation. The semi-automatic valve disassembly method involves the following steps for disassembling a single valve: (i) For valves with no or slight corrosion, where most nuts and bolts are easy to remove. S1. At workstation ⑥, the fifth-powered robotic arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench to quickly disassemble the nut. S2. After the nut is disassembled, the position is changed to workstation ① by the positioner. The first assist robot arm is used to clamp the impact hammer to disassemble the upper and lower valve bodies. The upper valve body is removed by the quick-change clamping tooling of the gantry robot. S3. After disassembling the upper valve body, the positioner is transferred to station ③ via the positioner ground rail; at station ③, the second assist robot arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench to feed the screw back the nut. S4. The screw with the nut on its back is moved to the workstation by a positioner. ④ The electric impact wrench is clamped by the third-powered robot arm for quick disassembly. (ii) For valves that are severely corroded, in which most nuts and bolts are difficult to remove. Nut disassembly: S1. At station ⑤, use the fourth assist robot to clamp a high-torque electric wrench to loosen the nut. The loosened nut is then moved to station ③ by a positioner to use the second assist robot to clamp an electric impact wrench for quick release. S2. The remaining uncracked nuts are at station ② where the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot clamps an electromagnetic induction heating head to heat the nuts; the heated nuts are then moved to station ⑤ where the fourth assisting robotic arm clamps a high-torque electric wrench to loosen them; the loosened nuts are then moved to station ③ where the second assisting robotic arm clamps an electric impact wrench for quick release. S3. Finally, the remaining unloosened nuts are directly moved to the workstation by the positioner. ④ The nut cutter is used to clamp the nuts with the third-assist robot arm and cut them. upper valve body disassembly: After the nut is removed, the positioner is transferred to station ① via the positioner ground rail; at station ①, the first assist robot arm is used to clamp the impact hammer to disassemble the upper and lower valve bodies, and the upper valve body is removed by the gantry robot quick-change clamping tool for disassembling the upper valve body. Screw disassembly: S1. After disassembling the upper valve body, the positioner is transferred to station ③ via the positioner's ground rail; at station ③, the second assist robot arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench to put the nut on the screw; the screw with the nut on it is moved to station ⑤ via the positioner and the fourth assist robot arm is used to clamp the high-torque electric wrench to loosen it; the loosened screw is moved to station ③ via the positioner and the second assist robot arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench for quick release; S2. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, at station ②, the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot is used to clamp an electromagnetic induction heating head to heat the screw; after heating, the screw is moved to station ⑤ by a positioner and a high-torque electric wrench is clamped to loosen it; the loosened screw is moved to station ③ by a positioner and an electric impact wrench is clamped to quickly disassemble it. S3. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, the positioner is transferred to station ⑥ via the positioner's ground rail. The remaining screw is then cut using the fifth-assisted robotic arm's quick-change cutting machine. After cutting, the screw is moved to station ⑦ via the positioner and a radial drilling machine is used to drill a pilot hole for the wire taker. The screw with the drilled pilot hole is moved between station ① and station ② via the positioner. The wire taker is driven into the pilot hole by the pneumatic gripper gripper, which is then engaged by the impact hammer on the first-assisted robotic arm and the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot. The positioner is moved to the right working area via the positioner's ground rail and moved to station ⑤ via the positioner. A high-torque electric wrench is used to loosen the screw with the wire taker by the fourth-assisted robotic arm. The loosened screw is moved to station ③ via the positioner and a high-torque electric impact wrench is used for quick disassembly by the second-assisted robotic arm. S4. The positioner is moved to station ⑦ via the positioner's ground rail. The screws that are still not disassembled are then drilled out one by one using a radial drilling machine. (iii) For situations where the nut and screw in the valve cannot be removed and direct cutting is required. S1. At workstation ④, the third-assist robot arm is used to clamp the nut cutter and cut the nuts sequentially. S2. After the nut is disassembled, the positioner is transferred to station ① via the positioner ground rail. At station ①, the first assist robot is used to quickly change the clamping impact hammer to disassemble the upper and lower valve bodies. The upper valve body is removed by the gantry robot using the quick-change clamping tooling for disassembling the upper valve body. S3. After disassembling the upper valve body, the positioner is transferred to station ③ via the positioner's ground rail; at station ③, the second-assist robot arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench to put the nut on the screw; the screw with the nut on it is moved to station ⑤ via the positioner and loosened using a high-torque electric wrench; the loosened screw is moved to station ③ via the positioner and the second-assist robot arm is used to clamp the electric impact wrench for quick release. S4. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, at station ②, the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot is used to clamp the electromagnetic induction heating head to heat the screw; after heating, the screw is moved to station ⑤ by a positioner and a high-torque electric wrench is clamped to loosen it; the loosened screw is moved to station ③ by a positioner and an electric impact wrench is clamped to quickly disassemble it. S5. For screws that still cannot be disassembled, the positioner is moved to station ⑥, and the fifth-assisted robotic arm is used to clamp and cut the remaining screws. After cutting, the screws are moved to station ⑦, where a radial drilling machine is used to drill the pilot hole for the wire taker. The screws with the pilot hole drilled are moved to between station ① and station ②, where the impact hammer on the first-assisted robotic arm and the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot are used to clamp and pneumatic grippers to drive the wire taker into the pilot hole. After all the screws that have not been disassembled have been fitted with wire takers, the positioner is moved to the right working area via the positioner's ground rail. The positioner is moved to station ⑤, where the fourth-assisted robotic arm is used to clamp a high-torque electric wrench to loosen the screws with wire takers. The loosened screws are moved to station ③, where the second-assisted robotic arm is used to clamp an electric impact wrench for quick removal. S6. The positioner is moved to station ⑦ via the positioner rail, and the screws that are still not disassembled are drilled out one by one using a radial drilling machine.

7. A method for automated valve disassembly according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that, In the semi-automatic valve disassembly method, after the screw is completely disassembled, the valve stem is disassembled by the valve stem disassembly tooling of the clamping part of the gantry robot, and then the valve core is disassembled by the quick-change valve core disassembly gripper on the clamping part of the gantry robot.

8. A method for automated valve disassembly according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that, In semi-automatic valve disassembly methods, the method of using an electric impact wrench to apply a nut to the screw includes using a long socket to apply the nut, cutting a flat end to the screw, or welding a nut to the screw.

9. The automated valve disassembly method according to claim 8, characterized in that, In semi-automatic valve disassembly methods, the method of loosening the screw with the back nut using a high-torque electric wrench includes using a high-torque electric wrench with an offset head, a hydraulic wrench with a collar, or designing a split socket.

10. The automated valve disassembly method according to claim 4, characterized in that, In the fully automated valve disassembly method, the working area of ​​the first assisting robot in the valve automated disassembly system is defined as station ①, the working area of ​​the second industrial robot is defined as station ②, the working area of ​​the second assisting robot is defined as station ③, the working area of ​​the third assisting robot is defined as station ④, the working area of ​​the fourth assisting robot is defined as station ⑤, the working area of ​​the first industrial robot is defined as station ⑥, and the working area of ​​the radial drilling machine is defined as station ⑦. A valve body disassembly fixture is mounted on the gantry robot. The gantry robot, in conjunction with the valve body disassembly fixture, is used to transfer the valve to be disassembled from the ground rail robot to the positioner. The valve to be disassembled is then mounted on the rotary table of the positioner, and the rotary table moves the valve to be disassembled into each workstation. This fully automated valve disassembly method includes the following steps: S1. At workstation ⑥, use the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the first industrial robot to clamp an electric wrench with an offset head to quickly disassemble the nut and screw. S2. The upper valve body is disassembled and removed using a gantry robot clamping the valve body disassembly fixture; S3. The valve stem is removed by quickly changing the clamping tool of the gantry robot to disassemble the valve stem. S4. The position is changed to station ② by a positioner, and the valve core is removed from the lower valve body by the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm on the second industrial robot.

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