Tool changing device and automatic tool changing method

Abstract

The invention discloses a tool changing device and an automatic tool changing method. The tool changing device comprises a rack, a mechanical arm, a stock bin, a lifting mechanism and a moving mechanism. The rack, the lifting mechanism and the stock bin are all arranged on the moving mechanism, the rack is arranged on the lifting mechanism in a surrounding mode, and a feeding port is formed above the lifting mechanism; and the mechanical arm is arranged at the end, away from the stock bin, of the upper portion of the rack, the lifting mechanism is used for taking out the material discs stored in the stock bin and lifting the material discs to a feeding port or moving the material discs at the feeding port downwards and pushing the material discs back to the stock bin, and the mechanical arm is used for taking and placing the cutter discs in the material discs at the feeding port. According to the tool changing device, a full-automatic system is adopted, the labor cost expenditure is reduced, meanwhile, the problems that the labor efficiency is low, the equipment downtime is long, and scratching and bumping are likely to be caused in the carrying process are solved, the mechanical arm and the lifting mechanism can work independently at the same time, the material changing efficiency is improved, the space utilization rate is increased, and the production efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the technical field of tool changing for drilling machines, and specifically relates to a tool changing device and an automatic tool changing method. Background Art

[0002] In modern production, with the wide application of high-speed, high-efficiency, and high-flexibility processing production lines, the degree of automation is getting higher and higher, and unmanned production is becoming more and more widespread.

[0003] The PCB board drilling machine is a common processing device in the PCB production process. The tool magazine of each processing center device can hold dozens of processing tools. The tools of the PCB board drilling machine will be continuously worn during the processing. When the tool reaches the end of its service life and needs to be changed, usually the drill bits are placed in the tool tray. Therefore, it is necessary to replace the tool tray for placing the tools in time to ensure the supply of drill bits.

[0004] Currently, most of the existing tool changing devices use AGVs to transport tools and the method of manually docking the drilling machine equipment to install the tools. This method requires the machine to stop for replacement, resulting in low efficiency and serious human errors. Or use the method of AGVs transporting tool trays from the tool room and docking with the equipment, which leads to a long travel time of the AGV, a low single-machine utilization rate of the AGV, and the problem of hierarchical placement of the tool room and the equipment, further reducing the efficiency of the AGV equipment. If the tool tray transport AGV and the loading and unloading AGV are designed separately, there will be a lack of a relatively stable docking structure and an efficient docking method. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The embodiments of this application provide a tool changing device and an automatic tool changing method, aiming to overcome the problems of low tool changing efficiency, long equipment downtime, high labor costs, and easy material damage in existing drilling processing equipment, as well as the high transformation cost of old equipment and the difficulty in realizing unmanned operation in an intelligent workshop.

[0006] A tool changing device described in the embodiments of this application includes: a frame, a manipulator, a magazine, a lifting mechanism, and a moving mechanism;

[0007] The frame, the lifting mechanism, and the magazine are all arranged on the moving mechanism. The frame surrounds the lifting mechanism and forms a feeding port above the lifting mechanism;

[0008] The manipulator is arranged at one end of the frame above and away from the magazine. The lifting mechanism is used to take out the tool tray stored in the magazine and lift the tool tray to the feeding port, or lower the tool tray at the feeding port and push it back into the magazine. The manipulator is used to pick up and place the tool trays in the tool tray at the feeding port.

[0009] In some embodiments, the lifting mechanism includes a bracket, a lifting assembly, and a translation assembly. The bracket is connected to the moving mechanism. The lifting assembly is disposed on the bracket and is connected to the translation assembly. The translation assembly is configured to horizontally move the tray stored in the magazine to the loading position or horizontally push the tray at the loading position back into the magazine. The lifting assembly is configured to drive the tray at the loading position to move up and down.

[0010] In some embodiments, the translation assembly includes a translation motor, a translation lead screw, and a material dragging plate. The translation motor is capable of driving the material dragging plate to reciprocate horizontally along the translation lead screw. A pushing and pulling block is provided on the material dragging plate. The pushing and pulling block is configured to connect to the tray when taking out the tray from the magazine and to cooperate with the tray to dock with the magazine when pushing the tray back into the magazine.

[0011] In some embodiments, a first detection component assembly is provided on the material dragging plate for detecting whether the material dragging plate can receive the tray.

[0012] In some embodiments, the lifting assembly includes a lifting motor, a lifting lead screw, and a lifting back plate. The lifting motor is disposed on the bracket and is configured to drive the lifting back plate to move up and down along the lifting lead screw. The lifting back plate is connected to the translation assembly.

[0013] In some embodiments, a first positioning sleeve and a first positioning pin are respectively provided on one side of the lifting back plate facing the translation assembly and at the front end of the tray. When the tray moves to the loading position, the positioning sleeve and the positioning block can be docked with each other.

[0014] In some embodiments, a second detection assembly and a limiting block are provided on the lifting back plate. The limiting block is configured to softly limit the tray at the loading position. The second detection assembly is configured to detect the position accuracy of the tray when it is at the loading position.

[0015] In some embodiments, side plates are connected to both ends of the lifting back plate. Guide wheels are provided on the side plates. The guide wheels are spaced apart along the movement direction of the translation assembly and are configured to receive and guide the tray.

[0016] In some embodiments, the machine frame includes a first cross beam. The first cross beam is located on the side of the feeding port close to the magazine. A second positioning sleeve and a second positioning pin are respectively provided on the horizontal side of the first cross beam facing the feeding port and at the rear end of the tray. When the tray is at the feeding port, the translation assembly can push the tray to move horizontally to dock and position the second positioning sleeve and the second positioning pin.

[0017] In some embodiments, a vision detection component is provided on the manipulator jaw unit. The vision detection component includes a camera. Positioning marks are provided on the tray. The camera is used to capture the positioning marks to compensate for the angular deviation of the jaws relative to the tray in the plane.

[0018] In some embodiments, the vision detection component further includes a height sensor. The height sensor is used to detect the skew angle of the jaws relative to the tray in space and can compensate for the height deviation of the jaws relative to the tray in space according to the obtained deviation value by distance.

[0019] In some embodiments, a magazine positioning seat is provided on the moving mechanism. A third positioning pin and a positioning hole are respectively provided on the magazine positioning seat and the magazine. The third limit pin is inserted and matched with the positioning hole when the magazine is located on the magazine positioning seat.

[0020] In some embodiments, the magazine and the lifting mechanism are arranged side by side on the moving mechanism. The side of the magazine where the material taking and placing opening is located faces the material taking side of the lifting mechanism, and the two are in communication with each other.

[0021] In some embodiments, the tool change system further includes a buffer rack. Guide mechanisms and positioning blocks are provided around the buffer rack for limiting and positioning the magazine on the magazine buffer rack. A second lifting component is provided inside the magazine positioning seat. The second lifting component is used to lift and lower the magazine to dock with the buffer rack to replace the magazine.

[0022] In some embodiments, a magazine positioning seat is provided on the moving mechanism. A limit pin is provided on the magazine positioning seat, and a limit hole is provided on the magazine. The limit pin is inserted and matched with the limit hole when the magazine is located on the magazine positioning seat.

[0023] In some embodiments, the tool change system further includes a buffer rack. Guide mechanisms and positioning mechanisms are provided around the buffer rack for limiting and positioning the magazine on the magazine buffer rack.

[0024] In some embodiments, a temporary storage position is provided on the machine frame for temporarily storing the tool disc at the machine table or the feeding port.

[0025] An automatic tool change method according to an embodiment of the present application is applied to the tool change device. The method includes:

[0026] After receiving a tool change instruction, control the lifting mechanism to move to take out the tray from the magazine and move it to the feeding port;

[0027] The manipulator grabs the tool disc at the feeding port and replaces it with the old tool disc on the machine table;

[0028] After the tray at the feeding port is filled with used cutter heads, control the lifting mechanism to move and place the tray back into the magazine;

[0029] Repeat the above steps until all the cutter heads in the magazine are replaced, and then replace the magazine.

[0030] In some embodiments, the lifting mechanism moves to take out the tray from the magazine and move it to the feeding port, which includes:

[0031] The lifting component moves to a specified position, the translation component moves to connect with the tray in the magazine, and horizontally extracts the tray from the magazine to the loading position;

[0032] Detect and adjust the position accuracy of the tray at the loading position;

[0033] Control the lifting component to move upward to move the tray to the feeding port.

[0034] In some embodiments, before the manipulator grabs the tray at the feeding port, it includes:

[0035] Identify the positioning mark of the tray to determine the overall position of the tray;

[0036] Identify the tilt angle of the tray and correspondingly adjust the gripping angle of the gripper;

[0037] The position compensation unit moves to compensate for the deviation of the pick-and-place position of the tray.

[0038] In some embodiments, the manipulator grabs the used cutter head on the machine table to the temporary storage position, leaving a cutter head vacancy on the machine table, and the manipulator grabs the cutter head at the feeding port to the cutter head vacancy on the machine table.

[0039] In some embodiments, the replacement of the magazine includes:

[0040] Control the second lifting component to vertically lift the old magazine, move it to dock with the first buffer rack, and control the second lifting component to lower to place the old magazine on the first buffer rack;

[0041] The moving component moves out of the first buffer rack and moves to dock with the second buffer rack, and control the second lifting component to lift the new magazine and move it out of the second buffer rack;

[0042] Control the second lifting component to lower, and position and dock the new magazine to be fixed on the magazine positioning seat.

[0043] The tool changing device and the automatic tool changing method provided by the embodiments of the present application install a replaceable magazine on the moving mechanism. The lifting mechanism is used to lift and clamp the tray in the magazine and move it to the feeding port. The manipulator replaces the tool disc at the feeding port with the old tool disc on the machine table, realizing full-automatic tool changing, reducing the expenditure of labor costs, and at the same time solving the problems of low manual efficiency, long equipment downtime, and easy scratching and bumping during the handling process. Secondly, the robotic arm and the lifting mechanism can work independently at the same time, improving the material changing efficiency, enhancing the space utilization rate, and increasing the production efficiency. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0044] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the following drawings are only some embodiments of the present application. For those skilled in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings.

[0045] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the overall structure of the tool changing device provided in this embodiment;

[0046] Figure 2 Side view of the tool changing device provided in this embodiment;

[0047] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the structure of the lifting mechanism in the tool changing device provided in this embodiment;

[0048] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the structure of the jaw unit in the tool changing device provided in this embodiment;

[0049] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the structure of the tool disc in the tool changing device provided in this embodiment;

[0050] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the structure of the tray in the tool changing device provided in this embodiment;

[0051] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the structure of the magazine in the tool changing device provided in this embodiment;

[0052] Figure 8 Schematic diagram of the structure of the temporary storage rack in the tool changing device provided in this embodiment;

[0053] Figure 9 Schematic diagram of the structure of the magazine located on the temporary storage rack in the tool changing device provided in this embodiment.

[0054] Reference numerals: 1 - frame; 2 - manipulator; 3 - magazine; 4 - lifting mechanism; 5 - moving mechanism; 6 - tray; 7 - buffer rack; 10 - feeding port;

[0055] 11 - Temporary storage bit; 12 - First crossbeam; 21 - Camera; 22 - Light source; 23 - Lens; 30 - Magazine positioning seat; 31 - Spherical buckle; 35 - Positioning hole; 36 - Support pillar; 41 - Bracket; 42 - Lifting assembly; 43 - Translation assembly; 61 - Tool disc; 62 - Tool holder; 63 - Gripping port; 64 - Code reader; 65 - Height sensor; 66 - Level; 67 - Position compensation unit; 68 - First positioning pin; 69 - Fixed port; 71 - First support frame; 72 - Second support frame; 73 - First hanging plate; 74 - Second hanging plate; 75 - Guide mechanism; 76 - Positioning block; 77 - Universal wheel;

[0056] 411 - Linear guide rail; 421 - Lifting motor; 422 - Lifting lead screw; 423 - Lifting back plate; 4231 - First positioning sleeve; 4232 - Second detection assembly; 4233 - Limit block; 424 - Lifting drive assembly; 431 - Translation lead screw; 432 - Material dragging plate; 4321 - First convex block; 4322 - First detection assembly; 4323 - Second convex block; 433 - Slide bar; 434 - Side plate; 435 - Guide wheel; 611 - Positioning hole; 612 - Claw; 613 - Connecting block; 711 - First support column; 712 - Second support column; 713 - Third support column; 714 - Fourth support column; 715 - Top connecting beam; 716 - First bottom connecting beam; 717 - Second bottom connecting beam; 718 - Third bottom connecting beam; 720 - Bearing plate; 721 - First positioning assembly; 722 - Second positioning assembly; 723 - Third positioning assembly; 724 - Fourth positioning assembly. Detailed implementation mode

[0057] The following further elaborates on the tool changing system and the automatic tool changing method proposed by the present invention in combination with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be noted that the accompanying drawings are all in a very simplified form and use non - precise scales, only for conveniently and clearly assisting in explaining the purpose of the embodiments of the present invention. In addition, the structures shown in the accompanying drawings are often part of the actual structures. Specifically, the accompanying drawings need to show different focuses and sometimes use different scales.

[0058] It should be noted that the "first", "second", etc. in the description, claims and drawings of the present invention are used to distinguish similar objects in order to describe the embodiments of the present invention, rather than to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such structures can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances. In addition, the terms "include" and "have" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non - exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units does not necessarily have to be limited to those steps or units clearly listed, but may include other steps or units not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0059] As shown Figures 1 to 9 in the figure, it discloses a tool changing device, which is mainly aimed at the currently widely used PCB processing equipment, and realizes the automatic tool changing function of the PCB processing equipment through the mutual cooperation of multiple mechanisms. It has a compact structure, simple control, diverse methods, and convenient maintenance. After the tool changing device realizes the automatic tool changing function of the PCB equipment, it can reduce the number of workshop staff, improve work efficiency, and reduce labor costs.

[0060] Please refer to Figures 1 to 2 , a tool changing device provided by an embodiment of the present invention includes a frame 1, a manipulator 2, a magazine 3, a lifting mechanism 4 and a moving mechanism 5. The frame 1, the lifting mechanism 4 and the magazine 3 are all arranged on the moving mechanism 5. The moving mechanism 5 is an AGV intelligent vehicle, which moves on the ground through the AGV intelligent vehicle to move the tool changing system to the required drilling processing equipment for operation and complete the replacement of the tool disc.

[0061] The lifting mechanism 4 and the magazine 3 are arranged side by side on the moving mechanism 5. The lifting mechanism 4 can move up and down along the second direction and horizontally move along the first direction to extract the tool disc in the magazine 3. The material taking side of the lifting mechanism 4 is opposite to the material taking and placing opening side of the magazine 3 and is interconnected therebetween. The frame 1 surrounds the lifting mechanism 4 to form a feeding port 10 above the lifting mechanism 4. The manipulator 2 is arranged at one end of the frame 1 above and away from the magazine 3. The lifting mechanism 4 is used to horizontally take out the stored tool disc 6 from the magazine 3 and lift the tool disc 6 to the upper feeding port 10, or to lower the tool disc 6 located at the feeding port 10 and horizontally push it back into the magazine 3. The manipulator 2 is used to pick and place the tool disc 61 in the tool disc 6 at the feeding port 10. That is to say, the frame 1 occupies a part of the space of the moving mechanism 4, and the other part of the space is used to place the magazine 3. The lifting mechanism 4 is arranged inside the frame 1. The lifting mechanism 4 continuously extracts the tool disc 6 from the magazine 3 and transfers it to the feeding port 10. The manipulator 2 grabs the tool disc 61 on the tool disc 6 at the feeding port 10 and replaces the old tool disc on the processing equipment to realize the automatic replacement of the tool disc. The magazine 3 is installed on the moving mechanism 5 through a positioning pin. When all the tool discs 6 in the magazine 3 are replaced, the magazine 3 can be removed from the moving mechanism 5 and the magazine 3 can be replaced to continue processing.

[0062] When replacing the cutter head of the processing equipment, the lifting mechanism 4 can extract the material tray 6 from the material bin 3 and lift it to the upper feeding port 10. The material tray 6 can be exposed from the feeding port 10 for the manipulator 2 to grab, and the cutter head 61 on the material tray 6 is delivered to the processing equipment through the manipulator 2 to achieve batching. The old cutters replaced on the processing equipment are also placed on the material tray 6 through the manipulator 2. After completing the loading and unloading operations of the material tray 6 at the feeding port 10, the lifting mechanism 4 places the replaced material tray 6 into the material bin 3 and lifts the material tray 6 that has not been replaced in the material bin 3 to the feeding port 10 again to wait for the manipulator 2 to clamp, realizing continuous feeding of the processing equipment.

[0063] It should be noted that in this embodiment, the above-mentioned first direction and second direction are exemplified by the height direction of the lifting component 43 of the lifting mechanism 4 and the length direction of the translation component 43, and the first direction and the second direction are upward, downward, leftward or rightward in space, and are not limited to a specific position in space. That is, in this embodiment, the height direction of the lifting component 43 is defined as the second direction. The lifting mechanism 4 and the material bin 3 are placed side by side along the length direction of the moving mechanism 5. The horizontal moving direction of the translation component 43 and the extraction and pushing of the material tray 6 in the material bin 3 are defined as the first direction. The lifting component 43 moves up and down along the second direction to a specified layer of the material bin 3, and the translation component 43 moves horizontally back and forth along the first direction to clamp the material tray 6 in the specified layer of the material bin 3. The first direction and the second direction are perpendicularly arranged. Secondly, in this embodiment, "first", "second", etc. are only used for distinguishing each other, rather than indicating importance, order, and the prerequisite for each other's existence, etc.

[0064] Please refer to Figure 7 , the frame 1 and the lifting mechanism 4 are fixed to the moving mechanism 5. A material bin positioning seat 30 is provided on the moving mechanism 5. Third positioning pins (not shown in the figure) and positioning holes 35 are respectively provided on the table surface of the material bin positioning seat 30 and the bottom of the material bin 3. Taking the positioning hole 35 provided below the material bin 3 and the third positioning pin provided on the material bin positioning seat 30 as an example, the material bin 3 can be vertically downward butted with the third positioning pin of the material bin positioning seat 30 above the moving mechanism 5 for positioning, and the material bin 3 is placed on the moving mechanism 5. Handles are respectively provided on both sides of the material bin 3, and the material bin 3 can be taken and placed manually or by a mechanical device. The AGV intelligent vehicle can run to the equipment that needs to change the tool through the specified navigation path, and there is no need to transport the material bin 3 through the moving mechanism 5 (AGV intelligent vehicle). The cutter head transportation AGV and the loading and unloading AGV are separately designed, reducing the walking time of the loading and unloading AGV and reducing the cost of the tool change system.

[0065] Further, the frame 1 surrounds the lifting mechanism 4, leaving a moving space for the tray 6 inside and above the frame 1. A top plate is provided on one side of the lifting mechanism 4 away from the material bin 3, and a tray feeding port 10 is formed beside the top plate. The manipulator 2 is arranged on the top plate and is used to pick up and place the tray 6 at the feeding port 10.

[0066] In some embodiments, please refer to Figure 3 , the lifting mechanism 4 includes a bracket 41, a lifting assembly 42 and a translation assembly 43. The bracket 41 is connected to the moving mechanism 5. The lifting assembly 42 is arranged on the bracket 41 and is connected to the translation assembly 43. The lifting assembly 42 can drive the translation assembly 43 to move up and down. When the translation assembly 43 picks up the tray 6 from the material bin 3, it cooperates with the lifting assembly 42 to pick up and feed the trays 6 at different storage heights in the material bin 3. The translation assembly 43 is used to take out the tray 6 stored in the material bin 3 at a specific picking height and move it to the loading position, or push the tray 6 located at the loading position back into the material bin 3. The lifting assembly 42 is used to drive the tray 6 at the loading position to move up and down. When feeding is required, the lifting assembly 42 drives the tray 6 at the loading position to move up to the feeding port 10, and the manipulator 2 grabs the tool disc 61 on the tray 6 at the feeding port 10.

[0067] In some embodiments, the lifting assembly includes a lifting motor 421, a lifting lead screw 422 and a lifting back plate 423. The bracket 41 includes a first bracket and a second bracket. Linear guide rails 411 are respectively provided on the first bracket and the second bracket. Both ends of the lifting back plate 423 are connected to the two groups of linear guide rails 411 through sliders. When the lifting back plate 423 moves up and down, the movement of the lifting back plate 423 can be guided through the sliding connection between the sliders and the linear guide rails 411. The lifting lead screw 422 is arranged on the first bracket and drives the lifting back plate 423 to move up and down along the lifting lead screw 422 through a lifting transmission assembly 424. The lifting transmission assembly 424 is located at the lower end of the first bracket and is connected to the output end of the lifting motor 421. The lifting motor 421 is located on the side of the first bracket facing away from the translation assembly 43 and is used to drive the lifting back plate 423 to move up and down along the lifting lead screw 422. The lifting back plate 423 is connected to the translation assembly 43. The lifting lead screw 422 can drive the lifting back plate 423 to move up and down, and then drive the translation assembly 43 to move up and down, so that the translation assembly 43 can take out or push in the trays 6 at different heights in the material bin 3. Among them, the position and direction of the first bracket and the second bracket are not limited.

[0068] The lifting motor 421 is arranged on the side of the first bracket facing away from the translation assembly 43, which can prevent the lifting assembly 42 from interfering with the lifting motor 421 during the up and down movement, affecting the up and down movement range of the lifting assembly 42. Since the lifting motor 421 is arranged at the rear end of the first bracket, the up and down movement range of the lifting back plate 423 along the lifting lead screw 422 is increased, which is convenient for clamping the trays 6 at different heights in the material bin 3.

[0069] In some embodiments, the lifting transmission assembly 424 is a synchronous belt transmission assembly, which includes a driving wheel, a passive wheel and a synchronous belt. The driving wheel is connected to the output end of the lifting motor 421, and the passive wheel is connected to one end of the lifting screw rod 422. The synchronous belt surrounds the driving wheel and the passive wheel, and the driving wheel is driven to rotate by the lifting motor 421, and the lifting screw rod 422 is driven to rotate under the action of the synchronous belt and the passive wheel, thereby realizing the up and down movement of the lifting back plate 423.

[0070] Furthermore, the first bracket and the second bracket are separately arranged, and the synchronous belt can surround the driving wheel and the passive wheel located on both sides of the first bracket at the bottom of the first bracket.

[0071] In some embodiments, the translation assembly 43 includes a translation motor, a slide bar 433, a horizontal screw rod 431, and a material drag plate 432. The lifting back plate 423 is connected to the bottom plate, the slide bar 433 and the translation screw rod 431 are fixed to the bottom plate through the support plates at the front and rear ends of the bottom plate, and a feed port 10 is formed above the slide bar 433 and the horizontal screw rod 431. The translation motor is located below the bottom plate, and the output end of the translation motor is connected to the horizontal screw rod 431. The material drag plate 432 is connected to the top of the horizontal screw rod 431 through a slider sleeved on the horizontal screw rod 431 and the slide bar 433. The translation motor drives the translation screw rod 431 to rotate and drives the slider and the material drag plate 432 to move along the first direction, which is used to horizontally drag the material tray 6 stored in the silo 3 to the upper material position or horizontally push the material tray 6 at the upper material position into the silo 3. The translation screw rod 431 and the slide bar 433 are in the horizontal direction, providing guidance for the movement of the material drag plate 432.

[0072] Specifically, when one of the tools of one of the processing equipment on the production line is about to reach the end of its life, the processing equipment sends a tool change request signal to the scheduling system. The scheduling system sends an instruction to the AGV intelligent vehicle to move to the loading and unloading station. The lifting component 42 drives the translation component 43 to lift to the corresponding height of a certain silo 3. The translation motor drives the drag plate 432 to move in the direction of the silo 3. The drag plate 432 moves into the silo 3 and receives the material tray 6. When the drag plate 432 returns to its position, it can drive the material tray 6 out of the silo 3, thereby transferring the material tray 6 to the loading position, and is driven to the upper feed port 10 by the lifting component 43. The robot 2 clamps the tool at the feed port 10 to replace the tool on the processing equipment.

[0073] The material tray is taken and placed by the translation motor, the translation screw rod 431 and the material drag plate 432. Fewer components are required, and the above components will not take up too much space. The overall volume is small, which can reduce the space occupied by the translation component 43. The structure is compact and will not cause the volume of the frame 1 to be too large.

[0074] In some embodiments, the drag plate 432 is used as a carrier tray, and its overall structure is not limited. Preferably, the drag plate 432 is in a "mountain" shape, and the weight of the drag plate 432 is relatively light, which can reduce the operating load of the translation motor. Among them, a first detection component 4322 is provided on the middle pillar of the drag plate 432. The first detection component 4322 is used to detect whether the tray 6 is received on the drag plate 432, so as to ensure that the tray 6 does not fall off the drag plate 432 during the process of pulling the tray 6 out of the magazine 3 or pushing it into the magazine 3, and to ensure the normal picking and placing of the tray 6. If the first detection component 4322 does not detect the receiving signal of the tray 6 during the process of the drag plate 432 dragging the tray 6, the transportation is stopped. After checking that the position of the tray 6 is correct, the operation is restarted to reduce the equipment failure rate. The first detection component 4322 can be a proximity sensor, which judges the position of the tray 6 according to the distance between the tray 6 and the tray support plate 432. The first detection component 4322 can also be a distance sensor or a fiber optic sensor, etc., which is not specifically limited here.

[0075] In some embodiments, please refer to Figure 3 and Figure 6 , at least one push-pull block is arranged on the drag plate 432. The push-pull block is used to connect the tray 6 when taking out the tray from the magazine 3, and to cooperate with the tray 6 and the magazine 3 for docking when pushing the tray 6 back into the magazine 3. The push-pull block includes a first convex block 4321 and a second convex block 4323. The first convex block 4321 and the second convex block 4323 are arranged in parallel and at intervals. At least one fixing port 69 is provided on the side of the tray 6. The width and length of the first convex block 4321 are slightly smaller than the width and length of the fixing port 69. That is to say, the first convex block 4321 can not only be inserted into the fixing port 69, but also there are certain gaps around the fixing port 69 after the first convex block 4321 is inserted into the fixing port 69, which can eliminate the deviation caused by the inclination of the first convex block 4321 during the process of connecting the tray 6, and make up for the position deviation during the processing and assembly process.

[0076] When the first convex block 4321 extends into the magazine 3 and moves to a position where the first convex block 4321 is below the disk fixing port 69, the lifting assembly 42 drives the push-pull block to rise, inserts the first convex block 4321 into the fixing port 69 to connect the disk 6, and under the pulling force of the translation assembly 43 in the first direction, the first convex block 4321 abuts against one side wall of the disk fixing port 69 to drive the disk 6 to move horizontally in the first direction. Similarly, when the disk 6 is filled with the used cutting tools replaced by the machine, the lifting assembly 42 drives the disk 6 to descend to the position of the disk placement layer, and the translation assembly 43 pushes the disk 6 in the first direction into the magazine 3. At this time, the first convex block 4321 abuts against the other inner wall of the disk fixing port 69, drives the movement of the disk 6 into the magazine 3 until the disk 6 is connected and fixed to the magazine 3, and the lifting assembly 42 descends to move the first convex block 4321 out of the fixing port 69 and places the disk 6 in the magazine 3.

[0077] Further, the second convex block 4323 is located on the side of the first convex block 4321 away from the magazine 3. The distance between the first convex block 4321 and the second convex block 4323 is the first distance, and the distance between the fixing port 69 and the edge of the disk 6 is the second distance. The first distance is greater than the second distance, which can eliminate the error in the processing and assembly process, and at the same time, when the disk 6 is pushed into the magazine 3, the impact can be reduced.

[0078] In some embodiments, a positioning bead is provided inside the second convex block 4323. The positioning bead is telescopically arranged inside the second convex block 4323, and the direction of the positioning bead faces the side of the magazine 3 and extends out of the second convex block 4323. The positioning bead includes an elastic part, and the elastic part is connected to the inner wall of the second convex block 4323. The positioning bead is parallel to the translation lead screw as a whole. After the first convex block 4321 is inserted into the fixing port 69, the positioning bead inside the second convex block 4323 can abut against the side wall of the disk 6. After the first convex block 4321 connects the disk 6 and is pushed into the magazine 3 by the translation assembly 43, under the action of the elastic positioning bead, a certain thrust can be generated on the disk 6 in the first direction, and in cooperation with the spherical buckle 31 at the rear end of the disk 6 and the spherical buckle (not shown in the figure) of the rear pillar 36 of the magazine 3 being snap-fitted and docked, the disk 6 can enter in a buffered manner to reduce the impact; and to avoid the phenomenon that due to the space of the fixing port 69 being larger than the first convex block 4321, there is a certain space distance between the first convex block 4321 and the side wall of the fixing port 69 away from the magazine when the disk 6 is pushed into the magazine 3, resulting in incomplete position of the disk 6 when it is pushed into the magazine 3 and incomplete docking of the disk 6 with the magazine 3.

[0079] In some embodiments, two sets of push-pull blocks are provided, which are respectively located at the ends of the two side pillars of the drag plate 432, so that the disk is evenly stressed when being hooked.

[0080] In some embodiments, the position of the first detection component 4322 and the positions of the push-pull blocks on both sides are on the same horizontal line, and can detect the position of the tray while the push-pull blocks clamp the tray.

[0081] In some embodiments, both ends of the side facing the translation component 43 of the lifting back plate 423 are respectively connected to side plates 434. The two side plates 434 are arranged oppositely and can move up and down following the lifting back plate 423.

[0082] Wherein, a plurality of guide wheels 435 are arranged on each side plate 434 along the first direction. The heights of the guide wheels 435 on both sides are the same. When the drag plate 432 drags the tray 6 along the first direction, the guide wheels 435 can support and guide the movement of the tray 6. When the translation component 43 connects the tray 6 and pulls it out from the magazine 3, the guide wheels 435 on both sides support and guide the tray 6 to move to the tray loading position.

[0083] When feeding the tray 6 into the magazine 3, after the translation lead screw 431 drives the drag plate 432 to move and enter the magazine 3 and dock and position with the magazine 3, the lifting component 42 drives the translation component 43 to move downward, and the drag plate 432 disengages from the tray 6, and the tray 6 is placed into the magazine 3.

[0084] In some embodiments, please refer to Figures 6 to 7 , the trays 6 are stacked and horizontally placed in the magazine 3. One side of the magazine 3 where the material taking and placing opening is located communicates with the translation component 43. The side of the tray 6 located at the material taking and placing opening side is the front end of the tray, and the side far from the material taking and placing opening is the rear end of the tray. Wherein, a first positioning sleeve 4231 and a first positioning pin 68 are respectively arranged on the side of the lifting back plate 423 facing the translation component 43 and the front end of the tray 6. The positioning pin 68 and the positioning sleeve 4231 are matched to position the tray 6 at the loading position. Taking the first positioning sleeve 4231 provided on the lifting back plate 423 and the first positioning pin 68 provided at the front end of the tray as an example, when the translation component 43 pulls out the tray 6 in the magazine 3, the positioning pin 68 at the front end of the tray 6 can be docked with the positioning sleeve 4231 on the lifting back plate 423, which is used to ensure the positioning accuracy when the translation component 43 pulls out the tray 6. When the docking of the positioning pin 68 of the tray 6 and the positioning sleeve 4231 is completed, at this time the tray 6 is located at the loading position. When the tray 6 at the loading position moves up to the feeding port 10, it can avoid the position deviation of some cutter discs 61 when the tray 6 is not pulled in place and rises to the feeding port 10, and avoid the interference between some cutter discs 61 and the frame 1 during the rising process due to the tray 6 not being pulled in place, resulting in tool damage, and ensure the stability of the tray 6 at the loading position.

[0085] In order to further ensure the positioning accuracy of the tray 6, in some embodiments, at least one second detection component 4232 is provided on the side of the lifting backplane 423 facing the translation component 43. The second detection component 4323 is a proximity sensor, which is used to detect whether the tray 6 is accurately located at the loading position. The second detection component 4232 and the translation lead screw 431 act together to determine that when the translation lead screw 432 moves in place and the second detection component 4232 detects the tray 6, it is determined that the tray 6 has moved in place. If the position of the tray 6 deviates when it is at the loading position, the second detection component 4232 will send a signal. After adjusting the position of the tray 6, the lifting component 42 is controlled again to drive the tray 6 to rise to the upper feeding port 10.

[0086] In some embodiments, a limit block 4233 is provided on the side of the lifting backplane 423 facing the translation component 43. The limit block 4233 is made of a soft material and is used to softly limit the tray 6 at the loading position. When the translation component 43 pulls the tray 6 out of the magazine 3 along the first direction, there will be a certain moving speed when the drag plate 432 clamps the tray 6 and moves along the first direction. When reaching the loading position, the tray 6 contacts the limit block 4233 first, forming a certain buffer on the tray 6, docking the tray 6 at the loading position, avoiding direct contact between the tray 6 and the lifting backplane 423, reducing the impact force, and avoiding damage to the tool. While the limit block 4233 limits the tray 6, the positioning pin 611 on the side of the tray 6 is docked with the positioning sleeve 4231 to stably fix the tray 6 at the loading position of the drag plate 432.

[0087] In some embodiments, please refer to Figure 1 , in order to stably position the tray 6 at the feeding port 10, a second positioning sleeve (not shown in the figure) and a second positioning pin (not shown in the figure) are respectively provided on the rear end of the tray 6 and the side of the first cross beam 11 of the frame 1 horizontally facing the feeding port 10. When the lifting component 42 drives the tray 6 to move to the feeding port, at this time, the tray 6 and the first cross beam 11 above the frame 1 are in the same plane. The translation component 43 pushes the tray 6 along the first direction to dock the second positioning sleeve and the second positioning pin to position the tray 6.

[0088] It should be noted that the first positioning sleeve, the first positioning pin, the second positioning sleeve, and the second positioning pin can be replaced by other docking methods such as mechanical methods, and no specific limitations are made here.

[0089] Specifically, the frame 1 surrounds the lifting mechanism 4. The upper crossbeam of the frame 1 forms a feeding port 10 above the lifting mechanism 4. The frame 1 includes a first crossbeam 12 and side crossbeams. The first crossbeam 12 is located on the side of the feeding port 10 close to the magazine 3 and is parallel to the magazine 3. A top plate is provided on the side of the feeding port 10 away from the magazine 3. The top plate is horizontally connected to the side crossbeams on both sides to form a platform above the frame 1. The manipulator 2 is arranged on the top plate and is used to pick and place the cutter head 61 at the feeding port 10. The manipulator 2 is arranged at the upper part of the frame 1, which can save the occupied space of the manipulator 2.

[0090] In order to stably fix the tray 6 to the feeding port 10, the tray 6 can be positioned and fixed to the lifting back plate 423 by the docking of the first positioning sleeve 4231 and the first positioning pin 68, or the tray 6 can be positioned and fixed to the first crossbeam 12 by the docking of the second positioning sleeve and the second positioning pin.

[0091] In some embodiments, please refer to Figures 4 to 5 , in order to enable the manipulator 2 to more accurately and quickly grasp the cutter head on the tray at the loading position, a visual detection component is provided on the clamping jaw unit of the manipulator 2.

[0092] There is a positioning mark on the cutter head 61. The visual detection component includes a camera 21, a light source 22 and a lens 23. The camera 21 and the light source 22 are fixed to one side of the connecting block 613 by a fixing bracket and are arranged downward for identifying the positioning mark on the cutter head 61 below. The shape and position of the positioning mark are not limited. During the process of the manipulator 2 moving to grasp the cutter head 61, the camera 21 identifies and captures the positioning mark on the cutter head 61, quickly positioning the position of the cutter head 61 while compensating for the angular deviation of the cutter head 61 in the plane. The clamping jaw unit includes a connecting block 613 and clamping jaws 612. The clamping jaws 612 are rotatably connected to the lower end of the connecting block 613. In this embodiment, the positioning mark is a positioning hole 611 located on one side edge of the cutter head 61. By capturing the position of the positioning hole 611 by the camera 21, the positional relationship between the clamping jaws 612 and the cutter head 61 is judged. The positioning hole 611 has a certain shape, and the camera 21 can capture and identify the characteristics of the positioning hole 611 to judge the offset angle of the cutter head 61 in the plane, and horizontally rotate the posture of the clamping jaws 612 so that both sides of the clamping jaws 612 are parallel to the cutter head 61, compensating for the angular deviation of the cutter head 61 in the plane.

[0093] In some embodiments, the visual detection component further includes a height sensor 65 for detecting the skew angle of the cutter head 61 in space when it is lifted to the feeding port 10. The height sensor 65 is located on one side of the connecting block 613 and is relatively fixed to the position of the clamping jaws 612. By detecting the inclination angle of the height sensor 65 relative to the cutter head 61 in space, the inclination angle of the clamping jaws 612 relative to the cutter head 61 in space is judged at this time.

[0094] Specifically, the height sensor 65 is used to detect the height distances of multiple groups of height sensors 65 relative to the cutter head 61 at different positions. If the detected height distance values of multiple groups are the same, it indicates that the cutter head 61 is horizontal in space. Otherwise, it indicates that there is an angular deviation of the cutter head 61 in space, such as higher at the front and lower at the back or higher on the left and lower on the right. After detecting the angular deviation of the cutter head 61 in space, a signal is fed back to the manipulator 2, and the manipulator 2 adjusts the posture of the jaw 612 according to the obtained deviation data distance, so that the jaw 612 is parallel to the cutter head 61 in the height direction. At the same time, the camera 21 captures the features (positioning marks) on the cutter head 61, judges the skew angles of both sides of the jaw 612 relative to the boundary of the cutter head 61 (skew angles in the plane), and adjusts the posture of the manipulator 2 to make both sides of the jaw 612 parallel to the cutter head 61.

[0095] Furthermore, the height sensor 65 can detect the height of the jaw 612 relative to the cutter head 61 when the jaw 612 is located above the cutter head 61, and provides a height reference value for the jaw 612 to descend and grip the cutter head 61.

[0096] Furthermore, the jaw 612 includes two sides of openable and closable grasping members. The lower end of the grasping member has a grasping portion extending horizontally inward, and a storage space is formed inside the grasping member. The two sides of the cutter head 61 are provided with grasping openings 63. The opening of the grasping opening 63 is adapted to the width of the grasping portion. The two grasping portions on both sides can be inserted into the two grasping openings 63 on both sides to grasp the cutter head 61, reducing the grasping difficulty increased due to deviations caused by other structures and other factors. By the visual detection component, the deviation angles of the jaw 612 relative to the cutter head 61 in space and in the plane are compensated, and the grasping portions on both sides of the jaw 612 can just be inserted into the grasping openings on both sides of the cutter head 61 when grasping the cutter head 61, improving the grasping efficiency.

[0097] Furthermore, after the manipulator 2 receives the instruction from the scheduling system, the arm of the manipulator 2 extends. The visual detection component on the jaw unit identifies and compensates the coordinate position of the cutter head on the machining equipment, and identifies and compensates the coordinate position of the cutter head 61 at the feeding port 10, and grips the cutter head to perform the tool change process, making up for the movement position accuracy error of the moving mechanism 5, reducing the time when the moving mechanism 5 moves to the docking position, and improving the efficiency.

[0098] In some embodiments, a code reader 64 is provided on the jaw unit. The code reader 64 is located on one side of the connecting block 613. Each group of cutter heads 61 is correspondingly provided with an identification code. During the process of the manipulator 2 gripping the cutter head 61, the code reader 64 can read the identification code on the cutter head 61 to trace the cutter head 61.

[0099] Further, a spirit level 66 is also provided on the jaw unit. The spirit level 66 is horizontally fixed to the fixing plate of the connecting block 613 and connected to one side of the connecting block 613, which is used to ensure that the jaw unit remains horizontal during movement. When the height sensor 65 recognizes that the cutter head 61 has a certain inclination, the clamping angle of the jaw 612 is adjusted according to the angle deviation value. When the height sensor 65 does not recognize the inclination of the cutter head 61, it indicates that the cutter head 61 is horizontally placed, and the jaw 612 can hold the cutter head 61 in a horizontal state for clamping.

[0100] In some embodiments, the jaw unit includes a position compensation unit 67. The position compensation unit 67 is located above the connecting block 613 and is used to compensate for the position difference of the jaw unit during material picking and placing.

[0101] The jaw 612, the visual detection component, the spirit level 66, the code reader 64, and the position compensation unit 67 are all arranged in various directions of the connecting block 613. The positions of the visual detection component, the spirit level 66, the code reader 64, and the position compensation unit 67 relative to the jaw 612 are relatively fixed, which is used to detect and judge the position information of the cutter head 61 below, compensate the clamping position of the jaw 612, avoid the clamping position deviation of the jaw 612 caused by the position difference during the picking and placing of the cutter head 61, improve the clamping efficiency, and avoid tool damage caused by incorrect clamping positions.

[0102] At the same time, the visual detection component, the spirit level 66, the code reader 64, and the position compensation unit 67 are arranged in various directions of the connecting block 613, so that the occupied space area is small and will not affect the moving range of the jaw unit. It should be noted that the directions and positions of the visual detection component, the spirit level 66, the code reader 64, and the position compensation unit 67 on the connecting block 613 are not specifically limited and can be adjusted appropriately according to the actual scenario.

[0103] In some embodiments, please refer to Figures 1 to 2 , the magazine 3 is placed on the moving mechanism 5 through the magazine positioning seat 30. The magazine positioning seat 30 is located on one side of the moving mechanism 5, which can place the magazine 3 on the moving mechanism 5, and the picking and placing opening of the magazine 3 is directly opposite to the picking side of the lifting mechanism 4. The placement position of the magazine 3 and the extraction direction of the tray 6 are parallel to the sliding directions of the translation screw 431 and the sliding rod 433 of the translation assembly 43, and are in the same horizontal space. The translation assembly 43 can pick up the tray 6 in the magazine 3 and transport it forward or backward along the first direction, realizing the picking and placing of the tray 6 relative to the magazine 3.

[0104] The silo positioning seat 30 and the bottom of the silo 3 are respectively provided with a third positioning pin and a positioning hole 35, and the silo 3 is placed on the silo positioning seat 30 by docking the positioning hole 35 with the third positioning pin. In this embodiment, the third positioning pin and the positioning hole 35 are respectively located above the silo positioning seat 30 and around the edges of the bottom of the silo 3.

[0105] The silo 3 can be removed from the mobile mechanism 5 and installed freely. When the cutter disc 61 in the silo 3 is replaced with the cutter disc on the processing equipment, the silo 3 on the mobile mechanism 5 is replaced with the silo on the cache rack 7. A second lifting assembly (not shown in the figure) is provided in the silo positioning seat 30, which is used to lift the silo 3 from the silo positioning seat 30 and move it to the cache rack 7 to automatically replace the silo 3, thereby reducing the moving distance and moving time of the mobile mechanism 5 and improving the processing efficiency.

[0106] In some embodiments, a temporary storage position 11 is provided on the frame 1, and the temporary storage position 11 is used to cooperate with the manipulator 2 to replace the new cutter disc and the old cutter disc. When the processing equipment needs to replace the cutter disc, the manipulator 2 moves the cutter disc that needs to be replaced on the processing equipment to the temporary storage position 11, so that there is a vacant cutter disc position on the processing equipment, and then the manipulator 2 clamps the new cutter disc from the material disc at the feed port 10, and sends the new cutter disc to the vacant cutter disc position of the processing equipment. Alternatively, when the processing equipment needs to replace the cutter disc, the manipulator 2 moves the new cutter disc at the feed port 10 to the temporary storage position 11, so that there is a vacant cutter disc position at the feed port 10, and then the manipulator 2 clamps the old cutter disc that needs to be replaced from the processing equipment to the vacant cutter disc position of the feed port 10, thereby making there is a vacant cutter disc position on the drilling machine, and then the manipulator 2 clamps the cutter disc 61 from the material disc 6 at the feed port 10, and sends the cutter disc 61 to the vacant cutter disc position of the processing equipment. That is to say, the cutter disc on the processing equipment table or the feed port 10 is temporarily stored in the temporary storage position 11 on the frame 1, so that the processing equipment table or the feed port 10 has an empty cutter disc position to achieve orderly exchange of the old cutter disc on the table and the new cutter disc at the feed port 10.

[0107] Used tools are placed on the processing equipment table, and the used tools on the processing equipment are transferred to the material tray 6 at the feed port 10 by the robot 2. After the material tray 6 is full of used tools, the material tray 6 is moved downward by the lifting component 4 and pushed back to the silo 3, and automatic loading and unloading of materials from the processing equipment is realized through the tool changing system.

[0108] For further information, see Figures 5 to 7, there are multiple groups of trays 6 stacked vertically in the bin 3. Each group of trays 6 can store multiple groups of cutter heads 61, and multiple tool seats 62 are provided on the cutter head 61 for placing tools. Multiple groups of rollers are provided on the two side walls of the bin 3 along the vertical direction. Each group of rollers is used to place a group of trays 6, which plays a supporting and guiding role when the tray 6 is placed in the bin 3, and the tray 6 can slide horizontally along the rollers into the interior of the bin. The side of the bin 3 for loading and unloading materials (the front end of the bin) is a completely open opening for docking with the lifting assembly 42 to pick up materials. The rear end of the bin is a semi-open opening, and the upper and lower ends of the opening are connected to the support columns 36. Multiple clamping parts are provided on the support columns 36, and a clamping part is provided at the rear end of the tray 6. When the tray 6 slides into the rear end of the bin 3, the clamping part at the rear end of the tray 6 is clamped with the clamping part of the support column 36 to fix the tray 6 in the bin 3 and prevent the tray 6 from being displaced during transportation. In this embodiment, the clamping part and the clamping part are spherical buckles 31, and the docking and clamping between the two groups of spherical buckles ensure the stability of the connection.

[0109] In some embodiments, please refer to Figures 8 to 9 , the tool changing device further includes a buffer rack 7. The buffer rack 7 is used to place the bin 3 containing new tools, and to place the bin 3 filled with old cutter heads replaced from the moving mechanism 5. When all the tools in the bin 3 on the moving mechanism 5 are replaced with the used tools on the processing equipment, the moving mechanism 5 moves to an empty buffer rack 7 (the first buffer rack) without a bin and docks with the first buffer rack, transfers the bin 3 from the bin positioning seat 31 to the first buffer rack, then the moving mechanism 5 moves out of the first buffer rack in the reverse direction, moves to the buffer rack 7 (the second buffer rack) with a new bin and docks with the second buffer rack, and transfers the new bin from the second buffer rack to the bin positioning seat 30 to complete the replacement of the bin. The buffer rack 7 serves as a transfer part, and there is no need to move the moving mechanism 5 to the tool room to exchange the bin, realizing the rapid replacement of the bin.

[0110] Furthermore, the buffer rack 7 includes a first support frame 71, a second support frame 72 and multiple positioning components. The first support frame 71 includes four support columns, and the support columns are vertically erected on a base surface. The second support frame 72 is horizontally connected to the top of the first support frame 71, forming an accommodating space inside and partially on the top of the first support frame 71. The positioning components are arranged on the second support frame 72. The second support frame 72 is used to carry the bin 3, and the positioning components are used to guide and position the bin 3, positioning the bin 3 from above to below on the buffer rack 7.

[0111] Please refer to Figure 8, in some embodiments, the second support frame 72 includes a first hanging plate 73 and a second hanging plate 74 which are spaced apart. The first hanging plate 73 and the second hanging plate 74 are respectively connected to both sides of the first support frame 71 and extend horizontally and inwards along the central direction of the first support frame 71, forming partial horizontal support surfaces on both sides of the top of the first support frame 71 for supporting the silo 3. The first hanging plate 73 and the second hanging plate 74 have the same height and are parallel to each other. The first hanging plate 73 and the second hanging plate 74 are not connected and there is a gap between them. When the moving mechanism 5 is docked with it, the second lifting assembly can extend out of the gap to lift the silo directly above the buffer rack 7.

[0112] In some embodiments, the first support frame 71 includes a first support column 711, a second support column 712, a third support column 713, a fourth support column 714 and a top connection beam 715. The top connection beam 715 is connected between the second support column 712 and the third support column 713 to stabilize the structure of the overall support frame 7. The first hanging plate 73 is connected to the second support column 712 and the top connection beam 715, and the second hanging plate 74 is connected to the fourth support column 714 and the top connection beam 715, forming a section of horizontal hanging plate on both sides of the top of the buffer rack 7 along the Y-axis direction for supporting the silo 3. Taking the direction shown in the figure as an example, one side of the front end of the support frame 7 has an opening, and the other side of the rear end is connected to the support columns on the left and right through the top connection beam 715. The overall moving mechanism 5 is in the shape of a cuboid, and the support frame 7 is also in the shape of a cuboid. The width and height of the moving mechanism 5 are both smaller than the width and height of the support frame 7. When the moving mechanism 5 is docked with it, it can move into the interior of the support frame 7 along the X-axis direction. The second lifting assembly extends out of the upper gap to move the silo 3 above the support frame 7, and then the second lifting assembly descends to place the silo 3 on the first hanging plate 73 and the second hanging plate 74 of the buffer rack 7.

[0113] In some embodiments, the first support frame 71 further includes a first bottom connection beam 716, a second bottom connection beam 717 and a third bottom connection beam 718, which are respectively connected between the first support column 711 and the second support column 712, the second support part 712 and the third support part 713, the third support part 713 and the fourth support part 714. The first bottom connection beam 716 is parallel to the third bottom connection beam 718, and the second bottom connection beam 717 is parallel to the top connection beam 715. By providing connection beams at the rear end and the bottom of the left and right sides of the buffer rack 7, the overall structure of the buffer rack 7 can be stabilized again and the load-bearing capacity of the buffer rack 7 can be strengthened. Among them, no bottom connection beam and top connection beam are provided at the front end of the buffer rack 7, and an opening (in the X-axis direction) is provided at the front end, and the moving mechanism 5 can enter the buffer rack 7 from the front opening.

[0114] In some embodiments, the positioning assembly includes a first positioning assembly 721, a second positioning assembly 722, a third positioning assembly 723, and a fourth positioning assembly 724. The first positioning assembly 721 and the second positioning assembly 722 are disposed at two ends of the first suspension plate 73, and the third positioning assembly 723 and the fourth positioning assembly 724 are disposed at two ends of the second suspension plate 74. The first positioning assembly 721, the second positioning assembly 722, the third positioning assembly 723, and the fourth positioning assembly 724 are connected in pairs and are parallel to each other. Two groups of positioning assemblies are respectively provided on the first suspension plate 73 and the second suspension plate 74, and the four groups of positioning assemblies are located at the four corners of the buffer rack 7, capable of positioning the silo 3 in four directions and accelerating the positioning accuracy of the silo 3.

[0115] Further, the positioning assembly includes a guiding mechanism 75 for guiding the silo 3 when the silo 3 is placed on the buffer rack 7, guiding the silo 3 to the placement position, and arranging the silo 3 in an orderly manner.

[0116] The guiding mechanism 75 has an inclined guiding surface that inclines inward and downward, and the inclined guiding direction of the inclined guiding surface is parallel to the connecting beam of the first bracket. That is to say, when the silo 3 is placed downward from above the buffer rack 7, the silo 3 can move along the inclined guiding surfaces around it in the Z-axis downward direction while being able to move in the X-axis or Y-axis direction, and finally limit the silo 3 to the central position of the buffer rack 7. Among them, the number of guiding mechanisms in each group of positioning assemblies can be one or two, and it can be inclined and guided only along the X-axis or only along the Y-axis or inclined and guided both along the X-axis and along the Y-axis.

[0117] In some embodiments, in order to fix the silo 3, a positioning block 76 is provided at the front end of each guiding mechanism 75, and a positioning hole matching the positioning block 76 is provided at the bottom of the silo 3. When the silo 3 is placed downward along the guiding mechanism 75 on the buffer rack 7, the positioning block 76 can just be docked with the positioning hole, fixing the silo 3 to the buffer rack 7 and preventing the silo 3 from moving on the buffer rack 7.

[0118] In some embodiments, universal wheels 77 are further provided around the buffer rack 7, which can reduce friction during the process of placing the silo 3 on the buffer rack 7, prevent getting stuck on the inclined surface of the guiding mechanism 75 due to too large frictional force, and effectively improve the placement speed and accuracy of the silo 3.

[0119] In some embodiments, the positioning assembly includes a bearing plate 720, and the bearing plate 720 is located on the surface of the second support frame 72 in contact with the silo 3. The guiding mechanism 75, the positioning block 76, and the universal wheels 77 are all provided on the bearing plate 720.

[0120] Furthermore, a second lifting assembly (not shown in the figure) is provided inside the silo positioning seat 31. The second lifting assembly can lift the silo 3 from the silo positioning seat 31. When the silo 3 on the mobile mechanism 5 is filled with used old tools, the second lifting assembly lifts the silo 3 in the vertical direction, so that the third positioning pin and the positioning hole 35 are disengaged, and the silo 3 is moved along the X-axis direction to the inside of the first cache rack 7 and docked with the cache rack 7. The silo 3 is located above the first cache rack 7. The second lifting assembly drives the silo 3 to descend and places the silo 3 on the first cache rack 7 along the guide mechanism 71. Among them, the bearing surface 74 is located on both sides of the top of the frame 70, and a space is left in the middle of the bearing surfaces 74 on both sides for accommodating the second lifting assembly when the mobile mechanism 5 docks.

[0121] After the silo 3 is placed on the first buffer rack 7, the moving assembly 5 is moved out of the first buffer rack 7 and moved again to the buffer rack 7 (second buffer rack 7) where the new silo 3 is placed to dock with it. After docking in place, the second lifting assembly is controlled to rise to lift the silo 3 and move it out of the buffer rack 7. After moving to the processing position or moving out of the second buffer rack 7, the second lifting assembly is controlled to descend to dock the third positioning pin and the positioning hole 35 with each other, and the silo 3 is placed on the silo positioning seat 30 to complete the replacement of the silo. The two buffer racks are docked and coordinated with the moving mechanism 5 in sequence, and the disassembly of the old silo and the installation of the new silo are automatically completed, and the moving mechanism 5 does not need to move to the tool magazine to take the silo, which reduces the moving distance and time and improves the processing efficiency.

[0122] In some embodiments, a touch screen 8 is provided on the side of the frame 1 for displaying and operating the operation of the manipulator 2 and the lifting mechanism 4 .

[0123] An embodiment of the present invention provides an automatic tool changing method, which is used for the tool changing device as described above, including: after receiving the tool changing signal, the moving mechanism 4 moves to the loading and unloading position corresponding to the processing equipment, and the lifting mechanism 4 takes out the material trays from the silo 3 in sequence. Specifically, the lifting mechanism 4 descends to the specified layer of the silo 3, takes out the material tray 6 from the silo 3 and lifts the material tray 6 to the feed port 10.

[0124] First, the translation component 43 drives the material drag plate 432 to connect to and receive the material tray 6 in the silo 3, and pulls the material tray 6 out of the silo 3 horizontally to the loading position; the second detection component 4232 cooperates with the material drag plate 432 to detect and adjust the position accuracy of the material drag plate 432 at the loading position, and then, after the position detection of the material tray 6 is qualified, the material tray 6 is moved upward to the feed port 10, waiting for the robot 2 to clamp the knife disc 61 on the material tray 6.

[0125] When performing the tool change operation, the manipulator 2 picks up the old tool disc on the machine table at the temporary storage position 11, leaving a tool disc vacancy on the machine table. The manipulator 2 picks up the new tool disc 61 at the feeding port 10 to the tool disc vacancy on the machine table, completing a set of tool changes. Repeat the picking until the tray 6 at the feeding port 10 is fully filled with old tool discs.

[0126] During the process of the manipulator 2 picking up the tray, the positioning marks on the tool disc 61 are recognized by the vision detection component camera 21 to determine the overall position of the tool disc 61. The position compensation unit 67 compensates for the pick-and-place position deviation of the tool disc 61, and the tilt angle of the tool disc 61 is recognized by the height sensor 65 to correspondingly adjust the clamping angle of the clamping jaw, so that the clamping jaw accurately aligns with the grasping port 63 to quickly and accurately pick up the tool disc 61.

[0127] When the tray 6 at the feeding port 10 is filled with used tools, the lifting mechanism 4 drives the tray 6 to descend from the feeding port 10, and when it descends to the picking position, the translation component is driven to push the tray 6 filled with old tools into the magazine 3;

[0128] After the lifting mechanism 4 moves the tray 6 filled with old tool discs back to the magazine 3, repeat the above steps. The lifting mechanism 4 takes out a new tray 6 from the magazine 3 again and moves it to the upper feeding port 10 for automatic tool change until all the tools in the magazine 3 are replaced. When all the tools in the magazine 3 are replaced, the moving mechanism 5 moves to perform the operation of replacing the magazine. Control the second lifting component to vertically lift the magazine 3 on the magazine positioning seat 30 and move it to dock with the empty first buffer rack 7. Control the second lifting component to descend and place the magazine 3 filled with old tools on the first buffer rack 7. After the magazine 3 is placed, the moving mechanism 5 moves out of the first buffer rack 7 in the reverse direction along the X-axis and moves to dock with the second buffer rack 7. Control the second lifting component to lift the new magazine 3 on the second buffer rack 7 and move it out of the second buffer rack 7. Control the second lifting component to descend and place the new magazine 3 downward on the magazine positioning seat 30 to complete the replacement of the magazine. After replacing the magazine, the moving mechanism 5 continues to move to the tool change processing position to work.

[0129] A tool change device and a tool change method provided by the present invention realize the automatic and orderly exchange of the old tool disc on the machine table and the new tool disc on the tool change AGV. Using a fully automated system, it reduces the expenditure of labor costs, and at the same time solves the problems of low manual efficiency, long equipment downtime, and easy scratching and bumping during the handling process. Secondly, the robotic arm and the lifting mechanism can work independently at the same time, improving the material change efficiency, enhancing the space utilization rate, and increasing the production efficiency.

[0130] In the above embodiments, the descriptions of each embodiment have their own emphases. For the parts not detailed in a certain embodiment, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0131] The above has introduced in detail the tool changing device and the automatic tool changing method provided by the embodiments of the present application, and specific examples have been used to elaborate on the principle and implementation manner of the present application. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the technical solution and its core idea of the present application; those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements on some of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A tool changing device, characterized in that: It includes a frame, a manipulator, a silo, a lifting mechanism and a moving mechanism; The frame, the lifting mechanism and the silo are all arranged on the moving mechanism, the frame is arranged around the lifting mechanism, and a feeding port is formed above the lifting mechanism; The manipulator is arranged above the frame at one end away from the silo, the lifting mechanism is used to take out the material tray stored in the silo and lift the material tray to the feed port, or move the material tray at the feed port downward and push it back to the silo, and the manipulator is used to take and place the knife disc in the material tray at the feed port.

2. The tool changing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lifting mechanism includes a bracket, a lifting assembly and a translation assembly, the bracket is connected to the moving mechanism, the lifting assembly is arranged on the bracket and connected to the translation assembly, the translation assembly is used to take out the material tray stored in the silo and move it horizontally to the upper material position or push the material tray at the upper material position back to the silo horizontally, and the lifting assembly is used to drive the material tray at the upper material position to move up and down.

3. The tool changing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The translation assembly includes a translation motor, a translation screw and a material drag plate. The translation motor can drive the material drag plate to reciprocate horizontally along the translation screw. A push-pull block is provided on the material drag plate. The push-pull block is used to connect the material tray when taking out the material tray from the material bin and to cooperate with the material tray to dock with the material bin when pushing the material tray back into the material bin.

4. The tool changing device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The material dragging plate is provided with a first detection component assembly for detecting whether the material dragging plate can receive the material tray.

5. The tool changing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The lifting assembly includes a lifting motor, a lifting screw and a lifting back plate. The lifting motor is arranged on the bracket and is used to drive the lifting back plate to move up and down along the lifting screw. The lifting back plate is connected to the translation assembly.

6. The tool changing device according to claim 5, characterized in that: A first positioning sleeve and a first positioning pin are respectively provided on one side of the lifting back plate facing the translation assembly and on the front end of the material tray. When the material tray moves to the upper material position, the positioning sleeve and the positioning block can dock with each other.

7. The tool changing device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The lifting back plate is provided with a second detection component and a limit block, the limit block is used to softly limit the material tray to the upper material position, and the second detection component is used to detect the position accuracy of the material tray when it is at the upper material position.

8. The tool changing device according to claim 5, characterized in that: Both ends of the lifting back plate are connected to side plates, and the side plates are provided with guide wheels. The guide wheels are arranged at intervals along the moving direction of the translation assembly and are used to receive and guide the material tray.

9. The tool changing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The frame includes a first crossbeam, which is located on the side of the feed port close to the silo, and a second positioning sleeve and a second positioning pin are respectively provided on the side of the first crossbeam horizontally facing the feed port and the rear end of the feed tray. When the feed tray is located at the feed port, the translation assembly can push the feed tray to move horizontally to dock and position the second positioning sleeve with the second positioning pin.

10. The tool changing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The manipulator gripper unit is provided with a visual detection component, the visual detection component includes a camera, the tray is provided with a positioning mark, and the camera is used to capture the positioning mark to compensate for the angular deviation of the gripper relative to the tray in the plane.

11. The tool changing device according to claim 10, characterized in that: The visual detection component also includes a height sensor, which is used to detect the deflection angle of the clamp relative to the tray in space, and can compensate for the height deviation of the clamp relative to the tray in space according to the distance based on the obtained deviation value.

12. The tool changing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The moving mechanism is provided with a silo positioning seat, and the silo positioning seat and the silo are respectively provided with a third positioning pin and a positioning hole, and the third limiting pin is plugged and matched with the positioning hole when the silo is located on the silo positioning seat.

13. The tool changing device according to claim 12, characterized in that: The material bin and the lifting mechanism are arranged side by side on the moving mechanism, one side of the material taking and discharging opening of the material bin is opposite to the material taking side of the lifting mechanism, and the two are connected to each other.

14. The tool changing device according to claim 12, characterized in that: The tool changing system also includes a cache rack, which has guide mechanisms and positioning blocks around the top of the cache rack for limiting and positioning the material bin on the material bin cache rack. A second lifting component is provided inside the material bin positioning seat, and the second lifting component is used to lift the material bin and dock it with the cache rack to replace the material bin.

15. The tool changing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The frame is provided with a temporary storage position for temporarily storing the cutter disc at the processing equipment or the feed port.

16. An automatic tool changing method, applied to the tool changing device according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that: The method comprises: After receiving the tool change command, the lifting mechanism is controlled to move to take out the material tray from the silo and move it to the feeding port; The robot grabs the knife disc at the feeding port and replaces it with the old knife disc on the machine table; When the tray at the feed port is filled with old blade discs, the lifting mechanism is controlled to move and put the tray back into the silo; Repeat the above steps until all the cutter discs in the silo have been replaced, and then replace the silo.

17. The automatic tool changing method according to claim 16, characterized in that: The lifting mechanism moves the tray out of the silo and moves it to the feed port, including: The lifting component moves to the specified position, the translation component moves to the silo to connect the material tray, and the material tray is horizontally pulled out of the silo to the loading position; Detect and adjust the position accuracy of the material tray at the loading position; Control the lifting assembly to move upward to move the material tray to the feeding port.

18. The automatic tool changing method according to claim 16, characterized in that: Before the robot grabs the tray at the feeding port, it includes: Identify the positioning mark of the tray and determine the overall position of the tray; Identify the tilt angle of the tray and adjust the gripping angle of the gripper accordingly; The position compensation unit moves to compensate for the position deviation of the tray when it is picked up or placed.

19. The automatic tool changing method according to claim 16, characterized in that: The robot clamps the old knife disc on the machine to the temporary storage position, leaving an empty knife disc position on the machine, and the robot clamps the knife disc at the feed port to the empty knife disc position of the machine.

20. The automatic tool changing method according to claim 16, characterized in that: The replacement silo comprises: Control the second lifting assembly to lift the old material bin vertically, move it to the first cache rack and dock with it, and control the second lifting assembly to descend to place the old material bin on the first cache rack; The moving assembly moves out of the first cache rack and moves to the second cache rack to dock with it, and controls the second lifting assembly to lift up the new silo and move it out of the second cache rack; The second lifting assembly is controlled to descend, and the new silo is positioned, docked and fixed to the silo positioning seat.

Images