Automatic labeling method for steel coil

Abstract

The invention discloses an automatic labeling method for a steel coil. The automatic labeling method comprises the steps that S1, labels are printed; s2, a labeling robot system adsorbs a label; s3, the labeling robot system collects steel coil data; s4, acquiring the center coordinate value of the inner ring of the steel coil; s5, acquiring a steel coil image, processing and analyzing the steel coil image, and judging the collapse degree of the inner ring of the steel coil; and S6, according to the judgment result of the collapse degree of the inner ring of the steel coil, the pasting position of the label on the steel coil is selected. According to the automatic labeling method for the steel coils, each steel coil can be successfully and automatically labeled, and efficient and accurate labeling operation is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of metal smelting, and particularly relates to a method for automatically labeling steel coils. Background Art

[0002] Automated labeling robots are increasingly widely used in the cold rolling industry, and are applied in acid tandem rolling lines, continuous annealing lines, galvanizing lines, recoiling lines, etc. Most automated steel coil labeling robots choose to label on the outer ring of the steel coil. This labeling method is easier to implement and also meets the requirements of most products. However, for the final determination of products, the steel coils offline from continuous annealing lines, recoiling lines, etc. generally choose to label on the inner ring of the steel coil. This label is an intermediate state label, rather than the factory label after finished product determination, and the label information is not much. It mainly includes the coil number, weight, and production date of the steel coil. This label is mainly used for information tracking during the steel coil transfer process. The inner diameter of cold-rolled steel coils is generally Φ508mm and Φ610mm. As long as the inner ring of the steel coil does not collapse, the labeling tool head of the robot can smoothly extend in to complete automatic labeling. However, the actual situation is that for steel coils with a thickness of less than 0.5mm, the inner ring of the steel coil is prone to collapse. If the labeling tool head of the robot rushes in, there may be two adverse consequences: the labeling tool head is damaged or the inner ring of the steel coil is damaged. But the robot must complete automatic labeling, otherwise the steel coil information is likely to be disordered.

[0003] There is a steel coil detection on the labeling saddle seat. Only when it is detected that the steel coil has moved to this saddle seat and the walking beam is locked, can the robot for automatic labeling be sent to start automatically. The coil number is stored in character format. According to the steel coil information tracking, when there is no steel coil at a certain saddle seat, the coil number characters at this position are all space characters.

[0004] Currently, there are two types of labeling tool heads configured for automated labeling robots. One is that the labeling tool head is not configured with machine vision and does not detect the position of the leading end of the inner ring of the steel coil. When labeling on the inner ring of the steel coil, it is labeled at a fixed position or angle on the inner ring of the steel coil. The other is that the labeling tool head is configured with machine vision. To meet the requirements of customers and processes, the label is preferably pasted near the leading end of the inner ring of the steel coil to reduce the cutting loss caused by the long distance between the label position and the leading end position of the inner ring of the steel coil when the customer uses it. Machine vision is configured to detect the position or angle of the leading end of the inner ring of the steel coil and automatically label at the required position or angle. For an automated labeling robot without machine vision, it is very dangerous to label the inner ring of thin-gauge steel coils, and there is a risk of damage to the labeling tool head or the inner ring of the steel coil. Unless the production line does not produce steel coils with a thickness of less than 0.5mm, it is not recommended to use. The automated labeling robot configured with machine vision also does not consider the application scenario where the inner ring of the steel coil may collapse, and does not give full play to the function of machine vision.

[0005] The start of label pasting is judged by the detection signal of the coil saddle seat with labels pasted. Due to the false signal of the coil detection grating or the unchanged detection grating signal, the robot may malfunction or not act.

[0006] The commonly used method at present is to obtain the coil label data from the production line secondary system (L2). However, if information such as product execution standards that is not stored in the production line secondary system needs to be printed, it cannot be achieved. For example, in the recoiling production line, there are coils from multiple production lines such as pickling and cold rolling production lines, continuous annealing production lines, and high-quality steel production lines. The recoiling production line secondary system cannot complete the conversion of different coil number rules for multiple production lines. Using the secondary coil number for label pasting can only meet the requirements for automatic label pasting of coils from one production line.

[0007] The production line secondary system is a process control system that completes the automatic setting of process control parameters and stores the actual values of product process control. It does not have more management information content. Information such as product execution standards is not within the scope of the production line secondary system, resulting in the inability to automatically print label information such as product execution standards. The coil number rules of different production lines are different. For the recoiling production line downstream of the production line, the secondary system cannot automatically generate the coil numbers of multiple production lines, resulting in the fact that only coils from one production line can be automatically label-pasted, and coils from other production lines still use manual label pasting. The factory-level three-control system L3 (MES) does not have the function of tracking the coil position information. Even if the automatic label-pasting robot system communicates directly with the factory-level three-control system L3 (MES), it cannot accurately provide the label printing data required for the coil number corresponding to the label-pasting saddle seat. It can only provide the label printing data according to the production order of the coils. The walking beam coils cannot have other abnormal movements, which is only suitable for the manual label-pasting mode that can be manually confirmed and not suitable for robot automatic label pasting.

[0008] It is desired to provide a method for automatic coil label pasting, especially regarding how to successfully and automatically paste labels on each coil to achieve efficient and accurate label-pasting operations. Summary of the Invention

[0009] The present invention aims to solve at least one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. For this purpose, the present invention provides a method for automatic coil label pasting, aiming to successfully and automatically paste labels on each coil to achieve efficient and accurate label-pasting operations.

[0010] To achieve the above object, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is: a method for automatic coil label pasting, including the steps of:

[0011] S1. Label printing;

[0012] S2. The label-pasting robot system adsorbs the label;

[0013] S3. The label-pasting robot system collects coil data;

[0014] S4. Obtain the central coordinate value of the inner ring of the steel coil;

[0015] S5. Collect the image of the steel coil, and after processing and analyzing the image of the steel coil, judge the degree of collapse of the inner ring of the steel coil;

[0016] S6. According to the judgment result of the degree of collapse of the inner ring of the steel coil, select the pasting position of the label on the steel coil.

[0017] The label pasting robot system includes a robot body, and an image acquisition system and a label pasting tool head are arranged on the end effector of the robot body.

[0018] The image acquisition system includes an industrial camera. In step S5, the industrial camera collects the image of the end face of the steel coil.

[0019] A laser ranging sensor and a detection grating are arranged on the end effector of the robot body. The steel coil data is collected through laser ranging and the grating. In step S4, the central coordinate value of the inner ring of the steel coil is calculated according to the collected steel coil data.

[0020] In step S6, when it is judged that the degree of collapse of the inner ring of the steel coil is less than or equal to the first set value, the robot body controls the label pasting tool head to enter the inner ring of the steel coil, find the leading position of the inner ring of the steel coil, and finally paste the label at a position deviating from the leading set arc length or a position deviating from the leading set angle on the inner ring of the steel coil.

[0021] The first set value is that the collapse of the inner ring of the steel coil accounts for 1 / 4 of the cross-section of the inner ring of the steel coil.

[0022] In step S6, when it is judged that the degree of collapse of the inner ring of the steel coil is less than or equal to the second set value, the robot body controls the label pasting tool head to enter the inner ring of the steel coil, and finally paste the label at the bottom position of the inner ring of the steel coil.

[0023] In step S6, when it is judged that the degree of collapse of the inner ring of the steel coil is greater than the second set value, the label pasting robot system pastes the label on the outer surface of the steel coil.

[0024] The second set value is that the collapse of the inner ring of the steel coil accounts for 1 / 2 of the cross-section of the inner ring of the steel coil.

[0025] The image acquisition system further includes a light source or a black curtain. The light source is arranged on the label pasting tool head or on the back of the steel coil, and the black curtain is arranged on the back of the steel coil.

[0026] The automatic label pasting method for steel coils of the present invention can realize that each steel coil can be successfully and automatically pasted with a label, and realize efficient and accurate label pasting operations. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] This specification includes the following drawings, and the shown contents are respectively:

[0028] Figure 1 is a flowchart of the method for automatically attaching labels to steel coils according to the present invention;

[0029] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of attaching a label to a steel coil Figure 1 ;

[0030] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of attaching a label to a steel coil Figure 2 ;

[0031] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of attaching a label to a steel coil Figure 3 ;

[0032] The markings in the figure are: 1. Robot body; 2. Labeling tool head; 3. Labeling saddle; 4. Parallel light source or black curtain; 5. Steel coil. Specific embodiments

[0033] The following further describes in detail the specific embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings and through the description of the embodiments, aiming to help those skilled in the art have a more complete, accurate and in-depth understanding of the concept and technical solution of the present invention and facilitate its implementation.

[0034] As Figure 1 shown, the embodiment of the present invention provides a method for automatically attaching labels to steel coils, including the following steps:

[0035] S1. Label printing;

[0036] S2. The labeling robot system adsorbs the label;

[0037] S3. The labeling robot system collects data of the steel coil;

[0038] S4. Obtain the coordinate value of the center of the inner circle of the steel coil;

[0039] S5. Collect the image of the steel coil, process and analyze the steel coil image, and then judge the degree of collapse of the inner circle of the steel coil;

[0040] S6. Select the pasting position of the label on the steel coil according to the judgment result of the degree of collapse of the inner circle of the steel coil.

[0041] Specifically, in automated production lines such as continuous annealing, recoiling, and galvanizing, labeling is an essential process. The label records the information of the steel coil, facilitating the tracking and transfer of the steel coil information and avoiding errors in the steel coil. In a continuous production line, if the inner ring of some steel coils collapses and cannot be labeled, the unlabeled steel coils are transferred to the next process or stored in the warehouse. It is relatively difficult to re-label them. If there are more than one coil, it may lead to the inability to distinguish the steel coils, and ultimately may result in confusion of the steel coil information. When shipped to users, quality disputes may arise. In the embodiments of the present invention, even if the inner ring of the steel coil collapses, it can be automatically judged and a reasonable method is selected to label the steel coil, thereby avoiding errors in the steel coil information.

[0042] As Figure 2 shown, the labeling robot system includes a robot body, which is a six-axis industrial robot. An image acquisition system, a labeling tool head, a scanner, etc. are arranged on the end effector of the robot body. The labeling tool head includes a label suction cup for adsorbing the label. The image acquisition system mainly includes an industrial camera. In the above step S5, the industrial camera acquires an image of the end face of the steel coil.

[0043] In the above step S1, when the production line walking beam is at the lower limit and there is no rising command, and there is a steel coil on the labeling saddle, the production line control system sends the steel coil label content and the labeling start command to the robot control system. After receiving the label content and the labeling command, the robot control system starts the supporting label printer, and the label printer finishes printing the label.

[0044] In the above step S2, after the label is printed, the robot body controls the labeling tool head to move from the original position, approach and adsorb the label.

[0045] In the above step S3, a laser range finder and a detection grating are arranged on the end effector of the robot body. The detection grating is a high-precision object detection device, and the laser range finder is a device that uses laser technology for measurement. The steel coil data is collected through laser ranging and the grating. The collected steel coil data includes the outer diameter and width of the steel coil, providing the moving coordinate position of the end effector for machine vision to measure whether the inner ring of the steel coil collapses.

[0046] In the above step S4, the outer diameter of the steel coil is calculated according to the collected steel coil data. The center coordinate value of the inner ring of the steel coil is calculated by calculating the outer diameter value of the steel coil, the measured distance value of the top of the steel pipe by the robot detection element, and the coordinate value of the robot labeling head tool.

[0047] In the above step S5, after the diameter and width of the steel coil are measured, the robot body controls the labeling tool head to translate to the periphery of the end face of the steel coil and then descend to the center position of the inner circle of the steel coil (i.e., the axis position of the steel coil). At this time, the industrial camera is also located at the center position of the inner circle of the steel coil. Then, the industrial camera takes a photo of the end face of the steel coil, collects the image of the end face of the steel coil, and then analyzes the gray-scale change of the photo pixels to judge the severity of the collapse of the inner circle of the steel coil, such as Figure 3 as shown

[0048] In the above step S6, when it is judged that the collapse degree of the inner circle of the steel coil is less than or equal to the first set value, the robot body controls the labeling tool head to enter the inner circle of the steel coil, search for the leading position of the inner circle of the steel coil, and finally paste the label at a position deviating from the set arc length or set angle of the leading position, such as Figure 4 as shown. After pasting the label, the label is scanned, and finally the labeling robot system returns to the original position

[0049] In the above step S6, the first set value is that the collapse of the steel coil accounts for 1 / 4 of the cross-section of the inner circle of the steel coil

[0050] In the above step S6, when it is judged that the collapse degree of the inner circle of the steel coil is less than or equal to the second set value, the second set value is greater than the first set value, and the second set value is that the collapse of the inner circle of the steel coil accounts for 1 / 2 of the cross-section of the inner circle of the steel coil. At this time, the labeling tool head can still smoothly enter the inner circle of the steel coil after continuing to descend. The robot body controls the labeling tool head to enter the inner circle of the steel coil, and finally pastes the label at the bottom position of the inner circle of the steel coil

[0051] In the above step S6, when it is judged that the collapse degree of the inner circle of the steel coil is less than or equal to the second set value, at this time, the leading position of the inner circle of the steel coil is no longer searched, because even if the leading position of the steel coil is found, the leading position of the steel coil has collapsed too much, and there is no reverse support at the leading position of the inner circle of the steel coil, and it is very difficult to paste the label successfully. Therefore, the label can be directly pasted at the bottom position of the inner circle of the steel coil (i.e., the position with the lowest height in the inner circle of the steel coil). After pasting the label, the label is scanned, and finally the labeling robot system returns to the original position

[0052] In the above step S6, when it is judged that the collapse degree of the inner circle of the steel coil is greater than the second set value, the second set value is that the collapse of the inner circle of the steel coil accounts for 1 / 2 of the cross-section of the inner circle of the steel coil. At this time, there is a greater risk of the labeling tool head reaching into the inner circle of the steel coil to paste the label. The labeling robot system pastes the label on the outer surface of the steel coil. The label is located on the outer surface of the steel coil. After pasting the label, the label is scanned, and finally the labeling robot system returns to the original position

[0053] In the above step S5, the image acquisition system further includes a light source or a black curtain. The light source is arranged on the labeling tool head or on the back of the steel coil, and the black curtain is arranged on the back of the steel coil

[0054] To ensure the machine vision imaging effect and judgment accuracy and reduce the interference of ambient light sources, in the embodiments of the present invention, there are two implementation methods. One is to add a parallel light source to the back of the steel coil; the other is to add a black curtain to the back of the steel coil and add an LED light source to the labeling tool head.

[0055] In the embodiments of the present invention, the inner circle collapse of the steel coil is judged by imaging the end face of the steel coil. According to the severity of the collapse, three different labeling positions are selected to ensure that each steel coil has a label and that most steel coils have successfully completed the internal labeling of the steel coil.

[0056] In the embodiments of the present invention, to solve the problem of the startup accuracy of the robot automatic labeling, through the tracking of the steel coil information on the labeling saddle, a certain character of the steel coil number of the steel coil is used for judgment. If the character is a space or does not exist, it is determined that the steel coil information is incomplete or the steel coil has not reached the position. A sensor is set at the labeling saddle to detect whether the steel coil has accurately moved to this position. When the steel coil reaches the position, the sensor sends a occupancy signal. The walking beam is an important device on the production line, used to move the steel coil from one place to another. Before the labeling operation, the walking beam needs to be locked in a specific position to ensure the stability and accuracy of the steel coil. When the walking beam is locked in place, a locking signal is sent.

[0057] The steel coil numbers are compared, and a comprehensive judgment is made through the judgment result of the steel coil number characters, the steel coil occupancy signal, and the walking beam locking signal. Only when the steel coil number characters are valid, the steel coil occupancy signal, and the walking beam locking signal are all sent, it is determined that the steel coil has accurately moved to the labeling saddle, and only then can the automatic labeling operation be started.

[0058] Therefore, in the above step S1, before the label is printed, it is necessary to ensure that the judgment conditions for having a steel coil on the labeling saddle are met. The judgment conditions include that the steel coil number characters are valid, the steel coil occupancy signal, and the walking beam locking signal are all sent. Through the comprehensive judgment of multiple signals, it is ensured that the automatic labeling operation is only started when the steel coil has accurately moved to the labeling saddle position, effectively avoiding problems such as wrong or missing labels. Using the judgment of the steel coil number characters as an auxiliary means further improves the accuracy and reliability of the judgment. Even if the sensor or signal transmission fails, the preliminary screening can be carried out through the judgment of the steel coil number characters.

[0059] The labeling robot system is controlled by the robot control system, and the robot control system communicates with the production line level 1 (L1) system. The production line level 1 system is responsible for real-time tracking of the position and steel coil number of the steel coil. This is the basic data for the labeling operation, ensuring that the labeling robot system can label the correct steel coil at the correct position. When the steel coil is moved to the labeling saddle, the robot control system can obtain the steel coil number at this position from the production line level 1 system.

[0060] MES (Manufacturing Execution System) is a factory-level control and production management system that has complete product production information, including product execution standards, production plans, production data, etc. Through communication with the MES system, the robot control system can obtain the specific data required for printing labels. After obtaining the coil number, the robot control system uses this coil number to send a request to the MES system for printing labels. After receiving the request, the MES system searches and returns the required label printing data according to the coil number.

[0061] When the steel coil is moved to the label-saddling unit, the robot control system first obtains the coil number from the production line-level system. Then, the robot control system uses the obtained coil number to send a request to the MES system for printing labels. After receiving the request, the MES system searches in its database for the label printing data corresponding to the coil number. After finding the data, the MES system sends the label printing data to the robot control system. After receiving the label content and the label-pasting command, the robot control system starts the supporting label printer. The label printer finishes printing the label and performs subsequent label pasting operations, scans and confirms whether the label is successfully pasted on the steel coil, and finally the robot returns to the original position, waiting for the next start of the automatic label-pasting operation.

[0062] The present invention has been described exemplarily in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the specific implementation of the present invention is not limited by the above methods. As long as various non-substantive improvements are made by adopting the method concept and technical solution of the present invention; or without improvement, the above concept and technical solution of the present invention are directly applied to other occasions, they are all within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for automatically labeling a steel coil, characterized in that: Includes steps: S1. Label printing; S2, labeling robot system adsorbs labels; S3, labeling robot system collects steel coil data; S4, obtaining the center coordinate value of the inner ring of the steel coil; S5, collecting the steel coil image, processing and analyzing the steel coil image, and determining the degree of collapse of the inner ring of the steel coil; S6. According to the result of judging the degree of collapse of the inner ring of the steel coil, select the position for sticking the label on the steel coil.

2. The method for automatic labeling of steel coils according to claim 1, characterized in that: The labeling robot system comprises a robot body, and an image acquisition system and a labeling tool head are arranged on the end effector of the robot body.

3. The method for automatic labeling of steel coils according to claim 2, characterized in that: The image acquisition system includes an industrial camera. In step S5, the industrial camera acquires the image of the end surface of the steel coil.

4. The method for automatic labeling of steel coils according to claim 2, characterized in that: A laser ranging sensor and a detection grating are arranged on the end effector of the robot body, and the steel coil data is collected by laser ranging and the grating. In the step S4, the center coordinate value of the inner ring of the steel coil is calculated according to the collected steel coil data.

5. The method for automatic labeling of steel coils according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that: In step S6, when it is determined that the collapse degree of the inner ring of the steel coil is less than or equal to the first set value, the robot body controls the labeling tool head to enter the inner ring of the steel coil, find the leading position of the inner ring of the steel coil, and finally stick the label to the inner ring of the steel coil that deviates from the set arc length position of the leading head or the set angle position of the leading head.

6. The method for automatic labeling of steel coils according to claim 5, characterized in that: The first set value is that the inner circle of the steel coil collapses to 1 / 4 of the cross section of the inner circle of the steel coil.

7. The method for automatic labeling of steel coils according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that: In step S6, when it is determined that the collapse degree of the inner ring of the steel coil is less than or equal to the second set value, the robot body controls the labeling tool head to enter the inner ring of the steel coil, and finally sticks the label to the bottom position of the inner ring of the steel coil.

8. The method for automatic labeling of steel coils according to claim 7, characterized in that: In step S6, when it is determined that the collapse degree of the inner ring of the steel coil is greater than the second set value, the labeling robot system attaches the label to the outer ring surface of the steel coil.

9. The method for automatic labeling of steel coils according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that: The second set value is that the inner circle of the steel coil collapses to 1 / 2 of the cross section of the inner circle of the steel coil.

10. The method for automatic labeling of steel coils according to claim 3, characterized in that: The image acquisition system also includes a light source or a black curtain. The light source is arranged on the head of the labeling tool or on the back of the steel coil, and the black curtain is arranged on the back of the steel coil.

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