Carton edge turning and turning mechanism

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of related structures of loading and unloading robots, in particular to a carton side turning and turning mechanism. Comprising a roller line allowing cartons to be placed and conveyed, a turning stop block detachably connected to the side edge of the roller line and used for abutting against the side edge of the end face of the carton so that the carton can be preliminarily turned around on the roller line, and a rear stop strip located behind the turning stop block in the conveying direction of the roller line. The rear shifting plate is connected to the roller line in a sliding mode so as to push the paper boxes subjected to initial turning to the rear blocking strip so that the final turning of the paper boxes can be completed; the visual sensor is used for recognizing whether the orientation of the ends of the paper boxes placed on the roller line is correct or not; and the front shifting plate is connected to the roller line in a sliding mode so that the cartons can be adjusted in the two states that the cartons are aligned to the turning-around stop blocks and the cartons are staggered on the turning-around stop blocks, so that in the process that the cartons are conveyed on the roller line, the cartons in different directions can be turned around adaptively, and the loading and unloading efficiency of the cartons is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of structures related to loading and unloading robots, and particularly to a carton edge flipping and turning mechanism. Background Art

[0002] During the logistics transportation process, in order to facilitate transportation transfer and protect goods, goods are all packed in cartons, that is, different goods are placed in cartons. At present, the loading and unloading of cartons still mainly rely on manual labor. To further improve the loading and unloading efficiency of cartons, corresponding loading and unloading robots need to be designed for the loading and unloading of cartons.

[0003] Some existing loading and unloading robots rely on vision sensors to obtain the position of cartons, so that the robotic arm cooperates with the suction cup to drive the carton to be placed on the roller line and convey the carton backward. For example, a multi-category and multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm unloading method with the publication number of CN116692389A.

[0004] In view of the above related technologies, during the robot unloading process, limited by factors such as grasping stability, unloading efficiency, and the movement trajectory of the arm, there is mostly only one surface available for the grasping surface, that is, the upper box parts are grasped from the side, the lower box parts are grasped from the top, and the middle box parts are selected from the side and the top. The direction in which the box parts can rotate during the movement process is limited, resulting in the placement pose being limited by the pose in the carriage and the grasping surface. After the carton is placed on the roller line by the suction cup, the front and rear ends of different cartons face different directions. Only after the roller line conveys the carton to the next working station, the carton can be turned over, resulting in low loading and unloading efficiency of the cartons in a unified pose. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In order to improve the efficiency of loading and unloading cartons in a unified pose, this application provides a carton edge flipping and turning mechanism.

[0006] The carton edge flipping and turning mechanism provided by this application adopts the following technical solutions.

[0007] A carton edge flipping and turning mechanism includes a roller line for placing and conveying cartons, a turning stop block detachably connected to the side of the roller line and for the side edge of the carton end face to abut against so that the carton makes a preliminary turn on the roller line, a rear stop bar located behind the turning stop block along the conveying direction of the roller line, a rear push plate slidably connected to the roller line to push the preliminarily turned carton towards the rear stop bar so that the carton completes the final turn, a vision sensor for identifying whether the end orientation of the carton placed on the roller line is correct, and a front push plate slidably connected to the roller line to adjust the carton between two states of being aligned with the turning stop block and being misaligned with the turning stop block.

[0008] By adopting the above technical solution, when the roller line drives the carton forward, the front side of the carton will abut against the U-turn block during the movement, so that the carton will flip at an angle between 90° and 180°. After the carton passes the U-turn block, the rear paddle pushes the carton to the rear baffle and abuts against it, so that the carton completes the flipping of the remaining angle, so as to finally achieve the flipping of the adaptive angle during the transmission on the roller line. On the one hand, it can handle the flipping and U-turning posture of the carton that is inaccessible to the robot arm to avoid manual intervention. On the other hand, it can automatically adjust to the best posture before the carton is grabbed or adsorbed by the subsequent palletizing robot arm, thereby improving the overall loading and unloading rhythm, and helping to improve the efficiency of loading and unloading cartons in a uniform posture.

[0009] Optionally, the roller line includes a main roller line to which a U-turn stopper and a rear stopper are detachably connected, and a front roller line rotatably connected to the main roller line and with the direction of the rotation axis consistent with the transmission direction of the main roller line; the front roller line is used to place cartons and transport the cartons to the main roller line; and the front paddle is used for the cartons on the tilted front roller line after rotation to abut against the U-turn stopper.

[0010] By adopting the above technical solution, the postures of the cartons sucked by the suction cups are different. In order to ensure that the cartons that need to be turned around can smoothly abut against the U-turn block for flipping, it is necessary to place the cartons on the front roller line and then rotate the front roller line to an inclined posture so that the carton can move down and fit against the front paddle, so that the postures of the cartons that originally had certain different angles can be initially unified, so that the subsequent cartons can smoothly abut against the U-turn block.

[0011] Optionally, the front paddle is slidably connected to the front roller line to adjust the distance between the sides of the carton and the main roller line where a U-turn stopper is set, and to allow the side edges of the carton ends to be aligned with the U-turn stopper.

[0012] By adopting the above technical solution, the front paddle can be flipped synchronously with the front roller line. Compared with the solution in which the front paddle is set on the main roller line, the front roller line can be flipped at a large angle so that the carton can fit the front paddle more smoothly.

[0013] Optionally, the front roller line is aligned with the side of the U-turn block and is rotatably connected to the main roller line.

[0014] By adopting the above technical solution, the side of the front roller line away from the U-turn block is turned upward, so that the front roller line is not prone to conflict during the turning process, so that the space can be used more reasonably.

[0015] Optionally, a flipping power member with a changeable overall length is hingedly connected to the lower portion of the front roller line, and a hinge point is arranged at one end of the flipping power member away from the front roller line and the position is fixed.

[0016] By adopting the above technical solution, when the length of the flipping power component is shortened to the shortest, the front roller line and the main roller line are aligned at this time, so that the front roller line can be relatively stably aligned with the main roller line, so that the carton can be smoothly transferred from the front roller line to the main roller line.

[0017] Optionally, the front deflector includes an upper plate that can abut against the carton, a vertical piece detachably connected to the upper plate and located between two adjacent rollers of the front roller line, a sliding base detachably connected to the vertical piece and slidably connected to the front roller line frame, and a base power component detachably connected to the front roller line frame and for moving the sliding base.

[0018] By adopting the above technical solution, the sliding setting of the front deflector can effectively utilize the space.

[0019] Optionally, the length of the roller of the front roller line close to the main roller line is less than the length of the roller of the front roller line far from the main roller line, and one ends of all the rollers of the front roller line close to the turning stop block are flush.

[0020] By adopting the above technical solution, when the front roller line is flipped, the bottom surface of the side of the carton away from the front deflector and the roller with a shorter length of the front roller line will not come into contact, so as to reduce the friction force on the carton and the bottom surface when the front deflector moves towards the carton and the carton tends to fit against the front deflector, so that the carton can be smoothly rotated and can be smoothly fitted against the front deflector.

[0021] Optionally, a limiting plate is detachably connected to the end of the roller line for placing and conveying the carton backward, and the front deflector is close to the limiting plate.

[0022] By adopting the above technical solution, when the suction cup places the carton close to the front end of the roller line and lowers it, even if the roller line is inclined to a certain extent and the carton slides down from the roller line due to a certain falling force, the limiting plate can block the sliding carton.

[0023] Optionally, the main roller line includes a front sub-roller line of the stop block on the side close to the front roller line of the turning stop block and a rear sub-roller line of the stop block on the side far from the front roller line of the turning stop block, and the transmission speed of the front sub-roller line of the stop block is slower than the transmission speed of the rear sub-roller line of the stop block.

[0024] By adopting the above technical solution, when the carton needs to be flipped by 180°, by using the difference in the transmission speeds of the front sub-roller line of the stop block and the rear sub-roller line of the stop block, it can be ensured that the carton is smoothly flipped between 135° and 180°, so that the rear deflector can smoothly place the carton against the side later, and a straight 180° flip can be more smoothly realized, and the situation of manual intervention is minimized as much as possible.

[0025] Optionally, one end of the rear baffle plate away from the turning stop block is fixedly connected with an arc-shaped tail plate that can abut against the tail board of the carton. One end of the tail plate away from the rear baffle plate is away from the rear stop bar, and the rear baffle plate is close to the end where the carton is sent away by the roller line.

[0026] By adopting the above technical solution, when the carton is about to be sent away from the roller line, the number of rollers of the roller line in contact with the bottom surface of the carton is getting fewer and fewer. When the weight of the carton is large, the carton cannot be smoothly driven forward, and it is easy to occur that the carton cannot be effectively transferred from the roller line to the next working station. The existence of the tail plate enables the tail plate to push the slipping carton forward a certain distance during the process of the rear baffle plate continuously approaching the rear stop bar, so that the carton can smoothly fall from the roller line.

[0027] In summary, the present application has at least the following beneficial effects.

[0028] During the process of the roller line driving the carton to move forward, the front side edge of the carton during the moving process will abut against the turning stop block, so that the carton is flipped at an angle between 90° and 180°. After the carton passes over the turning stop block, the rear baffle plate pushes the carton against the rear stop bar to complete the remaining angle of flipping, so as to finally realize the flipping of the appropriate angle during the transmission on the roller line, which helps to improve the efficiency of loading and unloading the carton in a unified posture. Description of the Drawings

[0029] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the main structure of the present application;

[0030] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the structure on one side of the roller line provided with a turning stop block;

[0031] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram in which the shorter rollers on the front roller line are removed to show the relevant structure of the front baffle plate;

[0032] Figure 4 is a top view of four possible situations where the carton is placed on the front roller line by the robotic arm, and (a) is a carton with the correct orientation, (b) is a carton deviated by 90°, (c) is a carton deviated by 180°, and (d) is a carton deviated by -90°;

[0033] Explanation of the reference numerals: 1. Roller line; 2. Turning stop block; 3. Rear stop bar; 31. Telescopic roller line; 32. Tail plate; 33. Limiting plate; 34. Visual sensor; 35. Front sub-roller line of the stop block; 36. Rear sub-roller line of the stop block; 4. Rear baffle plate; 41. Main roller line; 42. Front roller line; 43. Front baffle plate; 44. Flipping power component; 45. Upper plate; 46. Vertical piece; 47. Sliding base; 48. Base power component; 49. Crawler chassis. Detailed Description of the Invention

[0034] The present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0035] An embodiment of the present application discloses a carton side-turning and turning-around mechanism. Referring to Figure 1 , it includes a crawler chassis 49 that can move freely. A horizontal roller line 1 is detachably connected to the upper part of the crawler chassis 49. The carton is placed at the front end of the roller line 1 by a suction cup and conveyed backward. A telescopic roller line 31 is detachably connected to the crawler chassis 49 near the rear end of the roller line 1 to connect the roller line 1 and the subsequent processing station. A vision sensor 34 is also detachably connected to the crawler chassis 49 to identify and judge the position of the carton and the orientation of the end of the carton.

[0036] Referring to Figure 1 and Figure 2 , the roller line 1 includes a main roller line 41 detachably connected to the crawler chassis 49 and a front roller line 42 connected to the front end of the main roller line 41. The carton is placed on the front roller line 42 and then conveyed to the main roller line 41. A turning-around stop block 2 is detachably connected to the side of the main roller line 41 in the conveying direction, so that when the carton is conveyed on the main roller line 41, the side of the end face of the carton can abut against the turning-around stop block 2, so that the carton can turn around and flip.

[0037] Referring to Figure 1 and Figure 3 , a rotating shaft is provided on one side of the front roller line 42 in the conveying direction to rotatably connect with one side of the main roller line 41 in the conveying direction. The crawler chassis 49 is hinged with a turning power member 44 whose axis of rotation direction is consistent with the conveying direction of the main roller line 41. The turning power member 44 can be a linear actuator such as a servo electric cylinder that can change its length. The power rod of the turning power member 44 is hinged to the bottom surface of the frame of the front roller line 42. The front roller line 42 is slidably connected with a front push plate 43 along its own width direction. When the power rod of the turning power member 44 extends, the side of the front roller line 42 away from its rotation point rotates upward, and then the carton can fit against the front push plate 43. The front push plate 43 can push the carton to move. On the one hand, it can judge whether the carton needs to turn around according to the end face orientation of the carton detected by the vision sensor 34, so that the front push plate 43 can push the carton to align with or misalign with the turning-around stop block 2. On the other hand, it can also make the carton fit against the front push plate 43, so that the posture of the carton is relatively unified, so that no matter whether the carton needs to turn around subsequently, the corresponding unified posture operation of the carton can be carried out later.

[0038] Referring to Figure 3, the front dial plate 43 includes an upper plate 45, several vertical plates 46, a sliding base 47, and a base power component 48. Both the base power component 48 and the sliding base 47 are located between the rollers of the front roller line 42 and the inner bottom surface of the frame. The base power component 48 is detachably connected to the inner bottom surface of the frame of the front roller line 42. The base power component 48 can be a servo linear module or other linear actuators that can drive the sliding base 47 to move linearly. The sliding base 47 is slidably connected to the inner bottom surface of the frame of the front roller line 42 along the width direction of the main roller line 41. All the vertical plates 46 are detachably connected in a row to the upper surface of the sliding base 47 along the conveying direction of the front roller line 42. Each vertical plate 46 passes through between two rollers of the front roller line 42. The upper parts of all the vertical plates 46 are detachably connected to the upper plate 45. The upper plate 45 is vertical and can abut against the cardboard box.

[0039] Refer to Figure 2 , several rollers of the front roller line 42 close to the main roller line 41 are shorter in length, and the rollers of all the front roller lines 42 are aligned flush with one end of the turning stop block 2, so that the bottom surface of the cardboard box on the side away from the upper plate 45 does not contact the rollers of the front roller line 42, so that the cardboard box can better rotate the angle to fit the upper plate 45. In addition, a vertical limiting plate 33 is detachably connected to one end of the front roller line 42 away from the main roller line 41. The end of the upper plate 45 is close to the limiting plate 33. When there is a certain inclination in the plane where the crawler chassis is located, when the suction cup is lowered and the cardboard box with a certain weight falls on the front roller line, it may slide down, and the limiting plate 33 can block the sliding of the cardboard box when it is lowered.

[0040] Refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 , a rear stop bar 3 is detachably connected to one side of the main roller line 41 where the turning stop block 2 is provided. The length direction of the rear stop bar 3 is consistent with the transmission direction of the main roller line 41. A rear dial plate 4 is slidably connected to the main roller line 41 along its width direction. The sliding setting method of the rear dial plate 4 is the same as that of the front dial plate 43, so the specific sliding structure of the rear dial plate 4 will not be described again. The rear dial plate 4 can abut against the surface of the cardboard box away from the rear stop bar 3 after the initial turning, so that the cardboard box can fit the rear dial plate 4 and the rear stop bar 3 to complete the final 90° or 180° flip of the cardboard box. And, an arc-shaped tail plate 32 is integrally formed at one end of the rear dial plate 4 away from the front roller line 42. One end of the tail plate 32 away from the rear dial plate 4 is away from the rear stop bar 3, so that when a heavier cardboard box is about to move from the main roller line 41 to the telescopic roller line 31, since the telescopic roller line 31 does not provide the power for movement, as the number of contacts between the cardboard box and the rollers of the main roller line 41 becomes less and less, it may occur that the cardboard box cannot move smoothly and completely onto the telescopic roller line 31. At this time, the rear dial plate 4 continues to approach the rear stop bar 3, so that the arc surface of the tail plate 32 can fit the side of the cardboard box to push the cardboard box and make the cardboard box move completely onto the telescopic roller line 31.

[0041] Reference Figure 2 The main roller line 41 includes a front block sub-roller line 35 located on the side of the turning block 2 close to the front roller line 42 and a rear block sub-roller line 36 located on the side of the turning block 2 away from the front roller line 42. The transmission speed of the front block sub-roller line 35 is slower than that of the rear block sub-roller line 36.

[0042] Reference Figure 4 The robotic arm can place the long side or short side of the carton parallel to the transmission direction of the front roller line 42. That is, there are four cases when the carton is placed on the front roller line 42, namely the correct orientation, a deviation of 90°, a deviation of 180°, and a deviation of -90°. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the attention side of the carton is the side where the width direction of a short line is set on the carton in the figure. The carton with a deviation of 90° needs to be rotated counterclockwise by 90°, the carton with a deviation of 180° needs to be rotated by 180°, and the carton with a deviation of -90° needs to be rotated clockwise by 90°.

[0043] The implementation principle of a carton side-turning and turning-around mechanism according to an embodiment of the present application is as follows: During the process of the suction cup placing the carton on the front roller line 42, the visual sensor 34 will judge the end orientation of the carton.

[0044] When the carton is in the correct orientation, neither the front dial 43 nor the flipping power member 44 needs to operate. It only needs to move the carton to be directly opposite the rear dial 4, and then the rear dial 4 will push the carton and abut it against the rear stop bar 3.

[0045] When the carton has a deviation of 180°, after the carton is placed on the front roller line 42, the front dial 43 and the flipping power member 44 operate to make the carton fit against the front dial 43. Then the flipping power member 44 resets, and the front roller line and the main roller line 41 are transmitted forward. So that when the line passes through the turning block 2 and under the action of the faster transmission speed of the rear block sub-roller line 36, the carton can be rotated counterclockwise between 135° and 180°. Then the rear dial 4 moves towards the carton so that the carton can fit against the rear stop bar 3, completing the final turning-around of the carton. Then the carton is conveyed to the telescopic roller line 31.

[0046] When the carton has a deviation of 90°, after the carton is placed on the front roller line 42, neither the front dial 43 nor the flipping power member 44 needs to operate. Then when the visual sensor 34 detects that the carton completely passes over the turning block 2 and aligns with the rear dial 4, the rear dial 4 will move towards the carton so that the carton fits against the rear stop bar 3. Then the rear dial 4 moves away from the carton, and the front roller line 42 and the main roller line 41 are transmitted in the reverse direction so that the carton flows back. And under the action of passing through the turning block 2 and the front block sub-roller line 35, the carton is rotated clockwise by 90°, so that the carton at this time changes to the case of a deviation of 180°. Then, according to the situation of the carton with a deviation of 180° above, the carton is flipped by 180°.

[0047] When the carton has a deviation of -90°, after the carton is placed on the front roller line 42, neither the front baffle 43 nor the flipping power member 44 needs to operate. Then, when the vision sensor 34 detects that the carton has completely passed over the turning block 2 and is aligned with the rear baffle 4, the rear baffle 4 will move towards the carton so that the carton fits against the rear stop bar 3. Then, the rear baffle 4 moves away from the carton, and the front roller line 42 and the main roller line 41 reverse their transmission directions to cause the carton to flow back. Under the action of the turning block 2 and the front sub-roller line 35 of the block, the carton rotates clockwise by 90°, so that the carton at this time is changed to the correct orientation. Then, the front roller line 42 and the main roller line 41 resume their forward transmission to send the carton with the correct orientation to the telescopic roller line 31.

[0048] The above are all the preferred embodiments of the present application, and the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereby. Therefore, all equivalent changes made according to the structure, shape, and principle of the present application should be covered within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A carton side-turning and turning-around mechanism, characterized in that: It includes a roller line (1) for placing and transporting cartons, a turning stop block (2) detachably connected to the side of the roller line (1) and against which the side of the end face of the carton abuts to initially turn the carton on the roller line (1), a rear stop bar (3) located behind the turning stop block (2) in the conveying direction of the roller line (1), a rear push plate (4) slidably connected to the roller line (1) to push the initially turned carton towards the rear stop bar (3) to complete the final turning of the carton, a vision sensor (34) for identifying whether the end orientation of the carton placed on the roller line (1) is correct, and a front push plate (43) slidably connected to the roller line (1) to adjust the carton between two states of being aligned with and misaligned with the turning stop block (2).

2. The carton edge flipping and turning mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The roller line (1) includes a main roller line (41) to which the turning stop block (2) and the rear stop bar (3) are detachably connected, and a front roller line (42) rotatably connected to the main roller line (41) and having a rotation axis direction consistent with the transmission direction of the main roller line (41). The front roller line (42) is for placing the carton and conveying the carton to the main roller line (41). The front push plate (43) is for the carton on the tilted front roller line (42) after rotation to abut against and be aligned with the turning stop block (2).

3. A carton edge flipping and turning mechanism according to claim 2, characterized in that: The front push plate (43) is slidably connected to the front roller line (42) to adjust the distance between the carton and the side of the main roller line (41) where the turning stop block (2) is provided and to enable the side of the end of the carton to be aligned with the turning stop block (2).

4. A carton side-turning and turning-around mechanism according to claim 2, characterized in that: The side of the front roller line (42) aligned with the turning stop block (2) is rotatably connected to the main roller line (41).

5. A carton edge flipping and turning mechanism according to claim 2, characterized in that: A turning power member (44) with a variable overall length is hinged to the lower part of the front roller line (42). One end of the turning power member (44) away from the front roller line (42) is provided with a hinge point and has a fixed position.

6. The carton side-turning mechanism according to claim 2, characterized in that: The front push plate (43) includes an upper plate (45) that can abut against the carton, a vertical piece (46) detachably connected to the upper plate (45) and located between two adjacent rollers of the front roller line (42), a sliding base (47) detachably connected to the vertical piece (46) and slidably connected to the frame of the front roller line (42), and a base power member (48) detachably connected to the frame of the front roller line (42) to move the sliding base (47).

7. A carton side-edge flipping and turning mechanism according to claim 2, characterized in that: The length of the rollers of the front roller line (42) close to the main roller line (41) is less than the length of the rollers of the front roller line (42) away from the main roller line (41). One ends of all the rollers of the front roller line (42) close to the turning stop block (2) are flush.

8. A carton side-edge flipping and turning mechanism according to claim 2, characterized in that: A limit plate (33) is detachably connected to the end of the roller line (1) for placing and conveying the carton backward. The front push plate (43) is close to the limit plate (33).

9. A carton edge flipping and turning mechanism according to claim 2, characterized in that: The main roller line (41) includes a front sub-roller line (35) of the block on the side of the turning stop block (2) close to the front roller line (42) and a rear sub-roller line (36) of the block on the side of the turning stop block (2) away from the front roller line (42). The transmission speed of the front sub-roller line (35) of the block is slower than the transmission speed of the rear sub-roller line (36) of the block.

10. A carton side flipping and turning mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: One end of the rear deflector (4) far from the turning stop block (2) is fixedly connected with an arc-shaped tail plate (32) that can abut against the cardboard box. One end of the tail plate (32) far from the rear deflector (4) is far from the rear strip (3). The rear deflector (4) is close to the end where the cardboard box is sent away by the roller line (1).

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