Machining system

Abstract

The invention relates to a processing system, comprising: an assembly line module comprising at least two assembly lines arranged in parallel, the processing system forming N stations along the length extension direction, each assembly line comprising N sub-assembly lines connected in sequence along the length extension direction, the N sub-assembly lines of each assembly line being in one-to-one correspondence with the N stations; the N lifting modules are in one-to-one correspondence with the N stations, and any lifting module is connected with all the sub-assembly lines in the corresponding station and used for driving all the sub-assembly lines in the corresponding station to ascend and descend in the vertical direction; each material supporting module comprises a material supporting sliding rail and at least one tray movably arranged on the material supporting sliding rail, the total moving range of the trays covers N stations, and the material supporting modules are used for being matched with the lifting modules to support semi-finished product materials from the sub-assembly lines; the finished product materials are placed on the sub-assembly line in cooperation with the lifting module; and the processing equipment is used for processing the semi-finished material supported by the material supporting module into a finished material.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of production equipment for camera modules, and particularly to a processing system. Background Art

[0002] In modern industrial production, assembly lines are widely used in processing systems for the automated transmission of materials. The trays containing materials, as material-carrying tools, efficient transmission and safe loading and unloading on the assembly line are important links to ensure the continuity and stability of the production process.

[0003] Currently, when the tray is in the transmission state on the assembly line, due to the continuous operation characteristics of the assembly line, it is difficult to directly pick up or place materials from the assembly line during the transmission process. Usually, it is necessary to wait for the tray to be transmitted to a specific station and stop before loading and unloading operations can be carried out. As a result, the process of picking up materials from the assembly line for processing and then placing them back on the assembly line is very cumbersome, greatly affecting production efficiency and increasing the time cost of the process.

[0004] In addition, in the prior art, in order to transfer the tray from the assembly line to the processing equipment, mechanical devices such as grippers are often used to grab the tray. However, this grabbing method has obvious technical defects: on the one hand, the gripper needs to apply a mechanical force to the tray during the grabbing process. If the clamping force of the gripper is not properly controlled, it is easy to cause deformation or even damage to the tray, affecting the reuse and service life of the tray; on the other hand, the materials carried on the tray may be scattered due to uneven force or vibration during the grabbing of the gripper, which will not only cause waste of materials, but also may pollute the production environment and even cause equipment failures, bringing many inconveniences and potential risks to production. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Based on this, it is necessary to provide a processing system with higher picking and placing efficiency and less likely to damage materials or cause material scattering in view of the low efficiency of picking and placing materials from the assembly line in the current processing system and the problem that the material grabbing process is likely to damage materials or cause material scattering.

[0006] The present application first provides a processing system, including:

[0007] An assembly line module, including at least two assembly lines arranged in parallel. The processing system forms N stations along the length extension direction. Each assembly line includes N sub-assembly lines connected in sequence along the length extension direction. The N sub-assembly lines of each assembly line correspond one-to-one to the N stations. N is a positive integer greater than 1. Among them, at least one assembly line is used to transmit semi-finished materials, and at least one assembly line is used to transmit finished materials;

[0008] N lifting modules corresponding to the N workstations one by one, any one of the lifting modules is connected to each of the sub-assembly lines within the corresponding workstation, and is used to drive each of the sub-assembly lines within the corresponding workstation to lift in the vertical direction, where the vertical direction is perpendicular to the length extension direction;

[0009] At least one material supporting module, each material supporting module includes a material supporting slide rail and at least one tray movably arranged on the material supporting slide rail along the length extension direction, and the total movement range of each tray covers the N workstations. The material supporting module is used to cooperate with the lifting module to pick up the semi-finished product materials from the sub-assembly line, and cooperate with the lifting module to place the finished product materials on the sub-assembly line;

[0010] Processing equipment, which is used to process the semi-finished product materials picked up by the material supporting module into finished product materials;

[0011] The sub-assembly line has a loading / unloading state and a transmission state, and the lifting module is used to drive the corresponding sub-assembly line to switch between the loading / unloading state and the transmission state;

[0012] In the loading / unloading state, the height of the material placing plane of the sub-assembly line is higher than the height of the material placing planes of other sub-assembly lines within the same assembly line, and the height of the material placing plane of the sub-assembly line is flush with the height of the tray;

[0013] In the transmission state, the height of the material placing plane of the sub-assembly line is the same as the height of the material placing planes of other sub-assembly lines within the same assembly line.

[0014] In one embodiment, the processing equipment includes N processing modules corresponding to the N workstations one by one, and the material supporting module can move to the corresponding processing module to process the semi-finished product materials picked up by the processing module.

[0015] In one embodiment, each sub-assembly line for transporting the semi-finished product materials can accommodate a plurality of the semi-finished product materials along the length extension direction, and is used to provide a buffering function for the processing modules of the subsequent workstations along the transmission direction of the assembly line.

[0016] In one embodiment, the processing system includes N material supporting modules corresponding to the N workstations one by one, and the movement range of the tray of each material supporting module covers the corresponding workstation. In one embodiment, the processing equipment is used to process the semi-finished product materials on the tray; or

[0017] The processing equipment includes N processing carriers corresponding to the N processing modules one by one and N loading and unloading modules. The loading and unloading modules are used to unload the semi-finished materials on the pallet to the corresponding processing carriers, or load the finished materials on the processing carriers to the corresponding pallets. The processing modules are used to process the semi-finished materials on the processing carriers.

[0018] In one embodiment, the processing system further includes a storage bin and / or a connecting pipeline. A pushing module is provided on the sub-pipeline at the end of at least one of the pipelines. The pushing module is used to push the materials to the storage bin and / or the connecting pipeline.

[0019] In one embodiment, each pushing module includes a sliding shaft, a stop block, a push block bracket, a push block and a spring. The sliding shaft and the stop block are fixed relative to the sub-pipeline. The push block bracket is slidably connected to the sliding shaft along the length extension direction. The push block is hinged to the push block bracket. The two ends of the spring are respectively connected to the push block bracket and the push block, so that the push block has a retracted state and an extended state. In the retracted state, the push block abuts against the stop block so that the highest point of the push block is lower than the placing plane of the sub-pipeline. In the extended state, the push block is separated from the stop block and the highest point of the push block is higher than the placing plane of the sub-pipeline.

[0020] In one embodiment, the pipelines are arranged at intervals in the vertical direction, or the pipelines are arranged parallel to each other in the horizontal direction.

[0021] In one embodiment, the processing system includes two pipelines arranged at intervals in the vertical direction. The upper pipeline is used to transport the semi-finished materials, and the lower pipeline is used to transport the finished materials. The height of the pallet is higher than the placing plane of the upper pipeline.

[0022] In one embodiment, each lifting module is used to independently drive the lifting of each sub-pipeline in the corresponding station, or each lifting module is used to synchronously drive the lifting of each sub-pipeline in the corresponding station.

[0023] The above processing system drives the sub-assembly line to lift through the lifting modules arranged at each station, and cooperates with the tray that can move along the length extension direction, so that the processing system of the present application can pick up materials from the sub-assembly line at any station and move them to the processing equipment for processing without interruption of transmission, and place the materials on the sub-assembly line at any station after processing, thereby effectively improving the overall production and processing efficiency and production flexibility. At the same time, the picking action of the tray can also achieve damage-free transfer of materials, effectively reducing the possibility of tray loss or scattering. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0024] Figure 1 It is a three-dimensional view of two stations and two assembly lines of the processing system of the present application;

[0025] Figure 2 is Figure 1 the front view when each sub-assembly line in

[0026] Figure 3 is Figure 1 the front view when the upper sub-assembly line at the right station is in the material picking and placing state;

[0027] Figure 4 is Figure 1 the front view when the lower sub-assembly line at the right station is in the material picking and placing state;

[0028] Figure 5 is the three-dimensional view when the pushing block in the pushing module is in the extended state;

[0029] Figure 6 is the three-dimensional view when the pushing block in the pushing module is in the retracted state.

[0030] Reference Numerals: 100, station; 10, assembly line; 11, conveyor belt; 20, lifting module; 30, material supporting module; 31, material supporting slide rail; 32, tray; 40, material bin; 50, connecting assembly line; 60, pushing module; 61, sliding shaft; 62, stop block; 63, pushing block bracket; 64, pushing block; 65, spring. Detailed Embodiments

[0031] To make the above objects, features, and advantages of the present invention more obvious and understandable, the following detailed description of the specific embodiments of the present invention will be given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Many specific details are set forth in the following description in order to fully understand the present invention. However, the present invention can be implemented in many other ways different from those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar improvements without departing from the connotation of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited by the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0032] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by terms such as "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings. It is only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and thus should not be construed as a limitation on the present invention.

[0033] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "a plurality of" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise specifically and clearly defined.

[0034] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and defined, terms such as "mounted", "connected", "joined", "fixed", etc. shall be construed in a broad sense. For example, it may be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or integrated; it may be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it may be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and it may be the internal communication of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements, unless otherwise clearly defined. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0035] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and defined, the first feature being "on" or "under" the second feature may be that the first and second features are in direct contact, or the first and second features are in indirect contact through an intermediate medium. Moreover, the first feature being "above", "over" and "on top of" the second feature may be that the first feature is directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or merely indicates that the first feature has a higher horizontal height than the second feature. The first feature being "under", "beneath" and "underneath" the second feature may be that the first feature is directly below or obliquely below the second feature, or merely indicates that the first feature has a lower horizontal height than the second feature.

[0036] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "fixed to" or "disposed on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or there may also be an intermediate element. When an element is considered to be "connected to" another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or there may be an intermediate element at the same time. The terms "vertical", "horizontal", "upper", "lower", "left", "right" and similar expressions used herein are for illustrative purposes only and do not represent the only implementation.

[0037] Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the present application provides a processing system, including:

[0038] An assembly line module, including at least two assembly lines arranged in parallel. The processing system is formed with N workstations 100 along the length extension direction. Each assembly line includes N sub-assembly lines 10 connected in sequence along the length extension direction. The N sub-assembly lines 10 of each assembly line correspond to the N workstations 100 one by one. N is a positive integer greater than 1. Among them, at least one assembly line is used to transport semi-finished materials, and at least one assembly line is used to transport finished materials; N lifting modules 20 corresponding to the N workstations 100 one by one. Any one of the lifting modules 20 is connected to each sub-assembly line 10 in the corresponding workstation 100, and is used to drive each sub-assembly line 10 in the corresponding workstation 100 to lift and lower in the vertical direction. The vertical direction is perpendicular to the length extension direction; at least one material supporting module 30. Each material supporting module 30 includes a material supporting slide rail 31 and at least one tray 32 movably arranged on the material supporting slide rail 31 along the length extension direction. The total movement range of each tray 32 covers the N workstations 100. The material supporting module 30 is used to cooperate with the lifting module 20 to pick up semi-finished materials from the sub-assembly line 10, and cooperate with the lifting module 20 to place the finished materials on the sub-assembly line 10; Processing equipment (not shown in the figure), which is used to process the semi-finished materials picked up by the material supporting module into finished materials.

[0039] For the convenience of description, in the present application, the processing system is sequentially divided into N regions along the length extension direction, and each region is defined as a workstation 100.

[0040] It should be noted that the N sub - assembly lines 10 of each production line correspond one - to - one with the N workstations 100, which means that the N sub - assembly lines 10 of each production line correspond to the N workstations 100 in sequence according to the arrangement order of the N workstations 100, and each workstation 100 corresponds to multiple sub - assembly lines equal to the number of production lines. Taking the processing system including i production lines as an example (i is a positive integer greater than 1), the j - th sub - assembly line in each production line corresponds to the j - th workstation 100 (j ≤ N, j is a positive integer). That is to say, there are i sub - assembly lines 10 in the j - th workstation 100, and each sub - assembly line 10 among these i sub - assembly lines 10 is the j - th sub - assembly line in its corresponding production line.

[0041] The N lifting modules 20 that correspond one - to - one with the N workstations 100 mean that the N lifting modules 20 correspond to the N workstations 100 in sequence according to the arrangement order of the N workstations 100, and each lifting module 20 corresponds to one workstation 100. For example, the j - th lifting module 20 corresponds to the j - th workstation 100 (j ≤ N, j is a positive integer). The i sub - assembly lines 10 in the j - th workstation 100 are all connected to the j - th lifting module 20, and the j - th lifting module 20 can drive these i sub - assembly lines 10 to lift and lower in the vertical direction.

[0042] In addition, the structure corresponding to the workstation 100 in this application can be that the structure is inside the workstation 100 or that the structure is not inside the workstation 100, as long as the structure corresponding to the workstation 100 is technologically connected to other structures inside the workstation 100. For example, for the lifting module 20 corresponding to the workstation 100, the lifting module 20 can be located inside or outside the workstation 100, as long as it can drive the sub - assembly lines 10 corresponding to the workstation 100 to lift and lower.

[0043] The semi - finished materials in this application refer to the materials before processing, and the finished materials refer to the materials after processing. The finished and semi - finished products in this application are defined for this processing system. Materials that have not been processed by the processing equipment in this processing system can be called semi - finished materials, and materials that have been processed by the processing equipment in this processing system are called finished materials. After the processing equipment processes the semi - finished materials, finished materials are obtained. These finished materials can be directly discharged, or can be further processed in subsequent equipment, which is not restricted in this application. A certain material can be both the finished material of the previous processing round and the semi - finished material of the next processing round. Taking the processing including three processing steps in sequence as an example, for the previous round of processing formed by the first processing step and the second processing step, the material of the first processing step is the semi - finished material, and the material of the second processing step is the finished material. For the next round of processing formed by the second processing step and the third processing step, the material of the second processing step is the semi - finished material, and the material of the third processing step is the finished material.

[0044] In this application, the lifting module 20 disposed at each station 100 drives the sub-assembly line 10 to lift, and cooperates with the tray 32 that can move along the length extension direction, so that the processing system of this application can pick up semi-finished product materials from the sub-assembly line 10 of any station 100 and move them to the processing equipment for processing on the premise of ensuring uninterrupted transmission, and place the finished product materials on the sub-assembly line 10 of any station 100 after processing, thereby effectively improving the overall production and processing efficiency and production flexibility. At the same time, the picking action of the tray 32 can also achieve damage-free transfer of the materials, effectively reducing the possibility of tray loss or scattering. Especially in the processing scenario of products with small sizes (such as millimeter-level products), small-sized products are more likely to be lost or scattered during material picking and placing. Therefore, through the processing system provided by the embodiments of this application, during the processing of small-sized products, damage and scattering of the products caused by material picking and placing can be avoided. For example, the processing system provided by this application can be applied to the assembly scenario of a camera module. In the assembly scenario of a camera module, the assembly line module may include at least three assembly lines. Among them, one assembly line is used to transport lens components, one assembly line is used to transport motor components or motor chip components, and one assembly line is used to transport the assembled camera module.

[0045] Specifically, each sub-assembly line 10 includes at least two parallel conveyor belts 11. The projection of the tray 32 in the vertical direction is located between the conveyor belts 11, and the materials are placed on the placement plane formed by the top surfaces of the conveyor belts 11 through trays.

[0046] On this basis, the tray 32 can pick up materials by the lifting method of the sub-assembly line 10 or by the transmission method of the sub-assembly line 10. Among them, the action process of the lifting method of the sub-assembly line 10 is: the lifting module 20 drives the sub-assembly line 10 to lift to a position where the placement plane is higher than the tray 32, the tray 32 moves to a position corresponding to the tray in the vertical direction, and then the lifting module 20 drives the sub-assembly line 10 to lower to a position where the placement plane is lower than the tray 32, so as to pick up the tray by the tray 32; or the lifting module 20 drives the placement plane of the sub-assembly line 10 to rise to a certain height, then the tray 32 is lowered to a height lower than the placement plane, and then the tray 32 moves along the length extension direction to a position corresponding to the tray in the vertical direction, and then the tray 32 picks up the tray from the sub-assembly line 10.

[0047] The action process of the transmission method of the sub-assembly line 10 is: the tray 32 moves to a position where it is docked with the sub-assembly line 10 along the length extension direction, the lifting module 20 drives the sub-assembly line 10 to lift to be docked with the tray 32, and then the tray is transferred to the tray 32 by relying on the rotation of the sub-assembly line 10.

[0048] The placement of the material on the tray 32 can be achieved by the lifting of the sub-assembly line 10. The operation process is as follows: The lifting module 20 drives the sub-assembly line 10 to lift to a position where the placement plane is lower than the tray 32. The tray 32 moves to a position corresponding to the tray along the vertical direction, and then the lifting module 20 drives the sub-assembly line 10 to rise to a position where the placement plane is higher than the tray 32, so as to lift the tray through the placement plane of the sub-assembly line 10.

[0049] That is to say, in this application, neither the picking nor the placement process of the tray 32 involves mechanical grasping. Therefore, zero-damage loading and unloading can be achieved, effectively avoiding the risks of tray deformation and material scattering.

[0050] The total movement range of each tray 32 covers N workstations 100, which means that for any position along the length extension direction of any workstation 100, there is always at least one tray 32 that can move along the length extension direction to a position corresponding to this position along the vertical direction, so as to ensure that the tray 32 can move to a position corresponding to the tray and pick and place materials.

[0051] It should be noted that this application does not limit the number of trays 32 in each material-carrying module 30 and the number of material-carrying modules 30. That is to say, one or more trays 32 can be set in each material-carrying module 30, the trays 32 can move independently or synchronously with each other, and the processing system can be provided with one or more material-carrying modules 30, etc., as long as it can ensure that the total movement range of each tray 32 covers N workstations 100.

[0052] In addition, since each assembly line in this application is divided into multiple sub-assembly lines 10 located in each workstation 100, when one sub-assembly line 10 cooperates with the lifting module 20 and the material-carrying module 30 to pick and place materials, it will not affect the normal transmission operation of the sub-assembly line 10 in other workstations 100, thereby reducing the impact of picking and placing materials on the overall transmission of the assembly line and improving the processing efficiency.

[0053] On this basis, in this application, by setting at least two assembly lines, and dividing the assembly lines into at least one assembly line for transmitting semi-finished materials and at least one assembly line for transmitting finished materials, semi-finished and finished materials can be distinguished, meeting the basic material classification requirements and facilitating the automatic operation of the system.

[0054] Furthermore, in some embodiments, the number of assembly lines is greater than or equal to the sum of the types of materials before and after processing, so as to ensure that each type of material can be independently transmitted through at least one assembly line to achieve the classified and independent transmission of different materials.

[0055] In some embodiments, each lifting module 20 is used to independently drive the lifting of each sub-assembly line 10 in the corresponding station 100 respectively, or each lifting module 20 is used to synchronously drive the lifting of each sub-assembly line 10 in the corresponding station 100.

[0056] It should be understood that the former requires setting a plurality of independent driving elements corresponding to the number of sub-assembly lines 10, and the cost is relatively high. However, each sub-assembly line 10 within the same station 100 can independently perform the material loading and unloading actions. That is to say, when one sub-assembly line 10 performs the material loading and unloading actions, the other sub-assembly lines 10 within the same station 100 can still maintain normal transmission, thereby further improving production efficiency.

[0057] The latter only requires one driving element to meet the lifting requirements of each sub-assembly line 10 within one station 100. The cost is relatively low, and it can meet the basic modular transmission requirements. That is, when the sub-assembly line 10 within one station 100 performs the material loading and unloading actions, it will not affect the normal transmission of the sub-assembly lines 10 in other stations 100.

[0058] Of course, in some other embodiments, the number of driving elements in the lifting module 20 and the corresponding relationship between the driving elements and each sub-assembly line 10 can also be adjusted according to actual requirements. For example, for each sub-assembly line 10 used to transport semi-finished materials within the same station 100, they are connected by one driving element, and for each sub-assembly line 10 used to transport finished materials, they are connected by one driving element, etc. The present application will not list them one by one here.

[0059] Please refer to Figure 2 、 Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, in some embodiments, the sub-assembly line 10 has a material loading and unloading state and a transmission state. The lifting module 20 is used to drive the corresponding sub-assembly line 10 to switch between the material loading and unloading state and the transmission state. In the material loading and unloading state, the height of the object placement plane of the sub-assembly line 10 is higher than the height of the object placement planes of other sub-assembly lines 10 within the same assembly line, and the height of the object placement plane of the sub-assembly line 10 in the material loading and unloading state is flush with the height of the tray 32. It should be noted that the sub-assembly lines 10 in adjacent stations 100 within the same assembly line cannot be in the material loading and unloading state at the same time. In the transmission state, the height of the object placement plane of the sub-assembly line 10 is the same as the height of the object placement planes of other sub-assembly lines 10 within the same assembly line. Specifically, when the tray 32 is placed with a tray, the sub-assembly line 10 can further rise from the material loading and unloading state to transfer the tray on the tray 32 to the object placement plane of the sub-assembly line 10, completing the unloading of the tray 32; conversely, when the sub-assembly line 10 is placed with a tray, the sub-assembly line 10 can further lower from the material loading and unloading state to transfer the tray on the sub-assembly line 10 to the tray 32, completing the loading of the tray 32.

[0060] More specifically, after the loading and unloading operation is completed, the sub-assembly line 10 returns to the transmission state under the drive of the lifting module 20, so that multiple sub-assembly lines 10 on the same assembly line are aligned to form a continuous transmission surface, ensuring the smooth operation of the entire assembly line.

[0061] It should be understood that when multiple assembly lines are arranged in parallel in the vertical direction, the lifting height of the sub-assembly line 10 in the loading and unloading state is determined by the position of the sub-assembly line 10 in the corresponding station 100 in the vertical direction. For example, when comparing the sub-assembly line 10 located below with the sub-assembly line 10 located above that needs to perform loading and unloading, since both need to be lifted to the same level as the tray 32, the sub-assembly line 10 located below needs to be lifted to a higher height. That is to say, when multiple assembly lines are arranged in parallel in the vertical direction, the lifting heights required for the sub-assembly lines 10 in the same station 100 to be lifted to the loading and unloading state are different.

[0062] In some embodiments, each sub-assembly line 10 for transporting semi-finished materials can accommodate multiple semi-finished materials along the length extension direction, providing a buffering function for the processing modules at the subsequent stations 100 along the assembly line transmission direction; each sub-assembly line 10 for transporting finished materials can accommodate multiple finished materials along the length extension direction, achieving the effect of discharging and buffering; the buffering of materials is realized by using each sub-assembly line 10, and since a continuous transmission surface is formed between the sub-assembly lines 10, when any station 100 lacks materials (for example, the processing module corresponding to this station 100 is idle, etc.), materials can be transported from the sub-assembly line 10 of other stations 100 to the sub-assembly line 10 of this station 100, thereby realizing continuous feeding, avoiding the idleness of processing equipment, and further improving the production and processing efficiency.

[0063] For example, multiple semi-finished materials are accommodated on the j-th sub-assembly line 10 on the same assembly line, providing a buffering function for the processing module at the (j + 1)-th station 100. When the processing module at the (j + 1)-th station 100 lacks materials, the j-th sub-assembly line 10 transports the semi-finished materials to the (j + 1)-th sub-assembly line 10, and the (j + 1)-th sub-assembly line 10, the (j + 1)-th lifting module 20 and the material supporting module 30 cooperate with each other to transport the semi-finished materials to the processing module.

[0064] It is worth mentioning that since each sub-assembly line 10 forms an independent buffer space, when any station 100 lacks materials, feeding can be carried out from the sub-assembly line 10 of the adjacent station 100. The feeding path is short and the speed is fast, which can effectively reduce the idle time of the processing equipment during the feeding process.

[0065] Preferably, the materials are cached in sequence starting from the sub-assembly line 10 on the feeding side of the assembly line. That is to say, the materials are arranged in the order of the transmission direction. After the material at the end of the arrangement is consumed, the previous material is automatically replenished under the transmission action of the continuous transmission surface.

[0066] In some embodiments, the processing system includes N material supporting modules 30 corresponding one-to-one to N workstations 100. The moving range of the tray 32 of each material supporting module 30 covers the corresponding workstation 100.

[0067] It should be noted that the N material supporting modules 30 corresponding one-to-one to the N workstations 100 mean that the N material supporting modules 30 correspond to the N workstations 100 in sequence according to the arrangement order of the N workstations 100, and each material supporting module 30 corresponds to one workstation 100. For example, the jth material supporting module 30 corresponds to the jth workstation 100 (j ≤ N, j is a positive integer).

[0068] By separately configuring a material supporting module 30 for each workstation 100 to achieve closed-loop operation within each workstation 100, the problem of low handling efficiency caused by the scheduling of the material supporting module 30 across workstations 100 is avoided, and the overall production efficiency of the processing system is further improved; in addition, even if one of the material supporting modules 30 fails, the other workstations 100 can still operate normally, and the processing system as a whole will not stop. Moreover, the materials at the workstation 100 where the failure occurs can also be transmitted to other workstations 100 for feeding through the continuous transmission surface formed by the assembly line.

[0069] Preferably, each material supporting module 30 includes a tray 32.

[0070] In some other embodiments, the size of the tray 32 can be configured differently according to different workstations 100.

[0071] Furthermore, in some embodiments, the processing equipment includes N processing modules corresponding one-to-one to N workstations 100. The material supporting module 30 can move to the corresponding processing module to process the semi-finished materials held by it through the processing module.

[0072] It should be noted that the N processing modules corresponding one-to-one to the N workstations 100 mean that the N processing modules correspond to the N workstations 100 in sequence according to the arrangement order of the N workstations 100, and each processing module corresponds to one workstation 100. For example, the jth processing module corresponds to the jth workstation 100 (j ≤ N, j is a positive integer).

[0073] It should be understood that N processing modules corresponding to N workstations 100 one by one, in cooperation with the material supporting modules 30 separately configured for each workstation 100, can form independent processing units at each workstation 100. Each material supporting module 30 only transfers between the sub-assembly line 10 and the processing module corresponding to the workstation 100, which can further shorten the handling time. In addition, when there is a lack of materials in the workstation 100, rapid feeding scheduling can also be carried out through the continuous transmission surface formed by the assembly line, further improving production efficiency.

[0074] Similarly, even if one of the processing modules fails, the other workstations 100 can still operate normally, without causing the entire processing system to stop. Moreover, the materials at the workstation 100 where the failure occurs can also be transported to other workstations 100 for feeding through the continuous transmission surface formed by the assembly line.

[0075] In some embodiments, the processing equipment is used to process the semi-finished materials on the tray 32. That is to say, the tray 32 is directly used as a carrier, and the semi-finished materials are processed on the tray 32. Since the process of transferring materials between the tray 32 and the processing equipment is omitted, it is more efficient.

[0076] In other embodiments, the processing equipment includes N processing carriers corresponding to the N processing modules one by one and N loading and unloading modules. The loading and unloading modules are used to unload the semi-finished materials on the tray 32 to the corresponding processing carriers, or load the finished materials on the processing carriers onto the corresponding tray 32. The processing modules are used to process the semi-finished materials on the processing carriers to obtain finished materials. By transferring the materials carried on the tray 32 to the processing carriers through the loading and unloading modules for processing, on the one hand, it can avoid damaging the tray 32 during processing, and on the other hand, after the tray 32 completes unloading, it can move to the position of the sub-assembly line 10 for the next round of material picking, and the overall production rhythm is faster.

[0077] Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, in some embodiments, the processing system further includes a silo 40 and / or a connecting assembly line 50. A pusher module 60 is provided at the sub-assembly line 10 at the end of at least one assembly line. The pusher module 60 is used to push the materials into the silo 40 and / or the connecting assembly line 50. The materials here can be finished materials or semi-finished materials.

[0078] When the cache of each sub-assembly line 10 of the assembly line reaches the threshold, the semi-finished or finished materials can be pushed into the silo 40 for caching through the pusher module 60. In addition, in cooperation with the lifting module 20 to drive the sub-assembly line 10 to lift, it is possible to select to dock different assembly lines with the silo 40, or select to dock the assembly line with different storage openings of the silo 40.

[0079] For the finished products, by docking the sub-assembly line with the connecting assembly line 50, the finished products can also be directly transported to the next device.

[0080] Please refer to Figure 5 and Figure 6 As shown, in some embodiments, each pusher module 60 includes a sliding shaft 61, a stopper 62, a pusher bracket 63, a pusher 64, and a spring 65. The sliding shaft 61 and the stopper 62 are fixed relative to the sub-assembly line 10. The pusher bracket 63 is slidably connected to the sliding shaft 61 along the length extension direction. The pusher 64 is hinged to the pusher bracket 63. The two ends of the spring 65 are respectively connected to the pusher bracket 63 and the pusher 64, so that the pusher 64 has a retracted state and an extended state. In the retracted state, the pusher 64 abuts against the stopper 62 so that the highest point of the pusher 64 is lower than the placement plane of the sub-assembly line 10. In the extended state, the pusher 64 is separated from the stopper 62 and the highest point of the pusher 64 is higher than the placement plane of the sub-assembly line 10.

[0081] Specifically, each pusher module 60 further includes a driving member for driving the pusher bracket 63 to move along the sliding shaft 61. Through the cooperation between the stopper 62 and the spring 65, the pusher 64 can complete the switching between the retracted state and the extended state while sliding along with the pusher bracket 63. Only one driving member is required to realize the movement of the pusher 64 in two degrees of freedom, namely the sliding along the length extension direction and the rotation around its own hinge axis, which reduces the equipment cost.

[0082] More specifically, when the pusher 64 is in the retracted state, the pusher 64 is pressed against the stopper 62 under the drive of the driving member of the pusher module 60, and the spring 65 is in a deformed state under force. When the pusher 64 is separated from the stopper 62, the pusher 64 rotates and resets to the extended state under the elastic force of the spring 65.

[0083] In some embodiments, the sliding shaft 61 is a screw rod, the driving member is a motor fixed to the sub-assembly line 10, the screw rod is fixed to the output shaft of the motor, and the pusher bracket 63 is threadedly connected to the screw rod.

[0084] In some embodiments, the assembly lines are arranged at intervals in the vertical direction, or the assembly lines are arranged parallel to each other in the horizontal direction.

[0085] Specifically, the arrangement mode between the assembly lines can be selected according to the on-site space situation. For example, when the space in the height direction on site is large, the assembly lines are arranged at intervals in the vertical direction. On the contrary, when the space in the width direction on site is large, the assembly lines are arranged parallel to each other in the horizontal direction.

[0086] In some embodiments, the pipelines are arranged parallel to each other in the horizontal direction. In addition to being able to slide along the length extension direction, the tray 32 of the material supporting module 30 can also slide in the width direction to correspond to different pipelines, so as to meet the material loading and unloading requirements for different sub-pipelines 10 at the same station.

[0087] Please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, in some embodiments, the processing system includes two pipelines arranged at intervals in the vertical direction. Among them, the upper pipeline is used to transport semi-finished materials, and the lower pipeline is used to transport finished materials. The height of the tray 32 is higher than the placement plane of the upper pipeline.

[0088] Specifically, referring to Figure 3 , the lifting module 20 in the right station 100 drives the sub-pipeline 10 carrying semi-finished materials on the upper side of this station to rise to the material loading and unloading state. At this time, the tray 32 is moved directly below the material (that is, the tray 32 in Figure 3 is moved to the right), and by cooperating with the lifting module 20 to drive the sub-pipeline 10 to descend, the material can be transferred to the tray 32; subsequently, the tray 32 is moved to the processing equipment position to complete the material processing; referring to Figure 4 , after the material processing is completed, the tray 32 carrying the finished material is moved to the right station 100 (that is, the tray 32 in Figure 4 is moved to the right), and then the lifting module 20 in the right station 100 drives the sub-pipeline 10 on the lower side of this station 100 to rise to exceed the material loading and unloading state, and the finished material on the tray 32 can be transferred to the lower sub-pipeline 10; after the transfer is completed, the tray 32 moves to the left to avoid, and the lifting module 20 drives the sub-pipeline 10 to descend to the transmission state, and the processed material can be transported backward through the lower pipeline.

[0089] Of course, in some other embodiments, the processing system can also be provided with other numbers of pipelines according to the actual production process requirements. For example, when the finished product needs to be processed from two semi-finished products, three pipelines can also be provided, which are respectively used to transport the first semi-finished product, the second semi-finished product and the finished product. The present application does not list them one by one here.

[0090] The technical features of the above-described embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. For the sake of brevity of description, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as the combinations of these technical features do not conflict, they should all be considered to be within the scope described in this specification.

[0091] The above-described embodiments merely represent several implementation manners of the present invention. The description thereof is relatively specific and detailed, but it should not be construed as a limitation on the scope of the invention patent. It should be noted that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the concept of the present invention, several modifications and improvements can still be made, and these all fall within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention patent shall be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A processing system, characterized in that, Comprising: A pipeline module, including at least two pipelines arranged in parallel. The processing system is formed with N workstations (100) along the length extension direction. Each pipeline includes N sub-pipelines (10) connected in sequence along the length extension direction. The N sub-pipelines (10) of each pipeline correspond one-to-one with the N workstations (100). N is a positive integer greater than 1. Among them, at least one pipeline is used to transport semi-finished materials, and at least one pipeline is used to transport finished materials; N lifting modules (20) corresponding one-to-one with the N workstations (100). Any one of the lifting modules (20) is connected to each of the sub-pipelines (10) within the corresponding workstation (100), and is used to drive each of the sub-pipelines (10) within the corresponding workstation (100) to lift in the vertical direction, and the vertical direction is perpendicular to the length extension direction; At least one material supporting module (30). Each material supporting module (30) includes a material supporting slide rail (31) and at least one tray (32) movably arranged on the material supporting slide rail (31) along the length extension direction. The total movement range of each tray (32) covers the N workstations (100). The material supporting module (30) is used to cooperate with the lifting module (20) to pick up the semi-finished materials from the sub-pipeline (10), and cooperate with the lifting module (20) to place the finished materials on the sub-pipeline (10); Processing equipment, used to process the semi-finished materials picked up by the material supporting module (30) into finished materials; The sub-pipeline (10) has a material loading / unloading state and a transmission state. The lifting module (20) is used to drive the corresponding sub-pipeline (10) to switch between the material loading / unloading state and the transmission state; In the material loading / unloading state, the height of the material placement plane of the sub-pipeline (10) is higher than the height of the material placement planes of other sub-pipelines (10) within the same pipeline, and the height of the material placement plane of the sub-pipeline (10) is flush with the height of the tray (32); In the transmission state, the height of the material placement plane of the sub-pipeline (10) is the same as the height of the material placement planes of other sub-pipelines (10) within the same pipeline.

2. The processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The processing equipment includes N processing modules corresponding one-to-one with the N workstations (100). The material supporting module (30) can move to the corresponding processing module to process the picked-up semi-finished materials through the processing module.

3. The processing system according to claim 2, wherein, Each sub-pipeline (10) for transporting the semi-finished materials can accommodate a plurality of the semi-finished materials along the length extension direction, and is used to provide a buffering function for the processing modules of the subsequent workstations (100) along the pipeline transmission direction.

4. The processing system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The processing system includes N material supporting modules (30) corresponding one-to-one with the N workstations (100). The movement range of the tray (32) of each material supporting module (30) covers the corresponding workstation (100).

5. The processing system according to claim 4, characterized in that, The processing equipment is used to process the semi-finished materials on the tray (32); or The processing equipment includes N processing carriers corresponding to the N processing modules one by one and N loading and unloading modules. The loading and unloading modules are used to unload the semi-finished materials on the tray (32) to the corresponding processing carriers, or load the finished materials of the processing carriers to the corresponding tray (32). The processing module is used to process the semi-finished materials on the processing carriers.

6. The processing system according to claim 1, wherein The processing system further includes a storage bin (40) and / or a connecting pipeline (50). A pushing module (60) is provided on the sub-pipeline (10) at the end of at least one pipeline. The pushing module (60) is used to push the materials into the storage bin (40) and / or the connecting pipeline (50).

7. The processing system according to claim 6, characterized in that, Each pushing module (60) includes a sliding shaft (61), a stop block (62), a pushing block bracket (63), a pushing block (64), and a spring (65). The sliding shaft (61) and the stop block (62) are fixed relative to the sub-pipeline (10). The pushing block bracket (63) is slidably connected to the sliding shaft (61) along the length extension direction. The pushing block (64) is hinged to the pushing block bracket (63). The two ends of the spring (65) are respectively connected to the pushing block bracket (63) and the pushing block (64), so that the pushing block (64) has a retracted state and an extended state. In the retracted state, the pushing block (64) abuts against the stop block (62) so that the highest point of the pushing block (64) is lower than the placement plane of the sub-pipeline (10). In the extended state, the pushing block (64) is separated from the stop block (62) and the highest point of the pushing block (64) is higher than the placement plane of the sub-pipeline (10).

8. The processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The pipelines are arranged at intervals in the vertical direction, or the pipelines are arranged parallel to each other in the horizontal direction.

9. The processing system according to claim 8, characterized in that, The processing system includes two pipelines arranged at intervals in the vertical direction. The pipeline located on the upper side is used to transport the semi-finished materials, and the pipeline located on the lower side is used to transport the finished materials. The height of the tray (32) is higher than the placement plane of the pipeline located on the upper side.

10. The processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that, Each lifting module (20) is used to independently drive the lifting of each sub-pipeline (10) in the corresponding station (100), or each lifting module (20) is used to synchronously drive the lifting of each sub-pipeline (10) in the corresponding station (100).

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