Automatic section bar sorting method

Abstract

The invention discloses an automatic section bar sorting method, and belongs to the technical field of material sorting. The type and the number of needed profiles are extracted based on order information, a structured task queue is generated, then the needed profiles are grabbed to a rotating disc, and the profiles are pushed to a main conveying belt after profile posture correction is completed on the rotating disc; a section of detection area is arranged on the main conveying belt, and the section shape, the surface quality and the pit depth of the profile are sequentially and intelligently detected; executing three-stage classification according to a detection result: transferring qualified products to a to-be-processed area; the to-be-processed product is transferred to a repair area; and unqualified products are transferred to a waste material area. According to the method, the profiles are intelligently sorted according to the order information, the qualified profiles required by the order are quickly screened out, and the profile sorting efficiency and the order product processing quality can be effectively improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of material sorting, and in particular to an automatic profile sorting method and an automatic sorting system. Background Art

[0002] In the production process of modern industrial enterprises, a large number of profiles are used as raw materials for processing. Since the cut profiles need to be welded in the subsequent process, they need to be classified and placed to facilitate the rapid progress of the subsequent process. Traditional profile sorting mainly relies on manual visual inspection or simple sensor technology. Due to the size and weight of the profiles, workers will consume a lot of physical strength and time during the sorting process. There are also safety hazards. It is easy to cause scratches and bumps on the profiles during the sorting process, thus affecting the factory quality of the products. In addition, manual work also reduces the flow speed of the overall workshop products, resulting in slow delivery of finished products. In addition, during the picking process, in order to facilitate manual picking, a larger workshop area is required to place the profiles, which greatly wastes the workshop's site resources. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of the present invention is to propose a method for automatic sorting of profiles, which generates a structured task queue based on order information, then grabs the profiles by a robotic arm and transports them to the inspection area via the main conveyor belt for inspection, and classifies and places them based on the inspection results, thereby greatly improving the sorting efficiency and sorting quality of the profiles.

[0004] The technical solution adopted by the present invention is: a method for automatically sorting profiles, comprising:

[0005] Step S1: extract the type and quantity of required profiles based on the order information, generate a structured task queue, and drive the gripping device to grab the corresponding profiles and place them on the rotating disk;

[0006] Step S2: Correct the profile's posture by rotating the disc so that the profile's axis is aligned with the main conveyor belt's transport direction, and then push the profile onto the main conveyor belt. Step S3: Set up a testing area on the main conveyor belt. When the profile is transferred to the testing area, the intelligent testing system sequentially performs intelligent testing on the profile's cross-sectional shape, surface quality, and pit depth. The intelligent testing system includes:

[0007] (1) Cross-sectional shape detection module: The profile of the profile is measured in a non-contact manner using a 3D line laser profilometer, the measured profile is compared with the preset standard threshold, and the maximum deviation and average deviation are calculated;

[0008] (2) Surface quality inspection module: Identify the processing quality defects on the profile surface through a 3D vision sensor group and mark the defect distribution area;

[0009] (3) Pit depth detection module: Use a phase laser rangefinder to detect pits on the profile surface, calculate the maximum depth of the pit area and compare it with the preset standard threshold to determine whether it exceeds the allowable range;

[0010] Step S4: After the profile has completed intelligent detection, perform three-level classification according to the detection results;

[0011] Step S5: Repeat steps S2-S4 until the profile sorting task of a single order is completed;

[0012] Step S6: Execute the sorting task of the next order in sequence.

[0013] As a further improvement of the present invention, the generation logic of the structured task queue in step S1 includes:

[0014] Execute combined grabbing instructions for profiles with the same cross-section to reduce the idle travel time of the robot arm;

[0015] When the stock of profiles is insufficient, a shortage warning will be automatically triggered and an unfinished order queue will be retained;

[0016] When an urgent order occurs, the queue order is dynamically adjusted based on the remaining capacity.

[0017] As a further improvement of the present invention, in step S1, the grasping device is a visual robotic arm, which is equipped with an electric suction cup and a visual positioning module. The camera captures the target profile, determines its position, and drives the robotic arm to grasp the target profile.

[0018] As a further improvement of the present invention, in step S1, a positioning sensor is provided on the edge of the rotating disk to detect the angular offset of the profile, and the profile on the rotating disk is rotated to be consistent with the transmission direction of the main conveyor belt through servo drive, and the corrected profile is pushed onto the main conveyor belt through a pneumatic lifting mechanism.

[0019] As a further improvement of the present invention, in step S3, the 3D vision sensor group includes a structured light 3D camera and a pair of multispectral 3D cameras; wherein, the structured light 3D camera includes a split structured light projector and an industrial camera, the structured light projector is installed directly above the detection area, projects vertically downward, and covers the entire detection area, and the multispectral 3D cameras are installed in pairs on both sides of the detection area, are flush with the height of the structured light camera, and are staggered to form multi-view coverage.

[0020] As a further improvement of the present invention, in step S4, the three-level classification is specifically:

[0021] (1) Qualified products: The cross-sectional shape, surface quality and length of the profiles meet the order requirements and are transferred to the processing area;

[0022] (2) Products to be processed: There are processing quality defects on the surface of the profile, for the following situations:

[0023] If the defect is in the part that needs to be processed but the depth of the defect does not exceed the processing allowance, it will be transferred to the waiting area for processing; if there is a deep pit on the surface, the pit position will be detected to determine whether the remaining effective length meets the requirements of other profiles in the order. If it meets the requirements, it will be transferred to the rework area.

[0024] (3) Unqualified products: products with severe cross-section deformation, deep pits on the surface, and remaining effective length that does not meet the requirements of other profiles in the order will be transferred to the scrap area.

[0025] As a further improvement of the present invention, in step S4, the following treatment is performed on the profile with deep pits on the surface:

[0026] (1) Scanning the pit area with a phase laser rangefinder to obtain the axial position coordinates and remaining length of the pit;

[0027] (2) Based on the order information, the current unsorted profile requirements are retrieved. If there is an order task for a profile with the same cross-section whose length is less than or equal to the remaining length minus the machining allowance, the profile is marked as a repairable surplus and transferred to the rework area.

[0028] (3) In the rework area, the pit section is cut out according to the size of the new target profile by a CNC cutting machine, and the qualified section is added back to the sorting queue.

[0029] As a further improvement of the present invention, in step S4, if three or more unqualified products are sorted out continuously, the intelligent detection system automatically triggers an audible and visual alarm and suspends the sorting process.

[0030] Upload the inspection data of abnormal profiles to the cloud analysis platform, generate a defect cause report, and resume operation after manual confirmation.

[0031] Compared with the existing technology, the present invention solves the technical problems of low sorting efficiency and low profile utilization caused by the existing manual sorting method. The specific technical effects are as follows:

[0032] (1) The present invention arranges the sorting order of the required profiles based on the profile type and quantity requirements extracted from the order information through the crawling logic of the structured queue. The sorting tasks are clear and the efficiency of profile sorting can be effectively improved.

[0033] (2) The present invention sets up a detection area on the main conveyor belt, integrates three modules of cross-section profile detection, defect recognition and pit depth detection, builds a three-dimensional quality evaluation mechanism, and improves product processing accuracy;

[0034] (3) The present invention cuts profiles with surface defects but remaining effective length into qualified products for other required profiles in the order, so that the products to be processed follow the process of inspection-repair-resorting-reinspection, thereby improving the utilization rate of profiles;

[0035] (4) The present invention sets up a three-time consecutive unqualified product sound and light alarm mechanism, which can achieve the triple benefits of early defect detection, reduced sorting system downtime and reduced labor maintenance costs, and significantly improve the efficiency of profile sorting. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0037] Figure 1 is a flow chart of the automatic sorting method of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the intelligent detection system;

[0039] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the working process of the intelligent detection system;

[0040] Figure 4 This is a diagram showing a usage scenario of the automatic profile sorting method of the present invention;

[0041] In the figure: 1- vision robot arm, 2- profile warehouse, 3- rotating disk, 4- position sensor, 5- pneumatic push rod mechanism, 6- main conveyor belt, 7- detection area, 8- push rod mechanism, 9- rework area, 10- waiting for processing area, 11- waste area. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention more clear, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of them. Based on the described embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments derived by persons of ordinary skill in the art are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0043] like Figure 1 and Figure 4 As shown, a method for automatically sorting profiles of the present invention comprises the following steps:

[0044] Step S1: extract the type and quantity of required profiles based on the order information, generate a structured task queue, and drive the visual robot arm 1 to grab the corresponding profiles from the profile warehouse 2 and place them on the rotating disk 3.

[0045] The extraction of the type and quantity of the required profiles based on the order information is performed according to the following steps:

[0046] 1. Create a bill of materials (BOM) for each product. The BOM is the basic document for decomposing profiles, which contains the profile specifications required for each product, such as length, cross-sectional dimensions, material, and quantity. Create a detailed BOM for each product, clearly specifying the profile part number, name, specifications, unit quantity, etc.

[0047] 2. Associate the order with the bill of materials: Use the ERP / MRP system to bind the product in the order to the BOM, extract the specifications and required quantity of the profiles in the order, and ultimately generate a profile list. Based on the profile list, a structured task queue is generated. Specifically, the logic for generating the structured task queue includes:

[0048] Execute combined grab instructions for profiles with the same cross-section, reducing idle travel time for the visual robot arm. When inventory is low, a shortage warning is automatically triggered and an uncompleted order queue is maintained. When urgent orders are placed, the queue order is dynamically adjusted based on remaining production capacity. These structured tasks are performed by the grabbing equipment.

[0049] The action of the grasping device is based on the operation of the visual robot arm 1. The robot arm is equipped with an electric suction cup and a visual positioning module. It captures the target profile based on the camera, determines its position, and drives the robot arm to grasp the target profile.

[0050] In step S2, the vision robot arm 1 grabs the target profile and places it on the rotating disk 3. The rotating disk 3 corrects the profile's posture so that its axis is aligned with the conveying direction of the main conveyor belt 6. A positioning sensor 4 is installed on the edge of the rotating disk 3 to detect the profile's angular offset. A servo drive rotates the profile on the rotating disk to align with the conveying direction of the main conveyor belt. The corrected profile is then pushed onto the main conveyor belt via a pneumatic lifting mechanism 5.

[0051] Step S3: Set up a detection area 7 on the main conveyor belt 6. When the profile is conveyed to the detection area 7, the intelligent detection system will perform intelligent detection on the cross-sectional shape, surface quality and pit depth of the profile. Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, the detection area 7 is provided with the following three detection modules:

[0052] 1. Cross-sectional shape detection module: The profile of the target profile is measured non-contactly using a 3D line laser profilometer. The measured profile is compared with a preset standard threshold, and the maximum deviation and average deviation are calculated. Specifically, after the profile enters the detection area, the conveyor stops and the 3D line laser profilometer is triggered. By projecting a line laser onto the profile surface, the reflected light is received and the height difference is calculated to generate a high-density point cloud. The cross-sectional profile image of the target profile is obtained, deviation analysis is performed, and the detection results are generated in real time. Qualified products are sent to the processing area to await the next step. Products with deformed cross-sectional profiles are marked as unqualified and sent to the scrap area.

[0053] 2. Surface quality inspection module: Identifies processing quality defects on the profile surface through a 3D vision sensor group, which includes a structured light 3D camera and a multispectral 3D camera. When the profile enters the inspection area, the 3D vision sensor group starts image acquisition, capturing multi-dimensional images of the profile surface, highlighting subtle defects, and intelligently identifying processing quality defects such as scratches, indentations, and oxidation spots. The defect location is marked and graded, such as repairable / unrepairable, triggering the pneumatic push rod at the end of the main conveyor belt to divert the profile to the corresponding area.

[0054] 3. Pit depth detection module: Uses phase laser ranging to scan the profile surface, calculates the maximum depth of the pit area and compares it with the preset standard threshold. Based on the depth and position, it automatically determines whether to "cut off the remaining material" or "scrap it", triggering the pneumatic push rod at the end of the main conveyor belt to divert the profile to the corresponding area.

[0055] Step S4: After the profile has completed intelligent detection, it continues to be transported and three-level classification is performed according to the detection results:

[0056] 1. Qualified products: The cross-sectional shape, surface quality and length of the profile meet the order requirements and are transferred to the processing area 10 through the push rod mechanism 8.

[0057] 2. The surface of the product to be processed---there are processing quality defects on the profile, for the following situations:

[0058] (1) When the defect is in the part of the profile that needs to be processed but the depth of the defect does not exceed the processing allowance, it is transferred to the processing area 10 through the push rod mechanism 8;

[0059] (2) If there are deep pits on the surface, the pit position is detected and the remaining effective length is judged to determine whether it meets the requirements of other profiles in the order. If it does, it is transferred to the rework area 9 through the push rod mechanism 8. Specifically, the pit area is scanned by a laser displacement sensor to obtain the axial position coordinates and remaining length of the pit; based on the order information, the current unsorted profile requirements are retrieved. If there is an order task with a length requirement ≤ remaining length - processing allowance (i.e., remaining effective length), the profile is marked as repairable residual material and transferred to the rework area 9. In the rework area, the pit section is cut out according to the size of the new target profile by a CNC cutting machine, and the qualified section is added back to the sorting queue.

[0060] 3. Unqualified products - those with severe cross-section deformation, deep pits on the surface and remaining effective length that does not meet the requirements of other profiles in the order will be transferred to the scrap area 11.

[0061] Step S5: Repeat steps S2-S4 to complete the profile sorting task for a single order.

[0062] Step S6: Execute the sorting task of the next order in sequence.

[0063] Based on order information, the present invention extracts the specifications and quantity of the required profiles, then generates a structured queue task, drives the grabbing equipment to grab the target profiles and place them on the rotating disk, and pushes them onto the main conveyor belt after direction adjustment. A detection area is provided on the conveyor belt to detect the cross-section, surface quality and pit depth of the profiles respectively, and sort them into qualified products, pending products and unqualified products, which can greatly improve the sorting efficiency of profiles and the processing efficiency and quality of products.

[0064] The embodiments of the present invention are described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Various changes that can be made within the scope of knowledge possessed by technicians in the relevant technical field without departing from the spirit of the present invention are all within the scope of protection of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for automatically sorting profiles, characterized in that: include: Step S1: extract the type and quantity of required profiles based on the order information, generate a structured task queue, and drive the gripping device to grab the corresponding profiles and place them on the rotating disk; Step S2: Correct the profile's posture by rotating the disc so that the profile's axis is aligned with the main conveyor belt's transport direction, and then push the profile onto the main conveyor belt; Step S3: Set up a testing area on the main conveyor belt. When the profile is conveyed to the testing area, the cross-sectional shape, surface quality and pit depth of the profile are sequentially tested by the intelligent testing system. The intelligent testing system includes: (1) Cross-sectional shape detection module: The profile of the profile is measured in a non-contact manner using a 3D line laser profilometer, the measured profile is compared with the preset standard threshold, and the maximum deviation and average deviation are calculated; (2) Surface quality inspection module: Identify the processing quality defects on the profile surface through a 3D vision sensor group and mark the defect distribution area; (3) Pit depth detection module: Use a phase laser rangefinder to detect pits on the profile surface, calculate the maximum depth of the pit area and compare it with the preset standard threshold to determine whether it exceeds the allowable range; Step S4: After the profile has completed intelligent detection, perform three-level classification according to the detection results; Step S5: Repeat steps S2-S4 until the profile sorting task of a single order is completed; Step S6: Execute the sorting task of the next order in sequence.

2. The automatic profile sorting method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The generation logic of the structured task queue in step S1 includes: Execute combined grabbing instructions for profiles with the same cross-section to reduce the idle travel time of the robot arm; When the stock of profiles is insufficient, a shortage warning will be automatically triggered and an unfinished order queue will be retained; When an urgent order occurs, the queue order is dynamically adjusted based on the remaining capacity.

3. The automatic profile sorting method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S1, the grasping device is a visual robotic arm, which is equipped with an electric suction cup and a visual positioning module. The camera captures the target profile, determines its position, and drives the robotic arm to grasp the target profile.

4. The automatic profile sorting method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S1, a positioning sensor is provided on the edge of the rotating disk to detect the angular offset of the profile. The profile on the rotating disk is rotated to be consistent with the transmission direction of the main conveyor belt through the servo drive, and the corrected profile is pushed onto the main conveyor belt through the pneumatic lifting mechanism.

5. The automatic profile sorting method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S3, the 3D vision sensor group includes a structured light 3D camera and a pair of multispectral 3D cameras. The structured light 3D camera includes a split structured light projector and an industrial camera. The structured light projector is installed directly above the detection area and projects vertically downward to cover the entire detection area. The multispectral 3D cameras are installed in pairs on both sides of the detection area, flush with the height of the structured light camera and staggered to form multi-view coverage.

6. The automatic profile sorting method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S4, the three-level classification is specifically: (1) Qualified products: The cross-sectional shape, surface quality and length of the profiles meet the order requirements and are transferred to the processing area; (2) Products to be processed: There are processing quality defects on the surface of the profile, for the following situations: If the defect is in the part that needs to be processed but the depth of the defect does not exceed the processing allowance, it will be transferred to the waiting area for processing; if there is a deep pit on the surface, the pit position will be detected to determine whether the remaining effective length meets the requirements of other profiles in the order. If it meets the requirements, it will be transferred to the rework area. (3) Defective products: Products with severe cross-section deformation, deep pits on the surface, and remaining effective length that does not meet the requirements of other profiles in the order will be transferred to the scrap area.

7. The automatic profile sorting method according to claim 6, characterized in that: In step S4, the following treatment is performed on the profile with deep pits on the surface: (1) Scanning the pit area with a phase laser rangefinder to obtain the axial position coordinates and remaining length of the pit; (2) Based on the order information, the current unsorted profile requirements are retrieved. If there is an order task for a profile with the same cross-section whose length is less than or equal to the remaining length minus the machining allowance, the profile is marked as a repairable surplus and transferred to the rework area. (3) In the rework area, the pit section is cut out according to the size of the new target profile by a CNC cutting machine, and the qualified section is added back to the sorting queue.

8. The automatic profile sorting method according to claim 6, characterized in that: In step S4, if three or more defective products are sorted out continuously, the intelligent detection system will automatically trigger an audible and visual alarm and suspend the sorting process, upload the detection data of the abnormal profiles to the cloud analysis platform, generate a defect cause report, and resume operation after manual confirmation.

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