Glass substrate double-group manipulator unloading system and method

Abstract

The invention discloses a glass substrate double-group manipulator unloading system and method, and belongs to the technical field of glass substrate manufacturing. The system comprises a main line air flotation conveying device, a reciprocating type sheet separating device, a sheet discharging cache device, a mechanical arm set and a PLC control module. The core of the method is that glass substrates are alternately conveyed to the left sheet discharging cache belt and the right sheet discharging cache belt of the sheet discharging cache device in a split-flow mode through the reciprocating sheet separating device, and the left manipulator set and the right manipulator set alternately execute the actions of grabbing-cache and cache-packaging. According to the method, the single-time sheet discharging beat is shortened to be smaller than or equal to 20 seconds per sheet, the productivity of a production line is improved by 100%, the substrate breakage rate is reduced to be lower than 0.01%, and the method is suitable for G8.5 and above glass substrate production lines.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of glass substrate manufacturing, and in particular to a glass substrate double-group robot unloading system and method. Background Art

[0002] After cutting and cleaning, glass substrates (size ≥ 2200mm x 2500mm) need to be unloaded by a robot and transferred to the packaging area. Traditionally, a single robot has been used to handle the gripping, handling, and placement operations. However, due to the large size and weight of the substrates, the robot's single cycle time is long (35 seconds per piece), making unloading a bottleneck in the production line.

[0003] The single robot unloading method has the following shortcomings:

[0004] The movement rhythm of a single robot arm cannot match the requirements of high-speed production lines, resulting in overall low efficiency; the robot arm needs to frequently move back and forth during the grasping and placement process, and the idle waiting time is long; resulting in increased risk of surface contamination or damage to glass substrates due to transportation delays. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present invention provides a glass substrate unloading system and method with two groups of robots, which can solve the problems of the existing single-robot unloading method, such as the frequent reciprocating movements of the robot resulting in long idle time, the increased risk of surface contamination and breakage of the glass substrate due to delays in handling the glass substrate, and the inability to meet the requirements of high-speed production lines.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solutions adopted by the present invention are as follows:

[0007] A glass substrate dual-group robot unloading system, comprising:

[0008] A main-line air-floating transmission device, wherein the main-line air-floating transmission device is used to transport glass substrates;

[0009] A reciprocating slicing device is provided at the end of the main line air flotation conveying device. The reciprocating slicing device includes a left air flotation conveyor belt, a right air flotation conveyor belt and a linear reciprocating drive mechanism. The linear reciprocating drive mechanism is used to drive the left air flotation conveyor belt and the right air flotation conveyor belt to dock with the end of the main line air flotation conveying device separately;

[0010] The lower sheet caching device includes a left lower sheet caching belt and a right lower sheet caching belt. The left lower sheet caching belt is arranged on the left side of the reciprocating slicing device and is used to dock with the left air flotation conveyor belt; the right lower sheet caching belt is arranged on the right side of the reciprocating slicing device and is used to dock with the right air flotation conveyor belt;

[0011] The robot group includes a left robot group and a right robot group. The left robot group is arranged on the left side of the lower sheet buffer device, and is used for unloading the glass substrate from the left lower sheet buffer belt; the right robot group is arranged on the right side of the lower sheet buffer device, and is used for unloading the glass substrate from the right lower sheet buffer belt.

[0012] As a further solution of the present invention: the linear reciprocating drive mechanism includes a linear slide rail, a bracket slidingly set on the linear slide rail, and a linear motor driving the bracket to move back and forth on the linear slide rail. A left air-floating conveyor belt is set on the left side of the bracket, and a right air-floating conveyor belt is set on the right side of the bracket.

[0013] As a further solution of the present invention: the left-side robot group includes a left-side robot No. 1, which is arranged between the left lower sheet buffer belt and the left paper laying table, and is used to grab the glass substrate on the left lower sheet buffer belt and transport it to the left paper laying table.

[0014] As a further solution of the present invention: the left manipulator group also includes a No. 2 left manipulator, which is arranged between the left paper laying table and the left packaging table, and is used to grab the glass substrate on the left paper laying table and transport it to the left packaging table.

[0015] As a further solution of the present invention: the right-side robot group includes a right-side robot No. 1, which is arranged between the right lower sheet buffer belt and the right paper laying table, and is used to grab the glass substrate on the right lower sheet buffer belt and transport it to the right paper laying table.

[0016] As a further solution of the present invention: the right manipulator group also includes a No. 2 right manipulator, which is arranged between the right paper laying table and the right packaging table, and is used to grab the glass substrate on the right paper laying table and transport it to the right packaging table.

[0017] As a further solution of the present invention: it also includes a PLC control module, and the main line air-floating transmission device, reciprocating slicing device, lower slice buffer device and robot group are all electrically connected to the PLC control module. The PLC control module monitors the position of the robot group in real time and dynamically adjusts the speed.

[0018] As a further solution of the present invention, the present invention also provides a glass substrate unloading method of a dual-group robot unloading system, comprising the following steps:

[0019] S1, the main line air-floating transmission device transports the glass substrate to the reciprocating slicing device;

[0020] S2. When the reciprocating slicing device moves to the left position:

[0021] The left air flotation conveyor is aligned with the left lower sheet buffer belt, and the right air flotation conveyor is aligned with the end of the main line air flotation conveyor device. The main line air flotation conveyor device transfers the glass substrate to the right air flotation conveyor belt. The No. 1 right robot grabs the glass substrate from the right lower sheet buffer belt and transports it to the right paper laying table;

[0022] S3. When the reciprocating slicing device moves to the right position:

[0023] The right air-floating conveyor is aligned with the right lower sheet buffer, and the left air-floating conveyor is aligned with the end of the main-line air-floating conveyor. The main-line air-floating conveyor transfers the glass substrate to the left air-floating conveyor. The left-side robot No. 1 grabs the glass substrate from the left lower sheet buffer and transports it to the left paper laying table.

[0024] S4, the left manipulator No. 2 and the right manipulator No. 2 perform stacking and packaging after the paper is laid;

[0025] S5. Execute S2-S4 in a loop, with the left manipulator group and the right manipulator group working alternately.

[0026] As a further solution of the present invention: in step S2, when the right robot arm No. 1 grabs the glass substrate from the right lower sheet buffer belt and transports it to the right paper laying, the reciprocating slicing device moves from the left position to the right position.

[0027] As a further solution of the present invention: in step S3, when the left robot arm No. 1 grabs the glass substrate from the left lower sheet buffer belt and transports it to the left paper laying table, the reciprocating slicing device moves from the right position to the left position.

[0028] Beneficial effects of the present invention:

[0029] The present invention uses a reciprocating slicing device to alternately divert and transport glass substrates to the left and right lower sheet buffer belts of the lower sheet buffer device, and the left and right robot groups alternately perform "grabbing-caching" and "caching-packaging" actions, shortening the cycle to ≤20 seconds per sheet, increasing production capacity by 100%, and reducing the substrate breakage rate to below 0.01%. It is suitable for G8.5 and above glass substrate production lines. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0031] Figure 1 This is a top view of the present invention when packaging is on the right and tablets are fed on the left;

[0032] Figure 2 This is a top view of the reciprocating slicing device of the present invention when it is located at the left side;

[0033] Figure 3 This is a top view of the present invention when packaging is on the left and tablets are fed on the right;

[0034] Figure 4 It is a top view schematic diagram of the reciprocating slicing device of the present invention when it is located at the left side.

[0035] In the figure: 1. Main line air-floating transmission device; 2. Reciprocating slicing device; 201. Left air-floating transmission belt; 202. Right air-floating transmission belt; 203. Linear slide rail; 204. Bracket; 205. Linear motor; 3. Lower sheet buffer device; 301. Left lower sheet buffer belt; 302. Right lower sheet buffer belt; 4. Left manipulator group; 401. Left manipulator No. 1; 402. Left manipulator No. 2; 5. Right manipulator group; 501. Right manipulator No. 1; 502. Right manipulator No. 2; 6. Left paper laying table; 7. Left packaging table; 8. Right paper laying table; 9. Right packaging table. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] The following is a clear and complete description of the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of them. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making any creative efforts are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0037] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "up", "down", "left", "right", "front", "back", etc. indicating directions or positional relationships are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific direction, and a specific direction structure and operation. Therefore, they cannot be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0038] In addition, unless otherwise specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" should be understood broadly. For example, they can refer to fixed, detachable, or integral connections; mechanical or electrical connections; direct or indirect connections through an intermediary; and internal communication between two components. Those skilled in the art will understand the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention based on the specific circumstances.

[0039] See also Figure 1-4As shown, an embodiment of the present invention provides a glass substrate dual-group robot unloading system, including a main line air floating transmission device 1, a reciprocating slicing device 2, a unloading buffer device 3, a robot group and a PLC control module. The main line air floating transmission device 1, the reciprocating slicing device 2, the unloading buffer device 3 and the robot group are all electrically connected to the PLC control module. The PLC control module controls the coordinated operation of various components as a whole to ensure smooth operation of the system. The PLC control module also monitors the position of the robot group in real time and dynamically adjusts the speed.

[0040] See also Figure 1 As shown, the main-line air-floating conveying device 1 is used to convey glass substrates. The main-line air-floating conveying device 1 adopts a negative-pressure air-floating guide rail, a surface-distributed pore array with an aperture of 0.5 mm, a constant air pressure of 0.4 MPa, a substrate suspension gap of 0.3 mm, and a transmission speed of 1.2 m / s. A photoelectric sensor is provided at the end of the main-line air-floating conveying device 1 to detect the glass substrate in-place signal and trigger the reciprocating slicing device 2 to prepare for material connection.

[0041] See also Figure 1 As shown, the reciprocating slicing device 2 is disposed at the end of the mainline air-floating conveyor 1. The reciprocating slicing device 2 includes a left-side air-floating conveyor 201, a right-side air-floating conveyor 202, and a linear reciprocating drive mechanism. The left-side air-floating conveyor 201 and the right-side air-floating conveyor 202 independently transport glass substrates without interfering with each other. The linear reciprocating drive mechanism is used to drive the left-side air-floating conveyor 201 and the right-side air-floating conveyor 202 to move back and forth synchronously, allowing the left-side air-floating conveyor 201 and the right-side air-floating conveyor 202 to independently dock with the end of the mainline air-floating conveyor 1, thereby independently transporting the glass substrates to the left-side air-floating conveyor 201 and the right-side air-floating conveyor 202.

[0042] Specifically, see Figure 2 As shown, the linear reciprocating drive mechanism includes a linear slide 203, a bracket 204 slidably mounted on the linear slide 203, and a linear motor 205 that drives the bracket 204 to reciprocate on the linear slide 203. A left air-floating conveyor belt 201 is mounted on the left side of the bracket 204, and a right air-floating conveyor belt 202 is mounted on the right side of the bracket 204. The linear motor 205 drives the bracket 204 to reciprocate on the linear slide 203, thereby driving the left air-floating conveyor belt 201 and the right air-floating conveyor belt 202 to reciprocate synchronously along the linear slide 203.

[0043] See also Figure 1 As shown, the lower sheet buffer device 3 includes a left lower sheet buffer belt 301 and a right lower sheet buffer belt 302. The left lower sheet buffer belt 301 is arranged on the left side of the reciprocating slicing device 2 and is used to connect with the left air flotation conveyor belt 201; the right lower sheet buffer belt 302 is arranged on the right side of the reciprocating slicing device 2 and is used to connect with the right air flotation conveyor belt 202.

[0044] See also Figure 2 As shown, when the linear reciprocating drive mechanism drives the left air floating conveyor belt 201 and the right air floating conveyor belt 202 to move as a whole to the left side of the reciprocating slicing device 2, the left air floating conveyor belt 201 is aligned with the left lower sheet buffer belt 301, and the right air floating conveyor belt 202 is aligned with the end of the main line air floating conveyor device 1. The left air floating conveyor belt 201 transports the glass substrate to the left lower sheet buffer belt 301, and the main line air floating conveyor device 1 transports the glass substrate to the right air floating conveyor belt 202.

[0045] See also Figure 4 As shown, when the linear reciprocating drive mechanism drives the left air floating conveyor belt 201 and the right air floating conveyor belt 202 to move as a whole to the right side of the reciprocating slicing device 2, the right air floating conveyor belt 202 is aligned with the right lower sheet buffer belt 302, and the left air floating conveyor belt 201 is aligned with the end of the main line air floating conveyor device 1. The right air floating conveyor belt 202 transports the glass substrate to the right lower sheet buffer belt 302, and the main line air floating conveyor device 1 transfers the glass substrate to the left air floating conveyor belt 201.

[0046] See also Figure 1 As shown, the robot group includes a left robot group 4 and a right robot group 5.

[0047] The left-side robot group 4 includes a first left-side robot 401 and a second left-side robot 402. The first left-side robot 401 is positioned between the left lower film buffer belt 301 and the left paper laying platform 6. The first left-side robot 401 is used to pick up glass substrates from the left lower film buffer belt 301 and transport them to the left paper laying platform 6. The second left-side robot 402 is positioned between the left paper laying platform 6 and the left packaging platform 7. The second left-side robot 402 is used to pick up glass substrates from the left paper laying platform 6 and transport them to the left packaging platform 7.

[0048] The right-side robot group 5 includes a first right-side robot 501 and a second right-side robot 502. The first right-side robot 501 is positioned between the right lower sheet buffer belt 302 and the right paper laying table 8. The first right-side robot 501 is used to pick up and transport glass substrates from the right lower sheet buffer belt 302 to the right paper laying table 8. The second right-side robot 502 is positioned between the right paper laying table 8 and the right packaging table 9. The second right-side robot 502 is used to pick up and transport glass substrates from the right paper laying table 8 to the right packaging table 9.

[0049] It is worth noting that both the left manipulator group 4 and the right manipulator group 5 use four-axis joint robotic arms, and the end effectors are equipped with vacuum suction cup arrays and adaptive pressure sensors. The distance between the suction cups is equidistantly distributed according to the size of the glass substrate.

[0050] The motion trajectory of the first left robot 401 and the first right robot 501 follows an L-shaped pattern, including vertical descent to grab the glass substrate from the lower sheet buffer 3, horizontally moving the glass substrate to the corresponding paper laying platform, and then vertically descending to place the glass substrate. The vertical descent of the first left robot 401 and the first right robot 501 to grab the glass substrate from the lower sheet buffer 3 takes 3 seconds, the horizontal movement of the glass substrate to the corresponding paper laying platform takes 4 seconds, and the vertical descent to place the glass substrate takes 3 seconds. The single trip of the first left robot 401 and the first right robot 501 takes 10 seconds, for a total cycle time of 20 seconds for the first left robot 401 and the first right robot 501.

[0051] The embodiment of the present invention further provides a glass substrate unloading method of a dual-group robot unloading system, comprising the following steps:

[0052] S1. When the system is initially turned on, the reciprocating slicing device 2 is first controlled to reciprocate left and right once. The glass substrate is transported from the main line air floating conveyor 1 to the reciprocating slicing device 2, and then transported by the reciprocating slicing device 2 to the left lower sheet buffer belt 301 and the right air floating conveyor belt 202, respectively, to ensure that a glass substrate is pre-placed on the left lower sheet buffer belt 301 and the right lower sheet buffer belt 301.

[0053] Then start the entire system and carry out the cyclic unloading operation.

[0054] S2. When the reciprocating slicing device 2 moves to the left side:

[0055] See also Figure 1 As shown, at this time, the left air-floating conveyor belt 201 is aligned with the left lower sheet buffer belt 301, and the right air-floating conveyor belt 202 is aligned with the end of the main-line air-floating conveyor device 1. The main-line air-floating conveyor device 1 transfers the glass substrate to the right air-floating conveyor belt 202. The right-side robot arm 501 grabs the glass substrate from the right lower sheet buffer belt 302 and transports it to the right paper laying table 8. It should be noted that when the right-side robot arm 501 grabs the glass substrate from the right lower sheet buffer belt 302 and places it on the right paper laying table 8, the main-line air-floating conveyor device 1 completes the transfer of the glass substrate to the right air-floating conveyor belt 202, the reciprocating slitting device 2 starts to move from the left position to the right position, and the right paper laying table 8 begins to perform paper laying.

[0056] S3, when the reciprocating slicing device 2 moves to the right position:

[0057] See also Figure 3As shown, at this time, the right air floatation conveyor belt 202 is aligned with the right lower sheet buffer belt 302, and the left air floatation conveyor belt 201 is aligned with the end of the main line air floatation conveyor device 1. The main line air floatation conveyor device 1 transfers the glass substrate to the left air floatation conveyor belt 201. The left-side robot arm 401 grabs the glass substrate from the left lower sheet buffer belt 301 and transports it to the left paper laying table 6. It should be noted that when the left-side robot arm 401 grabs the glass substrate from the left lower sheet buffer belt 301 and places it on the left paper laying table 6, the main line air floatation conveyor device 1 completes the transfer of the glass substrate to the left air floatation conveyor belt 201, the reciprocating sheet separating device 2 begins to move from the right position to the left position, and the left paper laying table 6 begins to perform paper laying.

[0058] S4 , the second left robot 402 and the second right robot 502 stack a preset layer of glass substrates on the paper laying table, and then transport the glass substrates to the corresponding packaging table for packaging.

[0059] S5. Circulate the above steps S2-S4, with the left manipulator group 4 and the right manipulator group 5 working alternately to complete the current unloading operation.

[0060] The above detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention should not be considered to limit the scope of the present invention. All equivalent changes and improvements made within the scope of the present invention should still fall within the scope of the patent of the present invention.

Claims

1. A glass substrate dual-group robot unloading system, characterized in that: include: Main line air flotation transmission device (1); A reciprocating slicing device (2) is arranged at the end of the main line air-floating transmission device (1), the reciprocating slicing device (2) comprising a left air-floating transmission belt (201), a right air-floating transmission belt (202) and a linear reciprocating drive mechanism, the linear reciprocating drive mechanism being used to drive the left air-floating transmission belt (201) and the right air-floating transmission belt (202) to dock with the end of the main line air-floating transmission device (1) respectively; The lower slice caching device (3) comprises a left lower slice caching belt (301) and a right lower slice caching belt (302), wherein the left lower slice caching belt (301) is arranged on the left side of the reciprocating slice device (2) and is used for docking with the left air-floating conveyor belt (201); The right lower slice buffer belt (302) is arranged on the right side of the reciprocating slicer (2) and is used for docking with the right air-floating conveyor belt (202); The robot group comprises a left robot group (4) and a right robot group (5), wherein the left robot group (4) is arranged on the left side of the lower sheet buffer device (3) and is used for unloading a glass substrate from the left lower sheet buffer belt (301); and the right robot group (5) is arranged on the right side of the lower sheet buffer device (3) and is used for unloading a glass substrate from the right lower sheet buffer belt (302).

2. The glass substrate dual-group robot unloading system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The linear reciprocating drive mechanism comprises a linear slide rail (203), a bracket (204) slidingly arranged on the linear slide rail (203), and a linear motor (205) driving the bracket (204) to reciprocate on the linear slide rail (203); a left air-floating conveyor belt (201) is arranged on the left side of the bracket (204), and a right air-floating conveyor belt (202) is arranged on the right side of the bracket (204).

3. The glass substrate dual-group robot unloading system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The left-side manipulator group (4) comprises a left-side manipulator number 1 (401), which is arranged between the left lower sheet buffer belt (301) and the left paper laying platform (6) and is used to grab the glass substrate on the left lower sheet buffer belt (301) and transport it to the left paper laying platform (6).

4. The glass substrate dual-group robot unloading system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The left-side manipulator group (4) further includes a second left-side manipulator (402), which is arranged between the left-side paper laying table (6) and the left-side packaging table (7) and is used to grab the glass substrate on the left-side paper laying table (6) and transport it to the left-side packaging table (7).

5. The glass substrate dual-group robot unloading system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The right side robot group (5) includes a right side robot (501), which is arranged between the right side lower sheet buffer belt (302) and the right side paper laying table (8) and is used to grab the glass substrate on the right side lower sheet buffer belt (302) and transport it to the right side paper laying table (8).

6. The glass substrate dual-group robot unloading system according to claim 5, characterized in that: The right-side manipulator group (5) further includes a second right-side manipulator (502), which is arranged between the right-side paper laying table (8) and the right-side packaging table (9) and is used to grab the glass substrate on the right-side paper laying table (8) and transport it to the right-side packaging table (9).

7. The glass substrate dual-group robot unloading system according to claim 1 is characterized in that : It also includes a PLC control module, and the main line air-floating transmission device (1), the reciprocating slicing device (2), the lower slice buffer device (3) and the manipulator group are all electrically connected to the PLC control module. The PLC control module monitors the position of the manipulator group in real time and dynamically adjusts the speed.

8. A glass substrate unloading method based on the glass substrate double-group robot unloading system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: S1, the main line air-floating transmission device (1) transports the glass substrate to the reciprocating slicing device (2); S2. When the reciprocating slicing device (2) moves to the left side: The left air-floating conveyor belt (201) is aligned with the left lower sheet buffer belt (301), and the right air-floating conveyor belt (202) is aligned with the end of the main line air-floating conveyor device (1). The main line air-floating conveyor device (1) transfers the glass substrate to the right air-floating conveyor belt (202). The first right-side manipulator (501) grabs the glass substrate from the right lower sheet buffer belt (302) and transports it to the right paper laying platform (8); S3. When the reciprocating slicing device (2) moves to the right side: The right air-floating conveyor belt (202) is aligned with the right lower sheet buffer belt (302), and the left air-floating conveyor belt (201) is aligned with the end of the main line air-floating conveyor device (1). The main line air-floating conveyor device (1) transfers the glass substrate to the left air-floating conveyor belt (201). The first left-side robot (401) grabs the glass substrate from the left lower sheet buffer belt (301) and transports it to the left-side paper laying platform (6); S4, the second left robot (402) and the second right robot (502) perform stacking and packaging after the paper laying is completed; S5. Execute S2-S4 in a loop, with the left manipulator group (4) and the right manipulator group (5) working alternately.

9. A glass substrate unloading method using dual-group robots according to claim 8, characterized in that: In step S2, when the right-side robot arm (501) grabs the glass substrate from the right lower sheet buffer belt (302) and transports it to the right paper laying, the reciprocating slicing device (2) moves from the left position to the right position.

10. The glass substrate unloading method using dual-group robots according to claim 8, characterized in that: In step S3, when the left-side robot arm (401) grabs the glass substrate from the left lower sheet buffer belt (301) and transports it to the left paper laying table (6), the reciprocating slicing device (2) moves from the right position to the left position.

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