Multi-station milling all-in-one machine and control method thereof

Abstract

The invention relates to a multi-station milling all-in-one machine and a control method thereof, and relates to the technical field of machining. The machining center is used for milling rough blank materials, the machine base is supported on the ground, the clamping lathe bed is installed on the machine base in a sliding mode and used for clamping the rough blank materials and driving the rough blank materials to enter the machining center for milling, and the feeding mechanism is arranged on the clamping lathe bed and used for feeding the rough blank materials. The clamping lathe bed is provided with a plurality of clamping stations, and the machining center is provided with cutter sets in one-to-one correspondence with the clamping stations. The feeding mechanism comprises two parallel supporting rails and swing arms rotationally arranged on the supporting rails at intervals, the swing arms drive the rough blank materials to move along the supporting rails and stop at the clamping station, and limiting pieces for limiting the rough blank materials when the rough blank materials are located at the clamping station are arranged on the supporting rails in a lifting mode. The milling machine has the effect of improving the production efficiency of the milling machine.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of mechanical processing, and in particular to a multi-station milling processing integrated machine and a control method thereof. Background Art

[0002] In the field of modern mechanical manufacturing, milling is an important material cutting method, which is usually carried out using a milling machine.

[0003] Traditional milling machines typically feature a single-station design, meaning they can only clamp and process one workpiece at a time. After the current process is completed, the workpiece must be manually replaced or the clamping position adjusted before the next workpiece can be processed. Since only one workpiece can be milled at a time, frequent workpiece changes and clamping lead to low production efficiency, making it difficult to meet the needs of high-volume production. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In order to improve the production efficiency of a milling machine, the present invention provides a multi-station milling processing all-in-one machine and a control method thereof.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a multi-station milling machine, which adopts the following technical solution: A multi-station milling processing machine, comprising: Machining centers for milling rough stock; Machine base, supported on the ground; A clamping bed is slidably mounted on the machine base, and is used to clamp the rough material and drive the rough material into the machining center for milling; A loading mechanism, provided on the clamping bed, for loading the rough material; The clamping bed has a plurality of clamping stations, and the machining center has a tool group corresponding to each of the clamping stations; The loading mechanism includes two parallel support rails and swing arms that are rotated at intervals on the support rails. The swing arms drive the rough blank material to move along the support rails and stop at the clamping station. The support rails are equipped with lifting and lowering limit members to limit the rough blank material when the rough blank material is located at the clamping station.

[0006] By adopting the above technical solution, multiple clamping stations are set on the clamping bed and two supporting rails are set. Multiple rough materials can be loaded synchronously through the supporting rails and distributed to multiple clamping stations for clamping; after the loading and clamping are completed, multiple tool groups of the machining center can synchronously perform milling processing on the rough materials of multiple clamping stations. The above multi-station milling processing all-in-one machine has high production efficiency.

[0007] Optionally, the loading mechanism further includes a fixed seat and a lifting cylinder arranged on the fixed seat; the clamping bed is provided with an adjustment rail, and the fixed seat is slidably installed on the adjustment rail; the support rail is arranged on the top of the lifting cylinder.

[0008] By adopting this technical solution, as the length of the rough material changes, the spacing of the support rails is adjusted by driving the fixed seat to move on the adjustment rails, thereby adapting to the loading of rough materials of different lengths. Furthermore, by first positioning the rough material on the support rails and then raising and lowering the support rails to the height of the clamping station, the clamping station facilitates the precise clamping of the rough material.

[0009] Optionally, the machining center includes a cabinet, a displacement frame sliding on the cabinet, and a row of tool holders rotatably mounted on the displacement frame; the tool groups are located on the row of tool holders, and each of the tool groups includes a plurality of machining tool heads circumferentially arranged on the row of tool holders; The displacement frame is provided with an air intake vent, which is located above the row of tool holders; the lower portion of the displacement frame is provided with an air outlet, which faces the clamping station; the air intake vent is connected to the air outlet; The displacement frame is provided with a dust shield at the air outlet, and the dust shield has an inclined lower surface inclined toward both sides; and the surface of the dust shield has ventilation holes.

[0010] By adopting this technical solution, after the machining head is used, the row of tool holders is rotated to rotate the used machining head to the top. At this time, the air intake can suck air and remove dust from the used machining head, keeping the surface of the machining head relatively clean when it is used next. When the air intake is sucking air, it can also simultaneously absorb the fumes generated during the clamping station processing, thereby improving the processing accuracy of the rough material.

[0011] The air sucked in by the air intake can be re-ejected from the air outlet, the ejected debris can be processed through the inclined downward sliding surface, and the wind can pass through the ventilation holes to blow air to the clamping station, thereby blowing off part of the debris generated by the clamping station and cooling it down.

[0012] Optionally, the clamping bed has a chip collection channel below the clamping station, and a chip drop hole is downwardly opened at one end of the chip collection channel away from the machining center; the machine base is provided with a pusher plate, which slides in the chip collection channel and pushes the chips toward the chip drop hole during the processing of the rough material; The machine base is provided with a chip channel and a spiral rod is rotatably arranged in the chip channel; when the rough material is processed, the chip falling hole is directly opposite to the chip channel.

[0013] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a control method for a multi-station milling machine, which adopts the following technical solution: A control method for a multi-station milling machine is applied to a multi-station milling machine, comprising: Collect loading ready signal; In response to the loading ready signal, controlling the loading mechanism to load the rough material and collecting the workstation in place signal; In response to the workstation in-place signal, accumulating the number of in-place items; When the number of in-place stations is consistent with the preset number of available stations, collecting station image information of each of the clamping stations; Extracting the posture information of the rough material at each clamping station based on the image information of each station; Comparing the posture information of the rough material at each clamping station, controlling the loading mechanism to uniformly adjust the posture of the rough material at each clamping station, and outputting a to-be-executed signal; In response to the to-be-executed signal, the machining center is controlled to perform a uniform milling process on the rough blank material.

[0014] Optionally, the method for the feeding mechanism to feed the rough material includes: Collect the material placement image of the preset loading starting position; Identify the rough material from the material placement image and determine the length of the rough material; Determining the width of the support rail based on the length of the rough material; Controlling the two support rails to move relative to each other until the gap is 0 and synchronously controlling the support rails to flip 360° circumferentially; Controlling the two support rails to move away from each other according to the width of the support rails; The rough material is moved from the loading starting position to the preset pushing starting position on the support track and loaded.

[0015] Optionally, also include: Collect the material placement image of the preset loading starting position; Identify the rough material from the material placement image and determine the volume of the rough material; Determining the weight of the rough blank according to the rough blank material volume and the preset rough blank material; Calculating the quotient of the preset swing arm driving force and the rough blank weight and rounding it up to obtain the synchronous driving quantity; If the number of synchronous drives is 1, a single rough blank material is moved to a preset pushing starting position at a preset interval placement time, and the rough blank material is numbered to obtain a rough blank loading number; Controlling the swing arm to rotate and drive the rough material to move, and collecting a real-time position image of the rough material; Identifying a fixture number from the real-time position image of the rough material; When the blank loading number is consistent with the fixture number, the limiting member is controlled to rise to position the blank material, thereby completing the loading of a single blank material.

[0016] Optionally, also include: If the synchronous drive quantity is not 1, moving the synchronous drive quantity of rough materials to the pushing starting position within the interval placement time; Number each rough material in sequence, and mark the last number of each group of rough materials as the last number, and mark the second to last number as the second number; driving a plurality of rough materials to move synchronously and collecting real-time position images of the rough materials; Identifying a fixture number from the real-time position image of the rough material; When the last digit number is consistent with the fixture number, the swing arm group corresponding to the clamping station is retrieved according to the fixture number, the swing arm group including a first swing arm away from the pushing starting position and a second swing arm close to the pushing starting position; Controlling the first swing arm to rotate counterclockwise and the second swing arm to rotate clockwise to tumble and separate the rough material corresponding to the second-order number and the rough material corresponding to the last-order number; The first swing arm drives the group of rough materials with the next highest number to continue to move, and controls the position limiting member to rise to position the rough materials corresponding to the last highest number; The second number and the last number of the rough material group where the second number is located are re-marked until all rough materials are loaded.

[0017] Optional, unified posture adjustment methods include: Comparing the posture information of the rough material at each clamping station with the preset standard blank posture to determine the center horizontal deviation and the center height deviation; Adjust the angle of the swing arm according to the center horizontal deviation; Controlling the swing arms on both sides of the clamping station of the rough material to rotate at the swing arm adjustment angle, clamping the rough material from both sides and adjusting the center horizontal deviation; Sorting each rough material according to the center height deviation to obtain a clamping sequence; According to the clamping sequence and based on the center height deviation of each rough material, an intermittent lifting scheme of the support rail is formed; The support rail is controlled to be raised and lowered according to the intermittent lifting scheme, and the corresponding clamping stations are controlled to clamp and fix the rough material according to the clamping sequence.

[0018] Optional, unified milling methods include: Collecting the image of the workstation blank after posture adjustment; Performing image analysis on the workstation blank image of each clamping station to extract the cross-sectional profile of the blank material; Overlapping the cross-sectional profiles of all rough materials to obtain a cross-sectional overlapping image; Analyzing the cross-sectional overlapping images to determine overlapping areas, and analyzing the number of overlapping layers in each overlapping area; Marking the overlapping area where the number of overlapping layers is consistent with the number of available workstations as a finishing area; Matching the feeding speed according to the number of overlapping layers, the fewer the number of overlapping layers, the faster the feeding speed; The machining center is controlled according to the feed speed to perform peeling on the overlapping area except the finishing area, and the finishing area is milled according to a preset finishing speed.

[0019] In summary, this application includes at least one of the following beneficial technical effects: A plurality of clamping stations are provided on the clamping bed, and two support rails are provided. A plurality of rough blanks can be loaded synchronously through the support rails and distributed to a plurality of clamping stations for clamping. After the loading and clamping are completed, a plurality of tool groups of the machining center can synchronously perform milling processing on the rough blanks of the plurality of clamping stations. The above-mentioned multi-station milling processing all-in-one machine has a high production efficiency. When the length of the rough material changes, the fixed seat is driven to move and adjust on the adjustment rail, so that the spacing of the support rails changes, thus adapting to the loading of rough materials of different lengths. In addition, by first positioning the rough material on the support rails and then raising and lowering the support rails to the height of the clamping station, the clamping station can accurately clamp the rough material. After using the tool head, the tool holder is rotated to the top, where the air intake removes dust from the used tool head, keeping it clean for the next use. The air intake also removes fumes generated during the clamping station, improving the machining accuracy of the rough material. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a multi-station milling processing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 22. It is a structural schematic diagram of a machine base and a clamping bed according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a feeding mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 4 is a cross-sectional view of a machining center according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] The parts designated by the numbers in the above figures are as follows: 1. Machining center; 11. Machining space; 12. Cabinet; 13. Displacement rack; 131. Air intake; 132. Air outlet; 133. Dust shield; 134. Inclined sliding surface; 135. Ventilation hole; 14. Row tool holder; 15. Tool assembly; 151. Machining tool head; 2. Machine base; 21. Sliding guide rail; 22. Ejector plate; 23. , connecting rod; 24, chip channel; 25, screw rod; 3, clamping bed; 31, clamping station; 311, fixed clamping head; 312, adjustable clamping head; 32, bed base; 321, chip collection channel; 322, chip drop hole; 33, installation space; 34, adjustment rail; 4, feeding mechanism; 41, fixed seat; 42, lifting cylinder; 43, support rail; 44, swing arm; 45, limiter. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0023] The embodiment of the present application discloses a multi-station milling processing machine.

[0024] Reference Figure 1 A multi-station milling machine includes a machining center 1, a machine base 2, a clamping bed 3, and a loading mechanism 4. The machining center 1 is used to mill rough materials. The machine base 2 is supported on the ground and the clamping bed 3 is slidably mounted on the machine base 2. The clamping bed 3 is provided with a clamping station 31 for clamping the rough materials. The loading mechanism 4 is provided on the clamping bed 3 for loading the rough materials. After the loading mechanism 4 completes loading the rough materials, the clamping station 31 of the clamping bed 3 clamps the rough materials. Finally, the clamping bed 3 moves horizontally on the machine base 2 and feeds the rough materials into the machining center 1 for processing.

[0025] The machining center 1 is a gantry structure with a processing space 11. A portion of the base 2 is located outside the processing space 11, while another portion extends into the processing space 11. Sliding guide rails 21 are symmetrically arranged on the base 2, with one portion located outside the processing space 11 and the other portion extending into the processing space 11.

[0026] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 The clamping bed 3 is mounted on the sliding guide rail 21 and can move on the sliding guide rail 21 to enter and exit the processing space 11. The clamping bed 3 includes a bed base 32 and a clamping station 31. The bed base 32 has an installation space 33 for installing the rough material. The number of the clamping stations 31 is evenly spaced and arranged in the installation space 33.

[0027] The clamping station 31 includes a fixed clamping head 311 and an adjustable clamping head 312, located on either side of the mounting space 33. The fixed and adjustable clamping heads 311, 312 are coaxially mounted and rotatably mounted on the bed base 32. The adjustable clamping head 312 is retractable and driven by a motor built into the bed base 32. When the rough material is clamped between the fixed and adjustable clamping heads 311, 312, the fixed clamping head 311 rotates passively.

[0028] refer to Figure 1 、 Figure 2 and Figure 3 The loading mechanism 4 comprises a fixed base 41, a lifting cylinder 42, a support rail 43, and a swing arm 44. The bed base 32 is provided with an adjustment rail 34, which is parallel to the sliding guide rail 21. The fixed base 41 slides on the adjustment rail 34 and is driven by a rack and pinion mechanism. The lifting cylinder 42 is mounted on the fixed base 41, with its extension and retraction direction pointing vertically upward. There are two sets of lifting cylinders 42, one on each side of the installation space 33.

[0029] Two support rails 43 are mounted on top of the lift cylinders 42 on either side of the installation space 33. These rails can be raised and lowered by the lift cylinders 42. Swing arms 44 are rotatably mounted on the support rails 43. Each support rail 43 has multiple swing arms 44 spaced apart along the length of the rails. The swing arms 44 are driven by a motor built into the support rails 43.

[0030] When the blank material is placed on one side of the support rail 43, the swing arm 44 rotates and applies force to the blank material, so that the blank material can move on the support rail 43. Through the cooperation between adjacent swing arms 44, the blank material can be moved to the corresponding position of the clamping station 31.

[0031] A vertically movable limiter 45 is provided on the support rail 43. When the rough material slides to the position corresponding to the clamping station 31, the limiter 45 rises to limit the rough material. The height of the support rail 43 is adjusted by the lifting cylinder 42, allowing the rough material to be raised and lowered to the clamping station 31, where it can be clamped.

[0032] Furthermore, by making the fixing seat 41 slide on the sliding guide rail 21 , the gap between the two support rails 43 is adjusted, so that the support rails 43 can adapt to blank materials of different lengths.

[0033] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 4 The machining center 1 includes a cabinet 12, a displacement frame 13, and a ganged toolholder 14. The cabinet 12 is supported on the ground. The displacement frame 13 is slidably mounted on the cabinet 12 and can be adjusted vertically and horizontally on the cabinet 12 by a pneumatic cylinder. The ganged toolholder 14 is rotatably mounted on the displacement frame 13 and driven by a motor.

[0034] Tool assemblies 15 are evenly spaced along the length of the toolholder 14, each corresponding to a clamping station 31. Each tool assembly 15 is used to process the rough material clamped at the corresponding clamping station 31. The tool assembly 15 includes multiple machining heads 151, which are arranged circumferentially on the toolholder 14. By rotating the toolholder 14, the machining heads 151 can be switched, allowing different machining heads 151 to be used to process the rough material.

[0035] Furthermore, the displacement frame 13 is provided with an air intake vent 131 above the row of knife seats 14, and an air outlet vent 132 is provided at the lower portion of the displacement frame 13. The air intake vent 131 is connected to the air outlet vent 132. The displacement frame 13 is provided with a fan so that the air intake vent 131 can inhale air and the air outlet vent 132 can blow air. The air outlet vent 132 faces the pre-clamping station 31, and a dust shield 133 is provided at the air outlet vent 132. The dust shield 133 has an inclined downward sliding surface 134 inclined toward both sides, and a ventilation hole 135 is provided on the surface of the dust shield 133.

[0036] When processing rough material, the fan can suck air from the tool assembly 15 on the upper side of the row of tool holders 14 through the air intake vents 131 to remove chips. The chips are blown onto the dust shield 133 through the air outlet vents 132 and then slide down the inclined sliding surface 134 from both sides. The air blown out of the air outlet vents 132 can pass through the ventilation holes 135 and blow onto the clamping station 31, so that the chips at the processing site are continuously blown away during the processing of the rough material.

[0037] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2Furthermore, the clamping bed 3 is provided with a chip collection channel 321 along its moving direction, and the chip collection channel 321 is located below the clamping station 31. A chip drop hole 322 is provided downwardly at one end of the chip collection channel 321 away from the machining center 1. At the same time, a pusher plate 22 is provided on the machine base 2, and the pusher plate 22 is connected to the machine base 2 through a connecting rod 23. The pusher plate 22 extends into the chip collection channel 321. When the clamping bed 3 moves on the machine base 2 for processing, the pusher plate 22 can move in the chip collection channel 321, thereby pushing all the chips generated during processing and falling into the chip collection channel 321 towards the chip drop hole 322.

[0038] The machine base 2 defines a chip channel 24, within which a screw 25 rotates. The screw 25 is driven by a motor built into the cabinet 12. When the clamping bed 3 moves the rough material and completes machining, the chip removal hole 322 of the clamping bed 3 aligns directly with the chip channel 24. The pusher plate 22 then pushes the chips from the chip collection channel 321 completely into the chip removal hole 322. The chips fall through the chip removal hole 322 and into the chip channel 24, where they are then carried away by the screw 25.

[0039] Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention provides a control method for a multi-station milling processing machine.

[0040] A control method for a multi-station milling machine includes the following steps: Step S1: Collect the loading ready signal.

[0041] The loading ready signal refers to the signal generated by the system when the equipment completes the previous round of processing and is ready for the next round of processing. The photoelectric sensor set on the clamping bed 3 detects the position status of the clamping bed 3 and generates a signal, which is then collected by the system.

[0042] Step S2: In response to the loading ready signal, the loading mechanism 4 is controlled to load the rough material and collect the workstation in place signal.

[0043] The station in position signal refers to a signal generated by a photoelectric sensor provided at the clamping station 31 detecting the state of the clamping station 31 when the clamping station 31 is ready to clamp the material, and is collected by the system.

[0044] When the loading ready signal is collected, it indicates that the clamping bed 3 is ready and has been moved out of the machining center 1. At this time, the loading mechanism 4 can be controlled to load the rough material and the workstation in place signal can be collected at the same time.

[0045] Step S3: In response to the workstation in place signal, the number of in place units is accumulated.

[0046] The number of in-place positions refers to the number of clamping stations 31 that are ready to clamp the material.

[0047] When a station in place signal is collected, the system once again confirms how many clamping stations 31 are available for material clamping. Each time a station in place signal is collected, the number of stations in place is accumulated and increased by one.

[0048] Step S4: When the number of in-place stations is consistent with the preset number of available stations, the station image information of each of the clamping stations 31 is collected.

[0049] The number of available workstations is a parameter set by the technicians when the equipment is turned on according to the actual situation of the clamping stations 31 of the equipment. It is the number of clamping stations 31 that can be used and will not be described in detail here.

[0050] The workstation image information refers to an image obtained by real-time image acquisition of the clamping station 31 by a camera provided on the clamping bed 3. The rough material clamped by the clamping station 31 can be identified from the workstation image information.

[0051] When the number of in-place stations is inconsistent with the number of available stations, it means that there is still clamping station 31 that is not ready, and it is necessary to continue waiting.

[0052] When the number of in-place stations is consistent with the number of available stations, it means that all clamping stations 31 are ready. At this time, the rough material is loaded through the loading mechanism 4, and the camera continuously collects the station image information in real time to determine the real-time status of the rough material.

[0053] Step S5: extracting the posture information of the rough material of each clamping station 31 based on the image information of each station.

[0054] The posture information refers to the posture of the rough material when the clamping station 31 clamps the rough material.

[0055] Image recognition analysis is performed on each station image information of each clamping station 31, and the posture information of the rough material can be identified from the station image information.

[0056] Step S6: Compare the posture information of the rough material at each clamping station 31 , control the loading mechanism 4 to uniformly adjust the posture of the rough material at each clamping station 31 , and output a signal to be executed.

[0057] The size of each rough blank may be different. When the clamping station 31 clamps the rough blank, it must be clamped at the center position of the end of the rough blank to ensure that each rough blank can be processed normally.

[0058] By comparing the posture information of each rough blank material, the posture of each rough blank material is uniformly adjusted according to the posture information, so that the clamping station 31 can better clamp the rough blank material.

[0059] After the rough material's posture is adjusted, the system will issue a pending signal. This pending signal refers to the signal issued by the system after all clamping stations 31 have completed clamping the material. The next process of the equipment is carried out based on this signal.

[0060] Step S7: In response to the to-be-executed signal, control the machining center 1 to perform uniform milling processing on the rough material.

[0061] When the system collects the signal to be executed, the system controls the clamping bed 3 to move toward the machining center 1, and controls the machining center 1 to process the rough material.

[0062] The method for loading the rough material by the loading mechanism 4 comprises the following steps: Step S20: capturing a material placement image of a preset loading starting position.

[0063] A loading platform is provided on one side of the end of the support rail 43 , where the rough materials are placed, and the rough materials are clamped onto the support rail 43 by a robot.

[0064] The loading starting position is the position on the loading platform where the rough material to be clamped is placed, which will not be described in detail here.

[0065] The material placement image refers to an image obtained by photographing the loading starting position through a camera provided on the equipment. The rough material located at the loading starting position can be identified from the material placement image.

[0066] Step S200: identifying the blank material from the material placement image and determining the length of the blank material.

[0067] The camera maintains a constant distance from the loading platform, and using a point on the loading platform as a reference point, the image scale of the material placement image can be determined. By identifying the rough material length from the material placement image and combining it with the image scale, the actual length of the rough material can be determined.

[0068] Step S201: determining the width of the support rail based on the length of the rough material.

[0069] Two parallel support rails 43 are provided. The rough stock material moves along the support rails 43 and is ultimately clamped by the clamping station 31. To ensure that the rough stock material can move along the support rails 43 and does not fall off the support rails 43 during movement, the rough stock material length must be greater than the gap width between the two support rails 43. The support rail setting width is the gap width between the two support rails 43. The support rail setting width is determined by the rough stock material length and is less than the rough stock material length.

[0070] Step S202: Control the two support rails 43 to move relative to each other until the gap is 0 and simultaneously control the support rails 43 to flip 360° in the circumferential direction.

[0071] When loading the rough material, the two support rails 43 are first controlled to move relative to each other until they touch each other, and then separate again. During this relative movement, the system then controls the support rails 43 to rotate 360° circumferentially. This method calibrates the support rails 43 so that the rough material can move stably on them. It also shakes off debris generated by the upper wheel processing, preventing it from affecting the movement of the rough material.

[0072] Step S203: controlling the two support rails 43 to move away from each other according to the width of the support rails.

[0073] After completing the above operation steps, the system controls the two support rails 43 to move away from each other, and finally the distance between the two support rails 43 is the support rail setting width.

[0074] Step S204: moving the rough material from the loading starting position to the preset pushing starting position on the support track 43 and loading the rough material.

[0075] After the initialization setting of the support rail 43 is completed, the system controls the manipulator to move the rough material from the loading starting position to the pushing starting position and start loading. The pushing starting position is the position of the end of the support rail 43, and the rough material starts to be loaded from this position.

[0076] The feeding method further comprises the following steps: Step S21: capturing a material placement image of a preset loading starting position.

[0077] The process is the same as step S20 and will not be described in detail here.

[0078] Step S210: identifying the rough material from the material placement image and determining the volume of the rough material.

[0079] By identifying the rough material from the material placement image, first determine its shape. If it is a rectangular parallelepiped, identify the length and width dimensions, and then determine the volume of the rough material based on the length, width and height dimensions; if it is a cylinder, identify the length and diameter dimensions, and then determine the volume of the rough material based on the length and diameter dimensions.

[0080] Step S211: determining the weight of the rough blank according to the rough blank material volume and the preset rough blank material.

[0081] The rough material is the material selected by the technicians to produce the finished product, and the rough material determines its density.

[0082] The blank weight refers to the weight of the blank material at the starting position of the loading. After the blank material volume and density are determined, the blank weight can be calculated based on the relationship between the two.

[0083] Step S212: Calculate the quotient of the preset swing arm driving force and the rough blank weight and round it up to obtain the synchronous driving quantity.

[0084] The synchronous driving quantity refers to the quantity of the rough materials that the swing arm 44 can push each time when the rough materials are on the support rail 43 .

[0085] The swing arm driving force refers to the maximum torque that the swing arm 44 can generate under the drive of the motor, which is pre-set by the technician and will not be described in detail here. The swing arm driving force determines the amount of rough material that the swing arm 44 can push at one time.

[0086] By calculating the quotient of the swing arm driving force and the rough blank weight, the synchronous driving quantity is the integer part of the quotient.

[0087] Step S213: If the synchronous drive quantity is 1, a single rough blank material is moved to a preset pushing starting position at a preset interval placement time, and the rough blank material is numbered to obtain a rough blank loading number.

[0088] The number of synchronous drives is 1, that is, when the swing arm 44 rotates, it can push one rough blank material to move each time.

[0089] The interval placement time is the interval time set by the technician for the manipulator to move the rough blank material from the loading starting position to the pushing starting position each time. During the interval placement time, the previous rough blank material has been pushed away by the swing arm 44, which will not be repeated here.

[0090] The rough blank loading number is a number obtained by numbering each rough blank material in accordance with the loading order, and represents the movement order of each rough blank material on the support track 43 .

[0091] Step S2130: controlling the swing arm 44 to rotate and drive the rough material to move, and collecting a real-time position image of the rough material.

[0092] The real-time position image of the rough material refers to an image obtained by taking real-time pictures of the position of the moving rough material by a camera installed on the equipment. The situation of the clamping station 31 can be identified from the real-time position image of the rough material.

[0093] When the rough material moves on the support rail 43, the system controls the camera to track and shoot the position of each rough material to determine the moving progress of each rough material.

[0094] Step S2131: Identify the fixture number from the real-time position image of the rough material.

[0095] The fixture number is a barcode attached to the equipment, unique to each clamping station 31. When the rough material moves to a clamping station 31, the barcode appears in the real-time image of the rough material's position. By identifying the barcode in the real-time image of the rough material's position, the fixture number of that clamping station 31 can be determined.

[0096] Step S2132: When the blank loading number is consistent with the fixture number, the limiting member 45 is controlled to rise to position the blank material, thereby completing the loading of a single blank material.

[0097] When the blank loading number is inconsistent with the clamp number, it means that the blank material has not yet reached the designated clamping station 31, and the swing arm 44 needs to continue to push the blank material to move.

[0098] When the rough blank loading number is consistent with the clamp number, it means that the rough blank material has arrived at the position. At this time, the system will control the limit part 45 at the clamping station 31 to rise, so that the rough blank material cannot continue to move and is limited to the clamping station 31. At this time, the rough blank material is completed.

[0099] In this embodiment, the rough blank material with rough blank loading number 1 needs to be moved to the clamping station 31 with fixture number 1. If it moves to the clamping station 31 with fixture number 2 and stops moving, the clamping station 31 with fixture number 1 will be vacant. Therefore, the rough blank loading number needs to be consistent with the fixture number.

[0100] The loading method when the number of synchronous drives is not 1 includes the following steps: Step S214: If the synchronous drive quantity is not 1, move the synchronous drive quantity of rough materials to the pushing starting position according to the interval placement time.

[0101] If the number of synchronous drives is not 1, that is, the swing arm 44 can drive multiple rough materials to move at the same time, the robot will place multiple rough materials in the pushing starting position at the same time, and then the swing arm 44 will drive multiple rough materials to move at the same time. The number of rough materials driven simultaneously here does not exceed the number of available workstations.

[0102] Step S2140: number each rough material in sequence, and mark the last number of each group of rough materials as the last number, and mark the second to last number as the second number.

[0103] As in step S213, each rough material is numbered. The difference between this embodiment and step S213 is that, because the swing arm 44 in this embodiment drives multiple rough materials to move simultaneously, when the last rough material in each rough material group reaches the specific clamping station 31, it needs to be separated from the rough material group. Therefore, the last and second to last rough materials in each rough material group are specially numbered.

[0104] Step S2141: driving a plurality of rough materials to move synchronously, and collecting real-time position images of the rough materials.

[0105] The process is the same as step S2130 and will not be described in detail here.

[0106] Step S2142: Identify the fixture number from the real-time position image of the rough material.

[0107] The process is the same as step S2131 and will not be repeated here.

[0108] Step S2143: When the last digit number is consistent with the fixture number, the swing arm group corresponding to the clamping station 31 is retrieved according to the fixture number, and the swing arm group includes a first swing arm away from the pushing starting position and a second swing arm close to the pushing starting position.

[0109] If the last digit number is inconsistent with the fixture number, it means that the rough material group has not yet reached the designated clamping station 31 and needs to continue moving.

[0110] When the last number is consistent with the fixture number, it means that the last numbered rough blank material in the rough blank material group has arrived at the designated loading clamping station 31, where the last numbered rough blank material needs to be separated from the next numbered rough blank materials.

[0111] In this embodiment, the fixture number is identified and the swing arm group of the clamping station 31 is called according to the fixture number, and the rough material group is driven to separate by the swing arm group.

[0112] Step S2144: Control the first swing arm to rotate counterclockwise and the second swing arm to rotate clockwise, so as to roll and separate the rough material corresponding to the second-order number and the rough material corresponding to the last-order number.

[0113] The first swing arm and the second swing arm are controlled to rotate in different directions, wherein the first swing arm rotates counterclockwise and the second swing arm rotates clockwise, so that the first swing arm and the second swing arm can rotate and extend between the rough materials with the second number and the last number, and separate the second number and the last number from the middle during the rotation process.

[0114] Since there are multiple rough materials in the rough material group where the rough material with the next highest number is located, the rough material with the next highest number will only be driven to move horizontally, while there is only one rough material with the last highest number, which will be driven to roll.

[0115] Step S2145: the first swing arm drives the group of rough blanks with the next highest number to continue to move, and controls the position-limiting member 45 to rise to position the rough blank corresponding to the last highest number.

[0116] After the rough blank material group is separated by the first swing arm and the second swing arm, the rough blank material group containing the second number can continue to move in the original direction, and the rough blank material with the last number is limited by the limit member 45 under the control of the system, so that it is limited to the clamping station 31 corresponding to the last number.

[0117] Step S2146: re-mark the second number and the last number of the rough material group where the second number is located until all rough materials are loaded.

[0118] After the rough blank material with the last number is loaded, the rough blank material group containing the second number forms a new rough blank material group. At this time, the second number and the last number are redistributed. The subsequent steps are consistent with steps S2143 to S2145 until the last last number is installed corresponding to the clamping station 31. No further details will be given here.

[0119] Since the sizes of each blank material may vary, the blank material is allowed to slide on the support rail 43 and is limited to a designated clamping station 31 by a stopper 45. At this time, the clamping station 31 does not necessarily clamp the blank material at the center of both ends of the blank material. Therefore, the posture of the blank material needs to be adjusted. The uniform posture adjustment method includes the following steps: Step S60: Compare the posture information of the rough material at each clamping station 31 with the preset standard rough material posture to determine the center horizontal deviation and the center height deviation.

[0120] The standard blank posture is a reference posture obtained by technicians by photographing and processing the fixed posture of the rough blank material of standard size at the clamping station 31. The deviation can be determined by comparing it with the standard blank posture, which will not be described in detail here.

[0121] By comparing the rough material's posture information with the standard material's posture information, the deviation between the rough material's center and the standard material's center is determined. Center horizontal deviation refers to the horizontal deviation between the rough material's center and the standard material's center. Center height deviation refers to the height deviation between the rough material's center and the standard material's center.

[0122] Step S61: Match the swing arm adjustment angle according to the center horizontal deviation.

[0123] In this embodiment, the method for adjusting the center horizontal deviation is to drive the rough material to move slightly horizontally through the swing arm 44.

[0124] The swing arm adjustment angle refers to the angle that the swing arm 44 needs to rotate when the center of the clamping of the rough material is corrected by the swing arm 44. The swing arm 44 is initially vertically downward and stationary, and the rotation and angle are calculated from the vertical downward position.

[0125] Here, the rough material is adjusted simultaneously by the two swing arms 44 on both sides of the clamping station 31, so each swing arm 44 corresponds to a swing arm adjustment angle, and the swing arm adjustment angles of the two swing arms 44 may be different.

[0126] The swing arm adjustment angle is proportional to the center horizontal deviation. The greater the center horizontal deviation, the greater the swing arm adjustment angle.

[0127] Step S62: Control the swing arms 44 on both sides of the clamping station 31 of the rough material to rotate at the swing arm adjustment angle, clamp the rough material from both sides and adjust the center horizontal deviation.

[0128] The system controls the swing arms 44 on both sides of the clamping station 31 to rotate at their respective swing arm adjustment angles. The two rotate in different directions, and finally clamp the rough material from both sides of the rough material, and synchronously drive the rough material to move and adjust the position.

[0129] The rough material of each clamping station 31 is corrected for center level deviation in the above-mentioned manner.

[0130] Step S63: sorting each rough blank material according to the center height deviation to obtain a clamping sequence.

[0131] In this embodiment, the method for adjusting the center height deviation is to drive the support rail 43 to move up and down by the lifting cylinder 42, so that the rough material of each clamping station 31 is clamped at different heights by the clamping station 31.

[0132] The clamping sequence refers to the order in which each rough material is clamped in sequence by the clamping station 31. The clamping sequence is determined according to the center height deviation of each rough material. The greater the center height deviation, the earlier the clamping sequence.

[0133] Step S64: forming an intermittent lifting scheme of the support rail 43 according to the clamping sequence and the center height deviation of each rough blank material.

[0134] When controlling the support rail 43 to lift and lower the rough material, when each rough material reaches the specified height and is clamped by the clamping station 31, the support rail 43 stops. After completing the clamping of one rough material, the support rail 43 continues to be controlled to lift and lower to clamp the next rough material. Therefore, the lifting and lowering process of the support rail 43 is an intermittent lifting and lowering process.

[0135] The intermittent lifting scheme is a lifting method for mounting all rough blank materials on the support rail 43. After the clamping sequence is determined, the intermittent lifting scheme is determined based on the center height deviation of each rough blank material.

[0136] Step S65: controlling the support rail 43 to rise and fall according to the intermittent lifting scheme, and controlling the corresponding clamping station 31 to clamp and fix the rough material according to the clamping sequence.

[0137] After the intermittent lifting scheme is determined, the lifting of the support rail 43 is controlled by the intermittent lifting scheme.

[0138] For example, if there are three blanks, No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3, with center height deviations of 0.1, 0.3, and 0.4, respectively, the clamping order is No. 3, No. 2, and No. 1. The gap lifting scheme is as follows: first, raise the support rail 43 by 0.4 (0.4-0=0.4), so that blank No. 3 is clamped by the clamping station 31. Then, lower the support rail 43 by 0.1 (0.4-0.3=0.1), so that blank No. 2 is clamped by the clamping station 31. Finally, lower the support rail 43 by 0.2 (0.3-0.1-0.2), so that blank No. 1 is clamped by the clamping station 31.

[0139] By adopting the method of first raising and then lowering, after the clamping station 31 clamps the rough material, it is not easy to affect the continued raising and lowering of the support rail 43.

[0140] The unified milling method includes the following steps: Step S70: collecting the image of the workstation blank after posture adjustment.

[0141] The workstation blank image is an image captured by a camera mounted on the equipment of the rough material after it has undergone posture adjustment. During image capture, the clamping station 31 rotates the rough material circumferentially, allowing the camera to capture a 360° circumferential image of the rough material. The resulting workstation blank image is a three-dimensional stereoscopic image.

[0142] Step S71: performing image analysis on the blank image of each clamping station 31 to extract the cross-sectional profile of the blank material.

[0143] The rough stock is analyzed step by step along its length from the workstation stock image to determine the cross-sectional profile of any section of each rough stock. When determining the cross-sectional profile, the cross-sectional profile of each rough stock must correspond, and the cross-sectional profiles of all rough stocks at the same cross-sectional position must be processed subsequently.

[0144] Step S72: Overlap the cross-sectional contours of all rough materials to obtain a cross-sectional overlapping image.

[0145] The cross-sectional overlapping image refers to an image obtained by overlapping all cross-sectional profiles of all rough materials at any cross-sectional position. In step S71, the continuous cross-sectional profiles of each rough material have been determined. At this time, the cross-sectional profiles of all rough materials at a certain cross-sectional position are extracted and overlapped.

[0146] Step S73: Analyze the cross-sectional overlapping images to determine overlapping areas, and analyze the number of overlapping layers in each overlapping area.

[0147] Since the cross-sectional overlapping image is formed by overlapping cross-sections of multiple rough materials, when it becomes one image, some areas thereof belong to multiple rough materials at the same time, and such areas are called overlapping areas.

[0148] The number of overlap layers refers to the number of cross sections of rough stock material that make up the overlap area.

[0149] Step S74: Mark the overlapping area where the number of overlapping layers is consistent with the number of available workstations as a finishing area.

[0150] In the cross-sectional overlapping image, the overlapping region including all the rough material cross-sections is the position mainly used for processing. In this embodiment, the overlapping region is marked as a key area.

[0151] Since the number of rough materials is the same as the number of available workstations, it is determined whether the overlapping area includes all cross sections of the rough materials by comparing the number of overlapping layers with the number of available workstations.

[0152] Step S75: Matching the feeding speed according to the number of overlapping layers. The fewer the number of overlapping layers, the faster the feeding speed.

[0153] Feed rate refers to the cutting speed of the tool when the equipment processes the material.

[0154] In this embodiment, the closer the tool is to the finishing area, the slower the feed speed of the equipment is, thereby ensuring the processing accuracy of the product. Therefore, the feed speed is inversely proportional to the number of overlapping layers. The more overlapping layers there are, the slower the feed speed is.

[0155] Step S76: Control the machining center 1 to perform peeling on the overlapping area except the finishing area according to the feed speed, and perform milling on the finishing area according to a preset finishing speed.

[0156] The finishing speed is the feed speed of the tool when the equipment is cutting the finishing area set by the technician, which will not be described in detail here.

[0157] In this embodiment, the system controls all tools to first mill the area outside the finishing area at the feed rate. As the tools gradually approach the finishing area, the feed rate gradually decreases. When all tools reach the edge of the finishing area, they are controlled to continue milling at the finishing speed.

[0158] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. All technical solutions based on the concept of the present invention are within the scope of protection of the present invention. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, various improvements and modifications that do not depart from the principles of the present invention should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A multi-station milling machine, characterized in that: include: A machining center (1) for milling rough stock material; A machine base (2) supported on the ground; A clamping bed (3) is slidably mounted on the machine base (2) and is used to clamp the rough material and drive the rough material into the machining center (1) for milling; A loading mechanism (4) is provided on the clamping bed (3) and is used for loading rough materials; The clamping bed (3) has a plurality of clamping stations (31), and the machining center (1) has a tool group (15) corresponding one-to-one to the clamping stations (31); The feeding mechanism (4) comprises two support rails (43) arranged in parallel and a swing arm (44) arranged to rotate at intervals on the support rails (43). The swing arm (44) drives the rough blank material to move along the support rails (43) and stop at the clamping station (31). A limiting member (45) is provided on the support rails (43) to limit the rough blank material when the rough blank material is located at the clamping station (31).

2. The multi-station milling machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The feeding mechanism (4) further includes a fixed seat (41) and a lifting cylinder (42) arranged on the fixed seat (41); the clamping bed (3) is provided with an adjustment rail (34), and the fixed seat (41) is slidably mounted on the adjustment rail (34); the support rail (43) is arranged on the top of the lifting cylinder (42).

3. The multi-station milling machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The machining center (1) comprises a cabinet (12), a displacement frame (13) sliding on the cabinet (12), and a row of tool holders (14) rotatably mounted on the displacement frame (13); the tool group (15) is located on the row of tool holders (14), and each of the tool groups (15) comprises a plurality of machining tool heads (151) circumferentially arranged on the row of tool holders (14); The displacement frame (13) is provided with an air intake vent (131), and the air intake vent (131) is located above the row of knife seats (14); the lower portion of the displacement frame (13) is provided with an air outlet vent (132), and the air outlet vent (132) faces the clamping station (31); the air intake vent (131) is communicated with the air outlet vent (132); The displacement frame (13) is provided with a dust shield (133) at the air outlet (132); the dust shield (133) has an inclined lower sliding surface (134) inclined toward both sides; and a ventilation hole (135) is provided on the surface of the dust shield (133).

4. The multi-station milling machine according to claim 3, characterized in that: The clamping bed (3) has a chip collection channel (321) below the clamping station (31), and a chip drop hole (322) is downwardly opened at one end of the chip collection channel (321) away from the machining center (1); the machine base (2) is provided with a push plate (22), and the push plate (22) slides on the chip collection channel (321) and pushes the chips toward the chip drop hole (322) during the processing of the rough material; The machine base (2) is provided with a chip channel (24) and a screw rod (25) is rotatably arranged in the chip channel (24); when the rough material is processed, the chip drop hole (322) is directly opposite to the chip channel (24).

5. A control method for a multi-station milling machine, applied to a multi-station milling machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: include: Collect loading ready signal; In response to the loading ready signal, controlling the loading mechanism (4) to load the rough material and collecting the workstation in place signal; In response to the workstation in-place signal, accumulating the number of in-place items; When the number of in-place stations is consistent with the preset number of available stations, collecting station image information of each of the clamping stations (31); Extracting the posture information of the rough material of each clamping station (31) based on the image information of each station; Comparing the posture information of the rough material at each clamping station (31), controlling the feeding mechanism (4) to uniformly adjust the posture of the rough material at each clamping station (31), and outputting a signal to be executed; In response to the to-be-executed signal, the machining center (1) is controlled to perform uniform milling processing on the rough blank material.

6. The control method of a multi-station milling machine according to claim 5, characterized in that: The method for the feeding mechanism (4) to feed the rough blank material comprises: Collect the material placement image of the preset loading starting position; Identify the rough material from the material placement image and determine the length of the rough material; Determining the width of the support rail based on the length of the rough material; Controlling the two support rails (43) to move relative to each other until the gap is 0 and synchronously controlling the support rails (43) to flip 360° in the circumferential direction; Controlling the two support rails (43) to move away from each other according to the width of the support rails; The rough material is moved from the loading starting position to a preset pushing starting position on the support track (43) and loaded.

7. The control method of a multi-station milling machine according to claim 5, characterized in that: Also includes: Collect the material placement image of the preset loading starting position; Identify the rough material from the material placement image and determine the volume of the rough material; Determining the weight of the rough blank according to the rough blank material volume and the preset rough blank material; Calculating the quotient of the preset swing arm driving force and the rough blank weight and rounding it up to obtain the synchronous driving quantity; If the number of synchronous drives is 1, a single rough blank material is moved to a preset pushing starting position at a preset interval placement time, and the rough blank material is numbered to obtain a rough blank loading number; Controlling the swing arm (44) to rotate and drive the rough material to move, and collecting a real-time position image of the rough material; Identifying a fixture number from the real-time position image of the rough material; When the rough blank loading number is consistent with the clamp number, the limiting member (45) is controlled to rise to position the rough blank material, thereby completing the loading of a single rough blank material.

8. The control method of a multi-station milling machine according to claim 7, characterized in that: Also includes: If the synchronous drive quantity is not 1, moving the synchronous drive quantity of rough materials to the pushing starting position within the interval placement time; Number each rough material in sequence, and mark the last number of each group of rough materials as the last number, and mark the second to last number as the second number; driving a plurality of rough materials to move synchronously and collecting real-time position images of the rough materials; Identifying a fixture number from the real-time position image of the rough material; When the last digit number is consistent with the fixture number, the swing arm group corresponding to the clamping station (31) is retrieved according to the fixture number, the swing arm group including a first swing arm away from the pushing starting position and a second swing arm close to the pushing starting position; Controlling the first swing arm to rotate counterclockwise and the second swing arm to rotate clockwise to tumble and separate the rough material corresponding to the second-order number and the rough material corresponding to the last-order number; The first swing arm drives the rough material group with the second-order number to continue to move, and controls the limiting member (45) to rise to position the rough material corresponding to the last-order number; The second number and the last number of the rough material group where the second number is located are re-marked until all rough materials are loaded.

9. The control method of a multi-station milling machine according to claim 5, characterized in that: The unified posture adjustment method includes: Comparing the posture information of the rough material at each clamping station (31) with the preset standard blank posture to determine the center horizontal deviation and the center height deviation; Adjust the angle of the swing arm according to the center horizontal deviation; Controlling the swing arms (44) on both sides of the blank material corresponding to the clamping station (31) to rotate at a swing arm adjustment angle, clamping the blank material from both sides and adjusting the center horizontal deviation; Sorting each rough material according to the center height deviation to obtain a clamping sequence; According to the clamping sequence and according to the center height deviation of each rough material, an intermittent lifting scheme of the support rail (43) is formed; The support rail (43) is controlled to be raised and lowered according to the intermittent lifting scheme, and the corresponding clamping station (31) is controlled to clamp and fix the rough material according to the clamping sequence.

10. The control method of a multi-station milling machine according to claim 5, characterized in that: Unified milling methods include: Collecting the image of the workstation blank after posture adjustment; Performing image analysis on the workstation blank image of each clamping workstation (31) to extract the cross-sectional profile of the rough blank material; Overlapping the cross-sectional profiles of all rough materials to obtain a cross-sectional overlapping image; Analyzing the cross-sectional overlapping images to determine overlapping areas, and analyzing the number of overlapping layers in each overlapping area; Marking the overlapping area where the number of overlapping layers is consistent with the number of available workstations as a finishing area; Matching the feeding speed according to the number of overlapping layers, the fewer the number of overlapping layers, the faster the feeding speed; The machining center (1) is controlled according to the feed speed to perform peeling on the overlapping area except the finishing area, and the finishing area is milled according to a preset finishing speed.

Images