Pick-and-place device with center of station

Abstract

The invention discloses a station centering pick-and-place device, and relates to the technical field of assembly equipment, the device can adapt to the requirements of various and small-batch products and new product development processes on the assembly efficiency, meanwhile, the trouble that an operator cleans redundant adhesives is greatly reduced, and the device has high social and economic benefits. Through the design and application of the station automatic centering pick-and-place device, the single-station operation efficiency is improved by 30%, meanwhile, the station automatic centering pick-and-place device is suitable for the single-station assembly requirements of various products, the types of field work operation clamping tools are reduced, the design and manufacturing cost of various types of tools can be saved, and the field management cost is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of assembly equipment, and in particular to a workstation centering pick-and-place device. Background Art

[0002] In the fierce market competition environment, the market and customers have increased demand for personalized customization, and product production has shifted from mass production to a multi-variety, small-batch model; especially in the new product development process, a small number of products are trial-produced. When multiple varieties of products are trial-produced at the same time, due to insufficient preparation of on-site assembly stations, a large amount of manpower is often wasted in the product assembly trial production and modification process.

[0003] Existing automatic pick-and-place devices are usually highly automated production assembly lines with high price and cost, and are not very suitable for assembly stations in the process of personalized fixed-position products and product development.

[0004] There is currently no suitable mechanism on the market to improve the efficiency of assembly stations for highly personalized fixed-position products and product development processes. Therefore, the following two problems exist in the assembly and adjustment process of such products:

[0005] 1. Operators often need to embed positioning blocks around the product to determine the center position of the installed parts, which makes assembly and efficiency low.

[0006] 2. For glued parts, when assembling the product, the parts to be bonded need to be fitted in place at one time to avoid moving back and forth, which will cause the welding agent to be smeared on the rest of the parts, making cleaning difficult and reducing assembly efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0007] In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a workstation centering pick-and-place device for overcoming the above problems or at least partially solving the above problems.

[0008] The present invention provides the following solutions:

[0009] A workstation centering pick-and-place device, comprising:

[0010] A positioning unit, the positioning unit comprising a support tube and four positioning arms, the support tube being fixedly provided with a first gear and a second gear separated from each other; the positioning arm comprising a horizontally arranged telescopic rod and a vertically arranged support foot connected to the front end of the telescopic rod, the telescopic rod being provided with a rack extending axially along the telescopic rod; wherein the telescopic arms respectively included in two of the positioning arms are arranged along the X-axis direction and the racks respectively included in the two positioning arms are meshed and connected with the first gear; the telescopic arms respectively included in the other two positioning arms are arranged along the Y-axis direction and the racks respectively included in the two positioning arms are meshed and connected with the second gear;

[0011] The pick-and-place unit includes a pick-and-place rod; the pick-and-place rod is connected to a pick-and-place execution component; the support tube is sleeved on the outside of the pick-and-place rod and is connected to the pick-and-place rod for relative rotation; the axis of the pick-and-place rod coincides with the axis of the support tube, so that after moving any of the positioning arms during the picking process, the four positioning arms are extended and retracted by equal distances until they all contact the frame of the workpiece to be picked up, so that the center of the pick-and-place rod coincides with the geometric center of the workpiece to be picked up, thereby realizing centered picking; and after moving any of the positioning arms during the assembly process, the four positioning arms are extended and retracted by equal distances until they all contact the steps of the shell to be assembled, so that the center of the pick-and-place rod and the geometric center of the workpiece to be picked up coincide with the geometric center of the shell to be assembled.

[0012] Preferably, a shell is provided on the outside of the support cylinder, a support rod is provided on the shell, and the support rod is used to be connected to the transfer mechanism.

[0013] Preferably, the transfer mechanism includes a robot.

[0014] Preferably, the placement execution component includes a vacuum generator and a suction cup, the vacuum generator is connected to the upper end of the pick-and-place rod, and the suction cup is connected to the lower end of the pick-and-place rod.

[0015] Preferably, the workpiece to be picked up and placed includes a liquid crystal screen.

[0016] According to the specific embodiments provided by the present invention, the present invention discloses the following technical effects:

[0017] The present invention provides a workstation centering pick-and-place device that can meet the assembly efficiency requirements of high-variety, low-batch products and new product development processes, while significantly reducing the operator's need to clean up excess adhesive and offering significant socioeconomic benefits. The design and implementation of this automatic workstation centering pick-and-place device improves single-station operating efficiency by 30%, adapting to the single-station assembly needs of a wide variety of products. This reduces the number of on-site clamping tools, saves on the design and production costs of various types of tooling, and reduces on-site management costs.

[0018] Of course, any product implementing the present invention does not necessarily need to achieve all of the advantages described above at the same time. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] To more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be derived from these drawings without inventive effort.

[0020] Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of a workstation centering pick-and-place device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 2 It is an exploded view of a workstation centering pick-and-place device provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] In the figure: support cylinder 1, first gear 11, second gear 12, positioning arm 2, telescopic rod 21, support leg 22, rack 23, pick-and-place rod 3, shell 4, support rod 5, vacuum generator 6, suction cup 7, workpiece to be picked up and placed 8, shell to be assembled 9. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] The following will be combined with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0024] See also Figure 1 、 Figure 2 , is a station centering pick-and-place device provided by an embodiment of the present invention, such as Figure 1 、 Figure 2 As shown, the device may include:

[0025] A positioning unit, the positioning unit comprising a support tube 1 and four positioning arms 2, the support tube 1 being fixedly provided with a first gear 11 and a second gear 12 separated from each other; the positioning arm 2 comprising a horizontally arranged telescopic rod 21 and a vertically arranged support leg 22 connected to the front end of the telescopic rod 21, the telescopic rod 21 being provided with a rack 23 extending axially along the telescopic rod 21; wherein the telescopic arms respectively included in two of the positioning arms 2 are arranged along the X-axis direction and the racks 23 respectively included in the two positioning arms 2 are meshed and connected with the first gear 11; the telescopic arms respectively included in the other two positioning arms 2 are arranged along the Y-axis direction and the racks 23 respectively included in the two positioning arms 2 are meshed and connected with the second gear 12;

[0026] The pick-and-place unit includes a pick-and-place rod 3; the pick-and-place rod 3 is connected to a pick-and-place execution component; the support tube 1 is mounted on the outside of the pick-and-place rod 3 and is connected to the pick-and-place rod 3 for relative rotation; the axis of the pick-and-place rod 3 coincides with the axis of the support tube 1, so that after moving any of the positioning arms 2 during the picking process, the four positioning arms 2 are telescoped at equal distances until they all contact the frame of the workpiece 8 to be picked up, so that the center of the pick-and-place rod 3 coincides with the geometric center of the workpiece 8 to be picked up, thereby realizing centered picking; and after moving any of the positioning arms 2 during the assembly process, the four positioning arms 2 are telescoped at equal distances until they all contact the steps of the shell 9 to be assembled, so that the center of the pick-and-place rod 3 and the geometric center of the workpiece 8 to be picked up coincide with the geometric center of the shell 9 to be assembled.

[0027] The workstation centering pick-and-place device provided in the embodiment of the present application uses a rack 23 to make each telescopic rod 21 of the X and Y axes meshing with the corresponding gears. Both gears are fixedly connected to the same support tube 1. Manually stretch and compress any one of the X-axis legs 22 or the Y-axis legs 22 so that the four telescopic rods 21 can drive the corresponding legs 22 to extend and retract synchronously to the same distance on the left and right, thereby realizing the automatic centering function. The center of the pick-and-place rod 3 is designed to be at the center of the Z axis. Regardless of the size of the X-axis and Y-axis, after positioning by the four legs 22, the center of the pick-and-place rod 3 is always at the geometric center position of the workpiece 8 to be picked up and placed, which is convenient for picking and placing on the Z axis. The leg 22 positioning mechanism is designed to clamp the object to be picked up when picking up, and clamp the loading step by the leg 22 positioning mechanism when placing. The Z pick-and-place mechanism is operated to realize automatic centering of the product.

[0028] In order to facilitate the movement of the device provided in the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application can provide that the outer portion of the support tube 1 is provided with a shell 4, and the shell 4 is provided with a support rod 5, and the support rod 5 is used to connect to the transfer mechanism. Further, the transfer mechanism includes a manipulator.

[0029] The pick-and-place actuator provided in the embodiment of the present application is used to grasp a workpiece. In specific implementation, the embodiment of the present application can provide that the pick-and-place actuator includes a vacuum generator 6 and a suction cup 7. The vacuum generator 6 is connected to the upper end of the pick-and-place rod 3, and the suction cup 7 is connected to the lower end of the pick-and-place rod 3. The pick-and-place device uses a negative pressure air generator, and after picking up, the baffle is erected and the device can be moved.

[0030] Furthermore, the workpiece 8 to be picked up and placed may include a liquid crystal screen. The workpiece 8 to be picked up and placed may also be any other product with a regular outer contour shape.

[0031] The following describes in detail the method of using the device provided in this application using the assembly process of the LCD screen of a certain product as an example. Centering and placement are required during the assembly of the LCD screen and shielding components inside the product.

[0032] The entire device is connected to the robot via support rods 5. The robot drives the entire device to the LCD screen pickup station. The robot lowers the device so that all four legs 22 are located outside the LCD screen and the suction cup 7 is not in contact with the LCD screen. The user manually grasps any leg 22 and pushes it toward the LCD screen. Driven by the gear rack 23, the four legs 22 move synchronously toward the LCD screen until they all contact the LCD screen frame. At this point, the center of the pick-and-place rod 3 and the suction cup 7 in the Z-axis direction coincide with the center of the LCD screen. The robot continues to lower the device so that the suction cup 7 contacts the LCD screen surface, and activates the vacuum generator 6 to suck the LCD screen.

[0033] The entire device and the LCD screen are transferred to the assembly station by a robot and moved onto the shell. The user manually holds any one of the legs 22 and pulls the leg 22 away from the LCD screen. The four legs 22 will move synchronously away from the LCD screen until they are stuck on the shell step. At this time, the center of the LCD screen coincides with the center of the shell in the Z-axis direction. The support rod 5 and the pick-and-place rod 3 are lowered, the vacuum generator 6 is turned off, and the automatic centering pick-and-place device at the station is removed to achieve the centering of the LCD screen.

[0034] In summary, the workstation centering pick-and-place device provided in this application can meet the assembly efficiency requirements of high-variety, low-batch products and new product development processes, while significantly reducing the operator's hassle of cleaning up excess adhesive, resulting in high socioeconomic benefits. Through the design and application of this automatic workstation centering pick-and-place device, single-station operating efficiency is increased by 30%. It is also suitable for single-station assembly of multiple products, reduces the number of on-site clamping tools, saves on the design and production costs of multiple types of tooling, and reduces on-site management costs.

[0035] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as first and second, etc., are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply the existence of any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article, or device comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or device. In the absence of further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising a ..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or device comprising the element.

[0036] Through the description of the above embodiments, it can be seen that those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the present application can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a storage medium such as ROM / RAM, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc., and includes a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in various embodiments or certain parts of the embodiments of the present application.

[0037] Each embodiment in this specification is described in a progressive manner. The same or similar parts between the embodiments can be referred to each other. Each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. In particular, for system or system embodiments, since they are basically similar to method embodiments, the description is relatively simple. For relevant parts, refer to the partial description of the method embodiment. The system and system embodiments described above are merely schematic, wherein the units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place, or they may be distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the modules can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment. A person of ordinary skill in the art can understand and implement it without expending creative work.

[0038] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention are included in the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A station-centered pick-and-place device, characterized in that: include: A positioning unit, the positioning unit comprising a support tube and four positioning arms, the support tube being fixedly provided with a first gear and a second gear separated from each other; the positioning arm comprising a horizontally arranged telescopic rod and a vertically arranged support foot connected to the front end of the telescopic rod, the telescopic rod being provided with a rack extending axially along the telescopic rod; wherein the telescopic arms respectively included in two of the positioning arms are arranged along the X-axis direction and the racks respectively included in the two positioning arms are meshed and connected with the first gear; the telescopic arms respectively included in the other two positioning arms are arranged along the Y-axis direction and the racks respectively included in the two positioning arms are meshed and connected with the second gear; The pick-and-place unit includes a pick-and-place rod; the pick-and-place rod is connected to a pick-and-place execution component; the support tube is sleeved on the outside of the pick-and-place rod and is connected to the pick-and-place rod for relative rotation; the axis of the pick-and-place rod coincides with the axis of the support tube, so that after moving any of the positioning arms during the picking process, the four positioning arms are extended and retracted by equal distances until they all contact the frame of the workpiece to be picked up, so that the center of the pick-and-place rod coincides with the geometric center of the workpiece to be picked up, thereby realizing centered picking; and after moving any of the positioning arms during the assembly process, the four positioning arms are extended and retracted by equal distances until they all contact the steps of the shell to be assembled, so that the center of the pick-and-place rod and the geometric center of the workpiece to be picked up coincide with the geometric center of the shell to be assembled.

2. The workstation centering pick-and-place device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The support tube is provided with a shell on the outside, and a support rod is provided on the shell. The support rod is used to be connected to the transfer mechanism.

3. The workstation centering pick-and-place device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The transfer mechanism includes a robot.

4. The station-centered pick-and-place device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The placement execution component includes a vacuum generator and a suction cup, wherein the vacuum generator is connected to the upper end of the pick-and-place rod, and the suction cup is connected to the lower end of the pick-and-place rod.

5. The station-centered pick-and-place device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The workpiece to be picked up and placed includes a liquid crystal screen.

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