Air bag type blade battery gripper

Abstract

The invention provides an air bag type blade battery gripper, and relates to the technical field of blade battery clamps. Comprising a clamping jaw mounting plate, a support is fixed to the bottom of the clamping jaw mounting plate, a connecting plate is mounted at the bottom of the support, a plurality of gripper devices are arranged at the bottom of the connecting plate in the arrangement direction of blade batteries, and each gripper device comprises at least one gripper set; the gripper group comprises two gripping plates which are oppositely arranged, and at least one air bag is mounted on the inner wall of at least one gripping plate; air inlets of the multiple air bags are communicated with a main pipe through pipelines, and the main pipe is communicated with an air source. According to the battery gripper, an air cylinder is not used for driving the gripper to grab a blade battery any more, the overall weight of the battery gripper is reduced, the manufacturing cost is reduced, and the battery gripper is simpler in structure and convenient to maintain.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of blade battery clamps, and in particular to an airbag-type blade battery gripper. Background Art

[0002] Existing blade battery grippers usually grasp four blade batteries at a time. To improve work efficiency, they need to be able to grasp more at a time, such as grasping eight blade batteries at a time. However, with the requirement to grasp more blade batteries, many new problems will arise. The core problem is that the excessive weight increases the load on the robot and increases the failure rate. The core reasons for the excessive weight and failure rate are: The gripper group of a traditional blade battery gripper has a first gripper plate and a second gripper plate. Both grippers are driven by independent cylinders. The two cylinders drive the first gripper plate and the second gripper plate to move toward or away from each other to achieve the first gripper plate and the second gripper plate clamping the single blade battery, as shown in the patent disclosed by application number "2022225067462". In addition, each blade battery requires two gripper groups to grasp and maintain its stability. As a result, if 8 blade batteries are to be grasped, 16 cylinders are required just to fix the blade batteries, which greatly increases the weight of the entire blade battery gripper to about 40kg. Such deadweight will affect the robot's movement accuracy and speed.

[0003] When using a cylinder structure, each cylinder requires at least two air paths. This results in at least 32 air paths and 32 magnetic switches in the traditional equipment. This results in a large number of components being arranged within the overall equipment, greatly increasing the failure rate and making maintenance very inconvenient. The average maintenance time exceeds 2 hours. The use of so many cylinders undoubtedly increases manufacturing costs, and the excessive consumption of compressed air also increases production costs. In addition, because the distance between two adjacent blade batteries is constant, in order to install 16 cylinders, sufficient space must be left above the entire blade battery gripper to install the cylinders. This will undoubtedly increase the horizontal dimension of the entire blade battery gripper (the dimension perpendicular to the blade battery), thus limiting the robot's range of motion.

[0004] Therefore, a new battery gripper is needed that is lightweight, simple and has a low failure rate. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In response to the above technical problems, an airbag-type blade battery gripper is provided.

[0006] The technical means adopted in the present invention are as follows: An airbag-type blade battery gripper comprises a clamp mounting plate, a bracket being fixed to the bottom of the clamp mounting plate, a connecting plate being mounted to the bottom of the bracket, a plurality of gripping devices being arranged at the bottom of the connecting plate along the arrangement direction of the blade batteries, the gripping device comprising at least one gripping group; the gripping group comprises two oppositely arranged gripping plates, and an airbag group is mounted on the inner wall of at least one of the gripping plates, the airbag group comprising at least one airbag; the airbag group is connected to an air source.

[0007] Preferably, among the two gripping plates in the gripping group, the airbag group is installed on the inner wall of one of the gripping plates, and the other gripping plate is not installed with the airbag group but is installed with a plurality of rubber nails.

[0008] Preferably, the airbag is embedded in the inner wall of the grab plate, and the airbag includes a cylindrical airbag body, an inflation plug located at the bottom of the airbag body, and an inflation nozzle located at the top of the airbag body; the airbag group is connected to the main line through a branch line, and the main line is connected to the air source, a main pressure reducing valve and an air pressure alarm are provided on the main line, and a branch pressure reducing valve is provided on the branch line.

[0009] Preferably, the gripper group further includes a middle connecting block, the tops of the two gripping plates are respectively fixed to two sides of the middle connecting block, and the middle connecting block is fixed to the bottom of the connecting plate.

[0010] Preferably, the connecting plate is composed of a plurality of independent connecting rods, the arrangement direction of the plurality of connecting rods is parallel to the arrangement direction of the blade batteries, and a gripping device is installed at the bottom of each connecting rod; the two ends of the connecting rod are respectively overlapped on the bottom cross beam of the bracket, and the two ends of the connecting rod are respectively slidably matched with the bracket through vertical guide columns fixed on the bracket, and the vertical guide columns pass through the connecting rod; limit sensors fixed on the bracket are respectively provided above the two ends of the connecting rod, and the bottom contacts of the limit sensors are against the upper surface of the connecting rod.

[0011] Preferably, a compression spring is installed outside the vertical guide column to ensure that the blade battery is always compressed during the movement of the robot.

[0012] Preferably, the bracket includes a left bracket and a right bracket of the same structure, and the left bracket and the right bracket each include two vertical rods, the tops of the two vertical rods are fixed to the bottom of the clamp mounting plate, and the bottoms are respectively fixed to the two ends of the bottom crossbeam; the middle mounting plate is located above the bottom crossbeam, and the two ends are respectively fixed to the middle of the two vertical rods; The limit sensor is fixed to the side wall of the middle mounting plate; The compression spring is located between the middle mounting plate and the connecting plate.

[0013] Preferably, two groups of grippers are fixed at the bottom of the connecting rod, and the two groups of grippers on two adjacent connecting rods are arranged alternately; the limit sensors above two adjacent connecting rods are arranged alternately and are respectively fixed on both sides of the middle mounting plate.

[0014] Preferably, the clamp mounting plate is respectively installed with battery bottom covering devices at both ends of the blade battery in the length direction; the battery bottom covering device includes a cylinder fixing frame fixed to the side wall of the clamp mounting plate, a cylinder vertically fixed on the cylinder fixing frame, a hinge hinged to the output end of the cylinder and the bottom of the cylinder fixing frame, a flip plate hinged to the hinge, and an L-shaped battery baffle fixed to the bottom of the flip plate; the cylinder drives the flip plate and the L-shaped battery baffle to flip 90° through the hinge to cover the lower edge of the end of the blade battery.

[0015] Preferably, the hinge includes a first hinge and a second hinge, the first hinge is vertically arranged, and its side wall is fixed to the flip plate, and the upper end is hinged to the bottom of the cylinder fixing frame, the second hinge is inclined outward, and its top is hinged to the output end of the cylinder, and the bottom end is hinged to the bottom side wall of the first hinge.

[0016] Preferably, the clamping jaw mounting plate, the cylinder fixing bracket and the flip plate are all provided with weight-reducing holes.

[0017] Preferably, the clamping jaw mounting plate is made of aluminum alloy 7075.

[0018] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages: 1. The present invention provides an airbag-type blade battery gripper, which replaces the original cylinder-driven gripper group with an airbag-type gripper group. It no longer uses cylinders and other complex and faulty devices to drive the gripper to move toward or away to grab the blade battery. Instead, an airbag is directly set on the gripping plate. The airbag expands after being inflated. After the airbag expands, the distance between the gripping plate and the blade battery is reduced, thereby tightening the blade battery. The weight of the overall battery gripper is greatly reduced, about 20% of the traditional structure, which greatly reduces the load on the robot. In addition, there are fewer pipelines, the structure is simpler, and maintenance is more convenient. Even if the number of blade batteries to be grabbed is increased, the lateral size of the equipment will not increase like traditional gripper devices. At the same time, the amount of compressed air and pressure required for the airbag are much smaller than those required for the cylinder.

[0019] 2. To prevent the blade battery from tilting when gripping due to each gripping plate in the gripper assembly having an airbag, the present invention provides one gripping plate with an airbag and the other without. The gripping plate without an airbag is simply a vertical plate, serving as a reference surface to ensure the blade battery remains upright after clamping. To increase friction, rubber studs are added to the gripping plate without an airbag, increasing the friction coefficient to 1.2.

[0020] 3. Traditional blade battery grippers have no or only two limit sensors. When a blade battery fails to accurately enter the battery transfer basket (which has multiple grooves for placing blade batteries), although a signal can be sent, it is not known which blade battery is not positioned correctly and has collided with the basket. Moreover, due to the use of an integrated connecting plate structure, when a blade battery only undergoes a small displacement during a collision, the integrated connecting plate will not be displaced as a whole. Even if displacement occurs, the displacement is too small to trigger the limit sensor, resulting in insufficient anti-collision accuracy. This is different from the present invention. The present invention configures the connecting plate as multiple split connecting rods, and a gripper device is installed at the bottom of each connecting rod. Each connecting rod adopts a vertical sliding connection, and limit sensors are installed at both ends of each connecting rod. When a collision occurs, it can directly determine which blade battery is not accurately placed in the basket. Moreover, the limit sensor can be triggered even when the connecting rod undergoes only a small displacement, thereby improving anti-collision accuracy.

[0021] 4. The compression spring provided on the vertical guide column can ensure that the robot always compresses the blade battery during the movement, and the blade battery will not slip when the robot drives the entire device and the blade battery to move.

[0022] 5. The two groups of gripper groups on the two adjacent connecting rods are staggered, and the limit sensors above the two adjacent connecting rods are staggered, and are respectively fixed on both sides of the middle mounting plate, which can minimize the overall lateral space of the blade battery gripper.

[0023] 6. The setting of the battery bottom support device can realize the rapid movement of the blade battery and the entire device. During the rapid movement of the robot, the blade battery will not shake or dislocate.

[0024] 7. The clamping jaw mounting plate, the cylinder fixing bracket, and the flip plate are all provided with weight-reducing holes; the structural arrangement of the multiple connecting rods and the structural arrangement of the bracket can greatly reduce the weight of these basic mounting parts, thereby reducing the weight of the entire device.

[0025] 8. The airbag, connecting rod, limit sensor, compression spring and other structures adopt a modular design, and the replacement time of a single airbag is ≤5 minutes.

[0026] 9. The airbag structure has no mechanical wear and tear, and the failure rate is reduced to 1 / 7 of the original.

[0027] 10. The manufacturing cost of the overall equipment is reduced by 40% and energy consumption is reduced by 68%.

[0028] 11. The pressure of each airbag group can be adjusted independently through the pressure reducing valve, and the flexible structure of the airbag can compensate for the battery thickness tolerance.

[0029] Based on the above reasons, the present invention can be widely promoted in the fields of blade battery clamps and the like. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] In order 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 or the description of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative labor.

[0031] Figure 1 This is an overall schematic diagram of an airbag-type blade battery gripper of the present invention.

[0032] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the connection between the gripper assembly and the bracket of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the arrangement of the gripper group of the present invention.

[0034] Figure 4 It is a schematic structural diagram of the gripper group of the present invention.

[0035] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the airbag assembly structure in a specific embodiment of the present invention.

[0036] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the connection between the airbag assembly and the air source pipeline in a specific embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the battery bottom support structure in a specific embodiment of the present invention.

[0038] In the figure: 1. Gripper mounting plate; 2. Bracket; 21. Vertical rod; 22. Bottom crossbeam; 23. Middle mounting plate; 24. Vertical guide column; 25. Compression spring; 3. Connecting rod; 4. Gripper group; 41. Gripping plate; 42. Middle connecting block; 43. Airbag; 431. Airbag body; 432. Inflating plug; 433. Inflating nozzle; 44. Rubber nail; 45. Air source; 46. Main pipe pressure reducing valve; 47. Air pressure alarm; 48. Branch pipe pressure reducing valve; 5. Limit sensor; 6. Battery bottom support device; 61. Cylinder fixing bracket; 62. Cylinder; 63. First hinge; 64. Second hinge; 65. Flip plate; 66. L-shaped battery baffle; 7. Blade battery. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] It should be noted that, in the absence of conflict, the embodiments of the present invention and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other. The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and in combination with the embodiments. In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in combination with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is actually only illustrative and is by no means intended to limit the present invention and its application or use. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0040] like Figures 1 to 7 As shown, an airbag blade battery gripper includes a clamping claw mounting plate 1, the clamping claw mounting plate 1 is used to be fixed to the output end of the robot, and a bracket 2 is fixed at the bottom of the clamping claw mounting plate 1, as shown in FIG. Figure 2 As shown, the bracket 2 includes a left bracket and a right bracket of the same structure, and the left bracket and the right bracket each include two vertical rods 21, a bottom cross beam 22 and a middle mounting plate 23. The tops of the two vertical rods 21 are fixed to the bottom of the clamp mounting plate 1, and the bottoms are respectively fixed to the two ends of the bottom cross beam 22; the middle mounting plate 23 is located above the bottom cross beam 22, and the two ends are respectively fixed to the middle of the two vertical rods 21; like Figure 3 As shown, a connecting plate is installed at the bottom of the bracket 2, and the connecting plate is composed of multiple independent connecting rods 3 (8 in this embodiment). The arrangement direction of the multiple connecting rods 3 is parallel to the arrangement direction of the blade batteries 7. A gripping device is installed at the bottom of each connecting rod 3; the gripping device includes at least one set of gripping groups 4. In this embodiment, two sets of gripping groups 4 are used, and the two sets of gripping groups 4 clamp the two sides of the blade battery 7 in the length direction, which can clamp more stably. Figure 4 As shown, the gripper assembly 4 includes two gripping plates 41 arranged opposite to each other, the tops of the two gripping plates 41 are fixed to the two sides of the middle connecting block 42 respectively, and the middle connecting block 42 is fixed to the bottom of the connecting rod 3; and an airbag assembly is installed on the inner wall of at least one of the gripping plates 41, and the airbag assembly includes at least one airbag 43; in this specific embodiment, one of the gripping plates 41 has two airbags 43, and the other gripping plate 41 does not have an airbag 43, but has multiple rubber nails 44. Figure 5 As shown, the airbag 43 includes a cylindrical airbag body 431, an inflation plug 432 located at the bottom of the airbag body 431, and an inflation nozzle 433 located at the top of the airbag body 431. Figure 6 As shown, the inflation nozzles 433 of the two airbags 43 in the same airbag group are connected to the main line through a tee and a branch line, and the main line is connected to the air source 45. The main line is provided with a main pressure reducing valve 46 and an air pressure alarm 47, and the branch line is provided with a branch pressure reducing valve 48.

[0041] The two ends of the connecting rod 3 are respectively overlapped on the two bottom beams 22, and the two ends of the connecting rod 3 are respectively slidably matched with the bracket 2 through the vertical guide column 24 fixed between the middle mounting plate 23 and the bottom beam 22, and the vertical guide column 24 passes through the connecting rod 3, and a compression spring 25 is installed outside the vertical guide column.

[0042] A limit sensor 5 fixed to the middle mounting plate 23 is provided above each end of the connecting rod 3. The bottom contact of the limit sensor 5 abuts against the upper surface of the connecting rod 3. The limit sensors 5 above two adjacent connecting rods 3 are arranged alternately and are respectively fixed to both sides of the middle mounting plate 23.

[0043] like Figure 7 As shown, the clamp mounting plate 1 is respectively installed with battery bottom support devices 6 at both ends of the blade battery 7 in the length direction; the battery bottom support device 6 includes a cylinder fixing frame 61, a cylinder 62, a first hinge 63, a second hinge 64, a flip plate 65, and an L-shaped battery baffle 66; the cylinder fixing frame 61 is fixed to the clamp mounting plate 1, and the cylinder 62 is vertically fixed on the cylinder fixing frame 61, the first hinge 63 is vertically arranged, and its side wall is fixed to the flip plate 65, and the upper end is hinged to the bottom of the cylinder fixing frame 61; the second hinge 64 is inclined outward, and its top is hinged to the output end of the cylinder 62, and the bottom end is hinged to the bottom side wall of the first hinge 63. The horizontal part of the L-shaped battery baffle 66 is fixed to the bottom of the flip plate 65; the cylinder 62 drives the flip plate 65 and the L-shaped battery baffle 66 to flip 90° through the first hinge 63 and the second hinge 64 to hold the lower edge of the end of the blade battery 7.

[0044] The clamping jaw mounting plate 1 , the cylinder fixing bracket 61 , and the flip plate 65 are all provided with weight-reducing holes.

[0045] During operation, the robot is fixed to the gripper mounting plate 1 and moves to the location of the blade battery 7 (such as a sub-divided logistics conveyor line). The air source 45 inflates the airbag 43, and the eight blade batteries 7 are clamped. The cylinder 62 presses the first hinge 63 downward, and the horizontal flip plate 65 flips 90° to a vertical state. The L-shaped battery baffle 66 holds the lower edge of the end of the blade battery 7; then the robot drives the airbag-type blade battery gripper to move into the battery transfer basket. During the placement process, if individual blade batteries 7 are not perfectly placed in the basket and collide, the connecting rod 3 will be forced to move upward, thereby triggering the limit sensor 5, and the robot stops working.

[0046] The performance comparison between the present invention and the traditional 16-cylinder blade battery gripper is as follows: Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the above embodiments, or replace some or all of the technical features therein with equivalents. However, these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. An airbag-type blade battery gripper, comprising a clamping claw mounting plate, characterized in that: A bracket is fixed to the bottom of the clamp mounting plate, a connecting plate is installed at the bottom of the bracket, and eight gripping devices are provided at the bottom of the connecting plate along the arrangement direction of the blade batteries. The gripping devices include two gripping groups; the gripping groups include two gripping plates arranged opposite to each other, and an airbag group is installed on the inner wall of one of the gripping plates, and the airbag group contains at least one airbag; The airbag group is connected to the main line through a branch line, and the main line is connected to the air source. The main line is provided with a main pressure reducing valve and an air pressure alarm, and the branch line is provided with a branch pressure reducing valve; The connecting plate is composed of a plurality of independent connecting rods, the arrangement direction of the plurality of connecting rods is parallel to the arrangement direction of the blade batteries, and a gripping device is installed at the bottom of each connecting rod; the two ends of the connecting rod are respectively overlapped on the bottom crossbeam of the bracket, and the two ends of the connecting rod are respectively slidably engaged with the bracket through vertical guide columns fixed on the bracket, and the vertical guide columns pass through the connecting rod; limit sensors fixed on the bracket are respectively provided above the two ends of the connecting rod, and the bottom contacts of the limit sensors are abutted against the upper surface of the connecting rod; A compression spring is installed outside the vertical guide column; The bracket includes a left bracket and a right bracket with the same structure, and each of the left bracket and the right bracket includes two vertical rods, the tops of the two vertical rods are fixed to the bottom of the clamp mounting plate, and the bottoms are respectively fixed to the two ends of the bottom crossbeam; the middle mounting plate is located above the bottom crossbeam, and the two ends are respectively fixed to the middle of the two vertical rods; the limit sensor is fixed to the side wall of the middle mounting plate; the compression spring is located between the middle mounting plate and the connecting plate; The two groups of gripper groups on two adjacent connecting rods are arranged in a staggered manner; the limit sensors above two adjacent connecting rods are arranged in a staggered manner and are respectively fixed on both sides of the middle mounting plate.

2. The airbag blade battery gripper according to claim 1, characterized in that: A plurality of rubber nails are installed on the gripper group without the airbag group.

3. The airbag blade battery gripper according to claim 1, characterized in that: The airbag comprises a cylindrical airbag body, an inflation plug located at the bottom of the airbag body, and an inflation nozzle located at the top of the airbag body.

4. The airbag-type blade battery gripper according to claim 1, characterized in that: The gripper assembly further includes a middle connecting block, the tops of the two gripping plates are respectively fixed to the two sides of the middle connecting block, and the middle connecting block is fixed to the bottom of the connecting plate.

5. The airbag blade battery gripper according to claim 1, characterized in that: The clamping jaw mounting plate is respectively equipped with battery bottom covering devices at both ends of the blade battery in the length direction; the battery bottom covering device includes a cylinder fixing frame fixed to the side wall of the clamping jaw mounting plate, a cylinder vertically fixed on the cylinder fixing frame, a hinge hinged to the output end of the cylinder and the bottom of the cylinder fixing frame, a flip plate hinged to the hinge, and an L-shaped battery baffle fixed to the bottom of the flip plate; the cylinder drives the flip plate and the L-shaped battery baffle to flip 90° through the hinge to cover the lower edge of the end of the blade battery.

6. The airbag-type blade battery gripper according to claim 5, characterized in that: The hinge includes a first hinge and a second hinge. The first hinge is vertically arranged, and its side wall is fixed to the flip plate, and the upper end is hinged to the bottom of the cylinder fixing frame. The second hinge is inclined outward, and its top is hinged to the output end of the cylinder, and the bottom end is hinged to the bottom side wall of the first hinge.

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