Logistics article conveying and straightening device and conveying and straightening method thereof

Abstract

This invention discloses a logistics item conveying and alignment device and its conveying and alignment method. The conveying and alignment device includes a conveyor belt, side plates, a drive shaft, gears, a rack block, reference markers, an item status capture camera, and a bidirectional cylinder. This invention enables the controllable rotation of the two side plates used to clamp the item with a small number of drive power sources, improving the consistency of the coordinated actions. It also helps to keep the angles of the two side plates consistent with the angles of the item on the conveyor belt, avoiding damage to the item due to misalignment during clamping. By using a push-pull assembly to simultaneously push or pull three gears welded together, three gears of different diameters but the same tooth pitch can be switched to mesh with the rack block, achieving the effect of adjusting and changing the rotation speed of the drive shaft.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of logistics warehousing and conveying equipment, specifically a logistics goods conveying and straightening device and its conveying and straightening method. Background Technology

[0002] Large and heavy items are difficult to straighten and adjust manually during conveyor transport. Improperly placed large items also hinder subsequent labeling and sorting. Existing conveyor straightening devices primarily push items towards the middle of the conveyor belt, a simplistic approach that cannot accurately straighten items with significant angular misalignment. Furthermore, the excessive number of independent drive units at various adjustment points increases overall weight and reduces the precision and coordination of actions. Therefore, this paper proposes a new conveyor straightening device and method to address these issues. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of this invention is to provide a logistics goods conveying and straightening device and method to solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0004] The present invention achieves the above-mentioned objective through the following technical solution: a logistics item conveying and alignment device, comprising a conveyor belt, side plates, a drive shaft, gears, a rack block, a reference marker, an item status capture camera, and a bidirectional cylinder. The top ends of two side plates are connected to each other by the bidirectional cylinder, and the two side plates are symmetrically arranged in the area above the strip plate. The drive shaft, connected to the middle of the top of the bidirectional cylinder, has a toothed section between its two ends. Three gears of different diameters are welded together, and one of the gears meshes with the rack block. The tooth wall hole in the middle of each gear meshes with the same toothed section. The top of the top gear is connected to a push-pull assembly. The top of the drive shaft is rotatably mounted on an L-shaped traction seat. A reference marker is fixedly arranged on one side of the conveyor belt. The item status capture camera captures the angle formed between the reference marker and one side of the item body.

[0005] In a further technical solution, both ends of the strip plate are in rolling contact with the same conveyor belt, and the plane at the top of the bottom rolling contact parts of several items distributed above the strip plate is flush with the surface of the conveyor belt.

[0006] In a further technical solution, the object status capture camera is electrically connected to the image processing control module via a signal transmission line. The image processing control module is also electrically connected to a servo linear motion module, an angle sensor, and an electromagnetic clutch. The angle sensor and the electromagnetic clutch are respectively fixedly mounted on the upper and lower surfaces of the L-shaped traction seat, and the working parts of the angle sensor and the electromagnetic clutch are both connected to the same transmission shaft.

[0007] In a further technical solution, the tooth pitch between the gears is the same, and the diameters of the three gears located in the middle, upper and lower parts decrease sequentially.

[0008] In a further technical solution, the push-pull assembly consists of a first cylinder, an L-shaped plate, and a bearing. The bearing is assembled in the middle of the upper gear side, and the outer ring of the bearing is welded and fixed to one end of each of the two L-shaped plates. The top of each of the two L-shaped plates is equipped with a first cylinder, and the cylinder body end of the first cylinder is fixedly installed on the L-shaped traction seat.

[0009] In a further technical solution, a second cylinder is installed at both ends of the rack block, and the cylinder ends of the two second cylinders are respectively fixedly installed on one side of the two carrier plates, and the top ends of the two carrier plates are respectively installed at the bottom of the servo linear motion module.

[0010] In a further technical solution, the initial spacing between the side strips is greater than the width of the conveyor belt, and the functional part of the side strips is a sponge structure.

[0011] A method for adjusting the conveying of logistics goods in a conveying and adjusting device, comprising the following specific steps:

[0012] Step 1: When the object body is moved by the conveyor belt to the position directly below the object status capture camera, the object status capture camera captures the angle formed between the reference marker and one side of the object body, and transmits the captured image to the image processing control module to process and obtain the size of the angle. At the same time, it generates a command signal to control the operation of the servo linear motion module and the electromagnetic clutch.

[0013] Step 2: The servo linear motion module receives the command and starts running, causing the L-shaped traction seat to move to the left. This, in turn, drives the drive shaft, gear, bidirectional cylinder, and two side plates connected to the L-shaped traction seat to move to the left synchronously. Since one of the gears is meshed with the rack block and the tooth surface section on the drive shaft is meshed with the tooth wall hole, the drive shaft can be rotated during the leftward movement. At the same time, the two side plates connected by the bidirectional cylinder are also rotated.

[0014] The push-pull assembly can simultaneously push down or pull up three gears welded together in sequence, thereby switching the three gears of different diameters but the same tooth pitch to mesh with the rack block, thus achieving the effect of adjusting and changing the rotation speed of the drive shaft.

[0015] Step 3: When the angle sensor connected to the drive shaft detects that the rotation angle of the two side plates is consistent with the angle of the state obtained by the image processing control module, the servo linear motion module stops running, and the electromagnetic clutch binds and fixes the drive shaft to prevent random rotation, which can ensure the invariance of the rotation angle of the two side plates at this time, and the object body is in the state of waiting to be clamped.

[0016] Step 4: The item body is conveyed by the conveyor belt and several bottom rolling contact parts located on the strip plate into the space between the two side strip plates. The bidirectional cylinder is in a retracted state, which causes the two side strip plates to move in opposite directions, thus clamping the item body.

[0017] Step 5: After clamping the object body, the servo linear motion module drives the connected L-shaped traction seat to move to the right. The electromagnetic clutch releases the constraint and fixation on the drive shaft, causing the two connected side plates to rotate in opposite directions to the initial debugging state, thereby aligning the object body in the center on the conveyor belt.

[0018] Step 6: After the angle sensor detects the reset angle of the drive shaft again, the electromagnetic clutch runs again to bind and fix the drive shaft. At the same time, the rack block separates from the gear in the retracted state of the second cylinder. The clamped and adjusted object body continues to be pulled to the right by the servo linear motion module and moved to the conveyor belt located at the right end of the strip plate.

[0019] Step 7: Release the clamp on the object body. The servo linear motion module reverses its movement to reset the side plate and position it at the same angle as the next object body.

[0020] The beneficial effects of this invention are:

[0021] It can be configured with a small number of drive power sources to meet the motion requirements of the two side plates used to clamp the item while moving and rotating in a controllable manner, thereby improving the consistency of the execution of actions.

[0022] The object state capture camera captures the angle between the reference marker and one side of the object, and transmits the captured image to the image processing control module to obtain the angle. At the same time, it generates a command signal to control the operation of the servo linear motion module and the electromagnetic clutch. This helps to keep the state angle of the two side plates consistent with the state angle of the object on the conveyor belt, and avoids the situation where the clamping action is misaligned and damages the object.

[0023] By using a push-pull assembly to simultaneously push down or pull up three gears welded together in sequence, three gears of different diameters but with the same tooth pitch can be switched to mesh with the rack block, thereby adjusting the speed of the drive shaft.

[0024] By having the top planes of several bottom rolling contact parts of the items distributed above the strip plate flush with the surface of the conveyor belt, it is possible to ensure that the item body moves under the traction of the two side strip plates, and to greatly reduce the friction between the bottom of the item body and the structural surface during the rotation and correction action. Attached Figure Description

[0025] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0026] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0027] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the connection structure of the drive shaft, gear, and L-shaped traction seat of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 3 This is a top view of the gear structure of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the bidirectional cylinder connection structure of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the rack and pinion block connection structure of the present invention.

[0032] In the diagram: 1. Conveyor belt; 2. Strip plate; 3. Rolling contact part at the bottom of the item; 4. Side strip plate; 5. Drive shaft; 510. Toothed section; 6. Gear; 610. Tooth wall hole; 7. Rack block; 8. Push-pull assembly; 9. Angle sensor; 10. Servo linear motion module; 10a. L-shaped traction seat; 11. Carrier plate; 12. Reference marker; 13. Item status capture camera; 14. Image processing control module; 15. Item body; 16. Electromagnetic clutch; 17. Two-way cylinder; 18. Second cylinder. Detailed Implementation

[0033] To make the objectives, features, and advantages of this invention more apparent and understandable, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the embodiments described below are only some embodiments of this invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this invention.

[0034] The technical solution of the present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0035] In the description of this invention, it should be understood that the terms "upper", "lower", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this invention.

[0036] Please see Figure 1-5As shown, a logistics item conveying and alignment device includes a conveyor belt 1, side plates 4, a drive shaft 5, gears 6, a rack block 7, a reference marker 12, an item status capture camera 13, and a bidirectional cylinder 17. The top ends of two side plates 4 are connected to each other by the bidirectional cylinder 17, and the two side plates 4 are symmetrically arranged above the strip plate 2. The drive shaft 5, connected to the middle of the top of the bidirectional cylinder 17, has a toothed section 510 between its two ends. Three gears 6 of different diameters are welded together, and one of the gears 6 is connected to the rack block 7. The gears are meshed together, with the tooth wall hole 610 in the middle of each gear 6 meshing with the same tooth surface segment 510. The top of the gear 6 at the top is connected to the push-pull assembly 8. The tooth pitch of the gears 6 is the same. The diameter of the three gears 6 located in the middle, upper and lower ends decreases sequentially. The top of the drive shaft 5 is rotatably mounted on the L-shaped traction seat 10a. A reference marker 12 is fixedly set on one side of the conveyor belt 1. The item status capture camera 13 captures the angle formed between the reference marker 12 and one side of the item body 15.

[0037] See Figure 1 As shown, both ends of the strip plate 2 are in rolling contact with the same conveyor belt 1, and the plane at the top of the several bottom rolling contact pieces 3 of the items distributed above the strip plate 2 is flush with the surface of the conveyor belt 1. This ensures that the item body 15 moves under the traction of the two side strip plates 4, and greatly reduces the friction between the bottom of the item body 15 and the structural surface during the rotation and correction action.

[0038] See Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the object status capture camera 13 is electrically connected to the image processing control module 14 via a signal transmission line. The image processing control module 14 is also electrically connected to a servo linear motion module 10, an angle sensor 9, and an electromagnetic clutch 16. The angle sensor 9 and the electromagnetic clutch 16 are respectively fixedly mounted on the upper and lower surfaces of the L-shaped traction seat 10a. The working parts of the angle sensor 9 and the electromagnetic clutch 16 are both connected to the same transmission shaft 5, which serves to detect, process, and control the angle of the object status and to control the operation of various actuators.

[0039] See Figure 2 As shown, the push-pull assembly 8 consists of a first cylinder, an L-shaped plate, and a bearing. The bearing is assembled in the middle of one side of the upper gear 6, and the outer ring of the bearing is welded and fixed to one end of each of the two L-shaped plates. The top of each of the two L-shaped plates is equipped with a first cylinder, and the cylinder body end of the first cylinder is fixedly installed on the L-shaped traction seat 10a.

[0040] See Figure 5 As shown, a second cylinder 18 is installed at both ends of the rack block 7, and the cylinder ends of the two second cylinders 18 are respectively fixedly installed on one side of the two carrier plates 11, and the top ends of the two carrier plates 11 are respectively installed at the bottom of the servo linear motion module 10.

[0041] Furthermore, the initial spacing between the side strips 4 is greater than the width of the conveyor belt 1, and the functional part of the side strips 4 is a sponge structure.

[0042] A method for adjusting the conveying of logistics goods in a conveying and adjusting device, comprising the following specific steps:

[0043] Step 1: When the object body 15 is moved by the conveyor belt 1 to the position directly below the object status capture camera 13, the object status capture camera 13 captures the angle formed between the reference marker 12 and one side of the object body 15, and transmits the captured image to the image processing control module 14 to process and obtain the size of the angle. At the same time, it generates a command signal to control the operation of the servo linear motion module 10 and the electromagnetic clutch 16.

[0044] Step 2: The servo linear motion module 10 receives the command and starts running, causing the L-shaped traction seat 10a to move to the left, thereby driving the transmission shaft 5, gear 6, bidirectional cylinder 17, and two side plates 4 connected to the L-shaped traction seat 10a to move to the left synchronously. Since one of the gears 6 is meshed with the rack block 7, and the tooth surface section 510 on the transmission shaft 5 is meshed with the tooth wall hole 610, the transmission shaft 5 can be driven to rotate during the leftward movement, and at the same time, the two side plates 4 connected by the bidirectional cylinder 17 are also driven to rotate.

[0045] Among them, the push-pull assembly 8 can simultaneously push down or pull up the three gears 6 welded together in sequence, so as to mesh with the rack block 7 in a switching manner, thereby achieving the effect of adjusting and changing the rotation speed of the transmission shaft 5.

[0046] Step 3: When the angle sensor 9 connected to the drive shaft 5 detects that the rotation angle of the two side plates 4 is consistent with the angle of the state obtained by the image processing control module 14, the servo linear motion module 10 stops running, and the electromagnetic clutch 16 binds and fixes the drive shaft 5 to prevent random rotation, which can ensure the invariance of the rotation angle of the two side plates 4 at this time, and the object body 15 is in the state of waiting to enter the clamping state.

[0047] Step 4: The item body 15 is conveyed by the conveyor belt 1 and several bottom rolling contact parts 3 located on the strip plate 2 into the space between two side strip plates 4. The bidirectional cylinder 17 is in a retracted state, which causes the two side strip plates 4 to move in opposite directions, thus clamping the item body 15.

[0048] Step 5: After clamping the object body 15, the servo linear motion module 10 drives the connected L-shaped traction seat 10a to move to the right. The electromagnetic clutch 16 releases the restraint and fixation on the transmission shaft 5, so that the two connected side strips 4 rotate in opposite directions to the initial debugging state, thereby aligning the object body 15 in the center on the conveyor belt 1.

[0049] Step 6: After the angle sensor 9 detects the reset angle of the drive shaft 5 again, the electromagnetic clutch 16 runs again to bind and fix the drive shaft 5. At the same time, the rack block 7 separates from the gear 6 in the retracted state of the second cylinder 18. The clamped and adjusted object body 15 continues to be moved to the conveyor belt 1 located at the right end of the strip plate 2 by the right-hand traction of the servo linear motion module 10.

[0050] Step 7: Release the clamp on the object body 15. The servo linear motion module 10 reverses and resets the side plate 4 to the same position and angle as the next object body 15.

[0051] The benefits are:

[0052] 1. It can be configured with a small number of drive power sources to perform the motion requirements of moving and controlling the rotation of the two side strips 4 used to clamp the items, thereby improving the consistency of the coordinated execution of the motion.

[0053] 2. The object state capture camera 13 captures the angle between the reference marker 12 and one side of the object body 15, and transmits the captured image to the image processing control module 14 to process and obtain the size of the angle. At the same time, it generates a command signal to control the operation of the servo linear motion module 10 and the electromagnetic clutch 16. This helps to keep the state angle of the two side plates 4 consistent with the state angle of the object on the conveyor belt 1, and avoids the situation where the clamping action is misaligned and damages the object.

[0054] 3. By using the push-pull assembly 8 to push down or pull up the three gears 6 that are welded together in sequence, the three gears 6 with different diameters and the same tooth pitch can be switched to mesh with the rack block 7, thereby achieving the effect of adjusting and changing the rotation speed of the transmission shaft 5.

[0055] 4. By ensuring that the top surfaces of the several bottom rolling contact elements 3 distributed above the strip plate 2 are flush with the surface of the conveyor belt 1, it is possible to ensure that the item body 15 moves under the traction of the two side strip plates 4, and to greatly reduce the friction between the bottom of the item body 15 and the structural surface during the rotational correction action.

[0056] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the details of the exemplary embodiments described above, and that the invention can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. Therefore, the embodiments should be considered in all respects as exemplary and non-limiting, and the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description. Thus, all variations falling within the meaning and scope of the equivalent elements of the claims are intended to be included within the present invention. No reference numerals in the claims should be construed as limiting the scope of the claims.

[0057] The above-described embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and are not intended to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features. Such modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A logistics article conveying and straightening device, characterized by: The system includes a conveyor belt (1), side plates (4), a drive shaft (5), gears (6), a rack block (7), a reference marker (12), an object status capture camera (13), and a two-way cylinder (17). The tops of the two side plates (4) are connected to each other by the two-way cylinder (17), and the two side plates (4) are symmetrically arranged in the area above the strip plate (2). The drive shaft (5), which is connected to the middle of the top of the two-way cylinder (17), is provided with a toothed section (510) between its two ends. The three gears (6) of different diameters are welded together, and one of them... Each gear (6) meshes with the rack block (7), and the tooth wall hole (610) located in the middle of each gear (6) meshes with the same tooth surface segment (510). The top of one of the gears (6) located at the top is connected to the push-pull assembly (8). The top of the drive shaft (5) is rotatably mounted on the L-shaped traction seat (10a). A reference marker (12) is fixedly provided on one side of the edge of the conveyor belt (1). The item state capture camera (13) captures the angle between the reference marker (12) and one side of the item body (15).

2. The logistics goods conveying and straightening device according to claim 1, characterized in that: Both ends of the strip plate (2) are in rolling contact with the same conveyor belt (1), and the plane at the top of the bottom rolling contact parts (3) of several items distributed above the strip plate (2) is flush with the surface of the conveyor belt (1).

3. A device for aligning items in a stream of items as claimed in claim 1, wherein: The object status capture camera (13) is electrically connected to the image processing control module (14) via a signal transmission line. The image processing control module (14) is also electrically connected to a servo linear motion module (10), an angle sensor (9), and an electromagnetic clutch (16). The angle sensor (9) and the electromagnetic clutch (16) are respectively fixedly installed on the upper and lower surfaces of the L-shaped traction seat (10a). The working parts of the angle sensor (9) and the working parts of the electromagnetic clutch (16) are both connected to the same transmission shaft (5).

4. The device of claim 1, wherein: The gears (6) have the same pitch, and the diameters of the three gears (6) located in the middle, upper and lower parts decrease sequentially.

5. A device for aligning items in a stream of items as claimed in claim 1, wherein: The push-pull assembly (8) consists of a first cylinder, an L-shaped plate and a bearing. The bearing is assembled in the middle of the side of the upper gear (6), and the outer ring of the bearing is welded and fixed to one end of the two L-shaped plates respectively. The top of the two L-shaped plates is equipped with a first cylinder, and the cylinder body end of the first cylinder is fixedly installed on the L-shaped traction seat (10a).

6. A device for aligning items in a stream of items as claimed in claim 1, wherein: The rack block (7) is equipped with a second cylinder (18) at both ends, and the cylinder ends of the two second cylinders (18) are respectively fixedly installed on one side of the two carrier plates (11), and the top ends of the two carrier plates (11) are respectively installed at the bottom of the servo linear motion module (10).

7. The logistics goods conveying and straightening device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The initial spacing between the side strips (4) is greater than the width of the conveyor belt (1), and the functional part of the side strips (4) is a sponge structure.

8. A method for adjusting the conveying of logistics goods according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that: The specific steps of the transport correction method are as follows: Step 1: When the object body (15) is moved by the conveyor belt (1) to the position directly below the object status capture camera (13), the object status capture camera (13) captures the angle formed between the reference marker (12) and one side of the object body (15), and transmits the captured image to the image processing control module (14) to process and obtain the angle of the state, and at the same time generates a command signal to control the operation of the servo linear motion module (10) and the electromagnetic clutch (16); Step 2: The servo linear motion module (10) receives the command and starts running, causing the L-shaped traction seat (10a) to move to the left, thereby driving the transmission shaft (5), gear (6), double-acting cylinder (17), and two side plates (4) connected to the L-shaped traction seat (10a) to move to the left synchronously. Since one of the gears (6) is meshed with the rack block (7), and the tooth surface section (510) on the transmission shaft (5) is meshed with the tooth wall hole (610), the transmission shaft (5) can be driven to rotate during the leftward movement, and the two side plates (4) connected by the double-acting cylinder (17) can also rotate. Among them, the push-pull assembly (8) can simultaneously push down or pull up the three gears (6) welded together in sequence, so as to mesh with the rack block (7) in a switching manner, thereby achieving the effect of adjusting and changing the rotation speed of the transmission shaft (5). Step 3: When the angle sensor (9) connected to the drive shaft (5) detects that the rotation angle of the two side plates (4) is consistent with the angle of the state obtained by the image processing control module (14), the servo linear motion module (10) stops running, and the electromagnetic clutch (16) binds and fixes the drive shaft (5) to prevent random rotation, which can ensure the invariance of the rotation angle of the two side plates (4) at this time, and the object body (15) is in the state of waiting to enter the clamping state; Step 4: The item body (15) enters between two side plates (4) via the conveyor belt (1) and several bottom rolling contact parts (3) located on the strip plate (2). The bidirectional cylinder (17) is in a retracted state, which causes the two side plates (4) to move in opposite directions, thus clamping the item body (15). Step 5: After clamping the object body (15), the servo linear motion module (10) drives the connected L-shaped traction seat (10a) to move to the right. The electromagnetic clutch (16) releases the binding and fixing of the transmission shaft (5), so that the two connected side plates (4) rotate in opposite directions to the initial debugging state, thereby enabling the object body (15) to be aligned and centered on the conveyor belt (1). Step 6: After the angle sensor (9) detects the reset angle of the drive shaft (5) again, the electromagnetic clutch (16) runs again to bind and fix the drive shaft (5) in place. At the same time, the rack block (7) separates from the gear (6) in the retracted state of the second cylinder (18). The clamped and adjusted object body (15) continues to be pulled to the right by the servo linear motion module (10) and moved to the conveyor belt (1) located at the right end of the strip plate (2). Step 7: Release the clamp on the object body (15), and the servo linear motion module (10) runs in reverse to reset the side plate (4) and make it in the same position and angle state as the next object body (15).

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